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The Soviet Home Front, 1941-1945: A Social and Economic History of the USSR in World War II
Nowhere else was World War II as bloody and destructive as it was in Eastern Europe, and of all nations it was the Soviet Union that paid the highest price for victory. The scale of death and destruction is hard to comprehend even today. Its consequences were to shape Soviet politics, and the shape of the postwar world, right through to our own time. How Soviet society responded to the threat, and survived the reality, of this most terrible of wars is the subject of this powerful and impressive survey.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1991
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November 11, 2014
John Barber and Mark Harrison’s The Soviet Home Front is a comprehensive account of the Soviet Union during World War II that is rich in detail but somewhat lacking in terms of an overarching theme or narrative. Focusing primarily on the social and economic dimensions of the conflict, the book is divided into three parts: an introductory section that provides an overview of the military and political developments and explicates the prewar context, an exploration of the societal circumstances, and finally an analysis of the economic situation. The authors’ overall objective is to explain how the Soviet Union survived the German assault and what sort of lasting influence the conflict had on the state and society.
Barber and Harrison’s first chapter sets the stage by providing a brief glimpse into Soviet life immediately prior to the German invasion, highlighting the state’s chaotic economy, autocratic nature, and international isolation. Their second chapter is a military outline of how events unfolded on the ground, while chapter three engages the political dimension, discussing the Soviet Union’s initial difficulties in mobilizing and coordinating its resources. The book then moves on to part two and begins by examining the nature and impact of mobilization on society. At first most people believed the Soviet propaganda that victory was as inevitable as an imperialist attack, rallying to the nation’s defense and even undertaking independent action. Soon, however, the truth of the situation was announced and social stability came into question as people began to panic. The need to mobilize labor and control information flows led to harsh disciplinary statues, but Stalin also exercised his charisma to galvanize morale and rally people to defense of the motherland. The population struggled to survive and standards of living declined for all classes, but rural dwellers suffered in particular because they were not eligible for state rationing schemes. Even those who were on rationing systems, however, found that the government often did not have enough food to meet their meager quotas and thus hunger became the defining facet of Soviet life. Alternative sources of food, such as private farms, could only provide so much, and crime, corruption, and disease increased as a result of the starvation lifestyle (although effective preventative measures halted the spread of epidemics). The family structure suffered in particular, with separation and bereavement leading to a higher marriage age and decreased birth rate, which the state attempted to combat with initiatives that rewarded motherhood.
The authors conclude their look at society with an in-depth examination of the social order. The proletariat changed in composition as most of its experienced members were sent to the front and replaced by young, inexperienced, and mostly female recruits from the countryside. Their standards of living dropped during the conflict and they often had to work in dangerous conditions near the front line, but they also had a network of support with other factory workers and better access to the rationing system. The agricultural sector, meanwhile, experienced a strong decline due to the loss of many of the most fertile territories and demechanization as state industries converted to the production of tanks and other armaments. The peasants were perhaps the worst off during the war, as their survival was dependent almost entirely on private plots, but they did not revolt because they knew that life would be worse under the Germans and they felt that the Soviets were the only ones who could protect them. On the other end of the spectrum, the intelligentsia and bureaucracy prospered because their skills were in demand. The non-Russian nationalities supported the Germans on occasion, but the racist ideology of the Nazis prevented the invaders from capitalizing on anti-Soviet feelings. Finally, many prisoners joined the war effort in the hopes of earning redemption, or at least dying quickly in battle rather than suffering in the camps, where conditions deteriorated worse than anywhere else.
Barber and Harrison’s final section looks at the war economy, beginning with a chapter that outlines the prewar situation and postulates that mass evacuations of industrial capacity were as effective as they could have been given the conditions. They go on to demonstrate that labor shortages were the most critical crisis of wartime and that unmasking the socialist system’s “disguised unemployment” was not sufficient to meet needs. Most new workers, therefore, came from the large decrease in civilian jobs, but the nation as a whole suffered from a lack of young men, a skill deficit, and a surprising lack of centralization around resource mobilization and allocation. The penultimate chapter demonstrates how Soviet production helped win the war for the Allies and highlights the economic consequences of the state’s focus on munitions, which led it to shift focus in later years to civilian support fields. Finally, the authors discuss the prewar economy, which was hierarchical and centralized, favored output over efficiency, and worked through both formal and informal structures. The formal ones could not coordinate the economy during wartime and thus developments in the earlier years of the conflict occurred without planning and were based around exigencies until the restoration of a formal system at the end of 1942.
