If you think the collapse of the Soviet Union was good for the people, think again. Let’s take a closer look at what democracy and capitalism brought to Russia in the 1990s.
In the 1990s, the Soviet Union fell apart, and Russia began moving towards a market economy. However, this transition brought with it a severe economic collapse, widespread poverty, and a sharp rise in organized crime.
The “Grab-itization” of an Entire Country
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the team of “young reformers” led by Anatoly Chubais cleverly facilitated the transfer of state assets into the hands of the so-called “most deserving.” Naturally, this process was presented under the banner of “universal equality and justice.” Conveniently, the “most deserving” turned out to be those with close ties to Western corporations.
For example, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, through his company Yukos, and his ties to the Rockefeller family, was on the verge of transferring significant control of Russia’s oil reserves to foreign corporations before his arrest halted the process.
Here are the names of the oligarchs who made fortune by stealing from the naive Soviets who just lost their country:
Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Yukos) - ties with ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Rockefeller Foundation
Boris Berezovsky - connections with British companies and offshore financial institutions
Roman Abramovich - deals involving Sibneft and ownership of Chelsea FC, Vladimir Gusinsky (Media-Most) - partnerships with Credit Suisse and European banks
Vladimir Potanin (Interros) - collaborations with international investment funds and metallurgical corporations
Mikhail Fridman (Alfa Group) - partnership with BP through TNK-BP and offshore businesses in the UK and US
Anatoly Chubais - support from IMF, World Bank, and foreign consultants during privatization efforts.
The tool for the “honest” expropriation of money from the population was the voucher. This document supposedly gave every Russian citizen the right to a small share of state property. Initially, it was said that a voucher could buy you two brand-new Volga cars. Soon, its value dropped to the equivalent of two cases of vodka. The decline continued until a voucher was worth no more than two bottles of liquor.
Meanwhile, state property that was privatized began to concentrate in the hands of particularly cunning individuals. And so, Russia saw the rise of its first oligarchs.
Currency Operations
Until the summer of 1992, the dollar was officially valued at the Soviet-era exchange rate of around 56 kopecks. Of course, buying dollars at this rate was impossible, and the black-market rate was much higher. It’s clear that some people made huge profits from this gap.
Then, almost overnight, the exchange rate skyrocketed by 222 times, reaching 125 rubles per dollar.
The Rise of Prostitution in Russia
With foreign currency becoming more accessible and borders opening up, “currency prostitution” emerged on a larger scale in Russia. While it had existed before, it was never this widespread. This profession was seen as both prestigious and respected during the 1990s. Currency prostitutes were often better off financially than the wives of Soviet party officials in the 1980s. Surveys even showed that being a currency prostitute ranked among the top ten most desirable professions for schoolgirls at the time.
The overall difficult economic situation pushed thousands of Russian women into prostitution. By some estimates, there were around 180,000 sex workers in Russia during the 1990s, with one in six operating in Moscow.
At the same time, previously unheard-of forms of prostitution emerged, including male and child prostitution.
The Era of Banditry
When people talk about the 1990s in Russia, one of the first things that comes to mind is the surge in crime. Private entrepreneurship began to emerge during this time, but it was immediately targeted by so-called “bandits” who demanded protection money. To operate without interference, many entrepreneurs resorted to bribing law enforcement.
Criminal groups established their own rules, though they often broke them, leading to violent clashes between rival gangs. This period saw a dramatic increase in murders involving firearms and explosives compared to Soviet times.
Aside from “gang wars,” people could also be killed for refusing to pay “protection money.” Another common motive for murder was to seize an apartment, especially in desirable neighborhoods. In Moscow alone, around 15,000 elderly, single apartment owners lost their lives during this time.
A Dying Russia
The demographic statistics of the 1990s were grim. According to estimates by Communist Party deputies, Russia lost 4.2 million people between 1992 and 1998, with the population shrinking by 300,000 each year. The situation was especially dire in villages and small towns, where the decline was most visible. It is estimated that around 20,000 villages across the country became completely deserted.
The pensions received by the elderly were insufficient to cover basic living expenses, falling below the subsistence minimum. This financial strain forced many to continue working or seek alternative income sources to survive.
