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The impact of the war on the Soviet Union Flashcards

Operation Barbarossa and the Stalinist reaction; the course of the war; the USSR under occupation and the fight-back; the Soviet economy; mobilisation and evacuation of industry; foreign aid

1
Q

when was operation Barbarossa launched

A

03:15 berlin time
22nd June 1941

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2
Q

What was operation Barbarossa

A

German invasion of the USSR

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3
Q

how many personnel and tanks did Germany send to operation Barbarossa

A

3.8 million people
3,500 tanks

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4
Q

how many personnel and tanks did the red army have on the frontline for operation Barbarossa

A

2.6-2.9 million people
11,000 tanks

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5
Q

How did Stalin’s belief in the Nazi Soviet pact impact Barbarossa

A

Earthworks and fortresses had not been built and armaments factories had not been moved East as Stalin had trusted in the non-aggression of the pact

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6
Q

How did the purges impact operation Barbarossa

A

the purges had gotten rid of many of the most experienced generals of the Russian army and a large number of military personnel
had to rely on inferior personnel who had been promoted for political reasons

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7
Q

what time did Stalin order a counter-attack in reaction to Barbarossa

A

6:30 am
over 3 hours after the initial invasion

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8
Q

How did Stalin react to Barbarossa

A

late to order counter-attack
went AWOL after the fall of Minsk - June 28th
September 1941 refused to allow the army at Kiev to retreat until it was too late
showed no urgency in defending Leningrad
Wanted to move the capital to Samara

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9
Q

How many Soviet planes were destroyed in the first 24 hours of Barbarossa and why

A

1200
reserve squadrons stood lined up without camouflage
the soviet air force was thinly spread

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10
Q

Where was the Northern prong of the German offensive headed and did it achieve its aim

A

aim: Leningrad
Leningrad under siege by 25th September - cut off the land rout to Leningrad and blockaded the port

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11
Q

Where was the centre prong of the German offensive headed and did it achieve its aim

A

aim: Moscow
Operation Typhoon (plan to capture Moscow) launched September 30th
end of October and throughout November German forces advanced towards the Moscow-Volga canal

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12
Q

Where was the Southern prong of the German offensive headed and did it achieve its aim

A

Aim: Southern oil fields
got as far as the black sea
Kiev evacuated 17th September

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13
Q

what percentage of the Soviet population was under German occupation after Barbarossa

A

45%

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14
Q

How much of the nations industrial plant was in German hands after Barbarossa

A

2/3

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15
Q

how much did iron and steel production drop after Barbarossa

A

60%

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16
Q

How much had livestock and grain stocks been reduced by Barbarossa

A

Livestock - reduced by 60%
grain stocks - reduced by 40%

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17
Q

How much territory did the Germans take in Barbarossa

A

500,000 square miles

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18
Q

How many soldiers were lost defending Barbarossa

A

5 million soldiers reduced to 2.3 million

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19
Q

How did Stalin’s recovery of nerve enable the USSR to survive Barbarossa

A

From July 3rd Stalin returned and became a competent military leader
e.g. gave many radio speeches to rally support for the war effort and raise morale

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20
Q

How did Nazi racism enable the USSR to survive Barbarossa

A

Nazi’s planned to use the resources of the USSR to sustain the German army and population and in the process killing millions of Russians through starvation - surrendering was not an option

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21
Q

How did compulsion to fight enable the USSR to survive Barbarossa

A

order 270
penal battalions - option was either to win or to be killed

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22
Q

When was order 270 and what did it do

A

August 16th 1941
ordered Red Army personnel to fight to the last and virtually banned commanders from surrendering
set out severe penalties for senior officers and deserted

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23
Q

What were penal battalions and how many did commanders have

A

groups of gulag prisoners, POWs, disgraced soldiers and deserters
not allowed weapons until they entered the line
often attacked through minefields whose bodies marked the passage of the normal army
Each front line commander had 10-15 battalions at their disposal

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24
Q

How was the economy reorganised to cope with Barbarossa

A

July-Dec 1941 2593 industrial enterprises moved east - transported in 1.5 mill railway freight cars
16.5 million workers moved - 11 hour work day, 6 days a week
every citizen over 14 eligible for industrial labour

