The Soviet Union in World War II, Part III

The Anti-Hitler Coalition 1941 July 12, Moscow: Soviet-British agreement on joint actions

in war with GermanyAugust 14: US and Britain sign the Atlantic Charter, USSR joins on Sept. 24

Aug. 29 – Oct. 1: Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers of USSR, USA, Britain

Dec. 7, 1941: Japan attacks the US; Germany declares war on the US

By the end of the year, the Coalition grows to 26 states

1942 Start of the American Lend Lease Program Jan. 1: 26 states sign the Washington Declaration of the

united Nations May 26: Soviet-British Treaty on Alliance June 11: Soviet-US Mutual Assistance Agreement 1943 July: The Allied invasion of Italy Nov. 28 – Dec 1: The first Big Three meeting in Tehran 1944 June: The Allied invasion of France July The United Nations Financial and Monetary

Conference, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire

July 1942: Massive German offensive in southern Russia The city of Stalingrad is besieged The turning point of World War II August 23: Massive German bombing destroys 80% of the

city’s residential buildings Fighting in the city: average life expectancy of the Soviet

soldier – 24 hours

Stalingrad before the war

Stalingrad, September 1942

Women volunteers signing Oath of Allegiance

Red Army infantry counterattack at Stalingrad

Stalingrad worker militia

Soviet “Katyusha” rocket attack

Stalingrad: street fighting

Stalingrad: surrender of German Field Marshal von Paulus

The Battle of Stalingrad claimed over two million casualties, more than any other battle in human history, and was also one of the longest: it raged for 199 days.

Killed, wounded or captured at Stalingrad: Germans and allies: 850,000 Soviets: 1,130,000 (incl. 40,000 civilians)

General Georgiy Zhukov

General Aleksandr Vasilevsky

General Konstantin Rokossovsky

General Ivan Konev

July-August 1943: The Battle of Kursk 50 days 2.7 mln. men 8,000 tanks 5,000 aircraft

Casualties: German – 260,000 Soviet – over 1 mln.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awRhSozctvs

The Soviet Steamroller, documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=J2RV4aKB7wo

Vitya Zhaivoronok, Soviet Army scout, Yugoslavia, 1945

Ruins of Peterhof, Summer residence of Russian Tsars

German POWs in Russia

German POWs outside Moscow

Diplomacy in the Grand Alliance The main issues: Helping USSR Opening the 2nd front Postwar settlement

The Big Three: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, Feb.1945

Major decisions of the Yalta Conference 1. Unconditional surrender of Germany 2. Division of Germany into 4 occupied zones 3. Demilitarization and denazification of Germany 4. Germany’s reparations, including by forced labour of its

soldiers 5. A new govt in Poland, including non-Communists 6. Changes of Poland’s borders 7. Return of citizens to USSR and Yugoslavia 8. Soviet Union will participate in the creation of the UNO 9. Stalin agreed to attack Japan within 90 days of Germany’s

surrender. 10. Nazi war criminals were to be hunted down and brought to

justice. 11. A "Committee on Dismemberment of Germany" was to be set

up.

US and British aid to the Soviet ally, 1941-45: Food - $1.5 bln. in Automobiles – 427,000 Warplanes – 22,000 Tanks – 13,000 Warships – over 500 Explosives – 350,000 tons Other supplies

Total estimated cost of Allied aid to USSR in contemporary prices –

$100 bln.

The Battle of Berlin 17 days 3.3 mln. men Total losses: 0.5 mln. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjD6Lxiu6q4

Hitler phones Stalin (a satire): http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=9pbIrMtmU98&feature=related

Red flag over Berlin, May 1945

Checking out Hitler’s headquarters, May 1945

Berlin, 1945: surrender of German High Command

Ovens in Buchenwald concentration camp

Survivors of a Nazi concentration camp

June 24, 1945: Marshal Zhukov leads Victory Parade in Red Square

Soviet Victory Parade, Moscow, Red Square, June 24, 1945

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnpn5znFEtc

July 1945: Stalin, Truman and Churchill at Potsdam, Germany

Marshal Zhukov and General Eisenhower

August 1945: Defeat of Japanese forces in Manchuria

Japanese-American historian T. Hasegawa: Soviet war on Japan was the decisive factor for Japanese surrender – not the atom bomb

http://books.google.ca/books?id=iPju1MrqgU4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=racing+the+enemy&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BM_GT_73B8fJ6gGV7KTMCw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=racing%20the%20enemy&f=false

Allied Victory Parade, Berlin, September 7, 1945 http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=QDQ2gQttPBs&NR=1

The war took all nine of her sons

Nazi war criminals on trial at Nuremberg

Soviet losses in World War II Over 27 mln. killed (13.6% of the population) Of those who survived, 29 mln. took part in the fighting

(including 0.8 mln. women) Battlefield losses – 11.5 mln. (Germany lost 8.6 mln.) 5.8 mln. POWs (of them 3 mln. died in concentration

camps) 1,710 cities and 70,000 villages completely or partially

destroyed 40,000 hospitals, 84,000 schools, 43,000 libraries

destroyed Historically unprecedented level of damage suffered by a

country