Simultaneously, the country experienced a surge in alcoholism, exacerbated by the influx of cheap foreign alcoholic beverages. The increased availability and affordability of alcohol led to higher consumption rates, as people sought to escape the harsh realities of daily life. Tragically, many individuals suffered poisoning from various alcohol substitutes, leading to numerous deaths and severe health complications.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, the country’s borders opened up, leading to a surge in drug trafficking. Much of the supply came from Central Asia and Afghanistan, bringing in heroin and other opiates.
During this time, cheap synthetic drugs like “krokodil” also appeared, along with growing use of amphetamines and marijuana. The healthcare system and law enforcement were unprepared to deal with this growing problem, leading to a drug addiction crisis throughout the decade.
Homelessness was virtually nonexistent in the Soviet Union, but in the 1990s, it became a widespread crisis. The number of homeless children surged to levels not seen since the post-war years, when many were orphaned during the Great Patriotic War. By the 1990s, this figure had skyrocketed, reaching approximately 2 million.
Another blow
The Russian default of 1998 was a catastrophic financial crisis that deeply affected ordinary citizens. The government declared it could no longer pay its debts, leading to the collapse of the ruble and wiping out people’s savings almost overnight. Inflation soared, prices of basic goods skyrocketed, and millions of Russians fell below the poverty line. Banks froze accounts, leaving people without access to their money, and many businesses went bankrupt, resulting in mass unemployment. The default eroded public trust in financial institutions and the government, and for many, it symbolized the failure of the economic reforms of the 1990s.
In the late Soviet Union during the 1980s, the poverty rate was estimated at around 1-2%, but in the 1990s, it skyrocketed to 30-50%.
The Great Giveaway: How Russia Fueled Western Prosperity in the 1990s
In the 1990s, Russia’s industries that could compete with the West, such as automotive manufacturing, aviation, locomotive production, turbines, and electric motors, were dismantled. What remained were low-value-added sectors like resource extraction and metallurgy, which did little to improve the standard of living for Russian citizens. The West gained massive new markets for its products, driving rapid industrial growth in Western Europe and the United States.
Through the exploitative privatization process, foreigners acquired control over key Russian production and resource assets for next to nothing. This allowed them to extract profits through dividends and unofficially through imposed services, effectively funneling capital out of the country. Western economies also benefited from cheap energy resources supplied by Russia, sustaining their prosperity for decades.
One striking example is the 1994 “Gore-Chernomyrdin uranium deal,” where the U.S. acquired nearly all of the weapons-grade uranium stockpiled by the Soviet Union, 500 tons, for just $11.9 billion.
Western countries gained access to Russia’s latest inventions and applied scientific developments. During the 1990s, Russian research institutes handed over their innovations for next to nothing through joint ventures. Once the ideas were extracted, these joint ventures were typically shut down.
In the 1990s, a significant number of skilled professionals from the post-Soviet space—scientists, engineers, and programmers—relocated to countries like Australia, Canada, and the United States, fueling advancements in science, education, and the IT sector. By 2003, around 800 Russian programmers were working at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. These were individuals who had emigrated in the 1990s and played a crucial role in developing the world’s leading operating system, helping to establish Microsoft as a monopoly in the industry.
The enabler: President Yeltsin
The 1996 presidential elections in Russia remain one of the most controversial and corrupt in the country’s history. Boris Yeltsin, whose popularity had plummeted due to economic collapse, mass poverty, and the chaos of the 1990s, faced a very real threat of losing to Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov. With approval ratings hovering around 5-6% at the start of the campaign, Yeltsin’s victory seemed almost impossible without outside interference.
Yeltsin’s campaign received unprecedented financial and media support from Russia’s oligarchs and Western governments. State resources were funneled into his re-election campaign, and the media—controlled by influential oligarchs—engaged in relentless propaganda. Television channels and newspapers portrayed Yeltsin as the “savior of democracy” while demonizing his opponents, ensuring no fair representation of the political alternatives.
Buying Votes and Bribing Officials
A large portion of the electorate, struggling with poverty, was influenced by promises of pensions, salaries, and financial benefits that never materialized after the election. There were also reports of widespread vote-buying, intimidation of voters, and manipulation of election commissions to favor Yeltsin.
