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Soviet Union [USSR] WAR YEARS
Prelude to War
When German troops invaded Poland, the Soviet Union was ill
prepared to enter a major war. Although military expenditures had
increased dramatically during the 1930s and the standing army was
expanded in 1939, Soviet weaponry was inferior to that of the
German army. More important, the purges had deprived the armed
services of many capable leaders, resulting in diminished morale
and effectiveness. The time gained through the pact with the Nazis
was therefore critical to the development of Soviet defenses,
particularly after Hitler's forces had overrun much of western
Europe, against little resistance, by the summer of 1940. To
strengthen its western frontier, the Soviet Union quickly secured
the territory located in its sphere of interest. Soviet forces
seized eastern Poland in September 1939; entered Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania (which were later converted into Soviet republics) in
October 1939; and seized the Romanian territories of Bessarabia
(later incorporated into the Moldavian Republic) and northern
Bukovina (later added to the Ukrainian Republic) in June 1940. Only
Finland resisted Stalin's program of expansion, first by refusing
to cede territory and then by putting up a determined defense when
the Red Army invaded in November 1939. Although the Soviet Union
finally won its original demands in March 1940, the Soviet-Finnish
War (also known as the Winter War) pointed out grave deficiencies
in Soviet military capabilities, which Hitler undoubtedly noted.
As the European war continued and the theaters of the conflict
widened, Hitler began to chafe under his pact with the Soviet
Union. The German dictator refused to grant Stalin a free hand in
the Balkans and instead moved the German forces deeper into eastern
Europe and strengthened his ties with Finland. Hitler thus prepared
for war against the Soviet Union under a plan that he officially
approved in December 1940. Stalin, however, apparently believed
that the Soviet Union could avert war by not offending Germany. The
Soviet Union continued its regular shipments of resources to
Germany and maintained its armed forces at a low stage of
readiness. But despite Stalin's efforts to mollify Hitler, Germany
declared war on the Soviet Union just as 180 German divisions swept
across the border early on the morning of June 22, 1941.
Data as of May 1989
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