Operation Barbarossa was the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on 22 June 1941 along a front stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Adolf Hitler broke the non-aggression pact signed with Stalin in 1939 in pursuit of living space in the east and the destruction of the Soviet state. Germany and its allies, including Romania, Finland and Italy, advanced rapidly, encircling huge numbers of Red Army troops and reaching the outskirts of Moscow by December. The offensive was halted by the Soviet winter, stretched supply lines and strong resistance, and a Soviet counter-attack in early December pushed the Germans back. The invasion opened the Eastern Front, the largest and deadliest theatre of the Second World War.
Before and after
- 24 May 1941Birth of Bob Dylan
- 4 June 1941Death of Wilhelm II
- from 22 June 1941 to 1 March 1945Rise of Yugoslav Partisans
- from 22 June 1941 to 7 May 1945Eastern Front
- from 22 June 1941 to 5 December 1941Operation Barbarossa
- from 25 June 1941 to 19 September 1944Continuation War
- from 29 June 1941 to 1 April 1942Liepāja Massacres
- from 29 June 1941 to 17 November 1941Operation Silver Fox
- 1 July 1941Establishment of Mammoth Cave National Park
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918World War I
- 16 May 1916Sykes–Picot Agreement
- from February 1919 to March 1921Polish–Soviet War
- 4 June 1920Treaty of Trianon
- from 1933 to 1945The Holocaust
- from 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945World War II
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.