The State Defense Committee during the war years headed. USSR State Defense Committee - abstract

GKO - created during the Great Patriotic War, an emergency governing body of the country. The need for creation was obvious, since in wartime it was necessary to concentrate all power in the country, both executive and legislative, in one governing body. Stalin and the Politburo actually headed the state and made all decisions. However, the adopted decisions formally came from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. In order to eliminate such a method of leadership, which is permissible in peacetime, but does not meet the requirements of the military situation of the country, it was decided to create a State Defense Committee, which included some members of the Politburo, secretaries of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and Stalin himself, as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

The idea of ​​creating a GKO was put forward by L.P. Beria at a meeting in the office of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR Molotov in the Kremlin, which was also attended by Malenkov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan and Voznesensky. Thus, the State Defense Committee was formed on June 30, 1941 by a joint resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b). The need to create a State Defense Committee, as the highest governing body, was motivated by the difficult situation at the front, which required that the leadership of the country be centralized to the maximum extent. The aforementioned resolution states that all orders of the State Defense Committee must be unquestioningly carried out by citizens and any authorities.

It was decided to put Stalin at the head of the GKO, in view of his undeniable authority in the country. Having made this decision, Beria, Molotov, Malenkov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan and Voznesensky, on the afternoon of June 30, headed for the "Near Dacha".

Stalin did not make a speech on the radio in the first days of the war, as he understood that his speech could even more give rise to anxiety and panic among people. The fact is that he very rarely spoke publicly, on the radio. In the pre-war years, this happened only a few times: in 1936 - 1 time, in 1937 - 2 times, in 1938 - 1, in 1939 - 1, in 1940 - not a single one, until July 3, 1941 - not a single one. .

Until June 28 inclusive, Stalin worked intensively in his Kremlin office and daily received a large number of visitors; on the night of June 28-29, he had Beria and Mikoyan, who left the office at about 1 a.m. After that, the entries in the visit log cease and for June 29-30 are completely absent, which shows that Stalin did not receive anyone in his office in the Kremlin these days.

Having received on June 29 the first and still vague information about the fall of Minsk that had taken place the day before, he visited the People's Commissariat of Defense, where he had a difficult scene with G.K. Zhukov. After that, Stalin went to the "Near Dacha" and locked himself there, not receiving anyone and not answering the phone. In this state, he remained until the evening of June 30, when (at about 5 p.m.) a delegation (Molotov, Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan and Voznesensky) came to him.

These leaders informed Stalin about the created government body and offered him to become chairman of the State Defense Committee, to which Stalin gave his consent. There, on the spot, powers were distributed among the members of the State Defense Committee.

The composition of the GKO was as follows: Chairman of the GKO - I. V. Stalin; Deputy Chairman of the GKO - V. M. Molotov. Members of the GKO: L.P. Beria (since May 16, 1944 - Deputy Chairman of the GKO); K. E. Voroshilov; G. M. MALENKOV.

The composition of the GKO was changed three times (the changes were legally formalized by the decisions of the Presidium of the Supreme Council):

- On February 3, 1942, N. A. Voznesensky (at that time Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR) and A. I. Mikoyan became members of the State Defense Committee;

- On November 22, 1944, N.A. Bulganin became a new member of the GKO, and K.E. Voroshilov was removed from the GKO.

The vast majority of GKO resolutions dealt with topics related to the war:

- evacuation of the population and industry (during the first period of the Great Patriotic War);

- mobilization of industry, production of weapons and ammunition;

– handling captured weapons and ammunition;

- study and export to the USSR of captured samples of equipment, industrial equipment, reparations (at the final stage of the war);

- organization of hostilities, distribution of weapons, etc.;

– appointment of authorized GKOs;

- the beginning of "works on uranium" (the creation of nuclear weapons);

- Structural changes in the GKO itself.

The vast majority of GKO resolutions were classified as "Secret", "Top Secret" or "Top Secret/Special Importance".

Some decisions were open and published in the press - GKO Decree No. 813 of 10/19/41 on the introduction of a state of siege in Moscow.

The State Defense Committee supervised all military and economic issues during the war. The leadership of the fighting was carried out through the Headquarters.

On September 4, 1945, the State Defense Committee was abolished by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

The Great Patriotic War was the most difficult test for the Soviet state. It was possible to resist in this struggle, to defeat the enemy only by turning the country into a single military camp. This meant that all aspects of the life of Soviet society had to be restructured in accordance with the needs of the war. First of all, the state apparatus was restructured.

It proceeded in the following directions:

• a change in the content of the activities of the state apparatus (the decisive function of the Soviet state at that time was the defense of the country, therefore the main content of the work of the Soviet state bodies was determined by the slogan: "Everything for the front, everything for victory!");
• organization of emergency state bodies;
• reorganization of the armed forces;
• the creation of new ordinary government bodies;
• adaptation of other state bodies to military needs by changing the forms of activity, strengthening executive and administrative functions, narrowing collegiality and strengthening unity of command, increasing discipline and responsibility.

GKO activities. June 30, 1941 "in view of the created state of emergency and in order to quickly mobilize all the forces of the peoples of the USSR to repulse the enemy who treacherously attacked our Motherland" 1 Vedomosti of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. 1941. No. 31. July 6.. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was created State Defense Committee(GKO) chaired by I.V. Stalin. The GKO initially included V.M. Molotov. K.E. Voroshilov, G.M. Malenkov and L.P. Beria. In 1942, A.I. Voznesensky, Mikoyan and L.M. Kaganovich. In 1944, Bulganin was introduced into the GKO, and K.E. Voroshilov was relieved of his duties as a member of the GKO. The personal combination of posts largely ensured unity in the activities of the State Defense Committee, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Chairman of the GKO I.V. Stalin was simultaneously secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Ultimately, GKO concentrated the powers of the highest party-government and military authority of the country. August 8, 1941 I.V. Stalin became the Supreme Commander, as he headed the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

The main tasks of the State Defense Committee were the deployment of the armed forces, the training of reserves, providing them with weapons, equipment and food. In addition, the GKO led the mobilization of the Soviet economy, the organization of the military economy, took measures to increase the production of tanks, aircraft, ammunition, raw materials, fuel, food and other things. The GKO directly supervised the defense of Moscow and Leningrad.

