The Sage of Main Street
Gold Member
Barbarossa Was a Draw PlayIt showed the ineffectiveness of the Soviet military, specifically in carrying out large scale offensive operations. The fact that they won in the end doesn’t change the reality they suffered far more casualties than they should have, and they knew it. The Red Army was at least a year away from carrying out any sort of offensive.
In order to make the Nazis over-confident, Stalin could have created an intentional impression that Russia could easily be beaten by any army bigger than Finland's. Also, it could have been a test to see which officers were any good. As the overwhelming defeat of the Nazis proved, the Winter War in Finland said nothing about Russia's military power.