Russia's Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 Quiz

Answer: 80%-90%

From 22nd of June 1941 and onwards, Nazi Germany devoted its greatest attention and the bulk of its military to Eastern Front against Red Army. The invasion force involved over 80 percent of German land army (Heer), about 90 percent of German tank (Panzer) strength and over 2/3 of their air force (Luftwaffe).

Answer: Soviets pushed the Germans away from the outskirts of Moscow and then attacked on the whole front where they had partial success

Red Army counter-offensive on the outskirts of Moscow was successful and then turned into a general offensive on the entire front. While these offensives initially were a success, it ultimately stalled by April 1942. Reasons for subsequent Soviet failure were Red Army's exhaustion in supplies, huge losses and relative inexperience. Also, Hitler issued a "stand fast" order where he ordered his troops to dug-in and face Soviets with fanatical resistance. This prevented the collapse of Army Group Center and eventually Germans stabilized the front.

Answer: Nazi Germany's Axis allies switched sides and defected to the Allies

While Axis forces, namely Italy, Romania and Hungary, suffered near-complete destruction in Stalingrad, they would still stay on the German side for a while. Italy defected to the Allies in the latter half of 1943, Romania defected to the Allies in August 1944, while Hungary stayed on the German side until early 1945.

Answer: Top Allied Ace of WW2

Ivan Kozhedub, the Top Allied Ace of WW2, made his first combat flight and scored his first kill as part of Voronezh Front's 2nd Air Army on 6th of July 1943- just a day later after the Germans started Operation Zitadelle, their codename for the assault on the Kursk bulge.

As part of Red Army's Air Force (VVS), Kozhedub is credited with 64 (if not more) aerial victories which is the highest number among any Allied country. He was never shot down during the entire war and is one of the few pilots to have shot down the world's first jet-powered Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter aircraft.

It is also claimed that at the end of the war Kozhedub shot down 2 American P-51 Mustang fighters which supposedly had mistaken him for German plane and attacked him.

Answer: Mass heroism

The battle for the Dnieper is characterized by hundreds of examples of mass heroism of Red Army's fighters and commanders. Indicative is the fact that for the crossing of the mighty Dnieper river, 2,438 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which is more than the total number of awards awarded in the previous history of the award combined since its establishment in 1934. Such a massive rewarding in one operation was the only one in the history of the war.

Answer: Uman-Botosani Offensive

Executed in the second stage of the Dnieper-Carpathian Strategic Offensive Operation, the Uman-Botosani Offensive was a major Soviet operational success. In the course of operation, 4 German divisions and 1 Romanian division were completely wiped out, while 10 other Axis divisions suffered 50-70 percent losses.

The operation also showed Red Army's increasing tactical skills, particularly in river crossings as it crossed the major rivers of Prut and Dniester without a single delay from the German side.

Answer: Operation Bagration

Launched in the same month as Operation Overlord (Allied invasion of Normandy), Operation Bagration, aka Destruction of the German Army Group Center, is one of the largest and most decisive military operations in history. In less than 3 weeks, 4 Red Army Fronts succeeded in completely destroying 24 German divisions and advanced 400-500 kilometers. Subsequent Soviet advances inflicted well over a half a million casualties on the once powerful Army Group Center. This was by far the costliest battle in German military history, exceeding the losses that they suffered at Stalingrad.

Answer: In 1944, Soviet manpower reserves were rising which meant that massive losses could be easily replaced

While throughout the most of the war Red Army outnumbered the Wehrmacht thanks to having more trained reservists, by 1944 it actually faced a manpower crisis. The seemingly inexhaustible Soviet reserves were at their limit by 1944 due to the losses sustained in 1941-1943. To compensate for decreasing reserves, Soviets began creating fortified regions were "economy of force" was made up of high firepower but low manpower.

They also developed a more sophisticated operations where they would attack only on a narrow and critical sectors of the front where the Germans least expected (hence, the Russian term "Maskirovka") as opposed to attacking on a wide front.

Answer: Prague Strategic Offensive

The Budapest Offensive ended on 13th of February 1945, the Vienna Offensive ended on 13th of April 1945, Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation ended on 2nd of May 1945 while Prague Strategic Offensive ended only on 11th of May 1945- 3 days after the German Instrument of Surrender was signed in Berlin on 8th of May.

Answer: 80 percent

According to the most recent and accurate statistical studies, German military dead and missing in WW2 is 5,318,000. Approximately 4,300,000+ soldiers, or about 80 percent of them, died on the Eastern Front against the Red Army. This means that for every 10 German soldiers who died in WW2, 8 of them died on the Eastern Front.

In Winston Churchill's own words, the Red Army "tore the guts out of the German military machine" and "decided the fate of German militarism". Only 20 percent can be attributed to the Western Front, Naval and Air wars as well as war in the Balkans and Northern Europe.