Operation Teutonic

Operation Teutonic (German: Unternehmen Teutonische) was the code name for the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and most of it's Axis Allies which marked the beginning of World War II. The operation began on Wednesday, 15 May 1940, which put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goal of conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it with Germans. The German Generalplan Ost aimed to use some of the conquered people as forced labour for the Axis war effort while acquiring the oil reserves of the Caucasus as well as the agricultural resources of various Soviet territories. Their ultimate goal was to create more Lebensraum (living space) for Germany, and the eventual extermination of the indigenous Slavic peoples by mass deportation to Siberia, enslavement, and genocide.