Libmonster ID: MD-1387
Author(s) of the publication: Kh. A. Gakaev

To the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory

Among the major military and political events of the Great Patriotic War, an important place is occupied by the Battle for the Caucasus, which unfolded on the vast territory between the Black and Caspian Seas from the Don to the Terek and on the passes of the Main Caucasian Ridge. The struggle for the Caucasus, which made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism, began simultaneously with the Battle of Stalingrad and is closely related to its course and results. The Battle of Stalingrad, which made a decisive contribution to achieving a radical turning point during the Great Patriotic War and World War II, had a great impact on the successful outcome of the fighting in the Caucasus, which ended with the defeat of one of the selected groups of the Wehrmacht and the expulsion of the enemy from there.

The study of all aspects of the confrontation between the Soviet people and the Nazi invaders in the Caucasus occupies an important place in our literature. Many monographs, articles, pamphlets, sections in collective research and major works on the history of the Great Patriotic War, as well as memoirs are devoted to this problem. In general, this literature provides a fairly detailed account of the military and political events in the Caucasus in 1942-1943.

Literature on the history of the last war in recent years has become the subject of special historiographic generalization and analysis. Now there are already solid monographs and articles that fully or partially analyze the works devoted to the most important problems of the Great Patriotic War1 . However, the literature on the Battle for the Caucasus has so far been only partially analyzed historiographically. However, some steps already taken in this direction allow us to present to some extent the work done on the study of the topic under consideration .2 This review attempts to review, first of all, the latest research on the Battle for the Caucasus.

The course of military operations in the Caucasus in 1942-1943, as well as the exploits of Soviet soldiers "in hot pursuit" were captured in articles by war correspondents and participants of the battle published in the central, front-line and army press. This is a valuable source that introduces the reader to the atmosphere of the war years and helps to understand the greatness of the victory of the Soviet people in the fierce struggle against fascism. At the same time, the first attempts were also made to analyze the experience of military operations of the Soviet troops against the Nazi invaders in the Caucasus .3 However, the works written in those years are still

1 Ocherki sovetskoi voennoi historiografii [Essays on Soviet Military Historiography], Moscow, 1975; Zhilin P. A. Problemy voennoi istorii, Moscow, 1975. Soviet military-historical literature. In: Razvitie sovetskoi istoricheskoi nauki [Development of Soviet Historical Science]. 1970-1974. M. 1975; Samsonov A.M. The Great feat of the people in displaying Soviet historiography. In: Study of the national history of the USSR between the XXIV and XXV Congresses of the CPSU. Soviet Period, Moscow, 1978; Soviet Historical Science in 1975-1979, Moscow, 1980; Historiography of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, 1980; Historiography of the history of the USSR. Epoch of Socialism, Moscow, 1980; History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. 1941-1945. Vol. 6. M. 1965; Study of national history in the USSR between the XXV and XXVI Congresses of the CPSU. M. 1982.

2 Ibragimbeyli H. M. Crash of "Edelweiss" and the Middle East, Moscow, 1977 (ch. I); Zakharov I. Z., Komal F. B. Battle for the Caucasus in historiography 1965-1980. In: People's Feat in the Battle for the Caucasus, Moscow, 1981.

3 Kalinin M. I. Battle for the Caucasus. Tbilisi. 1942; Yaroslavsky E. The fate of our Motherland is in the hands of the Red Army. Frunze. 1942; Ehrenburg I. For the Caucasus. Yerevan. 1942; Kardash G. For the native Caucasus. Ordzhonikidze. 1943; Emirov I. Cav-

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they were mostly journalistic and descriptive in nature. For a number of objective reasons, the authors have not yet been able to create books that contain a deep analysis of events and rely on a broad source base. Nevertheless, the publications of the war years have not lost their significance and are of considerable interest. They preserved and brought us a lot of valuable information about the military-political situation in the Caucasus in those years.

