The History of~The Soviet Union (Part 3: Stalin's Union & World War 2)

One of the most complex nations in modern human history; the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (or **USSR**) has gone from a modest communist regime to one of the most vile opponents of the west (namely the United States) until it fell on Christmas in 1991.

This is Part 3 of a 6-part for the History of the Soviet Union. In this part, we willl talk about the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, how the Soviets defeat the Nazis in World War 2, and the beginning of the Cold War.

## Stalin's Union

Georgian (the Russian republic, no the US State) Joseph Stalin took over power in the Soviet Union after a long and deadly power vacuum which opened up after the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. Stalin would have many members of the former Bolshevik party (including Lenin's right-hand man, Leon Trotsky) either exiled or executed, leaving him to rule the USSR alone.

Now, you may know this already that Stalin tried to emulate his infamous boss, his tactics however were much more severe. Like Lenin, Stalin would order massive collectivization which greatly maginified the USSR's famine problem (very much like how Lenin did before him), he also have stolen Trotsky's original idea to quickly industrialize the nation so it can compete against the west and Japan. Beginning in 1928, Stalin put forward the Soviet Union's first 5-year industrialization plan. As Stalin's time as ruler of the USSR wore on, he began to become more paranoid and even developed a cult of personality through culture, and even formed what was known as the "Young Pioneers" (the Soviet Union's answer to America's "Scout" system) who were trained and taught to be fiercely loyal to Stalin. Very soon, Stalin would put down any kind of opposition against him, hard, he would form the NKVD (The Soviet Secret Police), and anybody who would have the gal to speak out against Stalin and/or the USSR in anyway were either shot on sight or (even worse) sent to a gulag in Siberia.

And trust me when I type this, that you were lucky to be shot on sight when you spoke out against Stalin.

By the late 1930s, Stalin would have around 700,000 Soviets rounded up and sent to the Siberian Gulags, this event would be known as "The Great Purge", again if you had the Gal to speak out against Stalin and no matter if you were a member of his government, a high ranking military officer or a lowly farmer, nobody was safe from his tyrany.

Life in the Siberian Gulag was like.........to put it mildly, like dying a very slow, very painful (and very cold) death as the tempurature 90% of the time was so cold that cold induced conditions such as frostbite and hypothermia settles in very quickly. The cells inside the gulags were so close together, diseases like Typhoid were rampant, other diseases like cholera and dysentery were also common due to poor food and water supply. Some prisoners were also subjected to hard labor, and those who don't meet their daily quota were either severely punished or immediately executed by firing squad. In the end, around 680,000 Soviets died during this tragic period of Stalin's tyrany, and this would leave the Soviet Union dangerously vulnerable to a foeeign threat, and it would come as another global conflict will come; World War 2 (called the "Great Patriotic War" in Russia). They would have a series of border skirmishes against Japan in the series of battles on the Khalkhin Gol River where the Red Army were successful in defending their holdings against an agressive Japanese army. But nothing will prepair them for what will come next.

## World War 2

The European theater of World War 2 began on September 1, 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, the Soviets made their own invasion of Poland to stall the Nazis and force them into a negoitation.

After the invasion of Poland, Stalin was able to negotiate with Adolf Hitler to a non-aggressive pact, and for the next 2 years, the pact stands. But, Hitler broke the pact in the summer of 1941 after the Nazis failed to force Great Britain into submission and massed forces for an invasion of the USSR itself, this would be called "Operation Barbarossa", and the Soviets (and Stalin himself) were caught by complete surprise (despite warnings from the other Allied leaders).

The Nazis have formed the biggest invasion force in human history, and the Soviets were pushed back as the Nazis took Soviet cities such as Kiev, Smolensk, until they were within striking distance from the Soviet Capital of Moscow. Stalin gave orders to not lose ground. But the Sovoets \*were\* prepaired for one thing; the winter.

The coming winter in 1941 would be the first break the Soviets will get in the war as the Soviets were better trained to fight and survive in cold conditions than the Nazis were, and not only were the Soviets able to defend their capital city of Moscow, but were also able to liberate other cities and push back the Nazis and force them to hunker down for the rest of the winter season.

