The German attack on the USSR was a serious, pre-planned operation. Several variants of conquest are known.
One of the first special plans for an attack on the USSR was the calculations of General E. Marx, according to which it was envisaged to defeat Soviet troops in two strikes within 9-17 weeks and reach a line from Arkhangelsk through Gorky to Rostov-on-Don.
Further study of the issue was entrusted to Paulus, as well as to those generals who were planned to be involved in the operation. By mid-September 1940 the work was completed. In parallel with this, B. Lossberg was working on developing a plan for war with the USSR at the headquarters of the operational leadership. Many of his ideas were reflected in the final version of the attack plan:
- lightning-fast actions and surprise attacks;
- devastating border battles;
- consolidation at a certain point;
- three army groups.
The plan was reviewed and approved by Brauchitsch, the commander-in-chief of the ground forces. On December 18, 1940, the Fuhrer signed Directive No. 21, according to which the plan was called “Barbarossa”.
Plan Barbarossa contained the following main ideas:
- blitzkrieg.
- The frontier for the Wehrmacht forces: the line from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan.
- The fleet performed auxiliary tasks: support and supply.
- A strike in three strategic directions: northern - through the Baltic states to the northern capital, central - through Belarus to Moscow. The third direction - through Kyiv it was necessary to reach the Volga. This was the main direction.
It is noteworthy that the Barbarossa plan, according to Directive No. 32, dated June 11, 1941, was to be completed at the end of autumn.
The army group, called “Center,” under the leadership of Bok, was given the main tasks: to defeat Soviet troops in Belarus with a subsequent attack on Moscow. The tasks were only partially completed. The closer German troops came to Moscow, the stronger the resistance of the Soviet troops became. As a result, the speed of German advance dropped. In 1941, at the beginning of December, Soviet troops began to push the Germans away from Moscow.
The army group located in the north received the same name. General management was carried out by Leeb. The main task is to capture the Baltic states and Leningrad. Leningrad, as you know, was not captured, so main task turned out to be a failure
The southern grouping of the German armies was called "South". General management was carried out by Rundstedt. He was instructed to carry out an offensive operation from the city of Lviv, through Kyiv to reach the Crimea, Odessa. The final goal was Rostov-on-Don, under which this group failed.
The German plan for attacking the USSR “Barbarossa” included blitzkrieg as an indispensable condition for victory. The key ideas of Blitzkrieg were to achieve victory in a short-term campaign by completely defeating the main enemy forces in border battles. Moreover, the result had to be achieved due to superiority in the management and organization of interaction of forces, their concentration on the directions of the main attacks, and speed of maneuver. Within 70 days, German forces were to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. Despite the long preparation of offensive plans, the Barbarossa plan had serious shortcomings:
- there were no provisions in case the advance of German troops was delayed;
- lack of reliable data on the potential of Soviet industry;
- misunderstanding of the geographical scale of the operation (for example, the German command considered it possible to bomb the entire eastern territory USSR from Moscow).
And most importantly, the German command did not take into account all the dedication Soviet people and all the desire to repel the fascists, who, ultimately, were the reason for the failure of the Barbarossa plan.
Great Patriotic War
German attack plan on the USSR
Adolf Hitler studying a map of Russia
The Soviet-Finnish war served as a harsh lesson for the country's leadership, showing that our army, weakened by mass repressions, modern warfare not ready. Stalin made the necessary conclusions and began to take measures to reorganize and re-equip the army. In the upper echelons of power there was complete confidence in the inevitability of war, and the task was to have time to prepare for it.
