Chapter twenty-two - The defeat of the Germans

Question 1

What was the role of women on the home front?

Answer 1

By the end of 1942, 80% of Leningrad’s industrial workers were women.
Only 500,000 served in the armed forces

Question 2

How many reported on the front?

Answer 2

Over 1000 writers and artists joined the campaign to report on the front.

Question 3

How was defeated talk limited?

Answer 3

One woman was sentenced to seven years for telling a friend about the bombing of Smolensk

Question 4

How did the role of the Orthodox church increase?

Answer 4

According to a 1937 census, 55% considered themselves to be religious believers. Stalin took this into account and the League of the Godless was abolished, and 15,000 Orthodox churches reopened

Question 5

How much money were Russia given by the US?

Answer 5

500 million dollars

Question 6

What products were given to Russia by the US?

Answer 6

300,000 trucks
14,000 aircraft
782,000 tins of canned meat

Question 7

How did the lend lease system contribute to the USSR?

Answer 7

in 1943 and 1944 it contributed to 10% of the GDP of the USSR. Without it the defeat of Wehrmacht would have taken 12 to 18 months longer

Question 8

How did the lack of Western front apply pressure to the USSR?

Answer 8

Western front did not open until 1944 despite the USSR asking from 1942. Put great pressure on the USSR as 2/3 of German soldiers were always at the Eastern front

Question 9

What happened to factories in the USSR?

Answer 9

Equipment, workers and whole factories were put on 20,000 trains and shifted hundreds of miles to the East. By the end of 1941, 1523 factories had been moved

Question 10

How many factories were created?

Answer 10

3500 new factories were built, most dedicated to armaments. They were producing more rapidly than Germany

Question 11

What happened to the civilian economy?

Answer 11

It was neglected and living standards fell by 40%. Bolstered by the support of the allies as they would have been compelled to withdraw major resources from fighting in 1943 if not for the lend lease system

Question 12

How were workers treated?

Answer 12

Millions were overworked and there were 7.5 million convictions for absenteeism and lateness

Question 13

What happened to agricultural output?

Answer 13

By 1943 it was 38% on 1940 levels but resilience meant that they were able to feed the growing population

Question 14

How was the German war effort weakened by mass bombings?

Answer 14

Dresden was destroyed in February 1945

Question 15

Did Germany have self-sufficiency in raw materials?

Answer 15

By 1943 - 44 - war production in Germany depended on all out exploitation of dwindling economic and human resources

Question 16

What was the territorial expansion of the Soviet Union?

Answer 16

Previously independent Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and parts of east Prussia were all made Soviet Republics.

Question 17

What was the great mass migration?

Answer 17

12 million refugees, many of them ethnic Germans fled westwards in 1944 - 45 as the Red army advanced.

Question 18

How was Germany split?

Answer 18

Germany was divided into four zones: Soviet, American, British and French. Berlin, despite being in the Soviet zone, was divided into four zones ruled by a joint allied commission

Question 19

What was the price of the war victory?

Answer 19

Approximately 20 million Soviet citizens died: 7.5 million in the armed forces and more than 20 million civilians
Between 1941 and 45, the war killed one in eight of the population and caused massive dislocation.

Question 20

What were the plans for economic recovery?

Answer 20

In 1945, Stalin promised that the USSR would be the leading industrial power by 1960. August 1945 - Gosplan was instructed to prepare the fourth five year plan: one third of the plan’s expenditure was to be spent on Ukraine

Question 21

How did industry struggle to adjust to peacetime conditions?

Answer 21

1945 + 46 - mining production was running at less than half the 1940 level, electric power was at 52% and steel was at 45%

Question 22

When was foreign aid ended?

Answer 22

Lend-Lease system ended in 1945

Question 23

What was industrial production under the fourth five year plan?

Answer 23

In millions + tons:
Coal - 1940 - 165.9 1950 - 261.1
Oil - 31.1 - 37.9
Steel 18.3 - 27.3

Question 24

What happened to Soviet incomes?

Answer 24

As early as 1948, average Soviet incomes had climbed back to 1938 levels

Question 25

What happened to the size of the armed forces?

Answer 25

Increased from 2.8 million in 1948 to 4.9 million by 1953

Question 26

What happened to military spending?

Answer 26

Was 18% of total expenditure in 1950, but rose to 25% in 1952

Question 27

Were there famines?

Answer 27

There were famines in parts of Ukraine and central Russia in July 1946 which was intensified by severe drought, and thousands died of hunger. In his memoirs, Khrushchev claimed that this was made worse by Stalin’s policies as grain was being exported abroad.

Question 28

How was agriculture devastated by the war?

Answer 28

98,000 collective farms had been ruined, with the loss of 137,000 tractors, 49,000 combine harvesters, 7 million horses, 17 million cattle, 20 million pigs and 27 million sheep

Question 29

What was food production like after the war?

Answer 29

60% of the 1940 level

Question 30

How much land was under cultivation?

Answer 30

1945 total was only 75% of what it had been in 1940

Question 31

How did Stalin hold back reforms in agriculture?

Answer 31

He published a book called Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR in 1952, which discouraged any tendencies towards innovation and change

Question 32

What happened to agricultural production?

Answer 32

In million tons 1940 - 1952 -
Grain: 95.6 - 92.2
Potatoes: 76.1 - 69.2
Cotton: 2.2 - 3.8

Question 33

How much industrial production had been lost in occupied areas?

Answer 33

Approximately 70%

Question 34

How much investment was devoted to heavy industry under the fourth five year plan?

Answer 34

85%

Question 35

How much reconstruction work had to be completed?

Answer 35

Leningrad workers had to put in 30 extra hours a month, citizens not working had to in 60 and students 10.

Question 36

How many put in forced labour?

Answer 36

2.5 million inmates in labour camps
2 million prisoners of war

Question 37

When was the Soviet atomic bomb tested?

Answer 37

1949