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25
How did winter enable the USSR to survive Barbarossa
Russia only had 40,000 miles of tarmac and 50,000 of railways - Germans forced through mud and fields which vehicles were not equipped for By Autumn 1941 20% of the original invasion force had gone and 2/3 of its armoured vehicles
26
How did luck enable the USSR to survive Barbarossa
Barbarossa delayed by 3 weeks due to situation in Yugoslavia - attack faced Winter Operation Typhoon launched too late Richard Sorge was a Soviet double agent in Japan and knew Japan would not attack - troops could be transferred from Siberia to West
27
who led the defence of Moscow and when
Zhukov 5th December 1941 saved Moscow
28
When was the siege of Leningrad
began September 25th 1941 after the German Army Group North cut off the land route to Leningrad and the port was blockaded the siege lasted 900mdays
29
who organised the defence of Leningrad
Zhukov and Zhdanov
30
how did Zhukov and Zhdanov try to defend Leningrad
organised workers militia of 36,000 streets barricaded air raid shelter built 1/2 million evacuated before land route was cut off small boats brought in food, munitions and petrol from lake Ladoga factories remained open producing tanks and munitions
31
how many died during the siege of Leningrad
1.5 million estimated from starvation and the cold
32
rationing during the siege of Leningrad
ration cards issues but were insufficient to feed the whole population by December workers and soldiers had 8 ounces of bread a day - people resorted to eating cats and dogs 2,000 people arrested for cannibalism
33
How did Zhukov defend Moscow form operation Typhoon
shock armies to break through German lines by the end of 1941 German lines had been pushed back
34
comparison of Stalin and Hitler leadership
Stalin delegated - e.g. Zhukov to defend Moscow Hitler - denied generals request to withdraw from operation Typhoon and took personal control of the army
35
what was operation blue and when was it
Launched June 28th 1942 aimed to gain control of the South to control the oilfields in the Caucasus reached the Don river in just over a week and Rostov (gateway to the South) had fallen by July 23rd Hitler then split his forces 1 group to take the oilfields and one to head to Stalingrad
36
What was operation Uranus
plan to save Stalingrad from the approaching German forces planned by Zhukov in August 1942 but could not be launched until November
37
when did operation Uranus begin
19th November 1942
38
when did the German commander surrender at Stalingrad
31st January 1943
39
how was Stalin shown to be a good leader before the battle of Kursk
Stalin wanted to undertake an immediate pre-emptive attack on the Germans as they had calculated an attack on Kursk was coming He allowed his plan to not be carried out and instead followed the command of the army officers who wanted to hold back a massive reserve force to be unleashed when the German advance stalled
40
When was the battle of Kursk and what happend
summer 1943 largest tank battle in history 600 German tanks vs. 850 Soviet tanks
41
When was operation Bagration launched and what was it
22nd June 1944 after the launching of the allied attack on Normandy large scale offensive against the Nazis into Eastern Europe
42
when had Minsk been taken back by Bagration
4th July 1944
43
What had happened by March in Bagration
the Baltic coast was under Soviet occupation
44
where did allied and Soviet forces meet after Bagration and when
end of April 1944 met at the Elbe river for the final assault on Berlin
45
When did the Germans surrender
7th May 1944 after Hitler shot himself on April 30th
46
How did the red army retreat impact people
the army used scorched earth tactics as they retreated destroying anything that could not be taken
47
how many towns and villages were devastated by the war
1700 towns 70,000 villages
48
what was the civilian death total
12 million by 1945
49
How was normal life dislocated
displacement from invasion mass deportations mobilisation of the army or work in munitions factories
50
How many Jewish people were killed at Babi Yar
34,000
51
What did the Germans do with the Soviet people on the occupied land
conscripted to work in German war factories Hitler ordered the instant execution of soviet commissars
52
What happened to the tartars
Stalin was suspicious of ethnic minorities who might collaborate with the Germans deported 240,000 Crimean tartars to central Asia in 1944
53
How many soviet troops were killed or captured throughout the war
5.9 million
54
what did the Germans do while occupying
whole village were burned to the ground many civilians had to resort to living in holes in the ground
55
what did Stalin do with the partisans
by 1943 introduced a centralised military structure to the partisan brigades
56
what did GNP fall to
1942 GNP 66% of the pre war level
57
When was the committee of evacuation created and what did it do
24th July move whole factories and their workforce to the East
58
how quickly did the factories become functioning
by the end of 1942 only 1 of the 27 major factories that had been relocated was not yet functioning
59
how much of national income was spent on military
56%
60
what cultural freedoms were allowed
Russian folk tradition from 1942 the re-establishment of a state-sanctioned Russian orthodox church hierarchy
61
how much did agricultural production drop and why
dropped by 40% best agricultural land occupied by German forces recruitment of agricultural workers to replace factory workers who were replacing fallen soldiers - collectives stripped of their most valuable workers
62
what was lend lease
programme through which the US gave economic aid and vital machinery to the USSR
63
how many trucks did the US supply to the USSR
300,000
64
how did food from the US and Britain help
essential in preventing mass starvation spam played a significant role in feeding the red army
65
how much communications equipment was supplied by the US
33,000 radio stations 380,000 field telephones 956,000 miles of cable
66
how did communications equipment help the war effort
Operation Uranus (turned the tide in the battle of Stalingrad) and subsequent campaigns only possible because of improved signal intelligence

Russia (24 decks)

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