Hitler also understood our unpreparedness. In his inner circle, he said shortly before the attack that Germany had made a revolution in military affairs, ahead of other countries by three to four years; but all countries are catching up, and Germany may soon lose this advantage, and therefore it is necessary to solve the military problems on the continent in a year or two. Despite the fact that Germany and the USSR made peace in 1939, Hitler still decided to attack Soviet Union, since it was a necessary step on the path to world domination of Germany and the “Third Reich”. German intelligence officers came to the conclusion that the Soviet army was in many ways inferior to the German one - it was less organized, less prepared and, most importantly, the technical equipment of Russian soldiers left much to be desired. It should be emphasized that the British intelligence service MI6 also played a role in inciting Hitler against the USSR. Before the war, the British managed to acquire the German Enigma encryption machine and thanks to this they read all the encrypted correspondence of the Germans. From Wehrmacht encryption they knew the exact timing of the attack on the USSR. But before Churchill sent a warning to Stalin, British intelligence tried to use the information they received to spark a German-Soviet conflict. She also owns a fake that was distributed in the USA - supposedly the Soviet Union, having received information about Hitler’s impending attack, decided to get ahead of him and is preparing it itself preemptive strike in Germany. This disinformation was intercepted by Soviet intelligence and reported to Stalin. The widespread practice of fakes caused him to distrust all information about the imminent Nazi attack.
Plan Barbarossa
In June 1940, Hitler instructed Generals Marx and Paulus to develop a plan for an attack on the USSR. On December 18, 1940, the plan, codenamed Plan Barbarossa, was ready. The document was produced in only nine copies, of which three were presented to the commanders-in-chief of the ground forces, air force and navy, and six were hidden in the safes of the Wehrmacht command. Directive No. 21 contained only general plan and initial instructions on waging war against the USSR.
The essence of the Barbarossa plan was to attack the USSR, taking advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness, defeat the Red Army and occupy the Soviet Union. Hitler placed the main emphasis on modern military equipment, which belonged to Germany, and the effect of surprise. The attack on the USSR was planned in the spring-summer of 1941, the final date of the attack was made dependent on the success of the German army in the Balkans. Setting a deadline for aggression, Hitler said: “I will not make the same mistake as Napoleon; when I go to Moscow, I will set out early enough to reach it before winter.” The generals convinced him that a victorious war would last no more than 4-6 weeks.
At the same time, Germany used the memorandum of November 25, 1940 to put pressure on those countries whose interests were affected by it, and primarily on Bulgaria, which in March 1941 joined the fascist coalition. Soviet-German relations continued to deteriorate throughout the spring of 1941, especially with the invasion of Yugoslavia by German troops hours after the signing of the Soviet-Yugoslav Friendship Treaty. The USSR did not react to this aggression, as well as to the attack on Greece. At the same time, Soviet diplomacy managed to achieve a major success by signing a non-aggression pact with Japan on April 13, which significantly reduced tension on the Far Eastern borders of the USSR.
Tank group
Despite the alarming course of events, the USSR, until the very beginning of the war with Germany, could not believe in the inevitability of a German attack. Soviet supplies to Germany increased significantly due to the renewal of the 1940 economic agreements on January 11, 1941. In order to demonstrate its “trust” to Germany, the Soviet government refused to take into account the numerous reports received since the beginning of 1941 about an attack on the USSR being prepared and did not take the necessary measures on its western borders. Germany was still viewed by the Soviet Union "as a great friendly power."
According to the “Barbarossa Plan,” 153 German divisions were involved in aggression against the USSR. In addition, Finland, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary intended to participate in the upcoming war. Together they fielded another 37 divisions. The invasion force consisted of about 5 million soldiers, 4,275 aircraft, 3,700 tanks. The troops of Germany and its allies were united into 3 army groups: “North”, “Center”, “South”. Each group included 2-4 armies, 1-2 tank groups, and from the air German troops were supposed to cover 4 air fleets.
The most numerous was the army group "South" (Field Marshal von Rundstedt), consisting of German and Romanian soldiers. This group was tasked with defeating Soviet troops in Ukraine and Crimea and occupying these territories. Army Group Center (Field Marshal von Bock) was supposed to defeat Soviet troops in Belarus and advance to Minsk-Smolensk-Moscow. Army Group North (Field Marshal von Leeb), with the support of Finnish troops, was to capture the Baltic states, Leningrad, and the Russian North.
