Russia At War

Question 1

Stalin

Answer 1

Changed army to mimic Germany’s - close unit airforce/self propelled artillery

Course of rapid industrialisation - by 1941 - rivalled the greats

Stavka - centralised military command, established war cabinet - providing focus

Purged army 1937/8 naively believing Molotov Ribbentrop Pact - didn’t allow forces to mobilise

Continued with all out attacking strategy in Kiev - losing 500,000 troops

Question 2

Economy

Answer 2

3500 factories, 1/8th of soviet resources moved East

100,000 tanks, 130,000 aircraft and half a bill shells produced

Land lease scheme accounted for 1/5th of soviet resources

Economic crisis 1942 - coal, oil, steel down

Question 3

Military

Answer 3

Nazi mistakes

Stalingrad - Hitler forbade retreat
Kursk - Soviet superior numbers of men, tanks and industry
Moscow - split between east and west - whole front line lost

Partisans/People’s Militia -

300,000 Germans killed, 3000 rail lines destroyed - Stalin recognised their worth and allowed them to operate alone

Question 4

Society

Answer 4

30 mill men/women signed up to the war effort
Rebranded the Great Patriotic War
1 mill Leningraders helped build defences
Propaganda emphasised wins and minimised losses

Question 5

“The Stalin cult…

Answer 5

Was necessary to the soviet war effort” Overy

Question 6

“It is difficult to imagine…

Answer 6

Any other leader… Could have wrung such effort from the population” OVERY