A number of works describing some important issues of the Battle of the Caucasus were published in the first post-war decade (1945-1955) .4 At the same time, works devoted to the contribution of the peoples of the Caucasus republics to the victory over the fascist aggressors were published .5 However, this literature did not cover all the problems of the Battle for the Caucasus. In the works of that period, there were subjective assessments and conclusions, and a descriptive approach prevailed. One of the objective reasons for this was that the authors experienced difficulties related to the narrowness of the source base. And this, of course, limited research opportunities, did not allow historians to widely and comprehensively display the history of the battle, as well as a number of other important problems of the last war. And yet, despite these shortcomings, the works of that time are still useful today, they contain a lot of factual material.

Development of the problem has noticeably accelerated and expanded since the second half of the 50s. It was during this period that the largest number of solid publications appeared, and the thematic range of research significantly expanded. This was facilitated by the Communist Party's constant concern for perpetuating the heroic deeds of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, as well as the opportunity to involve a wide range of archival and other sources in scientific circulation. At present, thanks to the relentless search of historians and active participants in the war, many works have been created that comprehensively study almost all aspects of the battle for the Caucasus, which makes it possible to visually present its significance and true scale, determine its place among other major battles of the last war, and comprehend not only the military-political, strategic and economic aspects. the significance of the Soviet victory in the Caucasus, but also its social, moral and spiritual factors.

According to the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 170 papers were published in Russian only from 1942 to 1967 .6 Since 1967, a number of new works have been published that claim to be even more comprehensive in the disclosure of the topic, to the depth of scientific and theoretical generalizations.

In the historiography of this problem , fundamental collective works on the history of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union7 , the history of the Second World War8, including the latest work on this mischief in the aggressive plans of the German imperialists, occupy an important place. Makhachkala. 1943; Burjalov Ch. Victorious offensive of the Red Army (1942-1944). Moscow, 1944; Khachapuridze T. Georgian people in the struggle for the Caucasus. - Historical Journal, 1944, N 9; Shishkin S. Liquidation of the Kuban bridgehead, Moscow, 1944; Yudin I. Partisans of Kuban. Krasnodar. 1944; and others.

4 Troops crossing the Caucasus ridge. - Military Bulletin, 1945, N 7-8; Melikov D. H. Battle for the Caucasus, Moscow, 1948; Denisov N. Air battle in the Kuban. - Bulletin of the Air Fleet, 1951, N 12; Battle for the Caucasus. 1942-1943. Moscow, 1954; et al.

5 Zakharyan V. S. The Bolsheviks of Armenia during the Great Patriotic War. Yerevan, 1949; Kardanov Z. K. Peoples of Circassia during the Great Patriotic War. - Proceedings of the Circassian Research Institute of History, Language and Literature. Issue I, 1954; Mnatsakanyan A. N. The Armenian people in the Great Patriotic War. Yerevan. 1954; Soviet Armenia in the Great Patriotic War. Yerevan. 1954; Harmandaryan S. V. Combat cooperation of the Armenian people with the peoples of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War. Yerevan. 1955; and others.

6 USSR during the Great Patriotic War (June 1941-September 1945). Index of Soviet literature for 1941-1967, Moscow, 1977.

7 History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. 1941-1945. Vol. 2. Moscow, 1961; vol. 3. Moscow, 1962; The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. 1941 - 1945. A brief history. Ed. 2-E. M. 1970.

8 Istoriya vtoroi mirovoi voyny 1939-1945 [History of the Second World War 1939-1945]. Vol. 5. M. 1975; vol. 6. m. 1976; vol. 7. M. 1976.

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problem 9 . The authors of the corresponding volumes "History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union" and "History of the Second World War", involving in scientific circulation a large number of party and state documents, archival materials and statistical data, displaying in a complex the military events of 1942-1943, managed to adequately reveal both the defensive and offensive operations of the Soviet troops that led to the to the natural collapse of Hitler's plans to seize the Caucasus and turn it into a springboard for expanding fascist aggression to the countries of the Middle East. These works also reveal the reasons for the initial failures of the Soviet troops in the Caucasus, and show the heroism and courage of Soviet soldiers. Special attention is paid by their authors to the purposeful actions of the Communist Party, the Soviet Government, the State Defense Committee, and the Supreme Command Headquarters aimed at defeating the enemy in the Caucasus. Some attention is also paid to highlighting the feats of home front workers during the Battle for the Caucasus.

