Chapter 22 - The defeat of the Germans Flashcards
Why did Stalin want the Red Army to gain control of as much of Central Europe and Germany as possible by the end of the war?
To create a buffer zone against any future threats to the USSR
He was willing to accept huge casualty rates in the Red Army in order to advance westwards as fast as possible
Why did Eisenhower allow the USSR to win the ‘race to Berlin’?
To reduce Allied casualties and to prevent a confrontation with Soviet forces
How did Eisenhower help the USSR win the ‘race to Berlin’?
By slowing the Allies’ advance in Germany from the west
What were the losses on both sides of the final battle for Berlin?
USSR: 80,000
Germany: 150,000
When did Germany surrender unconditionally to the USSR?
9 May 1945
When did Hitler commit suicide?
30 April 1945
When did the Red Army win the final battle for Berlin?
2 May 1945
What were the 3 reasons for the defeat of the Germans?
- German weaknesses
- Soviet strengths
- The contribution by the Allies
What were 5 German weaknesses?
- Hitler’s strategy was based on securing a rapid victory (once this failed the odds were against Germany)
- Had to fight a two-front war from Dec 1941
- Lacked self-sufficiency in raw materials (problem 1943-44)
- Hitler made crucial strategic mistakes
- Harsh German repression in occupied countries increased resistance movements and partisans
What were 6 Soviet strengths?
- Vast geographical size
- Size of population
- Natural resource wealth
- The Soviet ‘command economy’
- Military leadership
- Propaganda and patriotism
How was the USSR’s vast geographical size an advantage?
- Stretched German supply lines too far by end of 1941
- Enabled whole new armies and industrial base to be built up in the east far beyond Germany’s reach
How was the USSR’s big population an advantage?
They could replace losses in a way that was impossible for the Germans
How was the USSR’s natural resource wealth an advantage?
From 1942 the USSR could out-produce German war industries
How was the Soviet ‘command economy’ an advantage?
Well-suited to total war and the emergency mobilisation of workers and resources
How was the USSR’s military leadership an advantage?
Stalin’s Stavka (military command) became ruthlessly effective
How was Soviet propaganda and patriotism an advantage?
Motivated the armed forces and civilians to fight and endure
4 million people volunteered for citizens’ defense in 1941
What were 4 useful contributions by the Allies?
- Stalin’s allies meant Hitler was fighting on two fronts
- Mass bombing campaigns by the British Americans from 1943 hugely damaged Germany’s war effort
- Allied secret intelligence undermined Germany’s war effort at crucial times
- USSR recieved enourmous amounts of vital military and economic aid
What were the 6 results of victory for the USSR?
- It became a superpower
- Communist ideology was vindicated
- Stalin was held up as the USSR’s saviour
- There was a massive territorial expansion of the USSR and its ‘sphere of influence’
- Devastating costs for the USSR
- Cold War tensions developed
How did the USSR become a superpower?
- the war unleashed the USSR’s economic potential
- the war badly weakened other European powers
How was Communist ideology vindicated?
- Communism was seen to defeat fascism
- Increased the attraction of a ‘socialist road’ to development
How was Stalin held up as the USSR’s saviour?
The cult of Stalin was strengthened
How was there a massive territorial expansion of the USSR and its ‘sphere of influence’?
- the Baltic states became Soviet republics
- Pro-Soviet regimes were established in Eastern European countries
What were the devastating costs for the USSR?
- At least 20 million Soviet citizens were killed
- Much of the economy and infrastructure were destroyed
How did the Cold War tensions develop?
- Stalin feared the USA’s influence in Europe
- There were disagreements over the future of Germany
When was the fourth 5YP launched?
March 1946
What was a particular focus of the fourth 5YP? Why?
Reconstruction of Ukraine
It was an important agricultural and industrial region that had been devastated by the war
What were 5 major problems faced by Soviet industry in adjusting back to peacetime conditions?
- Mining, steel production and electricity levels were ~1/2 of 1940 levels in 1945
- The transport infrastructure was badly disrupted
- Workforce exhausted and depleted by wartime sacrifices
- End of foreign aid added significantly to pressures on industry
- High military investment as a result of the Cold War meant less investment in other areas (25% of total expenditure 1952)
What were 4 ways in which industrial recovery under the fourth 5YP was rapid and successful?
- Many of the Plan’s targets were met or exceeded
- By 1950, Ukraine’s industrial output was higher than before the war
- There was some improved production of consumer goods
- Average Soviet incomes were back to 1938 levels as early as 1948
Describe the production levels of steel, coal, oil, cement and electricity under the fourth 5YP
More being produced in 1950 than 1940
Describe the production of consumer goods under the fourth 5YP
Cotton fabrics, wool fabrics and sugar were back to pre-war production figures by 1950
The production of shoes, clothing and furniture lagged behind pre-war levels which had already been inadequate to demand
What are 4 reasons for the rapid recovery of industry?
- War reparations transferred masses of material from Germany to the USSR
- Central planning was able to enforce the mass mobilisation of people and resources
- The people were proud of the USSR’s victory and willing to make further sacrifices
- A ‘rebound effect’ enabled rapid rebuilding of essential services
What were 6 major challenges faced by agriculture in 1945?
- Large numbers of farms had been destroyed in the war
- Large quantities of farm machinery destroyed
- Livestock numbers seriously depleted
- Food production in 1945 was 60% of 1940 levels
- Deaths and injuries from war meant a major farming labour shortage
- 1946 was the driest year since 1891and famine hit parts of Ukraine and central Russia in 1846-47
How many collective farms were destroyed during the war?
98,000
How many people did the famine of 1946-47 kill?
An estimated 1.5 million
Why was agriculture’s recovery slow and patchy?
- The fourth 5YP brought some increases but failed to reach most of its targets
- The famine highlighted serious problems faced in agriculture
- Stalin’s writing on the Soviet economy (Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR) blocked reform
Give examples of how reform was blocked in agriculture
- Payments for farm products kept very low
- Taxes were increased
- The ban on selling food grown on kolkhozniks’ private plots was reintroduced in 1948
