During The Cold War Essay

Soviet Logistics were hampered but still functioning throughout the battle. The Soviets used the Volga river to move supplies and personnel into and out of Stalingrad. The Soviets also had functioning factories in Stalingrad producing tanks. Many of these tanks rolled off the assembly line and were immediately driven to the front line, many without paint or gun sights (Beevor, 1998).

As Germany advanced on the city of Stalingrad, Hitler decided to rush the battle and try to finish it quickly. Because of this mindset, his army was severely underprepared to fight a drawn out battle in the Russian winter. German general Blumentritt recalled “The railheads (train tracks) were as much as 200 kilometers behind the front, and the bare nature of the countryside meant that there was little timber (wood) available for constructing defenses. There were no proper trenches or fixed positions” (Document 3). The Soviets had a major advantage over the Germans of the aspect of being resupplied. While they could receive support from nearby or within the city, Germany had to rely on supplies coming from a long way out. If supply shipments were cut off by the Soviets, the Germans were forced to continue fighting with limited resources. Also, the Battle of Stalingrad is a prime example of how much changed between the first and second world war. The vast majority of World War I was fought out of trenches, with soldiers moving very little. World War II was fought in the style of urban warfare, surrounded by streets and buildings, nearly the polar opposite of trench warfare. The Germans were not trained to fight an urban style battle, and thus struggled upon reaching the city of Stalingrad. When the cold Russian winter came, German suffering reached an all time high. A soldier named Wilhelm

Almost everyone knows what a monster Adolf Hitler was, but most people do not know that one of the great ally leader of World War II, Joseph Stalin, had committed even greater atrocities than Hitler. Joseph Stalin was a ruthless and yet diligent dictator of the Soviet Union, whose rise to power influenced a multitude of major events in his country’s history. Due to Stalin’s impactful reign, he made the Soviet Union become a global superpower, underwent difficult hardships such as the Great Famine in the Soviet Union, and after his death, caused the Soviet Union to go through a process known as de-Stalinization.

The Germans planned on taking Russia before the terrible cold came. But this was not possible because of supply issues and the large resistance from the Red Army. Frostbite became a huge problem with around 15,000 limbs being amputated and over 100,000 cases of frostbite in general (eisenhowerinstitute.org). The cold also had a big toll on German machinery. Tanks and jeeps wouldn’t start and artillery couldn’t fire. The Russian equipment was used to the cold and the Soviets had special camouflage, skis, and rifles to help them in the cold. Another large advantage that the Russians had was their railroads. The Germans used railroads as their main transportation for troops and supplies. The problem with that is German railroads are really close together and Russian railroads are spread apart by a few more inches. That was a huge problem for the Nazis because once they crossed the border the trains had to stop and unload and load back onto another train. Eventually the Germans started tearing up the original railways and replaced them with their own. But this took too much time so supplies were not getting where they needed to be fast

During World War II women in the Soviet Union played a major role in helping the

For decades, the United States and Russia, formerly The Soviet Union, have held tensions with each other over different political stances and military actions and intelligence. Starting from the late years of World War II - when the Soviet Union had aggressively spread communism throughout Eastern Europe - up to a couple years ago when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine out of nowhere; their relationship has been a rollercoaster of a ride for these two countries. Even though the United States and Russia are no longer in a Cold War, there has been and continues to be tension between the two countries as exemplified by many events of conflict including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Russian military’s current presence in Syria.

Shortly after World War II, the world’s two most powerful nations, the United States and the Soviet Union, emerged as arch-adversaries and in doing so, they created a rivalry that casted a shadow over international affairs for decades known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union saw the United States as a ruthless, imperialist power whose goal was to destroy communism and encourage the growth of a capitalist world. In contrast, America saw the Soviets as a ruthless, imperialist, and totalitarian power whose goal was to destroy democracy and encourage a Communist revolution through expansion. Therefore, the United States’ actions toward the Soviet Union was justifiable after World War II. American diplomat George Kennan said how the Soviets were

On June 22, 1944, Soviet forces went on the offense and destroyed German forces defending the center of the eastern front in western Belorussia, pushing to

The Eastern Front of the European theater saw some of the harshest conditions and most intense combat of the second World War. Germany and Russia had been enemies for centuries and with Hitler’s belief that Marxism and Judaism were one in the same, the stage was set for a war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Hitler broke the non-aggression pact he had signed with Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941. Neither side was prepared for the ferocity and destruction that was to follow.

Using these four passages and your own knowledge, assess the view that during the Second World War the relationship between the ussr and the west was characterised more by co-operation than by disagreement.

Although there are various factors which triggered the German’s efforts in Stalingrad to become futile, the extreme weather conditions that the German and Red army troops faced was unquestionably the most impactful. In spite of both forces having to cope with fighting against the weather, the reason that the German’s struggled whilst the Russians prevailed was due to differing and very distinct coping methods which were developed to aid both forces whilst in fight. The Russian Army adapted to the harsh weather conditions that they were facing in many ways that the Germans did not; an example of this is the addition of gasoline to the oil within their guns which prevented the oil from freezing. This addition allowed the Red Army to shoot with ease whilst the Germans continued to struggle to shoot due to the freezing of the oil within their guns.

The battle at Stalingrad fought during the winter of 1942 to 1943 is argued to be the turning point of WWII in Europe, the battle “bled [the] German army dry in Russia” the army went into full retreat, Hitler was more focused on destroying the name of the town than saving his own people, a ‘pointless slaughter’ from both Russia

The Winter War, lasting from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940, was a conflict between Finland, located in Scandinavia, and the Soviet Union, located east of Finland, during the time of World War II. In the course of three months, the war ended with a Finnish surrender and a damaged Soviet reputation. The official count of losses for both sides was at 70,000 total casualties for the Finnish and 323,000 total casualties for the Soviets, even though the Finnish army possessed a quarter of the military might of the Soviet Army, also known as the Red Army. A relatively overlooked war, the Winter War displayed the versatility of a weaker army that only needs to counterbalance the force of the opposition to devalue the opposition's political objective.

Joseph Stalin's Leadership Through World War Two Stalin (1927-1953) led the Soviet State through the challenges of World War II. Although the war was a terrible drain on the already impoverished and exhausted society, it resulted, paradoxically in strengthening the Soviet dictatorship.

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.