Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, which commenced on June 22, 1941.
It was to be the turning point for the fortunes of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, in that the failure of Operation Barbarossa arguably resulted in the eventual overall defeat of Nazi Germany.
The Eastern Front, which was opened by Operation Barbarossa, would become the biggest theater of war in World War II, with some of the largest and most brutal battles, terrible loss of life, and miserable conditions for Russians and Germans alike.
In August 1939, as Europe slid towards another world war, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty. The Nazi-Soviet Pact came as a complete surprise to other nations, given the ideological differences between the two countries.
It ushered in a period of military co-operation that allowed Hitler to ignore western diplomatic moves and invade Poland.
