The invasion of the soviet union, also known as operation Barbarossa, took place on June 22, 1941. Adolf Hitler launched the mission which violated the existing treaty with Stalin, and it was made to provide the Reich with more living space in the east. Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward to covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea, the distance was approximately two thousand miles . Three great army groups with over 4.5 million troops, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks surprise attacked Soviet territory. The goals of the operation were to capture the resources Hitler had his eyes on and to get more control of the east. Although in 1939, Germany had signed a nonaggression pact …show more content…
This took the Soviet Union leaders by surprise and the Red Army off guard. They were unprepared and in partially disarmed state. By this point Germany's combat was at its highest point; in training, doctrine, and fighting ability. The forces invading Russia represented the finest army. However, the Germans had serious deficiency. They highly underestimated their opponent. In the opening months, German armies invaded deep into Soviet territory. Through the northern border, tanks raced 50 miles beyond the frontier on the very first day of the invasion and were at Minsk, on June 27, 200 miles beyond the border. At minsk they joined forces with Hogg’s tanks, which pieced the opposite flanks, but could not follow up quickly enough to complete the entire Soviet tripp’s area. Roughly 300,000 people were taken as prisoners, but a large number of the Soviet forces were able to escape to the East. In September the Germans received enough supplies to further their drives, the results were in the encirclement battles of Kiev and Bryansk-Vysma in October, each netting 600,000 prisoners. By December of 1941, German troops were within sight of Moscow, and they laid to barricade the