Discussion of the OST plan
The final goal of the “Barbaros plan” was the destruction of the Red Army, access to the Ural ridge and the occupation of the European part of the Soviet Union. The basis of German tactics was tank breakthroughs and encirclements. The Russian company was supposed to become a blitzkrieg - a lightning war. Only 2-3 weeks were allotted to defeat the Soviet troops located in the western regions of the USSR. General Jodl told Hitler: “In three weeks this house of cards will fall apart.” The entire campaign was planned to be completed in 2 months.
German troops received instructions to carry out a policy of genocide towards the Slavic and Jewish populations. According to the OST plan, the Nazis intended to destroy 30 million Slavs, and the rest were to be converted into slaves. Were considered possible allies Crimean Tatars, peoples of the Caucasus. The enemy army was an almost perfect military mechanism. The German soldier was rightfully considered the best in the world, the officers and generals were excellently trained, the troops had a wealth of combat experience. The most significant drawback of the German army was the underestimation of the enemy’s forces - German generals considered it possible to wage war in several theaters at once: in Western Europe, V Eastern Europe, in Africa. Later, already at the entrance of the Great Patriotic War, such miscalculations as lack of fuel and unpreparedness for combat operations in winter conditions will affect.
Gabriel Tsobekhia
Operation Barbarossa (Barbarossa plan 1941) - a plan for a military attack and rapid seizure of the territory of the USSR by Hitler’s troops during.
The plan and essence of Operation Barbarossa was to quickly and unexpectedly attack Soviet troops on their own territory and, taking advantage of the enemy’s confusion, defeat the Red Army. Then, within two months, the German army was to advance deep into the country and conquer Moscow. Control over the USSR gave Germany the opportunity to fight with the United States for the right to dictate its terms in world politics.
Hitler, who had already managed to conquer almost all of Europe, was confident of his victory over the USSR. However, the Barbarossa plan turned out to be a failure; the protracted operation turned into a long war.
The Barbarossa plan received its name in honor of the medieval king of Germany, Frederick 1st, who bore the nickname Barbarossa and was famous for his military achievements.
Contents of Operation Barbarossa. Hitler's plans
Although Germany and the USSR made peace in 1939, Hitler still decided to attack Russia, as this was a necessary step towards world domination by Germany and the Third Reich. Hitler instructed the German command to collect information about the composition Soviet army and on this basis draw up a plan of attack. This is how Plan Barbarossa came into being.
After an inspection, German intelligence officers came to the conclusion that the Soviet army was in many ways inferior to the German: it was less organized, less prepared, and the technical equipment of Russian soldiers left much to be desired. Focusing precisely on these principles, Hitler created a plan for a rapid attack that was supposed to ensure Germany's victory in record time.
The essence of the Barbarossa plan was to attack the USSR on the borders of the country and, taking advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness, defeat the army and then destroy it. Hitler placed the main emphasis on modern military equipment that belonged to Germany and the effect of surprise.
The plan was to be carried out at the beginning of 1941. First, German troops were to attack the Russian army in Belarus, where the bulk of it was gathered. Having defeated Soviet soldiers in Belarus, Hitler planned to advance towards Ukraine, conquer Kyiv and the sea routes, cutting off Russia from the Dnieper. At the same time, a blow was to be delivered to Murmansk from Norway. Hitler planned to launch an attack on Moscow, surrounding the capital from all sides.
Despite careful preparation in an atmosphere of secrecy, from the first weeks it became clear that the Barbarossa plan was a failure.
Implementation of the Barbarossa plan and results
From the very first days, the operation began to not be as successful as planned. First of all, this happened due to the fact that Hitler and the German command underestimated the Soviet troops. According to historians, the Russian army was not only equal in strength to the German one, but in many ways superior to it.
The Soviet troops turned out to be well prepared, in addition, military operations took place on Russian territory, so the soldiers could use the natural conditions, which they knew better than the Germans, to their advantage. The Soviet army was also able to hold its own and not fall apart into separate units thanks to good command and the ability to mobilize and make lightning-fast decisions.
