Hey everyone,
For my Conflict in Europe exam, I need to prepare two essay plans for the following questions:
Assess the social and economic impacts of the war on civilians in Britain, Germany and the Soviet Union
OR
Evaluate the view that the battle of Stalingrad was the most significant turning point in the course of the European war.
Does anyone have a structure in answering these two questions?
Cheers
Hey there,
I did the first question in the HSC last year and the way I structured my essay was:
Paragraph 1: Social impacts on Britain
Paragraph 2: Economic impacts on Britain
Paragraph 3: Social impacts on Soviet Union
Paragraph 4: Economic impacts on Soviet Union
(Are you sure that it's Britain, Germany and the Soviet Union? I thought that syllabus dot point said Britain and you had to pick either Germany or the Soviet Union, so my school did the Soviet Union)
As for the second question, I would personally partially agree to that because the Battle of Stalingrad inflicted severe losses on the Wehrmacht and prevented the Germans from accessing Russia's raw resources in the Caucuses, and also enabled Russian victory in the Battle of Kursk, but I wouldn't say the Battle of Stalingrad was the most significant. I'd say the Battle of El Alamein was also a significant turning point because it forced Germany to divide their resources and enabled the Allies to launch Operation Husky after their victory. And so my structure would be:
Paragraph 1: Short term impacts of Battle of Stalingrad on the war (i.e. prevented the Germans from accessing resources, severe losses on the Wehrmacht --> prevented Germany from further progressing into Russia)
Paragraph 2: The Battle of Stalingrad helped with the victory at the Battle of Kursk (i.e. Russia was able to sustain large losses because of high population density/US Lend Lease Scheme --> further placing Germany in a defensive spot)
Paragraph 3: Battle of El Alamein was also a significant turning point because the Allies were able to launch Operation Husky and attack the 'soft underbelly of Europe' after their victory in El Alamein (i.e. El Alamein forced Germany to split their resources but were encircled after the US launched Operation Torch)
Again, this is my personal opinion. You might have a different opinion. If you want to do a partial judgement or maybe even disagree with the question, check with your teacher if they'll allow it. (Pretty sure markers don't like it if you disagree with the question but the question did say 'evaluate').
Hope this helps!