Very good posts here. Germany indeed didn't stand a chance to attack the Soviet Union in 1939. In fact, in 1939 the only countries they could have beaten they did beat - Czechoslovakia (without combat) and Poland. It was even impossible for Germany to attack France with a hope of success in 1939. In fact it could be argued that viewed realistically, they had only the slimmest chance (on paper) of beating France in 1940. The remarkable thing about the campaign in the west in 1940 is after all not that it was over in six weeks, but that it was won in three days.

Germany had the potential to beat the Soviet Union only at the precise moment when it attacked. The war in the east could have been won by the end of August 1941. If anybody's interested in why it wasn't, I'll be too glad to post my reasons here.

__________________
„Solange man nicht mit dem Kopf unterm Arm rumläuft geht es doch noch!" Erwin Rommel