Top 10 Things to Know about the Soviet Union during World War II

Top 10 Things to Know about the Soviet Union during World War II

At the advent of World War II, the Soviet Union had signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. This was barely a year after the infamous Munich Agreement, which effectively ceded the Sudetenland (land on the border between Czechoslovakia and Germany) to Germany. This was part of the appeasement policy, which hoped to avoid another world war by Hitler. On 23 August 1939, Stalin and Hitler signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, an agreement proscribing non-aggression between the two.

As would later be revealed, the pact also had a secret protocol that allowed the partition of Eastern Europe between the two according to their spheres of influence. This agreement would later turn sour, realigning the Soviet Union’s allegiance to the Allied Powers, and effectively turning the tide of war on the Eastern Front. The contribution of the Soviet Union to the eventual Allied victory cannot be understated, neither can the grave losses encountered be ignored. Here are the 10 things to know about the Soviet Union during World War II.

1. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Wikimedia Commons.

This was a non-aggression pact signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It was signed by German and Soviet Foreign Ministers, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov respectively, hence the name. Its effect was that neither of the parties would aid an enemy of the other, and both would maintain peace towards each other.

The treaty also included a secret protocol, outlining the borders of German and Soviet spheres of influence in Eastern Europe, and the division of the same between the two. On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, officially marking the beginning of the war. A few days later on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union followed suit, invading Poland from the east. The Soviet Union went on to annex Estonia, Lithuania, parts of Romania, Latvia, and other territories of Poland.

Have a look at Tracing the origins of World War II: How did the World War 2 Start?

2. Official entry into the war after the invasion by Nazi Germany in June 1941

German troops advance at the Soviet state border marker, 22 June 1941. Image by Bundesarchiv. Wikimedia Commons.

Operation Barbarossa was the codename used by Nazi Germany in the invasion of the Soviet Union. It marked the termination of the non-aggression pact between the two parties, in what was seen as a cunning betrayal by Hitler who was keen on exploiting the natural resources and ‘lebensraum’ or living space for Germany. The aggression began on Sunday, 22 June 1941, and has been regarded as the largest military land offensive in history.

Over 10 million soldiers took part in the action. This operation opened up the Eastern Front in World War II, and was one of the bloodiest combat, resulting in the highest casualties on both sides. The Soviet Union, despite suffering major setbacks at the start of the war, would eventually stage a successful counter-attack and defense, driving back Nazi Germany and shifting the tide of the war. The Battle of Moscow, for example, taking place between September 1941 and January 1942, was a major success for the Soviet defensive effort and a huge blow to Nazi Germany. Although Hitler had hoped to achieve swift victory over the USSR’s collapse, the latter had resiliently fought back.

Read more on: Nazi Germany; Top 10 Facts about Germany during World War II.

3. Joseph Stalin played a key role in the war

Sat from left, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill on the veranda of the Soviet Legation in Teheran, during the first “Big Three” Conference, November 1943. Image by Oulds, D C (Lt). Wikimedia Commons.

Deconstructing Stalin’s role in the war, and his controversial, brutal style of leadership is no easy feat. However, it is rather apparent that the Soviet Union dictator played a critical role in turning the tide of the Second World War by forming alliances with the Allied Powers after the betrayal of Hitler with Operation Barbarossa on June 1941. The latter was the codename for the invasion of the Soviet Union, which effectively terminated the non-aggression pact that the latter had signed with Nazi Germany.

Stalin was adamant in putting up a resilient resistance on the Eastern Front, which, despite the millions of lives lost, successfully held back the Germans, adversely affecting their morale in the course of the war.  He also detested any signs of defeatism among his troops and ordered that any defectors were to be treated as traitors. The Soviet Union’s victory at the Battle of Stalingrad, and the overall decisive victory eventually on the Eastern Front contributed to the Allied victory of the war in 1945.

4. The Soviet Union had a brutal system of military discipline: Order No.227

Joseph Stalin. Wikimedia Commons.

Joseph Stalin issued the ‘Not One Step Back’ order, which stipulated that soldiers who retreated without orders were to be taken as traitors. Even where it was pointless to keep fighting a battle so helplessly lost, soldiers were to fight to the death. It is contested whether indeed such soldiers were immediately shot since the Soviet Union needed manpower anyway. However, many that were rounded up upon arrest would be sent back into troops, while others were regrouped into penal battalions. Soldiers who had committed crimes or offenses were sent into the latter as well. Such would be sent on the riskiest and nearly suicidal missions.

