1945。 On May 9, German fascism announced their unconditional surrender, and the European theater of World War II ended with the victory of the Allies. For this hard-won victory, the Soviet Union paid an extremely heavy price.
The USSR was able to win the Great Patriotic War at great cost for a number of reasons. In addition to the active arms production of Soviet industry, the fighting spirit of the Soviet military and civilians, and the support of the allies, there is another very important reason worth mentioning: the active cooperation of the predominantly national Soviet republics. Minority.. Of all the republics that supported the USSR in winning the Great Patriotic War, why was Kazakhstan the most contributed?
Above, Soviet soldiers in the Great Patriotic War of the USSR
First of all, Kazakhstan, with the exception of the Russian Soviet Republic, which was the subject of the USSR, had the largest number of military personnel among the republics of the USSR.
On June 22, 1941, the Germans launched a three-way attack on the Soviet Union. The Great Patriotic War broke out in full-fledged, and the Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia quickly fell into a state of war. In Kazakhstan, with a population of only 10 million, 1.5 million people participated in the war, 1 million of whom directly followed the Soviet Red Army and 600,000 died heroically in battle.
According to information released after the war, the Kazakh people successively formed 14 infantry and cavalry divisions, 7 independent brigades, 1 anti-aircraft artillery regiment, 12 engineering battalions and 2 automobile battalions on the front line. Among them, the 316th Infantry Division, the 238th Infantry Division, the 38th Infantry Division and other units made significant contributions. These units were later reorganized into guard units.
Above: Major General Panfilov, the first commander of the Soviet 316th Infantry Division (first from left)
Among the heroic units with outstanding military strength, the most famous was the 316th Infantry Division defending Moscow. To this day, we can see a park in Kazakhstan commemorating the "28 Panfilov warriors".
The 316th Division was formed in Kazakhstan in July 1941. Most of the division's officers and men are ethnic Kazakhs. The division has 3 infantry regiments, 1 artillery regiment, and 1 engineer regiment, with more than 15,000 officers and men in the division. The division showed itself well in the defense of Moscow.
In November 1941, the 316th Division withstood the German offensive less than 40 kilometers from Moscow. At that time, the 316th Regiment was given a fatal order from above, telling it to hold its position at all costs. The 316th Division held its position for more than 4 hours, costing the Germans dearly. On November 16, in a village on the western edge of Moscow, the 4th Company of the 1075th Regiment of the 316th Infantry Division, led by instructor Krochkov, blocked enemy tanks. At first, the soldiers shot enemy tanks from anti-tank guns. After the anti-tank shells were fired, the fighters blew up enemy tanks with Molotov cocktails and grenades. Some soldiers picked up explosive packs and died with the enemy.
Soviet soldiers are fighting to defend Moscow
The battle continued, and most of the officers and men of the anti-tank detachment of the 4th company died heroically. Instructor Krochskov rushed to the enemy, shouting the slogan "Although the USSR is great, we have no way back, Stalin and Moscow are behind us."
The Battle of Krochkov's Company is the epitome of the defense of Moscow by the 316th Division. In the entire defense of Moscow, more than 3,600 officers and men of the 316th Division died heroically. On November 18, division commander Panfilov was also hit by German shells and died heroically.
Due to the desperate resistance of the 316th Division, the Soviet High Command awarded the 316th Infantry Division the title "Guards Division" and renamed it the 8th Guards Infantry Division. During the Great Patriotic War, 14,000 soldiers of the 8th Infantry Division (316th Infantry Division) of the Guards Army made combat achievements, of which 33 became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Above_Kazakhstani sniper Alia Moldagurova
Female soldier Alia Mordagulova is an outstanding representative of Kazakh female soldiers in World War II. Alia was born in 1925 in Aktobeim, Kazakhstan. In 1942 he joined the army and became a sniper. Just two months after joining the front, Alia killed 32 German soldiers. He also invented many novel sniper tactics.
