[uuqjgjyw] Preemptive Soviet invasion of Nazi Germany

One extremely important unanswered question about World War II is whether the Soviets were planning to invade Germany had the Germans not invaded first.  This could be answered through historical research.

The Soviet line of reasoning could have gone like this: In the absence of Soviet involvement, the Nazis will win the war on the Western front.  Afterwards, it will be inevitable that they will seek war on the Eastern front: anti-Slavic rhetoric will carry the day.  If the Germans are permitted to fight the two fronts of the war sequentially in this way, first Western front then Eastern, then the Soviet Union cannot survive.  Thus, the Soviets must engage the Germans while they are also preoccupied with the Western front.

Next, the Germans might know that the Soviets were planning an invasion, either through espionage or them following this line of reasoning.  Knowing this, the Germans' best strategy is to invade first, with initiative, on their own terms instead of having to play defense against a planned Soviet invasion.  This would make the German decision to open the Eastern front rational, despite how badly it turned out.

This is pretty deep game theory.

Next, if the Germans can predict how badly a two-front war would turn out, it would be in their best interests to convince the Soviets that they will not begin an Eastern war after winning the Western front.  Was it possible them to do that credibly?  The fate of world history depended on being credible.  Obvious things to try are stronger economic relations, cultural relations, and military cooperation such as the Germans providing just enough military technology to the Soviets so as to be able to defend themselves from German invasion, but not enough that they will use that technology to invade Germany.

Inspired by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact.