Soviet Plans to Respond to German Military Preparations

The present paper analyses the Soviet war planning prior to the onset of the Great Patriotic War. The focus is placed on the plans of the General Staff of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in the spring of 1941. The authors of the study analyse drafts of plans that were never implemen­ted by the Soviet government. The study's conclusion asserts that military leadership possessed no intention of engaging in “an offensive” against Germany.