At the beginning of the attack, Hitler planned to quickly advance deep into the Soviet army and begin to split it into pieces, separating units from each other in order to avoid mass operations from the Russians. He managed to advance, but failed to break the front: Russian detachments quickly gathered together and brought up new forces. This led to the fact that Hitler’s army, although winning, moved deeper into the country catastrophically slowly, not by kilometers, as planned, but by meters.
Only a few months later, Hitler managed to approach Moscow, but the German army did not dare to launch an attack - the soldiers were exhausted from prolonged military operations, and the city was never bombed, although something else was planned. Hitler also failed to bomb Leningrad, which was besieged and blockaded, but did not surrender and was not destroyed from the air.
It began, which lasted from 1941 to 1945 and ended with the defeat of Hitler.
Reasons for the failure of Plan Barbarossa
Hitler's plan failed for several reasons:
- the Russian army turned out to be stronger and more prepared than the German command expected: the Russians compensated for the lack of modern military equipment with the ability to fight in difficult natural conditions, as well as competent command;
- the Soviet army had excellent counterintelligence: thanks to intelligence officers, the command almost always knew about the enemy’s next move, which made it possible to quickly and adequately respond to the actions of the attackers;
- inaccessibility of territories: the Germans did not know the territory of the USSR well, since it was extremely difficult to get maps. In addition, they did not know how to fight in impenetrable forests;
- loss of control over the course of the war: the Barbarossa plan quickly showed its inconsistency, and after a few months Hitler completely lost control over the course of hostilities.
At the end of 1940, Hitler signed an ominous document - Directive 21, which became known as Plan Barbarossa. The attack on the USSR was initially planned for May 15: the German command planned to finish off the Red Army before the onset of autumn. However, the Balkan operation launched by Germany to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed back the date of the attack to June 22.
If you want peace, prepare for war
The emergence of the Barbarossa plan may seem strange at first glance. Only a year ago, a non-aggression pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union - the so-called Ribbentrop-Molotov Treaty, which provided for the redistribution of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. What has changed in the relations between the recent “allies”? Firstly, in June 1940, France, Hitler’s most serious continental opponent, capitulated to German troops. Secondly, the recent winter war of the USSR against Finland showed that the Soviet fighting machine turned out to be not so powerful, especially against the backdrop of German successes. And thirdly, Hitler was still afraid to start military operation against England, with Soviet divisions in the rear. Therefore, immediately after the French signed the surrender, the German command began to develop a plan for a military campaign against the USSR.
Tooth for tooth
Finland and Romania were to play a large role in the implementation of the Barbarossa plan. More recently, the Soviet Union captured the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg from the Finns, and Bessarabia from the Romanians, i.e. lands that were previously part of Russian Empire. The leadership of these countries longed for revenge. According to the Barbarossa plan, Finnish troops were supposed to pin down Soviet troops with their offensive in the north, and Romanian troops in the south. While the German units will deliver a crushing blow in the center.
Neutrality in Swedish
During World War II, Sweden officially declared its neutrality. However, in the Barbarossa plan, the role of Sweden is clearly stated - the Swedes had to provide their railways to transfer 2-3 German divisions to help Finland. Everything went according to plan - in the very first days of the war, a German division was sent through Swedish territory to operate in Northern Finland. True, the Swedish Prime Minister soon promised the frightened Swedish people that not a single German division would be allowed through Swedish territory and that the country would not enter the war against the USSR. However, in practice, the transit of German military materials to Finland took place through Sweden; German transport ships transported troops there, taking refuge in Swedish territorial waters, and until the winter of 1942/43 they were accompanied by a convoy of Swedish naval forces. The Nazis achieved the supply of Swedish goods on credit and their transportation mainly on Swedish ships.
