WI: USSR launches a preemptive strike against Nazi Germany before the war?

Say the Soviet leadership decides the Western Powers aren't going to take any action against Nazi aggression, and so choose to take matters into their own hands.

What would be the most feasible time to do this?
 
Getting the Soviets able to invade Germany early, and succeed, requires a PoD far enough back (it takes serious time and money to modernize an army) that the butterflies might just take out the Nazis - if the Soviets are ramping up their military in the early 30s, then even the mainstream political groups in Germany are going to see them as a threat. Hitler came to power in January 1933, and the Soviets would have been rebuilding by then.

His brand of crazy loses a lot of value when there is a real, tangible threat right on the border. You might even see France backing down and allowing Germany to re-arm just to deal with the threat (because Lord knows the French don't want to have to fight the Soviets!)
 
Keeping the POD minimal the answer is clearly 1940-June 22nd 1941.
Before Poland is in the way, later its too late for a pre-emptive strike.

Most of this end bad for the Soviets, but pre-fall of France is the best and it contributes to economic strangling of Germany.
If you want a prepared successful attack, try a POD were Tukhachevskij and Stalin are personally close.
 

LordKalvert

Banned
Obviously this would have to be after the partition of Poland so that there is a common border. One would also have to assume that Stalin takes advantage of the clash in the West to occupy the Baltics and Finland- there are easy way to avoid the winter war

After that, when Hitler launches his strike West anytime up until the fall of Paris would work. If Stalin doesn't shoot his officer corps, this gets real ugly for the Germans real fast
 
If the Soviets attacked during the Battle of France in 1940 they would, despite their decreased efficiency on account of Stalin's purges strike at a time when the bulk of the German army was committed to the West and (critically) before the latter's signing of the Tripartite Pact with Japan. The largest army in the world would only be facing a one-front war with a fraction of Germany's forces at a time when Germany as a whole was nowhere near as strong as its mid 1941 self.

The war could possibly have been settled then and there.
 
If the Soviets attacked during the Battle of France in 1940 they would, despite their decreased efficiency on account of Stalin's purges strike at a time when the bulk of the German army was committed to the West and (critically) before the latter's signing of the Tripartite Pact with Japan. The largest army in the world would only be facing a one-front war with a fraction of Germany's forces at a time when Germany as a whole was nowhere near as strong as its mid 1941 self.

The war could possibly have been settled then and there.

Hmmmm, this would be less than six months after the Soviets had learned in the Winter War just how inept their military had become after the purges.
 
Hmmmm, this would be less than six months after the Soviets had learned in the Winter War just how inept their military had become after the purges.

That ineptness would prevent the Red Army from rolling all the way to Berlin, or probably even to Warsaw, but the Germans would be in no position for an annihilating counter-strike, it would kick start the Soviets learning process, and deprive Germany of the necessary resources to invade the Soviet interior.
 
Top