The West played a key role in securing Yeltsin’s victory, as a weakened Russia was highly advantageous for their interests. Western advisers were brought in to guide his campaign with modern strategies, while significant financial aid was directed to bolster his efforts. This degree of foreign involvement cast serious doubt on the sovereignty of Russia’s democratic process.
Although Yeltsin was declared the winner, his second term was marked by continued economic turmoil, the Chechen war, and the further rise of oligarchic rule. The corrupt nature of his re-election deeply disillusioned the Russian public with democracy and paved the way for authoritarian tendencies in the years that followed.
For those who claim that the Bolsheviks were primarily Jewish, here’s a reality check: In the 1990s, after decades of suppression under Soviet rule, the Chabad movement reestablished itself in Russia. Following the collapse of the USSR and the introduction of religious freedoms, Chabad began rebuilding Jewish life by opening synagogues, schools, and community centers across the country. Supported by global Chabad networks and influential figures like oligarch Lev Leviev, they became a leading force in the revival of Judaism. Through strong ties with the government and extensive outreach programs, Chabad played a crucial role in restoring Jewish identity and presence in post-Soviet Russia.
The 1990s in Russia were marked by a series of devastating terrorist attacks.
One of the earliest major incidents occurred in 1995, when Chechen separatists took more than 1,000 hostages in a hospital in Budyonnovsk. The standoff, which lasted several days, ended with over 100 people killed after a failed Russian military assault.
In 1996, another high-profile attack took place in Kizlyar, when Chechen militants seized a hospital and took hundreds of hostages. They used civilians as human shields while escaping, leading to a deadly confrontation with Russian forces.
Smaller-scale bombings and hostage-takings were also frequent, targeting civilians, public transport, and infrastructure. For example, explosions in Moscow metro stations and other urban centers spread fear and insecurity across the population.
The 1999 apartment bombings were among the deadliest terrorist attacks of the decade, with a series of explosions in Moscow, Buynaksk, and Volgodonsk killing nearly 300 people and injuring hundreds more.
In the 1990s, Russia’s economy was in deep crisis. Thousands of industrial enterprises and research institutes closed down, leaving millions without jon. As a result, many Russians turned to trade to survive.
Pensioners turned to small-scale street trading, selling cigarettes, sunflower seeds, and other minor goods to make ends meet.
There were also some truly disturbing entrepreneurial efforts. For example, morgue workers and forensic experts were found to be involved in the trafficking of human organs.
In general, people across the country did whatever they could to survive—and somehow, they managed. This chaos continued until Putin came to power, pulling the nation out of its downward spiral, earning him the lasting gratitude of majority Russians.
How Russia Was Winning the War, but Lost to Revolution: Understanding This Is Key to Today’s Geopolitics
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When it comes to World War I, most people barely remember anything and what they do remember is usually straight out of old Soviet propaganda: that it was just some “imperialist bloodbath” and Russia got “senselessly dragged into it.” In reality, the war has been almost wiped from public memory. But the truth is Russia actually held its own. It showed serious military strength, strategic toughness, and massive sacrifice only matched later by World War II.
And no, Russia wasn’t defeated on the battlefield. It was taken down from the inside by revolution and chaos.
A War Russia Didn’t Want
World War I didn’t really begin because of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, that was just an excuse. The real cause was a power struggle between global systems. Britain and the U.S. were building a world order based on finance, colonies, and control of trade routes. Germany, rising fast, had its own model: industrial, centralized, and ready to challenge British dominance.
Caught between them was Russia: massive, independent, and rich in resources. Its government wasn’t controlled by banks, and it followed its own imperial logic. That made it a problem for both sides.
But Russia didn’t want war. Tsar Nicholas II had proposed an international peace forum years earlier (a prototype of the League of Nations), and in July 1914 he tried to stop Austria’s aggression against Serbia through diplomacy. But Germany didn’t want diplomacy, it needed a quick war, before Russia became too strong to defeat.
When Serbia was threatened, Russia stepped in to defend a fellow Slavic, Orthodox nation. At the time, Russia stood as the defender of the Orthodox faith, and this was widely recognized and understood.
In the end, Germany declared war on Russia, not the other way around.
Russia: The Backbone of the Entente
People forget, but without Russia, the Entente would’ve collapsed early in WW I. While Britain and France were still mobilizing its people, Russia was already out there fighting and not just one enemy, but three empires at once: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.
