Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ted I think the author should have said: Hitler lost the war when he invaded Russia. As far as I know Stalin never provoked Hitler. But he might have done so as the years would have passed and he would have felt strong enough.
(But one could argue that the re-organization of the army and the designing of the T34 was due to Germanies invasion. No invasion, no adaptations, no strong Red Army. What was first; the chicken or the egg?) |
Well y'see Hitler didn't lose the war when he invaded Russia, he merely started a new one. This was a war that was winnable by Hitler, contrary to what many people seem to think or believe. There are 2 factors that may have changed this for Hitler, these being namely the diverting of the German schwerpunkt from Moscow to Kiev in August 1941 and possibly the initial planning for a one season campaign. Either of these factors may have allowed Hitler to snatch a defeat from the jaws of victory.
The other point I will make is that a reorganisation of the Red Army was already ongoing when Hitler invaded. Moreover, the T34 owed nothing to the German invasion as it was already in production with the Red Army. The Soviet tank designers at that time were the most advanced in the world, ahead of even German designers.