Based on concrete material, the generalizing works show that the defeat of the German-fascist invaders in the Caucasus is one of the biggest defeats of the Wehrmacht, which marked the collapse of the military-economic and political plans of the Hitlerite leadership, which underestimated the economic and military capabilities of our country, the courage, steadfastness and fraternal unity and cohesion of the Soviet peoples, their huge moral and patriotic potential. ascent. These works are a major contribution to the study of the Battle for the Caucasus.

The theme is also reflected in the fifth volume (Book 1) of the History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Moscow 1970), as well as in the tenth volume of the History of the USSR from Ancient Times to the Present Day (Moscow 1973). The struggle for the Caucasus is vividly covered in the monograph by A. M. Samsonov 10 . The author considers military actions against the background and in close connection with such major battles as Stalingrad and Kursk. One of the features of the book is that the author paid much attention to the international situation that developed in the world before, during and at the end of these grandiose military epics.

A serious contribution to the historiography of the topic is made by military memoir literature. A prominent place in it is occupied by the memoirs of military leaders, staff figures and political workers, which are of great scientific, educational and source study interest. In some of them, the Battle for the Caucasus is considered against the general background of the events of the Great Patriotic War, 11 while others are devoted directly to military operations in the Caucasus .12 Although the books of G. K. Zhukov, A. M. Vasilevsky, and S. M. Shtemenko do not cover the battle for the Caucasus in detail, they determine its military and strategic significance among other major battles of the last war. They focus on showing specific assistance to the GKO, the Supreme Command Headquarters, and the General Staff to the command and troops of the Transcaucasian and North Caucasian fronts in organizing and conducting defensive and offensive operations. These questions are discussed in more detail in the memoirs of S. M. Shtemenko.

A. A. Grechko, based on numerous archival materials and other sources, as well as personal memoirs, reproduces military and political events related to the struggle of the Soviet troops for the Caucasus, shows the military and labor feat of the peoples of the Caucasus, led by the great Russian people, who took an active part in repelling fascist aggression. An important place in his book is reserved for-

9 World War II. Brief History, Moscow, 1984.

10 Samsonov A.M. Krakh fascistskoy agressii [Crash of fascist aggression], Moscow, 1975.

11 Vasilevsky A. M. Delo vse zhizni [Business of the whole life]. Ed. 2-E., add. M. 1975; Voronov N. N. Na sluzhbe voennoy. M. 1963; Zhukov G. K. Vospominaniya i razmyshleniya. T. 2. Ed. 3 - E. M. 1978; Shtemenko S. M. General Staff during the war. Book 1. Moscow, 1981; Vershinin K. A. Chetvertaya vozdushnaya, Moscow, 1975.

12 Vershinin K. Air battle over the North Caucasus. - Military-historical Journal, 1959, N 8; Tyulenev I. V. Through three wars. Ed. 2-E. M. 1972; his. The Battle for the Caucasus. Memoirs of the former commander of the Transcaucasian Front. - Military Bulletin, 1974, N 7; it is the same. The collapse of Operation Edelweiss. Ordzhonikidze. 1975; Efimov P. Under the banner of the Leninist Party. Memoirs of a former member of the Military Council of the Transcaucasian Front. - Military Bulletin, 1974, N 7; Grechko A. A. Years of War. 1941-1943. Moscow, 1976; his. The Battle for the Caucasus. Ed. 2-E. M. 1973; Brezhnev L. I. Malaya zemlya, Moscow, 1978.

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preparation and implementation of strategic defensive and offensive operations of the Soviet troops during the Battle of the Caucasus. A. A. Grechko showed how purposefully and skillfully the Communist Party and local party organizations, in close connection with the military command, mobilized the forces and resources of the republics, territories and regions of Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus to defeat the Nazi troops.

In the works of the former commander of the Transcaucasian Front I. V. Tyulenev, the most important events of the Battle for the Caucasus were documented. The author pays special attention to the preparation and conduct of military operations against the fascist invaders. Based on a wide range of sources, as well as personal impressions, the author reveals the multifaceted activities of party, Soviet and economic bodies aimed at strengthening the defense of the Caucasus and organizing a repulse to the enemy. I. V. Tyulenev's books contain many impressive examples of the heroism of Soviet soldiers.