In early January 1944, Alia followed Soviet troops in an attack on the Nasva railway station near Leningrad. German troops stationed at the railway station blocked Alia's path with heavy machine guns and other weapons. At the critical moment, Alia risked her life to jump out of the trench and shoot at the enemy in a sniper stance, killing 10 German soldiers in a row and wounding herself. That night, German shells hit the field hospital, and Alia was tragically killed at the age of 19. He killed 78 Germans until his death.
From the above-mentioned heroic deeds, we can see that the military and civilians of Kazakhstan are heroic and talented military and civilian personnel. Every year on May 9, various commemorative events are held in Kazakhstan, which continue to this day.
Above: Soviet production at rear factories
Secondly, Kazakhstan was an important Soviet arms production base during World War II.
After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, due to the mismanagement of the Soviet army at the front, large areas of the western part of the Soviet Union fell, and most of the Soviet industry had to move east. Kazakhstan happened to become an important base for Soviet war production. In the winter of 1941, the Soviet Union relocated 19 military-industrial complex enterprises to Kazakhstan and transformed and modernized production efficiency according to wartime needs. In 1942, the factory moved to Kazakhstan and began production. According to post-war statistics, Kazakhstan supplied the Red Army with weapons and ammunition worth 10 billion rubles. Its production of 1.99 million small-caliber shells could supply more than 200 divisions of the Soviet army, and its production of 1.85 million rounds of 76mm medium-caliber shells could supply more than 400 divisions. The production of 20,000 rounds of 203-mm large-caliber shells could supply 20 Soviet artillery regiments. In terms of naval weapons, torpedoes and mines made in Kazakhstan could meet the needs of 25 battle groups of the Soviet Navy.
In addition, Kazakhstan supplied more than 13,000 trucks, more than 1,500 tractors, more than 10,000 luggage carts and more than 100,000 horses to the Soviet army.
The biggest highlight of the Soviet struggle was the "cannon doctrine". Before the war, thousands of heavy guns bombarded the German positions in a sea of fire. Without full-fledged production in Kazakhstan, the "cannon doctrine" of the Soviet army would have been difficult to build without rice.
Above_Soviet artillery group
Third, make every effort to do a good job in refugee resettlement.
As the Germans occupied large swathes of the western Soviet Union, many ordinary people were forced to flee their homes and become refugees. In order to ease the pressure on the refugee issue of the central government of the Soviet Union, the Kazakh government did its best to accommodate broad-minded compatriots under its own very difficult circumstances.
It is worth mentioning that the Kazakh government has taken targeted resettlement measures for the 400,000 refugees who arrived in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh government has arranged for 170,000 labor refugees to work in factories and state farms, and more than 50,000 skilled refugees have received training in factories, mining enterprises and scientific research institutions. This resettlement method not only solved the problem of labor shortage during the war, but also gave refugees a relatively stable job and life. It can be said that two birds kill one stone.
Above_Map of the Soviet Union
Fourth, although the Kazakh people lived relatively poor during the war, the Kazakh people still lived frugally and supported the front line as much as possible.
According to Soviet archives released after the war, the people of Kazakhstan donated enough supplies to the front line to fit more than 1,200 train wagons. In the first half of 1942 alone, the people of Kazakhstan donated more than 1.3 million pieces of clothing to the front.
It was precisely because the people of Kazakhstan supported the Great Patriotic War of the USSR by directly joining the army, producing weapons, donating money and materials, resettling refugees, etc. Kazakhstan became a reliable background for the victory of the USSR over fascism. , also makes Kazakhstan a country that supports the war of national defense. The republic that contributed the most.
Author: Military Handsome Man Editor/Editor: Lilith
Reference:
[1] Kazakhstan and Its Relations with Xinjiang, China (Heilongjiang Education Press), Chapter 10 Kazakhstan during the Great Patriotic War
[2] "Painting the Soviet-German War in World War II", Xu Yan Machinery Industry Press
The text was created by the History University team, and the illustrations come from the Internet. The copyright belongs to the original author.