The Great Patriotic War and Stalin's dictatorship 1941-1953

Question 1

Operation Barbarossa

Answer 1

Hitler began planning in October 1940 - knew Soviet Union was unprepared for war while German forces were experienced and battle-hardened
invasion was originally scheduled for 1st June but Hitler had to help Italian forces in Yugoslavia so pushed back to 22cnd June which cut short the time completion before winter
3 pronged attack - north towards leningrad, central to Moscow and South to Ukraine
aim for military victory, seize control over USSR, eradicate communism, seen as ‘liberators’

Question 2

Stalinist reaction

Answer 2

did not believe foreign sources when they warned him as dared not to take any steps to provoke Hitler
shrank away from making broadcast and left it to Molotov, did not make one for 2 weeks
appealed to patriotism, religion and unity among nationalities
failed to give leadership i first weeks and prepared to move government away from Moscow
relied too long on inferior commanders who had been promoted for political reasons
showed no urgency in defending Leningrad

Question 3

the struggle for survival June 1941 - October 1942

Answer 3

soviet armies encircled and defeated - Kiev where 665,000 troops captured, soviet forces expelled from baltic states
Leningrad captured in September
October - soviet leaders offered peace with Germany, Hitler disregarded this
but Soviet weather worsened and forces hardened pushing German forces back to outskirts of Moscow
May 1942 - Germany ready to launch offensive into Causcaus after launch of Case Blue but Hitler became side tracked and diverted forces to Stalingrad - German forces occupied 9/10 of city but Stalins order 227 led to Soviet victory
fall of Rostov in July 1942

Question 4

turning the tide, October 1942 to August 1943

Answer 4

German defeat at Stalingrad was psychological as well as military
regaining of Rostov
Hitler was running out of men and resources
Hitler’s Operation Citadel in Kursk was halted by Soviet power at Battle of Prokhorovka (T-34 tanks)
began spring board of Soviet counter-attacks

Question 5

road to Berlin, August 1943- December 1944

Answer 5

war was no longer about desperate attempt of defence but pushing Germany back - reconquered Ukraine and Leningrad was lifted after 900 days
Nov 1943 - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met to discuss allied victory - neither swift or easy
retreating Germans were resilient even after July 1944 bomb plot
April 1945 - red army reached Berlin and Stalin encouraged friendly competition between blocks of army

Question 6

USSR in the war

Answer 6

1700 towns and 70,000 villages devastated by Soviet scorched earth policies
Leningrad under siege for 900 days - 1500 charged of cannibalism due to rations of 4Oz a day
more than 12 million civilian deaths
Nazi leaders talked about being liberators - welcomed in some parts of Ukraine but did not last as were rapidly alienated and became prisoners of war - few ever returned home
Stalin became increasingly suspicious of national minorities who might be in line with Hitler - Crimean Tatars

Question 7

impact of war on workers

Answer 7

all production was war based
living standards fell by 2/5
working hours - 77 hour weeks and no holidays
strict labour decrees - absenteeism became punishable by death - 7.5 million convictions
increased resilience and patriotism
strict rationing

Question 8

impact of war on peasants

Answer 8

land unfarmable due to scorched earth
4/5 farmers were women
loss of live stock - carts had to be pulled by people
1943 worst year - output 38% of 1940
many people lived in holes
starved - received 1/6 the wage of a factory worker

Question 9

impact pf war on soldiers

Answer 9

2x as likely to be killed than an allied soldier
strong patriotism and fear of enemy, constant propaganda and threats of disciplinary methods
3% of male cohort from 1923 survived ton1945
comradeship crucial for military cohesion and effectiveness

Question 10

impact of war on partisans

Answer 10

rebels in occupied territory
28,000 killed in anti-partisan Belorussia
Komsomol sent to help activists
important to keep occupied areas in touch with Moscow
by 1942 each partisan unit had an NKVD unit attached
helped reduce collaboration with German and local population