The Soviet Union's opportunity to turn the tide of the war in their favor came in the summer of 1942 when the Nazis invade the Sovet town of Stalingrad (which can open a highway for the Nazis to take the oil rich Caucus mountains to the south), the Soviets know that victory would be a crucial as it'll allow the Soviets to gain the initiative on the Eastern Front. The Battle of Stalingrad would last for several months as brutal close quarter fighting would take place, but unbeknownst to the Nazis the Spvoets would launch "Operation Uranus" which is to have the Soviet Air Force would bomb the town and send in ground forces to surround the town and trap the Nazis. Again, winter would settle in and (again) the Nazis weren't prepaired for the harshness of that winter as their supplies would not only dwindle quickly but also began to use Soviet Equipment as it was more adapted to extreme cold conditions, in the end the Nazis had to choice but to surrender to the Soviets and flee the battered town. At the same time, the Soviet Union would get lend lease from the United States, and with it the Soviets would get sufficient supplies in the form of food, clothes, weapons ammunition, Studebaker trucks, and even equipment whcih would allow the Soviets to build ridiculously huge defense nets just in case if the Nazis regain the initative, but there would come a time where the Soviets would cement their control over the Nazis on the Eastern Front, in 1943.

By the summer of 1943, the Nazis would come up with a plan to regain the initiative on the Eastern front as both sides clashed near the Ukraninan town of "Kursk" where over 1 million soldiers and over 1,000 tanks would fight. The Soviets had the advantage in their scheer number of soldiers and tanks over the germans, and even some strange tactics where Soviet Tank drivers would use their own tank as a weapon against the Nazi Tigers by ramming it into the tank, in the end the Nazi numbers dwindled to the point where they had to retreat, cementing the Soviet Union's control over the Eastern front. Despite this, the Nazis would continue to fight for another 2 years.

During which Stalin wanted his unlikely allies in the United States and Great Britain who just got done mapping up Northern Africa of Nazis anf Facist Italians and are now making an invasion of Musolinni's Italy. He wanted the Americans and the british to open up a second fron in Europe to relieve the tension on the Eastern Front, but as he assumed that it was a conspiracy that the Americans and the Brits wanted the Russians to be the "military sponge" as it is historically before they begin their own run on Nazi Europe. But that day would eventualy came as the USA and Britain would successfully invade the French beach of Normandy on June 6, 1944, forcing the Nazis to fight a 2-front war and hastening their downfall.

So, the Soviets would continue to push the Nazis back into Germany, and by May of 1945 the Soviets invade the Nazi capital of Berlin, the Nazis surrendered after a short time, and after the USA and Britain aso liberated Germany from the Nazis, the war in Europe was over.

But there was still one more Axis power to defeat; Japan. The day before the USA dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, the Soviets would officially declare war on Japan and on the day Nagasaki was nuked, the Soviets would invade Japanese occupied Manchuria, and the combination of the Soviet invasion and the Atomic Bombs, Japan surrenders on September 2, 1945, ending the war. The Soviet Union were the victors, but at a cost of 27 Million Soviet people (military and civilian) and along with the United States became another global superpower. But tensions would build in the years following the war as the United States, Great Britain, and France decide to band together to help rebuild Europe.

In 1947, the Soviet Union would block any routes for the Allies to bring in supplies to the battered German capital of Berlin, but this didn't stop the west from bringing in supplies as they would send waves of supply planes that would either drop or traditionally bring in supplies to the good people of Berlin by 1948. The Allies would also use something called the "Marshal Plan" which sent billions of dollars to the war torn continent, the Soviets would do the same as they came up with the "Council for Mutual and Economic Assistance" (sometimes called "Comecon") to also help Europe rebuild, but it wasn't as effective as the Marshal Plan. In 1949, the Soviets would successfully test their own nuclear bomb and quickly began to build their own nuclear arsenal to match the United States.

The Soviet Union was also dealing with a problem in the new country of Iran where the Soviet Union had some influence over, but the newly created United Nations placed pressure on the USSR to leave iran as it was the agreement it made with the Allies to leave Iran as soon as they won the war.

By 1953, Stalins health was failing, and he was going to see who can succeed him in ruling the nation, but fate intervened, Stalin died from a stroke on March of 1953 which once again opened up a power vacuum. Though it was horter and not as deadly as one member of Stalin's government; Lavrenty Beria briefly took power but would be thrown out by hardline Soviets led by another member of Stalin's government; Nikita Khrushchev.

That'll do it for this part, in the next part we will talk about how Khruschev moves to "De-Stalinize" the Soviet Union and how the new members of the Warsaw Pact reacted to the USSR's grip on them, and (of course) parts of the Cold War. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.