The memoirs of Soviet military leaders give an authoritative and clear assessment of the battle for the Caucasus, analyze its content and military-strategic consequences. Showing events in their interrelation, they allow us to compare the course of military operations on individual fronts, to deeply comprehend the harsh truth of war, the essence of its phenomena and trends. All this literature makes it possible to assess objectively the military-strategic problems of war as a whole, as well as its individual aspects.

Many special works have also been created on the history of the Battle for the Caucasus 13 . They overcome the elements of subjectivism and one-sidedness in the assessment of the battle for the Caucasus that took place earlier. The authors introduced many new archival and other valuable sources, including foreign ones, into scientific circulation, which helped them to make deeper generalizations, to show more fully that the victory in the Caucasus organically and naturally flowed from the military, economic, political, moral and spiritual capabilities of socialist society, from the common goals that the Soviet people faced in the past. those difficult years.

H. M. Ibrahimbeyli's monograph "The Collapse of the Edelweiss and the Middle East" convincingly shows that the battle for the Caucasus won by the Red Army objectively had the most significant consequences for the fate of the countries of the Middle East, including Afghanistan and India, which during the Second World War faced a real threat of fascist enslavement. The author devotes a lot of space to covering the issues of the combat community of the peoples of our country in the battle for the Caucasus, in which the Russian people played a cementing role. The book reflects on the actual material of the party and political work in the army, vividly shows the vanguard role of the Communists in the battles with the Nazi invaders. Based on the documents of Hitler's Wehrmacht, the author exposes the misanthropic policy of the fascists towards the peoples of the Caucasus, who were waiting for the terrible fate of physical extermination. Of great interest is the characteristic of the fascist so-called Caucasian experiment, the essence of which consisted in the political and economic separation of the peoples of the Caucasus, in inflating hostility and interethnic discord between them, in contrasting them with the Russian people and the Soviet government.

A number of important issues are considered in the book " People's Feat in the Battle for the Caucasus "(Moscow, 1981). This is a collection of articles whose authors, based on a wide range of sources, cover poorly studied aspects of the mass-political and ideological - educational work of party organizations in the republics, territories and regions of the Caucasus, the development of the partisan movement and the underground struggle against the invaders in the territory temporarily occupied by them. The authors trace the military and labor feat of Komsomol members and young people during the Battle of the Caucasus. Of particular interest are articles that expose the concepts of bourgeois falsification.-

13 In the battles for the Caucasus. Baku, 1968; Guchmazov A., Traskunov M., Tskitishvili K. Transcaucasian Front of the Great Patriotic War. Tbilisi. 1971; Babaev A.M.-B. The collapse of Hitler's plans to seize the Caucasus. Makhachkala. 1975; Ibrahimbeyli H. M. The collapse of the Edelweiss and the Middle East. Battle for the Caucasus, Moscow, 1983; et al.

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boats. In general, this collection is a significant step in the research of the topic of interest to us.

Materials about the battle for the Caucasus are also available in works that analyze the activities of the Communist Party in the army and among the population during the Great Patriotic War14 . In them, the Leninist Party is seen as a fighting party, as a force that cements the Soviet peoples, and shows its organizing and leading role in the defeat of the enemy. The authors devote many interesting pages to the courage, bravery, perseverance and dedication of communists and political workers, shown by them in battles with the enemy. An important place is given in these works to the activities of political organizations of the troops to strengthen the friendship and brotherhood of the peoples of our country, to educate Soviet soldiers in the spirit of proletarian internationalism and Soviet patriotism.

The heroic struggle of the Soviet people against the German - fascist invaders in the Caucasus is reflected in books and articles on the history of the republics, territories and regions of the region during the war 15 . Published works on the military and labor exploits of Komsomol members and youth of the Caucasus during the war, including during the defense of the Caucasus 16 . They vividly and convincingly show how Komsomol members, young men and women of the Caucasus carried their loyalty and devotion to the Motherland through the entire war, served it selflessly to the last breath, defending it with weapons in their hands.

