**Operation Barbarossa = code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. June 22, 1941 February 1943 vs. 1
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Key Events in Soviet History 1917 Bolshevik Revolution turns Russia Communist (forces Russia out of WWI). 1919 1922 Russian Civil War = fight between those who wanted to keep a monarchy {Mensheviks} and those that wanted communism {Bolsheviks}. 1922 after a brutal civil war, communism wins. 5
Left = father of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Illych Lenin {died in 1924} Right = Josef Stalin 6
Soviet Premier Josef Stalin Came to power in 1924, after Lenin died. Real name = Josef Djugashvili. Took name Stalin which means man of steel. Nickname = Koba ( the indomitable ) Initially wanted to be a priest. Expelled from seminary at age 20 for reading radical literature. Before becoming premier he was frequently jailed & was exiled to Siberia 6 times! 7
Josef Stalin Face scarred from childhood smallpox. Short & stiffened left arm. 2 toes on left foot were joined together webbed. Crude manner. Came off as simplistic person. Could not speak effectively. Worked in his favor as Soviet citizens perceived him to be a common man - - like them. 8
Key Events Which Caused Many Soviets to Hate Communism and Josef Stalin ***Soviet Agricultural Collectivization, 1929 1940. Goal was state control of agriculture so it could deliver more food for less money. Mass numbers of peasants were FORCED onto large state farms. The communist government forced them to leave their homes, land, and livestock without compensation! This created a rural civil war!! Peasants slaughtered livestock and burned grain rather than turn it over to the communist government. Food rationing cut the food intake by 2/3! 1933 - Famine struck and more than 5 million starved!! 9
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Column of tractors heading to the fields from the equipment shed on a state run farm. Farms called: Sovkhoz Kolkhoz 11
Russian Peasant 12
Key Events Which Caused Many Soviets to Hate Josef Stalin and Communism ***Stalin s Red Purges, 1934 1938. 1934 plans for a military overthrow of the Soviet government were uncovered {unknown to Stalin, they were planted by the Nazis}. Stalin was a paranoid leader. He carried out a series of show trials, starting in 1934. These sent the message that the Soviets were under attack from the inside. Stalin purged: top communist party leaders who opposed Stalin in 1924 (when Lenin died), top officers in the Red Army, communist party members, ordinary citizens. Estimates say 8 million people were killed!!!!! Result = Red Army was greatly weakened. Officers would not act without approval from Stalin. Soviet government & Stalin hated by most. 13
Sergei Kirov, leader of the Leningrad Communist Party and top advisor to Stalin, was assassinated in 1934. Stalin used this as an excuse to start the Red Purges. At bottom is Stalin s favorite daughter, Svetlana. 14
Sergei Kirov, Stalin s righthand man and leader of the Leningrad Communist Party. Most feel that Stalin was behind his assassination. 15
Leon Trotsky Considered to be the brains behind the Bolshevik Revolution. Stalin forced him to flee from the Soviet Union. Stalin had the secret police searching for him. Found in Mexico City, slumped over his desk with an ice pick buried in the base of his skull! 16
Young Josef Stalin 17
Ukraine Caucasus Region Key Goals of Operation Barbarossa = 1. Middle East Oil and 2. Russian farmland 18
The Oil Rich Caucasus Region 19
Leningrad Moscow Central Route Stalingrad Caucasus Nazi Commanders want to attack straight down the middle toward Moscow 20
Leningrad Army Group North Moscow Army Group Center Stalingrad Army Group South Caucasus Hitler orders a three-pronged attack instead! 21
Leningrad Moscow Central Route Stalingrad Caucasus Later Hitler changed his mind and sent them back into a central attack!! 22
Key Mistakes Leading to a German Loss in Russia: 1. Hitler delayed the start of the invasion from May 1, 1941 to June 22, 1941 to reinforce the Italians in N. Africa & Greece. This caused the Nazi military to get caught in winter weather!! 23
Key Mistakes Leading to a German Loss in Russia: 2. Hitler changed his strategy too often. {this wore out military equipment and soldiers!!} 24
Key Mistakes Leading to a German Loss in Russia: 3. Hitler s racial views. Many Soviet citizens hated Stalin and Communism and saw the Nazis as liberators. Many would have fought with the Nazis to defeat the Red Army. Hitler rounded them up and put them in concentration camps instead!!! 25
Leningrad Army Group North Moscow Army Group Center Stalingrad Army Group South Caucasus 26
Germans in trenches on Russian front 27
Panzer fording a river 28
Russian Katyusha Rockets known as Little Kate or the Germans called them Stalin s Organ due to the screaming sound they made. BM-13 could fire 16 rockets at a time. Range was close to 4 miles. 29
Katyuska is short for Yekaterina and taken from a popular song about a Russian woman who longs for her husband who is fighting in the war. 30
Closeup of the 16 (133 mm, 92 lbs. / 6 ft. long & 5 inches diameter) rockets mounted on the Katyusha launcher. Deliver heavy payload & can move before being targeted for counterattack. 31
Soviet Katyusha Rockets being fired 32
Russian T 34 Tank 33
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The 900 Day Siege of Leningrad Sept. 1941 to January 1944 36
Leningrad Army Group North Moscow Army Group Center Stalingrad Army Group South Caucasus 37
Hitler initially ordered the Wehrmacht to erase Leningrad from the map!! 38
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Once the Nazis realized how hard it was to fight an urban war, Hitler changed and ordered them to start a blockade of Leningrad. The Nazis began to starve them out!! 43
Nazi Attack on Moscow: Oct. 7, 1941 the Nazi army is 40 miles outside of Moscow. Then it started to rain! Rained for 3 weeks!! Dirt roads became deep mud and the Nazi supply line was cut off! 44
Leningrad Army Group North Moscow Army Group Center Stalingrad Army Group South Caucasus 45
German horse drawn supply wagon in Russia 46
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December 1, 1941 - - Winter hit!! German army was not equipped for it. No winter coats or uniforms. Huge supply line problems! Temperatures commonly -30 degrees!! December 6, 1941 - Germans began to retreat toward Poland. 48
Attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 49
Leningrad Army Group North Moscow Army Group Center Stalingrad Army Group South Caucasus 50
Panzer with troop support - Russia 51
German soldier in Russia 52
German troops trying to keep warm near Moscow 53
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Nazi Army Line of Retreat Moscow Stalingrad 55
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The Battle of Stalingrad {May 42 to February 43} Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point in Operation Barbarossa - - Russians began to win in February, 1943 57
Stalingrad Volga R. Don R. Caucasus OIL!! 58
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German troops in Stalingrad 61
Urban warfare in Stalingrad 62
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Russian T-34s and troops 64
Russians raising the flag over Berlin and the Chancellory 65