If you just watch newsreel footage, the German advance into Austria looks like a parade. According to a book I am currently reading, however, the Wehrmacht was so poorly prepared for the invasion that a full one-sixth of German tanks broke down on the way to Vienna even without any opposition, and the Germans were forced to buy gas from private Austrian gas stations.
Does this sound familiar? Putin probably viewed his invasion of Ukraine in a similar vein. Unfortunately for him, his optimistic assumptions about Ukrainian public opinion were completely incorrect, and his lousy preparation has cost him bigly.
It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.