'Stalin's leadership was the most significant reason for Soviet victory over Germany in the 1941-1945 war.' Assess the validity of this view.

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Amrit Singh Thabal        13PCK        History

‘Stalin’s leadership was the most significant reason for the Soviet victory over Germany in the 1941-1945 war’

Assess the validity of this view.

Firstly are Stalin’s leadership and his propaganda. The GKO and Stavka were created, which helped significantly in battles such as the Battle of Moscow and Operation Bagration. Pearson said “At a critical moment he proved himself to be resolute and decisive" by creating the Stavka. Not only this, but Stalin was able to distribute power correctly to his military leaders; prominently Zhukov and Rokossovsky, and allowed them to flourish. Also Molotov and Malenkov were put in charge of the GKO. Stalin also used the NKVD to be able to control and censor the population. They rounded up thousands of opposition and they were arrested or shot, as they became an enemy of the State. The NKVD also took control over the Gulags. They put out stricter censorship, like banning radios, withholding bad news, such as losing battles, and exaggerating German losses. They enforced the new working hours; for example women were given longer working hours and a bigger role. By 1943, 60% of the industrial workforce was women. A big factor is Stalin’s Speech. It was able to unite Russia, as it focused on Mother Russia, with less emphasis on the Communist ideology. He named it ‘The Great Patriotic War’ and said that this is our country. Stalin was able to present himself not as the leader of the Communist Party, but as the leader of the country. Stalin also restored the Russian Orthodox Church and when he met with the Head of the Church, he showed himself to be a sympathetic leader. The Church was a source of propaganda, as it handed out leaflets and was able to raise huge amounts of money for the war effort. In 1943, the Church was able to help convince the Allies, Britain and the USA, to open a second front. But when war broke out, in 2 weeks Stalin was able to manage to amass ten million Soviet troops. But he didn’t make any real changes in strategy and weaponry, keeping to a more traditional view. He used his experience from the civil war which broke out in 1917 to 1921. Also the Stalin was able to keep his people patriotic. Examples of this are seen all over the USSR, especially in Leningrad when they were besieged for 872 days. Also there were partisans which focused on irregular forces in opposition to an attacking or occupying power. Soviet partisans, especially those active in Belarus, effectively harassed German troops and significantly hampered their operations in the region. As a result, Soviet authority was re-established deep inside the German-held territories. There were even partisan kolkhozes that raised crops and livestock to produce food for the partisans. The communist Yugoslav partisans were a leading force in the liberation of their country during the People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia.

But as Stalin didn’t work fast enough and had a breakdown at the start, the economy took a hit. In 1941, Germany was able to capture two fifths of the Soviet’s grain production facilities and a third of its labour force. Also during the war, production was relatively low for things such as coal, steel and oil, as many places and facilities were captured. Furthermore there was an economic crisis in 19424, as a lot of money was being spent, but Russia was hardly getting any money. However Stalin was able to get over these losses with American lend-lease. But the USSR also had a shortage of skilled labour because it was the men that used to work; now it is mainly women, who have never done industrial work before. Besides this flaw, Stalin also made another one as he did initially not listen to the signs of when war was going to break out. The German ambassador and Krebs both told Stalin, the exact date when Germany would invade; but Stalin ignored them. Therefore when war did break out, Stalin had a mental breakdown. As Pearson states "Stalin's first, most fatal error was not to allow his troops to mobilise in time before impending Nazi disaster". Also by the end of the war there were many different nationalities about. The ones seen as traitors were deported to places such as Kazakhstan and Siberia. Also many Cossacks were executed in 1945 as they were seen to support Germany.

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There were economic strengths. In the 1920’s, the Soviets adopted an American mobilisation mode, which gave priority to army production and supplies; as well as setting up Gosplan, which helped industrialisation. Because of this, the Soviets had many initial strengths, such as having superior T-34 tanks compared to the German Panzers. But in the first 8 hours 1200 aircraft were destroyed by the Germans and 800 didn’t even take off. So there was a poor defence. Also on the outbreak of war, there were 5 million Soviet soldiers and another 5 million in reserves. But they were poorly trained and ...

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