Question 11

impact of war on women

Answer 11

500,000 in front lines - good with snipers
worked 66 hour weeks
100% nurses were women and 40% of doctors/field surgeons
Leningrad = 75% population were women so suffered hardships
25% of Partisans
but omitted from Great Moscow Victory parade

Question 12

impact of war on church

Answer 12

reversal of policy from persecuting religious believers
restoration of churches and publication of statements by Orthodox clergy in Russian
priests blessed tanks
Stalin confessed his sins

Question 13

impact of war on national minorities

Answer 13

past policies of Russification and deportations
used as partisans
ethnic cleansing - massacres of Jews at Babi Yar
25% of all deportees died within 5 years
20,000 Polish elite executed
deported Volga-Germans even though had been part of USSR since 1700s
becamae suspicious of collaboration with Germans

Question 14

impact of war on Stalin and the party

Answer 14

Stalin became seen as Generalissimo and was flattered by allies, justified ruthless pre war policies
created GKO - state committee for defence which controlled all military, political and economic life (Chairman = Stalin)
Stavka - military command responsible for air, land and see operations (Chairman - Stalin)
Vozhd = all powerful leader

Question 15

impact of war on NKVD

Answer 15

increased in size
Order 227 = not a step back
430,00 served in penal battalions
order 270 - declared prisoners of war as deserters, only 1 million allowed to return home but these were labelled as ‘socially dangerous’

Question 16

soviet war economy - mobilisation and evacuation of Industry

Answer 16

German invasion destroyed basis of Soviet economy , by November 1941 production was 51% of November 1940
solution was to relocate in order to rebuild - 1523 factories were moved on 20,000 trains to the East of the USSR (Urals region) and 3500 new factories were built
centrally-controlled command economy was well matched to needs of total; war
made machinery that needed little modification - T34 Tanks only changed once

Question 17

Soviet war economy - foreign aid

Answer 17

Lend Lease with USA - sent huge quantities of armaments, industrial goods and food stuffs
contributed to 10% of USSR GDP
without Lend Lease war would have lasted 12-18 months longer
30,000 American trucks
two main routes of supply - Persian corridor or Arctic convoys

Question 18

Defeat of the Germans

Answer 18

final defeat took unexpectedly long time
Stalin wanted red army to win the race for Berlin before the USA
as Soviet forces gradually pushed Germans back, they liberated capital cities of East Central Europe but cost was high as Stalin ordered all-out frontal assaults
Germans war effort had been weakened by the effects of mass bombing
April 1945, Red army reached outskirts of Berlin where they met with USA forces in final battle for Berlin where Zhukov used tactics that led to severe losses
Stalin wished to control as much of Central Europe as possible to provide a buffer zone in the vent of future attacks
stormed the Reichstag on May 2cnf 1945

Question 19

reasons for defeat of the germans - Soviet strengths

Answer 19

vast geographical size - impossible for Germany to strike a decisive blow and enabled whole new armies and industries in the East
population of the USSR was nearly 3 times that of Germany, could replace losses
natural resources unleashed by war
‘command economy’ suited to total war
military leadership of the USSR became ruthlessly effective - Order 227 and 270
able to learn from mistakes - Bagration arranged in secret
used machinery that required little modification - T34 tanks

Question 20

reasons for defeat of the Germans - German weaknesses

Answer 20

not able to achieve rapid victory and so had to fight a war on two fronts from December 1941
lacked self sufficiency in raw materials
strategical mistakes - sacked many of his best generals and replaced them with yes-men
alienated people in occupied territories
running out of resources by 1943
obsession over stalingrad - ignored case blue
delay of operation Barbarossa - not enough time before onset of Soviet winter

Question 21

reasons for defeat of the Germans - contribution from Allies

Answer 21

allies presented dangerous threat to Hitler on other fronts
mass bombing campaigns from USA and Uk inflicted huge damage on Germans war efforts
enormous amounts of vital military and economic aid

Question 22

results of the victory

Answer 22

established USSR as a superpower and unleashed its economic potential
Germany was under occupation and economically destroyed
territorial expansion into parts of East Prussia and Baltic states
countries of East Central Europe in a position to establish pro-soviet regimes
great mass migration - 12 million people
disagreements of the Four-Power occupation of Berlin
achieved at a terrible price - 7.5 million deaths in armed forces and 12 million civilian deaths

