OPERATION BARBAROSSA: One hundred and ten German Divisions smashed across the Russian Border in June of 1941, destroying and encircling every Russian Army in its path. The poorly led and equipped Russians fell back into the vast recesses of the Russian Steppe, biding their time until the newly erected factories East of the Ural Mountains began to produce and then out produce the German ability to destroy them. By 1943, the Germans were in full retreat. The defeats at Stalingrad, North Africa and the U-Boat offensive, forced the Germans over on to the defense, vainly to contain shrinking front lines.