Government in wartime, 1939-45 - Losing control

Question 1

When did Germany turn on her ally and invade the USSR?

Answer 1

22 June 1941
(Operation Barbarossa)

Question 2

Why was Operation Barbarossa a huge mistake?

Answer 2

Soviet Red Army did not collapse as Nazis assumed = G had to fight a war on 2 fronts

Question 3

Who joined WW2 in December 1941?

Answer 3

USA - as well as 2 fronts made it even harder for the Gs

Question 4

What was the consequences of having to fight on 2 fronts?

Answer 4

• G forces badly overstretched
• boys as young as 16 conscripted
• by 1944 some soldiers as young as 12
• rationing became tighter

Question 5

How did the policy of ‘total war’ crush G ppls spirit?

Answer 5

• shops that didn’t contrivute to the war effort = banned
  e.g. cake + sweet shops
  + also sporting events = banned
• children evacuated from cities

Question 6

How did lack of G spirit = gov lost support?

Answer 6

became harder to convince ppl that the G army was invincible bc G families lost their men + living conditions worsened
= gov lost support + resistance grew

Question 7

Situation of the war in June 1944?

Answer 7

Allies had landed in Normandy + moving towards Berlin from the East & West

H moved to a safe bunker w trusted staff, Goebbels + his family, Eva Braun (who he married before they both committed suicide)

Question 8

When did Hitler + Eva Braun commit suicide?

Answer 8

30 April 1945