Transcript Document 7345875

The USSR in
World War II,
Part One
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1929
The start of the Great Depression
Capitalism shattered, class conflicts on the rise everywhere
Revival of hopes for world revolution
The Comintern goes on the offensive against both the Right
and the Center
Radicalization of right-wing forces
Political polarization
Global retreat of liberal democracy
In international relations – growing anarchy, return to
traditional power politics
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Deep conviction that the international environment is
hostile, and that the Soviet Union will be attacked
Solution: rapid modernization by totalitarian methods
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Extreme centralization of political power
Replacement of market economy by command economy:
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5-year plans from 1928 on
Collectivization of farming (93% of all farms by 1938)
Industrialization of the Soviet Union (growth of industrial
production, 1928-1940: 10-16% a year, machine tool production: 26% a
year)
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The Cultural Revolution – mass literacy campaign loaded
with ideological indoctrination
Mass repressions and slave labour
Stalin’s personality cult
Militarization of economy and society
Nationality policy: from federalism to empire
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March of Enthusiasts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq2XB
Z_up1M
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The human toll of Stalinism
Excessive deaths, 1927-38:
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10 mln. people
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Incarcerated for “counterrevolutionary activities”, “treason”,
“espionage”, 1920-1953:
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8.5 mln. in 1927-36 (most died of hunger)
1.5 mln. in 1937-38 (executed or died in camps)
3.4-3.7 mln. people
Total number of camp deaths, 1930-1956:
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1.6 mln.
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A shift in foreign policy
From wariness of the West – to active engagement in
world-order politics
Less ideology, more pragmatism
Non-aggression pacts
Development of trade and economic relations with all
countries
After Hitler’s coming to power – campaign for collective
security
Maksim Litvinov, People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs, 1930-39
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The rise of Nazism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B4l9g0wqjs&feature=re
lated
Anti-Communism
Ultranationalism
State capitalism packaged as “national socialism”
Militarism
Aggressive racism
Establishment of a totalitarian state
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0Et56Hxt4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaU_ak19YwY&feat
ure=related
January 20, 1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as US President:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX_v0zxM23Q
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From Roosevelt’s inaugural address, January 20, 1933:
“Rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed
through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence,
have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of
the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court
of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the
pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they
have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the
lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false
leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading
tearfully for restored confidence....The money changers have
fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We
may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The
measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply
social values more noble than mere monetary profit”.
Roosevelt decides to recognize the USSR
 Motives: geopolitical
 Containing Germany and Japan
 Sends a signal in October 1933, Soviet Foreign Minister
Maxim Litvinov arrives in Washington for talks
 3 issues:
 Russian debt from WWI
 Suppression of religious and legal rights in USSR
 Soviet aid to American Communists
 A “gentleman’s agreement” is reached
 Nov. 1933: diplomatic relations are restored
The geopolitical triangle: Axis powers (Germany, Italy,
Japan), USSR, Western democracies (WDs)
WDs
Axis
USSR
Germany’s
expansion,
1933-39
Fascism and Communism as sworn enemies
 Both sides tried to win allies
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Hitler: I am crushing communism and protecting Western
civilization (ideological). It was in his interest to downplay
geopolitics
Stalin: I am trying to stop Hitler’s aggression (geopolitical). It
was in his interest to downplay ideology
Both succeeded to some extent:
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Hitler managed to overthrow the Versailles constraints, rebuild
Germany’s military power, and expand German borders
Stalin gained US recognition and a degree of respectability in
the West with his advocacy of “collective security” agreements
against fascist powers
Stalin’s first choice:
 Policies of collective security (alliance with
democracies to stop Hitler)
After the failure of this option  A non-aggression pact with Hitler to stay out of the
coming war and extend Soviet borders westward
Vyacheslav Molotov, People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs,
Minister of Foreign Affairs (1939-1949)
The Spanish Civil War
Can democracy be sacrificed to defeat the Left?
