speechonHitlersinvasionoftheUSSRWord版

1、Under the codename Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 in the largest German military operation of World War II. The destruction of the Soviet Union by military force, the permanent elimination of the perceived Communist threat to Germany, and the seizure of prime land within Soviet borders for long-term German settlement had been a core policy of the Nazi movement since the 1920s. Adolf Hitler had always regarded the German-Soviet nonaggression pact, sig

2、ned on August 23, 1939, as a temporary tactical maneuver. In July 1940, just weeks after the German conquest of France and the Low Countries, Hitler decided to attack the Soviet Union within the following year. On December 18, 1940, he signed Directive 21 (code-named Operation Barbarossa), the first operational order for the invasion of the Soviet Union. German conquests in Europe, 1939-1942See mapsFrom the beginning of operational planning, German military and police authorities intended to wag

3、e a war of annihilation against the Communist state as well as the Jews of the Soviet Union, whom they characterized as forming the racial basis for the Soviet state. During the winter and spring months of 1941, officials of the Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres-OKH) and the Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt-RSHA) negotiated arrangements for the deployment of special units (Einsatzgruppen) of the Security Police and the Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst-SD) behind

4、the front lines to physically annihilate Jews, Communists and other persons deemed to be dangerous to establishment of long-term German rule on Soviet territory. With 134 Divisions at full fighting strength and 73 more divisions for deployment behind the front, German forces invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, less than two years after the German-Soviet Pact was signed. Three army groups, including more than three million German soldiers, supported by 650,000 troops from Germanys allies (

5、Finland and Romania), and later augmented by units from Italy, Croatia, Slovakia and Hungary, attacked the Soviet Union across a broad front, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. For months, the Soviet leadership had refused to heed warnings from the Western Powers of the German troop buildup along its western border. Germany and its Axis partners thus achieved almost complete tactical surprise. Much of the existing Soviet air force was destroyed on the ground; the Sov

6、iet armies were initially overwhelmed. German units encircled millions of Soviet soldiers, who, cut off from supplies and reinforcements, had few options other than to surrender. 整理为word格式Operation BarbarossaBarbarossas operational goal was rapid conquest of the European part of the Soviet Union west of a line connecting the cities of Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan, often called the A-A line (see the translation of Hitlers directive for details). At its end in January 1942, the Red Army had repelled

7、the Wehrmachts strongest blow. Adolf Hitler had not achieved the expected victory, but the Soviet Unions situation remained dire. Tactically, the Germans had won some resounding victories and occupied some of the most important economic areas of the country, mainly in Ukraine.13 Despite these successes, the Germans were pushed back from Moscow and could never mount an offensive simultaneously along the entire strategic Soviet-German front again.14Operation Barbarossas failure led to Hitlers dema

8、nds for further operations inside the USSR, all of which eventually failed, such as continuing the Siege of Leningrad,1516 Operation Nordlicht, and Battle of Stalingrad, among other battles on the occupied Soviet territory.1718192021Operation Barbarossa is still the largest military operation, in terms of manpower and casualties, in human history.22 Its failure was a turning point in the Third Reichs fortunes. Most importantly, Operation Barbarossa opened up the Eastern Front, in which more forc

9、es were committed than in any other theatre of war in world history. Operation Barbarossa and the areas that fell under it became the site of some of the largest battles, deadliest atrocities, highest casualties, and most horrific conditions for Soviets and Germans alike all of which influenced the course of both World War II and 20th-century history.German intentionsNazi theory regarding the Soviet UnionAs early as 1925, Hitler made his intentions clear in Mein Kampf (My Struggle). He would invade the Soviet Union, asserting that the German people needed Lebensraum (living space, i.e. land and raw materials) and that these should be sought in the east. Nazi racial ideology cast the Soviet Union as populated by untermenschen ethnic Slavs ruled by their Jewish Bolshevik masters.2324 Mein Kampf said Germanys destiny was to turn to the East as it did six hundred years ago and the e

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