Stalin's Missed Chance
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Stalin's Missed Chance is a book published in 2000 by Russian military historian Mikhail Ivanovich Meltyukhov, regarding Viktor Suvorov's controversial theories regarding Soviet war plans during 1939–1941. Meltyukhov – the author of several other books and articles on Soviet military history – rejects claims that the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union was a preemptive strike.
Contrary, however, to scholars such as David Glantz, John D. Erickson, and Richard Overy, Meltyukhov concurs with Suvorov's claim that Stalin and the Soviet military leadership had planned an offensive against Nazi Germany in 1941. Meltyukhov suggests that, while both Soviet and German leaders were preparing covertly to attack each other, neither believed that the other side would strike first.
Unlike many of Suvorov's books, such as Icebreaker (1987), Meltyukhov's book is based on material recovered from the archives of the Soviet Union, some of which remained classified for more than 50 years.
See also
- Operation Barbarossa
- Soviet offensive plans controversy
- Stalin's speech on August 19, 1939
- Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
- Richard C. Raack, Stalin's Drive to the West, 1938-1945: the origins of the Cold War, Stanford University Press, 1995, Template:ISBN
