WI two of Stalin's best generals survive the purges?

I was reading a book on the generals of the Soviet Union a few days ago and I was thinking, what if Iona Yakir and Mikhail Tukhachevsky two of the generals who advocated the military reforms of the Soviet Union managed to somehow survive the purges and lead the Red Army during WWII?

In my opinion these guys where brilliant generals who, if they could have survived would have made the Red Army more than a match for the Wehrmacht. if its impossible for them to survive the purges(like Stalin being more trustful of them) then lets just PRETEND :)p) that Stalin completly forgets about them(maybe his wife survivng and him being in a better mood) and they dont get executed. how would WWII on the Eastern Front play out then?
 

Maur

Banned
Not that much differently, i am afraid. The whole RKKA was crippled, not only the general staff, and the initial melting of Soviet forces happens anyway.

After that, you have competent+ Soviet generals anyway.

Now, had there been no purges, it'd be different discussion.
 
Not that much differently, i am afraid. The whole RKKA was crippled, not only the general staff, and the initial melting of Soviet forces happens anyway.

After that, you have competent+ Soviet generals anyway.

Now, had there been no purges, it'd be different discussion.

Keep in mind the butterflies this may have on Barbarossa's success. Although with no purges, we'd end up with a semi-Sovwank eventually, IMO, though as a best case scenario.
 
The problem with this is that Stalin will purge anyone he thinks poses a threat. Creative and innovative generals = threat, those who follows orders without question = non-threat (at least for now).

If these two survived the purges it would be because there were no purges in the first place. And that poses some _very_ interesting questions of its own.

Hitler and his generals watched this with great interest as Stalin basically gutted his command structure. If the purges hadn't happened would Hitler still have gone ahead with Barbarossa? Personally I think he would have, but the butterflies from a surviving command structure would be interesting to follow.
 
The problem with this is that Stalin will purge anyone he thinks poses a threat. Creative and innovative generals = threat, those who follows orders without question = non-threat (at least for now).

If these two survived the purges it would be because there were no purges in the first place. And that poses some _very_ interesting questions of its own.

Hitler and his generals watched this with great interest as Stalin basically gutted his command structure. If the purges hadn't happened would Hitler still have gone ahead with Barbarossa? Personally I think he would have, but the butterflies from a surviving command structure would be interesting to follow.

The Soviets did have the capability to rebuff Barbarossa before it gained momentum. With a superior command structure, this capability might be fufilled...
 
The Soviets did have the capability to rebuff Barbarossa before it gained momentum. With a superior command structure, this capability might be fufilled...

My thoughts exactly. Barbarossa wouldn't have been nearly so successful, probably no opportunity to get to Moscow before winter. Stalingrad or Kursk would have taken place further west as the German's probably wouldn't have gotten so far east.

This sounds like a good timeline, anybody want to take a stab at it?
 
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