1941- 1953

Question 1

what did Nazi Germany launch on the 22nd June 1941?

Answer 1

Operation Barbarossa

Question 2

what was operation barbarossa?

Answer 2

an invasion of the soviet union

Question 3

evidence demonstrating that the soviet union was unprepared for war/ operation barbarossa

Answer 3

•within 24 hours, 1,200 soviet aircraft were destroyed on the ground
•after three weeks, a million troops were killed or injured and 20 million were living under german rule
•stalin went to his dacha and remained hidden for two weeks

Question 4

24 hours into operation barbarossa how many soviet aircraft’s were destroyed on the ground?

Answer 4

1,200

Question 5

after three weeks of the war how many troops were killed/ injured

Answer 5

•a million troops killed or injured
•20 million were living under german rule

Question 6

how did stalin change his leadership strategy after the start of the war?

Answer 6

he realised he needed to delegate in order to defeat the nazis

Question 7

what tactic did stalin use as he went into war?

Answer 7

he initially relied on civil war tactics, which led to disastrous defeat (for example in kiev)

Question 8

what was order 270 that stalin made in the first year of war?

Answer 8

he orders that the families of russian soldiers who surrendered would be arrested and imprisoned

Question 9

who did stalin appoint in 1941?

Answer 9

Zhukov

Question 10

when was zukhov appointed and to what position?

Answer 10

•august 1941
•deputy commissar of defence and first deputy commander in chief of soviet armed forces

Question 11

what did Zhukov do?

Answer 11

•he began conferring with colleagues in the stavka
•this led to victory at stalingrad and leningrad

Question 12

what year was the victory at stalingrad?

Answer 12

1943

Question 13

what year was the victory at leningrad?

Answer 13

1944

Question 14

how did Zhukov describe stalins leadership strategy in the final phase of the war?

Answer 14

he said that stalin matured and evolved into a ‘real military commander’

Question 15

what was WW2 commonly known as?

Answer 15

the ‘great patriotic war’

Question 16

how many soviet lives were lost during the war?

Answer 16

over 25 million

Question 17

during the war, how many new factories were built?

Answer 17

over 3500 new factories

Question 18

what hour week became the norm?

Answer 18

a 72 hour week

Question 19

by what year did the soviets industrial production exceed germanys?

Answer 19

by 1943

Question 20

what proportion if collective farm workers were women?

Answer 20

4/5 collective farm workers were women

Question 21

how many women served?

Answer 21

1 million

Question 22

what was lessened to gain the peoples support?

Answer 22

church repression was lessened to gain their support

Question 23

what happened to zhukov during the period of high stalinism?

Answer 23

•zhukov was removed and stalin barely ever used the central committee or the politburo.

Question 24

what year did the party congress meet?

Answer 24

1952

Question 25

what were two instances of terror during high stalinism?

Answer 25

•the 1949 Leningrad affair purged members of the leningrad party •in 1952 during the doctors plot he had hundreds of doctors arrested and tortured as he worried about a jewish plot on his life

Question 26

when was the leningrad affair?

Answer 26

1949

Question 27

when was the doctors plot?

Answer 27

1952

Question 28

who led a purge of culture?

Answer 28

Zhadanov

Question 29

who aimed to remove any western influence?

Answer 29

the Zhandanovschina (a period of hyper- isolationism)

Question 30

what did high stalinism recover and neglect?

Answer 30

•it recovered heavy industry output •light industry and agriculture were still neglected

Question 31

between what years was the fourth 5 year plan?

Answer 31

1946-50

Question 32

what position were the soviet union in at the end of the fourth five year plan?

Answer 32

they were second only to the US in industrial capacity

Question 33

between what dates was the fifth five year plan?

Answer 33

1951-1955

Question 34

what did national income increase by during the fifth five year plan?

Answer 34

increased by 71%

Question 35

what did the 1945 harvest produce?

Answer 35

the 1945 harvest produced 60% of pre was harvests

Question 36

when was there a drought?

Answer 36

1946, there was also another famine after this

Question 37

what did stalin do to the army 1937-38?

Answer 37

•he purged the army and air force commanders •this undermined morale and paralysed initiative

Question 38

reasons why stalin was an effective wartime leader

Answer 38

•his speeches were effective and inspirational •he was a rallying force and showed leadership qualities •he issues ruthless orders, like ones urging to stay soldiers to stay on the front line or else them and their families would be arrested/ punished •relied increasingly on men like zhukov and and vasilevsky who planned the encircling counter- offensive which was the key for Russian success at stalingrad •victory transformed relations between stalin and his generals •he listened to advisors more (in comparison to Hitler)

Question 39

reasons why stalin was an ineffective wartime leader

Answer 39

•only addressed the people nine times during war •he purged high-ranking red army officers including the leading military thinker in the soviet union- purged launched in 1937 •poor performance in the finnish winter war (1939-40) due to lack of army initiative •ignored warnings about a german attack and continued to deliver materials to hitler - as a result the country was unprepared for a german attack - the red army lost 6 million men as a consequence •stalin admitted to his closest that ‘Lenin left us a great legacy, but we, his heirs, have messed it up’ •stalins inflexible, stand fast mentality in 1941-42 prevented tactical withdrawals, leading to big losses of men and territory •there is no evidence to suggest that stalin suffered even the slightest bit of remorse