What factors helped the Soviet Union achieve victory over Nazi Germany?
A victory for the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany was quite unexpected. In 1941, Germany, under Hitler, was well prepared for Operation Barbarossa. They had a vast German army with over three million soldiers and strong weaponry. In the beginning, the Germans were wiping out Russian air and tank forces and the Red Army suffered around four million casualties. Germany seemed set on a victory as 1942 approached. But the situations reversed, and suddenly the Red Army offered strong resistance and German approaches were futile. But how did the Russians actually achieve victory? What were the factors which led them to defeat Nazi Germany?
The winter of 1941-1942 was a crucial period for the Russians during the battle. The Germans had almost reached the capital Moscow but the German advance was then halted because the army could not bear the harsh winter conditions in the Soviet Union. Stalin used this time to reorganize his army and come up with new strategies in order to defeat Germany. He had to reform the army completely and many of his new strategies were copied off the Germans. New specialist tank armies and air forces were created and USSR also developed effective weapons such as the T34 tank. These weapons were produced in large numbers. The Soviet technology was also improved. Radio communication was put into use and radios were fitted into all tanks and aircrafts. This gave them efficient means to contact each other. Specialist units were also created to hack into German radio signals to listen to them and disrupt them if possible. Russian arms continued building up and by 1943; USSR was producing 1.5 times as many aircrafts and twice as many tanks as the Germans. The winter was very helpful to Stalin as it gave him enough time to improve his army and his techniques and it was one of the main factors which led to a Soviet victory.
