stalinism in wartime

Question 1

in what purge had stalin killed a large proportion of senior officers?

Answer 1

1937-38

Question 2

what was operation barbarossa?

Answer 2

the german invasion of the USSR

Question 3

when was operation barbarossa?

Answer 3

21/22nd of june 1941

Question 4

did stalin make the public announcement that russia had been attacked?

Answer 4

no, he could not bring himself to make it

Question 5

what did stalin set up on the 23rd of june 1941 and what was its significance?

Answer 5

•the Stavka (a supreme military command)
•it was responsive for all military planning and consisted of competent generals

Question 6

what happens to stalins authority on the 27th of june 1941?

Answer 6

•he withdraws to his dacha (second home)
•he is not seen or heard from in public for ten days

Question 7

what occurs on the 30th of june 1941?

Answer 7

•the state defence committee is set up by the politburo
•it was a civilian body responsible for organisation and coordination of things during the war

Question 8

what changes in stalins authority on the 1st of july?

Answer 8

he resumes authority as head of government and leader in both stavka and the state defence committee

Question 9

when does stalin make his first public wartime address?

Answer 9

3rd of july

Question 10

when does stalin assume overall military command?

Answer 10

•20th of july
•stalin becomes the supreme war leader

Question 11

what decisions did stalin make as the war went on which contradicted his previous ones?

Answer 11

•if military leaders were incompetent they were fired
•men from gulags were bought back to lead the military

Question 12

what was order 227 that stalin issued?

Answer 12

•’not one step backwards’
•any soldier who fell behind or tried to retreat was to be shot on sight

Question 13

how many soldiers were sentenced to death under order 227?

Answer 13

•more than 150,000

Question 14

what political impact did the war have on ethnic minorities?

Answer 14

•stalin deported ‘suspect’ ethnic groups
•around 1.5 million were forced to uproot
•only 2/3 survived the deportation

Question 15

why did large numbers of the military chose to join the party?

Answer 15

because stalin put emphasis on the political education of the troops

Question 16

how many new members joined the party over the war period?

Answer 16

3.6 million

Question 17

how many members of the army and navy joined the party in the war?

Answer 17

2.5 million people

Question 18

what did the war help strengthen?

Answer 18

the belief in the communist system
•by may 1945 stalin could declare that the war had shown the superiority and resilience of the socialist system
•it was a victory for communism over fascism and was thus hailed as a vindication of both stalin and the stalinist system

Question 19

what percentage of russian goods were in areas that germans had invaded?

Answer 19

•63% of the country’s coal
•68% of its iron
•58% of its steel
•45% of its railways
•41% of its arable land

Question 20

what did the military budget rise to by the end of 1942?

Answer 20

•it went from 29% to 57%
•munitions manufacture was 76% of all production

Question 21

how many new industrial enterprises were built during the time of war?

Answer 21

3500

Question 22

what proportion was the grain harvest in 1942 compared to 1940?

Answer 22

the grain harvest of 1942 was only a third of that of 1940

Question 23

how much money was given to the USSR by the USA under the lend-lease scheme?

Answer 23

11 billion dollars of aid

Question 24

what law was introduced in december 1941?

Answer 24

a law which mobilised all undrafted workers for war work
•overtime became obligatory and holidays were suspended

Question 25

what did the average working day/ week increase to during the second world war?

Answer 25

•12 hour days •70-77 hour weeks, it became normal for workers to sleep in their factories

Question 26

what did factories being placed under martial law mean?

Answer 26

that there were severe punishments for lateness, negligence of absenteeism •unauthorised absence from work was classed as desertion- the punishment was death

Question 27

what happened to a soldier if he was taken captive in war?

Answer 27

his family’s military ration cards were confiscated

Question 28

how many soldiers were killed between 1941-1945?

Answer 28

8.6 million •this daily rate was twice that of the enemies

Question 29

what is the estimated amount of deaths caused in the war from starvation alone?

Answer 29

25 million

Question 30

what was the death rate in 1942 labour camps?

Answer 30

25%

Question 31

what was the second world war known as in russia?

Answer 31

the ‘great patriotic war’

Question 32

what happened with churches during the war?

Answer 32

they were reopened to lift morale and resolve •the church was not allowed any real autonomy

Question 33

what happened to stalins reputation during wartime?

Answer 33

it soared, he turned into a national superhero

Question 34

what happened to stalins mental state after the war?

Answer 34

•he was more paranoid than ever •he was tentative in accepting prisoners of war back, many of them were transferred directly to soviet labour camps

Question 35

how many civilian deaths were there during the war?

Answer 35

19 million

Question 36

how many villages were destroyed during the war?

Answer 36

70,000

Question 37

what had society been open to during wartime?

Answer 37

western influence

Question 38

between what dates was the period of high stalinism?

Answer 38

1945-53

Question 39

when was the state defence committee dissolved?

Answer 39

the 4th of september 1945

Question 40

what was the politburo reduced to during high stalinism?

Answer 40

an advisory body

Question 41

how many members did the party have by 1952

Answer 41

7 million members

Question 42

how many members did the komsomol have by 1952?

Answer 42

around 16 million

Question 43

how did stalin change the party?

Answer 43

by reducing party autonomy, stalin this reduced it to a mere chain of command it’s earlier dynamism gave way to a rigid bureaucratic structure, duplicating the official governmental structure

Question 44

who launched a cultural purge in 1946?

Answer 44

Zhdanov

Question 45

what were the views on western vs russian culture?

Answer 45

•everything western was condemned as bourgeois and decadent •all things russian were regarded as superior and uplifting

Question 46

what happened to censorship during high stalinism?

Answer 46

it increased massively, nothing of western influence was allowed into russia

Question 47

what was high stalinism characterised by?

Answer 47

a revival of terror, stalin demanded an excessive isolationism from the non- soviet world during these years

Question 48

what oppressive law did stalin pass in febuary 1947 which was telling of his paranoia?

Answer 48

a law was passed outlawing marriages to foreigners

Question 49

what was beria responsible for?

Answer 49

a vast expansion of the gulag system

Question 50

what happened to the NKVD under high stalinism?

Answer 50

•it was strengthened and reorganised under two separate ministries •thousands were arrested for ‘counter- revolutionary activities’

Question 51

how many wartime survivors did stalin send to the labour camps?

Answer 51

around 12 million

Question 52

how did stalin deal with people who had fallen from favour?

Answer 52

he removed them from history books and airbrushed them out of photos

Question 53

what was the leningrad case of 1949?

Answer 53

•stalin decided to take a stand against the ‘leningrad party’ •on the basis of false evidence, several leading officials were arrested

Question 54

when was the purge in georgia?

Answer 54

1951-52

Question 55

what was the doctors plot?

Answer 55

•stalin accused 9 doctors of failing to diagnose and treat zhdanov professionally •the doctors were accused of a conspiracy to murder soviet leadership •hundreds of doctors were arrested and tortured •jews were rounded up and deported as they were accused of using their positions in the medical profession to harm the USSR •the 9 named doctors were duly condemned and sentenced to execution- but stalin died before this took place

Question 56

when did stalin suffer a mild stroke?

Answer 56

1946, this may have been responsible for his increasing paranoia in the post-war years

Question 57

how did stalins cult of personality develop in high stalinism?

Answer 57

•he was presented as god like •portrayed as a man of the people •towns were named after him (stalingrad, stalinogorsk, stalino) •stalin prizes were given out for work •deluxe statues were made

Question 58

when did stalin die?

Answer 58

march 1953 •there was public displays of grief

Question 59

what did the ‘zhdanovshchina’ bring?

Answer 59

an intense persecution of artists and intellectuals