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To: C19fan
"I think the most intriguing theory is the reason the Ruskies got hammered in the beginning was they were on an offensive footing preparing for their own strike on Hitler."

It's true that Stalin redeployed -- forward deployed -- his troops after his 1939 pact with Hitler brought eastern Poland under Soviet control.

But in 1941 Stalin's forces were even less prepared for an offensive against Hitler than they were to defend their new territories.

One reason (among many) Soviets were unprepared was that Stalin refused to allow them to take any actions which might remotely be seen as "provocative".

11 posted on 06/23/2010 9:02:34 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective...)
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To: BroJoeK

We have a winner!

Stalin ordered a forward defense, which was his best choice, considering the sorry state of the Red Army at the time (a 30% operability rate in aircraft, even lower in tanks, etc.). “Deep Battle” tactics are made to take advantage of a defense with little depth.


13 posted on 06/23/2010 9:20:21 AM PDT by warchild9
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