14 October 2026
Prussian Socialism Episode 51: Whose Fault Was the Soviet-German War?
Prussian Socialism Podcast on Odysee
About
Who started the cataclysmic Soviet-German War?
The conventional story is that an aggressive National Socialist Germany--having given up on invading England--greedily turned East, committing one of the greatest blunders in military history.
But is that what really happened? According to former East-German general and historian Bernd Schwipper, Stalin was preparing a war of aggression in the summer of 1941, with most of the USSR's strength deployed within mere kilometers of its western border. Soviet airfields were even within range of German artillery. None of these dispositions makes sense if Stalin expected to be on the defensive.
First popularized by Soviet defector Viktor Suvorov in his 1989 book Icebreaker, this hypothesis has been treated with increasing seriousness as more Soviet documents have come to light. Some Soviet orders from June 22, 1941 even include the puzzling phrase "The Germans initiated this action". If Soviet officers did not expect to be on the attack, why would such a clarification be necessary?
In this episode, Gregory Conte and Kurt from Antelope Hill discuss the strategy and rationale of this, the most destructive war in history. Whose fault was it? What else could Germany have done? What else could Stalin have done? And above all: why does it still matter today?
The discussion centers around General Schwipper's recently published "Germany in Stalin's Crosshairs". Schwipper is uniquely qualified to assess the evidence, having served as a staff officer in a German army with deep ties to the Soviet Army, and being able to read both German and Russian.
Bernd Schwipper "Germany in Stalin's Crosshairs", published by Antelope Hill
https://antelopehillpublishing.com/product/germany-in-stalins-crosshairs/
Auf Deutsch:
https://archive.org/details/bernd-schwipper-deutschland-im-visier-stalins-2016/
Bernd Schwipper's other untranslated book about Germany's recon of the Eastern threat:
https://archive.org/details/bernd-schwipper-die-aufklaerung-der-bedrohung-aus-dem-osten.-die-praevention-durch-die-wehrmacht/
Previous Prussian Socialism episodes with Kurt:
On Mannstein's memoir Lost Victories:
https://odysee.com/@gregoryconte:2/Prussian-Socialism-Episode-17-Lost-Victories-by-Erich-von-Manstein:3
On Guderian's memoir Panzerleader:
https://odysee.com/@gregoryconte:2/Prussian-Socialism-Episode-13-Guderian-and-the-Blitzkrieg:9
End-song:
Russlandlied
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiUmpH4FrUY
The conventional story is that an aggressive National Socialist Germany--having given up on invading England--greedily turned East, committing one of the greatest blunders in military history.
But is that what really happened? According to former East-German general and historian Bernd Schwipper, Stalin was preparing a war of aggression in the summer of 1941, with most of the USSR's strength deployed within mere kilometers of its western border. Soviet airfields were even within range of German artillery. None of these dispositions makes sense if Stalin expected to be on the defensive.
First popularized by Soviet defector Viktor Suvorov in his 1989 book Icebreaker, this hypothesis has been treated with increasing seriousness as more Soviet documents have come to light. Some Soviet orders from June 22, 1941 even include the puzzling phrase "The Germans initiated this action". If Soviet officers did not expect to be on the attack, why would such a clarification be necessary?
In this episode, Gregory Conte and Kurt from Antelope Hill discuss the strategy and rationale of this, the most destructive war in history. Whose fault was it? What else could Germany have done? What else could Stalin have done? And above all: why does it still matter today?
The discussion centers around General Schwipper's recently published "Germany in Stalin's Crosshairs". Schwipper is uniquely qualified to assess the evidence, having served as a staff officer in a German army with deep ties to the Soviet Army, and being able to read both German and Russian.
Bernd Schwipper "Germany in Stalin's Crosshairs", published by Antelope Hill
https://antelopehillpublishing.com/product/germany-in-stalins-crosshairs/
Auf Deutsch:
https://archive.org/details/bernd-schwipper-deutschland-im-visier-stalins-2016/
Bernd Schwipper's other untranslated book about Germany's recon of the Eastern threat:
https://archive.org/details/bernd-schwipper-die-aufklaerung-der-bedrohung-aus-dem-osten.-die-praevention-durch-die-wehrmacht/
Previous Prussian Socialism episodes with Kurt:
On Mannstein's memoir Lost Victories:
https://odysee.com/@gregoryconte:2/Prussian-Socialism-Episode-17-Lost-Victories-by-Erich-von-Manstein:3
On Guderian's memoir Panzerleader:
https://odysee.com/@gregoryconte:2/Prussian-Socialism-Episode-13-Guderian-and-the-Blitzkrieg:9
End-song:
Russlandlied
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiUmpH4FrUY