Question 23

post war reconstruction

Answer 23

impact of war on soviet economy had been devastation - one eighth of population died and massive dislocation
fourth five year plan for economic recovery set ambitious targets for industry and agriculture
1/3 of plans expenditure was to be spent on the Ukraine

Question 24

post war reconstruction - industry

Answer 24

industry struggled to adjust to peacetime conditions - mining production was half of the 1940 level, electric power at 52% and steel at 45% and transport disrupted
intensified by sudden end of foreign aid in August1945
but by 1950, many of the plans targets had been met or exceeded mainly due to war reparations (huge amounts of equipment and material transport to the USSR from Soviet zones of occupation), central planning and committed efforts of the soviet people
improved production of consumer goods and growth in living standards
by 1948, soviet incomes had climbed back to 1938 levels
but military expenditure was overloaded - size of armed forces increased from 2.8 mill in 1948 to 4.9 mill by 1953
acute housing shortages

Question 25

post war reconstruction - agriculture

Answer 25

98,000 collectives had been ruined, loss of 137,000 tractors, 27 million cattle and 20 million pigs
food production was 60% of 1940 level
less land was cultivated than before the war (1945 level was 75% of the 1940)
1946 was the driest year since 1891 - led to famine in some areas
recovery was slow and patchy
fourth five year plan brought some increases but filed to reach most of its targets
by the time of Stalins death, agricultural sector was still unsatisfactory
many reforms held back due to Stalin himself

Question 26

definitions of high stalinism, totalitarianism and dictatorship

Answer 26

high Stalinism - period of time after WW2 when Stalin’s power was at its height
dictatorship - a form of government in which one person has absolute power
totalitarianism - political system that demands absolute obedience to the state and each citizen is subject to central state authority (mass identity)

Question 27

Dictatorship and Totalitarianism

Answer 27

culmination of Stalin’s regime
During the war, aspects had been relaxed (religion) and appeals to national unity as fear of Stalin became overridden by fear of the Germans
Wartime institutions like the GKO were dismantled and the military hierarchy was downgraded, Zhukov demoted to command Odessa
Cult intensified and Stalin became more unpredictable
however, some historians argue this was a reversion to the past and his personality was keeping with that it had always been
Stalin had always played leading figures in the regime off against each other e.g. Molotov, Zhdanov, Beria which helped to confirm Stalin’s dominance
Molotov held great power in the regime but fell out of favour in 1949
Party and its institutions were undermined - no congress between 1939 and 1952, Politburo reduce to an advisory body which waited to be told by Stalin, big decisions were taken in by Stalin’s inner circle

Question 28

Renewed Terror

Answer 28

enforced isolation from the non-Soviet world out of concern for national security due to the cold war but also due to an obsessive fear of ideological contamination
harsh treatment of returned positions and purges of former army officers as had knowledge of outside world
areas newly incorporated into the USSR needed to show unwavering loyalty - brief contact with foreigner could get a person denounced
1947 - law passed outlawing marriage to foreigners
Hotels and restaurants under surveillance for meetings between soviets and foreigners

Question 29

NKVD under Beria

Answer 29

also deputy prime minister and in charge of developing Soviet atomic bomb (threatened by USA at Potsdam)
vast expansion of more than 500 prison labour camps
NKVD was strengthened and reorganised - MVD (controlled domestic security and Gulags) and MGB (handled counter intelligence and espionage)
tens of thousands were arrested annually and around 12 million wartime survivors were sent to the labour camps
Beria - vile, known for rape (if given flower = consent), Stalin wouldn’t let own daughter near Beria = paranoid/cautious