A number of works reveal the labor feat of the population during the Battle for the Caucasus 17 . The authors made a serious attempt to show that during the period of military operations in the Caucasus, as well as in general during the war, the front and rear were a single whole, were inseparable, and this was one of the decisive factors in the defeat of the fascist aggressors. In organizing the work of the rear, as noted in these studies, the Communist Party and local party and Soviet bodies proceeded from Lenin's instructions that "the best army, the most devoted people to the cause of the revolution, will be immediately exterminated by the enemy if they are not sufficiently armed, supplied with food, and trained." 18 One can only regret that this literature does not cover in sufficient detail the work of certain branches of the national economy, especially the light and food industry, agriculture, and there is little material about the structural changes that occurred in the population of the region both during the Battle for the Caucasus and in general during the war years.

The multinational population of the region took an active part in the defeat of the German-fascist hordes in the Caucasus. "In the fight against the enemy, the partisan detachments of the Caucasian peoples, who knew the area well, provided great help to the active troops. Their daring raids put fear in the enemy, caused him great pain.-

14 Davydov I. Work of political organs of the Soviet Army among the population of the frontline regions of the Caucasus. - Military-historical journal, 1972, N 10; At the head of the defense of the Soviet Motherland. Party and political work in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 1918-1973, Moscow, 1977; and others.

15 Tedtoev A. A. North Ossetia in the Great Patriotic War. Ordzhonikidze. 1968; Tskitishvili K. V. Transcaucasia during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Tbilisi. 1969; Abazatov M. A. Chechen-Ingush ASSR in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. Fearsome. 1973; Madatov G. A. Azerbaijan in the Great Patriotic War. Baku. 1975; Hakuashev E. T. Kabardino-Balkar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). Nalchik. 1978; and others.

16 Sarkisov A. Heroic daughters of the Caucasus. Baku. 1965; Babaev M. 3. Baku Komsomol during the Great Patriotic War. Proceedings of the Institute of Party History under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. Baku, 1968; All to you, Motherland! Krasnodar. 1968; Filkin V. I. The Glorious Way of Struggle and Labor. From the history of the Komsomol of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR. Fearsome. 1969; V. Borisenkov. M. 1976; Yakaev S. N. Military exploits of Komsomol members and youth in the days of battles for the Caucasus. In: People's Feat in the Battle for the Caucasus; and others.

17 Abasov H. M.-G. The work of the party organization of Azerbaijan on rendering assistance to the front during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Baku, 1967; Plotnikov Yu., Chaban I. In the battle for the Caucasus. On some issues of logistics support for troops in defensive and offensive operations. Rear and Supply of the Soviet Armed Forces, 1973, No. 2; Agarunov Ya. M. Heroic achievements of Azerbaijani oilmen during the Great Patriotic War. Baku. 1982; and others.

18 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 35, p. 408.

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significant losses, " notes G. K. Zhukov 19 . The heroic actions of partisans and underground fighters in the temporarily occupied territory of the Caucasus are reflected in special literature 20 . These works use a solid documentary base to study the activities of the party organizations of the republics, territories and regions of the Caucasus in organizing partisan formations and the underground, show their military actions against the invaders and the damage they caused to the enemy. Separate issues of partisan combat operations in the Caucasus are also covered in generalizing works on this issue, covering all the territories of the country temporarily occupied by the enemy .21
During the battle for the Caucasus, soldiers of all nationalities of our country fought heroically against the enemy, who "had the great honor to defend the holy ideas with weapons in their hands and ... in practice implement the international brotherhood of peoples" 22 . The delusional calculations of Hitler's strategists to introduce discord and hostility into relations between the Soviet peoples have failed. Over the past 10 - 15 years, individual works have been written in which the combat community of the peoples of the USSR in the battle for the Caucasus is revealed on specific facts. These stories are also reflected in books that examine the military community of Soviet peoples throughout the Great Patriotic War23 . The course of military operations in the Caucasus is reflected in books and articles devoted to the combat path of regular national military formations of the republics, territories and regions of the Caucasus .24
A number of studies reveal the military operations of the Soviet troops in certain areas of the Battle for the Caucasus 25 . There are works that reflect the contribution of the branches of the Armed Forces of the USSR, branches of the Armed Forces and individual formations of the Red Army to the defeat of the Nazi invaders, as well as works on the military districts of the Caucasus .26 Vivid facts from the chronicle of the defense of the Caucasus are given in the works,

