ABSTRACT
The attention the battle may receive will depend on its relative importance in the course of the war. If it is of any consequence, military historians will review all of the plans for the battle, the action and after-action reports of the participating units, and interview the survivors. In all of the studies of battle one aspect looms large. The German attack on Russia on June 22, 1941, was a massive air and ground assault along a 1,800-mile front. Its objective was to destroy the Russian military forces and topple the Communist government. The German attack on Russia, it could have been a factor that might have affected the outcome of the war, but the attitude of the Russian people was not even considered in German intelligence estimates because Adolf Hitler did not want it considered. Intentions constitute the most closely guarded of national or battlefield secrets.
