Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on June 22, 1941, with approximately 3 million soldiers across a 2,900-kilometer front. The largest military operation in human history, it initially destroyed the Red Army's western forces and advanced 1,000 kilometers into Soviet territory before being stopped at Moscow in December 1941, beginning the war's decisive theater.
Hitler violated the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact for several reasons: he needed Soviet oil and grain to sustain the war economy; he believed Slavic peoples were racially inferior and their land was Germany's destiny (Lebensraum); and he was convinced the Soviet military had been fatally weakened by Stalin's 1937–1938 purges of senior officers. He predicted the Soviet Union would 'collapse like a house of cards' within weeks.
The initial results seemed to confirm this. By October 1941, Germany had captured Kiev, Minsk, Smolensk, and the Crimea, taken approximately 3.5 million Soviet prisoners, and reached the suburbs of Moscow. It was the fastest conquest of territory in modern military history. But it wasn't fast enough. Winter arrived before Moscow fell; German supply lines were catastrophically overstretched; and the Soviet military, retreating, was rebuilding with American Lend-Lease equipment.
Predictive History's controversial reading: Stalin deliberately allowed the initial German advance. By not defending at the border, Stalin ensured that Germany would penetrate deep enough into Soviet territory that Britain and America would have no choice but to provide massive aid, since a German-dominated Soviet Union would be unbeatable. The result: $200 billion in Lend-Lease aid (weapons, aircraft, tanks, food, copper, aluminum, railroad equipment) that effectively allowed the Soviet Union to industrialize into a military superpower at American expense. Hitler played perfectly into Stalin's strategy, just as Predictive History argues Putin hopes America's leaders will play into his.
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What was Operation Barbarossa? ＋
Operation Barbarossa was Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the largest military operation in history, involving 3 million soldiers along a 2,900-kilometer front. It initially shattered the Red Army and advanced to Moscow's suburbs before being stopped by winter in December 1941, beginning the war's most decisive theater that would kill 27 million Soviets.
Did Stalin let Operation Barbarossa happen on purpose? ＋
Predictive History argues yes, based on Game Theory analysis. If Stalin had defended at the border and stopped Germany, Britain and the US would have remained neutral or even sided with Germany against the Soviets. By allowing Germany to advance deep into Russia, Stalin made a German victory existentially threatening to Western powers, forcing America to provide $200 billion in Lend-Lease that rebuilt the Soviet military into a superpower.