To be honest, your conclusions seem rather informed by outcome bias.
Hitler lost, Stalin won, undeniable. But to ascribe that (primarily) to their respective genius seems rather shortsighted.
Was, e.g. the Great Purge a stroke of genius? Or was Stalin "lucky" that noone tested the Soviet Army until it had at least somewhat recovered from the purges?
Were the 1939 Poland and 1940 France campaigns abysmal failures, or was Germany merely "unlucky" that Chamberlain was replaced by Churchill in May, rather than, say, after the fall of France, or Halifax rather than Churchill replacing Chamberlain?
And to particularly address one point (Hitler seeking to antagonise, Stalin to find allies) - even ignoring "puppet regimes", Hitler found allies in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland.
How many countries declared their support for the Soviets? (aside from the ones already at war with Germany anyway)
Hitler lost, Stalin won, undeniable. But to ascribe that (primarily) to their respective genius seems rather shortsighted.
Was, e.g. the Great Purge a stroke of genius? Or was Stalin "lucky" that noone tested the Soviet Army until it had at least somewhat recovered from the purges?
Were the 1939 Poland and 1940 France campaigns abysmal failures, or was Germany merely "unlucky" that Chamberlain was replaced by Churchill in May, rather than, say, after the fall of France, or Halifax rather than Churchill replacing Chamberlain?
And to particularly address one point (Hitler seeking to antagonise, Stalin to find allies) - even ignoring "puppet regimes", Hitler found allies in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland.
How many countries declared their support for the Soviets? (aside from the ones already at war with Germany anyway)