ABSTRACT
We now undertake perhaps the most important task of all; the task of reviewing all that has gone before, and reflecting on what it means in a contemporary sense. Consideration of these events in isolation really has no meaning. Meaning can only be derived from how we synthesize what we have learned, and how we use the information in the future. I will first briefly set out what I call tentative conclusions derived from analysis of operations in 1941 from the Soviet standpoint. Then there will be a short analysis from the German standpoint, followed by perhaps the most important section from the standpoint of contemporary war, a section on the topic of the initial period of war (nachaVnyi period voiny). This topic has dominated Soviet thought since 1958 and certainly dominates Soviet military thought today.
