The Reasons for the Eventual Soviet Victory over Nazi Germany - Literature review Example

The reasons for the eventual Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War The Soviet Union played a decisive role in the destruction of Nazi Germany and then – of Japan. This victory greatly influenced the postwar development of all the humanity. The world civilization was saved; European nations were released from fascist tyranny. From the side of Germany the war was aggressive and predatory. The main goal was to establish the power over the whole world. Soviet Union was doing its best to defend people and the independence of the state. Some historians would call the victory of the Soviet Union eventual due to the huge power of Nazi Germany, however, the victory was gained due to the number of definite reasons. The main reason, which caused the victory of the USSR in World War II is the nationwide character of war. The army of Hitler was very powerful and by the time he attacked Soviet Union, he had already gained definite reputation: “many people through out the world were morbidly afraid of Hitler, paled even at the mention of his name, and they grew pessimistic about the international situation. At the lime Hitlers fascist armies were considered to be virtually invincible. Not only were the small European countries unable to withstand them , even the forces of such imperialist powers as Britain and France collapsed at the first encounter or fled pell-rnell” (Jui-Ching). However, Even now many historians ask the same question: what made Hilter risk to attack a so huge and powerful country as Soviet Union. The answer is quite simple: he did not know that the country is so united both terrorially and mentally. He did not take into account Soviet culture and the spirit of Soviet people. He could not even expect to face such a strong love to motherland and such a strong desire to defend it. All these were developed by the Soviet Union, which represented not only strong political, but also cultural system. This system brought up the people who were ready to die for their land “In their struggle against the fascist brigands, the Soviet people demonstrated iron will and unparalleled heroism. Fearing no sacrifices and defying all difficulties, they made a great contribution to victory in the Anti-Fascist War. Holding aloft the banner of Lenin and Stalin, the Soviet Red Army fought valiantly in an indomitable revolutionary spirit, advanced wave upon wave and brilIiantly performed immortal deeds in playing its glorious role as the main force against fascism” (Jui-Ching). Hitler risked to start the double front war because he was sure that the invasion of German army would immediately cause the split in the Soviet society. However, the situation appeared to be quite different: Soviet people realized that their salvation is in their unity and it was impossible to convince them in something else. This appeared to be an important precondition for German army failure (Swianiewicz, 1965). Notwithstanding that there were people, who decided to take the side of the enemy because of the natural fear to die, the split, which was expected by Hitler, did not happen. It is essential to mention that all the people were fighting against enemy no matter what attitude they had towards Stalin: negative or positive. They were fighting not for Stalin, who was not considered a hero, they were fighting for their life and freedom, for their country and for their future. Thousands of immigrants of the first wave, who were against Soviet power, were fighting against Hitler in Europe (Klein, 1983). A plain soldier was the main force of the Soviet army as he expressed a real courage and tolerance especially at the beginning of the war. Long months of defeat did not destroy his willing to win. Young people under the age 18 and women, who were not supposed to fight, did their best to appear on the front line (Tupper, 1982). At the beginning Hitler was sure of his victory as the war started in unequal economic conditions. “How cheap was Germany’s early military success? Germany’s prewar economic preparations were very substantial. In the years 1935-9 Germany had procured a volume of combat munitions far greater than any other power, and equal in real terms to the munitions production of all her future adversaries combined. Already in the last “peacetime” year of 1938 Germany’s military expenditures were costing her one-sixth of her national income. Only the Soviet Union had applied resources to rearmament on anything approaching the Germanorder of magnitude” (Harrison). By the end of 1941 the industrial base of Germany was much stronger. After the occupation of the wide territories, Germany only strengthened its positions in terms of production volume. The reconstruction of the state’s economy took the whole year. During a short period of time the fast-growing military economy was created by USSR. In 1943–45 USSR out-went the Germany in terms of quality and the quantity of the weapons and military technique. Associates also rendered some help but it was insignificant in comparison to what was used on the Soviet-German front. The deliveries from England and the United Stated comprised only 4% of all the needs. 