Daniels Questions for Thursday Week 10
The Impact of the Second World War (from Vosnesensky, The Economy of the USSR, 1948)
This is a selection from a book written in 1947 (published in the US in 1948) by the head of Gosplan (who was purged the year after he wrote it).
How does the author describe the nature of the war for the USSR? What kind of awar were they waging?
What role does the author attribute to Stalin?
Does the author admit to any public discord over the war?
How does the author explain the ability of the Soviet economy to withstand the German invasion?
How does the author describe the conversion of industry to wartime uses?
How does the author describe the damage done by the German invasion?
Stalin and the Orthodox Church (from the Zhurnal Moskovskoi Patriarkhi, Sept. 1943)
When and why did Stalin "recognize" the Orthodox Church?
Was Stalin openly hostile to the Orthodox Church leaders at their 4 Sept. 1943 meeting?
What position did the church (e.g., the bishops) take on the war against Germany?
Did the church remain hostile towards the Soviet government? Explain.
Was the church tolerant of clerics who aided the fascists? Explain.
Wartime Defections: The Vlasov Movement (a declaration by the Vlasov Movement, 1944)
What was the Vlasov movement?
How did the "Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia" describe the war?
How did the committee describe the Bolshevik government?
What did the committee call for? What goals did they list?
Why would the Soviet regime consider these folks traitors?
Stalin on the Great Russians (May 1945 victory speech)
What evidence is there in this speech that Stalin was becoming increasingly nationalistic? Explain.
Stalin’s Analysis of Victory (1946 campaign speech)
After the war, what did Stalin argue that the Soviet victory had proven? Explain.