The repercussions of Operation Barbarossa

With the failure of the Battle of Moscow, all German plans of a quick defeat of the Soviet Union had to be revised. The Soviet counteroffensives in December 1941 caused heavy casualties on both sides, but ultimately eliminated the German threat to Moscow.

Nevertheless, despite this setback for the Germans, the Soviet Union had suffered heavily from the loss of large parts of its army and industry, allowing the Germans to mount another large-scale offensive in July 1942, codenamed Case Blue, now directed towards the oil fields of Baku. Again, while the Germans conquered great expanses of Soviet territory, they failed to achieve their ultimate goals when they were decisively defeated at Stalingrad.

By 1943, the Soviet war economy was fully operational and was able to simply outproduce Germany, which was not prepared for a long war of attrition. The war ended with the total defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany in May 1945.