Actually, Hitler had to attack the Soviet Union. Had the Nazis not broken the non-aggression pact first, Stalin planned to. Stalin had built a crack mountain force with the specific purpose of advancing through the Carpathian mountains (in terrain where the German panzers were not that useful) and cutting off German from its only source of oil other than what it bought from the Soviet Union. Without oil Hitler's war machine would have ground to a halt.
The dumb thing Hilter did was diverting troops to help the Italians secure Greece, rather than invading earlier as originally planned, compounded by not sending winter gear to the troops in the field in a timely manner.
” compounded by not sending winter gear to the troops in the field in a timely manner. “
I remember that. It was a major gaffe.
We keep hearing that old saw. That Hitler was basically in a defensive war with Russia. The fact is, his plan was out there in Mein Kampf in 1925. And Russia was in no condition to invade anyone. They barely fought Finland to a stalemate settlement just before that.
The only Russian plan for Germany was subversion. They thought German communists would basically be able to do it for them, until that idea collapsed.
And a few weeks earlier of a launch to Barbarossa would not have made a difference. Even capturing Moscow wouldn’t have. Like Napoleon, the Nazis would have entered a stripped and burning city, with the government relocating further east. And all our supplies would have still poured in. The krauts were doomed no matter when they started.
The main thing the Nazis could have done to win would have been to not murder innocent civilians wholesale. All the time, effort, manpower, and material to do that was stolen from the effort. And worse, it ended the Russian and Ukrainian theme at first that held that Germans were civilized and might be their salvation. Had they acted as good people expected, the Russians might not have fought so stiffly as a people.
But Nazi Germans just gotta be what they are.