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The Defeat of the Germans - Coggle Diagram
The Defeat of the Germans
Reasons for the Defeat of the Germans
Soviet Strengths
The Soviet Unions vasts geographical size made it almost impossible for Germany to strike a decisive knock-out blow against it. German forces constantly faced the problems of dangerously overstretched lines of communication
The size allowed Russia to rebuild industry out of the reach of the Germans
The population of the USSR (171m in 1941) was nearly three times greater then Germany's. The USSR could replace losses in a way that was impossible for the Germans
The USSR had vast natural resources that were unleashed by the war. The longer the war went on, the stronger Soviet military-industrial power became
The Soviet 'command economy' already established before the war, was well-suited to the needs to total war and the emergency mobilisation of workers and resources
After a bad start, the military leadership of the USSR became ruthlessly effective, Stalin proved himself to be a very capable war leader. Stalin's generals became highly competent. Propaganda and patriotism motivated the armed forces and civillians to fight and endure
German Weaknesses
Hitler was not able to achieve the rapid initial victory he had hoped for
From December 1941, Germany had to fight a two-front war
Germany lacked self sufficiency in raw materials. By 1943 to 1944, war production in Germany depended on all-out exploration of dwindling economic and human resources
Hitler made crucial strategic mistakes and sacked many of his best generals, replacing them with yes-men
The Germans alienated peoples in occupied countries, provoking resistance movements and partisans
The contribution by the allies
Stalins allies presented a dangerous threat to Hitler on other fronts, preventing him from focusing on the war in the East
Mass bombing campaigns by the British and Americans from 1943 inflicted huge damage on Germany's war effort, weakening the resources available to fight on the Eastern Front
Allied secret intelligence, gained by code-breaking, undermined Germanys war effort at crucial times
Enormous amounts of vital military and economic aid poured into the USSR
Results of Victory for the USSR
Victory in the war established the Soviet Union as a Superpower, it galvanised the USSR and unleashed its huge economic potential
The war badly weakened the other European powers and made the USSR by far the dominat military power on the continent
Germany, the main enemy, was under occupation, economically destroyed and likely to be de-militarised. The war strengthened Stalin's regime by the glow of victory.
The war bought about massive territorial expansion of the Soviet Union. The previously independent Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and parts of East Prussia, were incorporated into the USSR as Soviet Republics
Despite the extent of Soviet Victory, fears and insecurity remianed. Stalin was anxious about the economic power of the United States and how it might be used in Europe.
Victory in the war had also been achieved at a terrible price. Approximately 20 million Soviet citizens dies: 7.5 million in the armed forces and more than 12 million civillians
Post War Reconstruction
The impact of the war on Soviet economy was devastating. Between 1941 and 1945, the war killed one in eight of the population and caused massive dislocation.
In August 1945, Gosplan was instructed to prepare a new Five Year Plan for economic recovery. The fourth five year plan set ambitious targets, for industry and agriculture. One third of the Plan's expenditure was to be spend on Ukraine
Industry
When the war ended, much of Soviet industrial production had to be switched away from military needs to the civilian economy, Industry struggled to adjust to peacetime conditions in 1945 and 1946
Mining production was running at less than half the 1940 level; electric power at 52 per cent; and steel at 45 per cent. The transport infrastructure was still badly disrupted.
In spite of the difficulties by 1950 there was considerable industrial recovery under the fourth five year plan. Many of the plans targets were equalled or exceeded
These success were because of several factors
War Reparations
Central planning
Committed effort of the Soviet people
Post war society economy proved to be very resilient and its rapid growth from 1946 reflected a 'rebound effect' from a ling series of disasters stretching back well before 1941 to 1945.
Under the fourth five year plan, Soviet economic recovery from the war was far more impressive than had been the case after WW1 and the Civil War.
Alongside the necessary rebuilding of heavy industry, there was improved production of consumer goods and some steady growth in the living standards.
The economy was however overloaded by military expenditure, which went up sharply because of the intensification of the Cold War
Agriculture
Agriculture had been devastated by the war,
Officially 98,000 collective farms had been ruined
loss of 137,000 tractors
49,000 combine harvestors
7 million horses
17 million cattle
20 million pigs
27 million sheep
Food production was 60 percent of the 1940 level. The prospects for recovery were hindered by a sever labour shortage and by the fact that far less land was under cultivation than before the war.
To make matters worse, 1946 was the driest year since 1891, and the harvest was poor and some regions there was a famine
There as a recovery in agriculture, though is was slow and patchy. The court five year plan bought some increases but failed to reach most of the targets
By the time of Stalin's death in 1953, the agricultural sector was still unsatisfactory, though some regions were progressing much better than others
One problem holding back reforms in agriculture was Stalin himself and after his death his successors felt that had to introduce reforms and concessions to peasant farmers to alleviate the problems in agriculture