Few people understand the impact of Stalin's military purges had during Operation Barbarossa. It ended up costing the Soviet Union millions of lives more than necessary, both civilian and military. The war through ~Stalingrad was a horrific meat grinder of incompetence on the part of the Soviet Union as they barely hung on at the cost of slowing down German tanks with stacks of bodies. After that, Hitler's stubbornness cost their army millions as well, paving the way for the invasion of Germany by the Soviets and the dropping of the iron curtain.
I guess risking a repeat of those failures (even if the chances are small) is worth destroying the military culture required to win wars. I mean, if it stops just one person from getting offended...
And they realized it themselves. The political officers went away for much of the war, and practical war fighting took the place of ideological purity. Right up until the war ended and the party immediately reasserted their control.
Few people understand the impact of Stalin's military purges had during Operation Barbarossa. It ended up costing the Soviet Union millions of lives more than necessary, both civilian and military. The war through ~Stalingrad was a horrific meat grinder of incompetence on the part of the Soviet Union as they barely hung on at the cost of slowing down German tanks with stacks of bodies. After that, Hitler's stubbornness cost their army millions as well, paving the way for the invasion of Germany by the Soviets and the dropping of the iron curtain.
I guess risking a repeat of those failures (even if the chances are small) is worth destroying the military culture required to win wars. I mean, if it stops just one person from getting offended...
And they realized it themselves. The political officers went away for much of the war, and practical war fighting took the place of ideological purity. Right up until the war ended and the party immediately reasserted their control.