Operation Barbarossa (World War II) war movies

Operation Barbarossa 22 June 1941

German invasion on Russia. Both countries in 1939 have signed the treaty known as Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that was the mutual agreement to invade Poland. Based on that treaty both armies have split Polish land and were suppose to keep the status quo. But in 1941 Hitler decided to expend the German Lebensraum ("living space") towards east and started the invasion on Soviet Union hoping to gain Russian oil rigs on Caucasus, vast agricultural terrains of Ukraine and Belarus and the raw materials.

The strategy of Blitzkrieg again brought Germans the early success - although they failed to surprise Soviets with the attack (hours before the invasion Red Army was put on the alert), the poor coordination of defence helped Wehrmacht to break through the whole front and pushing quickly towards the strategic points from Baltic to Black Sea. Stalin, understanding the situation that there is no way to prepare defence soon enough, gave the order to retreating units to leave a "burning ground" behind them, so German would not find anything useful while they advance and have to rely on the supplies travelled from their homeland. This slowed down German offensive slightly and it partially stopped the operation, but also brought famine to all the habitants.

The losses of Soviets were huge - over 4 million people died during Operation Barbarossa due to combat and non-combat causes, they lost over 20,000 tanks and over 20,000 aircrafts. Germans gained vast parts of Soviet Union while losing about 800,000 people, 3000 aircrafts and 2500 tanks.

Panzerkampfwagen II

T-34 tank

Panzerkampfwagen III

KV-1 tank

Panzerkampfwagen IV

Panzerjaeger I

War movies about Operation Barbarossa

Burnt by the Sun 2 2010

German invasion of Soviet Union seen from point of view of individuals, not armies.

War games about Operation Barbarossa

Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 (2006)

Multiplayer game set on the Eastern Front during World War 2 in which we can join one of the sides of the conflict and take part in clashes in the ruined cities or the vast open spaces of Russia using armoured cars and tanks.