15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
==Operation Barbarossa==
[[File:Barb_2.jpegjpg|thumbnail|275px|German soldier in front of BT-7 Panzer tank in Ukraine in 1941]]
In addition to weakness the Soviet's showed in Finland, Hitler had also been alarmed by the Soviet Union's seizure of part of Romania. He was concerned that Stalin would target the oil fields in Romania. These oil fields are vital to the German war effort. Hitler moved divisions into Poland and in December 1940 issued a directive for the invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. Stalin was warned by several sources of the imminent threat of a Nazi invasion. The Germans actions had been monitored by Soviet Intelligence. Stalin refused to believe it- instead, he continued to assume that Hitler would abide by the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.