Enemy in the East: Hitler’s Secret Plans to Invade the Soviet Union

Description

Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, led to one of the most brutal campaigns of World War II: of the estimated 70 million people who died in the war, over 30 million died on the Eastern Front. Although it has previously been argued that the campaign was a pre-emptive strike, in fact, Hitler had been planning a war of intervention against the USSR ever since he came to power in 1933. Using previously unseen sources, acclaimed military historian Rolf-Dieter M̈ller shows that Hitler and the Wehrmacht had begun to negotiate with Poland and had even considered an alliance with Japan soon after taking power. Despite the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, at the declaration of war in September 1939, military engagement with the Red Army was still a very real and imminent possibility. In Enemy in the East, M̈ller takes us behind the scenes of the Wehrmacht High Command, providing a fascinating insight into a lesser known story of World War II. Cover Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations List of Maps Introduction 1. Germany and Its Neighbours to the East 2. A War of Intervention against the Soviet Union? 3. The Turning Point in German–Polish Relations 4. Preparations for the War in the East 5. From the Hitler–Stalin Pact to Operation Barbarossa Conclusion Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index