Each member of the GKO was personally entrusted with various branches of work. The GKO did not have its own executive apparatus, but used the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the people's commissariats (most often the People's Commissariat of Defense). To study and resolve the most complex issues, the State Defense Committee organized special committees, councils and commissions that prepared draft resolutions and directly resolved specific problems. So, at the end of August 1941, a joint commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the State Defense Committee was sent to Leningrad to consider and resolve all issues related to the defense of Leningrad, the evacuation of its enterprises and population.

The granting of broad powers to the State Defense Committee and the simplified procedure for its work made it possible to quickly and efficiently make decisions and effectively lead the state in the most difficult war conditions.

All power in the state was concentrated in the hands of the State Defense Committee. All party, Soviet, military bodies, public organizations, all citizens were obliged to unquestioningly comply with the decisions and orders of the State Defense Committee. GKO having its representatives in all union and autonomous republics. As needed, he could send those to the fronts and to other places. The commissioners of the State Defense Committee were given full power necessary for the organization of defense.

The creation of the State Defense Committee was a measure aimed at mobilizing all the forces and means of the state for the needs of defense. The formation of the GKO did not stop the activities of other higher authorities: the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, its Presidium and the Council of People's Commissars. The State Defense Committee acted alongside them. Being a body narrower in its composition and endowed with comprehensive powers, the State Defense Committee could quickly and efficiently resolve all issues dictated by wartime conditions. For the period of the war, for speed and flexibility of decisions and actions, all the constitutional powers of the highest authorities (the Supreme Council, its Presidium and the Council of People's Commissars) were concentrated in a single body - the State Defense Committee. At the same time, in connection with the creation of the State Defense Committee, the permanent higher bodies did not stop their activities, but continued to function, each in its own sphere.

Soon after the formation of the State Defense Committee, a number of emergency measures of exceptional importance were carried out, due to the military situation. These included the relocation of military and civilian industries to the east, the evacuation of workers and their placement in new places.

During the Great Patriotic War, defense committees were formed not only in the center, but also in the localities. Their prototypes were the city headquarters (commissions) of defense, which were created from July 1941 and included secretaries of the relevant party committees, chairmen of executive committees, and representatives of front-line headquarters. They supervised the construction of defensive structures, the formation of units of the people's militia, destruction battalions.

Since October 1941, city defense committees began to be created, taking into account the experience accumulated by that time on the decisions of the State Defense Committee. During the war, defense committees were established in more than 60 cities across the country. They were called upon to concentrate all civil and military power in their person, to establish the strictest order in the cities and the areas adjacent to them. The composition of the city defense committees included the first secretaries of regional committees or city party committees, chairmen of regional executive committees and executive committees of the city council, military commandants, and sometimes military commanders.

The competence of the city defense committees included the announcement of cities under a state of siege, the resettlement of residents, the introduction of a curfew, and the assignment of special military tasks to industrial enterprises. They supervised the construction of fortifications, the formation of fortifications, in some cases - military operations. When the threat of street fighting arose in Stalingrad, the local defense committee organized operational groups in each district of the city with the rights of defense committees.

City defense committees continued their activities even after the end of the fighting, clearing the entrusted territory from minefields and explosive objects, restoring housing stock, utilities and industry. For the most part, city defense committees continued to function almost until the end of the war.

Solving the problem of evacuation and labor resources. June 24, 1941 was created Evacuation Council headed by N.M. Shvernik, who was engaged in the movement of human and material resources from threatened areas to the eastern regions of the country. October 25, 1941 - Committee for the Evacuation of Food Stocks, Industrial Goods, Light and Food Industry Enterprises headed by A.I. Mikoyan. In December 1941, the Council and the Evacuation Committee merged into the Evacuation Directorate under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Thanks to the organization and activities of these evacuation agencies, in the second half of 1941, 10 million people and 1,523 large industrial enterprises were evacuated to the rear in a short time, including all factories for the production of tanks, aircraft, engines, ammunition and weapons.

In order to organize the systematic evacuation of Soviet citizens who retreated eastward with the Red Army during the initial period of the war, in July 1941 the Directorate for the Evacuation of the Population under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was organized. The bureaus for the evacuation of the population under the Council of People's Commissars of the Union and Autonomous Republics and the executive committees of local councils, as well as numerous evacuation points, were subordinate to him. The named Directorate and evacuation centers acted in close cooperation with the above-mentioned Council for the Evacuation of Industrial and Material Resources.

At the final stage of the war, in October 1944, under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Central Office for Repatriation headed by a representative of the Soviet Government. He was entrusted with ensuring the return to their homeland and assistance in the resettlement of Soviet citizens who were forcibly driven away by the Nazi invaders. Repatriation departments were organized under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, Moldavia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as at the headquarters of the fronts. On the ground, a network of local repatriation authorities and reception and distribution points was created. Representatives of the named commissioner acted in almost all European countries, the Middle East and the USA.

Taking into account the needs of the restoration of the national economy in the territories liberated from the Nazis, for the general management of this work in August 1943, under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, a Committee was created for the restoration of the economy in areas liberated from German occupation.

In order to strengthen the moral and political state of the army and the population, expose enemy propaganda and suppress false rumors, at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Information Bureau was created under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, which dealt with correct and timely information about the situation on the fronts and in the rear.

The state of war exacerbated the problem of labor resources. The shortage of workers made it difficult to supply the armed forces with everything they needed. In this situation, it was necessary to take into account the entire able-bodied population of the country in order to carry out labor mobilizations if necessary and provide the military industry with labor. To solve this problem, June 30, 1941 was organized Committee for Accounting and Distribution of Labor at the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. It was made up of representatives of the Council of People's Commissars, the State Planning Commission, the NKVD of the USSR and other departments. The above committee was subordinated to the bureaus created under the Council of People's Commissars of the Union and Autonomous Republics and in the executive committees of the regional and regional Soviets for the accounting and distribution of labor.

Military authorities and ChGK. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 2, 1942, an Extraordinary State Commission was formed to establish and investigate the atrocities of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices and the damage they caused to citizens, collective farms and public organizations, state enterprises and institutions (ChGK), headed by N .M. Shvernik.

