Causes Of The Soviet Union In Ww2

18.1) Assess the view that the disagreements about the Second Front were the most significant cause of tension between Russian and the West between 1941 and 1945.

Captain Dennis W. Dingle’s dissertation, presented before the faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1977, concerns the significance of the Soviet Union’s decisive victory at Stalingrad and its impact on the outcome of the Second World War. While much of this information is irrelevant for the purpose of answering the thesis question I have proposed, it does contain indispensable statistics showcasing the economic and military might of the two most pertinent combatant nations in the Second World War in the timeframe of December of 1941 and July of 1943.

On September 3rd, 1942, Germans reach the outskirts of Stalingrad expecting not much of a fight. Russia, however brought a bigger fight than Germany was expecting. During the winter, as Germany blew Stalingrad to rubble, they were running short on food and ammunition. Germans were also freezing as well as hungry. Approximately, 150,000 Germans were killed during this battle.

World War II brought a huge devastation on the Soviet Union’s economy and the health. During WWII soviets lost more than 17,000 towns, 70,000 villages, and 32,000 factories due to the war (Zickel). In addition, during and after the war, they lost a large number of men population, they were lack functioning machinery, livestock, and limited harvest led to food shortages to survive. As a matter of fact, the soviets union was so focused on war that they spent 70% of their industrial output on the military during the World War II. Unfortunately, as a result all the money that went towards the military, changed the many people of life style, they became homeless or jobless and many of them spent nights and days without food and even starved to death.

Joseph Stalin used the early years of WWII to gain Territory, which include Finland and Baltic States. (WorldWar2history.info). Later they signed a neutrality pact with Japan. “On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, thereby beginning Operation Barbarossa,” because of the invasion Soviet Union joined the war (WorldWar2History.info).

Many people don’t know about the ruthless battles between Germany and Russia on the Eastern front of World War II. The original peace between those countries turned into hatred at Hitler’s invasion. The battles fought on the Eastern front were some of the biggest and most ferocious battles in history. Those battles left civilians and soldiers dead in the streets and the once fruitful cities reduced to rubble. Russia’s brutal involvement in World War II rivaled that of Hitler’s due to Hitler's betrayal, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of Stalingrad.

The collapse of the communist Soviet Union ultimately led to the end of the cold war. The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. Thus highlighting the inferiority of communism and the superiority of western capitalism. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, however, was a result of both domestic and international factors including policies established by both the US and the Soviet leaders, most importantly Gorbachev’s ‘New Thinking’ reforms combined with the hard-line approach of Ronald Reagan. It has also been argued that the collapse of communism in eastern Europe was inevitable due to its moral bankruptcy, as well as the growing economic pressures which ultimately forced the Soviet Union to

The Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 was the major turning point in the war, which sparked the Soviet counterattack against the Germans which led to the Allied European victory. Considered to be one of the bloodiest battles in history, that in Stalingrad, more lives were lost than Great Britain and the USA fatalities both combined for the entire war. It is estimated that the Axis forces had a total of 750,000 causalities and 478,741 Soviet casualties . In August 1942, the Axis conducted an offensive attack to capture Stalingrad after their failure to capture Moscow the previous year. Stalingrad was very important to the USSR as it was Russia’s centre of communication in the south and a major manufacturing city. In early September 1942, the Germans advanced towards Stalingrad. The Soviets could not give up this city as it was named after

The great global conflict of the Second World War was started because of the inexistent actions taken to prevent the war. The Second World War did not happen directly, but there was a series of events that led up to the horrific war. The deadly World War II had begun by the inability to enforce the Treaty of Versailles, the corrupted League of Nations, and the failed policy of appeasement. These three points are long term causes which express thee reasoning for the outbreak of war.

Before World War I, the Soviet five-year plan after several construction has become the world's most powerful socialist country, economic strength, industrial production capacity, according to the world.

In June, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. At first Hitler and the Nazi’s were making very good progress, killing and capturing hundreds or thousands Soviet troops. Then throughout the months of fighting Hitler and the Nazi’s just couldn’t defeat the Soviets, some say it was due to the amazing size of the Soviet Union and also Germany lack of leadership.

On June 22, 1941, Operation "Barbarossa" (Unternehmen Barbarossa) took place, the German Nazi's poured 4 million troops over the Soviet border. The war between Germany and Stalingrad started on July 17, 1942, before the Germans ever set foot on Stalingrads territory. On September 3, 1942, the German Sixth Army reached the outskirts of Stalingrad. Just one month into the fight over 2.5 million Russians were either killed, wounded, or captured. Because of this, Hitler told his men to go into Leningrad, Stalingrad, and parts of Moscow. This particular war ended on February 2, 1943. Historians would argue that this was the bloodiest battle during World War II. Some Russians would say that it was their best fighting battle of the war.

In 1945 the Second World War came to an end, many people thought there would be peace and happiness once it ended. They were correct for a while, until the turmoil left over by the World War II began a new war in itself. Germany did not like its punishment as it nearly ruined their economy and it was divided up into four areas, each controlled by United State, Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France respectively. But at the time they did not agree with many things which began to affect the territory control. The Soviet Union began to take over Eastern Europe and create communist governments. Along with the Communist governments being created in Europe, the Soviet Union began to create communist governments in Korea, Asia, and other parts

The Russo-Finnish War, or Winter War, began on 30 November 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. The objectives of the Red Army were simply, conquer and subjugate all of Finland and re-establish the borders that existed prior to the First World War. The Soviet Union held the advantage in manpower, equipment, and resources, but the Finnish Army inflicted casualties on the Red Army that far exceeded their own. Not a single Red Army unit reached its initial objectives and Stalin was forced to come to the negotiation table and make a peace that left Finland as a sovereign state. The Finnish military was successful because the Red Army lacked competent leadership, didn’t have the proper equipment to fight in subzero temperatures, and the Finnish Army was able to adapt to a changing environment and use their smaller numbers to their advantage. The gaping holes in Soviet military capabilities helped fuel Hitler’s willingness to initiate Operation Barbarossa. Additionally, by invading Finland the Soviet Union turned a disinterested and essentially neutral into an enemy that had the capabilities to strike into the heart of Russia.

In 1917, in the midst of the March Revolution in Russia, where Russians protested as a result of the effects of World War I, Finland took advantage of the time to declare its independence from Russia. In 1919, Finland adopted the constitution that is still used today and became a republic. By 1939, Finland was once again attacked by the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin offered Finland territory in exchange for land that would protect northern Russia from an attack from the west. However, Finland refused to accept this offer and the Soviet Union used force to obtain the territory, starting The Winter War. After a few months of resistance, The Finns lost and the war culminated with the Treaty of Moscow, which resulted in Finland surrendering 1and to the Soviet Union.