USSR and WWII Notes

USSR Foreign Policy

  • 1919: Bolsheviks set up Comintern to spread revolutionary ideas.
  • 1933: With Hitler's rise, Stalin focused on foreign policy, seeking cooperation with the West.
  • 1934: USSR joined the League of Nations.
  • 1935: Mutual assistance pact with France and Czechoslovakia.
  • Comintern shifted to “popular fronts” to contain fascism.
  • Supported governments with anti-German, pro-Soviet stance.
  • 1936: German troops entered Rhineland.
  • 1938: Anschluss with Germany and Austria occurred.

Origins of the Great Patriotic War

  • USSR proposed a conference of “great powers” but was rejected by Britain.
  • The West distrusted communism, leading to Soviet isolation.
  • USSR not invited to the Munich Conference in Sept 1938.
  • Munich Agreement: Germany annexed parts of Czechoslovakia (Sudetenland).

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

  • 1939: USSR began contact with Germany.
  • For Hitler:
    • Avoid a two-front war.
    • Postpone attack on USSR.
  • For Stalin:
    • Germany moves west, weakening both Germany and Western powers.
    • USSR gains control of eastern Poland and time to strengthen military.
  • The pact stunned the world.

Reactions to the Nazi-Soviet Pact

  • Western view: USSR was being unscrupulous and double-dealing.
  • USSR seen as responsible for WWII outbreak.
  • A.J.P Taylor: Stalin aimed to avoid war and advocated for collective security.

German Invasion

  • 1st Sept 1939: Germany invaded Poland.
  • 17th Sept 1939: USSR invaded Poland, taking eastern part.
  • 1940: Germany took over Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, and Luxemburg. France surrendered.

Why Hitler Attacked East

  • Lebensraum (living space) for Germans.
  • Resources (grain in Ukraine, oil in Caucasus).
  • Industry.
  • Incompatible political systems (fascism vs communism).
  • Need for constant victory.
  • By March 1941, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania joined the Axis.
  • May 1941: Germany took over Yugoslavia and Greece.

Operation Barbarossa

  • 22nd June 1941: Germany invaded USSR.
  • Largest military action, with 4.5 million troops along an 1800-mile front.
  • Objectives: Capture Baltic states, Leningrad, Moscow, Ukraine, and Caucasus.

USSR's Readiness

  • Stalin hoped for peace and spoils of the British Empire.
  • Believed he had until 1942 to prepare.
  • Ignored warnings of an imminent attack.

Initial German Success

  • Germans were initially welcomed as liberators in some areas.
  • However, S.S. divisions massacred civilians (Jews, gypsies, communist officials).

Soviet Weaknesses

  • 10 million troops, but obsolete tanks and poorly trained pilots.
  • Red Air Force was decimated early in the invasion.
  • Germans stalled outside of Moscow, but the Soviets were able to counter attack and push Axis forces back.
  • Over 2000 Soviet planes destroyed in first few hours.
  • Massive Soviet troop losses and tank destruction.

Moscow and Leningrad

  • Moscow: Stalin refused to evacuate and launched a counter-offensive in December.
  • Leningrad: Besieged from October 1941 to January 1944 (900 days).
  • Hitler ordered daily bombing, targeting historic buildings and civilians.
  • Hundreds of thousands died from starvation, artillery fire, and bombing.

Nazi Atrocities

  • Hitler's orders: War against Russia to be waged with “unprecedented, unmerciful, and unrelenting hardness”.
  • Commissars to be eliminated.
  • S.S. Einsatzgruppen: Executed suspected Communist officials, Red Army officers, and male Jews.

Russian Response

  • Partisan brigades formed, engaging in sabotage.
  • Women joined the Red Army in large numbers (over 800,000).
  • Scorched earth policy: Citizens instructed to burn everything to deny resources to Germans.

Winter Warfare

  • German army was unprepared for winter warfare.
  • Weapons jammed, gas lines froze, and men froze to death.

Stalingrad - The Turning Point

  • Summer 1942: Hitler aimed to capture Stalingrad, an industrial center and key shipping route.
  • Soviet General Chuikov used close-quarters fighting to negate German air power.
  • Residents were not evacuated to inspire troops.
  • Stalin’s Order No. 227: "Not a Step Back".

End at Stalingrad

  • November 1942: Soviet forces surrounded German invaders.
  • Hitler refused retreat.
  • February 1943: Last German troops surrendered.
  • Massive German losses, marking the end of German advances.

Significance of Stalingrad

  • Supported Allied victory.
  • Ended Germany's advance into eastern Europe and Russia.
  • First major German loss.

Battle of Kursk 1943

  • Last German offensive on the eastern front.
  • Greatest tank battle in history.
  • German troops were forced to withdraw due to the Red Army's strength.

Soviet War Economy

  • Relocation and conversion of industry.
  • Lend-Lease contribution.
  • Mobilization of agriculture and women.
  • Partisan warfare.
  • Role of the Church and Propaganda.

Soviet Union Victory

  • Reasons for the Soviet Union's victory include:

Comparing Stalin and Lenin

  • Continuity and differences between Lenin and Stalin.

Comparing Stalinism and Tsarism

  • Similarities and differences between Tsarism and Stalinism.