Soviet Union Ww2

The USSR stands for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consisting of Russia and the surrounding countries. It was founded five years after the Russian Revolution. World War II lasted six years and almost all the countries of the world were engaged in it. It was a war between the Axis Powers (mainly Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (mainly England, U.S., and USSR). But today I will be focusing on the Soviet Union. They played a very dramatic role in the war and more people should know about it.

The Great Patriotic War started a few years after the Depression in the 1930s. Stalin (dictator of Russia), feared an assault by Hitler, therefore, he agreed to sign a Non-Aggression pact between the two countries. The pact was a secret and it stated that neither nation would attack the other. Unfortunately, Hitler broke the pact one and a half years later. On June 22, 1941, the Nazis army invaded the USSR in a secret operation called Operation Barbarossa. Stalin was taken by surprise. Hitler had planned the attack very well. His plan was to penetrate Soviet lines and get deep in the rear, and then encircle the Soviet army. It almost worked. However, Hitler continuously changed his mind on where to attack. With his hesitation, he lost a big amount of time. Stalin, taking advantage of the situation, signed a neutrality pact with Japan to ensure peace on the eastern border. On November 15th, the Nazis were within 15 miles of Moscow (the capital of Russia). They were about to attack when winter came at full force. The Nazis ran out of supplies and retreated. The Soviets began counterattacks. Yet, as heavy snow came in, the two sides had no choice but to dig trenches and wait the winter out. Meanwhile, the Allies began to ship supplies to the Soviet Union. The USSR became more powerful with foreign aid. As Soviet power increased, Hitler began to develop mistakes. For example, he wanted to protect his only oil field, the Rumanian oil field. He believed that Stalin wanted to attack there. To stop being too dependent on that oil source, Hitler attempted to capture the Caucasus oilfields. He failed miserably and withdrew. As the Nazis retreated, the Soviets began their offensive; they advanced towards Hungary and Romania. By January 1944, the Red Army had reached the suburbs of Warsaw. On April 30th 1945, the Red Army entered Reichstag, which was also the day Hitler committed suicide. In the meantime, when all this was going on, another kind of horror was happening in Russia. After the Non-Aggression Pact, the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic regions. One year after annexation, the Soviet Union began mass deportations. The Baltic regions lost more than one third of their population. Most of the deportees were intellectual people, upper or middle classes, or anyone with a hint of rebellion. The deportees were sent into work camps or prison camps similar to the Nazis concentration camps. Germany surrendered on April 29th 1945. The Soviet Union had enormous maternity losses. The Nazis had attempted to demolish everything they could. Also, after the war, there was a great rise in Soviet importance. Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill were often called the Big Three. Other Ally leaders respected them and looked up to them. They were the three most important and powerful leaders of the Allies. After and during the war, there was a strong surge of Patriotism, hence the name, The Great Patriotic War. Unfortunately, not everything has a happy ending. Even though the Soviet Union had cooperated with the Allies and contributed greatly to helping defeat Hitler and the Axis Powers, it began to cut off relations with the Allies, especially the United States. Soon, the USSR began to view the world in two parts: Communist nations and noncommunist nations. This led to fierce competition with the United States. This competition became known as the Cold War.