Stalinist Dictatorship and the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the key political, military, social, and economic terms associated with the Soviet Union's experience during World War II (The Great Patriotic War) under Stalin's leadership.

Operation Barbarossa

The German invasion of the USSR launched in June $1941$ targeting Leningrad in the north, Moscow in the centre, and Kiev and Rostov-on-Don in the south.

Stavka

The supreme military command established on $23$ June $1941$, responsible for all military planning and consisting of marshals, the chief of general staff, and heads of military services.

State Defence Committee (GKO)

A civilian body set up on $30$ June $1941$ by the Politburo to exercise absolute authority over party, state, military, and economic organizations during the war.

Vyacheslav Molotov

The official who made the first public announcement of the German invasion to the Soviet nation.

Hilfswillige

Meaning ‘willing to help,’ these individuals served the Germans in roles such as drivers, cooks, hospital attendants, and messengers.

Waffen-SS

The armed wing of the Nazi party that served alongside the regular German army.

Partisan

A member of a military force operating behind the front line to oppose enemy control of an area.

Volga German Autonomous Republic

The political entity dissolved by Stalin in August $1941$, leading to the deportation of its people to the east.

Dacha

A second home in the country, often used by Russian citizens during the summer.

Kuibyshev

The city on the Volga to which Stalin ordered the evacuation of the Soviet government when German forces were close to Moscow.

Georgi Zhukov

The veteran commander and deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Army who defended Moscow in $1941$ and led the final assault on Berlin in $1945$.

Andrey Vlasov

The leader of the Russian liberation movement in Ukraine who formed a division of the Waffen-SS to fight against the Red Army.

Order 227

Known as ‘not one step backwards,’ this mandate decreed that any soldier who fell behind or tried to retreat was to be shot on sight.

Penal battalions

Military units created for those who broke discipline (labelled ‘cowards’), who were sent to perform dangerous tasks like clearing minefields to ‘redeem’ themselves.

Blocking units

Groups equipped with machine guns positioned behind the lines to prevent Soviet soldiers from deserting or retreating.

Scorched earth policy

A strategy used to render farmland useless to invading forces; it significantly contributed to the $1942$ grain harvest being only a third of the $1940$ levels.

Lend-Lease scheme

A program through which the USA provided $11$ billion of aid to the USSR, including equipment like planes, tanks, and over $200,000$ vehicles.