Question 30

Zhdanovism and the Cultural Purge

Answer 30

new controls over intellectual life - coordinated by Zhadnov, totalitarian approach to promote the right ideology and sypress individualism
began with ourge of 2 literary works published in Leningrad when authors were expelled from Union of Soviet Writers
socialist realism was re-asserted as the norm
Novels, plays and films that denigrated American commercialism or extolled soviet achievements were preferred
anti-Semitism = jewish artists were suppressed or ignored
the study of maths, physics and chemistry badly affected by spurious ideas based on Marxist principles - Lysenko (biologist applied idea that changes in plants are achieved by changes in environment rather than genetics)
non-communist foreign papers and radio were unobtainable, very few soviet citizens were allowed to visit the west

Question 31

Stalin’s cult of personality

Answer 31

building on his reputation as saviour, portryaed as worlds greatest genius and superior in all areas
became customary for the first and last pages of any academic book to acknowledge Stalin’s genius on the subject
canals and dams were named after hhim
portrayed as a man of the people who knew what everyone was doing and thinking - had not visited a Kolkhoz for 25 years and relied on others to provide him with information
towns renamed after him - Moscow intended to become Stalinodar but never implemented
Stalin prizes introduced to reward artistic or scientific work
statues/monuments appeared all over the Soviet Union

Question 32

The Leningrad affair

Answer 32

always been party rivalry between Leningrad and Moscow - Stalin had took care to prevent politicians from Leningrad becoming too powerful - Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kirov and Zhdanov
many reasons why Zhdanov was eliminated - power base in Leningrad and Stalin’s resentment of the pride Leningrad took from its role in the great siege 1941-1944
began purges in 1949 after death of Zhdanov as many had been promoted to senior posts in Moscow during Zhdanovs ascendancy
major purge of leading officials - more than 2000 had been dismissed from their posts, exiled and replaced by pro-Stalin communists

Question 33

Purges

Answer 33

Leningraders had never been a direct political threat ti Stalin but his default approach was to set rival elements within the regime against each other
Mingrelian Case 1951 - party officials in Georgia were accused with collaboration with Western powers, mostly Mingrelians who were supporters of Beria, didn’t finish until Stalin’s death in 1953
served as a way to limit Beria’s power as he was Mingrelian
suppression of non-Russian nationalities and anti-Semitic overtones as they were charged with conspiring with ‘Jewish plotters’

Question 34

The Doctor’s Plot

Answer 34

conspiracy revealed by doctor saying that those who treated Zhdanov in 1948 used sloppy methods which contributed to his death
1952 Stalin used this file as an excuse to arrest as many doctors for being part of a Zionist conspiracy and claimed that Jewish doctors, in the pay of the USA and Israel, were abusing their positions to harm the USSR
Director of Jewish theatre in Moscow was killed in a car crash in 1949, Jewish Wives of Politburo members Molotov and Kalinin were arrested and men in high positions feared they would be the next targets e.g. Beria
thousands of ordinary jews were deported to the Gulags and anti-Jewish hysteria was whipped up so that non-Jews feared to enter hospitals and shunned all Jewish professionals
9 senior doctors were condemned to death - survived due to Stalin’s death

Question 35

emergence of a superpower

Answer 35

before 1941, Stalin’s main ambition for the USSR was for it to be left alone so he could focus on industrial development
during the war, a vast new industrial war machine was built - 7.5million troops and increased territory (baltics, poland, east europe)
rise of Soviet superpower was reflected in the diplomacy of the Grand Alliance between USSR, UK and USA - conferences at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam
Potsdam - USA revealed atomic bomb which would be used to end war with Japan but placed USSR at a disadvantage so Stalin assigned Beria with task of producing one for USSR - produced in 1949 - superpower status
USSR was one of 5 permanent members in United Nations security council created in 1945

Question 36

formation of Soviet bloc

Answer 36

military domination of Eastern and Central Europe
territory was extended and used its military presence over local communist parties which were ‘friendly’ to the Soviet Union
by 1948, most of these countries were ‘satellite states’ which created a buffer zone to protect the USSR
formation had deep roots - 1939, under NSP USSR occupied East Poland and Baltics, 1940 Katyn Forest Massacre of 22,000 polish army officers to eliminate Polish nationalist elements
Communist regimes controlled Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland
more difficult in east central Europe - in countries where democratic governments were elected, communistrs were encourage to join with non-communists, especially socialists, to gain a political foothold - pro-Soviet governments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia

