State Committee of the USSR State Defense Committee. And here is a short excerpt from the speech of G. Malenkov

Plan
Introduction
1 Formation of GKO
2 Composition of GKO
3 GKO resolutions
4 GKO structure
5 GKO functions
6 Dissolution of GKO
7 Further information in Wikisource

Bibliography
State Committee defense (USSR)

Introduction

State Defense Committee (abbreviated GKO) - an emergency governing body created during the Great Patriotic War, which had full power in the USSR. The need for creation was obvious, because. in war time it was required 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, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, etc. 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.

1. Formation of GKO

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 All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. 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.

The idea of creating a GKO was put forward by L.P. Beria at a meeting in Molotov's office in the Kremlin, which was also attended by Malenkov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan and Voznesensky. need attribution It was decided to put Stalin at the head of the GKO, in view of his undeniable authority in the country. need attribution Having made this decision, the six in the afternoon (after 4 o’clock) went to the Middle Dacha, where they persuaded Stalin to again assume the functions of the head of state and distributed duties in the newly created committee need attribution. . (for details see: Stalin June 29-30, 1941).

2. Composition of GKO

Initially (on the basis of a joint Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of June 30, 1941, see below), the composition of the GKO was as follows:

· Chairman of the GKO - I. V. Stalin.

· Deputy Chairman of the GKO - V. M. Molotov.

GKO members:

· K. E. Voroshilov.

· 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.

3. GKO resolutions

The first GKO decree (“On the organization of the production of T-34 medium tanks at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant”) was issued on July 1, 1941, the last one (No. ”) - September 4, 1945. The numbering of the decisions was kept through.

Of the 9,971 resolutions and orders adopted by the State Defense Committee during its work, 98 documents remain completely classified and three more partially (they relate mainly to the production of chemical weapons and the atomic problem).

Most of the decisions of the GKO were signed by its chairman, Stalin, some also by deputy Molotov and GKO members 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” or “Top Secret / Special Importance” (the designation “s”, “ss” and “ss / s” after the number), but some resolutions were open and published in the press (an example of such a resolution is the Decree of the State Defense Committee No. 813 of 10/19/41 on the introduction of a state of siege in Moscow).

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 of captured weapons and ammunition;

study and export to the USSR of captured samples of equipment, industrial equipment, reparations (for final stage wars);

organization of hostilities, distribution of weapons, etc.;

Appointment of authorized GKOs;

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

Structural changes in the GKO itself.

4. Structure of GKO

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 subdivision was the Operations Bureau, created on December 8, 1942 by GKO resolution No. 2615s. The bureau included L.P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov, A. I. Mikoyan and V. M. Molotov. The actual head of the Operational Bureau was Beria. 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, Decree No. 5931 was adopted, by which 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:

· The Trophy Commission (created in December 1941, and on April 5, 1943, by Decree No. 3123ss, it was transformed into the Trophy Committee);

· Special Committee - created on August 20, 1945 (GKO Decree No. 9887ss / op). Engaged in the development of nuclear weapons.

· Special Committee (dealt with issues of reparations).

· Evacuation Committee (created on June 25, 1941 by GKO Decree No. 834, disbanded on December 25, 1941 by GKO Decree No. 1066ss). On September 26, 1941, by GKO Decree No. 715s, the Administration for the Evacuation of the Population was organized under this committee.

Unloading Committee 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, by GKO Decree No. 5931, the Transport Committee was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the Operations Bureau GKO;

· 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.

· A group of permanent commissioners of the GKO and permanent commissions of the GKO at the fronts.

5. 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.

