1. Hitler has said a lot of things regarding military matters and they weren't always very smart. The opposite argument has also been made by many historians: T

1. Hitler has said a lot of things regarding military matters and they weren't always very smart. The opposite argument has also been made by many historians: That removing a lot of the military leadership pre-war weakened the initial Soviet response significantly. As for the rest of your argument: With the same logic you can justify Nazi Germany's war preparations and concentration camps in the 30s. Stalin was right that the post-WWI architecture of the world and Europe in particular was unsustainable and might well lead to war. That doesn't justify arbitrary executions and mass murder. It also smells like justifications from hindsight.