Section 6 - the great patriotic war and Stalin's dictatorship 1941-53

How successful were attempts to rebuild the Soviet economy in the years 1945 to 1953?

• THE MAIN POLICY USED WAS THE FOURTH FIVE YEAR PLAN (introduced august 1945 with very ambitious targets)

• 1941-45 the war killed one in eight of the population and caused massive dislocation. Stalin promised USSR would be the leading industrial power by 1960

• By 1953, there were growing pressures to reform the economy 

• Victory in the war was achieved at a great cost but post war economic reconstruction was more successful than what might have been expected amid the ruins of 1945.

Industry - Loss/ damage problems after war

• Switch from military to civilian needs, but struggled to adjust to peacetime condition in 1945/46 

• Mining production was running at less than half the 1940 level; electric power at 52%, steel at 45%

• Transport infrastructure still badly disrupted

• Workforce was exhausted after demands of war

• These problems intensified by the sudden ending of foreign aid through Lend-Lease in august 1945

Industry - Positive results (for)

• One third of plans expenditure spent on Ukraine (most devastated)

• By 1950 there was a considerable recovery with many of the plans targets equalled or exceeded

• Coal, oil, steel, cemen, electricity exceeded 1940 levels 

• These successes due to several factors; war eparations (mainly from eastern european countries they took control of), central planning and committed efforts of the soviet people (resilient economy)

• As well as the rebuilding of heavy industry, there was an improved production of consumer goods and some steady growth in living standards

• Average soviet incomes back to 1938 levels

Industry - Negative results (against)

• Economy was overloaded by military expenditure (size of army 2.8m in 1948 rose to 4.9m by 1953)

• Military spending was 18% of total expenditure in 1950, but rose to 25% in 1952 

• Housing shortages still apparent

Agriculture - Loss/ damage problems after war

• 98,000 collective farms had been ruined; loss of 137,000 tractors, 49,000 combine harvesters, 7 million horses, 17 million cattle, 20 million pigs, 27 million sheep

• Food production was 60% of the 1940 level

• Prospects of recovery were hindered by severe labour shortages and the fact far less land under cultivation than before the war (1945 total only 75% of what it had been in 1940)

• 1946 was the driest year since 1891, and the harvest was poor

• In some regions there was famine where thousands died, but nothing like the great famine in 1930s

Agriculture - Positive results (for)

• There was a recovery, though it was slow and patchy

• Some regions progressing better than others

• The cycle of famine was now broken, never another one after 1947

• After stalin's death, his successors began to introduced reforms and concessions to peasant farmers to alleviate the problems

• Cotton and grain production saw an improvement

Agriculture - Negative results (against)

• Recovery was slow and played with difficulties 

• Failed most of its targets 

• By the time of stalin's death in 1953, the sector was still unsatisfactory

• Stalin himself was holding back reforms as he discouraged any tendencies towards innovation and change due to his writings

‘Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War was entirely due to Stalin’s wartime leadership.’ 

Assess the validity of this view

• Victory not entirely due to his actions, combination of factors 

Stalin's leadership positive

• Stavka (war cabinet); established this in order to centralise power (military, economic and political) = streamlined decision making 

• Propaganda; highly involved in the creation of patriotic propaganda to motivate

• Experienced generals; Key roles given to talented individuals ie Zhukov who led decisive offensives

• Allied with Churchill

• Learned from mistakes; was later known as the great war hero

• Spy; had one that informed Japan wouldn’t attack USSR, this meant they could focus on Germany and not worry about a war on two fronts

• Peace offer; oct 1914 stalin authorised Molotov and Beria to negotiate with germany, hitler however rejected this, believing victory was near

• Industrial base; Key factories were bombed or destroyed to avoid capture meaning all growth from 1930s ruined. Stalin oversaw the relocation of the new industrial base in the east (germany couldn't reach). 20,000 trains used to evacuate factories, equipment and workers. This command economy was well suited to the needs of war.

Stalin's leadership negative

• Purges; his army purges (1937-39) weakened the red army = no skilled leadership, this was exposed by their poor performance in winter war against Finland (Hitler saw this)

• Soviet forces expanded 1939-41; still lacked efficiency, modern equipment and skilled leadership. Some forces were kept in Japan in case of conflict.

• Bufferzone; provided no defense and was overrun quickly by german forces on 1941

• Nazi soviet pact; he miscalculated the effectiveness of it, leaving SU unprepared

• Spys; ignored foreign warnings, not wanting to take defensive measures for fear of provoking Hitler

• Initial reaction; panicked and disappeared, avoided public appearance and made Molotov give the initial radio broadcast. Considered fleeting with the gov but changed his mind last minute - he feared being blamed by the party and the people. Finally addressed the nation two weeks later.

