INCLASS-Lead up to WW1 Flashcards
Why had Stalin adopted a compromise rather than confrontation foreign policy of “Socialism in One Country”?
as this reduced a likely invasion from a united western front against the USSR at a time of military weakness.
Why was it no longer possible to maintain the conciliatory approach with Germany post 1933?
As Hitler’s rise in Germany meant that the two countries were directly opposed ideologically
Why was it in the Soviet’s interest to join the League of Nations?
as this was Stalin’s earliest opportunity to reduceisolation and to call for the adoption of the principle of collective security in international affairs.
What year was the Pact between USSR, France and Czechoslovakia promising ‘mutual alliance’ if one suffered a military attack?
1935
What did the 1935 Pact between the USSR, France and Czechoslovakia promise?
a mutual alliance’ if one suffered a military attack.
How was the gain which Stalin Stalin achieved in his new approach to foreign policy proved largely superficial?
asWhile collective security was impressive as a principle, it did not work in practice in the 1930’s as Europe’s two most powerful states, France and Britain, were not prepared to risk war to uphold a principle. Without their participation, there was no possibility of collective security becoming a reality.
What year was the Anti-Comintern Pact signed by Germany, Japan and Italy?
1936
Italy 1937
What did the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 threaten?
threatened to destroy all the efforts made by the Soviet Union to establish security
What strengthened Western suspicion of Stalinist Russia?
his consistent purges between 1936-1938 Yezhovchina made making alliances with a nation of such treachery and tyranny unlikley.
What year was the Munich Agreement which had isolated the USSR?
1938
What agreement was made in 1938?
The Munich Agreement/Conference
Who was the Munich agreement between?
France,Britain, Italy and Germany
What was the Munich agreement between France, Britain, Italy and Germany a response to?
to the climax of the Czech crisis where Hitler had demanded that the Sudetenland, an area which in 1919 had been incorporated into Czechoslovakia, be a-part of Germany; threatening invasion which was in breach of the Versailles Settlement
What did the Munich Agreement grant Hitler?
all his major demands with Britain and France being unprepared to resist him militarily.
How was the Munich Settlement seen by Russia?
as an act of appeasement as part of the Anglo-French policy of avoiding war by making concessions to the aggressor, Germany. Stalin saw the conference as a gathering of anti-Soviet nations, intent on giving Germany a free hand to attack a diplomatically isolated USSR.
In what year did Litinov and Molotov, his successor as foreign secretary, deliver a series of formal alliance proposals to the French and British governments, though unanswered?
1939
What measures did the USSR take in 1939 to attempt to resolve their diplomatic isolation?
Litinov and Molotov, his successor as foreign secretary,delivered a series of formal alliance proposals to the French and British governments, though unanswered
What year was the Nazi-Soviet Pact between Germany and USSR?
1939
What was the “ Secret Additional Protocol “ agreed in the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939?
this agreed that the USSR would take over the Baltic States and Poland would be divided between Germany and the USSR
The pact defied history and logic. What was the axiom Stalin acted on in defending the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939?
“If you can’t beat them, join them”
How did the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 first appear fruitful for the USSR?
1)Germany were free to conduct their war against the west while in the east the USSR added to its Polish prize by taking hold of the Baltic States, southern Finland and Bessarabia-Bukovina
The Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 first proved fruitful with Germany free to conduct its war against France and Britain in the west while Russia did what?
While Russiaadded to its Polish prize by taking hold of the Baltic States, southern Finland and Bessarabia-Bukovina. By 1941 Soviet Russia had regained all the territories lost in WW1.
by what year had Soviet Russia regained all the territories lost in WW1?
1941
What was the chief objective of Soviet Foreign Policy which the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact guaranteed?
freedom from a western attack and the suppression of Communism
How was Hitler’s attack on Russia inevitable?
as Hitler’s clear aims set out in Mein Kampf that Germany’s destiny was to expand eastwards at the expense of the Slav nations, including Russia.
What did mein Kampf say was Germany’s destiny?
to expand eastwards at the expense of the Slav nations, including Russia.
What year was Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union?
