The peasants fought because they had no choice, millions had already been murdered by the most murdering white man in history, so when he ordered them into battle and to die by the millions because they were used carelessly and indifferently, they did, or died by not doing it.
We and the rest of the world that hadn’t been conquered and absorbed by that dictator then had to endure the loss of many millions in wars around the world during the decades following his conquest of much of Europe.
Putin’s Next Mistake: Trying to Make Stalin into a ‘Hero’
https://www.cato.org/commentary/putins-next-mistake-trying-make-stalin-hero