Given Germanys military situation in 1941, was Hitlers decision to invade the Soviet Union based on sound strategic judgment? History tends to discolor events based on the outcome of a decision or battle. Examining Germany's (Hitlers) decision to invade the Soviet Union can easily be critiqued by the flaws that resulted in his defeat, but is this an accurate way of looking at Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. Wars are won and lost by the decisions made and the decision to proceed with the attack named 'Operation Barbarossa' in the early summer of 1941 was not based on sound strategic judgment.Beginning early on in his life and exemplified in his book Mein Kampf, Hitler had a hatred of Russia and her people. We terminate the endless German drive to the south and the west of Europe, and direct our gaze towards the lands in the eastIf we talk about new soil and territory in Europe today, we can think primarily only of Russia and its vassal border states. With his mind already set on exterminating the Slavs and Jews long before becoming the fuehrer of Germany, his rise to power gave him a reason to carry out his plan. Hitler foresaw Barbarossa as the key to accomplish many of his vital strategic objectives. Due to bad strategic decisions, limited resources, no intelligence and clouded vision, Germany should not have invaded Russia (Operation Barbarossa).The invasion on the Soviet Union was not a good strategic decision. While Hitler had secured quick and decisive victories against France, Czechoslovakia, Holland and Belgium, he did not take into account the importance of the British and never believed the United States would play a role in the war. These two serious underestimations lead to Hitlers defeat in the Soviet Union and eventually the WWII.The initial mistake during Operation Barbarossa was the delaying the invasion of Moscow by five weeks. Hitlers strategy called for three legs (armies) to attack different targets. ...