Foreign intervention on both sides
Splits between forces of the Left, blunders of the Left
Victory of the Right, abetted by liberals
Brigadas Internacionales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMeIaK3cH0&feature=related
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Hitler publicly and repeatedly pledged to destroy the Soviet
Union, presenting himself as saviour of the West from
communism
As a state committed to world revolution, Russia was
viewed as a threat by Western elites – including those of
Western democracies
The rise of fascism was partly a response to the threat –
and anticommunism was one of the motives of Western
appeasement of Hitler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAmKGzYyVLI&feature
=related
Appeasement of Hitler and his allies by Britain and
France:
Allowing Germany’s rearmament
Accepting Hitler’s territorial claims
Betraying democracy in Spain
The Munich Accord of 1938
Motives for appeasement
ideological
geopolitical
Munich, September 30, 1938: Britain and France open door to Hitler’s
occupation of Czechoslovakia
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British PM Neville Chamberlain in
Munich:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQIJk
gpP1hg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO725
Hbzfls&NR=1
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Britain and France hoped to channel Hitler’s aggression
to the East, toward conflict with Russia – reluctant to fight
Germany
Hitler was determined to prevent Western democracies
and USSR from joining forces: beat them one by one
Stalin was determined to avoid war with Germany as long
as possible – but convinced that such a war was
inevitable
1939: A divergence of interests between USSR and
Western democracies – and a convergence of interests
between Germany and USSR
The unexpected deal was logical – but only temporary
Moscow, August 23, 1939: German Foreign Minister Joachim
von Ribbentrop signs non-aggression pact with Russia
Text of the Stalin-Hitler (Molotov-Ribbentrop) Pact
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1939pact.html
Stalin and
Ribbentrop
sign the deal
on the division
of Eastern
Europe,
Aug.1939
Stalin offers a toast to Hitler
A Swiss
magazine
cartoon
September 1, 1939: Nazi Germany invades Poland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNOqSSP1o94
German and Soviet invasions of Poland
Soviet and Nazi officers in occupied Poland, 1939
Polish servicemen who surrendered to Soviet authorities. In
spring 1940, 22,000 Polish officers were executed by NKVD
Hitler and his High Command after occupation of France, summer 1940
1940: Hitler
in occupied
Paris
Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, June 1940
1939-1941: Stalin’s Western expansion
 Western Ukraine, Belorussia
 Invasion of Finland
 Annexation of Bessarabia and Bukovina from Romania
 Classic geopolitics: pushing the borders forward,
reclaiming Russian imperial heritage
1939-1941: growing tensions between USSR and Germany
 Germany’s unexpected triumph in the West emboldens
Hitler
 Hitler’s strategic goal of conquering the USSR was never
abandoned – for geopolitical and ideological reasons
 All resources of continental Europe are now available to
Germany
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By 1941, Stalin’s fear of German power became the
overwhelming factor
He was appeasing Hitler – and preparing for war against
him - at the same time
Each of the two intended to strike first
Hitler outfoxed Stalin and delivered a crushing blow
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1939-1941: Lowest point in US-Soviet relations since
1933
Roosevelt denounced Stalin
USSR viewed as an accomplice to the Nazis
Soviet annexation of the Baltic states and invasion of
Finland condemned
The German invasion of Russia changed everything
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Operation Barbarossa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
JhXKlYnSWjA
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Hitler’s goals:
Total destruction of the Soviet state
 Colonization of the Soviet territory, together with
allies
 Turning the territory into a resource base for the
Third Reich
 Annihilation or enslavement of the population
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An existential challenge to Russia
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Hitler explaining the coming war against Russia, March
1941:
“It is a struggle between two ideologies… Communism
presents an enormous danger for the future. A communist
has never been and never will be our comrade. It is a
struggle for annihilation. If we think otherwise, then, even if
we should crush the enemy, the communist threat will rise
again in 30 years…”
From the diary of General F. Halder, Chief of Staff, Land
Forces, Germany:
This war will be vastly different from the one in the West. In
the East, brutality is a benefit for the future. Commanders
must be ready for sacrifice and overcome their doubts.”
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Hitler’s allies in the war against Russia:
Italy
Romania
Hungary
Finland
Slovakia
Croatia
Serbia
Montenegro
Bulgaria
Albania
Spain
Nazi
propaganda
poster: SS
forces kill the
Red beast of
communism
German poster
depicting
Soviets: “The
lower race”
A Soviet tank crew, killed June 25, 1941
Wounded Soviet soldiers
General von Richthoffen in Russia with his officers
Celebrating success in Lightning War
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In the first 10 days, German armies moved 550 km into
Soviet territory
In the first 20 days of the war, the Red Army lost 1/5 of its
manpower – 600,000 men
By July, 20 mln. Soviets found themselves under
occupation. Nazi terror began.
Still, despite the chaos and panic:
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Fierce resistance slowing the German offensive
Evacuation of population
Redeployment of industry to the East
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sailmeWkm_A
Moscow, October 1941
Women digging anti-tank moats near Moscow
Antitank barriers in downtown Moscow
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The Battle of Moscow
Sept. 1941 – Jan. 1942
98 days
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2.25 mln. men
2.700 tanks
21.600 artillery pieces
Casualties:
250,000 – 400,000 German
600,000 – 1,300,000 Soviet
November 7th, 1941: military parade in Red Square
Georgi
Zhukov,
commander
of Soviet
forces in the
Battle of
Moscow
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The Siege of Leningrad
Sept. 1941 – Jan. 1944
871 days
Soviet casualties:
 Military – 3.4 mln.
 Civilian deaths – 1 mln.
German casualties – no data
Hitler discussing siege of Leningrad with Finnish officials
Leningrad’s
defenders
Schoolchildren in besieged Leningrad