• Order 227; threatened soldiers with execution for retreating led to poor morale and increased casualties eg Kiev; refused to let soviet troops retreat leading to major defeat

• Gulag labour; used forced labour for industrial and military projects 

• Incompetent commanders; relied on these (in place due to his purges)

• Leningrad; delayed response, was too late

Other factors

• Russia; vast size and harsh winter conditions

• Soviet people; Patriotic 

• Pearl harbour dec 1941; Japan attacked US bringing them into the war on the side of the USSR (start of the grand alliance)

• Grand alliance; Britain, USA, USSR. Helped to supply essential war materials 

• T-34 tanks; battle of Prokhorovka = biggest tank battle in history and the soviets won due to their tanks. They were durable, easy to maintain and repair as well as good for mass production. Led to huge soviet counterattacks, allowing them to regain huge territories

• Lend-lease; western foreign aid (mainly US) was vital to their war effort. Sent huge quantities of armaments, industrial goods, food and vehicles. 300,000 Us trucks sent (better quality of homemade ones). Played a crucial role during winter 1942-43 when SU were still recovering from early losses

• German mistakes; Hitlers errors eg battle of stalingrad where he became obsessed with taking it due to its importance to stalin. Didn’t allow army to retreat even though they were on the defensive - they were cut off and encircled = massive defeats

• Soviet war economy; ‘war machine’/ command economy 

• Soviet counter offensives; gained huge momentum, led to them driving germans back to berlin 

How far was Stalin’s creation of a Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe after the Second World War the result of his obsession with ensuring international security for the USSR?

• Mainly because of his obsession to ensure security; repeated invasions from the West, tensions over Germany’s future, emergence of US policies such as the Truman Doctrine and NATO all reinforced his belief that Soviet security depended on controlling Eastern Europe. 

• Not the sole factor; economic benefits and attempting to spreading communism, showing his broader desire to consolidate power for himself (not just defensive)

For

• Encouraged the formation of govs that were friendly to the SU, by 1948 most of these became satellite states closely linked to the USSR which creates a buffer zone that stalin hoped would protect the USSR against future invasion from the west - west viewed this as a threat to democracy especially as it was obvious stalin was asserting political control over countries they liberated

• During war the great alliance faced a common enemy but rivalries and tensions emerging; yalta c dominated by conflicting ideas about borders of poland and germany and potsdam ended with no final peace agreement and stalin wanted to disable germany but truman disagrees - unresolved disagreements now becoming urgent

• Western allies would not open a second front in european war to relieve the pressure on the red army, increasing tensions

• Truman doctrine 1947; declared US policy of containment, supported nations resisting soviet influence 

• Marshall aid 1947; us aid to rebuild europe who were very weak after war in order to stop the spread of communism - stalin hated this and viewed it as a way of US trying to create an empire

• NATO; this anti communist alliance was seen as an aggressive act 

• International security; 1945 atomic bomb dropped in japan, this changes the war 

Against

• Economic; Soviet economy weakened, wanted reparations from Germany but allies refused so took from the eastern European countries he had taken over. Furthered with comecon (1949) that ensured their economies were reliant on USSR, benefiting society industry

• Spreading communism; pro-Soviet governments were installed using ‘salami tactics’  in Poland, Czech, Hungary, and others showing he wasn't just focused on security, but was focused on maintaining his own power

• Relation with US; Wasn't bad, 1945 it was accepted that stalin wanted to take over eastern EU countries and was pretty much accepted, caused no security issues and in 1946 after iron curtain speech relation still good 

By 1953 the USSR had become a world power.’  

Assess the validity of this view

For

• Cold war; before this SU didn't want to be a superpower, just wanted to be left alone to focus on economy but by 1945 there was a vast new military-industrial war machine where the USSR had increased its territory and the red army was in control of many areas 

• WW2 victory; won the war against one of the biggest industrial countries (germany)

• Economic strength; despite war their economy recovered well, fourth FYP had all its targets either met or exceeded. Help of war reparations, central planning and committed efforts of soviet people. Heavy industry rebuilt as well as improvement in consumer goods and steady growth in living conditions (average incomes also back up to pre 1938 levels and agriculturally grain and cotton saw an improvement)

• Army; had the biggest army, now got nuclear power 1949 tested their first atomic bomb, now on same level as USA

• Soviet bloc; formed because of WW2 leading to soviet military domination of europe, the territory of USSR expanded and they had influence over local communist parties, creating a zone of buffer states which stalin hoped would help to protect the USSR against future invasion from the west  

Against

• Berlin crisis; Stalin attempts to blockade Berlin, this fails as we can see by the airlift - millions of tonnes of supplies brought, lasting 11 months (planes landing every three mins, 14,000 flights in one day). Stalin has to call this off and accept his loss as could not shoot them down due to USA having atomic bomb unlike them (+ bigger economy)

• WW2 casualties; war effort issues, 26 million soviet deaths, stalin unprepared as refused to listen to his intelligence, didn't think hitler would betray him

• Economic and agriculture; problems with economy post war as economy still overloaded with military expenditure (increased further because of cold war), most of agricultures targets failed in fourth FYP, mostly due to stalin holding back reforms)

• Marshall plan; limitations on comecon

• American territory and influence; have a lot more support than ussr