6. Dissolution of GKO

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

7. Additional information in Wikisource

Bibliography:

1. R. A. Medvedev. IV Stalin in the first days of the Great Patriotic War. New and Contemporary History, No. 2, 2002

2. 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

3. Guslyarov E. (ed.) Stalin in life. M., Olma-Press, 2003 ISBN 5-94850-034-9

4. 1941 The documents. in 2 vols. M., Democracy, 1998 p.498 ISBN 5-89511-003-7

5. Kumanev G. Next to Stalin. Smolensk, Rusich, 2001, pp. 31-34. ISBN 5-8138-0191-X

6. Khrushchev N. S. Memoirs. Time, people, power. In 3 vols. M., Moscow news, 1999. T.1., p. 301

7. Jover W. Secrets of the life and death of Stalin. - "Le Nouvel Observateur": 2006-06-28. (Interview with English historian Simon Seabeg Montefiore)

8. Scientific Conference"N.A. Voznesensky: his era and modernity". Archives of Russia

9. GKO Decree No. 2615c dated 8.12.42

Introduction

State Defense Committee (abbreviated GKO) - an emergency governing body created during the Great Patriotic War, which had full power in the USSR. The need for creation was obvious, because. in wartime, it was required 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, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, etc. 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.

1. Formation of GKO

2. Composition of GKO

Chairman of the GKO - I. V. Stalin.

Deputy Chairman of the GKO - V. M. Molotov.

GKO members:

K. E. Voroshilov.

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 GKO;

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

3. GKO resolutions

Most of the decisions of the GKO were signed by its chairman, Stalin, some also by deputy Molotov and GKO members Mikoyan and Beria.

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;

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

structural changes in the GKO itself.

4. Structure of GKO

The most important subdivision was the Operations Bureau, created on December 8, 1942 by GKO resolution No. 2615s. The bureau included L.P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov, A. I. Mikoyan and V. M. Molotov. The actual head of the Operations Bureau was Beria. 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, Decree No. 5931 was adopted, by which 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:

Trophy Commission (established in December 1941, and on April 5, 1943, by Decree No. 3123ss, it was transformed into the Trophy Committee);

Special Committee - established on August 20, 1945 (GKO Decree No. 9887ss / op). Engaged in the development of nuclear weapons.

Special Committee (dealt with issues of reparations).

Evacuation Committee (created on June 25, 1941 by GKO Decree No. 834, disbanded on December 25, 1941 by GKO Decree No. 1066ss). On September 26, 1941, by GKO Decree No. 715s, the Administration for the Evacuation of the Population was organized under this 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, by GKO Decree No. 5931, the Transport Committee was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the GKO Operational Bureau;

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.

A group of permanent commissioners of the GKO and permanent commissions of the GKO at the fronts.

5. 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.

6. Dissolution of GKO

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

7. Additional information in Wikisource

Bibliography:

R. A. Medvedev. IV Stalin in the first days of the Great Patriotic War. New and Contemporary History, No. 2, 2002

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

Guslyarov E. (ed.) Stalin in life. M., Olma-Press, 2003 ISBN 5-94850-034-9

1941 The documents. in 2 vols. M., Democracy, 1998 p.498 ISBN 5-89511-003-7

Kumanev G. Next to Stalin. Smolensk, Rusich, 2001, pp. 31-34. ISBN 5-8138-0191-X

Khrushchev N. S. Memoirs. Time, people, power. In 3 vols. M., Moscow news, 1999. T.1., p. 301

Jover W. Secrets of the life and death of Stalin. - "Le Nouvel Observateur": 2006-06-28. (Interview with English historian Simon Seabeg Montefiore)

Scientific conference "N.A.Voznesensky: his era and modernity". Archives of Russia

The State Defense Committee, created during the Great Patriotic War, was an emergency governing body that had full power in the USSR. The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Stalin I.V. became the Chairman of the GKO, and the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov became his deputy. Beria L.P. became a member of the GKO. (People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR), Voroshilov K.E. (Chairman of the CO under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR), Malenkov G.M. (Secretary, Head of the Personnel Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks). In February 1942, N.A. Voznesensky was introduced into the GKO. (1st Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars) and Mikoyan A.I. (Chairman of the Committee for Food and Clothing Supply of the Red Army), Kaganovich L.M. (Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars). In November 1944, Bulganin N.A. became a new member of the State Defense Committee. (Deputy Commissar of Defense of the USSR), and Voroshilov K.E. was withdrawn from the GKO.

