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Russian History > Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 > Flashcards

Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 Flashcards

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1
Q

what were the benefits of the nazi soviet pact?

A
  • Gave military protection to USSR against Germany
  • The splitting of Poland
  • Hitler’s invasion in the west in 1940s meant USSR could take Baltic states
  • Time to build up resources
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2
Q

why did the nazi soviet pact break?

A

Hitler realised how weak USSR was and Stalin thought he could be trusted but by Oct 1940 Hitler had started planning the invasion. Stalin was unprepared and thought that Hitler wouldn’t invade in 1941, catching him by surprise even though he had been warned.

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3
Q

when was siege of Leningrad?

A

Sep 1941

germans strangled the city into submission

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4
Q

when was the fall of Kiev?

A

sep 1941

massive encirclement traps 452,700 soviet troops

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5
Q

when was the peace offer?

A

15th Oct 1941

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6
Q

when was the fall of Rostov?

A

1942 July

city falls, opening Caucasus to the Germans

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7
Q

when does ussr recapture Kharkov

A

1943 Aug

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8
Q

when was the final defeat of Germans in the Crimea

A

1944 May

100,000 G troops trapped

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9
Q

when does Berlin surrender?

A

1945 may

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10
Q

Why were the soviets so unprepared?

A
  • Army purges of 1937-39
  • Poor performance in “winter war” against Finland
  • Resources were stretched due to Japan in the east
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11
Q

what were hitlers motives for the attack in 1941 Jun

A
  • Knew ussr was unprepared for war
  • German armed forces were experienced
  • Hitler confident of achieved fast victory
  • Attempt to seize control over the entire soviet economy + eradicate communism
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12
Q

what was Stalin’s reaction the invasion?

A
  • Unprepared as Stalin did not believe the sources that told him
  • Stalin left radio broadcasting to Molotov
  • It took him to two weeks to return to the radio
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13
Q

what areas did Stalin make errors in the early stages of the war?

A
  • Failed to give leadership in the first couple of weeks
  • Relied too long on inferior commanders
  • Showed no urgency in defending Leningrad after it was besieged
  • Distrustful towards br when they warned of G invasion
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14
Q

Why did the Ussr perform so badly in second half of 1941?

A
  • Leadership -> stalin’s absentee, purging of officer corps (loss of experience)
  • German superiority -> blitzkrieg, higher level of tech (communicated by radios vs ussr communicated w flags)
  • Popular support -> terror intensified, martial law, labour conscription
  • Lack of preparation -> troops not alerted
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15
Q

What factors saved Stalin from defeat:

A
  • Size of Russia
  • Severity of Russian winter -> coldest winter in living memory
  • Patriotism of the people
  • Learned from his mistakes and became a ‘great war hero’
  • Supplies from the grand alliance (Br + US)
  • Hilter switching strategies (suffered from over confidence
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16
Q

Why did soviet resistance become fiercer?

A
  • Increased German aggression led to increased soviet determination eg germans rounded up the jews (Einsatzgruppen) + shot them, filled Russian civilians with terror which meant Russian soldiers forced to fight like tigers
  • Increasingly strict discipline eg NKVD they were active with every army unit and running was not an option
  • Popular resilience eg hundreds of thousands of women + children dug holes for tanks
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17
Q

What was Hitler’s strategic mistake?

A

Defending Stalingrad to the death, meant the war became a long one that they had always wanted to avoid. By 1943 Hitler was running out of men, resources + time.

18
Q

Soviet strengths in defeating the germans

A
  • Soviet Union vast size, German’s faced the problems of overstretching the lines of communication. Size of Ussr enabled whole new armies + an industrial base to be built up in the East, beyond German reach
  • Population of USSR 171 million, could replace losses in a way the Germans could not
  • USSR had vast natural resources, in 1943 out-produced German war industries
  • Stalin proved himself to be capable war leader, generals became highly competent
  • Patriotism of the soviets -> war brought people together in a way revolution or civil war had ever done -> spontaneous
  • “General Winter” -> G’s ill prepared for the weather conditions
  • In 1942 the production of tanks + planes exceeded the figures achieved in 1941, new weapons eg T-34 tanks, yak fighter planes. By 1943 USSR produced more war materials than G
19
Q

German weaknesses in defeating the germans

A
  • Hitler was not able to achieve his rapid victory
  • Dec 1941, they were fighting war on two fronts
  • Germany lacked self-sufficiency in raw materials
  • Hitler made crucial strategic mistakes + sacked many of his best generals
  • Nazi ideology -> underestimation of the USSR, killing the jews
20
Q