Question 37

conflict with the US and capitalist West

Answer 37

wartime summit conferences reflected disagreements
Tehran 1943 - agreement of unconditional German surrender and Stalin was critical of allies not opening a second front to relieve the pressure of the red army
meeting between Stalin and Churchill in 1944 plagued by disagreements over the future of Poland
Yalta Feb 1945 - creation of United Nations 9stalin wanted a representative from each of the nations of the USSR, but would give disproportionate power so only allowed 3, disagreements over post war borders and Poland, no quota set for how much reparations USSR would receive
Potsdam July 1945 - Roosevlot died and replaced by Truman, Churchill replaced by labour government Attlee, start of arms race due to USA atomic bomb, split of Germany and Berlin, became clear how USSR was asserting political control over the countries it had ‘liberated’

Question 38

breakdown of East-West relations
Stage 1: the Long Telegram and the Iron Curtain Speech

Answer 38

US fear of Soviet expansionism was exasperated by a telegram sent from Moscow by Kennan who was an American diplomat and an expert on Soviet affairs - explained horrors of the USSR, its isolation and the harsh treatments implemented by Stalin
Churchill made speech in USA in March 1946 explaining that an iron curtain had descended across Europe - cant see Stalins antics

Question 39

breakdown of East-West relations
Stage 2:Containment and the Marshall plan

Answer 39

by 1947, Western Europe was in crisis economically and politically, especially Italy and France, civil war in Greece
March 1947, Truman Doctrine asserted new US policy of containment to prevent the spread of communism and explains USSR as a rival, rather than an ally - can be no peaceful coexistence of communsim and capitalism
June 1947 - US put forward the Marshall plan: an injection of aid top rebuild Europe but designed to extend American influence
Stalin was convinced the plan was hostile to Soviet interests and instead a drive towards US political dominance and expressed particular fears of a resurgence of German power
Soviet bloc countries were encouraged to reject Marshall aid
fell at same time as coup in Czechoslovakia where communists took full control - intensified split

Question 40

breakdown of East-West relations
stage 3: Berlin blockade and hardening cold war divisions

Answer 40

clear separation between the Soviet zone and the western zones, but berlin was an ‘island’ in the soviet zone
Stalin was particularly alarmed by the introduction of a separate currency in the western zones in June 1948 and the next day Stalin launched the Berlin blockade - cutting off all road and rail links between Berlin and the West believing that the west were not willing to risk war and so would settle the Berlin question on Soviet terms
But, was defeated by Berlin airlift - a massive operation by allied aircraft flew supplies into West Berlin throughout winter
this confirmed the division of Germany
NATO was formed to defend western Europe
Chinese civil war won by communists and Stalin signed Treaty of alliance with leader

Question 41

Stalin’s death

Answer 41

early 1943, Stalin became increasingly unpredictable and ready to force another wave of repression and terror, planning a purge of the ‘old guard’ (Molotov, Beria etc.)
died 5th March, several conspiracies - Beria poisoned him but most likely died of natural causes as had already suffered strokes
body was embalmed, open coffin and explosion of natural grief
Stalin had not named a successor and made it difficult for any potential contenders this led to a tense power struggle from which Khrushchev emerged as new leader

Question 42

Stalin’s legacy at home and abroad

Answer 42

problematic - production of consumer goods had been underfunded and agriculture was poor but had become a modern industrialised country
had provided strong leadership in war and turned the USSR into a major superpower
regime based off fear and terror, created a dangerous and hostile world in cold war
but due to cult of personality the regime did not need changing as Stalin had been so perfect
described by Khrushchev as ‘fought barbarism with barbarism’ and by his daughter ‘even Hitler did not kill his own people’
in Europe and the world - nuclear arms race, unrest spread to Poland, Germany and Hungary - violent revolution in 1956 Budapest rising