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When did Hitler issue Directive No. 21 for Operation Barbarossa?
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Operation Barbarossa
German soldiers fighting in the Soviet Union as part of Operation Barbarossa, 1941.
Adolf Hitler issued "Directive No. 21, Case Barbarossa," on December 18, 1940.1
This directive formally initiated the planning for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, with the stated objective of crushing the Soviet forces in a rapid campaign before the conclusion of the war against England.1