[Cronos]

Stalin was able to mobilize the Soviets by calling on Mother Russia, the idea of the Teutonic knights attacking again -- remember that Stalin cynically re-emphasised the Russian Orthodox Church at this point.

if the German advance stopped and indeed stayed put, then Stalin's grip would have been lost with no 1000-year enemy...

[dfwgator]

Stalin was able to mobilize the Soviets by calling on Mother Russia, the idea of the Teutonic knights attacking again -- remember that Stalin cynically re-emphasised the Russian Orthodox Church at this point.

If you get a chance to see it, there is a great Russian movie that came out a few years ago called "Pop" (The Priest), about an Orthodox Priest who set up the Pskov Mission in Nazi-Occupied Russia during the war.