ABSTRACT
Whilst Stalin could take much of the credit for the extent to which the Soviet Union was strategically prepared for war, his desire to avoid provoking Germany at almost any cost would nonetheless cost the Red Army dearly in the first days of Operation ‘Barbarossa’ – the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union. Only at 12:30 Moscow time on 22 June would the Red Army be ordered to ready itself for attack – insufficient time for many units to receive the order before they were hit only hours later.
