1. How was Russia able to win WWII?
Objective:
- To examine and analyse the causes of Russia’s victory in WW2
Also teach it history activity
Starter:
Write down all the reasons that cause people to win wars

3. Recap: Russia’s situation before the war?
Russia had entered the war underprepared due to 3 main features:
The Red Army Purges:
Between , the Red Army had been purged, removing all of its most senior officers. This significantly weakened the strength of the army.
The Russian Economy
The 5 year plans had been chaotic
Nevertheless, between , Russian spending on armaments grew from 27.5bn roubles to 70.9bn roubles
Spying:
Russia’s spy network was one of the best in the world.
Intelligence about the German plan of attack was detailed and accurate
However Stalin’s paranoia did not allow him to trust these plans

4. Recap: Timeline of the War
Read and Highlight the timeline – use two different colours to highlight:
Victories for the Nazis
Victories for the Soviets
2. What do you think was the key turning point in the war?

5. Why was Stalin able to win?
Stalin’s victory is usually attributed to 6 main categories:
Russia's War Economy
The Nazi War Economy
German tactical errors
The Home Front
The Grand Alliance
Lend-Lease from USA

6. Reasons for Russian Victory
Why did the USSR win WW2?
Reasons for Russian Victory
Specific facts/examples + Explain whether the reason played an important role or a limited role in Russia’s victory
Significance ranking
1 to 5
Russia's War Economy
The Nazi War Economy
German tactical errors
The Home Front
The Grand Alliance
Lend-Lease

7. Russian War Economy
Gosplan was ideally suited to organising the war effort
1,523 factories were relocated to the East in the first month of the war
By 1942, 56% of the Russian economy was devoted to the war effort – a much higher figure than any of the countries fighting the war
Armament production doubled between 1941 and 1944

8. The Nazi War Economy Nazi economy: lacked direction
Senior Nazis had different priorities
Goering (economy leader) opposed the introduction of mass production of aircraft – the army produced fewer than 1,000 aircraft per month
Hitler calculated that the German economy was 4 years behind schedule

9. German Tactical Errors?

10. The Home Front a) To get people to support the war effort:
Patriotism:
Stalin used propaganda to appeal to patriotism (rather than Communism) to gain support for the war
The war was named the ‘Great Patriotic War’
Soldiers were encouraged to call German soldiers by nationalist nicknames: ‘kraut’
This provided the people of Russia with a strong reason to fight
The Church
Stalin reversed the usual Communist policy of attacking the church and made an alliance with them
The church declared that Stalin was ‘God’s chosen leader’ and that the war against Germany was a ‘holy war’
This gave families and soldiers comfort that they would be rewarded by God even if they died
b) To stop people damaging the war effort:
The NKVD drew up lists of non-Russians who might be sympathetic to the Germans
These people were relocated or murders (eg. Kalmyks relocated to Siberia – 60% had died by 1935)

11. The Grand Alliance
The Allies mounted a new attack on Germany in North Africa in 1942 – This distracted the Germans from the Eastern Front
In 1944 the Allies opened a Western Front and invaded Nazi-controlled France. This also diverted the Nazi’s resources

12. Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease provided 12% of the aeroplanes and 10% of the tanks used by the USSR
It provided 95% of the trains and 66% of the jeeps used by the USSR to cross Europe
It provided food for the Red Army: approximately 17% of calorie intake was from American food
Gosplan estimated that lend-lease only accounted for 4% of the goods – however this ignores the fact that the Russian economy was unable to produce enough food or sophisticated transport methods

13. Did Russia win WW2 just because of SPAM?
Nikita Krushchev, Stalin’s successor
‘Without Spam we should not have been able to feed our army’

14. Historian alert: Dimitri Volkogonov
On the other hand …
Historian alert: Dimitri Volkogonov
Dear Dimitri …… Complete task p109

15. Doesn’t explain it at all
‘To what extent does the Lend Lease programme explain Russia’s victory in WW2?’
Doesn’t explain it at all
Totally explains it

16. Victory in WW2 Past Exam Questions
How far was the dramatic development of a war economy responsible for the USSR’s victory in the Second World War? (Jan 09)
How accurate is it to say that the lend-lease programme was the most important
reason for the USSR’s victory in the Second World War? (Jan 12)
To what extent was the strength of the Soviet economy responsible for the USSR’s victory in the Second World War? (Jan 13)
Why, despite the disasters of 1941, was the USSR able to defeat Germany by 1945? (June 11)

17. Which paragraphs to include? Which order?
How accurate is it to say that the lend-lease programme was the most important reason for the USSR’s victory in the Second World War?
Which paragraphs to include?
Which order?
What is your overall argument – yes or no?