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"Most of them unnecessarily because of Stalin's incompetence and callous disregard for the lives of his soldiers."

It certainly didn't help that Stalin wiped out a good chunk of his own officer corps just prior to WWII.

[tcrlaf]

“It certainly didn’t help that Stalin wiped out a good chunk of his own officer corps just prior to WWII.”

The Finnish and Polish invasions exposed the “Political Kommisars” command system for the ineffective nightmare it was.

The Soviet Army was just returning to a Military-trained officer-led command system when the Germans invaded.