The GKO was endowed with broad legislative, executive and administrative functions, it united the military, political and economic leadership of the country. The decrees and orders of the State Defense Committee had the force of wartime laws and were subject to unquestioning execution by all party, state, military, economic and trade union bodies. However, the USSR Armed Forces, the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the people's commissariats also continued to operate, fulfilling the decrees and decisions of the State Defense Committee. During the Great Patriotic War, the State Defense Committee adopted 9971 resolutions, of which about two-thirds dealt with the problems of the military economy and the organization of military production: the evacuation of the population and industry; mobilization of industry, production of weapons and ammunition; handling captured weapons and ammunition; organization of hostilities, distribution of weapons; appointment of authorized GKOs; structural changes in the State Defense Committee itself, etc. The remaining decisions of the State Defense Committee concerned political, personnel, and other issues.

Functions of the GKO: 1) directing the activities of state departments and institutions, directing their efforts to the full use of the material, spiritual and military capabilities of the country to achieve victory over the enemy; 2) mobilization of the country's human resources for the needs of the front and National economy; 3) organization of uninterrupted work of the defense industry of the USSR; 4) resolving issues of restructuring the economy on a war footing; 5) evacuation of industrial facilities from threatened areas and transfer of enterprises to liberated areas; 6) training of reserves and personnel for the Armed Forces and industry; 7) restoration of the economy destroyed by the war; 8) determination of the volume and terms of deliveries of military products by the industry.

The GKO set military-political tasks for the military leadership, improved the structure of the Armed Forces, determined the general nature of their use in the war, and placed leading cadres. The working bodies of the GKO on military issues, as well as the direct organizers and executors of its decisions in this area, were the People's Commissariats of Defense (NPO of the USSR) and the Navy (NC of the USSR Navy).

From the jurisdiction of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR to the jurisdiction of the State Defense Committee, the people's commissariats of the defense industry were transferred: People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry, People's Commissariat of Tank Industry, People's Commissariat of Ammunition, People's Commissariat for Armaments, People's Commissariat for Armaments, People's Commissariat for Armaments, People's Commissariat of Shipbuilding and others. GKO resolutions on the production of military products. The commissioners had mandates, signed by the chairman of the GKO - Stalin, which clearly defined the practical tasks that the GKO set for their commissioners. As a result of the efforts made, the output of military products in March 1942 only in the eastern regions of the country reached the pre-war level of its output throughout the entire territory of the Soviet Union.

During the war, in order to achieve maximum efficiency of management and adaptation to current conditions, the structure of the GKO was repeatedly changed. One of the important divisions of the State Defense Committee was the Operations Bureau, established on December 8, 1942. The Operations Bureau included L.P. Beria, G.M. Malenkov, A.I. Mikoyan. and Molotov V.M. The tasks of this unit initially included the coordination and unification of the actions of all other units of the State Defense Committee. But in 1944 the bureau's functions were significantly expanded.

It began to control the current work of all the people's commissariats of the defense industry, as well as the preparation and implementation of plans for the production and supply of industries and transport. The operational bureau became responsible for supplying the army, in addition, the duties of the previously abolished Transport Committee were assigned to it. "All members of the GKO were in charge of certain areas of work. So, Molotov was in charge of tanks, Mikoyan was in charge of quartermaster supply, fuel supply, lend-lease issues, sometimes he carried out individual orders from Stalin to deliver shells to the front. Malenkov was engaged in aviation, Beria - ammunition and weapons. Everyone came to Stalin with their own questions and said: I ask you to make such and such a decision on such and such an issue ... "- recalled the head of the Logistics, General of the Army Khrulev A.V.

