What happened in 1941?

• A. The Soviet Union joined the Axis.
• B. Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
• C. The Soviet Union launched a counter-offensive against Japan.
• D. The Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany.

Answer: (B)

Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, beginning with Operation Barbarossa on June 22 and opening the Eastern Front. This event marks the year when World War II spread into Soviet territory, breaking the 1939 non-aggression pact and pulling the USSR into the fighting against Germany. The invasion produced early German advances but also set in motion the long struggle on the Eastern Front that would eventually help determine the war’s outcome. The other statements don’t fit: the Soviet Union did not join the Axis; a Soviet counter-offensive against Japan occurred in 1945, not 1941; and the non-aggression pact with Germany was signed in 1939.