Frederick Barbarossa and Operation Barbarossa — The Middle Ages and World War II.On June 22nd,

Frederick Barbarossa and Operation Barbarossa — The Middle Ages and World War II.On June 22nd, 1941 over four million German soldiers and their allies, 4,300 tanks, 4,389 aircraft, 600,000 motor vehicle, and 7,200 artillery pieces crossed the border between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union.  Called “Operation Barbarossa”, the German invasion of Russia was and still is the largest military operation in all of human history.  The operation came to being as a result of Adolf Hitlers persistent ambition to conquer Russia for his new empire’s “living space”.  The codename for the operation was named after the medieval German emperor Frederick Barbarossa (Frederick I), a popular figure in the history of the middle ages.  However the stories of Frederick Barbarossa and Operation Barbarossa are so ironic that perhaps Hitler should have found another name for his plan.Frederick Barbarossa was a Holy Roman Emperor who reigned from 1155 - 1190.  At the time the Holy Roman Empire was mostly a German empire.  However Frederick sought to revive ancient Roman customs and law in order to make his German empire more “Roman”.  Part of his plans to create a new Roman Empire was to conquer Italy.  After all, how can your empire be Roman it you don’t include Rome?Between 1158 - 1174 he invaded Italy a number of times, each on the pretense of resolving medieval political problems and defending the Catholic Church.  At first his invasions were very successful and he managed to conquer territories in Northern and Central Italy.  For a time he even occupied the city of Rome itself.  However the kingdoms and city-states of Italy united against him, pushing his forces back.  Eventually all of Northern Italy rose against him and formed the Lombard League.  Even the Pope, his traditional ally, supported the league against him.  By the 1180’s his armies had been ousted from Italy, and his dreams of a unified Roman Empire dashed.  The amazing thing is that he came so close to ultimate victory, only to suffer a quick reversal by a hardened and determined enemy.  After his defeat Barbarossa saw one last opportunity for glory with the Third Crusade.  He formed an army of over 100,000 and joined with Richard the Lionheart in 1199.  Unfortunately at the Saleph River in Turkey he grew impatient waiting for his troops to cross a crowded bridge.  Instead he chose to cross the river himself, where in fell in and drowned due to the weight of his armor.  Bummer!740 years later Frederick Barbarossa became a near mythical figure among the Nazi’s, hearkening back to Germany’s glory days of empire during the middle ages.  As a result Hitler himself would code name the grand invasion of Russia “Barbarossa” in honor of the German Emperor. Perhaps Hitler would have been smarter to name the operation after someone whose conquests had not failed. The history of Frederick Barbarossa and his failings to conquer Italy would be a dark omen for the Germans in their conquest of the Soviet Union.  Between July and November of 1940 German armies advanced throughout Eastern Russia, capturing or laying siege to key cities, destroying military equipment and infrastructure, and killing or capturing millions of Russian soldiers.  They came very close to winning the war, as close as Frederick Barbarossa was to winning his over 700 years earlier.  By December 2nd, 1941, advance units of the German Army had reached within 15 miles of Moscow, even sighting the spires of the Kremlin.  German reconnaissance units even made it as far as 5 miles from the city.  Then the Russian winter set in and Soviet forces began to strike back.  It all went downhill for the Germans from there, so close and yet so far.  Somewhere Frederick Barbarossa is smiling.Four years later Hitler sat in his bunker while Soviet troops stormed Berlin.  He contemplated all the mistake he had made while holding a pistol.  Perhaps he should have named the operation after Otto the Great? -- source link

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