I don't think he really wanted to invade the Soviet Union, at least not at that time. I think he did what he thought was necessary in order to keep them from rolling across Europe to the Atlantic. Hitler hated communism, knew how utterly destructive it is to every aspect of life, and made the decision to invade in order to keep Europe from falling to that ideology. Whatever people might say about him, he was no fool; he had to know that opening a front in the East would be risky at best, especially considering that the U.S. was supplying them with weapons and materiel.
The Soviet Army Officer Corps had been decimated by Stalin's purges. They were essentially leaderless in the field for a good deal of time.
A 2 front war was always going to be unwinnable , if the Wermacht had been better supplied and able to take Moscow before winter , Herr Hitler's gamble would have possibly paid off .
(post is archived)