Germany had the quality. The Soviet Union had the quantity. You’ve got to go with what you’ve got.
I am uncomfortable praising Stalin here. One reason the Soviets were so unprepared in 1941 is that Stalin had ruthlessly killed off most of his officer class. But after the initial shock of the German invasion wore off, Stalin was (usually) smart enough to let his generals take care of the details.
Hitler interfered with his generals. And so did LBJ in Vietnam. And so did Bush II in Afghanistan and Iraq. Stalin did not. And Stalin won. There is a lesson worth remembering here.
There is no praise of Stalin to be made, any dictator who is powerful enough and has a strong enough death hold over any internal rebellion, and has a big enough population that he is willing to kill, can defeat most anyone.
That isn’t a good leader or a good military leader, it is just sending millions to their deaths until the enemy is exhausted and drained.
It just is, but it isn’t good or quality leadership.
“Quantity has a quality all its own.”