Russian Tactics During World War II

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Russian Tactics During World War II The Russians began the war in a disorganised way as a result of the

purges of officers prior to the outbreak. In addition Stalin ignored

intelligence concerning the German invasion plans. Thus the issue here

is to reflect on just how the Russians managed to become one of the

victor nations. Among the factors one would include: the central

organisation of resources which gave the nation the ability to resist;

the large-scale mobilisation of resources, especially the placing of

women in the workforce to release males for army service; the partial

reconciliation with the Church; Stalin's rapid use of his leadership

and personality to unite the people. Other factors would include

German mistakes and the impact of the Russian climate on the invading

forces

Introduction:

On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany began the Operation Barbarossa, the

invasion of the Soviet Union. The Great Patriotic War began

inauspiciously for the Soviet Union as the military forces were caught

unprepared and Stalin ordered the border units not to return fire. "on

the first day of the war 1200 Soviet planes were destroyed" (www.english.pravda.ru)

The German blitzkrieg nearly succeeded in defeating the Russians

within the first months. By November 1941 The German army had seized

the Ukrainian Republic, started the siege of Lennigrad and threatened

the security of Moscow. Whole armies and vast quantities of equipment

had been lost in the first weeks of the war. It seemed that Russia may

not survive and it was imperative for the CPSU to focus on policies to

fight t...

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...tonov - and thereby turned his vast

nation into an irresitable force to win the Patriotic War.

Conclusion

The policies employed in the Great Patriotic War proved to be

successful and resulted in the defeat of the German army. They also

meant that Russia emerged as one of the world's great military powers

with control over most of Eastern Europe but these national

achievements had been bought at great cost. An estimated 25 million

Soviet citizens, military and civilian, perished in the war and severe

material losses were inflicted throughout the war affected areas of

the country. The war was ultimately won by the suffering and efforts

of all the ordinary Soviet people. " were organised, bullied or coaxed

by their political masters and responded to their task with a mixture

of crusading zeal and fatalistic duty"

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