Though Germany was Russia's ally, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had no delusions that they were friends. He used this time to build up his forces for what he saw as an inevitable invasion.
First, on the heels of the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Stalin had his troops invade and reclaim the land Russia had lost in World War I. Next, he turned his attention to Finland, which was only 100 miles from the newly named Leningrad. He initially tried to negotiate with the Finnish government for some sort of treaty of mutual support. When this failed he simply invaded.
Initially, Stalin believed he had several years to build up his army before Germany would invade, figuring it would at least take the Germans that long to conquer France and Britain. However, when France fell quickly in 1940, it seemed he might have miscalculated, so he again sent Molotov to Berlin to stall for time.
What Stalin did not realize was that Hitler had simply overstretched himself in Yugoslavia and only planned to delay the invasion by a few weeks. Hitler aimed to destroy Stalin's Communist regime, but he also hoped to gain access to resources in Russia, particularly oil.
The Soviets were so caught by surprise at the start of the attack that the Germans were able to push several hundred miles into Russia across a front that stretched dozens of miles long, reaching the major cities of Leningrad and Sevastopol in just three months. The first major Russian city in their path was Minsk, which fell in only six days. This move, along with unspeakable atrocities by the German soldiers against the people of Minsk, solidified the Soviet will.
Operation Barbarossa opened and it is the deadliest part of history's deadliest war. This operation would turn out to be arguably the most fateful choice of World War II...
You will explore the Soviet Union in World War II and the Russian experience in history's deadliest war.
