Mobilization to the Red Army in the liberated regions of Kuban and Stavropol in 1943

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-2-524–541

For citation

Kiselev, Ilya V. (2025). Mobilization to the Red Army in the liberated regions of Kuban and Stavropol in 1943, Herald of an Archivist, № 2, pp. 524–541, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-2-524–541

Kiselev, Ilya V., Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after Hero of the Soviet Union A. K. Serov, Krasnodar, Russia

Mobilization to the Red Army in the liberated regions of Kuban and Stavropol in 1943

Abstract

Mobilization of the population of the USSR for military service during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 acquired a significant scope. One of the sources of replenishment of the active army were the residents of the liberated from occupation areas of the Soviet Union and Soviet servicemen who had been in captivity. The article analyzes the experience of conscription in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories in 1943, after the expulsion of the occupants from their territories. The study of domestic and foreign historiography has shown that this aspect of the Battle of the Caucasus in 1942-1943 is not sufficiently covered. The main source for the preparation of the publication were the documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the bulk of which were first introduced into circulation. Along with them, the materials of the Center for Documentation of Contemporary History of the Krasnodar Region and the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, as well as published diaries and memoirs were also used. The study required the use of historical-systemic and historical-statistical methods. The author focused on those mobilization activities that were carried out by Soviet troops before the restoration of the system of military commissariats, immediately after entering the liberated areas of Kuban and Stavropol. The general order of conscription in the regions liberated from occupation was determined by the order of the Stavka VGK of February 9, 1942. Its contents were supplemented by directives of the command of the Northern Group of Forces and the North Caucasus Front. Analysis of the documents showed that at first mobilization was accompanied by many difficulties. Identification and registration of conscripts, checking their physical and moral-political qualities were conducted superficially. The dispatch of recruits to the troops was delayed, the conscripts often did not receive uniforms, equipment and food. Combat training, educational and political work with new recruits in the troops was conducted without taking into account their peculiarities. All this had a negative impact on the combat effectiveness of the Soviet troops. The mobilization in a short time was partly due to the current situation. In the course of the offensive in early 1943, the armies of the North Caucasus Front suffered losses in manpower and were cut off from their rear. During the spring of 1943, the situation with conscription changed for the better - the work of military commissariats was resumed, the registration of persons liable for military service was organized anew, the supply and training of those called up to the army was organized. However, by that time the bulk of potential soldiers from the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions had already joined the Red Army.

Keywords

The Great Patriotic War, the Battle of the Caucasus, the North Caucasus Front, mobilization, Kuban, Stavropol.

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About authors

Kiselev Ilya V., Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after Hero of the Soviet Union A. K. Serov, Department of humanitarian and socio-economic disciplines, Associate Professor, Krasnodar, Russia, +7-918-370-02-83, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 05.09.2024, recommended for publication on 20.03.2025