Does Stalin deserve the title 'Great War Hero'? Flashcards
What would you argue in an introduction to an essay on wether Stalin deserves the credit for the Victory in the Great Patriotic War?
Overall, it can be argued Stalin does not deserve the title of ‘Great War Hero’. It was ultimately his miscalculations within the Nazi-Soviet pact which contributed to the USSR being unprepared for warfare by 1941 which was exacerbated by Stalins personal mental paralysis + lack of effective leadership upon the German invasion.
Whilst it can be argued that Stalin did recover his position + was competent for the remainder of the war ie by mobilising the soviet economy + reinstating more experienced military leadership following the consequences of his ‘great purges’ the subsequent defeat of the Germans was predominately due to factors irrevant to him ie the USSR’s vast population + vast geographical advantages.
Therefore Stalin does not deserve the title.
Explain Point No.1 - That Stalin does NOT deserve the title/credit for the Victory in the Great Patriotic War
NO.1 - Stalins poor leadership
- Stalins miscalculations regarding the Nazi-Soviet pact heavily contirubted to the Soviet Union being unprepared for war in 1941. He refused to acknowledge warnings that a German invasion was imminent + took no action regarding it as ‘german misinformation’. He was unwilling to accept the reality of the situation in June 1941 + thus for the first week of the second world war Soviet Union was without effective leadership/direction.
- Germany’s scale of invasion was unprecedented in the history of warfare with 3 million troops + half a million motorised vehicles. Yet it wasn’t this scale which gave germany the advantage during the early stages of the war but instead Stalin’s own mental paralysis + poor leadership. In logicastcal sense, the Russian war outweighed the German capacity for troops + possessed three times the number of aircraft. Instead it was the soviet union’s inability to form an effective defence in the several early days of Germany’s invasion which led to such harsh defeats.
- One of the key reasons the USSR was also so unprepared for warfare by 1941 was sisiarly due to Stalin’s personal decisions ie his Great purges whereby Tukhachevsky, Chief of the General Staff and seven other generals were imprisoned or shot.
Explain Point No.2 - That Stalin does NOT deserve the title/credit for the Victory in the Great Patriotic War
NO.2 - Many key factors cannot be attributed to Stalin
- Whilst Stalin proved himself to be a capable military wartime leader there’s a reasons which had nothing to do with him.
- The population of the USSR was 171 million by 1941 standing nearly 3 times larger than germany. Consequently the USSR would replace troops + losses of forces in ways impossible for the Germans + also meant the soviet union could conscript 29.5 million troops. This has nothing to do with the abilities of Stalin but more so the capacity of the USSR population.
- Gerogrpacial reasons also played a large role, as the size made it almost impossible for germany to ever launch a decisive knockout blow against it + thus had dangerously overstretched lines of communication. It was also the size of the ussr which was vital in enabling stalins decision to pack up + complete mobolise the economy in the east away from german bombers.
Explain Point No.1 - That Stalin does deserve the title/credit for the Victory in the Great Patriotic War
Whilst during the first week stalin did make serious errors in judgement + his delayed reaction exacerbated the situation, unlike Hitler he reacted to his own weakness and errors + rapidly reinstated more experienced military leadership and did take action to remove some junior level officers who had only gained posts predominately for political reasons in order to combat the weaknesses within the USSRs military.
- In contrast Hitelr continued to sack germans experienced army officers + generals + replaced them with ‘yes men’ which contributed to the weakened german leadership. Similarly stalin, helped by advanced information about the intention of japan, provided by a ‘master spy’ Richard Sorge helped ensure the soviet union did not have to fight a 2 front war which for the large majority of the war, hilter by contrast was required to do.
Explain Point No.2 - That Stalin does deserve the title/credit for the Victory in the Great Patriotic War
German invasion of western regions of USSR between 1941/2 destroyed the basis of soviet economy both in industry + agriculture so much so that stalin was aware entire sectors of industry were ruined by bombardment + the new productive capacity was threatened - If the Soviet Union failed to build new industrial bases to replace these loses the war would be lost.
The solution was to completely re-immobilise the soviet economy by relocating in order to rebuild equipment. Whole factories were picked up and put on 20,000 trains + shifted to the east beyond reach of German bombs. This mobilisation of industry was vital for the war effort + was virtually a new industrial revolution to match previous 5 year plans. During 1942 it began a huge industrial base for war production particularly for guns, tanks and aircraft.
Explain your last points on wether Stalin deserves the title of ‘Great War Hero’ + The Credit for soviet victory in 1941
- The victory against germany transformed the soviet union into a superpower + war galvanised the USSR unleashing its huge economic potential + war seemingly vindicated comunist ideology, forging a road to socialism + an alternative to capitalism.
However, victory + Stalin’s personal ‘leadership’ was also only achieved at a huge price for the Russian people.
- 12 million civilians died
- A variety of tactics utilised to defeat the Germans were ultimately at the expense of his people E.g. USSR’s ‘scorched earth tactics’
- Life for civilians on the home front was unrelentlessly harsh with Food and shelter in short supply.
- The soviet people faced attack form their own government as well secret police were obsessed with hunting down ‘slackers’ deserters or thief’s leading to thousands being imprisoned or executed.
Therefore, Stalin’s leadership may have been ruthless in defending the country + achieving victory at any cost but ultimately he possessed no compassion or care for the lives of his people. When analysing from a modern viewpoint I would argue Stalin was no real leader of war.