To carry out the evacuation of industrial enterprises and the population from the front-line regions to the east, the Council for Evacuation Affairs was created under the State Defense Committee. In addition, in October 1941, the Committee for the Evacuation of Food Stocks, Industrial Goods and Industrial Enterprises was formed. However, in October 1941, these bodies were reorganized into the Directorate for Evacuation Affairs under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Other important divisions of the GKO were: the Trophy Commission, created in December 1941, and in April 1943 transformed into the Trophy Committee; the Special Committee, which dealt with the development of nuclear weapons; Special Committee - dealt with issues of reparations, etc.

The State Defense Committee became the main link in the mechanism of centralized management of the mobilization of the country's human and material resources for defense and armed struggle against the enemy. Having fulfilled its functions, the State Defense Committee was disbanded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 4, 1945.

STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE (GKO), the highest state emergency body in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. Formed on 30.6.1941 by a joint resolution 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, consisting of I. V. Stalin (Chairman), V. M. Molotov (Deputy Chairman), K. E. Voroshilov, G. M. Malenkov , L.P. Beria. In February 1942, A. I. Mikoyan, N. A. Voznesensky, L. M. Kaganovich were added to the State Defense Committee, in November 1944 N. A. Bulganin was included instead of Voroshilov. The State Defense Committee was endowed with full power on the territory of the USSR, that is, all party, Soviet, military, public bodies and organizations, as well as citizens of the USSR, were obliged to unquestioningly comply with its decisions and orders.

The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense during the Civil War of 1917-22 served as the prototype of the State Defense Committee. The GKO supervised the activities of all government departments and institutions; carried out the reorganization of the state apparatus and the central bodies of military administration in connection with the peculiarities of wartime; determined the tasks of the war economy and concentrated the efforts of state, party and economic bodies on their fulfillment; introduced and canceled a state of siege; took measures to restore the national economy destroyed by the war; supervised the provision of the armed forces with personnel, weapons, military equipment, military property and food; took measures to strengthen law and order in the country and discipline in the army; made decisions on the creation of foreign military formations on the territory of the USSR, on the purchase of equipment, weapons and other property abroad, etc. The GKO carried out the military-strategic leadership of the armed struggle through the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. To guide the struggle of the population behind enemy lines, in May 1942, by decision of the State Defense Committee, the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement and local headquarters of the partisan movement were created at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Each member of the GKO was in charge of a certain range of issues (L. P. Beria - the production of weapons and ammunition; K. E. Voroshilov - the preparation of new military formations for the army; G. M. Malenkov - the production of aircraft and aircraft engines; A. I. Mikoyan - production of food, fuel and clothing, etc.). Members of the GKO were not relieved of their party and government posts, and working groups were created under them, which included prominent designers, engineers, planners, production workers and other specialists.

The adopted decisions came into force immediately and were executed through the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the people's commissariats, as well as through authorized GKOs. Under the GKO, there were committees: transport, trophy, radar, a special committee (dealt with reparations, trophy equipment, and so on). To control 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, coal, oil and chemical industries, in December 1942, the GKO Operations Bureau was formed consisting of Beria (chairman), Malenkov, Mikoyan, N. A. Voznesensky and Bulganin. In the spring of 1944, the People's Commissariats of the rubber, paper-pulp and electrical industries were additionally transferred to the Operations Bureau, and in August 1944 - issues related to the supply of the Red Army and defense industry enterprises with food and industrial goods.

After the end of the 2nd World War, by the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of September 4, 1945, the State Defense Committee was abolished. In total, during the war years, the State Defense Committee adopted about 10 thousand regulatory legal acts that had the force of wartime laws. Despite the subjectivity that took place in a number of cases in the analysis and assessment of the military-political situation, excessive centralization in solving many issues, the creation and activities of the State Defense Committee contributed to the mobilization of the efforts of the peoples of the USSR to achieve victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Lit .: Belikov A. M. State Defense Committee and the problems of creating a well-coordinated military economy // Soviet rear in the Great Patriotic War. M., 1974. Book. one; Komarov Ya. Ya. The State Defense Committee decides ...: Documents. Memories. Comments. M., 1990; Gorkov Yu. A. State Defense Committee (1941-1945): Figures. The documents. M., 2002.