85% of workers took part in mass competition under the slogan “all for front, all for victory”. Significant financial help was provided by the fond created out of the voluntary fees paid by the citizens. Writers, painters, actors sacrificed their fees, pictures, music and literary creations. This money was used for manufacturing weapons (Lieberman). The war negatively influenced the agricultural sector. Many grain-producing territories were occupied by the enemy (Goldsmith, 1946). Cattle were transferred to Germany. Due to the self-denying work of the farmers, women and teenagers, it was possible to prepare necessary products to feed the army and workers. Scientists made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism by providing high quality and reliability of Soviet military technique and scientific help in the process of mastering new kinds of military manufacturing. Soviet military technique was considered to be the best in the world (Moorsteen and Powell, 1962). Soviet culture played a very special role in the struggle with Nazi army. The culture helped people realize their place in the struggle with enemy and contributed to their development in the atmosphere of patriotism and heroic traditions. There were many songs, books and poems specially created for soldiers to make their spirit stronger. Successful foreign policy also served as one of the sources for Soviet Union victory. In 1942 the anti-Hitler coalition was formed (Overy, 1982). It included 28 countries at the beginning of the war and 50 by the end of the war. USSR, England and the USA played the most important role in the coalition. Thus, the victory means much for many countries of the world: “The victory over German fascism was not just an ordinary or regional victory, it was a victory affecting the course of history and the destiny of mankind. It was a triumph for the socialist sys tem. It was a triumph for the Soviet people and the Soviet army. It was a triumph for the Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union headed by Comrade Stalin. It was also a triumph for the people of Germany, of Europe, of Asia and of the whole world in their common struggle” (Jui-Ching). Finally it is essential to mention that Hitler did not take into account one more important fact, it was the difference in the climate of Eastern and Western Europe and this made his repeat the mistake made by Napoleon. In 1940s the winters in Russia were very cold and severe. German soldiers simply could not live and fight in such conditions, they suffered from severe cold they did not get used to (Michalka, 1965). Modern historical literature presents different opinions about the reasons of USSR’s victory over huge military force of Germany. This was connected with the unavailability to estimate the character of these events correctly. Unfortunately, there are many myths, which suddenly appeared around the issue due to different political interests. The defeat of Germany can be explained by different reasons: wide territory of the Soviet Union, cold Russian winters, serious mistakes made by German rule. It is essential to recognize that in many cases especially at the beginning of the war the victories of Soviet Army was gained not due to skills but due to the number of soldiers who took part in the war and were killed. However, the main reason of the victory was mentioned above and it is the nationwide character of the war. Strong spirit of Soviet people, their unity and desire to die for their freedom brought them the brightest victory in their history. References Goldsmith, R.W 1946, “The power of victory: munitions output in World War II”, Military Affairs, 10, pp. 69-80. Jui-Ching, L n.d. Commemorate the victory Over German fascism! Foreign Language Press Peking Harrison, M n.d. Resource mobilization for World War II: the U.S.A., U.K., U.S.S.R., and Germany, 1938-1945. Department of Economics University of Warwick Klein, B. H 1983, Germany’s economic preparations for war (Cambridge, Mass., 1959). Lieberman, S. R n.d. “The evacuation of industry in the Soviet Union during WorldWar II”, Soviet Studies, 35, pp. 90-102. Lieberman, S. R 1985, “Crisis management in the U.S.S.R.: the wartime system of administration and control”, in S. J. Linz, ed., The impact of World War II on the Soviet Union , pp. 59-76. Michalka,W 1965, ed., Das Dritte Reich: Dokumente zur Innen- und Aussenpolitik, vol. 2: Weltmachtanspruch und nationaler Zusammenbruch, 1939-45 (Munich, 1985). Moorsteen, R. and Powell, R. P 1962, The Soviet capital stock, 1928-1962, Homewood, Ill. Overy, R. J 1982 “Hitler’s war and the German economy: a reinterpretation”, Economic History Review, 35, pp. 272-91. Swianiewicz, S 1965 Forced labour and economic development: an enquiry into the experience of Soviet industrialization, Oxford. Tupper, S. M 1982“The Red Army and Soviet defence industry, 1934-1941” (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham. Read More