The Establishment of The Soviet Regime In Northern Azerbaijan. Resistance Against The Invaders

AZERBAIJAN DURING THE WORLD WAR II (1939-1945)

The Outbreak of the War and Military Mobilization in Azerbaijan.

The World War II (1939-1945) is one of the important pages in the history of mankind. This war was launched with the aim of a new division of the world, capturing new sources of raw materials and markets, and important geostrategic points. The war began with the onslaught on Poland by the Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939.

By the beginning of the war, Azerbaijan was part of the USSR. All economic, material and human resources have been mobilized in accordance with the interests of the Soviet state.

The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union started with the attack of Nazi Germany without a declaration of war, on June 22, 1941. At that time, the Azerbaijan SSR was the main base of the oil and the second largest cotton regions of the USSR.

Azerbaijan, thanks to its geostrategic position and natural resources, occupied an important place in the plans of Nazi Germany. Hitler considered as his main task to capture Baku oil, which could play a decisive role in the In the future, control over oil production in Baku, planned to entrust the “Continental Oil Society” of Germany. Hitler has assigned the German leaders, “representatives of a superior race”, to all of the major industrial sites of Azerbaijan Hitler didn’t plan to provide independence for Azerbaijan. According to the plan of Rosenberg, Azerbaijan had to subordinate to the Caucasus Reich Commissariat, which would locate in Tbilisi. At the same time, North and South Azerbaijan, together with the territories of residence of other Turkic peoples, would be included into “Great Turkestan”, a state dependent on Germany.

Once the start of the war, the Soviet leadership announced a general mobilization in all republics of the Soviet Union, including in Azerbaijan. In general, during the war, in 1941-1945, the Soviet Army was drafted into the ranks of the army from Azerbaijan, up to 700 thousand people, of which, more than 11 thousand were women.

In 1941, in Azerbaijan the 402nd and 223rd, and in 1942, the 416th and 271st divisions were created. From these military units, only the 416^th Taganrog division consisted entirely of Azerbaijanis. In 1942, the 77^th Azerbaijani division was re-staffed that lost in the battles for the Crimea almost all of its personnel.

Card distribution system was introduced in 1941 for the food and in 1942, for industrial products. Women and adolescents filled the job places that became vacant in connection with the departure of the men to the front. In the republic, everything was subordinated to the slogan “Everything for the front, everything for victory!”