The Komi ASSR During the Great Patriotic War: The Demographic Factor in the Development of Strategic Branches of Industry

Abstract

Literally thousands of books and many tens of thousands of articles have been published about the Soviet-German War, 1941–1945. While many of these publications addressed military aspects of this struggle, a significant number have investigated a broad range of non-military themes, such as the war's political context and its profound economic and social consequences. Precious few, however, have viewed the war through the prism of wartime life in one of the Soviet Union's many constituent republics or autonomous republics and regions. This article begins filling that historical vacuum by treating the factor of demography in the development of wartime industries in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Komi ASSR). By exploiting information contained in hitherto unavailable archival documents, this article reveals unprecedented detail regarding how this republic mobilized its population and resources in support of the Soviet Union's overall war effort. By doing so, its detail also represents a virtual memorial to the personal sacrifices made by all of the nearly half million inhabitants of the Komi ASSR.