Nazi strategic goals were all based on winning the war quickly. With the exception of England, which remained undefeated, that goal had been achieved in Western Europe. Recalling the Red Army leadership’s incompetence during its 1939-1940 Winter War with Finland, Adolf Hitler was confident of swift victory in the east as well, asserting to his generals, “We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten thing will come down.” Some generals, particularly those newly promoted field marshals, agreed. Others were not so sure. Almost all made a point of reading Gen. Armand de Caulaincourt’s With Napoleon in Russia, the definitive account of the French emperor’s disastrous campaign.
