War is a bloody exam not only for the army, but also for the state, which in the course of hostilities proves its viability and right to exist. The Soviet Union passed the test of the Great Patriotic War with honor. But did Stalin personally withstand his command of the Red Army? Why was the pre-war slogan: "Beat the enemy with little blood, on foreign territory," turned inside out - exactly the opposite? Who to ask for "hat-making" and underestimation of the enemy? Whose fault did the Red Army wash with blood for four years, often "flooding the enemy with corpses"? Why was the necessary "work on mistakes" done so late, the command so many times "stepped on the same rake," and the Great Victory became "a holiday with tears in my eyes"? And the main question: was it possible to win the war with less losses, less blood?