Operation Barbarossa
Article
July 6, 2022
Operation Barbarossa (Directive No. 21. Plan "Barbarossa"; German Weisung Nr. 21. Fall Barbarossa, Italian. Operazione Barbarossa in honor of the King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Staufen, nicknamed Barbarossa) - developed in December 1940 - June 1941, the strategic plan for the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR and the military operation of the same name, carried out in accordance with this plan at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. Hitler's decision to carry out Operation Barbarossa against the USSR marked a turning point in the history of Nazi Germany, leading him to a two-front war and the collapse of the Nazi regime less than four years later. When developing the Barbarossa plan, designed only for a "blitzkrieg", the enemy was initially underestimated and the possibility of a fleeting war developing into a protracted one was not taken into account. By September 30, the blitzkrieg (lightning war) had lost its momentum. This allowed the Red Army to stabilize the front line. As a result, the failure of Operation Barbarossa was the turning point of World War II.