Scorched earth policy
The Scorched Earth Policy refers to the burning of land in war so the land becomes worthless and to prevent the advancing armies of food, shelter, natural resources, manufacturing, communications, or anything else that may be of use to them. This policy was used by Stalin to prevent Stalin and Hitler from gaining Russian lands. They did this because they were undoubtedly losing against France and Germany.
Thousands of factories in Ukraine were destroyed or removed, the Dniprohes Dam at Dnipropetrovsk, the largest hydroelectric dam in Europe, was blown up, Khreshchatyk Street, Kyiv’s main street, was mined and blown up. Collective farms were ordered to destroy their crops and animals or to surrender them to the retreating armies. Because all of Soviet Ukraine was occupied by the Germans, the Ukrainian people suffered terribly from the scorched earth policy. The economy of Soviet Ukraine was almost completely destroyed by the retreating Red Army. The civilian population was thus abandoned by the Soviet regime.
During WWII, Ukraine suffered through two episodes of scorched earth – as the Wehrmacht retreated from Ukrainian territory in 1943-44, Hitler also ordered a scorched earth policy; some 28 000 villages were burned by the retreating Germans, and any and all resources that could be used by the advancing Red Army were either evacuated or destroyed.
The scorched earth policy had a fundamental impact on the war on the Eastern Front. More than half of the victims of war on the Eastern Front were civilians. This was the first time in the history of warfare that civilian casualties outweighed military casualties. Scorched earth, while depriving advancing armies of valuable resources, also ensured that the civilian population left behind would suffer enormous privation and misery.
Thousands of factories in Ukraine were destroyed or removed, the Dniprohes Dam at Dnipropetrovsk, the largest hydroelectric dam in Europe, was blown up, Khreshchatyk Street, Kyiv’s main street, was mined and blown up. Collective farms were ordered to destroy their crops and animals or to surrender them to the retreating armies. Because all of Soviet Ukraine was occupied by the Germans, the Ukrainian people suffered terribly from the scorched earth policy. The economy of Soviet Ukraine was almost completely destroyed by the retreating Red Army. The civilian population was thus abandoned by the Soviet regime.
During WWII, Ukraine suffered through two episodes of scorched earth – as the Wehrmacht retreated from Ukrainian territory in 1943-44, Hitler also ordered a scorched earth policy; some 28 000 villages were burned by the retreating Germans, and any and all resources that could be used by the advancing Red Army were either evacuated or destroyed.
The scorched earth policy had a fundamental impact on the war on the Eastern Front. More than half of the victims of war on the Eastern Front were civilians. This was the first time in the history of warfare that civilian casualties outweighed military casualties. Scorched earth, while depriving advancing armies of valuable resources, also ensured that the civilian population left behind would suffer enormous privation and misery.