His intent was not to suggest that the USSR was always backwards, but rather that due to it's history the development was not undertaken until the war. The Tsar

His intent was not to suggest that the USSR was always backwards, but rather that due to it's history the development was not undertaken until the war. The Tsars didn't do it because they were busy being feudal masters and the communists because they were nation building and hadn't faced the german onslaught yet. Atleast, that is how I understand it. His comment is not an underhanded insult.