The Great Patriotic War and its impact on the Soviet Union, 1941 - 1945

when was hitler prepared to invade russia? since when was he preparing it?

hitler was prepared to invade russia in the summer of 1941.
-invasion had been preared since october 1940.

what was the codename for the operatoin?

‘Operation Barbarossa’

3 reasons why hitler was confident?

-britain refused to make peace, but was unable to offer a military threat.

-soviet union was badly prepared

-germany armed forces were experienced, battle hardened and well equipped.

how did operation barbarossa start?

began on 22nd june 1941

-3 huge army groups spearheaded the invasion

-north through the baltic states towards leningrad, south and east into ukraine, with a central thrust towards moscow.

what were the aims of the operation?

-defeat the USSR, seize control of their economy and destroy communism

-nazis believed soviet citizens would welcome nazi invaders as liberators.

how did past russian diplomacy leave russia unprepared for war?

-stalin miscalculated the effectiveness of the Nazi Soviet Pact.

-stalin ignored foreign sources that hitler was planning an invasion.

stalins reaction
how did stalins inital reaction to the invasion reflect the weakness of the soviet union? (3 reasons)

-he had a panic attack, and did not make a radio broadcast to the people, leaving that to molotov.

-he feared the party/people would turn against him

-it was almost 2 weeks until stalin made his speech on the 3rd july 1941.

when did stalin eventually give a speech to the nation? what did it contain?

radio speech to the nation on 3rd july 1941.
-shift in tone from the terror of the 1930s, appealing to patriotism and religion, and unity among the nationlaities.

how was there a new wave of propoganda?

-ideological hatred towards germany

-winston churchill presented as an ally of the soviets

-war presented as a patriotic struggle, invoking the revolution and the civil war.

the impact of stalin’s purges
what are hte statistics of the purge? when was it?

the may 1937 purge arrested 35,000 officers

the impact of stalin’s purges
how did the purges impact stalin’s preparedness of the invasion? (3 reasons)

-trained leaders were lost

-centralised control harmed the swift decision making of military commanders, as they had to wait days for orders.

-purge of the military industrial complex meant good quality tanks/aircraft were not in mass production.

stalins role in rallying the people

who did stalin call on in his first speech?

“Comrades, citizens, brothers and sisters! fighters of our army and fleet, I adress you my friends”

stalins role in rallying the people
how did stalin describe the war?

a “patriotic war of all the people|”

stalins role in rallying the people
what did stalin do on the eve of the anniversery of the russian revolution?

in october/november 1941, stalin stayed in moscow despite the chaos.

_he addressed the eve of the anniversy of the revolutionary rally, in the moscow metro.

-he vowed to “destroy every german to the very last man”

stalins role in rallying the people
how were films used to promote the war effort?

On a film screened in moscow, recorded in the kremlin, stalin spoke to troops with a passionate appeal to a sense of russian history.

stalins ruthlessness
how did stalins ruthlessness aid the war effort in terms of sending soldiers ?

there is no evidence to suggest stalin suffered even the slightest remorse for sending millions to their deaths in battle.

stalins ruthlessness
what was the case of pavlov?

general pavlov tried to hold the front line in the first week of hte war.

-he failed, was arrested and accused of treason.

stalins ruthlessness
how was the NKVD used?

-special department of the NKVD was set up to deal with spies and traitors in the red army.

-they had the power to execute deserters on teh spot.

stalins ruthlessness
how were government orders used in the military?

Order 270 and 227 declared deserters and those who surrendered traitors.

-officers who broke these orders were shot or sent to punishment companies.

stalins ruthlessness
what were the punishment companies?

over 450,000 men served in the punishment companies. they were sent through minefields and on other suciidal missions.

how did stalin make mistakes near the start of the war?

-relied in political loyalists appointed as commanders

-in september 1941, he helped cause a massive defeat of his southern armies in kiev by refusing to allow them to retreat until it was too late.

how did stlain eventually organise his war government?

-created the war cabinet (stavka) on 23rd june 1941

-compromised key generals such as timoshenko and zhukov, along with key politicans like molotov. .

what were the phases of the great patriotic war?

1) june 1941- summer 1942 (struggle for suvival)

2) 1942 - summer 1943 (halt german advances, establish war industry

3) 1943 - summer 1945 (soviet offensive, total victory)

struggle for survival
how many soviet soldiers died / were imprisoned in the first part of hte invasion ?

red army lost 2,663,000 soldiers between june and december 1941.

3,350,000 taken prisoner.

Struggle for survival
between what period was the struggle for survival?

june 1941 - october 1942

Struggle for survival
how did the germans advance?

-hitler was convinced victory was close

-soviet aircraft destroyed en masse

-leningrad encircled by septemebr 1941.

Struggle for survival
what was stalins offer to hitler?