The extreme situation dictated unusual approaches to the organization of management. The search for saving effective measures to rid the country of a really threatening catastrophe led to the creation on June 30, 1941 of the State Defense Committee (GKO) of the USSR.

By a joint resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks created the State Defense Committee of the USSR, defined its state status, character, functions, composition. Its features are that it is endowed with unlimited powers, united the state, party, public principles of administration, became an extraordinary and authoritative body of power and administration, headed the verticals of the Soviet, party, and entire civilian administration of the fighting state. The GKO was headed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks I.V. Stalin, which meant the highest degree of centralization of management, concentration, combination of its various forms in the hands of one official. Members of the GKO represented the top party and state leadership, made up narrow composition The PB of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which had previously considered it, proposed draft decisions on all the most important issues of state life, power and administration. The formation of the GKO actually gave legitimacy to the decisions of the Politburo, which included those close to I.V. Stalin faces.

The members of the State Defense Committee, in addition to their former great powers, received unlimited powers in order to increase the efficiency of specific branches of government.

The Joint Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks obliged all citizens, all state, military, economic, party, trade union, Komsomol bodies to unquestioningly comply with the decisions and orders of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, which were given the force of wartime laws.

The emergency body worked in an extraordinary way. The T-bills had no work regulations, they met irregularly and not always in full force. Decisions were made by the chairman or his deputies - V.M. Molotov (since June 30, 1941) and L.P. Beria (since May 16, 1944) after consultations with those members of the GKO who supervised the relevant departments. The people's commissars and military leaders in their memoirs note that the decision-making procedure was simplified to the limit, the initiative of responsible persons was encouraged, and the businesslike nature of the work of the GKO was ensured. Since the top leaders of the country were simultaneously members of the State Defense Committee, the Politburo, the Stavka, the Council of People's Commissars, their decisions were often formalized as directives and resolutions of one or another governing body, depending on the nature of the issue under consideration. Marshal G.K. Zhukov recalled that it was not always possible to determine at a meeting of which body he was present. He characterized the work of the State Defense Committee as follows: “At the meetings of the State Defense Committee, which took place at any time of the day, as a rule, in the Kremlin or at the dacha of I.V. Stalin, discussed and adopted critical issues” Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. Ed. 10th. M., 2000. S. 130-140 ..

A feature of the activities of the State Defense Committee was the absence of its own branched apparatus. Management was carried out through the apparatus of organs government controlled, party committees. In the most important sectors of the national economy, there was an institution of authorized GKOs, who very often were simultaneously representatives of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which provided them with unlimited rights. There were also representatives in all the union and autonomous republics.

On the ground in the most strategically important regions, regional and city defense committees were formed and operated.

These local emergency bodies ensured the unity of administration in a state of emergency, were created by the decision of the State Defense Committee, were guided by its decisions, decisions of local, party and Soviet bodies, military councils of fronts and armies. The GKO established such bodies in almost 60 cities of the Moscow region, the Center, the Volga region, the North Caucasus, and since 1942 in major cities Transcaucasia. They combined civil and military power in cities that were in the combat zone and near the front line or were within the range of enemy aircraft, as well as where ships of the navy and merchant fleet were based. They included the first officials of the party, government agencies administrations, military commissars, commandants of garrisons, heads of departments of the NKVD. They were closely connected with the military command, and their representatives were at the same time members of the respective military councils. Lacking their own staff, as well as the GKO in the center, the city defense committees relied on local party, Soviet, economic, and public bodies. Under them, there was an institution of commissioners, task forces were created to urgently resolve issues, social activists Danilov V.N. were widely involved. War and power: Emergency authorities of the regions of Russia during the Great Patriotic War. / Danilov V.N. - Saratov, 1996. S. 47-52 ..

