I believe General Zhukov was the mastermind behind the Soviet victory. He was imprisoned for being too popular after these battles, and therefore a perceived threat to Stalin. If he had been in charge in June 1941, instead of in the Gulag, the Nazis might not have had a cakewalk.
But at least he wasn’t killed in the purges, and came off the bench to win at Stalingrad etc. Something like 90% of Soviet generals were killed in the purges just prior to WW2.
Perhaps. I tend to think of these things as 'being in the right place at the right time with the right forces'.
Consider what might have happened to Patton's career had he not slapped that soldier in Sicily & been relieved? Would he have continued in command of the 5th Army at Salerno & beyond? Would his career have been spent in what became the Italian side-show after the Normandy landings? It would have been a terrible waste of America's leading armor expert. But these mistakes sometimes happen.
After the defeat at Savo Island in which the US Navy lost 2 Rear Admirals in a night cruiser battle against the Japanese, Rear Admiral Halsey was promoted to Vice Admiral & put in charge of the Solomons Campaign. He reportedly sent his 3-star VADM insignia to both widows with a note saying that he owed his current status to their husbands' brave deeds. Halsey appreciated 'luck', 'fate', or whatever you choose to call it.
I happened to run across the actual numbers.
"In a series of show trials, Stalin subjected nearly half of his officer corps to prosecution, relief from command, and, in many cases, death by execution.
"By 1938, some 35,000 officers out of a total corps of 80,000 had been purged, including:..."
"...With so many senior commanders liquidated, [Stalin's]fromidable force of some 5.37 million soldiers was largely leaderless and therefore vulnerable."