Contribution by allies in defeating the germans

A
  • Stalin’s allies presented a dangerous threat to Hitler on other fronts
  • Mass bombing campaigns by US + Br inflicted huge damage on G’s war effort -> contributed to the comparative ease of the Red Army’s advance into the second half of 1944
  • Enormous amounts of aid was given to USSR
  • Value of lend lease
21
Q

positive of Stalins role

A
  • Cult grew even stronger after victory at Stalingrad
  • Prioritised building up the army in order to avoid provoking Hitler
  • Stayed put during Moscow panic + made inspring speeches 1941 -> guided people’s mental state + can be compared to Churchill
  • ‘The genius organizer of our victories’ and ‘the great captain of the Soviet people,’ was how Pravda characterized Stalin,
  • in the USA, he was made Man of the Year 1942 by Time magazine
  • Stalin accepted Zhukov’s rejection of his plans for a ‘pre-emptive offensive’ in favour of the latter’s defence in depth at Kursk – also back by Vasilevsky and Antonov. This saved the Red Army from another disastrous summer campaign and instead ended any realistic prospect of German victory
22
Q

negatives of Stalins role

A
  • Purges of high-ranking red army officers had traumatic effect on army -> political control of the military was strengthened but stifled initiative. Made foreign gov’s think Red Army was a broken shell
  • Eight warnings in eight months were ignored
  • Overall impact at the beginning of war was very detrimental to soviet armed forces
  • Stalin refused requests of red army commanders to have troops in better defensive
  • Stalin underestimated scale of attack
  • In 1941-42, his inflexibility, standfast mentality prevented tactical withdrawals that would have avoided catastrophic losses
  • His decisions, often made against good military advice, were responsible for some of the worst disasters of 1941-42 -> over-ambitious counter offensives of the first half of 1942 which led to further big losses of men and territory
23
Q

Why were the soviets able to turn the tide of the 2nd world war?

A 
lend lease
agriculture
war work of women
resilience of Russian people
propaganda
24
Q

lend lease

A
  • Act of 1941 March
  • 5% of USSR’s GDP in 1942
  • Gave them trucks, keeps + railway resources which was vital for their mobility
  • 1/3 of soviet vehicles came from abroad + better quality
  • Rebuilt + redirected railways (to connect to new bases + fix what G destroyed)
  • In 1943 + 44 contributed to 10% of the GDP of USSR
  • Without defeat of Wehrmacht would have taken 12-18 months longer
25
Q

agriculture

A
  • Rationing system meant soldiers + manual workers were guaranteed sufficient food
  • Private trade revived for first time since NEP
  • Patriotism overrode the hatred of collective systems
26
Q

contribution of women

A
  • Stalin praised those at home, wives, mothers + builders of society
  • Perseverance + determination of women
  • All childless women between 18-25 were called to arms
  • Women snipers killed 12,000 German soldiers
  • 100% of nurses + 40% of doctors were women on the front line
  • 1942-45 women made up at 53% of the workforce
27
Q

resilience of Russian people

A
  • Units will be half destroyed but they fill them w new people + attack again
  • Fought + worked to depend their homeland against a ruthless enemy
  • ‘little cogs in a wheel’
  • Soviet victory was fought by the people ‘astonishing strength to resist’
  • Unifying factors inspiring patriotism were fear + hatred of Germans
28
Q

propaganda

A
  • Aim was to maintain more, persuade people to make effort + sacrifice to achieve victory + build confidence in gov’s ability to win
  • What made the red army fight so hard
  • Stalin addressed red army on parade square on anniversary of rev -> patriotic identity
  • Without this pressure it was hard to make people resilient
29
Q

1942 – summer of 1943

A

stabilised war effort, built powerhouse war economy + halted German advances

30
Q

1943 – summer 1945

A

Soviet armies moved on to offensive, recaptured vast areas that had been occupied + achieved total victory

31
Q

June 1941 – summer of 1942

A

Soviet Russia struggled to survive against successive German offensives, suffering massive losses of people + territory

32
Q

between jun - dec 1941, how many red army killed

A

2,663,000

33
Q

what happened by the 1st of sep to Leningrad

A

completely cut off from the rest of Russia

34
Q

evidence of Hitler changing strategies

A

After 14 days ordered a reduction in the no. of troops from eastern front and sent to Leningrad + then decided to switch back to Moscow -> needed to capture before winter but had already lost a couple of weeks

35
Q

What did Stalin do after the Nazi invasion

A

he hid away and left molotov to announce the invasion

36
Q

who was Stalin too reliant on

A

his inferior commanders, who had been promoted for political reasons after the purge of the army

37
Q

What became an effective mechanism to war

A

stavka (war cabinet)

38
Q

When did Stalin recieve intelligence of the invasion

A

June 17 1941, he sent it back saying this is disinformation

39
Q

Where wss the invasion

A

From the baltic to the black sea

40
Q

Within 6 days where did the germans get to?

A

Minsk

41
Q

How did stalin start his return speech?

A

“Brothers and sisters”

42
Q

Who does Hitler ignore that is key to winning?

A

Brauchitsch
He told him make sure soldiers have adequate clothing + that moscow is key
He ignores and sidelines moscow invasion

Russian History (7 decks)

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