Section 4 Flashcards
what did defence spending increase by in the 1930s?
16.5% in 1937 to 32.6% in 1940
what helped russia ready for war?
the 5 year plans
what was the Molotov-Ribbentrop
partitioned poland and treaty of non-aggression
what was operation Barbarossa?
Germans began invading the Soviet Union- 1941
who was commissar of foreign affairs?
Molotov- Stalin left him to make war announcement
what was established as response to the war?
Stavka (Supreme Military Command) and GKO (State Defence Committee)
who was military commander during ww2
Zhukov
who was given control over all party and state bodies?
(mostly led by Molotov) the GKO
how much GDP did the GKO devote to the war?
50%
how much did party numbers increase by?
8.6 million with 6.4 millionm in the army and navy
went from 15% to 50% of people in the army
Stalin and the Stavka?
took a leading role becoming commander-in-chief and later becoming chairman
what did territorial gains after the nazi-soviet pact lead to?
led to 1.5 million people being deported to Kazakhstan and Siberia due to potential hostility – 20000 Polish officers, police, and elite were shot in April 1940
how many Volga germans were deported in 1941
600,000
what was order 227?
‘not one step back’ led to 150,000 being executed
what were penal battalions?
soldiers requiring discipline were set to these (around 430000} were given the most dangerous jobs- casualty rate around 50%
what was a defence tactic that had dire long term consequences?
scorched earth
what was the economy like at the begining of the war?
bad- hitlet had gained land that contained 63% of coal, 68% of iron, 58% of steel, 45% of railways, 41% of arable land
what did the wartime economy inlcude?
1.5 million wagon loads of plants, machinery, and workers were moved outside of Nazi control (8-10% of productive capacity)
3500 new factories were created, and by 1942-3 industry was producing aircraft, tanks, guns, and shells faster than Germany
Shortage of labour meant that mass production and simplification were essential – led to concerns over quality of goods, especially mines and aircraft
T-34 and KV tanks eventually outperformed German Panzers
what was the redistribution of national expenditure?
military budget rose from 29% to 57% by end of 1942, and munitions manufacture accounted for 76% of production
how many tons of equipment was shipped from the west?
17.5 million tons of military equipment was shipped from the West, 94% of which came from the US
what were living standards like?
fell by 2/5, in one factory 8000 women lived in holes in the ground, requisitioning intensified to feed the front line
social impact of the war?
Soviet citizens enthusiastically supported the war effort – 120000 recruits signed up in Moscow alone
A law of December 1941 mobilised all undrafted workers for war work for all men aged 16-55 and women aged 16-45
Working week averaged 70-77 hours, with obligatory overtime and harsh punishments for absences and lateness as factories were placed under martial law
Offence for soldiers to be taken captive – ration cards of family would be confiscated
Chronic housing and food shortages
what were introduced in 1944?
measures to increase birth rate
when was bread rationing introduced?
1941
what were the number of deaths in leningrad due to starvation
53,000 indec 1941
total: 632,253
who was Pavlichenko?
female-sniper who rose to rank Major and had 309 kills
used for propaganda
first soviet allowed to enter the whitehouse
Beria
1938- deupty head of the NKVD- later in the year the head
1941- deupty prime minister
1946- joined the politburo
Malenkov
1946- stalin appointed him as deputy prime minister
1953- became prime minister and head of communist party
when did stalin die?
1953
what and when was the doctors plot?
1953- many prominent (jewish) doctors were accused of killing their patients including soviet leaders
what happened in feb 1947
hotels and marriages were banned to foreigners
what happened to jewish director , Solomon Mikhoels
was killed in a suspicious MVD-arranged car accident in 1948
what was science like under stalin
chemistry had to uphold Leninist principles, and only Physics escaped strict censorship to develop the atom bomb (although the Theory of Relativity was banned)
medicine led the world in some ascpects
how many people were deported in 1945-49
42000 people were deported from the new Soviet Republics between 1945-49, after resistance to collectivisation in 1948
what happened in 1953
there were accusations of a Mingrelian nationalist plot, leading to the purge of key officials – clearly intended to undermine Beria
