Yep, that and continuing to provide the Third Reich with the raw materials they needed, even after Germany had long since slowed down their promised shipments of machinery to the USSR to a trickle, was also a catastrophic decision in retrospect. The most convincing thesis on the mater I've read is that Stalin knew that a German invasion was inevitable, but estimated that it would only come in 1944 or 45, and as such was taken by complete surprise in 1941. Things likely would have been far better if the Soviets did strike Germany in 1940, but its worth noting that very few in the USSR felt the Red Army was anywhere near ready to fight for modern warfare at that time.
Yep, that and continuing to provide the Third Reich with the raw materials they needed, even after Germany had long since slowed down their promised shipments of machinery to the USSR to a trickle, was also a catastrophic decision in retrospect. The most convincing thesis on the mater I've read is that Stalin knew that a German invasion was inevitable, but estimated that it would only come in 1944 or 45, and as such was taken by complete surprise in 1941. Things likely would have been far better if the Soviets did strike Germany in 1940, but its worth noting that very few in the USSR felt the Red Army was anywhere near ready to fight for modern warfare at that time.