21. A Meddlesome Dictator Takes a Bad Situation and Makes it Worse
Soviet commanders were prohibited from taking precautionary measures, lest they provoke the Germans. Hours after the invasion began, Stalin disbelieved Soviet commanders reporting that they were being overrun. He insisted that they were experiencing border incidents, not war. Stalin also fancied himself a talented generalissimo, and meddled too much. Among his poor decisions were orders to counterattack issued to units unable to do so, and orders to stay put and fight to the last man when retreat was the better option. The result was a series of massive encirclements, in which the Germans would capture up to 700,000 Soviets per encirclement.
By the end of 1941, the Germans had captured 3.4 million Soviet POWs, most of whom died in captivity. In the war’s first six months, the Soviets suffered over 6 million military casualties, plus millions of civilians – more than any country has ever suffered in a similar period. It took superhuman efforts and sacrifice for them to recover, claw their way back up, and win in the end. Stalin deserves much credit for keeping the USSR in the fight long after any other country would have thrown in the towel. However, Stalin deserves even more credit for the unexpected scale of the catastrophe at the war’s beginning.
