Hitler orders 'Case Barbarossa'

18th December 1940: The fateful order to 'crush Soviet Russia in a rapid campaign' envisages an attack in May 1941, while the Luftwaffe continues to attack Britain

On the 18th December, Hitler addressed thousands of officers in training at the Sportspalast in Berlin, where he openly declared that Germany needed ‘Lebensraum’ - living space - but claimed that her needs were modest.