Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that commenced on June 22, 1941. It was to be the turning point for the fortunes of Hitler's Third Reich in that the failure of Operation Barbarossa arguably resulted in the eventual overall defeat of Nazi Germany. The Eastern Front which was opened by Operation Barbarossa would become the biggest theatre of war in World War II, with some of the largest and most brutal battles, terrible loss of life, and miserable conditions for Soviets and Germans alike. The operation was named after the emperor Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire.

Further reading

• Erickson, John. The Road to Stalingrad. 2003, first 1975.
• Hoffmann, Joachim. Stalin's War of Extermination, 1995 (German: "Stalins Vernichtungskrieg"; an account by a German revisionist who favours the argument that Hitler anticipated a Soviet attack, commonly used by the Nazis to justify "Operation Barbarossa")
• Glantz, David M. Barbarossa: Hitler's invasion of Russia, 1941, Stroud: Tempus, 2001. ISBN 075241979X
• Glantz, David M. Stumbling Colossus: the Red Army on the eve of World War, Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1998. ISBN 0700608796
• Glantz, David M. Colossus Reborn: the Red Army at war, 1941-1943, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2005. ISBN 0700613536
• Kershaw, Robert J., War without garlands: Operation Barbarossa, 1941/42, Shepperton: Ian Allan, 2000. ISBN 071102734X
• Krivosheev, G. F. Grif sekretnosti sniat . In English. Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century, General editor G.F. Krivosheev; authors G.F. Krivosheev et al.; foreword by John Erickson; translated by Christine Barnard, London: Greenhill, 1997. ISBN 1853672807
• Kirchubel, Robert Operation Barbarossa 1941 (1): Army Group South, Osprey, 2003. ISBN 1841766976
• Kirchubel, Robert Operation Barbarossa 1941 (2): Army Group North, Osprey, 2005. ISBN 184176857X