> facts continued -the ussr broke the molotov-ribbentrop pact first with the invasion and occupation of bukovina and the mouth of the danube.  -the invasion of the ussr was a defensive preemptive strike first and foremost, not only to defend germany, but all of european civilization [vi]. independent of anything else, it was viewed as necessary. however, there did exist the distant secondary motivation of attaining lebensraum, in particular the ukraine  -stockholm peace talks shows both sides were willing to negotiate. talks allegedly broke down over the ukraine, whilst stalin wanted a return to 1941 borders [m] -america had already de-facto declared war on germany with lend-lease, freezing of german assets, escorting british ships, and even the capture of german ships. furthermore america had done much to incite the german-polish war [vii] -lebensraum was meant to be something akin to either states in close alliance/orbit with germany [10], or a "protectorate" like czechia, or a colonial german possession in european russia.  -the purpose of lebensraum was to provide germany with autarky (food independence), resources, and a market. secondly, it was meant to connect the rich farmland and resources of the ukraine into a pan-european economic order, so that instead of being used against germany and europe, it would be used for the benefit of germany and europe. also it would render germany and europe immune to a blockade. hitler thought a conflict between europe and the usa was inevitable, and the conquests in european russia, in his eyes, were vital for europe in such an event [z, pp. 357ff, or 'lebensraum and the autarky concept'] -slavs were legally considered aryan in the third reich. as were virtually all europeans [np, pp. 9ff]. > source clusters for legibility [i] - [1] [s, pp. 319] [ii] - [6] [rt, pp. 157]
Italy