the invasion of the ussr was a defensive preemptive strike first and foremost, not only to defend germany, but all of european civilization  see: [h. hoffman, pp. 127, or ctrl+f 'like napoleon before him'] [4, ctrl+f 'were hitlers fears of russia military or ideological?']  [13, ctrl+f 'when i became aware']  [s1]  [s3]  [h. hoffman, pp. 227, or ctrl+f 'my enemies are mad'] [h. hoffman] hitler was my friend by heinrich hoffman [4] lost prison interview with hermann goring   son-interview-with-hermann-goring-t he-reichsmarschalls-revelations/ [13] the reichstag speech of 11 december 1941   f_hitler%27s_declaration_of_war_aga inst_the_united_states [s1] what is europe   4_4d4fc3a52f3713db [s3] peace will one day come  
Italy