Explain Why the Invasion of the Ussr Changed the Lives of Those Living in Germany Around 1941
A) Explain why the invasion of the USSR changed the lives of those living in Germany around 1941-42. (12 Marks)
The invasion of the USSR in the summer months was that of great confidence and assertiveness that they were on the ‘front foot’ from the German people. During these summer months, the Russians had been pushed back by the Germans to what many thought of as the core of the USSR; Russia. Obviously when the Germans had advanced 20 miles short of the central of the most powerful enemy they’ve faced yet, the German people had a right to be happy with their recent progress in the war. This changed their lives by giving them more confidence in that they felt they could defeat the Russians as they were pushing them back towards the capital.
However, after the winter set in the attitude of the German people to the progress being made in the war changed. Before the war the Germans had demolished smaller countries such as France and Poland, meaning that the German people felt that losing was almost alien to them. But when the Russians kicked back against the Germans on the Eastern Front on December 5th 1941 outside of Moscow, the German retreat began. More and more soldiers fell, and the Germans were never able to recover the ground that they had lost. Due to the soldiers diminishing, letters had to be written back to rural Germany to notify those whom had relatives/friends in the war. When the letters started to come thick and fast, the German people now had a hint of doubt in their mind. I like to think of it as a seed that was planted- the plantation is from the initial invasion of the USSR, and when more and more letters and stories came back from the Russian lines the tree grew. Eventually, the doubt that was once a seed at the start of the invasion of Russia, had now fully flourished into a vast tree of doubt, showing us how the German lives had changed through doubt and anxiety that gradually built up through the invasion of Russia, from going and
The invasion of the USSR in the summer months was that of great confidence and assertiveness that they were on the ‘front foot’ from the German people. During these summer months, the Russians had been pushed back by the Germans to what many thought of as the core of the USSR; Russia. Obviously when the Germans had advanced 20 miles short of the central of the most powerful enemy they’ve faced yet, the German people had a right to be happy with their recent progress in the war. This changed their lives by giving them more confidence in that they felt they could defeat the Russians as they were pushing them back towards the capital.
However, after the winter set in the attitude of the German people to the progress being made in the war changed. Before the war the Germans had demolished smaller countries such as France and Poland, meaning that the German people felt that losing was almost alien to them. But when the Russians kicked back against the Germans on the Eastern Front on December 5th 1941 outside of Moscow, the German retreat began. More and more soldiers fell, and the Germans were never able to recover the ground that they had lost. Due to the soldiers diminishing, letters had to be written back to rural Germany to notify those whom had relatives/friends in the war. When the letters started to come thick and fast, the German people now had a hint of doubt in their mind. I like to think of it as a seed that was planted- the plantation is from the initial invasion of the USSR, and when more and more letters and stories came back from the Russian lines the tree grew. Eventually, the doubt that was once a seed at the start of the invasion of Russia, had now fully flourished into a vast tree of doubt, showing us how the German lives had changed through doubt and anxiety that gradually built up through the invasion of Russia, from going and