Stalin as a Military Leader

If a military leader's job is to simply win the war regardless of the price it will take, then Stalin is without a doubt one of the greatest military leaders in history. He was able to muster a significant amount of forces that would go into battle knowing that they would probably die, he won the war, and he effectively secured communist dominance over fascism. So, he must have been one of the greatest military leaders of all time, right? Wrong, a military leader's goal is not to simply win the war, but they must also protect their people from the threat that their country faces. How can it be possible to be considered a great wartime leader if you win the war, but fail to protect the nation you were fighting the war for?

Stalin neglected the reports that the Nazis were amassing an army on the Soviet border and his negligence to act upon the reports  cost many civilian lives. With his orders such as 227 he ordered the murder of his own troops if they did not move fast enough or attempted to retreat. Stalin's tactics were clumsy, barbaric, and ruthless. He was detached from reality and the true implications of his actions and as a result many people died unnecessarily for the "glory of the motherland." He did not appear to have a true strategy other than throwing his people at the Nazi forces until they were so overwhelmed that they could not survive. Human lives should never be used as the primary fuel for a war machine because many are guaranteed to die without proper munitions. Stalin was a horrendous leader and the only reason that I believe the Soviets won the war was that they feared Stalin's power more than a death in fighting the Nazis.

So why is Stalin such a beloved figure in Soviet history? Perhaps it is because he accomplished something that no other Russian leader was capable of in history. He left a significant mark on world history that Russians today can look back to and be proud of. Their ancestors "saved the world" from the Nazi threat. They were the ones that truly subdued the Nazi threat and crushed them until nothing was left standing. The world had them to thank, and as leader Stalin was a representation of them, so perhaps this is why Russians still admire him today. History is always open to interpretation and Stalin is one of the most controversial characters, because he puts a face on the philosophical question; do the ends justify the means?