The historical impact of Operation Barbarosa cannot be denied. The Soviet victory over the Nazi German invaders set up the Soviets as a world superpower and set the stage for the Cold War. Had the Germans not attacked, the Russians may not have gained their dominance in Eastern Europe, and the Warsaw Pact may not have ever been. The war effort forced the Soviets to industrialize faster than ever, particularly in Siberia. Additionally, defeating the Nazis let all the countries of the world know that the Russian military under the Soviets was not the ragtag, ill-equipped, archaic fighting force of the Czarist system; it had become well-organized under Stalin.
             The purpose of this paper, though, is not to discuss the historical implications of the Soviet victory in World War II. I intend to explain why the Soviets were victorious, and, similarly, why the Nazis were defeated. I believe that in this process it will become evident that the tremendous power wielded by the Soviets during the Cold War age was predicated on the very things that made them successful in World War II.
             Before going into an explanation of why the Soviets were successful, I think it is important to give an overview of the actual events of the Barbarosa attack and an outline of the diplomacy involved beforehand.
             After World War I, the Germans and Russians were seen as the outcasts of Europe. The German government of the Weimar Republic was in tremendous debt making war reparations while Capitalist European governments that were fearful of their rhetoric of world revolution despised the newly Communist Russians. It was only natural that they turned to each other. The Rapollo Pact in 1922 and the Friendship Pact shortly thereafter established formal diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries, allowed the German military to train in Russia, and gave the Soviets access to superior German military technology. The new relationship was mutually be...