“Voluntary Mobilization” in July 1941: Recruitment of Divisions of People's Militia of Moscow

The author presents an analysis of the peculiarities of manning divisions of the People's militia, formed in Moscow in July 1941. Despite the abundance of literature on the history of the Moscow militia, this aspect of its history has not been studied enough. The research is based on archival sources: both documents of the military department and on documents of the Commission on the History of the Great Patriotic War at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, which have been actively introduced into scientific circulation in recent years. The content of the regulatory framework of the militia, the formation of the administrative and command vertical, the production and territorial principle of recruitment and related features of the selection of commanding and enlisted personnel are considered. Special attention is paid to the analysis of voluntary and mobilization aspects of recruitment, as well as propaganda support of the campaign. Conclusions are drawn that the formation of militia was carried out in the shortest possible time set by the state, however, being organized as a typical mass campaign of that time, it had many drawbacks, among which the quality of personnel selection occupied one of the most prominent places and then required numerous adjustments that took several months.