The Russian front stretched nearly 2,000 kilometers which is way longer than the Western Front. Russian soldiers were battling on land from the Baltic Sea to the Caucasus Mountains. And unlike in the West, where the Germans were split, in the East they sent their elite forces,the best they had. By 1917, more German divisions were fighting Russia than France.
Russia stepped up when it mattered most. In August 1914, it launched an attack on East Prussia, forcing Germany to pull troops from the West which helped save Paris. Then Russia hit Austria-Hungary hard in Galicia, taking Lviv. Later, it stopped German pushes toward Warsaw and Lodz.
Even during setbacks in 1915, Russia still kept the front alive and helped save Serbia and Romania. And in 1916, in the Caucasus, Russia crushed Ottoman forces and took key cities like Erzurum and Trabzon.
Then came the Brusilov Offensive - one of the most successful attacks of the whole war. It shattered Austro-Hungarian lines and nearly knocked them out of the war.
The situation with the family of the new head of British intelligence (MI6) Blaise Metreweli turned out to be even more interesting: she didn’t have just one, but two grandfathers who were Nazis or collaborators.
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From historian Dyukov’s telegram:
Konstantin Dobrovolsky Sr., born in 1906 in the Chernihiv region, came from a landowning family with German-Polish roots. In 1926, he was sentenced to 10 years of exile for anti-Soviet agitation and antisemitism. In 1941, while on the front lines, Dobrovolsky deserted from the Red Army and joined the Nazis.
Archival documents paint a grim picture of his service. Dobrovolsky, known by the nickname ‘The Butcher,’ joined an SS unit. In letters to the German command, signed ‘Heil Hitler,’ he boasted about participating in the extermination of Jews and in punitive operations against partisans. According to some reports, he personally killed hundreds of people and looted the property of his victims.
After the war, the trail of Dobrovolsky Sr. disappears. However, his son, Konstantin Dobrovolsky Jr. (Blaze’s father), born in January 1943, was taken by his mother, Varvara, to Germany, from where she moved to the United Kingdom shortly after the war.
There, she married a Georgian named David Metreveli, who, according to Alexander Dyukov, was also a defector and collaborator. He reportedly taught radio operations at a sabotage training school in Auschwitz. The future father of the MI6 chief took his stepfather’s last name. Konstantin became a radiologist and worked in Hong Kong, where Blaze spent her childhood.
“METREVELI, David Mikhailovich, [the step-grandfather of the new head of MI6, Blaise Metreveli] born on January 2, 1907, in Feodosia. From November 1929, he served his mandatory term in the Red Army. In 1941, he was mobilized again; his final rank was captain, serving as assistant commander of the 334th Rifle Regiment of the 47th Rifle Division.
He went missing in action (captured) on May 27, 1942, near Kharkov.
By late 1942 – early 1943, he was already working at the Special Preliminary Camp in the city of Auschwitz, where Caucasian-origin Nazi collaborators were trained. He served as a radio instructor there.”
The Vatican and the Nazi Escape Networks: The Ratlines
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The Vatican was the single most significant institution involved in the postwar smuggling of Nazi war criminals.
According to declassified U.S. intelligence files and investigative research, between 30,000 and 40,000 Nazi and fascist collaborators were assisted in escaping Europe through Vatican-supported ratlines.
This is clearly stated in a 1947 report by Vincent La Vista, officer of the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), who investigated Vatican ties to Axis networks:
“The Vatican has been directly involved in the illegal evacuation of German and Croatian war criminals… operating through religious institutions, it has become a central hub of what can only be described as a ratline.”
(National Archives, La Vista Report, 1947)
Operation “Vatican Corridor” (or “Monastery”)
This covert smuggling operation involved Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, then Vatican Undersecretary of State and later Pope Paul VI. He oversaw the use of Catholic infrastructure: monasteries, seminaries, and dioceses - to shelter and move war criminals south toward Genoa, where they were shipped to Latin America under false identities.
Montini personally communicated with U.S. officials and coordinated logistics via trusted Church agents. According to declassified OSS and CIC documents, his office functioned as an “unofficial channel for protected transit” not only for Germans and Italians, but especially for Croatian Ustaša officials, whose Catholic affiliation and ideological alignment with the Church made them a priority for Vatican-sponsored escape routes.
