2016-06-22 Wed

On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. Codenamed as Operation Barbarossa this war turned out to be a turning point in the history of the world.

Operation Barbarossa, it was the largest and the bloodiest military operation in history. In a wake of German victory against France, Hitler made a plan to launch a surprise attack on Russia. Three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea.

The Soviet Union was unprepared for the onslaught that came in June. Initially, all went well for the Germans with the German army quickly gaining superiority. However by the beginning of December, a massive Soviet counterattack drove the Germans back. As the Russian winter set in, German offensive operations were abandoned.

In March 1942 brought operations to a halt. Mission Barbarossa had failed; Nazi Germany faced a great defeat and loss. Operation Barbarossa was one of the decisive moments of the war in Europe. The failure of Operation Barbarossa was a turning point in the fortunes of the Third Reich. The defeat of Germany raised a new ray of hope in the allies which further gave them strength to wipe out the Nazi military dominance.