The Soviet Union in World War II, Part III
Jan 15, 2016
The Soviet Union in World War II, Part III
The Anti-Hitler Coalition 1941 July 12, Moscow: Soviet-British agreement on joint actions
in war with GermanyAugust 14: US and Britain sign the Atlantic Charter, USSR joins on Sept. 24
Aug. 29 – Oct. 1: Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers of USSR, USA, Britain
Dec. 7, 1941: Japan attacks the US; Germany declares war on the US
By the end of the year, the Coalition grows to 26 states
1942 Start of the American Lend Lease Program Jan. 1: 26 states sign the Washington Declaration of the
united Nations May 26: Soviet-British Treaty on Alliance June 11: Soviet-US Mutual Assistance Agreement 1943 July: The Allied invasion of Italy Nov. 28 – Dec 1: The first Big Three meeting in Tehran 1944 June: The Allied invasion of France July The United Nations Financial and Monetary
Conference, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
July 1942: Massive German offensive in southern Russia The city of Stalingrad is besieged The turning point of World War II August 23: Massive German bombing destroys 80% of the
city’s residential buildings Fighting in the city: average life expectancy of the Soviet
soldier – 24 hours
Stalingrad before the war
Stalingrad, September 1942
Women volunteers signing Oath of Allegiance
Red Army infantry counterattack at Stalingrad
Stalingrad worker militia
Soviet “Katyusha” rocket attack
Stalingrad: street fighting
Stalingrad: surrender of German Field Marshal von Paulus
The Battle of Stalingrad claimed over two million casualties, more than any other battle in human history, and was also one of the longest: it raged for 199 days.
Killed, wounded or captured at Stalingrad: Germans and allies: 850,000 Soviets: 1,130,000 (incl. 40,000 civilians)
General Georgiy Zhukov
General Aleksandr Vasilevsky
General Konstantin Rokossovsky
General Ivan Konev
July-August 1943: The Battle of Kursk 50 days 2.7 mln. men 8,000 tanks 5,000 aircraft
Casualties: German – 260,000 Soviet – over 1 mln.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awRhSozctvs
The Soviet Steamroller, documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=J2RV4aKB7wo
Vitya Zhaivoronok, Soviet Army scout, Yugoslavia, 1945
Ruins of Peterhof, Summer residence of Russian Tsars
German POWs in Russia
German POWs outside Moscow
Diplomacy in the Grand Alliance The main issues: Helping USSR Opening the 2nd front Postwar settlement
The Big Three: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, Feb.1945
Major decisions of the Yalta Conference 1. Unconditional surrender of Germany 2. Division of Germany into 4 occupied zones 3. Demilitarization and denazification of Germany 4. Germany’s reparations, including by forced labour of its
soldiers 5. A new govt in Poland, including non-Communists 6. Changes of Poland’s borders 7. Return of citizens to USSR and Yugoslavia 8. Soviet Union will participate in the creation of the UNO 9. Stalin agreed to attack Japan within 90 days of Germany’s
surrender. 10. Nazi war criminals were to be hunted down and brought to
justice. 11. A "Committee on Dismemberment of Germany" was to be set
up.
US and British aid to the Soviet ally, 1941-45: Food - $1.5 bln. in Automobiles – 427,000 Warplanes – 22,000 Tanks – 13,000 Warships – over 500 Explosives – 350,000 tons Other supplies
Total estimated cost of Allied aid to USSR in contemporary prices –
$100 bln.
The Battle of Berlin 17 days 3.3 mln. men Total losses: 0.5 mln. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjD6Lxiu6q4
Hitler phones Stalin (a satire): http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=9pbIrMtmU98&feature=related
Red flag over Berlin, May 1945
Checking out Hitler’s headquarters, May 1945
Berlin, 1945: surrender of German High Command
Ovens in Buchenwald concentration camp
Survivors of a Nazi concentration camp
June 24, 1945: Marshal Zhukov leads Victory Parade in Red Square
Soviet Victory Parade, Moscow, Red Square, June 24, 1945
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnpn5znFEtc
July 1945: Stalin, Truman and Churchill at Potsdam, Germany
Marshal Zhukov and General Eisenhower
August 1945: Defeat of Japanese forces in Manchuria
Japanese-American historian T. Hasegawa: Soviet war on Japan was the decisive factor for Japanese surrender – not the atom bomb
http://books.google.ca/books?id=iPju1MrqgU4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=racing+the+enemy&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BM_GT_73B8fJ6gGV7KTMCw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=racing%20the%20enemy&f=false
Allied Victory Parade, Berlin, September 7, 1945 http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=QDQ2gQttPBs&NR=1
The war took all nine of her sons
Nazi war criminals on trial at Nuremberg
Soviet losses in World War II Over 27 mln. killed (13.6% of the population) Of those who survived, 29 mln. took part in the fighting
(including 0.8 mln. women) Battlefield losses – 11.5 mln. (Germany lost 8.6 mln.) 5.8 mln. POWs (of them 3 mln. died in concentration
camps) 1,710 cities and 70,000 villages completely or partially
destroyed 40,000 hospitals, 84,000 schools, 43,000 libraries
destroyed Historically unprecedented level of damage suffered by a
country