19 Zhukov G. K. Uk. soch., p. 372.

20 Khmyrov A. N. Some issues of the partisan movement and its organization in Kuban during the Great Patriotic War. - Proceedings of the Krasnodar Pedagogical Institute, 1966, vol. 76; Ivanov G. P. The Communist Party-organizer and leader of the national struggle in the rear of the German-fascist invaders during the Great Patriotic War (based on the materials of the party organizations of the North Caucasus). Krasnodar. 1969; and others.

21 Bychkov L. I. Partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945. M. 1965; Makarov N. I. Nepokorennaya zemlya Rossiiskaya. M. 1976; Narodny podvig v bitve za Kavkaz; et al.

22 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 37, p. 26.

23 Muradyan V. A. Brotherhood bound together by blood (Combat community of the peoples of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War). M. 1969; his own. One fighting family, Moscow, 1982; Grekhnev P. Shoulder to shoulder. To the 30th anniversary of the Defense of the Caucasus. - Bulletin of Air Defense, 1972, N 12; Likas A. A. Brothers fight together (a story about the combat brotherhood of soldiers of various nationalities). Moscow 1973; Artemyev A. I. Bratsky combat Union of the peoples of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War. Moscow 1975; et al.

24 Kurashvili G. From Terek to Sevastopol (414th Anapa Georgian Division in the Great Patriotic War). Tbilisi. 1968; Ovcharenko I. V. The Fifth Donskoy. Rostov-n-D. 1.968; Shevchenko I. N., Kalinovsky P. N. The ninth plastunskaya. Essay on the combat path of the 9th Rifle Division, Moscow, 1970; Bokov F. E. Immortal feat of the Sons of Azerbaijan. A brief military-historical essay on the combat operations of the 416th Taganrog Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division during the Great Patriotic War. Baku. 1971; Ivanov A.M. From Grozny to Prague. Combat path of the Taman 242nd Red Banner Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Mountain rifle Division. Fearsome. 1981; and others.

25 Opryshko O. A. On the Elbrus direction. Nalchik. 1970; Kharitonov A. Na gornykh perevalakh Kavkaza [On mountain passes of the Caucasus]. - Military-historical Journal, 1970, N 7; Gneushev V. G., Poputko A. A. The mystery of the Marukh glacier (Avalanche respiration). Books 1-2. Moscow, 1971; Sokolov G. V. Malaya zemlya, Moscow, 1971; Makovsky A. A. Heroes of the Suar Gorge, Moscow, 1972; Vetrov I. Pereval Becho, Moscow, 1974; Kudinov V. F. Elbrusskaya letopis. Nalchik. 1976; and others.

26 Vyunenko N. N. The Black Sea Fleet in the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, 1957; Kirin I. D. The Black Sea Fleet in the Battle for the Caucasus, Moscow, 1958; Air Defense Forces of the Country, Moscow, 1968; Soviet Air Forces in the Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945. Moscow, 1973; Krasnoznamenny Severo-Kavkazskiy. Rostov-n-D. 1978: The eighteenth in the battles for the Motherland. Combat path of the 18th Army, Moscow, 1982; Krasnoznamenny Zakavkazskiy, 2nd ed. Tbilisi. 1982; Kamalov Kh. Kh. Marine infantry in the battles for the Motherland. M. 1983; et al.

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dedicated to the contribution of women to the victory over Nazi Germany 27, in books of essays about the Heroes of the Soviet Union 28, including those reflecting the exploits of soldiers from the Krasnodar Territory 29 .

The memoirs of those participants in the Battle for the Caucasus who were at the forefront of the fight against the Nazis in the Air Force 30, the Navy 31 , and the Ground Forces 32 contain a lot of interesting things . Collective collections of memoirs written by soldiers and officers who took an active part in the battles for the Caucasus have been published .33 The authors of these memoirs, based on personal impressions and documentary materials, recreate some important aspects of the fierce battles with the enemy during the Battle for the Caucasus. They show in detail the military situation on certain sectors of the front, which allows them to vividly convey the combat atmosphere as a whole, tell about individual combat episodes. Using concrete examples, the memoirs highlight the pictures of mass heroism of Soviet soldiers and commanders, and reveal the combat actions of individual units and formations of the Red Army.

