How did Operation Barbarossa break the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact?

The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, signed in August 1939, was intended to last for 10 years and included a mutual agreement that both nations would not attack each other. However, this agreement became a "dead letter" on June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa.1

By invading the Soviet Union without warning, Germany directly violated the core terms of the pact, which prohibited either party from attacking the other or supporting a third power that might do so.1

The invasion was the culmination of Adolf Hitler’s long-standing ideological goal to conquer Lebensraum (living space) in the east. Hitler had only entered into the nonaggression pact as a tactical maneuver to secure his eastern flank while he dealt with Britain and France in the west. Once he felt prepared, he abandoned the treaty to pursue his objective of destroying the Soviet regime and securing territory for German colonization.213