Operation Barbarossa

Nazi Germany and its allies attack the Soviet Union, opening the largest land front of the war.

Germany prepared the attack on the Soviet Union for many months. The plan called for the rapid destruction of Soviet forces and the occupation of vast territories.

On 22 June 1941, German forces and allied armies crossed the Soviet border. The offensive began simultaneously on northern, central and southern axes.

During the first weeks, the Red Army suffered severe defeats, retreated over great distances and lost large formations in encirclements. The German advance, however, gradually encountered growing logistical and operational difficulties.

The invasion opened a war of annihilation accompanied by mass crimes against civilians and prisoners of war, the Holocaust and catastrophic human losses.

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