Changes in the quantitative and qualitative composition of employees of defense enterprises in the War years (1941–1945)

Abstract

The defense industry of the republic began to develop during the war based on evacuated enterprises. Before the war, the production of ammunition in the republic was not carried out. The republic’s defense enterprises produced mine-mined weapons, torpedoes, artillery shells, mines, aerial bombs, gunpowder, field radio stations, X-ray equipment, and insulating materials. Despite significant difficulties, the evacuated enterprises quickly recovered to new places and began to produce products. The article analyzes changes in the quantitative and qualitative composition of employees of defense enterprises of the USSR during the war years in the example of the Kazakh SSR. The main quantitative and qualitative changes in the specifics of the formation of labor collectives considering the gender, national, and migration factor are shown. Addressing the problem of manning defense enterprises allows us to reconstruct the features of the state’s mobilization policy, sources of replenishment of workers who, in incredibly difficult conditions, made their significant labor contribution to improving the defense capabilities of the USSR.