92 GERMANY TRIUMPHANT 1939–1941
The Soviet people suffered extreme
deprivation as they fought what
was christened the “Great Patriotic
War.” A ruthless focus on arms
production meant that most
civilians lived in near-starvation,
working a 66-hour week while
receiving half the rations of their
German counterparts. At least
18 million civilians died, but a mixture of coercion, hatred for the
“Fascist enemy,” and Russian nationalism kept the people working.
In Germany, despite superior resources, production did not match
the pace of the Soviets until the war industry was reorganized in 1942
(see pp.174–175). After this, German output rose steeply, with women
playing an increasingly important role. Rationing was introduced
from 1939, but privations increased from 1943 as Allied bombing raids
intensified and disrupted food supplies. The civilian death toll rose,
and millions were evacuated from German cities.Dictatorships at war
The two totalitarian regimes both conducted forced population
transfers. Germany imported more than 7 million civilians and
prisoners of war from the occupied countries for forced labor, while
the USSR transported hundreds of factories and their workers east
beyond the Ural mountains to protect their war industry from the
German advance in the west. Both regimes also exploited slave labor
from concentration camps and gulags (Soviet prison camps).GERMANY AND
USSR AT HOME
Germany and the USSR both geared their economies to
meet the demands of total war. The Soviets were more
effective, manufacturing weapons that were cheaper and
easier to make than those produced by the Germans.
△ Fighting for the fatherland
Armbands such as this were issued to
members of the Volkssturm (“People’s
Militia”), a German militia formed of
civilians conscripted into service.▷ Life goes on
Young girls play with their dolls in
a Munich street, undeterred by
the shells stacked in front of their
homes. As the Allied bombing
raids increased in number and
intensity, thousands of children
were evacuated from German
cities to keep them safe.US_092-093_F_Germany_and_Russia_at_home.indd 92 16/04/19 11:20 AM