Mobilization of industry during the Great Patriotic War. The mechanism of economic victory

The article examines the main methods of industrial mobilization used by the Soviet leadership during the Great Patriotic War. Based on an analysis of the state of affairs in the metallurgical, chemical and oil-extracting industries, the author comes to the conclusion that the mobilization of industry was by no means limited to the repurposing of plants and factories from the production of civilian products to the fulfillment of defense orders. The most important aspects of the mobilization of industry during the war years were the expansion of existing civilian industries due to evacuated equipment and the construction (including using simplified technologies) of new enterprises; expanding the range of products manufactured by civilian enterprises (including through the development of higher quality products); widespread use of various surrogates and development of new sources of raw materials.

Mobilization of industry, restructuring of the economy on a war footing, economic history of the Great Patriotic War, history of metallurgy, history of the chemical industry, history of oil production