19: the great patriotic war Flashcards
when did the nazis invade russia
22 june 1941
why was stalin caught by surprise by nazi invasion
he had ignored intelligence reports and seems to have miscalculated as to when the germans would turn east
what evidence is there that stalin was not entirely unaware of the impending attack from nazi germany
defence spending increased 16.5% 1937- 32.6% 1940
was the soviet union ready for war in 1941
no
what had sapped the strength of the red army between 1936-38
the purges of the red army removed most senior officers
what had soviet fighting capacity been affected by
inadequate training and the removal of those who had promoted more advanced military theories, such as mikhail tukhachevsky
when had a lack of military initiative already been seen
in winter war with finland 1939-40 when no commander dared try anything new
what was the effect of the reestablishment of dual command of military units
increased party control but hindered actual combat capabilities
what deficiencies were there economically despite the move towards rearmament in the third 5yp
deficiencies in quantity and quality of equipment
how many tanks, military aircraft and rifles was the soviet union producing per month by 1941
230 tanks
700 military aircraft
100,000 rifles
what had happened as a result of increased expenditure of the military
insufficient investment in the collective and state farm system, still not producing enough to feed population
how was the soviet union psychologically unprepared to fight
having withdrawn anti-fascist propaganda and praised soviet german friendship since 1939, soviet troops suddenly expected to fight former allies
what was the name of the operation that launched the german attack
three pronged attack- operation barbarossa
wht was stalins initial reaction to the invasion
he suggested that someone contact hitler in berlin because he suspected the troop advance to be a limited act of provocation
what was stalins first wartime order when he met his politburo
demand that german air force be destroyed and invading forced annihilated
who did stalin leave the public announcement of hostilities to
molotov
why did stalin possibly leave the announcement to molotov
he couldnt bring himself to make it
how did molotov end his informing of the people
‘our cause is just, the enemy will be smashed, victory will be ours’
how long did stalin take to establish a defined structure of governmental and military authority
a week- whether this was deliberate or he was affected by depression is unknown
what was stalins speech on 3 july 1941 designed to do
establish his leadership and unite the nation, rekindling patriotism and mollifying all those who opposed his politices in 1930s
what did stalins interestingly appeal to in his war speeches
his peoples love for their country and played on the threat of their culture rather than the threat to socialism
what did the people fight for instead of communism
russia
what did stalin order as a result of the germans coming dangerously close to moscow in october 1941
evacuation of the government to Kuibyshev on the Volga
what display of resistance did stalin insist on despite ordering the evacuation of the government in moscow
the annual red square parade should take place as normal
what did stalin realise as a result of the disastrous opening to the war
the need to let his military commanders plan campaigns- running of war increasingly left to general staff but removed if they displayed incompetence
examples of marshals replaced by men brought back from gulags
Voroshilov and budyenny
who did stalin rely heavily on in the war
georgi Zhukov
what had hitler nurtured some hope that the invasion would spark
an anti Stalinist revolt
how did those in national minority areas approach the germans in the wake of invasion
they welcomed the german soldiers as liberators after the harsh Stalinism of the 1930s and thousands became collaborationists
what movement was formed in the Ukraine under vlasov
the Russian liberation movement who fought against their former red army comrades
what did winning the war rely on in the greater part of the unoccupied ussr
on the continuation of pre war terror tactics
what did stalin issue in july 1942 when the germans threatned stalingrad
order 227- not one step backwards
what was the fate of any soldier who fell behind/tried to retreat
shot on sight
how many were sentenced to death under order 227
150000
who were penal battalions created from
those who broke discipline
what happened to those who broke discipline
sent to front to undertake most dangerous jobs eg clearing minefields =- supposedly to redeem themselves
casualty rates of those who were given most dangerous jobs
50%
what were added to the NKVD units to prevent desertion/retreat
blocking units equipped with machine guns
political impact: why did stalin take action to prevent political disintegration
the multinational nature of the empire seen as a potential threat to state security
political impact: what happened to the Volga german autonomous republic
dissolved as early as august 1941 and peoples sent to east
political impact: who were deported away from their homelands
‘suspect’ ethnic groups such as the chechens
political impact: how many in total were forced to uproot
1.5 million
political impact: what did stalin address within the party to win the way
former grievances of army officers
political impact: what was the result of stalin putting emphasis on the political education of the troops
increasing numbers of military chose to join party
political impact: how many candidate members and how many new members joined the party during the war
5 million candidate members
3.6 million new members
political impact: what percentage of those in the armed forces were communist and what percentage were Komsomol members by 1945
25% communist
20% members of komsomol
political impact: wat did the war help to strengthen the belief in
the communist system
political impact: what could stalin claim that the war had shown by may 1945
the war had shown the superiority and resilience of the socialist system
political impact: what was the war a victory for
communist over fascism
economic impact: what had hitler intended to seize in the wake of his invasion
Russian farmland and industry to use to german advantage
economic impact: to what extent had nhitler achieved his goal of seizing Russian farmland and industry by the end of 1941
german occupied soviet territory contained 63% of countrys coal, 68% iron, 58% steel, 45% railways and 41% arable land
economic impact: what measures did the soviets take during the war to ensure their economic survival
the establishment of a wartime economy on 30 june 1941
economic impact: which policy rendered most of farmland useless
scorched earth
economic impact: how many soviet factories were transplanted from western Russia and Ukraine to east in july-nov 1941
1523
economic impact: what happened to the industrial growth that had already taken place in 5 year plans
capitalised upon
economic impact: ho were industrial bases rapidly linked to front line
new railways built/redirected