The commission was assigned following tasks: full accounting of the war crimes of the occupiers and the material damage caused by them; unification and coordination of the work carried out by the Soviet state bodies to record these crimes and the damage caused by the invaders; determining the damage caused by the occupiers to Soviet citizens and establishing the amount of possible compensation for this damage; determination of the amount of damage suffered by the Soviet state, collective farms and public organizations and subject to compensation in accordance with the just demands of the Soviet people; collecting documentary data establishing the atrocities of the Nazi criminals; establishing in all cases, where possible, the identities of Hitlerite war criminals guilty of committing or organizing atrocities in the occupied Soviet territory in order to bring these criminals to justice and severely punish them. ChGK was given the right to entrust the proper authorities with the conduct of investigations, interviews of victims and witnesses. Local government bodies were obliged to provide her with all possible assistance.

The main form of activity of the ChGK was the preparation of acts on Hitler's atrocities and damage caused with the participation of members of the public. The instructions of the ChGK categorically ordered to indicate in them all the identified perpetrators of war crimes, dividing them according to all types of complicity: into organizers, instigators, perpetrators, their accomplices, while indicating their names, names of military units, etc. The acts were to contain as accurate as possible description of war crimes: their time, place and methods of commission. All relevant documents were attached to the acts: statements of the victims, protocols of interviews of eyewitnesses, expert opinions, photographs, letters from German captivity, as well as trophy documents.

In areas that were occupied or attacked by the Nazis (for example, in Leningrad), republican, regional, regional and city commissions were created. The accusatory materials about the Nazi atrocities prepared by the ChGK were of great social and political significance, and were also used in the trials of the Nazi war criminals and their accomplices, including for the Nuremberg military tribunal.

Introduction of a state of emergency. During the Great Patriotic War, a state of emergency was introduced in the form martial law and state of siege. Both forms significantly changed the functions of ordinary state bodies, primarily local Soviets.

On June 22, 1941, the decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On declaring martial law in certain areas" and "On martial law" were issued. In areas declared under martial law, all functions of state authorities in the field of defense, ensuring public order and state security were transferred to the military councils of fronts, armies, military districts, or to the high command of military formations. Local authorities were obliged to render full assistance to the military command in the use of the forces and means of the given area for the defense of the country, ensuring public order and security.

In areas declared under martial law, the military authorities will have the right: to involve citizens in labor service; establish military housing and auto-drawn duty; seize vehicles and other property for defense needs; regulate the working hours of institutions and enterprises; to regulate trade and the work of trade communal institutions; establish norms for the distribution of food and industrial goods; restrict traffic; establish a curfew (i.e. prohibit the appearance on the streets after a certain time); arrest and search suspicious persons; prohibit entry and exit to certain settlements; to evict persons in an administrative order. recognized as "socially dangerous".

On all these issues, the decisions of the military authorities were strictly binding on the local Soviets and were subject to immediate and unconditional execution. For disobedience to the orders of the military authorities, the perpetrators were subject to liability under the laws of wartime. At the same time, a Decree was issued on the mobilization of conscripts born in the period from 1905 to 1918 in a number of districts.

A state of siege was introduced relatively rarely during the war years. The state of siege was regulated by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the conditions and procedure for the introduction of a state of siege and the rights of the military authorities arising from this", adopted in January 1942, as well as special decrees of the State Defense Committee on the introduction of a state of siege in a particular city and adjacent to him areas. According to the aforementioned Decree, a state of siege was introduced in cases where a city or an important settlement was threatened by an enemy invasion, as well as in cities liberated from the enemy, pending the establishment of proper order in them and the organization of the normal activities of local authorities.

The military authorities in the event of a state of siege received all the fullness of state power in the field. In particular, in areas declared under martial law, they acquired the right to issue orders for the use of weapons and execution on the spot without trial or investigation for robberies, banditry, riots, for spreading provocative rumors, as well as for spies, saboteurs and other agents of the enemy. It is known, for example, that during the period from October 20 to December 13, 1941, 121,955 people were detained by the military authorities in besieged Moscow for various reasons.

Of these, 4,741 were sentenced to imprisonment, 23,927 were released to clarify the circumstances of the case, 357 were shot by military tribunates, and 15 were shot on the spot. , embezzlers of state and public property.

The introduction of martial law and state of siege led to a significant reduction in the network of people's courts and general prosecutor's offices and an increase in the number of military tribunals and military prosecutor's offices. The corps of military judges was replenished by mobilizing civilian lawyers. So, if by the beginning of the war the number of military judges was 766 people, then on March 1, 1942 it reached 3735 people.

Reorganization of the armed forces. The war required a significant reorganization of the armed forces of the Soviet state. Firstly, their number increased significantly - from 4.2 million people in 1941 to 11.365 million people in 1945. For these purposes, on June 22, 1941, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, general from 18 to 55 years old. Mobilization during the war years spread throughout the country. At the same time, a number of changes were made to the recruitment system of the Red Army and the Navy. In particular, in addition to expanding the draft age, the requirements for the state of health of recruits were changed and lowered, and deferrals for conscription until the end of education were canceled.

During the war years, widespread the formation of parts of the people's militia from volunteers- persons of military age who are capable of owning weapons, but not registered with the military. In Moscow, for example, the formation of divisions of the people's militia was regulated by instructions developed on July 1-2, 1941 at a meeting of representatives of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR with leading party and Soviet workers in Moscow.

After July 4, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted the Decree “On the voluntary mobilization of the workers of Moscow and the Moscow region in the divisions of the people's militia”, in four days they received 308 thousand applications. By July 6, 1941, 12 divisions of the people's militia were formed in Moscow. The command staff of the divisions of the people's militia consisted of career officers or reserve officers. Political workers were appointed workers of the district committees of the party, district Soviets of workers, executives of enterprises. In addition to Moscow and Leningrad, parts of the people's militia were created in Ukraine, in Stalingrad, Yaroslavl, Tula, Gorky, Rostov-on-Don.

On June 24, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a Decree "On measures to combat enemy paratroopers and saboteurs in the front line", according to which fighter battalions were created by local party and Soviet bodies, which served as an important reserve for the front. Their personnel carried out patrol and security services, were involved in the destruction of enemy paratroopers. In the vicinity of Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad and Donbass, the fighter battalions took a direct part in the hostilities.

Organs of field control of the armed forces were created. On June 23, 1941, by decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Headquarters of the High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created for the strategic leadership of the armed forces. On July 10, 1941, by decision of the GKO, it was renamed into Headquarters of the High Command. V.M. Molotov, S.K. Timoshenko, G.K. Zhukov, K.E. Voroshilov, SM. Budyonny, N.G. Kuznetsov, V.M. Shaposhnikov, chairman - I. V. Stalin. On August 8, 1941, the Headquarters was transformed into the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, and JV Stalin was appointed Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The day before, on July 19, he was appointed People's Commissar of Defense.

