LAURENCE REES: What do you think was the single greatest turning point of the war?

ROBERT SERVICE: I think the single greatest turning point of the war was the holding up of the German forces outside Moscow. Once the campaign went into the autumn 1941 then against all appearances the Soviet Union stood a much better chance than the Germans had planned for, because the Soviets had vastly more people, they had an industry that was predictably going to produce vastly more munitions, and they were ably, if brutally, led. I think that the turning point was the failure of the Germans to take Moscow.