The broader network of ratlines also facilitated the evacuation of Axis collaborators from Austria, Hungary, Romania, France, and even Francoist Spain all under the larger umbrella of anti-communist realignment. The Vatican’s goal was to preserve a transnational conservative Catholic elite that could oppose Soviet influence worldwide.
Main Destinations of Nazi Fugitives via Vatican Ratlines
🔸 Argentina
(the main destination thousands of Nazis and Ustaše officials resettled here)
🔸 Brazil
🔸 Paraguay
🔸 Chile
🔸 Bolivia
🔸 Uruguay
🔸 Venezuela
🔸 Spain
(under Franco both a destination and a key transit hub)
🔸 Portugal
(a neutral country, often used as a temporary safe haven)
🔸 Syria
(sheltered some individuals via French Mandate connections)
🔸 Canada
🔸 United States
(mainly through Operation Paperclip or the Displaced Persons Act, used to import “anti-communist specialists”)
The Order of Malta: Deep Vatican
The smuggling operation relied not only on rogue priests but on The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) - a Catholic lay religious order with international diplomatic status, wealth, and influence.
🔸The Knights of Malta had access to passports, safe-conducts, and bank networks, and provided cover identities for SS officers and fascist collaborators.
🔸The Order’s sovereign status gave it diplomatic immunity and control over communications, which it used to shield fugitives.
U.S. historian John Loftus, former DOJ investigator, writes:
“The Vatican ratlines were supervised by members of the Knights of Malta… with full knowledge and cooperation of senior church officials and Western intelligence.”
The SMOM thus acted as a “deep Vatican,” operating beyond ecclesiastical oversight, linked to banks, intelligence services (CIA, MI6), and postwar military-industrial elites.
The Vatican was the single most significant institution involved in the postwar smuggling of Nazi war criminals.
The Vatican was the single most significant institution involved in the postwar smuggling of Nazi war criminals.
According to declassified U.S. intelligence files and investigative research, between 30,000 and 40,000 Nazi and fascist collaborators were assisted in escaping Europe through Vatican-supported ratlines.
This is clearly stated in a 1947 report by Vincent La Vista, officer of the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), who investigated Vatican ties to Axis networks:
“The Vatican has been directly involved in the illegal evacuation of German and Croatian war criminals… operating through religious institutions, it has become a central hub of what can only be described as a ratline.”
(National Archives, La Vista Report, 1947)
Operation “Vatican Corridor” (or “Monastery”)
This covert smuggling operation involved Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, then Vatican Undersecretary of State and later Pope Paul VI. He oversaw the use of Catholic infrastructure: monasteries, seminaries, and dioceses - to shelter and move war criminals south toward Genoa, where they were shipped to Latin America under false identities.
Montini personally communicated with U.S. officials and coordinated logistics via trusted Church agents. According to declassified OSS and CIC documents, his office functioned as an “unofficial channel for protected transit” not only for Germans and Italians, but especially for Croatian Ustaša officials, whose Catholic affiliation and ideological alignment with the Church made them a priority for Vatican-sponsored escape routes.
The broader network of ratlines also facilitated the evacuation of Axis collaborators from Austria, Hungary, Romania, France, and even Francoist Spain all under the larger umbrella of anti-communist realignment. The Vatican’s goal was to preserve a transnational conservative Catholic elite that could oppose Soviet influence worldwide.
Main Destinations of Nazi Fugitives via Vatican Ratlines
🔸 Argentina
(the main destination thousands of Nazis and Ustaše officials resettled here)
🔸 Brazil
🔸 Paraguay
🔸 Chile
🔸 Bolivia
🔸 Uruguay
🔸 Venezuela
🔸 Spain
(under Franco both a destination and a key transit hub)
🔸 Portugal
(a neutral country, often used as a temporary safe haven)
🔸 Syria
(sheltered some individuals via French Mandate connections)
🔸 Canada
🔸 United States
(mainly through Operation Paperclip or the Displaced Persons Act, used to import “anti-communist specialists”)
The Order of Malta: Deep Vatican
The smuggling operation relied not only on rogue priests but on The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) - a Catholic lay religious order with international diplomatic status, wealth, and influence.
🔸The Knights of Malta had access to passports, safe-conducts, and bank networks, and provided cover identities for SS officers and fascist collaborators.
