The 'Great Patriotic War'

The Soviet Union in World War II

Background

In the 1920s, the Soviet Union was an ostracised country:

• The Allies fought with the Whites in the Civil War

• Russia was not invited to the League of Nations

• The failure of Communist revolutions in Germany, Italy, Hungary and the Baltic States 1919-24, and the existence of Comintern convinced the West of the danger of ‘world revolution’. 

• At the same time, defeat in the Soviet war with Poland (1920), and the defeat of communist revolutions in other countries, saw the Soviet Union’s foreign policy turn to self-defence, not to aggression.  After 1927, Stalin’s Russia believed in ‘Socialism in One Country’. 

In the 1930s, Soviet foreign policy continued to focus on protecting the revolution from foreign wars:

• From 1930, Maxim Litvinov was Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs.  He negotiated non-aggression pacts with Poland, the Baltic States, France and China. 

• In 1934, alarmed at developments in Hitler’s Germany, Russia joined the League of Nations. 

• In 1939, when it was clear that the League was powerless, and that Britain and France were just going to appease Hitler, Stalin made the Nazi-Soviet Pact. 

Notwithstanding, Hitler invaded the USSR on 22 June 1941. 

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

World At War documentary on Stalingrad - a must-see

Stalin as War Leader

YouTube

Impact of the War - DickinsonHistory

Myths of WWII - Politsturm (politicall biased, but worth watching)

Source A

Operation Barbarossa, 1941.  The Nazis conquered 850,000 square miles of land.

Why did the Soviet Union Win the War ?

1. The ‘War of the Motherland’: Stalin appealed to the nationalism, communism AND religion of the Soviet peoples.  He used the radio to speak about heroes from Russian history.  Orthodox priests addressed pro-war rallies. 

2. The Sovinformburo: was set up to issue propaganda, including slogans, patriotic songs, posters and theatre.  Many Red Army troops also chose to fight to the death instead of being taken captive after being told what happened to the Nazis' prisoners. 

3. Factories and businesses: were moved to the Urals and central Asia, out of reach of the Luftwaffe.  1500 factories were dismantled and loaded with their equipment onto freight trains … 24-hours a day. 

4. The entire economy: was devoted to supplying the army. 

5. Labour was mobilised: workers in heavy industry got double rations/ holidays were abolished – overwork and malnutrition killed millions of workers. 

6. The huge size of Russia. 

7. ‘Scorched earth’: as the Russians retreated, they destroyed everything; this meant the Nazi army had to rely solely on ever-lengthening supply lines. 

8. 'General Winter': defeated Operation Barbarossa. 

9. Red Army discipline: Generals who retreated were recalled and shot/ soldiers who didn’t attack enthusiastically enough were machine-gunned from behind. 

10. Red Army heroism: if you get a chance, watch the World At War documentary on Stalingrad – it is unbelievable. 

11. 800,000 women were recruited into the Red Army from 1942, initially as nurses, but soon after as snipers, tank crews, and ‘Night Witches’ bomber crews. 

12. The Lucy Spy Ring: gave the Russians details of German military plans, 1941-44 – most notably of ‘Operation Citadel’ before the Battle of Kursk. 

13. Foreign aid: Under the Lend-Lease agreement, the US shipped $11.3billion-worth of materials (esp. fuel, explosives, metals and radio equipment) to the USSR.  Britain & Canada also supplied 4 million tonnes of war weaponry.  (However, although Stalin acknowledged that this had been vital, the Western Allies failed to open a 'second front' – in western Europe – until 1944).

14. Stalin’s leadership: ALL decisions had to go through Stalin and he insisted on ‘Not A Step Back’ (Order No.  227), whatever the cost.  Millions of Soviet soldiers died as a result, notably in the final attack on Berlin. 

Source B

Soviet propaganda poster.  It reads: “Long live Red Army of workers and peasants – the true guard of the Soviet borders!”

Analyse the messages in this propaganda.

Results of the War

• Death: 26 million Soviet citizens died from overwork and malnutrition, enemy action, or fighting in the Red Army. 

• Industry was ruined, as machinery had been used to destruction and not replaced.  As a result the 1946 Five-Year Plan focussed entirely on reinvesting in Industry, leaving livings standards appalling. 

• Agriculture was ruined because of enemy action, scorched earth, and the conscription of workers, devastated agriculture, resulting in food shortages, rationing and malnutrition.  It took Soviet agriculture nearly a decade to get back to pre-war levels. 

• Destruction: huge areas of the USSR’s most productive farmland and industrial areas were destroyed by enemy and the scorched earth policy; 70,000 villages, 100,000 kolkhozy and 40,000 miles of railway track destroyed. 

• Homelessness: Nearly 5 million houses destroyed; 25 million homeless. 

• The Orthodox Church was tolerated in Russia. 

• Cold War: after 1945, Soviet forces stayed in the countries of eastern Europe as a ‘cordon sanitaire’ protecting the Soviet Union … this was the cause of the Cold War. 

• Remembrance: Victory Day is still one of the most important public holidays for Russian citizens.