On some issues of the history of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945

Abstract

The years have softened the sharpness of perception of the tragic events that occurred 75 years ago, in the shortest night on 22 June, but did not invalidate the main points raised by them: was the Soviet Union planning a preemptive strike on Germany? Was it a sudden war? What was the first day of the war marked by? Why did the Red Army suffer a heavy defeat in the first week of battles? Did the counter-strike during the first days of the war delay the rapid advance of the enemy deep into the country? A lot of questions. In the course of this article we will try to answer some of them. Refs 44.