Atlas shrugs, Atlas starves. The End. The most fatal flaw in Ayn Rand's book.

[yellowcanine]

30. Yeah right. Party members who tried to remove Stalin did not stay around very long.

As for Soviet economic planning, central planning works pretty well for producing tanks, not so well for consumer goods. It is in the latter area that the Soviet economy faltered. Not only that but the Soviet Union had more than twice the population of Germany in 1939 (190 million to 80 million) and more natural resources.

And I think you validated my point about who really benefited the most from the 1939 pact. A big part of war is psychology. Whatever Stalin's motives may have been in terms of buying time, by signing the pact he created complacency in the Soviet Union. The main effect of the pact was to guarantee Hitler a one-front war in 1939. Also, the often forgotten earlier economic agreement meant that the Soviets supplied Hitler with material support which helped Germany circumvent the British blockade. Thus the Soviets strengthened the military which would be turned on them in 1941. Not only that, if the Soviet Union was such an industrial giant and Stalin such a great leader, why were they so ill prepared in 1939? Certainly they had to know that a Hitler led Germany coveted land and resources in the Soviet Union. But yet Stalin was weakening the Red Army leading up to WWII rather than preparing.

I do not question that the contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of Hitler was invaluable. But most of the credit should go the the people of the Soviet Union rather than Stalin.