On July 10, 1941, by decision of the GKO, three main commands were formed in the most important areas of military operations. North-Western, with the subordination of the Northern and North-Western fronts to it. Northern and Baltic fleets; Western, with the subordination of the Western Front and the Pinsk military flotilla to it; South-Western with the subordination of the South-Western. Southern Fronts and the Black Sea Fleet. The commanders-in-chief of the aforementioned areas of the State Defense Committee were entrusted with the operational leadership of the troops of the army in the field, maintaining their high morale. However, due to the lack of the necessary powers and reserves in the commanders-in-chief, the Headquarters continued to exercise almost complete leadership of the fronts and armies. After the command and control of the troops was improved, its intermediate link in the person of the commanders-in-chief of the directions and their headquarters was abolished.

The operational body of the Stavka was General base, the volume of work and functions of which during the war years expanded significantly. The General Staff was reorganized at the end of July 1941 and turned into a center for the training and use of the country's armed forces. According to the Regulation approved on August 10, 1941 by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the General Staff of the People's Commissariat of Defense was renamed the General Staff of the Armed Forces and subordinated exclusively to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. His competence included the development of directives and orders of the Supreme High Command, control over the implementation of instructions from the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters, and the unification of the activities of the main headquarters of the branches of the Armed Forces and the headquarters of the military branches. The latter during the Great Patriotic War included the ground forces, air force, navy and air defense forces of the country.

With the outbreak of war, universal compulsory military training was introduced. On September 18, 1941, the State Defense Committee issued a resolution "On universal compulsory military training for citizens of the USSR." Every citizen of the USSR who is able to bear arms must be trained in military affairs in order to be prepared to defend his homeland with arms in hand. On October 1, 1941, compulsory military training was introduced for male citizens aged 16 to 50 years. It was carried out in a non-military way, i.e. without interrupting production at enterprises, institutions, collective farms and state farms.

In the system of universal education, special Komsomol youth units were formed, in which over 1.3 million tank destroyers, machine gunners, snipers, mortarmen, paratroopers, etc. were trained during the war. Primary and pre-conscription training for students in grades 5-10 was introduced in secondary schools .

General military training was one of the important sources of reserves for the front. People's militia divisions and extermination battalions were formed from those who passed general education. Thanks to all education. The Red Army was continuously replenished with hundreds of thousands of well-trained soldiers.

Political bodies in the Armed forces of the USSR. The most important measure for improving the organization and activities of the Soviet Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War was the reorganization of the political bodies of the army and navy, the restructuring of their structure and procedures, and the introduction of the institution of military commissars. On July 16, 1941, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a Decree "On the reorganization of political propaganda bodies and the introduction of the institution of military commissars in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army." On July 20, 1941, the said Decree was extended to the Navy. Positions were introduced in regiments, divisions, headquarters, military schools and institutions military commissars, and in companies, batteries and squadrons - political leaders(politicians). On August 12, 1941, the positions of military commissars were introduced in tank battalions and companies, artillery batteries and divisions.

Along with the commanders, the commissars were given full responsibility for the performance of combat missions by the military unit, for its steadfastness in battle and readiness to fight the enemy to the last drop of blood. The military commissars were obliged to provide the commanders with all possible assistance in the performance of combat missions, to strengthen the authority of the commanders and, together with them, to carry out all the orders of the high command. The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command renamed the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army into the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, the directorates of political propaganda of fronts and districts - into political directorates; departments of political propaganda of armies, divisions, educational institutions and institutions - to the corresponding political departments.

After the grounds for the existence of the institution of military commissars disappeared, on October 9, 1942, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a Decree "On the establishment of complete unity of command and the abolition of the institution of military commissars in the Red Army." On October 13, 1942, it was extended to the Navy. At the same time, the commanders were made responsible for all aspects of not only combat, but also political work in units, formations and institutions of the Red Army. According to the said Decree, the commissars were relieved of their posts and appointed as deputy commanders for political affairs.

During the Great Patriotic War, important tasks were assigned to those created by decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) Military councils of fronts, armies, fleets and flotillas, which were collegiate bodies of the military and military-political leadership. As a rule, the Military Councils included a Commander (Chairman), a member of the Military Council, and a Chief of Staff. In November 1942, the position of the second member of the Military Council for the rear of the front (army) was established. The Military Councils were responsible for combat training, political morale, and logistical support for the troops. According to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On Martial Law" dated June 22, 1941, the Military Councils were endowed with full military and administrative power within the limits of the operation of fronts and armies, as well as the basing of fleets.

Creation of new military formations and state bodies. At the final stage of the war, it was recognized that the organization of independent state military formations in the republics could serve to further strengthen the defense might of the USSR. In January 1944, at the 10th session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Law on the right of the Union republics to have military formations was adopted. The latter were created as republican, and not purely national, i.e. they consisted of citizens of all nationalities living in the territory of the given republic. For example, in the ranks of the Red Army on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, the Lithuanian rifle division fought steadfastly, twice earning the gratitude of the Supreme Commander. More than 3,300 of its soldiers, sergeants and officers were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.

The military formations of the union republics were integral parts of the unified Red Army, subordinated to a single command, charters and mobilization plans. The unity and the strictest centralization of the Red Army was ensured by the fact that the guiding principles for the organization of military formations were still established by the organs of the USSR.

The 10th session of the Supreme Soviet of the SSR also decided to transform the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR from an all-union to a union-republican one, and also to grant the right to the federal government to establish the guiding principles for organizing the military formations of the union republics. Corresponding changes were made to the Constitution of the SSR and the constitutions of the Union republics.

As a result of these transformations, the sovereignty of the union republics received additional guarantees, which also received expression in the fact that they acquired the right to create their own republican military formations.

The war gave rise to a number of new state bodies, which were not extraordinary in their powers, but were genetically connected with the state of war. By decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in order to continuously supply the army with tanks and mortars, in September 1941, the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry was created with the inclusion of all tank, diesel and armored factories. In November 1941, the People's Commissariat for General Engineering was transformed into the People's Commissariat for Mortar Weapons.

