WW2

Question 1

Why was Hitler’s strategic goal of conquering the USSR never abandoned?

Answer 1

For geopolitical and ideological reasons.

Question 2

What was happening with the USSR and Germany by 1941?

Answer 2

Stalin’s fear of German power had become overwhelming.

Stalin was appeasing Hitler - and preparing for war.

Question 3

What were two of the accurate warnings of the coming attack?

Answer 3

• Churchill and Roosevelt warned Stalin directly.

- German deserters.

Question 4

What did Stalin believe about the warnings about war?

Answer 4

Stalin and his inner circle mistrusted Hitler, but mistrusted Churchill and Roosevelt more.

Question 5

Who was Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg?

Answer 5

Named German ambassador to the USSR in 1934.

Question 6

What happened to Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg?

Answer 6

Executed in 1944 for being part of the plot to assassinate Hitler.

Question 7

How many army commanders were lost as a result of the purges?

Answer 7

15 out of 16.

Question 8

What was the issue with the 225 regional commanders on active duty in 1940?

Answer 8

Not one was educated in a military academy.

Question 9

What happened on 22nd June 1941?

Answer 9

Germans launched Operation Barbarossa.

Question 10

What happened in Operation Barbarossa?

Answer 10

Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 1,800 mile front.

Question 11

What did Stalin do after the invasion of Operation Barbarossa?

Answer 11

Disappeared from public view for more than a week.

Question 12

What did the policy of appeasement make Stalin feel?

Answer 12

Threatened as he felt GB and France were sending Hitler in his direction.

Question 13

What three reasons were there for the USSR’s victory?

Answer 13

1. German errors.
2. Soviet tactics.
3. External factors.

Question 14

How did the Nazis overestimate?

Answer 14

Overstretched themselves with over 2000 miles of front to fight.

Question 15

What key mistake did Hitler make?

Answer 15

He got too focused on symbolic cities such as Stalingrad.

Question 16

How had the FYPs and purges done in preparation for war?

Answer 16

Prepared people for the harsh reality.

Question 17

What economic changes encouraged food production?

Answer 17

Lifting of the restriction which had limited the size of private plots.

Question 18

What scheme did the US implement? What did it provide the USSR with?

Answer 18

The Lend lease scheme.

Provided 400,000 lorries and 14 million soldiers boots.

Question 19

What was opened in 1944?

Answer 19

The Western Front and the German Army was split.

Question 20

In what way were the USSR not ready for war?

Answer 20

In a political sense.

Question 21

What happened June 22nd 1941?

Answer 21

Operation Barbarossa.

Question 22

What were the main three fronts of war?

Answer 22

• German Army Group North - Leningrad.
• German Army Group Centre - Moscow.
• German Army Group South - Kiev, Rostov-Don.

Question 23

When did the siege of Leningrad begin?

Answer 23

September 8th, encircled Leningrad.

Question 24

How long did the siege of Leningrad last?

Answer 24

For 900 days.

Question 25

What was the rationing situation in the siege of Leningrad?

Answer 25

125g of bread per person, per day.

Question 26

What happened between the months of January and February 1942, in Leningrad?

Answer 26

200,000 people died.

Question 27

How close to Moscow did German Army Group Centre get?

Answer 27

Within 20 miles of Moscow by Nov 1941, but never captured it.

Question 28

Who staged a counter offensive in Moscow?

Answer 28

Zukov.

Question 29

What were the main two goals in 1942 for the Germans?

Answer 29

• Capture the oil fields in Southern Russia.

- Capture Stalingrad.

Question 30

What is the significance of the Battle of Moscow?

Answer 30

First Soviet victory over the Nazis.

Question 31

How many Germans did the Soviet kill on the Caucus front?

Answer 31

260,000.

Question 32

How long did the Battle of Stalingrad last?

Answer 32

Over 200 days and nights.

Question 33

When did the Germans surrender at the Battle of Stalingrad?

Answer 33

2nd February 1943.

Question 34

When was the liberation of the Soviet Union?

Answer 34

August to December 1943.

Question 35

What did the Red Army do between August and December of 1943?

Answer 35

Liberated most of central Russia and Ukraine.

Question 36

What was Order 270?

Answer 36

Commissars and commanders who left the front were seen as deserters, and their families were deprived of state entitlements.

Question 37

When was Order 270 passed?

Answer 37

16th August 1941.

Question 38

What was Order 277?

Answer 38

Order for ‘not a step back’ to defend Soviet territory to the end. Issued at the low point of the war.

Question 39

When was Order 277 passed?

Answer 39

28th July 1942.

Question 40

Give an example, of how the Germans were initially successful in Operation Barbarossa?

Answer 40

Occupied 85% of pre-war aircrafts, factories, by November 1941.

Question 41

How much did living standards in the SU fall?

Answer 41

By two-fifths.

Question 42

How much did Lend Lease contribute to the economy in 1943 and 44?

Answer 42

10% of the GDP.

Question 43

What was the worst year for agriculture?

Answer 43

1943 - 30% of output in 1940.

Question 44

What fraction of farmers had been removed in the countryside?

Answer 44

4/5 by the end of the war.

Question 45

How many women served in the armed forces?

Answer 45

500,000.

Question 46

What were women not allowed to participate in after WW2?

Answer 46

Any after war parades.

Question 47

How did Pravda characterise Stalin after the war was won?

Answer 47

‘The genius organiser of our victories’.