[edit] Background
Plan Barbarossa
On August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact was concluded between Germany and the Soviet Union, according to which any possibility of an armed conflict between the USSR and the Third Reich was excluded, and the division of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe was also carried out. On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland, which began World War II. As a result of the war between Poland and Germany, the USSR received western Ukraine and Belarus. The USSR attacked Finland on November 30, 1939, the war ended on March 12, 1940 with the annexation of the Karelian Isthmus. In 1940, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Bessarabia became Soviet territory (see also the annexation of Bessarabia, Western Belarus, Western Ukraine and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union). There is a gradual deterioration in relations between the USSR and Germany. In 1941, a real threat of a German attack on the USSR was created, while the Soviet leadership believed that an attack was impossible. June 22, 1941 Germany attacks the USSR.
"Destroy the enemy"
The command of the Baltic Special Military District was bound by the directive of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 1 received at 01.30 from Moscow - which demanded that they be ready to meet a German attack, but “not succumb to any provocative actions that could cause major complications.”
And yet, the commander of the air force of the district, Major General of Aviation Alexei Pavlovich Ionov - who fought in the skies with the Germans back in 1915 - 1917 - took upon himself a responsibility that is difficult to imagine now.
Not afraid to “succumb to provocative actions that could cause major complications,” at about 04.30 he gave the commander of the 7th Mixed Aviation Division (SAD) stationed in the north-west of Lithuania, Colonel Pavel Maksimovich Petrov, the only correct order, as we now know:
“Commander of the PribOVO Air Force to [commander] 7 SAD. Destroy the enemy."
[edit] Opinions
In general, we can already say that the task of defeating the main forces of the Russian ground army in front of the Western Dvina and Dnieper has been completed... Therefore, it will not be an exaggeration to say that the campaign against Russia was won within 14 days. Of course, it's not finished yet. The enormous extent of the territory and the stubborn resistance of the enemy, using all means, will fetter our forces for many more weeks. ...When we cross the Western Dvina and the Dnieper, it will be not so much about defeating the enemy’s armed forces, but rather about taking away the enemy’s industrial areas and not giving him the opportunity, using the gigantic power of his industry and inexhaustible human resources, to create new armed forces strength. As soon as the war in the east moves from the phase of defeating the enemy’s armed forces to the phase of economic suppression of the enemy, further tasks of the war against England will again come to the fore... - Franz Halder (Chief of the German General Staff) July 3, 1941
<…> Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours. — V. M. Molotov, June 22, 1941
As the USSR and Germany are locked in mortal combat... Statesmanship requires the United States to remain an outsider, an attentive observer, but armed to the teeth. — G. Hoover, June 1941