1941
How did Stalin explain that Operation Barbarossa was fake at first?
he told officials that British counter intelligence distorted the picture of German manoeuvres to make them appear as though it was an invasion;
Stalin at first told officials that British counter-intelligence distorted the picture of German manoeuvres to make them appear as though it was an invasion; how did he specifically address them in May 1941?
by refusing them to respond in any way to prevent a provocative response from Germany.
Why was Stalin sure that Germany would not invade despite the alleged Operation Barbarossa?
as he was assured that Germany would not risk a two-front war.
Where did news reach 1 week before Operation Barbarossa in 1941 which warned that Germany was intent on invasion?
the Kremlin
Who was Sorge?
A Comintern agent in Japan
Sorge was a Comintern agent in Japan, what did he provide Stalin- though was still ignored?
he provided hard evidenced report on Germany’s assault on Russia a week before the invasion;
How did Stalin respond to Sorge’s hard evidenced report that Germany were to invade?
Stalin wrote dismissively of it believing it to be a ‘German misinformation.’
What has ian Kenshaw suggested that Stalin’s refusal to acknowledge the imminent German invasion can be explained by?
by his denial as the Soviet army were simply not strong enough to make a pre-emptive strike against Germany; Stalin had hoped Soviet resistance would deter German aggression.
Even as troops crossed Soviet borders, why were wagons and Lorries loaded with materials to be sent to Germany ?
under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact
Personally, why was Stalin rigid in his defence that Germany were not invading?
as The Nazi-Soviet Pact had been projected as an example of Stalin’s matchless statesmanship and so he feared public humiliation.
Arguably Stalin’s greatest mistake was not in misreading German intentions in 1941, but was what?
but in having decimated his armed services in the purge of 1938-39. The Soviet army was so ill-prepared to face the greatest invasion in Russian history.
Ian Kershaw drew attention to the admission made by Marshal Zhokov that after the war. What did he say?
thathad Stalin accepted the plan put forward by some of his generals for a pre-emptive strike to start in May, then all the probabilities were that the Soviet forces would have been smashed beyond recovery and the USSR defeated in 1941.
Who said that Stalin’s refusal to acknowledge the imminent German invasion can be explained by his denial as the Soviet army were simply not strong enough to make a pre-emptive strike against Germany; Stalin had hoped Soviet resistance would deter German aggression?
Ian Kershaw
Germany invaded Russia with (4)…?
- 3 million troops
- 0.5 million motorized vehicles
- 4000 tanks
- 3000 aircrafts
Germany invaded Russia with how many troops?
3,000
While Germany invaded Russia with • 3 million troops • 0.5 million motorised vehicles • 4000 tanks • 3000 aircrafts how did the Soviet compare?(3)
- Matched Germany in the number of troops
- Had 4 times the number of tanks
- 3 times the number of aircraft
by what year had Hitler calculated total victory for his armies?
1942
Hitler had calculated total victory for his armies by 1942. Why did he not?
because of • Stalin’s recovery of nerve
• The lateness of launching Barbarossa
• General Winter which the Russian’s were equip for
• Nazi racism
How did Stalin appeal in his first radio broadcast of the war for the people?
he appealed that his people “defend mother russia” by adopting methods of warfare that had saved the nation in the glorious past.
Stalin had refused to abscond Moscow in spite of its likely fall to the German’s, when?
October 1941
By how many weeks did events elsewhere in Europe delay Operation Baraborossa?
6 weeks
Between what years was there thick mud from a torrential autumn, followed by severe snow and ice which had slowed the German movement?
1941-42
How was the weather an advantage for the Soviet?
as while the thick mud from a torrential autumn and thick snow and ice between 1941-42 slowed the German movement, Russian forces were able to regroup and begin counter-attacks under Marshal Zhukov in DEC 1941
What did the secret Clause in the Nazi-Soviet Pact do?
this divided Poland into German and Russian zones, while also recognizing the Baltic states as under the USSR’s jurisdiction
In what year did war between Finland and the USSR break out, known as the Winter War?
1939
Although the USSR were victorious in the Winter War of 1939, what was a disadvantage:?
the fact that the USSR faced numerous humiliating defeats, with deaths approaching c200,000 until a peace treaty was signed in 1940
When did Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany, and later Italy.?
1936
What year were Manchurian forces annihilated by the Red Army?
1939
After Voroshilov was repaced as Commissar for Defence by ________, harsher discipline was inflicted?
Timoshenko