Stalin line
In the 30s, a powerful system of defensive structures was built on the western borders of the USSR, which consisted of fortified areas from the Karelian Isthmus to the Black Sea; in the West it was called Stalin’s line. The fortified area included casemates, positions for field artillery, and bunkers for anti-tank guns. After the division of Poland and the return of Western Ukraine and the Baltic states, the border moved back and Stalin’s line was in the rear, some of the weapons were transported to the new borders, but Zhukov insisted that some of the artillery weapons be retained in the disarmed areas. The Barbarossa plan provided for the breakthrough of border fortifications by tank troops, but the German command, apparently, did not take Stalin’s line into account. Subsequently, some fortified areas played a role in the war; their assault made it possible to delay the advance of the Nazis and disrupt the blitzkrieg.
And we'll go south!
The fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, the large stretch of troops, and the partisan war in the rear led to Hitler deciding to seek his fortune in the south. On August 21, 1941, Hitler issued a new directive stating that the most important task before the onset of winter is not the capture of Moscow, but the capture of Crimea, industrial and coal areas on the Donets River and blocking the Russian oil supply routes from the Caucasus. The Barbarossa plan, which envisaged a march on Moscow, was bursting at the seams. Part of the troops of Army Group Center was redeployed to help Army Group South in order to achieve a strategic advantage in Ukraine. As a result, the attack on Moscow began only at the end of September - time was lost and the Russian winter loomed ahead.
Club of the People's War
The plan developed by the German generals did not take into account the resistance of the civilian population at all. With the onset of autumn, the German advance slowed down significantly, the war dragged on, and the civilian population did not greet the victors as submissive Europeans and, at the first opportunity, struck back at the invaders. Italian observer Curzio Malaparte noted: “When the Germans begin to be afraid, when the mysterious German fear creeps into their hearts, one begins to especially fear for them and feel pity for them. They look pathetic, their cruelty is sad, their courage is silent and hopeless. This is where the Germans begin to go berserk... They begin to kill prisoners who have rubbed their feet and can no longer walk. They begin to burn villages that failed to provide the required amount of grain and flour, barley and oats, cattle and horses. When there are almost no Jews left, they hang the peasants.” The people responded to the atrocities of the fascists by joining the partisans, the cudgel people's war, without understanding anything, began to nail the Germans in the rear.
General "Winter"
The blitzkrieg plan captivated Hitler so much that during its development the fact of a protracted war was not even considered. The attack was originally planned for May 15 to finish off the Soviets before the onset of autumn, but in reality Hitler's Balkan Operation to seize Yugoslavia and Greece pushed the date of the attack to June 22 - time was needed to transfer troops. As a result, General “Winter,” as the Germans called him, came out on the side of the Russians. Hitler’s army was completely unprepared for winter; captured Germans sometimes found themselves dressed in work clothes, pulled over uniform trousers and jackets and lined with unnecessary paper, including leaflets calling for surrender, which were scattered from airplanes behind the front line over Russian locations. Hands without mittens froze to the metal parts of the weapon, and frostbite became no less a formidable enemy of the Germans than the advancing Soviet units.
One of the foundations of the Soviet idea of the Second World War is the myth that Germany’s attack on the USSR was for Hitler the ultimate goal of all military activities. They say that the victory over the Bolshevik USSR was main reason World War. And of course, that’s why France and England brought Hitler to power, and armed Germany, and “surrendered” Czechoslovakia to Hitler - just so that he would attack the USSR.
Like other Soviet myths, this idea is not true. Hitler saw world domination as the ultimate goal of the World War - in the most literal sense of the word.
In 1940, when the plan for an attack on the USSR had already been drawn up in all details and preparations for its implementation had begun, Hitler and the German General Staff rated the Red Army extremely low. Therefore, it was planned to carry out “Barbarossa” in a fairly short time and begin the next operations in the fall. And these operations were not planned against the USSR at all (it was believed that after German troops reached the Arkhangelsk-Volga line, the remnants of the USSR would not pose a military threat) - the goal of the operations was to seize the Middle East, West Africa and Gibraltar.