Taking into account the need to provide all possible assistance to the Soviet Armed Forces in conducting combat operations, protecting Soviet troops from spies, saboteurs and terrorists, strengthening the protection of the rear of the country from subversive actions of the enemy, as well as organizing reconnaissance, sabotage and counterintelligence work in the rear of the Nazis, in accordance with the Decrees of the State Defense Committee of 17 July 1941 and January 10, 1942, the military counterintelligence agencies were separated from the People's Commissariat of Defense and the People's Commissariat of the Navy and transformed into Special Departments with their subordination to the NKVD of the USSR. In the interests of uniting the efforts of the state security and internal affairs agencies. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 20, 1941, the People's Commissariats of State Security and Internal Affairs of the USSR were merged into the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR.

A radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War caused a new reorganization of the NKVD of the USSR. Given the complication and increase in work in the field of state security, as well as the need to identify and destroy spies, saboteurs and other accomplices of the enemy, on April 14, 1943, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the NKVD of the USSR was divided into the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR and the People's Commissariat of State Security (NKGV USSR ). In April 1943, the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence of the People's Commissariat of Defense "Smersh" and the Directorate of Counterintelligence of the Navy "Smersh" were formed.

In connection with the acute shortage of fuel caused by the capture of the Donbass by the Nazis, specialized central state bodies were created that were in charge of the economical distribution of certain types of fuel. So, on November 17, 1942, under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Main Directorate for the Supply of Coal Fuel (“Glavsnabugol”) was established. The named Department was formed by separating Uglesbyt from the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of the coal industry. The competence of Glavsnabugol included monitoring the rational and economical use of coal and shale, as well as their proper storage in consumer warehouses.

Considering the great national economic importance of artificial liquid fuel and gas, in order to develop this industry as soon as possible. On June 19, 1943, the Main Directorate of Artificial Fuel and Gas under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was formed.

In 1943, the main departments were organized to supply the national economy with petroleum products (Glavenabneft), as well as timber and firewood (Glavsnables).

In connection with the liberation of the previously captured Soviet territories from German occupation and the increased importance of the tasks of restoring the national economy in the liberated areas, a special committee was formed under the Soviet government for this purpose by a joint Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of August 21, 1943. In addition, in the same year, the Committee for Architecture was established, which was entrusted with improving the quality of architectural and planning work.

The enormous work to restore the cities that were occupied by the Nazis brought to life specialized people's commissariats associated with housing and civil construction. In September 1943, similar people's commissariats were created in Ukraine, in February 1944 - in the RSFSR, in September 1944 in Belarus, in February 1945 - in Moldova. They were entrusted with the task of ensuring the restoration in the shortest possible time of the settlements destroyed by the Germans. The scale of the work done by these people's commissariats was enormous. So, only in the RSFSR housing and communal construction was carried out for a total amount of several billion rubles. In Ukraine in 1944, more than 2 million m 2 of living space was restored, for which more than 500 million rubles were allocated.

It should also be noted that in 1943 the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was formed to carry out communication between the Government and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia on issues of the Russian Orthodox Church, requiring the permission of the Government. In 1944, the Council for Religious Cults was formed under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

The work of the Soviets during the war and the organization of the partisan movement. During the Great Patriotic War, state bodies continued to exist, provided for by the Constitution of the USSR of 1936 by the relevant constitutions of the union and autonomous republics, primarily the Supreme Soviets, the presidiums of the Supreme Soviets, the Councils of People's Commissars of the USSR, Union Republics and Autonomous Republics, local Soviets. The conditions of the war could not but narrow down Soviet democracy. The Soviets were convened at sessions less frequently than required by the 1936 Constitution of the USSR, or were not convened at all. The quorum of the session was changed, which was now determined in 2/3 of the actual composition (and not the list) of deputies. At the height of the war, the term of office of the deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, provided for by the Constitution, expired. For the reason that. that the conditions of the war did not allow the organization of new elections, the parliamentary powers were extended until its end.

These circumstances were caused mainly by a sharp reduction in the deputy corps during the war, especially in the front-line areas. Thus, in the Soviets of Deputies of the Working People's Towns of the Home Front, the average number of deputies by the end of 1943 was about 55%. In cities liberated from occupation, the average percentage of the remaining deputies ranged from 10 to 30.

In many cases, the small number of deputies ruled out the holding of sessions at all. In such cases, the executive committees practiced the systematic convocation of citizens' meetings, which served as one of the most important forms of public participation in public administration. In areas where, after the liberation from the Nazi occupiers, not a single deputy remained at all, the meetings of electors assumed the responsibility of restoring Soviet power. They directly elected executive committees, entrusted them with the implementation of the functions of state power within a particular locality.

The need for urgent resolution of urgent tasks often led to the fact that many functions of the Soviets were performed by their executive bodies. The use of collegial forms of work was reduced.

In wartime conditions, the procedure for the formation of executive committees was changed in a number of places. If, under normal conditions, the executive committees, in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, were formed at sessions of the Soviets, then during the war, with a shortage of deputies to convene a session of the Soviets, they were replenished at their own discretion or by decision of a higher executive committee (in some cases, by decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the republic). In those areas where there were no members of the executive committee or deputies of the Council, the executive committee of the village Council was formed on the spot by an authorized representative of the higher executive committee. Sometimes the rural population of the areas liberated from the occupation themselves elected commissioners-electors, who in turn elected the chairman of the village council, which was then approved by the executive committee of the district council. Where Soviet power was restored by the partisans, the executive bodies of the Soviets were elected by the general assembly of citizens.

As you know, the Nazis occupied the territories of the Ukrainian, Belorussian, Moldavian, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Union Republics, as well as a significant part of the RSFSR.

For the period of occupation, the highest authorities and administrations of the named union republics were evacuated to the territory of the RSFSR, where they continued to function. At the same time, underground organs of Soviet power operated behind enemy lines. In Byelorussia and the RSFSR, the partisans liberated entire "partisan territories" from the Nazi invaders. There were thousands of settlements on their territory, many of which, including the cities of Begoml and Ushachi, were held by partisans throughout the war. The role of authorities and administration on their territory was usually played by the underground regional committees and district committees of the CPSU (b), which in essence were united party-Soviet bodies and simultaneously led the partisan struggle. The functions of emergency authorities were carried out in accordance with the named Decree of June 22, 1941 "On martial law" by the command of partisan detachments.

