[Barbarossa] Just a Stupid Idea or not? An Analysis

Russia on a number of occasions threw men into the breach. Numbers over planning, sheer force over finesse... The author highlighted those points, but did not necessarily share the pertinent background information that precipitated decisions that were being made. Solid piece for an intro to the conflict though. For an interested history buff I could see them checking out a book or two to develop a deeper understanding... LTC (Join to see)

The vast reaches of the steppe of Russia have overwhelmed armies since Genghis Khan. Yes the Germans were skilled warriors but still, tactical and operational proficiency and bravery were insufficient to overcome the impact of Russian winter of 1941/42 an 1942/43 and the vast distances of Russia. Certainly the Russians, Ukrainians and other soviet republic troops lost vast amounts of troops to combat. starvation and capture.
Lend-lease helped supply the Soviets with war materiel and their factories turned out T-34 and KV1 tanks and later JSU tanks so that by the time Kursk was fought the Soviet's were able to decimate the overextended German armored formations LTC (Join to see)

For the definitive writing on this and most things on the German operations in WWII read Guderian's book Panzer Leader. Guderian predicted the operation's failure from the outset. He did the battlefield calculus and knew it would not work. Hitler had replaced most of his season professional staff by then with his yes-men. Hitler fear his professionals, thinking they would undermine him (probably so). This analytical failure also occurred in planning the Ardennes offensive in 1944. (Battle of the Bulge). This video is like a child's primer compared to Panzer Leader but accurate in the overview. Hard to condense 500 pages into a 7 minute video.