Auxiliary emergency bodies were also created. On June 24, 1941, the Evacuation Council appeared as part of N.M. Shvernik and his deputy A.N. Kosygin. “Create a Council. To oblige him to start work,” the corresponding resolution read. Such conciseness, combined with the absence of work regulations, opened up wide scope for initiative. On July 16, 1941, M.G. was introduced to the council. Pervukhin (Deputy Chairman), A.I. Mikoyan, L.M. Kaganovich, M.Z. Saburov, B.C. Abakumov. The Council acted as a body attached to the State Defense Committee, and had authorized members of the State Defense Committee. Additionally, in October 1941, the Committee for the Evacuation of Food Stocks, Industrial Goods and Industrial Enterprises was formed. At the end of December 1941, instead of both of these bodies, the Directorate for Evacuation Affairs under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the corresponding departments in the republics, territories and regions, and evacuation centers on the railways were created.

Similar emergency authorities also became the Committee for Food and Clothing Supply of the Red Army, the Committee for Unloading Transit Cargoes, and the Transport Committee. The latter was formed under the GKO on February 14, 1942. His duties included planning and regulating transportation by all modes of transport, coordinating their work, and developing measures to improve the material base. The effectiveness of the management of the transport system was evidenced by the head of the military communications department, and since December 1944, the People's Commissar of Railways I.V. Kovalev: during the war years, there was not a single train crash due to the fault of the railway workers, and not a single military echelon was destroyed by enemy aircraft along the way.

The operational bureau created on December 8, 1942 under the State Defense Committee of the USSR, which controlled all the people's commissariats of the defense complex, drew up quarterly and monthly production plans, and prepared drafts of relevant decisions for the chairman of the State Defense Committee, had peculiar functions.

The State Defense Committee and other bodies of higher administration paid maximum attention to the military organizational system, changed the structure and composition of the military leadership during the war, made up for the loss of command staff, helped the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, General Staff The Red Army, the departments of NGOs, the Navy, the command of strategic directions and fronts. Management of all structures of the armed forces has been established, the command of fronts, armies, formations and operational formations as part of fronts, corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, etc. has been streamlined.

From July 15, 1941 to October 9, 1942, the institute of military commissars and political officers in companies functioned in all parts of the Red Army and on ships of the Navy. Unlike the commissioners of the period of foreign military intervention and civil war military commissars 1941-1942 they did not have the right to control the command staff, but often many of them interfered in the actions of military leaders, which undermined unity of command and created a state of dual power in the military body. In the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 9, 1942, the abolition of the institution of military commissars is motivated by the fact that he fulfilled the tasks assigned to him. At the same time, the institute of deputy commanders for political work (zampolitov) was introduced, who throughout the war and after it performed the functions of ideological and political education of constantly updated personnel under military leaders.

In connection with the growth of the partisan movement, on May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TSSHPD) was formed at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. It was headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus P.K. Ponomarenko. TSSHPD coordinated the actions of numerous partisan detachments among themselves and with regular army units, organized the supply of people's avengers with weapons, ammunition, communications equipment, provided medical assistance, established mutual information, held meetings of partisan commanders in Moscow, helped prepare and conduct deep raids partisan formations along the rear of the fascist German army; and others. TsSHPD worked together with the leaders of the underground Soviet, party, Komsomol bodies in the temporarily occupied territory. Bulk management partisan movement from a single center proved to be especially effective in the liberation of Soviet territory in 1943-1944 N. Vert. History of the Soviet state. /vert. N. 1900--1991 / Per. from fr. -M., 1992. S. 38-49 ..

The state management of the military sphere acquired not only a priority, but also a comprehensive character, new functions, was carried out on the basis of martial law, by emergency methods, ensured intensive military construction, a qualitatively new level of military organizational work, ultimately victorious, although with separate errors and failures, the fulfillment by the Armed Forces of the main tasks of protecting the country and defeating the enemy.

State Committee of the USSR State Defense Committee. And here is a short excerpt from the speech of G. Malenkov

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