WI: Hitler knows what he's getting into invading Russia

Rich, I really think we have to pay some more attention to Hitler's oft quoted remark "If the Jews hadn't existed, I would have had to invent them." He had the good fortune to have, at his immediate disposal, a nation of intellectual pacifists dispersed throughout Europe. They were intellectuals by culture. They were pacifists by history, particularly the unsuccessful uprisings under Rome in the first century, that nearly lead to their annihilation, particularly in their homeland. So, Hitler had the Jews as individuals much hated for their intellectualism and consequent success, but incapable of defending themselves, because they felt they were better off not doing so. Now, bear in mind, Hitler was a brilliant and dedicated politician, if nothing else. Indeed, that may be all he ever really was! So, did Hitler really believe his own propaganda? I'm not really sure. But, what perfect scapegoats! What a great way to make people follow him -- blame the Jews for all their problems. I think, up until a year or so into his invasion of Russia, Hitler was, actually, a sane megalomaniac. After that, he knew he was doomed, so his behavior changed accordingly. And, interestingly, the term "final solution" is never even used until over a month into Barbarossa, when the Nazis could already see they'd made a big mistake. And, it isn't until January 1942, as the Nazis are freezing to death outside of Moscow, that we have the Wannsee Conference, and Reinhard Heydrich establishing a really systematic program for Jewish Extermination. I don't think this is entirely a coincidence. I'm not sure Hitler would have ever proceeded to a truly systematic attempt to exterminate the Jews, if he hadn't thought he was doomed. So, why not have some fun? And, why not motivate his German Supermen, by showing that, at least, they were doing better than the Untermencshen, the Jews? After all, death in battle is better than death in an extermination camp, right? Now, I don't think the British were trying to cause a Nazi invasion to the east with their pact with Poland and France, in 1939. They were simply hoping to contain Hitler, hopefully by getting the Poles and the Soviets to work together, for a change. They failed. By 1941, the British were, most definitely, trying to get Hitler to invade the Soviet Union, because, if he heads south into the Middle East, in full force, the British lose the Suez Canal, the middle eastern oil fields, and, most probably, their entire empire. Why do you think MI5/6 were repeatedly interviewing Hitler's old school friend Ludwig Wittgenstein, now a philosopher at Oxford? They wanted to manipulate Hitler, they wanted to know how to do that, they wanted to understand how this man thought. They wanted to manipulate him into invading the Soviet Union. Now, of course, Hitler wanted to do that anyway. But, he had showed himself quite capable of restraint, during the period between his unsuccessful putsch, in 1923, and his invasion of Russia in 1941. He had been rational, systematic, controlled, and highly effective, for almost 20 years. If his military intelligence services had told him in 1941 that he was going to entire an impossible quagmire, given his position of great power at the time, why enter such a quagmire? Sure, he hated and distrusted Stalin, but, in that case, why give Stalin exactly the same opportunity for absolute power that Napoleon gave Czar Alexander I, in 1812? Why not increase his power by knocking off the British Empire, and giving himself limitless resources to fight with? The fact is, given proper information, Hitler's personality and behavior between 1923 and 1941 suggest that he would certainly have steered clear of invading Russia, if he had known what was going to happen. However much he hated the Russians, he would have restrained himself, simply out of a desire for self-preservation. But, that's exactly what Britain AND the Soviet Union did not want. So, they manipulated him into an act of total self-destruction. That fact is, the entire world wanted Hitler to launch a self-destructive assault on Russia, so they got him to do it. And, it's only at this point that he goes totally insane, and we have the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem. The Russians, British and Japanese all knew what Hitler was going to get into, but, none of them wanted him to know, did they? So, he didn't.