In their epilogue, Barber and Harrison argue that the Soviets paid a far greater cost than all the other nations combined, but got little in return. Lasting influences of the conflict included a significant demographic shift that affected women and families, raised expectations for prosperity after peace, a strengthening of Stalin’s leadership position, the creation of a cadre of officials who believed that conservatism was superior to reformism, the legitimization of Stalinist institutions, and a belief that the military, rather than statecraft, was the basis for Soviet security. Overall, The Soviet Home Front has a lot to offer in terms of being one of the first in-depth examinations of Soviet society during World War II, but suffers from a lack of centralizing themes and arguments that would help tie all of the points together. This is particularly noticeable in terms of the high degree of repetition within and between the chapters, which is somewhat helpful in terms of recapitulation, but rarely summarizes and often comes off as redundant. Nonetheless, it an excellent resource for specialists and causal readers alike to gain an understanding of the Soviet experience during World War II through a non-military, non-political lens.
Barber and Harrison’s first chapter sets the stage by providing a brief glimpse into Soviet life immediately prior to the German invasion, highlighting the state’s chaotic economy, autocratic nature, and international isolation. Their second chapter is a military outline of how events unfolded on the ground, while chapter three engages the political dimension, discussing the Soviet Union’s initial difficulties in mobilizing and coordinating its resources. The book then moves on to part two and begins by examining the nature and impact of mobilization on society. At first most people believed the Soviet propaganda that victory was as inevitable as an imperialist attack, rallying to the nation’s defense and even undertaking independent action. Soon, however, the truth of the situation was announced and social stability came into question as people began to panic. The need to mobilize labor and control information flows led to harsh disciplinary statues, but Stalin also exercised his charisma to galvanize morale and rally people to defense of the motherland. The population struggled to survive and standards of living declined for all classes, but rural dwellers suffered in particular because they were not eligible for state rationing schemes. Even those who were on rationing systems, however, found that the government often did not have enough food to meet their meager quotas and thus hunger became the defining facet of Soviet life. Alternative sources of food, such as private farms, could only provide so much, and crime, corruption, and disease increased as a result of the starvation lifestyle (although effective preventative measures halted the spread of epidemics). The family structure suffered in particular, with separation and bereavement leading to a higher marriage age and decreased birth rate, which the state attempted to combat with initiatives that rewarded motherhood.
The authors conclude their look at society with an in-depth examination of the social order. The proletariat changed in composition as most of its experienced members were sent to the front and replaced by young, inexperienced, and mostly female recruits from the countryside. Their standards of living dropped during the conflict and they often had to work in dangerous conditions near the front line, but they also had a network of support with other factory workers and better access to the rationing system. The agricultural sector, meanwhile, experienced a strong decline due to the loss of many of the most fertile territories and demechanization as state industries converted to the production of tanks and other armaments. The peasants were perhaps the worst off during the war, as their survival was dependent almost entirely on private plots, but they did not revolt because they knew that life would be worse under the Germans and they felt that the Soviets were the only ones who could protect them. On the other end of the spectrum, the intelligentsia and bureaucracy prospered because their skills were in demand. The non-Russian nationalities supported the Germans on occasion, but the racist ideology of the Nazis prevented the invaders from capitalizing on anti-Soviet feelings. Finally, many prisoners joined the war effort in the hopes of earning redemption, or at least dying quickly in battle rather than suffering in the camps, where conditions deteriorated worse than anywhere else.
Barber and Harrison’s final section looks at the war economy, beginning with a chapter that outlines the prewar situation and postulates that mass evacuations of industrial capacity were as effective as they could have been given the conditions. They go on to demonstrate that labor shortages were the most critical crisis of wartime and that unmasking the socialist system’s “disguised unemployment” was not sufficient to meet needs. Most new workers, therefore, came from the large decrease in civilian jobs, but the nation as a whole suffered from a lack of young men, a skill deficit, and a surprising lack of centralization around resource mobilization and allocation. The penultimate chapter demonstrates how Soviet production helped win the war for the Allies and highlights the economic consequences of the state’s focus on munitions, which led it to shift focus in later years to civilian support fields. Finally, the authors discuss the prewar economy, which was hierarchical and centralized, favored output over efficiency, and worked through both formal and informal structures. The formal ones could not coordinate the economy during wartime and thus developments in the earlier years of the conflict occurred without planning and were based around exigencies until the restoration of a formal system at the end of 1942.
In their epilogue, Barber and Harrison argue that the Soviets paid a far greater cost than all the other nations combined, but got little in return. Lasting influences of the conflict included a significant demographic shift that affected women and families, raised expectations for prosperity after peace, a strengthening of Stalin’s leadership position, the creation of a cadre of officials who believed that conservatism was superior to reformism, the legitimization of Stalinist institutions, and a belief that the military, rather than statecraft, was the basis for Soviet security. Overall, The Soviet Home Front has a lot to offer in terms of being one of the first in-depth examinations of Soviet society during World War II, but suffers from a lack of centralizing themes and arguments that would help tie all of the points together. This is particularly noticeable in terms of the high degree of repetition within and between the chapters, which is somewhat helpful in terms of recapitulation, but rarely summarizes and often comes off as redundant. Nonetheless, it an excellent resource for specialists and causal readers alike to gain an understanding of the Soviet experience during World War II through a non-military, non-political lens.
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