Check out the Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about the Death of Stalin.

5. The Red Army was the most ethnically diverse in history

Platoon of the Danube Red Army Fleet after the liberation of Komárno April 1944. Sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

The Soviet Union forces included a considerable number of soldiers from diverse ethnicities and nationalities. Stalin issued an order on 9 February 1942 requiring the conscription of citizens in liberated territories into the Red Army. Most of these were forcefully drafted. The call for an increased number of troops in the face of a threatening German invasion necessitated the inclusion of numerous ethnicities, nationalities, and languages as part of the Soviet Union forces.

6. Some of the women were deployed as snipers in the Red Army

Female sniper Lyudmila Pavlochenko with her rifle in a trench- Израиль Абрамович Озерский. Wikimedia Commons.

The role of women in combat during World War II has been largely overshadowed. The Red Army had over 800,000 women who contributed to the war effort, actively taking part in the action, rather than the usual medical duties. Some would become legendary soldiers for their courage and accuracy, including Lyudmila Pavlichenko, one of the most famous snipers in history. She is credited with killing over 300 German soldiers, and the Germans nicknamed her ‘Lady Death.’ Others were used as pilots and machine gunners. The most famous was the night bombers, known as the ‘night witches’ and the snipers.

See the 10 Famous Women of the World War II.

7. The Soviet Union suffered the highest number of casualties in World War II

The war on the Eastern Front was one of the most horrific combat engagements in history. The invasion by Germany had massively escalated the war, and millions of soldiers saw action in the largest military offensive in World War II. About 20 to 27 million lives were lost in the war effort, including civilians. Devastating losses early in the war including the capture of major cities such as Kiev and Minsk, millions of troops, and the destruction of essential infrastructure were suffered.

Nazi German armies captured about 5 million Soviet Red Army troops, and killed or starved to death about 3.3 million Soviet prisoners of war, and civilians through the ‘Hunger Plan’. The latter was a plan in which food from the Soviet Union was seized by Nazis and given to German armies and civilians, leaving millions of Soviet civilians to starve to death. This, in addition to the mass shootings and killings of Soviet Jews, entailed the highest casualties suffered by any country in the war.

8. The Soviet Union played a significant role in the defeat of Nazi Germany on the Eastern front

Victories attained in major battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk contributed greatly to the weakening of the Nazi German war machine. This shifted the tide of war. The Soviet Union deployed tanks in massive numbers, and the T-34 was a crucial weapon in the war against Nazi Germany’s invasion. Over 96,000 tanks were produced. Propaganda by the Soviet Union also played a key role in mobilizing the population in support of the war effort. Slogans such as ‘The Motherland Calls’ and ‘Everything for the front!’ were used. The Soviet Union also used propaganda balloons to spread anti-Nazi messages such as ‘Hitler is a murderer’.

Who Fought in World War II? A look at the Winners and Losers.

9. Some of the worst atrocities in the war are attributed to the Soviet Union

The Katyn Massacre, 1940 Rows of exhumed bodies of Polish officers placed on the ground by the mass graves, awaiting examination. Image by German official photographer. Wikimedia Commons.

The Red Army has been condemned for the merciless atrocities committed during World War II. The Katyn massacre of April-May 1940 saw the execution of thousands of Polish prisoners. Following the invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, the consequent resistance by the Polish people was brutally crushed by the Soviet forces, who were greater in number.

Soviet occupation of Poland saw indiscriminate killings of both soldiers and civilians, including women and children. Those taken as prisoners were sent to labor camps and special settlements all over Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It was only in 1943 that the Germans, having invaded the Smolensk oblast, discovered mass burial sites of Poles in the Katyn forest. Thousands of Ukrainians were also executed for spreading mass terror by the Soviet Union. Polish women were raped, and private property was looted.

10. The Soviet Union emerged from the war as a Superpower

It also played a significant role in the post-war division of Europe, essentially occupying most of Eastern Europe. This was despite the heavy losses suffered during the war. Several factors have been credited for this, including Soviet expansion through the liberation of most Eastern European countries, subsequent occupation, and imposition of communist ideals. The development of a Russian nuclear weapon and the doubled industrial production cemented it as a superpower. Eastern Europe also allied with the Soviet Union under socialism after World War II, following the defeat of Nazi Germany.