Why did Hitler launch Operation Barbarossa?

a
To invade France following his annexation of the Sudetenland in 1939
b
To secure control over Western Europe before attempting to secure control over Eastern Europe
c
To gain control of Eastern European resources that were under the control of the USSR
d
To counter the approaching American army after their victory at the Battle of the Bulge

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Correct answer: c

Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 primarily to destroy the Soviet Union as an ideological enemy and to seize its vast resources (grain, oil, metals) and "Lebensraum" in Eastern Europe to secure Germany’s long‑term war economy. The other choices are incorrect: (a) and (b) misstate timing and aims (Barbarossa was an eastern, not western, offensive after much of Western Europe was already subdued), and (d) is anachronistic (the Battle of the Bulge occurred in late 1944).