During the winter of 1940-1941, German General Staff officers carried out preliminary planning for these operations and by the summer they had created detailed plans. The most important document, which determined the entire complex of military-strategic measures, was OKW Directive No. 32 of June 11, 1941, “Preparation for the period after the implementation of the Barbarossa plan,” which stated: “After achieving the goals of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht divisions will have to fight against the British positions in the Mediterranean Sea and Western Asia through a concentric attack from Libya through Egypt, from Bulgaria through Turkey, and also, depending on the situation, from Transcaucasia through Iran.” The chief of staff of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht Supreme Command, Jodl, sent this directive to the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces on June 19, 1941, and it served as the basis for drawing up specific plans for the preparation of forces and equipment for future operations. Already from the end of August 1941 German military leaders intended to begin the withdrawal from the borders of the Soviet Union of part of the troops intended to carry out the next tasks of conquest. By this time, new units should have been formed to replenish the German forces in North Africa. The forces remaining in the USSR were supposed to carry out an operation to capture the entire Caucasus and Transcaucasia from November 1941 to September 1942, creating one of the bridgeheads for the attack on the Middle East.
OKW Directive No. 32 planned a strategic operation to capture the Middle East in three concentric attacks:
from the west - from Libya towards Egypt and Suez;
from the northwest - from Bulgaria through Turkey in the direction of Syria and Palestine;
from the north - from Transcaucasia through Iran to the oil-bearing regions of Iraq with access to the Persian Gulf at Basra.
It is with this operation that the strategic meaning of the appearance of Rommel’s African Corps in North Africa is connected. The Germans did not send troops there out of the goodness of their hearts to help the Italians or simply to fight the British. Rommel had to provide a strong springboard for an attack on Egypt, the capture of the Suez Canal and the further occupation of the entire Middle East. In mid-May 1941, the Nazi command hoped that four tank and three motorized divisions would be enough to invade Egypt from Libyan territory. On June 30, 1941, Jodl's headquarters informed the German representative at Italian headquarters that the attack on Egypt was planned for the fall, and the Afrika Korps under the command of Rommel would by then be transformed into a tank group.
At the same time, the “Offensive Plan through the Caucasus” was prepared: in the occupied territory of Soviet Transcaucasia it was planned to create task force"Caucasus-Iran" consisting of two tank, one motorized and two mountain rifle divisions to carry out operations in the direction of the Middle East. German troops were supposed to reach the Tabriz area and begin the invasion of Iran in July - September 1942.
To attack from the third direction - through Bulgaria and Turkey - on July 21, a special headquarters "F" was created under the leadership of General Felmy. It was to become the basis for the formation of a military group for the invasion, as well as “the central authority dealing with all questions of the Arab world concerning the Wehrmacht.” The special headquarters “F” was formed from German officers who knew oriental languages, Arabs and other representatives of Middle Eastern nationalities. It was assumed that by the time the operation began, Turkey would have already gone over to Germany or made its territory available for the transfer of troops. In the event of Turkey's refusal, Directive No. 32 ordered "to break its resistance by force of arms." Syria, which at that time was a protectorate of Vichy France, was also supposed to provide assistance to the Germans.
The Germans were also preparing a “fifth column”. In Germany, Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini launched the training of special preachers - the so-called “military mullahs”, who were supposed to raise the local population to revolt against the British, propagandize for the support of German troops, create rebel units and maintain morale in the Arab units that were to be formed to assist the Wehrmacht. The Abwehr created a wide underground network of rebel organizations in the Middle East. This was easy enough to do, since the Arabs were then eager to break out from the protectorates of England and France. Later, the Abwehr was able to organize several uprisings in Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia- but the British quickly suppressed them.