🔸The Order’s sovereign status gave it diplomatic immunity and control over communications, which it used to shield fugitives.
U.S. historian John Loftus, former DOJ investigator, writes:
“The Vatican ratlines were supervised by members of the Knights of Malta… with full knowledge and cooperation of senior church officials and Western intelligence.”
The SMOM thus acted as a “deep Vatican,” operating beyond ecclesiastical oversight, linked to banks, intelligence services (CIA, MI6), and postwar military-industrial elites.
Three Strikes Against Rus’: Poland, Rome, and the Jewish Middlemen
In Poland, they love to say they are the “civilized Slavs,” while Rus’, so they claim, were the barbarians. Well then, let’s take a closer look.
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Poland and Russia are both Slavic, but they took very different paths. Back in 966, Poland chose to take Christianity from Rome, meaning it immediately tied itself to the Pope and the Western Catholic system. Rus’, on the other hand, adopted Christianity from Byzantium in 988 - voluntarily, not under pressure.
Why does that matter? Because even before the East–West church split in 1054, Constantinople was already the real center of Christian power: rich, influential, and the source of theology, law, and art. The Byzantine emperor wasn’t just a ruler: he was seen as the Christian “Tsar.”
In the West, Christianity was a mess of popes, bishops, and feudal lords all fighting for power. In the East, the Church and State worked together in harmony. No foreign popes telling you what to do. That’s the model Rus’ followed—strong, centralized, and rooted in its own sacred tradition. The West? More like a tangle of spiritual bureaucracy and foreign dependence.
The Polish Model of Governance: Element One
So why did Mieszko I get baptized through Rome? Easy - self-preservation. Germany was pushing east under the banner of “Christianization,” but really it meant swords and fire. Mieszko figured it was better to convert on his own terms than be forced. So he got baptized via Bohemia, dodged invasion and put Poland under the Pope’s authority.
Poles like to say they were “first” to become Christian. Sure🤪 but by 988, Rus’ was already a strong, organized state. When Russian Vladimir chose Byzantium, Rus’ kept its sovereignty, ran its own church, and didn’t need Rome’s permission for anything. Unlike Polish or Hungarian rulers, Yaroslav’s daughters married into European royalty without papal blessing. That’s real independence.
Rome hated that. An Orthodox Rus’ outside papal control? Unacceptable. That’s why the West kept trying to break it: with crusades, Polish wars, Church unions, Jesuits…you name it.
Poland wasn’t just non-Orthodox. It stood against Orthodoxy, aligning with Rome, Vienna, Paris - whoever was in charge. It built a habit of needing outside validation. Meanwhile, Rus’ built from within. How very barbaric of them.
The Polish Model of Governance: Element Two
When Mieszko I got baptized through Rome in 966, Poland got a stamp of approval from the Catholic world. It kept the country safe from invasion and gave it legit status. Over time, his loyal warlords turned into the szlachta - a powerful noble class that ended up enforcing Catholic rule across Eastern Europe. These guys helped spread Catholicism, took land from Orthodox Rus’, and pushed Church Unions that forced Orthodox Christians to accept the Pope’s authority.
The szlachta didn’t care much about the Polish king, they cared about their own power and staying in Rome’s good graces. That’s why Poland never became a strong centralized state. It was a patchwork of noble estates, loyal more to the Church than the crown.
Why did Hitler invade the USSR specifically on June 22, 1941?
Several theories exist.
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1. One of the most practical explanations is that Hitler chose June 22 because it is the day of the summer solstice, with the shortest night of the year. Since the plan was to conquer the USSR quickly, longer daylight hours were seen as an advantage for conducting rapid military operations.
2. Hitler was fascinated by occult ideas, and for him, this date had special meaning. The summer solstice is an ancient Aryan holiday. Its main symbol, the Sunwheel (swastika) stands for the power of the sun.
In occult traditions, the summer solstice is seen as the time of strongest energy: the longest day and the shortest night of the year. It was believed to be the best moment to start something big, to show strength, and to take control of fate.
3. Exactly one year earlier, on this very day June 22, 1940 France signed its capitulation to Nazi Germany. This marked the peak of the Third Reich’s triumph. As a mystic, Hitler likely saw this as a sign of fate’s favor and hoped to continue riding the wave of historical destiny.