June 23, 1941 saw the German army launch Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of what state?
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (German: "Unternehmen Barbarossa") was the code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, which started on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. The operation stemmed from Nazi Germany's ideological aims to conquer the western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by Germans, to use Slavs, especially Poles, as a slave-labour force for the Axis war effort, and to seize the oil reserves of the Caucasus and the agricultural resources of Soviet territories. In the two years leading up to the invasion, Germany and the Soviet Union signed political and economic
Operation Barbarossa April 1941, the Germans had begun setting up Operation Haifisch and Operation Harpune to substantiate their claims that Britain was the real target. These simulated preparations in Norway and the English Channel coast included activities such as ship concentrations, reconnaissance flights and training exercises. The reasons for the postponement of Barbarossa from the initially planned date of 15 May to the actual invasion date of 22 June 1941 (a 38-day delay) are debated. The reason most commonly cited is the unforeseen contingency of invading Yugoslavia in April 1941. Historian Thomas B. Buell indicates that Finland and Romania, which weren't involved