Author: World War II Pretty Lady (Without permission, it is forbidden to copy the full text and carry it privately!) ）
In fact, in 1937, the food situation of the Soviet troops was still relatively "rich". The Soviet Union produced 97 million tons of grain alone, compared with 87 million tons during the Tsarist period.
Soviet "Red Navy" soldiers at dinner
In the case of sufficient food supply, the Soviet army's food supply also appeared to be "very generous". While ensuring that the soldiers could eat enough, the Soviet army also had many daily food patterns: various meats, vegetables, fruits, tea, etc.
For example, in 1940, the standard of food for Soviet mountain troops was: each soldier could get 700 to 1000 grams of staple food, 350-435 grams of meat, 60 grams of grease, 35 grams of dried vegetables or other fresh vegetables per day, plus luxury supplies such as "black tea and white sugar".
Hard brown bread
However, after the invasion of the Nazi German army, due to the defeat of the Soviet army in the early stage of the war, the Nazi German army quickly occupied the Soviet granary "Ukraine", and the Soviet army's food situation gradually "deteriorated".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" >how, how bad was the Soviet army's food during the most difficult period of World War II? </h1>
As the quality of Soviet food dropped dramatically, ordinary Soviet soldiers on the front lines had very little meat to supply, and they were usually a bowl of wheat soup, nibbling on a brick-hard "black lieba", which is what we commonly call black bread.
Soviet soldiers eating
This dark black lieba, which is baked from flour, buckwheat, oats and other ingredients, is said to have a very poor taste. If you put it in the present, it is absolutely difficult to eat to the "extreme": not only is it very salty, but it is also very sour.
But even if it is such a difficult food to swallow, the Soviet soldiers have to save some food during the most difficult period! Because the German offensive was extremely fierce at the beginning of the war, the Soviet army's food supply was once "stretched".
In order to save money, the Soviet cooking class later mixed some sawdust or rice husks in the "Black Lieba". This makes the black bread, which is already difficult to swallow, even more unpalatable.
Hard and big brown bread
Although this black bread mixed with sawdust is said to be "very resistant to hunger", if you eat this "Black Lieba" for a long time, due to the lack of enough protein, vitamins and other nutrients, it will not only make the Soviet soldiers increasingly emaciated and malnourished, but also cause many Soviet front-line soldiers to suffer from sepsis.
Some hungry and lean Soviet soldiers died when they ate bread and sausages after being captured by the Germans (and of course only occasionally) because their stomachs were temporarily indigestible.
In addition, this kind of black bread would become very hard in the cold winter climate of the Soviet Union, and even the Soviet soldiers laughed at themselves: it was completely possible to use the "Black Lieba" as a "slab brick" and use it to throw at the German soldiers on the opposite side.
As a result, the People's Commissariat for Defence of the USSR had to draw up a new set of dietary standards: the front-line troops and the logisticians had different standards of supply, thus ensuring that the Soviet soldiers on the front would have wheat soup, brown bread and some lard, and occasionally onions, sunflower seeds or herring. In fact, in the most difficult period, meat has actually disappeared from the Soviet army's food.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="49" > the most difficult time, the American canned lunch meat is coming! </h1>
The new food supply standards also abolished the "rationing system according to the establishment" and replaced it with the distribution of food according to the actual number of people, but could not exceed the prescribed rations. In addition, during the most difficult period of Food for the Soviet Army, the United States, out of its own practical interests, began to send a large amount of Food aided by the United States to the Soviet Union.
American canned lunch meat "famous for World War II"
At that time, according to part of the Soviet-American "Lease Plan", American beef, canned pork, egg powder extracted from eggs, candy, cream, jam, coffee, tobacco, etc. Objectively speaking, this assistance from the United States not only greatly improved the food situation of the Soviet army, but also gave great spiritual encouragement to the front!
Khrushchev, who served as the political commissar of the Southwestern Front of the Red Army during the war, also "deeply understood" the matter of "American rations", and he once personally said to an American reporter: "Without the canned lunch meat of the United States, our soldiers may have no food to eat!" ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" > can have no chocolate, no beef, but must have "vodka"! </h1>
Curiously, even during the most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet top brass tried to meet another dietary need of the Soviet soldiers: vodka.
Russian soldiers had to take pictures with wine
In fact, there is nothing in this world that makes it easier for Russians to lift their spirits like "vodka". According to statistics, in the war, the Soviet army consumed more than "250 million" liters of alcohol in World War II.
As early as the 17th century, Tsarist Russia had begun to distribute "vodka" to the Russian army. But after the founding of the Soviet Union, alcoholism was considered a "vice" and began to be strictly controlled.
However, with the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, the demand for alcohol from the front-line troops became "urgent" again. For ordinary Soviet officers and soldiers, there can be no chocolate and no beef on the battlefield, but there must be "wine"!
The Soviets raised a toast to victory in World War II
It is said that during the war, there was a report within the Soviet Army: a Soviet tank squad had lost its sight by stealing tank antifreeze (which contained alcohol) !
Therefore, at the moment of "life and death" of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, the soviet military top brass had no choice but to "conform to the military's heart"! Provide "vodka" to front-line troops at all costs.
Stalin himself was particularly fond of drinking vodka, so "the power of example is infinite"! Vodka also became the standard strategic material of the Soviet Army in World War II, and its importance was not even inferior to that of the "Black Lieba".
The "Greatest Enjoyment" of War
The Soviet High Command issued a special order on the "vodka" rationing of the front-line troops: "Every soldier on the front line is distributed 100 grams of vodka per day, and the tank soldiers are doubled, but excessive consumption before the war is prohibited!" And this "prohibition of excessive pre-war drinking" is very intriguing!
After all, on the Soviet-German battlefield, drinking alcohol also has many benefits: it can paralyze the nerves of soldiers and make Soviet soldiers more heroic on the battlefield! In addition, it was able to withstand the cold, and the Germans repeatedly lost to the cold in the war, probably because they did not "drink" (just kidding) like the Soviets.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > conclusion</h1>
In general, the Soviet army's food supply during World War II was actually relatively poor among the major military powers in Europe. Coupled with the fact that the Nazi Germans occupied many resource areas in the early days of the war, their army food supply was once "difficult"!
The Soviet Army Fighting in Blood (Film)
But it was in such a difficult combat environment that the Soviet soldiers had to withstand the crazy attack of the Nazis! In the end, they counterattacked all the way to Berlin, directly destroying the "old nest" of the Nazi Reich, forcing Hitler to raise his gun and commit suicide! The fighting courage and tenacity shown by the Soviet soldiers have convinced the world!
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