Russia (1941-1945) WW2 things Flashcards
Warfare expenditure and other things …
(Just before Op Barborossa)
- (1937-1940) Defence spending rose from 16.5% to 32.6%
- Lack of military initiative seen with the war with Finland
- Deficiencies in quality and quantity of equipment
- (By 1941) USSR manufacturing 230 tanks, 700 military aircraft + Over 100k rifles monthly + Due to high military expenditure -> Insufficient investment into state farm still not producing enough to feed populace
Some details on Op Barborossa…
- Germans had a three-pronged attack -> Leningrad in North, Moscow in centre + Kiev and Rostov-on-Don in South
- (Nov 1941) Germans knocking on the door of Moscow
What pact was signed between Hitler and Stalin?
(Other details of international situation)
- A non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany
- Both nations had to shift propaganda to ensure a good perception of the other country.
- (1938-1939) Sudetan Crisis, chamberlain compromised with Hitler on Sudetan land
- (Mar 1939) Hitler takes Czechoslovakia
- (Aug 1939) Ribbentrop pact -> Non-aggression treaty between Germany and USSR
(Jul 1941) Stalin’s radio broadcast
Why Stalin and the USSR were so unprepared?
- Hitler had 5.5m troops + 2.8k tanks + 5k aircraft and 47k artillery
- (Jun 1941) Hitler’s assault begun with 66 Soviet airfields attacked
- Stalin kept ignoring the warnings he received -> Ignored Eden + (Jan 1941) Ignored Welles’ warning + Ignored the German buildup on the Western boardup
- ## Stalin ignored warnings from his own intelligence!
Op Barborossa/Russo/German war things…
(By 1940) USSR overtake Britain
- At the start of Op Barb, Germans had 3.2men and USSR had 2.9m
- (16th Oct 1941) Wehrmacht had shortage of 126k men + (Start of Nov 1941) Reds had just 2.2m men facing Germans
- Luftwaffe far more superior than the Soviet Air Force (despite the ‘Shtarmovik’).
- Germans took 100k USSR troops captive + (8th Dec 1941) Reds prevailing over Germans as winter came
- Reds split into autonomous battalions…
- Soviet aviation came a long way since this
- Russia had advanced T34 gearbox
Op Barb/Russo-German war things…
(Military equipment and weaponry)
- Soviet aviation came a long way since this
- Russia had advanced T34 gearbox
- Luftwaffe far more superior than the Soviet Air Force (despite the ‘Shtarmovik’).
- Zhukov was Field Marshal
(Stalin undermined Soviet intelligence’s excellence)
Points on propaganda during Op Barb/Russo-German war…
- (Jul 1941) Stalin’s radio broadcast
- (Jul 1942) ‘Kill Him’ - Constantine Siminov -> Propaganda against Germans
- Propaganda heavily racialised
- It was said to say ‘Kill the Germans’ in the morning and ‘Kill the Germans’ in the night.
WW2/Op Barborossa…
(How it contributed to events entailing Holocaust)
(Sep 1939) Germany invade Poland
(Jun 1941) Op Barb underway -> Wehrmacht lead invasion, followed by Einsatzgruppen
(Sep 1941) Babi Yar massacre saw SS massacre 30k jews
(By late 1941) Germans realise that mass shooting of jews had ammunition being wasted
(Jan 1942) Final Solution saw 75 extermination facilities built
(Hitler wanted Lebensraum in east)
Stalin’s political authority was heightened or not after WW2…
Evidence yes:
- (Jul 1942) Order 227 + NKVD blocking units + 150k sentenced to death under order 227
+ (Jun 1941) Stavka est. -> (Jul 1941) Stalin assumes overall military command
- State Defence Committee (Stalin was in charge)
- Hitler perhaps could use an older narrative to perhaps boost war morale -> ‘Mother Russia over ‘communism’
- Replaced competent military staff over incompetent military staff
- Stalin deported minority groups he was sceptical of
Evidence no:
- Minority groups joined Nazis’ side e.g. Vlasov’s Russian Liberation Movement joined the Waffen-SS (50k members at its peak) + Over 1m (including 250k) joined Nazis’ side
- 3/4 army not Communist Party members
(SDC est. by Politburo)
Stalinist economy…
(By 1941)
- Uneven economic development
- (1939) 9 aircraft factories built + (1938-1941) Rearmamment spending rose from 27.5bn to 70.9bn roubles
- Russia producing less grain than under NEP
- (1936) Major crop failure weakened Russia’s reserves (produced smaller yield than of 1941)
Political impact of WW2…
- (Aug 1941) Stalin dissolved Volga republic and sent its peoples elsewhere (even those who had Communsit Party membership)
- Many ethnic groups deported e.g. Chechens, Mesketians etc
- 5m members joined Party + (1941-1945) Share of Communist Party members in army rose form 15% to + 20% of Komsomol in army
Economic impact of WW2…
(Industrial things)
- (Jul-Nov 1941) 1523 Soviet factories and workers relocated from western Russia and Ukraine to eastern areas
- (End of 1942) Military share of budget rose from 29% to 57% + Munitions manufacture 76% of all production + 3.5k new industrial enterprises built during war
- New furnaces built in Magnitogorsk in 8 just mnths
- (By mid 1943) Soviet weaponry becoming more superior than Germans e.g. T-34, Katysusha rocket launcher and Yak-1 fighter
Economic impact of WW2
(Agriculture, food and aid from overseas)
- (1942) Food harvest just 1/3 of (1940).
- Strict rationing and quotas on farms + Peasents permitted to keep private plots
- 17.5m tonnes of military equipment shhipped from West to USSR (94% from U.S)
- Lend-Lease saw U.S give USSR $11bn of aid
- U.S supplied USSR with 6430 planes + 3734 tanks + 104 ships + 210k vehicles + 5m tonnes of food + (By the end of the war) 427k/665k vehicles in USSR from abroad.
Social impact of the WW2…
(Soldiers and workers)
(120k signed up to fight in the war in Moscow alone)
- (Dec 1941) All men 16-55 yrs + All women 16-45 yrs had to devote themselves to war effort
- Working day rose to 12 hrs + Avg. working week 70-77 hrs + Harsh measures for desertion + To be taken captive
- Fuel + Housing shortages -> (1941-42) Harsh winter meant thousands forced to live in huts or tents
- (1942) Death rate in labour camps 1/4 + Rations only for those who turned up at work
- Over 1/4 of Soviets’ 25m deaths during war via starvation + (1941-1945) 8.6m Reds killed in WW2 (avg. daily rate 2x Allies).
