Chapter 19

Question 1

What was the term given to WW2 in the USSR?

Answer 1

The Great Patriotic War 1941-45

Question 2

What did Germany refer to the invasion of the USSR as?

Answer 2

Operation Barbarossa, which began 21/22 June 1941

Question 3

Why was it surprising that Stalin seemed shocked by Germany’s attempted invasion?

Answer 3

Military intelligence agents and the British government had warned Stalin, as well as the rise of German forces by the border

Question 4

What was the size of the army that intially started the German Blitzkrieg in the USSR?

Answer 4

3 million soldiers, 3850 tanks, 7184 artillery guns and 740,000 horses

Question 5

What was Stalin’s first wartime order in the Politburo?

Answer 5

He demanded that the German air force would be destroyed and the invading forces annihilated

Question 6

Who did Stalin leave the public announcement of hostilities to?

Answer 6

Vyacheslav Molotov

Question 7

What change in authority began 23rd June 1941?

Answer 7

The Stavka (supreme military command) was established, which was responsible for all military command

Question 8

What did Stalin do at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War that confused his government?

Answer 8

He retreated and withdrew to his dacha for 10 days, without any clear guidance

Question 9

What civilian body was set up by the Politburo on the 30th June 1941?

Answer 9

State Defence Committee which exercised supreme authority over all other political and economic bodies in the USSR

Question 10

How did Stalin himself garner the people’s approval and support of the war?

Answer 10

He appealed to his people’s love of their country and played on the threat to their culture, rather than a threat to socialism

Question 11

Which military leader did Stalin grow increasingly dependent on during the war?

Answer 11

Georgi Zhukov

Question 12

How did the national minorities of the USSR react to Hitler’s invasion of them?

Answer 12

National minorities, particularly Estonia, Lithuania, Belorussia and the Ukraine welcomed the German soldiers as liberators

Question 13

What movement in the Ukraine became a division of the Waffen-SS?

Answer 13

The Russian Liberation Movement, established under Andrey Vaslov

Question 14

How many people approximately fought for Hitler’s side during the war?

Answer 14

Around a million, including 250,000 Cossacks, although they were only given menial work

Question 15

How did Stalin rely on ‘Terror tactics’ in order to gain the support of the civilians?

Answer 15

He issued Order 227, ‘Not One Step Backwards’ in which any soldier who fell behind or retreated was to be shot on sight. More than 150,000 were killed

Question 16

What military groups were created out of soldiers who break discipline?

Answer 16

Penal battalions were created to undertake the most dangerous jobs, such as clearing minefields, to redeem themselves

Question 17

What ethnic groups were deported out of Russia due to Stalin’s suspicions?

Answer 17

The Karachai, the Kalmyks, the Chechens, the Ingushi, the Meskhetians and the Crimean Tartars (about 1.5 million)

Question 18

How many candidate members and new members joined the party over the course of the war?

Answer 18

Over 5 million candidate members and 3.6 million members joined the Party

Question 19

By the end of 1941, how much did the German-occupied Soviet territory control?

Answer 19

68% of its iron, 58% of its steel, 45% of its railways and 41% of its arable land

Question 20

What was the scorched earth policy?

Answer 20

A policy which destroyed anything deemed useful to the enemy before retreating, which was a tactic used by both Stalin and the Germans

Question 21

Why was managing a wartime economy easier for the USSR?

Answer 21

People’s Commissars were established to supervise different areas of wartime production, such as tanks, aircrafts and guns

Question 22

How much had the military share of the budget grown by 1942?

Answer 22

It had grown from 29 per cent to 57 per cent

Question 23

How many new industrial entreprises were created over the course of the war?

Answer 23

3500 new factories

Question 24

How was food production managed during the war?

Answer 24

Strict rationing, demanding quotas on collective farms, farm output was maintained by women, the elderly and children, and townsfolk were strongly encouraged to grow produce

Question 25

What was the Land Lease scheme of 1941?

Answer 25

A programme under which the USA supplied the USSR with 11 billion dollars of aid and 5 million tonnes of food

Question 26

What was the impact of the December 1941 employment drive?

Answer 26

All men aged 16 to 55 and women aged 16 to 45 years were required to devote themselves to war effort

Question 27

In what was factory discipline tightened during the war?

Answer 27

Overtime became obligatory, the average working week was 70-77 hours, factories were placed under martial law, severe punishments for negligence, lateness or absenteeism

Question 28

How many soldiers are estimated to have been killed between 1941 and 1945?

Answer 28

8.6 million - and an average daily rate double the other allies

Question 29

What proportion of the 25 million deaths during the war was due to food shortages?

Answer 29

Over a quarter

Question 30

What kind of slogans were used in the propaganda posters Stalin created during the war?

Answer 30

‘Everything for Victory’, ‘Long Live Our Motherland, Her Freedom, Her Independence! Death to the German Invaders!’

Question 31

What form of punishment was used to maintain supplies?

Answer 31

Gulag labour, which provided 15% of all Soviet ammunition and also built airports, landing strips and roads

Question 32

What major cultural change was introduced in 1943 as a response to the war?

Answer 32

The Internationale (the socialist anthemn) was replaced with an even more nationalistic song of the Motherland

Question 33

Why were previously banned artists now allowed to work again?

Answer 33

There was a culture of national reconcilliation, and they were freer to publish anything, as long as they didn’t criticise Marxist-Leninism

Question 34

Why did Stalin reinstate the Russian Patriarch and release the clergy from prison during the war?

Answer 34

Stalin wanted to use the Church to lift morale and strengthen the people’s resolve, encouraging patriotism

Question 35

To what extent was the Church actually given its former powers back?

Answer 35

Not really, as the Church was not allowed any real autonomy and all Christian denominations were under the Orthodox Church

Question 36

What measures were introduced in July 1944 to combat the falling birth rate?

Answer 36

Taxes were increased for those with fewer than two children, restrictions on divorce were tightened, abortion was forbidden, and mothers of more than two were made ‘Heroines of the Soviet Union’

Question 37

By 1945, what proportion of workers were female?

Answer 37

Over half of all Soviet workers and more than four fifths of land workers were women

Question 38

How many partisans were there in both 1943 and 1945, and what was their purpose?

Answer 38

Over 300,000 in 1943 and over a million by 1945, and they used guerilla tactics in order to harrass and sabotage the enemy

Question 39

How did Stalin emerge following his success in the war?

Answer 39

Despite his personal triumph, Stalin had grown increasingly paranoid, especially around prisoners-of-war

Question 40

How many civilian and soldiers were killed throughout WW2

Answer 40

19 million civilian deaths and 9 million soldier deaths

Question 41

In what ways were the Soviets actually better off in the war, despite the countless deaths?

Answer 41

Comradeship between soldiers spread liberal thinking, Soviet society was also opened to Western influence in wartime and ordinary citizens were given hope for the first time

Question 42

How many towns were destroyed throughout the war?

Answer 42

1200