The Border

Because of surprise and lack of organization, Soviet forces on the frontier at the onset of Barbarossa were quickly brushed aside by German armored columns. Only a few formations gave more than token resistance. The Germans, increasingly overconfident, were unprepared …

1941-06-30

E07

Because of surprise and lack of organization, Soviet forces on the frontier at the onset of Barbarossa were quickly brushed aside by German armored columns. Only a few formations gave more than token resistance. The Germans, increasingly overconfident, were unprepared when Soviet forces did stand and give battle.

Brest, Belarus

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, which started on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. The operation put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goal of conquering the western Soviet Union so as to repopulate it with Germans. The German Generalplan Ost aimed to use some of the conquered people as slave labour for the Axis war effort while acquiring the oil reserves of the Caucasus as well as the agricultural resources of various Soviet territories. Their ultimate goal included the eventual extermination, enslavement, Germanization and mass deportation to Siberia of the Slavic peoples, and to create more Lebensraum for Germany.

Wikipedia: Operation Barbarossa

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