June 22, 1941, 80 years ago: Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union, breaking the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression treaty that the countries had signed nearly 2 years earlier.
It was called Operation Barbarossa, named for Frederick I, the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was called Kaiser Rotbart, German for "Emperor Red Beard" -- in Latin, then the dominant language of Europe, "Caesar Barbarossa." He seemed superhuman until his death in the Third Crusade.
The Holy Roman Empire of 800 to 1806, founded by Charlemagne (who was more French than German), was called the First Reich by modern Germans, and it lasted over 1,000 years. Following the unification of Germany in 1871, the Second Reich was proclaimed, but it only lasted until defeat in World War I in 1918.
When Adolf Hitler was awarded the title and powers of the Chancellor of Germany in 1933, he proclaimed a Third Reich, and called it "the Thousand-Year Reich," aiming for the same staying power as Charlemagne's empire.
It was said of Soviet Premier Josef Stalin that he trusted one man in his life, and it was Hitler. It may have been the 2nd-greatest mistake any leader of any nation on planet Earth has ever made.
The 1st was Hitler breaking that trust. Had he not done so, he could have kept most of his troops on the Western Front, and repelled any Allied invasion of the European continent, and maintained his hold on it indefinitely.
Instead, with enough never being enough for him, Hitler opened up an Eastern Front, with the aim of not just conquering the Slavic peoples, whom he considered racially inferior, but taking the Soviet oil reserves in the Caucasus to fuel his empire.
Instead, the Soviets dug in, and fought like their country depended on it -- which it did. They managed to stall the Nazi advance on the doorstep of their capital of Moscow. With victory in the Battle of Stalingrad (a city now named Volgograd), lasting from August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943, the tide of war began to turn.
Hitler made the same mistake that Napoleon Bonaparte made in 1812: Trying to conquer Russia, and still having your troops there in the Winter, is a bad idea. You know how American right-wingers call liberals "snowflakes"? Well, you know what stopped fascists in the 1940s -- on both the Eastern Front and the Western Front (the Battle of the Bulge)? Snowflakes. Lots and lots of snowflakes.
Speaking of which: America joined the war, on the side of the British Empire (including Canada and Australia) and the exiled troops of France and other conquered nations. The Allies pushed the Nazis out of North Africa and Italy. On June 6, 1944, Allied troops invaded France. In the Spring of 1945, the Allies closed in from the West, the Soviets from the East. Hitler killed himself on April 30, and the Nazis surrendered on May 8.
The Soviets' contribution to the war, something Americans did not want to admit during the subsequent "Cold War," was incalculable. One thing that was calculated was the number of lives lost to the Soviet Union, military and civilian combined: Around 27 million. It is no wonder that they call it not "World War II," but "The Great Patriotic War." That defense, reversal and conquest -- not their achievements in spaceflight -- was, to borrow the phrase of Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, their finest hour.
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June 22, 1941 was a Sunday. It was the off-season for the NFL and the NHL, and the NBA wasn't founded until 1946. But, being a Sunday, there was a full slate of Major League Baseball games, including doubleheaders:
* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at the old Yankee Stadium. This was the 35th game of Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, which would reach a record that still stands: 56 games. He and Red Rolfe hit home runs in support of Red Ruffing. Rolfe's home run in the bottom of the 9th tied the game. Bobo Newsom was rattled by this, and subsequently hit Tommy Henrich with a pitch, gave up a double to DiMaggio, walked Bill Dickey intentionally, and walked Joe Gordon unintentionally to force Henrich home with the winning run. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you.
* The New York Giants swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Jints won the 1st game 4-3, and the 2nd game 3-2.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The 1st game went 16 innings. Pete Reiser led off the top of the 16th with a single, and reached 3rd base when Lew Riggs' bunt was mishandled. Reiser then scored on Dixie Walker's groundout, and the Brooks were 2-1 winners. Dem Bums took the 2nd game 3-2.
* A doubleheader was split at Fenway Park in Boston. The Boston Red Sox won the 1st game 7-5, and the St. Louis Browns won the 2nd game 12-3.
* A doubleheader was split at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Owner-manager Connie Mack must have forgotten to tell his Philadelphia Athletics that you gotta come out of the clubhouse to play the ballgame, because they lost the 1st game to the Chicago White Sox, 14-0. Three runs in the 2nd inning and 7 in the 3rd put the game away. Ted Lyons pitched a 7-hit shutout. But the A's got serious in the 2nd game, and won it 3-0. Phil Marchildon pitched a 5-hit shutout.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Bob Feller pitched a 7-hit shutout.
* A doubleheader was split at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Pirates scored 4 runs in both games. In the 1st game, it was enough, as they beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1. It was not enough in the 2nd game, as the Phils won 7-4.
* And the Boston Braves swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Braves won the 1st game 6-5, and the 2nd game 3-2.