The partisan movement and the functioning of the underground bodies of Soviet power in the occupied territory of each of the republics were led by their SNK through the republican headquarters of the partisan movement under the general leadership Central headquarters of the partisan movement at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. The latter was created on May 30, 1942 by the State Defense Committee under the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. His activities were carried out in close contact with the leadership of the party and Soviet bodies of the republics and regions, as well as the Military Councils of the fronts and armies. The direct leadership of the partisan detachments was carried out by the Ukrainian, Belarusian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian headquarters of the partisan movement.

In the occupied regions of the RSFSR, regional headquarters of the partisan movement functioned. These headquarters played a huge role in the development of guerrilla warfare, in the implementation of interaction with the Red Army. At the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement, a Political Directorate was established, later renamed the Political Department with the task of managing agitation and propaganda work among the population under occupation.

After the liberation from the Nazi occupiers, special difficulties arose with the restoration of Soviet power in the Baltic republics, the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus and the right-bank regions of Moldova, since the corresponding activities were associated with a large-scale armed struggle against the nationalist gangs planted by the Nazis. In November 1944, to provide assistance to the party bodies and governments of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Soviet republics, the Bureaus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks were created in each of them. In Moldova, a similar Bureau was formed in March 1945.

Military discipline was introduced in a number of people's commissariats and other central state bodies, some of them were evacuated to the city of Kuibyshev. An important measure to strengthen assistance to the front, as well as to coordinate the activities of military and civilian bodies, was the combination of posts and the unification of military bodies and civilian people's commissariats and departments under one leadership. For example, in February 1942, the head of the rear of the Red Army was concurrently appointed People's Commissar of Railways of the USSR.

In a number of people's commissariats, special paramilitary main directorates were created to service military needs. Similar formations were created in the allied people's commissariats for communications, communications, trade, etc. Similar departments were also created in some republican people's commissariats. Among them were the departments established under the considered circumstances in the people's commissariats of social security of the republics for servicing the disabled of the Patriotic War, families of military personnel and those who died on the fronts.

The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On the expansion of the rights of people's commissars of the USSR in wartime conditions" of July 1, 1941 expanded the powers of the people's commissars of the USSR and a number of union republics in the field of distributing finance and equipment between enterprises and construction sites. In addition, people's commissars acquired the right to transfer on a mandatory basis specialists, workers and employees from one enterprise to another.

The powers of the State Defense Committee and Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in wartime conditions were not delineated in detail. As a rule, the State Defense Committee made the most important, fundamental decisions, and the Council of People's Commissars then developed resolutions that ensured their implementation.

The activities of the internal affairs bodies during the war. During the Great Patriotic War, the functions of the internal affairs bodies expanded significantly. To them was added the fight against military and labor desertion, looting, alarmists, and distributors of all kinds of provocative rumors and fabrications. A new and very important task of the Soviet militia was the search for children who disappeared during the evacuation and other wartime circumstances. As part of the Main Department of Militia, a Central Reference Address Children's Desk was created, and reference address children's desks were created under republican, regional, district and city police bodies. On June 21, 1943, on the basis of the Department of Juvenile Colonies of the Gulag Correctional Colonies Department, the Department for Combating Child Homelessness and Neglect of the NKVD of the USSR was formed.

The internal affairs bodies made their contribution to the victory over the enemy by participating in hostilities directly on the battlefields, as part of partisan detachments, extermination battalions, sabotage and reconnaissance groups, etc.

Already on June 27, 1941, by order of the NKVD of the USSR, a unit was formed to carry out special tasks of the People's Commissariats of Internal Affairs and Defense of the USSR "to destroy the Nazi invaders and their minions in the enemy rear." In October 1941, it was reorganized into a separate motorized rifle brigade for special purposes (OMSBON NKVD of the USSR), in October 1943 - into a separate detachment.

Their fighters and commanders, who underwent special training, within the framework of the sabotage-combat and reconnaissance tasks assigned to them, carried out landing operations behind enemy lines as part of units, in small groups and individually. From February 1942 until the end of the war, 108 special detachments and groups with a total number of 2537 people and more than 50 single performers were sent behind enemy lines. Besides. OMSBON was called upon to become the core of the unfolding partisan movement, to provide it with comprehensive assistance, and to create an underground in the cities.

Significant activity during the Great Patriotic War, in conditions of extreme aggravation of the struggle against various kinds of "anti-Soviet elements", was distinguished by the activities of the Special Conference under the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR. In cases of the category under consideration, the Special Conference was granted the right to use exile and exile for up to five years as measures of criminal repression, imprisonment in labor camps for up to 25 years, and according to the Decree of the State Defense Committee of November 17, 1941 - the death penalty by firing squad. In 1943, out of 46,689 people “convicted” by the Special Meeting, 681 were sentenced to death. From 1942 to 1946, the Special Meeting determined capital punishment for more than 10,000 people.

In addition, the competence of the Special Meeting included early release from places of detention, exile and settlements for high performance. In 1943, the OSO issued decisions on early release for 5824 people. 7650 sentences were reduced.

Reorganization of the work of corrective labor institutions. In accordance with the requirements of wartime, the work of corrective labor institutions was also reorganized. From June 22, 1941 to July 1944, a total of 2,527,755 convicts entered the ITL and the NTK. The activities of the ITU, as well as the situation of the convicts, were regulated by the departmental instruction “On the regime of detention and protection of prisoners in forced labor camps and colonies of the NKVD of the USSR in wartime”, issued in February 1942. It gave the operational service units the right in some cases to use weapons without warnings (when escaping and pursuing prisoners, when attacking the administration and the convoy).

With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the regime for keeping prisoners was tightened, their isolation was strengthened, loudspeakers were confiscated, the issuance of newspapers was prohibited, visits, correspondence with relatives and the transfer of money to them were stopped, the working day was increased to 10 hours and the production rate was increased by 20%, the release of certain categories was stopped. prisoners, etc.

Regardless of the nature of the crime committed, a single regime of serving sentences was established for all prisoners - strict, and those convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes, banditry, robbery and escapes, as well as foreign prisoners and repeat offenders, were taken under heavy guard. With the outbreak of war, the release of prisoners convicted of especially dangerous crimes (espionage, terror, sabotage, etc.) ceased. The total number of persons detained with release until the end of the war amounted to 17 thousand people.

The evacuation of prisoners from camps and colonies in connection with the military situation was carried out in a hurry. On the way, some of them, mostly convicted of domestic crimes with the remainder of the unserved term of less than a year, were released on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 12, 1941.

