russia during ww2

Question 1

intro to russia in ww2

Answer 1

-originally relatively removed as war began in sept 1939(Poland) and due to nazi-soviet pact, ussr and germany annexed Poland and baltic states
-in June 1941 launched operation Barbarossa: largest land invasion in history, on the ussr

Question 2

operation Barbarossa

Answer 2

-began June 22nd 1941
-ussr completely unprepared
-nazis opted for three prong Strat: army group north centre and south

-initially incredibly succesfull
-by September 194, nazis had overrun majority of industrial russia and caused casualties of over 6,000,000 red army personnel
-partly because Stalin refused to believe any information regarding plan
-completely trusted nazi-soviet pact
-military structure was weak due to the purges

Question 3

the course of ww2

Answer 3

-nazi reached Leningrad by September
-siege of Leningrad began in September until jan 1944
-during this, 800k civilians had died, estimates of up to one milly
-this represented 90% of civilian population
-army group centre had reached outskirts of Moscow by October 1941 however failed to push into it due to poor weather
-army group south launched operation blue: a push towards oil fields in the caucuses and attack on Stalingrad
-battle of Stalingrad from July 1942 to feb 1943
-this was the most violent battle in ww2
-800k died (same as total of britain and usa)
-stalingrad began to turn the tide
-July 1943: largest tank battle in history
-between 1943-1945 pushed nazis back into germany culminating in battle of Berlin in April and may 1945

Question 4

impact of great patriotic war on the USSR

Answer 4

-initally stalin mishandled the situation
-however introduced a no. of new policies:
-ended mass terror
-allowed for growth of state power: shift of power from party to state
-military more effectively controlled
-composition of politburo changed
-stalin created state defence committee (GKO): responsible for economic co-ordination