Inside the Biggest Invasion in Human History | World War II With Tom Hanks

Why did Joseph Stalin ignore one of the greatest intelligence warnings in history?

Despite receiving reports from spies, military attachés, and foreign governments, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin refused to believe that Adolf Hitler was preparing to invade the Soviet Union. Convinced that Germany would honor the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Stalin dismissed repeated warnings that Operation Barbarossa—the largest military invasion ever assembled—was about to begin.

In June 1941, more than three million German troops crossed into Soviet territory, launching a surprise attack that devastated the Red Army and threatened the very existence of the Soviet Union. As the Wehrmacht raced toward Moscow, Stalin faced the greatest crisis of his rule.

But one intelligence report changed everything.

After learning that Japan would not attack the Soviet Far East, Stalin transferred hundreds of thousands of battle-ready Siberian troops to defend Moscow. Their arrival helped launch a massive counteroffensive that halted Hitler's advance and transformed the course of World War II. See more in this clip from Season 1, Episode 3, "Barbarossa."

Featuring:

Operation Barbarossa
Joseph Stalin
Adolf Hitler
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Soviet Intelligence
German Invasion of the USSR
Battle for Moscow
Siberian Divisions
World War II Eastern Front
Nazi Germany
Soviet Counteroffensive
Military Intelligence History

#WWII #OperationBarbarossa #Stalin #Hitler #BattleOfMoscow #MilitaryHistory #WorldWar2 #EasternFront #HistoryChannel #WarHistory

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For eighty years, the Second World War has remained the most devastating and defining conflict in human history. "World War II with Tom Hanks" is a landmark documentary event that reexamines the war through the lens of a new century. Told over twenty hours and guided by Tom Hanks, whose lifelong passion for this history has shaped some of the most profound screen portrayals of the era, the series captures the full arc of the war — from the rise of fascism in Europe to the fall of Berlin, from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, and the uneasy peace that follows. Each episode uncovers new dimensions of the conflict: the decisions that shaped the battlefield, the unseen networks that sustained the war effort, and the aftershocks that still shape our world today.

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