Reasons and Results (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes

Reasons and results

The final defeat of Germany

Germany's final defeat proved unexpectedly prolonged. By late 1944, German armies were retreating across all fronts, yet victory was delayed through the Allies' insistence on unconditional surrender (complete capitulation with no negotiated armistice permitted). Germany fought determinedly until the bitter end.

Stalin prioritised the Red Army winning what became known as the 'race for Berlin' before American forces arrived. Soviet troops gradually forced the Germans westwards, liberating the capital cities of East Central Europe: Warsaw, Budapest, Prague and Vienna. This advance came at enormous cost, as Stalin repeatedly demanded all-out frontal assaults regardless of casualties.

The culminating battle for Berlin saw General Zhukov employ tactics that resulted in exceptionally severe losses. For Stalin, the German defeat was driven by both political and military calculations. He sought to control as much of Central Europe and Germany as possible, establishing a buffer zone against future threats to the USSR. The storming of the German parliament building (the Reichstag) on 2 May 1945 became the defining symbol of Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Reasons for Soviet victory over Germany

Soviet strengths

The USSR possessed several decisive advantages that enabled victory over Germany:

Geography and resources: The Soviet Union's vast geographical size prevented Germany from delivering a decisive, knockout blow. German forces continually struggled with dangerously overstretched lines of communication. The USSR's size enabled whole new armies and an entire industrial base to be constructed in the East, beyond Germany's reach.

Population: The USSR's population of 171 million in 1941 was nearly three times Germany's (though Hitler could exploit manpower from occupied countries between 1938 and 1941). The USSR could replace losses in ways impossible for the Germans.

Economic system: The Soviet command economy (a centrally planned system where the state controlled production and distribution), already established before the war, proved well-suited to total war requirements and the emergency mobilisation (organisation of workers and resources for the war effort) that total war demanded.

Military leadership: Following an initially poor performance, the USSR's military leadership became ruthlessly effective. Stalin demonstrated himself to be a highly capable war leader. Generals developed considerable competence. Propaganda and patriotic appeals successfully motivated both the armed forces and civilians to fight and endure.

German weaknesses

Several factors undermined Germany's war effort:

Hitler made strategic mistakes and dismissed many of his most capable generals, replacing them with less competent commanders. German occupation policies alienated peoples in conquered countries, provoking resistance movements and partisan activity that diverted resources and undermined security.

The contribution by the Allies

Stalin's Western allies posed a dangerous threat to Hitler on other fronts, preventing him from concentrating forces on the Eastern war. Mass bombing campaigns conducted by British and American forces from 1943 onwards inflicted substantial damage on Germany's war effort, weakening the resources available for fighting on the Eastern Front.

Allied secret intelligence, gained through code-breaking operations, undermined Germany's war effort at decisive moments (though Stalin was never directly informed about this). Enormous quantities of military and economic aid poured into the USSR from the Western Allies.

Key chronology: the defeat of the Germans on the Eastern Front, 1945

Women and Russia's war

All countries fighting the Second World War enlisted women in the war effort, but the USSR did so to a greater extent than any other nation. Women fought as infantry soldiers, served as tank captains at the Battle of Kursk, worked as skilled labourers in munitions factories, and participated in a wide range of auxiliary uniformed organisations. Following the devastation of Soviet cities, towns and villages, women held daily life together.

Results of victory for the USSR

The USSR emerges as a superpower

Victory in the war established the Soviet Union as a superpower (a nation with dominant military and economic power). The war galvanised the USSR and unleashed its enormous economic potential. The war badly weakened other European powers, making the USSR by far the dominant military force on the continent. Germany, the principal enemy, was now under occupation, economically destroyed and likely to be de-militarised.

Territorial expansion of the Soviet Union

The war brought about massive territorial expansion of the Soviet Union. The previously independent Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and parts of East Prussia were incorporated into the USSR as Soviet republics. Beyond the USSR's borders, the Red Army had occupied many countries of East Central Europe and was positioned to establish pro-Soviet regimes there.

Soviet victory in the war also triggered one of history's great mass migrations: 12 million refugees, many of them ethnic Germans, fled westwards between 1944 and 1945 as the Red Army advanced.

Continued fears and insecurity

Despite the extent of Soviet victory, fears and insecurity persisted. Stalin remained anxious about the economic power of the United States and how it might be deployed in Europe. Stalin feared a resurgence of Germany. He also feared and distrusted many of his own people. Stalin's regime was ruthless in repressing Soviet citizens who had been outside the USSR during the war (for example, those who had been forced labourers in the Third Reich or prisoners of war).

The Four-Power occupation of Berlin

Disagreements already existed about the Four-Power occupation of Berlin following the German surrender. Defeated Germany was divided into four occupation zones: Soviet, American, British and French. Even though Berlin lay entirely within the Soviet Zone, the city itself was also divided into four zones, administered by a joint Allied Control Commission. This arrangement led to recurrent disputes between the USSR and the Western Allies. Even at the moment of victory in May 1945, it was clear that reaching an overall peace settlement would prove extremely difficult.

The human cost of victory

Victory had been achieved at a terrible price. Approximately 20 million Soviet citizens died: 7.5 million in the armed forces and more than 12 million civilians. Large sections of the USSR were utterly devastated. Post-war reconstruction of the infrastructure, of industry, and of agriculture presented a massive challenge.