-october 1941, stalin authorised molotov and beria to open secret peace negotions with germany (compromise peace)

nothing came of this.

Struggle for survival
what was one of hte lowest moments for the USSR in the war ?

fall of Rostov on the Don in july 19th 1942.

Struggle for survival
how did stalingrad turn the tide?

by october 1942, the soviets turned the tide in Stalingrad.

-on hitlers orders, they were forbidden to retreat.

turning the tide
when did the tide of the war turn?

october 1942, to august 1943

turning the tide
what was hitlers mistake in stalnigrad?

-Germans were not allowed to retreat from stalingrad.

-three weeks following the defence of stalingrad in 1942, soviet armies retook Rostov of the Don.

turning the tide
how did the soviets win he big tank battle? (3 reasons)

-hitlers offensive in kursk was halted in the battle of Prokhorovkka.

-soviets won with their massive force of T-34 tanks.

-the battle became a springboard to regain huge territories from nazi occupation.

road to berlin
when was the road to berlin?

august 1943-may 1945

road to berlin
what were the new soviet victoreis?

between august 1943 and december 1944, Russia retook ukraine, leningrad and invaded poland, lithuania, romania and hungary.

road to berlin
when did the red army reach berlin?

on the 2nd may 1945, soviet forces occupied the berlin reichstag, raising the soviet flag over it.

The USSR under occupation
what tactics were used as the soviets retreated?
-how many towns and vilages were destroyed?

-scorched earth tactics used

-1700 soviet towns, along with 70,000 villages destroyed by both nazis and soviets.

The USSR under occupation
what was the food,fuel and shelter situation?
-what is an example in terms of leningrad?

shortage of food and fuel

-during the leningrad seige between 1941 and 1944, 600,000 died of hunger and cold.

The USSR under occupation
how many civilian deaths in 1945?

12,000,000

The USSR under occupation
the nazis planned to ‘liberate’ soviet people. did such tactic work?

-only worked to a superficial extent in Ukraine and the baltic states.

-the soviet population became highly patriotic and was alienated by the oppressive actions of their germany occupiers.

Resilience of the soviet people
what was the role of women in the soviet resistance? (4 reasons)

-stalin praised contribution of women

-around 500,000 women served

-highly skilled female snipers killed 12,000 nazis

-women made up 41% of the workfroce, and 80-90% of the light industry workfroce.

Resilience of the soviet people
how was guerilla warfare used?

stalin ordered the creation of partisan units in occupied terriroty, to operate '“anywhere and everywhere” to cause havoc for the nazis via guerilla warfare.

Propaganda
how was censorship used? (3 reasons)

-1000 writers and artists joined the campaign to report on the front

-their work was controlled by the sovinformburo, and monitoored for ideological mistakes.

-people imprisoned for ‘defeatist talk’ about news on teh front.

-

Propaganda
how was art used?

around 200 artists in moscow alone worked on posters displayed on windows and distribtued around the country.

Propaganda
how was the russian orthodox church used?

-war declared a “holy war” by the RoC

-15,000 church re-openings.

mistakes of the germans
what were the mistakes of the germans in terms of ideology? 3 reasons.

-racism of the nazis led them to undermined russia.

-hitlers call for the annihilation of slavic culture with “unmerciful and unrelenting harshness” alienated the soviet people, leading to a wave of patriotism

-in the battle of prokhorovoka in 1943, the nazis relied on a small number of high quality tanks, while the soviets won with their massive force of cheap T-34 tanks.

Role of the economy
what was the issue of industry early on?
how was it solved?

-germany in 1941 and 1942 destroyed the basis of soviet industry and agriculture.

-solution was to relocate and rebuild. equipment, workers, and whole factories were packed on 20,000 trains and shifted hundred of miles east, safe from germany.

Role of the economy
how was the ussr’s economy strengthened during the war? (3 reasons)

3500 new factories created over the course of the war.
-USSR out produced germany in the second half of 1942.
-production concentrade in a few regions. 6 sites made 90% of all tanks.

Role of the economy
how were workers pushed to provide for the economy?

civilian economy neglected. living standards fell on average by 2/5ths. millions severely overworked.

Role of the economy
how was agrilculture pushed to the limit? 3 reasons

• farming families received no state rations
  -private trade revived for the first time since the NEP.
  
  -state procurement of food from collective farms was arguably more ruthless than during the civil war .

Foreign aid to the USSR
what was lend lease?

in march 1941 the US passed the Lend Lease Act.

-between 1943 and 1944 lend lease contributed 10% of the GDP of the USSR.

Foreign aid to the USSR
what have experts said about the land lease program?

-experts have argued that the soviet offense would have taken 12-18 months longer without lend lease.

Foreign aid to the USSR
what is a specific example of aid?

300,000 american trucks given to the USSR.