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Originally Posted by Ashes What were the Soviets top mistakes.
Everyone debates how much Hitler interfered in Germany, and the list of mistakes the Germans made, and if they fought the war differently how it may have turned out, but on the other hand, Stalin and the long list of Russian mistakes are not mentioned very much.
They probably trumped even the German errors. |
A very tough question!
It is very difficult to define whether it was an error or a policy(a bug or a feature
)?
For example, the infamous purges in the Armed Forces. For the outsider, it was a huge mistake. But for Stalin it had it's own logic and he never regretted it. And it had some positive effect in creating opportunities for the young officers like Zhukov and Rokossovskij.
He has imprisoned many leading aircraft designers(i. e. Tupolev) and forced them work on their designs in the special prison camps. But he has not killed them.
My list of the top Soviet mistakes, however, would be as following:
1. Inability to stab Hitler in the back in 1940-41when he was still busy elsewhere.
2. Inability to believe the numerous intelligence(Zorge, Churchill and many others) who has warned Stalin about the imminent German attack on 6/22/41.
3. Dismantling of the fortifications on the old Polish-Soviet border before the new ones have been built.
4. War with Finland (the Winter War of 39/40). Neutral or even allied Finland could have helped a lot the Allies in general, not just the Soviets
This list can go on and on...