In connection with the conscription of a significant number of ITU employees into the army in order to strengthen the protection of prisoners, the ITU administration received the right to appoint convicts convicted of minor crimes to self-protection, but their number should not exceed 20% of the personnel of the security units. Prisoners enrolled in self-guard, although they served without weapons, nevertheless, were assigned to all guards and convoys.

Since October 1941, the leadership of the camps was recommended to de-escort and use former employees of the NKVD, police, paramilitary guards convicted of minor crimes committed before June 22, 1941, in the following types of work: tractor drivers, drivers, mechanics, auto technicians, doctors; in administrative and economic work (heads of farms, foremen, foremen, commandants of camp points, etc.); in the paramilitary security at the positions of privates; in the paramilitary fire department in the positions of privates and junior commanding staff, etc.

During the war, new types of places of deprivation of liberty arose. So, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the penalties for the Nazi villains guilty of killing and torturing the Soviet civilian population and captured Red Army soldiers, for spies, traitors to the Motherland" dated April 19, 1943, hard labor was introduced for a period of 15 up to 20 years old. In some correctional labor camps (Vorkuta, Norilsk, etc.), hard labor departments were formed. By the end of the Great Patriotic War (as of April 1, 1945), 15,586 traitors to the Motherland sentenced to hard labor, including 1,113 women, were serving sentences in the ITL of the NKVD of the USSR.

Camps for prisoners of war were widely developed. Under the jurisdiction of the USSR NKVD Directorate for Prisoners of War and Internees. By the end of 1944, he was in charge of 156 prisoner of war camps. As of February 25, 1945, they contained 920,077 prisoners of war. Within the framework of the powers assigned to them, the internal affairs bodies carried out the reception, movement, placement, provision and exploitation of the labor of enemy prisoners of war, as well as the organization of anti-fascist work in the camps.

On August 30, 1944, the Regulations “On special regime camps for prisoners of war” were approved, according to which former Nazi soldiers and officers of two categories were to be kept there: participants in atrocities on the territory of the USSR and occupied European countries; active fascists, employees of the intelligence and punitive agencies of Nazi Germany and its allies. The regime of detention of this category of prisoners was particularly severe.

According to the GKO decision of December 27 and the order of the NKVD of the USSR of December 28, 1941, all Red Army soldiers who were captured and surrounded by the enemy had to be tested in special camps. For this, a network of check-filtration camps was organized at the location of each of the fronts of the army. Before being transferred to the GULAG in July 1944, they were subordinate to the UPVI of the NKVD of the USSR. On August 28, 1944, an independent department of special camps of the NKVD of the USSR was created. On February 20, 1945, it was renamed the Department of Checking and Filtration Camps of the NKVD of the USSR. During the three years of the war, a total of 312,594 people passed the “state check”. After that, 223,272 people went to the district military commissariats for further service, 5,716 were transferred to work in the defense industry, 43,337 people replenished the escort troops of the NKVD of the USSR, and 8,255 - assault battalions, 11,283 people were arrested, 1,529 were sent to hospitals, and 1,799 people died.

Similar measures began to be taken during the war years with regard to civilians who, for various reasons, found themselves outside the USSR.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the institution of exile was further developed, which was especially widely applied by the internal affairs bodies to persons subjected to administrative repression. The Soviet government determined the regions of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Krasnoyarsk and Altai Territories, as well as the Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Omsk and Tomsk regions as new places of settlement for "special deportees" from among the repressed nationalities. Already on July 1, 1944, the NKVD of the USSR registered a total of 1,514,000 deported Germans, Kalmyks, Karachays, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars and Crimean Tatars. Their legal status was regulated by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of January 8, 1945. In accordance with it, the repressed of this category enjoyed almost all the rights of citizens of the USSR. The only exceptions were restrictions related to the prohibition to leave the area of ​​​​settlement. Unauthorized absence was considered as an escape and entailed criminal liability.

As of July 1, 1944, the Department of Special Settlements registered 2.225 million special settlers, including 1.514 million Germans, Karachais, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Kalmyks, and Crimean Tatars.

By the end of 1944, up to 15% of all construction work in the USSR as a whole was completed by forced labor of prisoners, special settlers, a contingent of special camps and prisoners of war, including the construction of 842 airfields, aircraft factories in Kuibyshev, 3,573 km of railways and about 5,000 km of highways, as well as 1058 km of oil pipelines. In addition, they mined almost 315 tons of gold, 14,398 tons of tin, 8.924 million tons of coal, 407 thousand tons of oil, and produced about 30.2 million mines.

Barrier formations. Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, to combat deserters and alarmists in the front line, on roads, railway junctions and in forests, they began to create barrage formations. Initially, they were recruited from military units and units of the NKVD troops for the protection of the rear of the fronts, which included operational officers of special departments. During the period from June 22 to October 10, 1941, special departments of the NKVD and barrage detachments of the NKVD troops for the protection of the rear detained 657,364 servicemen who had fallen behind their units and fled from the front.

Of these, 249,969 people were detained by the operational barriers of special departments and 407,395 military personnel by the barrage detachments of the NKVD troops for the protection of the rear. Of the detainees, 25,878 people were arrested by special departments, the remaining 632,486 people were formed into units and again sent to the front. According to the decisions of the special departments and the verdicts of the military tribunals, 10,201 people were shot, of which 3,321 people were in front of the line.

The small barrage detachments of the NKVD troops to protect the rear of the fronts could not cope with the large number of servicemen who left the front line in a disorganized manner, therefore, on September 5, 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in response to the request of the commander of the Bryansk Front A.I. Eremenko, it was decided to allow the creation of barrage detachments in those divisions that had proven themselves to be unstable 1 Subsequently, similar formations were created in other troops of the Red Army..

However, these measures were also not enough. After a series of military failures, the Order of the NPO of the USSR dated July 28, 1942 No. 227 followed, the main appeal of which was “Not a step back!”. In accordance with the above order, barrage detachments of up to 200 people were formed in the combined arms armies, located in the rear of unstable divisions, in order to shoot alarmists and cowards on the spot in the event of panic and disorderly withdrawal of parts of the division. In each combined arms army, three to five well-armed barrage detachments were formed. 2 See: Chekists in the Battle of Stalingrad: Documents, memoirs, essays / Comp. M.T. Polyakov. V.I. Demidov, N.V. Orlov. Volgograd. 2002, p. 49..

