Economic Consequences of the War

Question 1

what happened to the USSR after victory in the war

Answer 1

it established the Soviet Union as a superpower

Question 2

how did the war benefit the USSR

Answer 2

it galvanised it and unleashed its huge economic potential

Question 3

what did the war make the USSR when it came to the military

Answer 3

it became by the far the dominant military power on the continent

Question 4

how did the glow of victory help to strengthen the Stalin regime

Answer 4

the war seemed to vindicate communist ideology, offering the ‘road to socialism’ as a replacement for fascism, and an alternative system to capitalism

Question 5

what did the war bring about for the soviet union

Answer 5

massive territorial expansion

Question 6

What countries and states became incorporated into the Soviet Union

Answer 6

the previously independent Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and parts of East Prussia

Question 7

what were the statistics about the great mass migration after the war

Answer 7

12 million refugees, many of them ethnic Germans, fled westwards from 1944 to 1945 as the Red Army advanced

Question 8

What was Stalin anxious about

Answer 8

• the economic power of the US and how it might be used in Europe
• a resurgence of Germany
• he mistrusted many of his own people

Question 9

what were there already disagreements over

Answer 9

the four-power occupation of Berlin

Question 10

what was the four-power occupation of Berlin

Answer 10

defeated Germany was divided into four occupation zones; Soviet, American, British and French. Even though Berlin was entirely within the Soviet Zone, the city was also divided into four zones, ruled by a joint Allied Control Commission.

Question 11

how many people died in the war from the USSR

Answer 11

approximately 20 million soviet citizens died: 7.5 million in the armed forces and more than 12 million civilians

Question 12

what happened to the USSR’s infrastructure during the war

Answer 12

large sections of the USSR were utterly devastated

Question 13

what was the effect of the war on the Soviet economy

Answer 13

it was devastating. Between 1941 and 1945, the war killed one in eight of the population and caused massive dislocation

Question 14

what did Stalin promise in 1945

Answer 14

that by 1960, the USSR would be the leading industrial power

Question 15

what happened in 1945 to try and aid economic growth

Answer 15

Gosplan was instructed to prepare a new Five Year Plan for economic recovery.

Question 16

what did the fourth five-year plan do

Answer 16

it set ambitious targets, for industry and agriculture.

Question 17

where was the focus of economic spending

Answer 17

third of the third five-year plan’s expenditure was to be spent on Ukraine, which had been one of the areas most devastated by war and was a very important region both for industry and for agriculture.

Question 18

what had to happen to industrial production at the end of the war

Answer 18

it had to shift away from military needs to the civilian economy

Question 19

what did the industry struggle to do

Answer 19

adjust to peacetime conditions in 1945 and 1946

Question 20

what was mining production at the time

Answer 20

it running at less than half the 1940 level

Question 21

what happened to electric power at the time

Answer 21

it was running at 52% of the 1940 level

Question 22

what happened to steel production at the time

Answer 22

it was running at 45% of 1940 levels

Question 23

what intensified problems of post-war economics

Answer 23

the sudden ending of foreign aid through Lend-Lease in August 1945

Question 24

what occurred under the fourth five-year plan

Answer 24

considerable industrial recovery. Many of the plan’s targets were equalled and exceeded.

Question 25

why was the Fourth FYP succesful

Answer 25

war reparations, central planning and the committed efforts of the Soviet people

Question 26

what reflected a rebound effect

Answer 26

the rapid growth from 1946

Question 27

what was the comparison of the recovery after the first world war and the second world war

Answer 27

soviet economic recovery from the war was far more impressive than had been the case after the First World War and the Civil War

Question 28

what were there major improvements after the war

Answer 28

improved production of consumer goods and some steady growth in living standards. As early as 1948, average soviet incomes had climbed back up to the 1938 levels.

Question 29

what negatives continued to be seen in the economy

Answer 29

it was overloaded by military expenditure, which went up sharply because of the intensification of the Cold War.

Question 30

what happened to military expenditure

Answer 30

the size of the armed forces 2.8 million in 1948 to 4.9 million by 1953.
Military Spending 18 per cent of total expenditure in 1950 to 25 per cent in 1952.

Question 31

what other problems emerged in the economy

Answer 31

there continued to be an acute housing shortage, and the recovery of Soviet Agriculture was slow and plagued with difficulties.