Operation Barbarossa
•Barbarossa “Red Beard” code name German attack on Russia June 1941
•Complete surprise for Russia despite warnings
•Breaks non-aggression pact
•2000 mile long front
•Blitzkrieg tactics surprise Red Army
•Nazis briefly seen as liberators
•Russian peasants began scorched earth policy(burning all crops and shelters)
•Leningrad was besieged, captured Kiev, reached the Crimea and on the outskirts of Moscow
•Cold winter weather halts Germans
•Almost 2 million Red Army troops taken prisoner-Germany used Blitzkrieg, surprised Red Army
•Complete surprise for Russia despite warnings
•Breaks non-aggression pact
•2000 mile long front
•Blitzkrieg tactics surprise Red Army
•Nazis briefly seen as liberators
•Russian peasants began scorched earth policy(burning all crops and shelters)
•Leningrad was besieged, captured Kiev, reached the Crimea and on the outskirts of Moscow
•Cold winter weather halts Germans
•Almost 2 million Red Army troops taken prisoner-Germany used Blitzkrieg, surprised Red Army
“When Operation Barbarossa begins, the world will hold its breath.” Hitler, 1941
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Summary: Operation Barbarossa, launched by the Germans in 1941 was a complete surprise to Russia at the time. Especially since it went against the Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Pact which they had previously signed.