The war against the Soviet Union was of special significance for the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany, it went beyond a plain military clash. The notion of mastering the «living space» («Lebensraum») included not only traditional conquest of the territory and subjugation of other nations, but also settlement of the Germans in the conquered lands. German plans of the war in the East, along with the economic component, included also the ideological one. For the Nazi leaders it was not only a war for the «Lebensraum»: struggle against the Soviet Union was treated as a clash of two worldviews, as a new crusade to the East.