The outbreak of war with the Soviet Union did not slow down the planning of operations to capture the Middle East. On July 3, 1941, Halder wrote in his diary: “Preparation of an offensive in the direction of the interfluve of the Nile and Euphrates, both from Cyrenaica and through Anatolia and, possibly, from the Caucasus to Iran. The first direction, which will constantly depend on supply by sea and therefore remain subject to all sorts of incalculable contingencies, will be a secondary theater of military operations and will be left mainly to the Italian forces... The operation through Anatolia against Syria, in combination with an auxiliary operation from the Caucasus, will be launched after deployment of the necessary forces in Bulgaria, which at the same time should be used to put political pressure on Turkey in order to achieve the passage of troops through it.”
The British soberly assessed the capture of the Middle East by the Germans as a disaster: “Our forces in the Middle East must cover the most important oil reserves in Iraq and Iran and prevent the Germans from reaching the Indian Ocean bases. The loss of the Middle East will cause the immediate fall of Turkey, which will open the way for Germany to the Caucasus, and southern route through Iran, through which the Russians are supplied, will be cut off.” It is not surprising that the United States and England offered Stalin to transfer 20 American and British air squadrons to protect the Caucasus by the summer of 1942, and later to transfer parts of the 10th British Army to the Caucasus. But Stalin rejected these proposals: either because at that time he was inspired by the successes of the Red Army in the winter of 1941-1942 and believed that the Caucasus was not in danger, or because he did not trust the allies and was afraid of concentration allied troops next to the Soviet Union's main source of oil.
Another operation planned immediately after the completion of Barbarossa was Operation Felix. In fact, this operation was planned back in the summer of 1940, and the order for its implementation was given in OKW Directive No. 18 of November 12, 1940. It was envisaged to “capture Gibraltar and close the strait to the passage of English ships; keep a group of troops ready to immediately occupy Portugal if the British violate her neutrality or if she herself does not take a strictly neutral position; prepare the transportation after the occupation of Gibraltar of 1-2 divisions (including the 3rd Panzer Division) to Spanish Morocco to guard the Strait of Gibraltar and the North-West Africa region.”
The deadline for the operation was set at January 10, 1941, but the Germans, as always, were unlucky with their allies: Franco categorically refused the Germans not only assistance, but also the provision of Spanish territory for the transfer of troops to Gibraltar. To justify the refusal, Franco put forward a lot of reasons: the economic weakness of Spain, lack of food, the intractability of the transport problem, the loss of Spanish colonies if the war entered the war, etc. (when you really don’t want to, there will always be excuses).
Then Hitler did not dare to go into direct conflict with Spain. But with the defeat of the Soviet Union, the political situation in Europe was about to change completely. Now Hitler could not stand on ceremony with Franco (and he would have no choice - how to refuse the actual hegemon of Europe?). The plans for the operation changed somewhat: it was planned to strike Gibraltar (from Spanish territory), and at the same time occupy Spanish Morocco with a strike from Libya. The ultimate goal of the operation was the inclusion of the Iberian Peninsula in the territories completely controlled by the Axis powers and the expulsion of the English fleet from the Mediterranean Sea.
The next most important strategic step, also planned by the Nazi command even before the attack on the USSR, was the plan for the operation to capture India. The order to begin planning the operation to capture India through Afghanistan came from the Fuhrer himself. The Chief of the German General Staff, Halder, decided on February 17, 1941, “after the end of the eastern campaign, it is necessary to provide for the capture of Afghanistan and an attack on India.” And in April 1941, the General Staff reported to Hitler that the rough work on this plan had been completed. According to the calculations of the German command, 17 German divisions were needed to carry it out.
By the fall of 1941, the Germans were preparing to create a base for operations in Afghanistan, where they could concentrate troops. The plan, code-named “Amanullah,” provided for measures to ensure the march of German troops to Afghanistan and further to India. Part of the plan was to prepare a powerful anti-British uprising of Indian Muslims, which was supposed to break out when Wehrmacht soldiers appeared on the Indian border. It was planned to allocate a significant part of the “military mullahs” to work with the local population of Afghanistan and India.
