Fencing Measures on Railway Transport of the South of the USSR During Spring - Autumn 1942
Relevance. During of the declassification of archival materials on the history of railways, one of the little-studied issues of the period of the Great Patriotic War is the organization and implementation of barrage measures on the highways of the USSR as a key form of transport. Taking into account the experience of conducting the above activities on the domestic steel highways in the war with the Nazis will strengthen the defenses of Russia in the future and not repeat the mistakes of the leadership of the USSR in the field under study at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. The purpose of the study is to study the organization and conduct of barriers on the railways of the South of the USSR in the spring - autumn of 1942. The objeсtives of the study are to identify the main types of barrage measures on the railway transport of the studied region; classify the above activities, identify problems in the implementation of barrage measures, determine the main results of the work performed and their impact on the further course of the war. Methodology. In the study and synthesis of scientific sources used methods of theoretical interdisciplinary analysis and synthesis, methods of comparative historiographical analysis. In the framework of the study, comparative historical and general scientific methods of systemic and structural-functional analysis were used. Results. In the course of the study, the author proved the lack of a prepared in advance by the leadership of the USSR and the NKPS, in particular, an effective strategy for the implementation of barrage measures in rail transport. Management miscalculations led to the loss of significant resources, including rolling stock, materials of the upper structure of the track, which allowed the occupants to organize the work of railways in the South of the USSR in the end. In turn, this affected the supply volumes of the Wehrmacht and led to the advance of the Nazi troops to the Caucasus and the Volga. Conclusion. The results of the study are basic for the analysis and study of the work of railway transport in the territory occupied by the Wehrmacht in the South of the USSR, which make it possible to identify the difficulties encountered by the occupants in restoring the railway communication in the occupied territory.