Operation Barbarossa began

On June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa began. Over four million soldiers of the German army invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km (1,800 mi) front, the largest invasion in the history of warfare. In addition to troops, Barbarossa used 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses. The ambitious operation was driven by Adolf Hitler's persistent desire to conquer the Soviet territories, and it marked the beginning of the pivotal phase in deciding the victors of the war. For Germany (in short) it was a very bad decision. The German invasion of the Soviet Union caused a very high rate of fatalities on both sides. In the end, after three years of fighting, small Soviet victories pushed the Germans back to Berlin, and with the Allies in control of central Europe, Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.