The capture of India, according to the plans of the leadership of Nazi Germany, was supposed to finally undermine the power of the British Empire and force it to capitulate. Another important result of the capture of the Middle East and India was the establishment of a direct strategic connection between Germany and Japan, which made it possible to clear the expanses of the Indian Ocean from Africa to Australia from Axis opponents.
But the “Berlin dreamer” did not stop there either. In 1940-1941, the program guidelines of the Nazi leadership were formulated, which provided for the extension of German power to the American continent. On July 25, 1941, Hitler, at a meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, stated that at the end of the Eastern Expedition he “intends to take vigorous action against the United States.” It was planned to start the war in the fall of 1941 with the bombing of cities in the east of America. To achieve this, during Operation Icarus it was planned to occupy the Azores, Iceland and create strongholds on the west coast of Africa. 
The first stage of the invasion of America was supposed to be the capture of Brazil - and then the whole South America. From a secret map obtained by American intelligence from a German diplomatic courier in Brazil during the war, it is clear that the Nazis intended to completely redraw the map Latin America and create 5 vassal countries out of 14 states. The invasion of Canada and the United States was supposed to be carried out by carrying out amphibious landings from bases located in Greenland, Iceland, the Azores and Brazil (on the East Coast North America) and from the Aleutian and Hawaiian Islands (to the West Coast). 
The ultimate goals of Nazi Germany can be judged by the following statement by Reichsführer SS Himmler: “Towards the end of this war, when Russia is finally exhausted or eliminated, and England and America cannot bear the war, the task of creating a world empire will arise for us. In this war we will ensure that everything that in previous years, since 1938, was annexed to the German, Greater German and then Greater German Empires remains in our possession. The war is being waged in order to pave the way to the East, so that Germany becomes a world empire, so that a German world empire is founded.”
After the attack on the USSR, the German command continued to prepare plans for operations following Barbarossa, but the growing fierceness of the resistance of the Red Army by the winter of 1941-1942 forced the generals to abandon these projects. Already in the spring of 1942, in response to the German naval command’s proposal for a new plan to capture Egypt and establish contact with Japan, Chief of the General Staff Halder limited himself to only a sarcastic remark: “... the ideas about the military situation that exist at the headquarters of the management of naval operations differ sharply from our sober assessment of the state of affairs. People are raving about continents there. Based on the previous achievements of the Wehrmacht, they believe that it depends only on our desire whether we will go out, and if so, when, to the Persian Gulf, advancing overland through the Caucasus, or to the Suez Canal... The problems of the Atlantic are viewed by them with arrogance, and the problems of the Black Sea - with criminal frivolity.” The defeat at Stalingrad completely put an end to plans to seize world domination - Germany was already faced with only one task: to avoid defeat in the war.
Summarizing all of the above, two conclusions arise.
The first is quite obvious: the Soviet Union (together with its allies, of course) stood in the way of Nazism and did not allow the World Evil Empire to arise. In all seriousness! :)))))))))
The second is not so obvious (and for many, simply inaccessible): the fairy tale that the West (England and France) allegedly deliberately pushed Germany to war with the USSR is false. The Chinese parable about a smart monkey watching a fight between two tigers is not at all applicable to all cases, despite all its banal obviousness. The defeat of Germany or the USSR in this battle would inevitably mean an incredible strengthening of the winner: Germany, in addition to its advanced industrial technologies, would receive huge natural resources and labor resources, the USSR would receive German technologies and their carriers (engineers, technologists, scientists). And - most importantly: the winner became the only real force in Europe.
Even if France had survived by the end of the war between Germany and the USSR, it could only defend its borders; it would not have been able to resist the seizure of the Middle East or other aggressions. England, which had a land army several times smaller than the French, could not have resisted this even more so. That is why England tried so hard to establish diplomatic relations with the USSR in the first half of 1941, and therefore began to provide assistance with the supply of weapons, equipment and other goods already at the end of the summer of 1941 - the defeat of the USSR would mean for England imminent collapse and surrender.