A Comprehensive and Systematic Study of the History of Kyrgyzstan 1941-1945

New Research on the History of the Republic during the Great Patriotic War.

A more comprehensive and systematic study of the history of Kyrgyzstan from 1941 to 1945 began after the end of the Great Patriotic War. In 1946, a work was published that highlighted the contribution of workers in the light industry of Kyrgyzstan to the victory effort based on factual material. Candidate dissertations on specific issues were prepared and defended. The authors of these studies attempted to demonstrate the activities of party, Soviet, and Komsomol organizations in mobilizing the forces and resources of the republic, their assistance to the front, illuminate the military and labor feats of Soviet people, the economic and political life of the republic, and summarize Kyrgyzstan's contribution to the nationwide effort to defeat the enemy.

In the post-war years, literature on the history of Kyrgyzstan during the war years was also enriched by a number of books, anniversary collections, and popular articles, mainly written on general issues of the economic and cultural development of the republic. Some works and sections were dedicated to the events of the war years, showcasing the selfless labor of workers, collective farmers, and intelligentsia, the heroism of Kyrgyzstani people at the front, the participation of Kyrgyz warriors in the partisan movement, the unbreakable friendship of the peoples of the USSR who rose against a common enemy, and the economic-organizational and mass-political work of party organizations, councils, and Komsomol in mobilizing the forces and resources of the republic for the needs of the war. Some publications were dedicated to the issue of the participation of the population of Kyrgyzstan in the nationwide movement to provide assistance to the front, the hero city of Leningrad, and the areas liberated from the occupiers.

At the same time, the works published in the first post-war decade were based on a narrow documentary base, predominantly on published materials and data from the periodical press. They are characterized by a predominance of illustrative methods of presentation, and not entirely objective coverage of the situation in the development of the economy of the republic in general and agricultural production in particular. For example, in the works of A. Kazansky and I. N. Gluskin, a thesis is presented about the steady expansion of food production in the collective farms and state farms of the republic during the years of the Great Patriotic War. However, this assertion distorted the actual state of affairs that existed in the village at that time: a sharp reduction in the material and technical base and human resources, violations of agronomy, a decrease in yields, as well as the rates of natural growth of livestock, not to mention the difficult situation in the personal farms of collective farmers and other factors. And if collective farmers throughout the war continuously supplied the army and the country with the necessary minimum of food products and raw materials for industry, this is evidence of an unprecedented level of awareness and labor activity among the workers of the village in history.

After the XX Congress of the CPSU, the historiography of the Kyrgyz SSR was enriched with qualitatively new studies that more fully and objectively reflect the history of the republic during the Great Patriotic War.

Works by T. U. Usubaliev, a member of the CPSU Central Committee and the first secretary of the Kyrgyz Communist Party Central Committee, were published, in which the contributions of the working class, collective farmers, and intelligentsia to the victory effort are highlighted in special sections, revealing the objective difficulties in agricultural production in the republic during the war years, and showing specific examples of the participation of the workers of Kyrgyzstan in the nationwide movement to assist the front and the areas liberated from Nazi occupation.

In 1956, "The History of Kyrgyzstan" in two volumes was published, written by a collective of authors. The second volume, edited by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor M. P. Kim (now an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences), was dedicated to the history of Kyrgyzstan during the Soviet period. This was the first attempt at a systematic presentation of the history of Kyrgyzstan during the socialist era. In 1963, a second edition was released, and in 1968, a third edition titled "The History of the Kyrgyz SSR" in two volumes and three books was published. One of the chapters of the second volume is dedicated to the history of the republic during the Great Patriotic War from 1941 to 1945. It attempts to provide a comprehensive picture of the participation of the workers of Kyrgyzstan in the overall struggle against the German-fascist invaders, trace the inseparable unity of the front and the rear, showcase the military feats of Kyrgyzstani people at the front and the labor achievements of the working class, collective farmers, and intelligentsia in the rear to ensure military and economic victory over the enemy. Great attention is given to the multifaceted military mobilization, economic-organizational, and ideological-educational activities of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Kyrgyzstan, councils, and public organizations aimed at implementing the combat slogan of the Communist Party: "Everything for the front, everything for victory!".

Thanks to the efforts of scholars—historians, economists, and engineers—a number of books on the industrial development of Kyrgyzstan during the years of Soviet power have been published. The relevant sections of these publications reveal the development of the most important sectors of industry during the war period. They illuminate the guiding and organizational work of the party in restructuring industry and transport for military purposes, relocating evacuated enterprises, creating new industries, increasing fuel extraction and electricity production. The authors show changes in the number and professional composition of workers, training of personnel, development of socialist competition, and the role of the working class in the heroic struggle for strengthening the military economy of the republic.

Kyrgyzstan during the Great Patriotic War