---
title: "Operation Barbarossa"
year: 1941
country: "Soviet Union"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1941/operation-barbarossa"
slug: "operation-barbarossa"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1941-06-22"
endDate: "1941-12-05"
---

# Operation Barbarossa

> Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union launched history's largest military operation and fundamentally shifted WWII's trajectory toward Allied victory.

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched its largest military invasion ever—3.8 million troops pouring across a 1,800-mile front into the Soviet Union. Adolf Hitler's goal was to seize Soviet territory and resources, destroy communism, and create living space for Germans. The invasion would become the deadliest military campaign in history, killing millions of soldiers and civilians over four brutal years.

## Summary

Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a 2,900-kilometer (1,800 mi) front, with the main goal of capturing territory up to a line between Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan, known as the A–A line. The attack became the largest and costliest military offensive in human history, with around 10 million combatants taking part in the opening phase and over 8 million casualties by the end of the operation on 5 December 1941. It marked a major escalation of World War II, opened the Eastern Front—the largest and deadliest land war in history—and brought the Soviet Union into the Allied powers.

## Sources

- [Operation Barbarossa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/1941/operation-barbarossa