Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin – leadership during the Great Patriotic War

The Great Patriotic War is the term used by Russians [former Soviets] for the Second World War when the then Soviet Union was dragged into the military conflict by the Germans [Third Reich]. The surprise attack launched by the Germans by the name ‘Operation Barbarossa’ on the Soviets in June 1941 was an act of betrayal committed which proved the unscrupulous attitude of the Nazis who were then ruling Germany. They themselves breached the non-aggression pact that they had signed with the Soviets. The Soviet Union was no doubt taken by surprise as they had never expected that the Germans would indulge in such a betrayal of breaching the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact; that had been signed in 23rd August 1939; and having behaved like a gang of bandits. This was the blow unexpected and it did disturb Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin who was then heading the Soviet government. However the Georgian showed his inner strength as a leader and a war lord and decided to take the German forces by the horns.

There have been misconceptions created by the non-Communist powers about the leadership of Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin as a wartime leader and commander which prove to be untrue. He despite initial setbacks faced by the Red Army or Soviet forces was able to plan his moves and deputed Marshal Georgy Zhukov to take charge of the military operation. It was here the Red Army planned their strategy known as ‘Scorched Earth Policy’ that they had used earlier in 1812; during the then Patriotic War against the French armies of Napoleon Bonaparte; and started to retreat within their territory thus offering the Germans the bait to enter their territory. The Nazis and their Fuhrer [Adolf Hitler] perhaps miscalculated their moves as they committed the blunder of having underestimated the inherent strength of the Soviets. They had perceived a victory over the Soviet Union to be more or less a cakewalk as had been the case with Poland, Czechoslovakia and France. The Germans had been oblivious to the resilience of the Soviets [Russians] and had perhaps considered the battle won before the onset of the winters. The military experts perhaps did not analyse the probable moves of the Russians who knew their strengths as a nation and their geographical assets.

The guidance of Comrade Stalin and the efficiency of the military leadership were the factors that did play a major role in turning the tide of the Great Patriotic War [Second World War] in favour of the Allies. As the Germans moved in towards Siberia and by then was the time for the onset of winters proved to be the Nemesis for German forces. The bitter cold in the region created major difficulties for the Nazi forces to move further and their war machinery that included their guns and armaments besides their vehicles began to fail in the Russian winter. This was what the Russians had been waiting for and then came the counter-attack from the Red Army that the Germans found it difficult to sustain and had to start their retreat. The sequence of battles that followed proved to be a victory for the Red Army and the Soviet Union. ‘General Winter’ as the Siberian winter has been given the nickname fought the Great Patriotic War for the Soviets as it had fought earlier against the French in 1812. The Germans probably were a bit too confident about their military prowess and had considered their win against the Soviet Union a sure shot. They failed miserably in their judgement and the consequences proved disastrous for them. The division of Germany into two parts – Federal Republic of Germany [West Germany] and German Democratic Republic [East Germany] became two independent nations for almost forty five years till they reunited in 1990 and the entire Eastern Europe accepted the Communist system of governance.

Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the main brain behind the entire military operation of the Soviet Union who knew how to manage the defence forces of his nation and well understood the inherent strength of his nation. His leadership as a warlord during this Great Patriotic War gave him the place in history that few have been able to achieve as a world leader. While the non-Marxist thinkers and analysts have their own style of presentation of facts the real truth remains that the Comrade was the leader bar none whose leadership played the most significant role in enabling the victory of the Allies although the other factors too had a major role however the real turn of the tide was that happened on the Eastern Front during the war. From a nation that had been shunned by the then imperialist nations of the world the Soviet Union became the nation to reckon with and Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin proved to be the ‘true Marshal’ whom the Allies were compelled to recognise as the leader.