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Hitler also utilised the rising tension between the Soviet Union and Germany over territories in the Balkans as one of the pretexts for the invasion. [78] While no concrete plans had yet been made, Hitler told one of his generals in June 1940 that the victories in Western Europe finally freed his hands for a "final showdown" with Bolshevism. [79]
Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion plan, called for the capture of Moscow within four months.On 22 June 1941, Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union, destroyed most of the Soviet Air Force (VVS) on the ground, and advanced deep into Soviet territory using blitzkrieg tactics to destroy entire Soviet armies.
Soviet occupation zone of Germany was the area of eastern Germany occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 on. In 1949 it became The German Democratic Republic known in English as East Germany. In 1955 the Republic was declared by the Soviet Union to be fully sovereign; however, Soviet troops remained, based on the four-power Potsdam agreement.
Stalin felt that there was a growing split in German circles about whether Germany should initiate a war with the Soviet Union. [159] Stalin did not know that Hitler had been secretly discussing an invasion of the Soviet Union since the summer of 1940, [160] and that Hitler had ordered his military in late 1940 to prepare for war in the east ...
On 22 June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union with the largest invasion force in history, leading to some of the largest battles and most horrific atrocities. This offensive comprised three army groups.
The hypothetical date for the start of the Allied invasion of Soviet-held Eastern Europe was scheduled for 1 July 1945, four days before the United Kingdom general elections. [7] The plan assumed a surprise attack by as many as 47 British and American divisions in the area of Dresden , in the middle of Soviet lines. [ 7 ]
Operation Barbarossa: The German Invasion of Soviet Russia. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-408-0. Klink, Ernst (1998). Germany and the Second World War: The Attack on the Soviet Union. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-822886-4. Krivosheev, Grigori F. (1997). Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century. London: Greenhill ...
In 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact, but in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest land invasion in history, opening the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviets played a decisive role in defeating the Axis powers, suffering an estimated 27 million casualties, which accounted for most Allied ...