In total, according to published data, by mid-October 1942, 193 barrage detachments were formed in the active units of the Red Army. From August 1 to October 15, 1942, they stopped 140,755 servicemen who fled from the front line. Of the 3,980 detainees, 1,189 people were shot, 2,776 were sent to penal companies, and 185 people were sent to penal battalions. In total, 131,094 people were returned to their units and to transit points. 3 Khristoforov B.C. The activities of the military counterintelligence during the battle for Stalingrad: July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943 (based on the materials of the Central Administration of the FSB) // Historical readings at the Lubyanka. 1997 2007. M., 2008. S. 249 254..

After a radical change during the Great Patriotic War, the need for the existence of barrage detachments disappeared.

The decisions of the GKO were binding on all citizens, organizations and authorities.

It was also here that the decree on the formation of the State Defense Committee was formulated. The handwritten version of the resolution has been preserved in the funds of the Politburo of the Central Committee. Now the document is in the funds of RGASPI.

Composition of GKO

Most of the GKO resolutions were signed by Stalin or certified by a seal, and some - by Deputy Molotov and members of the GKO Mikoyan and Beria.

The State Defense Committee did not have its own apparatus, its decisions were prepared in the relevant people's commissariats and departments, and office work was carried out by the Special Sector of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

The vast majority of GKO resolutions were classified as "Secret", "Top Secret", "Top Secret/Special Importance" (total 57 documents) or "Top Secret/Special Folder" (total 7 documents) [designation "s", "ss", “ss / s” and “ss / op” after the number], but some decrees were open and published in the press (an example of such a decree is the introduction of a state of siege in Moscow).

The vast majority of GKO resolutions dealt with topics related to the war:

GKO structure

The GKO included several structural divisions. Over the period of its existence, the structure of the Committee has changed several times, with the aim of maximizing management efficiency and adapting to current conditions.

The most important unit was the Operations Bureau, established on December 8, 1942. The Bureau included V. M. Molotov, L. P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov and A. I. Mikoyan. The tasks of this unit initially included monitoring and monitoring the current work of all the people's commissariats of the defense industry, the people's commissariats of communications, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, power plants, the oil, coal and chemical industries, as well as the preparation and execution of plans for the production and supply of these industries and transport with everything you need. On May 19, 1944, it was adopted that the functions of the bureau were significantly expanded - now its tasks included monitoring and controlling the work of the people's commissariats of the defense industry, transport, metallurgy, people's commissariats of the most important areas of industry and power plants; from that moment on, the Operations Bureau was also responsible for supplying the army, and finally, it was entrusted with the duties of the abolished by the decision of the Transport Committee.

Other important divisions of the GKO were:

• A group of permanent commissioners of the GKO and permanent commissions of the GKO at the fronts.
• Evacuation Commission - (established on June 22, 1942 by GKO Decree No. 1922);
• Special Committee (dealt with issues of reparations); On September 26, 1941, by GKO Decree No. 715c, the Department for the Evacuation of the Population was organized under this committee;
• Trophy Commission (established in December 1941, and on April 5, 1943, by Decree No. 3123ss, it was transformed into the Trophy Committee);
• The Committee for Unloading Railways - was formed on December 25, 1941 by GKO Decree No. 1066ss, on September 14, 1942, by GKO Decree No. 1279, it was transformed into the Transport Committee under the State Defense Committee, which existed until May 19, 1944, after which the Transport Committee was abolished by GKO Decree No. 5931 , and its functions were transferred to the Operational Bureau of the State Defense Committee;
• Evacuation Committee (created on October 25, 1941, disbanded on December 25, 1941 by GKO Decree No. 1066ss).
• Radar Council - established on July 4, 1943 by GKO Decree No. 3686ss, consisting of: Malenkov (chairman), Arkhipov, Berg, Golovanov, Gorokhov, Danilov, Kabanov, Kobzarev, Stogov, Terentyev, Ucher, Shakhurin, Shchukin;
• Special Committee - created on August 20, 1945, dealt with the development of nuclear weapons; Within the framework of the Special Committee, on the same day, August 20, 1945, the first main department under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (PGU) was created, which was engaged in the creation of a new industry in a short time.

The system of three main departments under the GKO was created with the expectation of the post-war development of fundamentally new industries and lasted much longer than the committee itself. This system directed a significant part of the resources of the Soviet economy to the development of the nuclear industry, the radar industry and the space industry. At the same time, the main departments not only solved the tasks of increasing the country's defense capability, but were also a sign of the importance of their leaders. So, for reasons of secrecy, for several years after its creation, PSU did not provide any information about its composition and results of work to any bodies other than the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

GKO functions

The State Defense Committee supervised all military and economic issues during the war. The leadership of the fighting was carried out through the Headquarters.

Dissolution of the GKO

GKO archive

The archive of the State Defense Committee is stored in the funds of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI): Moscow, st. Bolshaya Dmitrovka, 15.

see also

Notes

1. In wartime, the "State Defense Committee" was abbreviated - " GOKO". Only from 06/30/1941 to 03/1942 in the number of the Decree was written "No. GKO-...". See original documents.
2. Modern abbreviation.
3. Non-democratic GKO
4. R. A. Medvedev. IV Stalin in the first days of the Great Patriotic War. New and Contemporary History, No. 2, 2002
5. Konstantin Pleshakov. Stalin's mistake. The first 10 days of the war. Per. from English. A. K. Efremova. M., "Eksmo", 2006 ISBN 5-699-11788-1 pp. 293-304
6. Guslyarov E. (ed.) Stalin in life. M., Olma-Press, 2003 ISBN 5-94850-034-9

Review date:

08-05-2015

Publication date:

09-05-2015

abstract.

The creation and activity of the State Defense Committee (SDC) reflected the peculiarities of the state administration in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945 during which the concentration of all the resources were needed to gain the victory. Before the war, the country’s system of administration were fully formed, and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of the Bolsheviks defined the state politics and headed the state administration. The creation of the SDC in June, 30, 1941 fully reflected this tendency and in the conditions of the war took all the state power as an emergency Party and State authorities. Unclassified archive documents about the SDC activity give new opportunities for studying its activity. The article tells about the characteristic features of creation, structure, directions of activity and a review of materials about the official paperwork of the State Defense Committee. The article characterizes the State Defense Committee, shows the documents about the activity of scientific research, defines the possibilities to use new materials. The latter comes out of the fact that all the documents are unclassified and gives many opportunities for the further studying of the SDC history.