The Soviet Union in World War II
Nadia Mathis
Introduction
The Soviet Union entered into World War II on September 17, 1939 when Joseph Stalin ordered the Red Army to invade Eastern Poland. They did so under the pretense of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - a nonaggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union which said that if the Soviet Union did not attack German troops, they would be given the Eastern territories of Poland along with the several other Eastern European nations.
By 1939, the Soviet Union was a major industrial nation and was comparatively well-off as it was less affected by the Great Depression than countries such as France and Great Britain. The military forces under Stalin were drastically increased benefiting from the industrialization that had occurred. However, the USSR was also facing large famines, as population increased and agriculture stayed at the same level.
The objectives of the Soviet Union in World War II were to defeat Germany and to expand their sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. The war brought harsh conditions for the USSR as it was fought on their territory. The war brought starvation, disease, extreme rationing, and massive destruction. World War II also increased Soviet nationalism and unity, uniting in the belief that the people needed to protect their country against the German belligerents.
The NKVD was the Soviet secret police group that was tasked with uncovering espionage of Soviet citizens. Enemies of the state were often taken to Gulag camps or executed. The Soviet government had a large fear of espionage against them. Propaganda during the war often reminded citizens of the dangers of collaboration with Germans, especially about being aware of actions such as talking on the telephone, that could assist the fascists.
Soviet Propaganda. Unknown Date. Photograph. Russian World War II Propaganda. Web. 28 November 2015.
The corpses of victims of the Soviet NKVD. 1941. Photograph. Web. Wikipedia.org. 28 November 2015.
Throughout the war, the previously ethnically divide in the Soviet Union dissipated as soldiers of all nationalities united in the common idea of protecting the home front against the brutal Germans. This war created a uniting force of nationalism that was unprecedented in the Soviet Union and was used in propaganda to support the communist idea that there should not be a divide between races or social classes.
Everything for the victory to the front from the women of USSR!
In the beginning of the year, the role of women at the home front was to work in factories and farms to produce the goods needed to support the Red Army. This propaganda worked to promote women at home to support the army by continuing to manufacture goods such as weaponry.
Tractor in the field is the same as a tank in battle
Soviet Propaganda. Unknown Date. Photograph. Russian World War II Propaganda. Web. 28 November 2015.
Soviet Sniper, Roza Shanina
Sniper Roza Shanina, holding a 1891/30 Mosin–Nagant with the 3.5x PU scope. 1944. Photograph. Wikipedia.org. Web. 28 November 2015.
World War II was brutal for the Soviet Union. The people were searching for ways to decrease the time until the war ended. This propaganda worked to increase confidence in the Red Army and encourage hard work in the factories. During World War II, the Soviet citizens were better prepared than any other nation involved for the food and good shortages that they would face. In 1941, the government implemented rations on goods to those in the city and the rural farmers received no rations, living on what they had left after producing for the army.
Son of the Regiment. Unknown Date. Photograph. Children in History. Web. 28 November 2015.
The citizens of the Soviet Union were not exempt from the German goal of finding a "final solution." Men, women, and children were shot, starved, or worked to death under the Nazi occupation of Soviet territory. These victims were often Jewish, communist, or anti-German.
Citizens of Leningrad, 1942
“After bombing”. Citizens of Leningrad leaving their houses destroyed by German bombing. 1942. Photograph. Wikipedia.org. Web. 28 November 2015.
The Siege of Leningrad began in 1941 and lasted until 1944. The bombardment and blockade resulted in the loss of approximately 1.5 million soldiers and civilians as well as the destruction of historical palaces, factories, and schools. Propaganda after the lifting of the siege called for revenge against the German army that had so brutally destroyed Leningrad, uniting the people in the common memory of the horrors.
A Panzer III tank stuck in the snow and cold as the whole offensive stalls.1941. Photograph. The History Place. Web. 28 November 2015.
In June of 1941, after being invaded by Germany, the Soviet Union joined the Allied Forces with Great Britain and France. This piece of propaganda was likely released in the latter parts of the war, 1943, when the Soviet Union advanced an offensive against Nazi Germany with the help of the United Kingdom and the United States.
Propaganda showed both the Soviet objectives of the war as well as the portrayal of certain demographics, such as women. This piece of propaganda was likely released when the Soviet Union was on offensive against the German army. This showed the Red Army's objectives of freeing Slavic land from Germany. This public objective differed in some ways from the objective of increasing the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, justifying it by portraying this offensive as an act to free the Slavs.
Glory to the liberators of Ukraine
The Soviet opinion on their offensive movements in the last two years of World War II was that they were freeing the people in former occupied German territories, such as Ukraine. Propaganda posters often used women to evoke emotion in the viewer showing the Soviet soldiers as protectors and liberators of the women and youth in the areas where they advanced. This promoted the offensive while hiding the brutality of the Red Army on these territories.
In August of 1941, Hitler's German Army had advanced to the border of Moscow. However, his troops were unprepared for the harsh Soviet winters, predicting a summer victory. This began the halting of Germany's troops which allowed the Red Army to begin an offensive against them. Soviet opinion on German occupied territories were that they were enslaving the populations and needed to be saved by the Soviet Union.
Europe will be free
Propaganda often showed the Allied forces as working together to free Europe from the hostilities of the German army. Especially in the last two years of the war, the idea of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union defeated Germany persisted as the governments attempted to maintain support for the war. The idea of freeing Europe persists through the propaganda of the second half of the war.
Soviet Influence in Europe, Post WWII. Digital Image. Patrice Ayme's Thoughts. Web. 28 November 2015.