Why did Germany invade Russia?
More to the point, why did Hitler give the order to invade? Some of the answers touched on earlier bear repeating: the need to expand in the East so as to better accommodate the Reichs burgeoning population (this Lebensraum theme was deep-rooted in German folk myth); Hitlers megalomanical vision that Bolshevism was the stalking horse of the Jewish drive for world domination, and thus must be extirpated at all cost; and the rather obvious and thus all the more stupefying exercise in grand strategic overreach which held that Britain could only be brought to her senses by the defeat of Soviet Russia. One is inclined to read the last point as more of an attempt to conciliate Hitlers deeply held personal desires rather than any legitimate search for an obtainable end. Hitlers passion for conquering Russia would have existed whether Britain existed or not; it was simply intertwined in his DNA! I would add to this list the Fuhrers personal conviction that time was of the essence. Hitler was a
