The Forgotten Soldier

Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of antisemitism and the Holocaust.

On June 22, 1941, Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union in what remains to this day the largest land action in military history. It would prove to be the most consequential decision in the 12-year history of the Nazi regime, as it would reach the height of its power on the European continent, building an empire that stretched from the English Channel to the gates of Moscow, only to then suffer grievous defeats which began a slow but ultimately total decline and fall. Historians have long debated why Adolf Hitler made this fateful choice, particularly given the circumstances of the moment. In the late summer of 1939, Hitler initiated World War II by avoiding the chief mistake Germany had made in World War I: fighting a two-front war. Prior to invading Poland, and thereby triggering war with France and Britain, Hitler made a pact with Soviet ruler Josef Stalin, essentially dividing Poland between them and ensuring Stalin’s cooperation as Germany focused on fighting its Western adversaries. The dark year of 1940 followed, culminating in the spectacular collapse of France, the near-destruction of the British expeditionary force (until its miraculous rescue at Dunkirk), and the commencement of the German blitz bombing of London and other British cities. Britain fought back, and it became clear that Hitler could not invade or bomb Britain into surrender. With one major Western foe shaken but unbroken, it is uncertain why Hitler then chose to open up the dreaded second front against the world’s largest country, which up to that point had been cooperative, if not actively friendly.

One typical explanation centers on Hitler’s personality. The dictator exercised enormous control, especially on major strategic decisions, and early victories had convinced him that he knew better than his more cautious General Staff. In this respect, Hitler would join the ranks of Napoleon, who launched his own ill-fated invasion of Russia in 1812, and other powerful leaders who became victims of their own ambition. Another explanation is rooted in the specific ideology of Nazism. In addition to viewing the Slavs as “sub-humans” fit for enslavement or extermination, the Nazis regarded communism as a tool that Jewish people used to weaken and control otherwise superior races. Furthermore, the Soviet Union contained an overwhelming majority of Europe’s Jews. Conquering European Russia would therefore validate Hitler’s racial fantasies of a “Jew-free” Europe, and the invasion did commence the systematic mass murder of Jews that would become known as the Holocaust. The invasion can also be viewed as a rational, if ultimately unsuccessful, strategic bid. Like Napoleon’s, Hitler’s was a land empire surrounded by enemy sea power. A large empire needs a large supply base, and without access to overseas resources, none of Germany’s tactical prowess would matter in a long war of attrition. The Soviet Union’s enormous supplies of grain, oil, and other resources would therefore enable the Nazis to sustain themselves indefinitely, bypassing the British blockade. Whatever the reason for Hitler’s decision, it was an attempt to win the war in one stroke, which resulted in the deadliest theater of war in world history.