The barbarossa operation

German lightning war against the Soviet Union. June 1941 22 - Dec. 1941 6. Excerpt from Hitler's secret instructions to the Wehrmacht in preparation for the attack on the Soviet Union on 18 December 1940 (Barbarossa Plan): "The German Wehrmacht must be prepared to crush the Soviet Russia (Fall-Barbarossa) The army will have to deploy all available units for this purpose, with the proviso that the occupied territories will be secured against surprises. the rapid course of ground operations can be expected and the eastern German region can be caused as little damage as possible by hostile airstrikes (...) I will order a march against Soviet Russia eight weeks before the planned start of the operation. (...) It is crucial however, to keep the offensive goal hidden. (...) Otherwise, if preparations were made to even if the date is not set, the most serious political and military consequences should be expected. " The second phase of World War II was opened on June 22, 1941, by Hitler's offensive against the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that Stalin has repeatedly been warned by the British and his own secret service about a German offensive, the attack hits the country completely unexpectedly, because Stalin simply does not believe the facts ...