HW 2

1. Germany was very successful in the first 5 days. It took a large amount Russia's territory, destroyed most of its air force, and took more than half a million prisoners.
2. The term "Great Purge" refers to when Stalin ruthlessly disposed of countless people from various groups, including his own military.
3. Stalin effectively crippled his own military forces with his purges, making it difficult for Russia to resist the Nazi invasion.
4. Stalin was very focused on maintaining his own power within the USSR, rather than on the threats posed by other countries.
5. Stalin hoped that Germany would fight Britain and France, resulting in western Europe, which was Russia's enemy in many ways, being weakened. He also thought that France and Britain were trying to make Russia fight Germany (which they were).
   
6. Stalin thought that a temporary alliance would allow him to prepare for the inevitable war with Germany.
   
7. Stalin made orders against attacking German planes and demanded the release of captive German spies.
8. Stalin did not listen to the West's warnings, he made assumptions about Hitler's foreign policy methods, and was unaware of who Hitler was as a person.
9. Hitler made seemingly thoughtless risks in his invasion of Russia, and opened a two-front war.
10. According to the author, Stalin won the war because he was able to maintain a "grip on reality," unlike Hitler.