Valuable information about the battle for the Caucasus is contained in the memoirs of S. Borzenko, V. Zakrutkin, and P. Kovanov, war correspondents who often visited the front line, actively participated in battles with the enemy, and collected material about the exploits of Soviet soldiers directly on the battlefield, which later formed the basis of their books .34 In them, the authors recreated pictures of military life. In general, military memoir literature, along with research, reveals inr-

27 Kostenkov A. Girls went to war. Krasnodar. 1969; Kaznacheev V., Ivanko N. The Young Guard of Stavropol. Stavropol. 1970; Sarkisov A. Heroic daughters of the Caucasus. Baku. 1975; On the left flank. Krasnodar. 1976.

28 Golden stars of Kabardino-Balkaria. Essays on the Heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Books 1-2. Nalchik, 1965-1966; Golden Stars of Kuban. Heroes of the Soviet Union. Books 1-2. Krasnodar, 1967-1968. Brave sons of the mountains. Essays on the Heroes of the Soviet Union and Dagestani military leaders. Makhachkala. 1968; Stavropol residents-Heroes of the Soviet Union. Books 1-2. Stavropol. 1968-1969; Golden stars of Chechen-Ingushetia. Fearsome. 1970; Golden Stars of Adygea. Maikop, 1975; Heroes of the Battle for the Caucasus. Tskhinvali. 1975; Golden Stars of Azerbaijan. Baku. 1975; and others.

29 Soldier's glory. Essays on the knights of three Orders of Glory-Kuban. Krasnodar. 1974; and others.

30 Pokryshkin A. I. Nebo voiny [The Sky of War]. Izd. 5-E. M. 1966; Tishchenko A. T. Vedomye "Drakon" [The Dragon's Slaves]. Moscow, 1966; Chechneva M. P. Boevye drugi moye [My fighting friends]. Kn. 1-2. M. 1967-1968; its own. The sky remains ours. M. 1970; Aronova R. E. Night witches. M. 1969; Plyachenko P. V. In air battles over the Terek. - Voenno-istoricheskiy zhurnal, 1972, N 7; Rechkalov G. A. Dymnoe nebo voiny [The smoky sky of war]. Sverdlovsk. 1968; Sivkov G. F. Readiness number one, Moscow, 1973; Belokon K. F. Severe sky: notes of a stormtrooper pilot. 2nd ed. Kharkiv, 1973; Pshenyanik G. A. V nebe Severnogo Kavkaza [In the sky of the North Caucasus]. Memoirs, 2nd ed. Nalchik. 1982; and others.

31 Pedenko M. P. Front Diary, Moscow, 1965; Voronin K. I. Na boevom kurs [On the combat course]. Simferopol. 1970; Perekrest T. P. Ne radi slava [Not for the sake of Glory], Moscow, 1970; Starshinov N. V. Zarevo nad volnami. Simferopol. 1971; Vladimirsky L. A. In the battles for the Caucasus. - Marine Collection, 1979, N 12; and others.

32 Khizhnyak I. L. The Battle Years. Krasnodar. 1969; Kuzminov M. Ya. In the Caucasus Mountains (From the memoirs of the former commander of the 2nd battalion of the 40th Motorized Rifle Division). - Military Historical Journal, 1972, N 10; Gladkov V. F. Attacks mountain rifle (318th Mountain Rifle Division). M. 1972; Rosly I. 11-th Guards Rifle Corps in defensive battles in the North Caucasus. Memories. - Military Historical Journal, 1972, N 12; Kondratenko G. F. Attacks the 5th Guards. Ordzhonikidze. 1979; Shiyan I. S. Na Malaya zemlya [On Malaya zemlya]. Ed. 2-E. M. 1974; his. Novorossiysk-hero City, ed. 2-E. M. 1982; Golyanov V. I. Echo of Memory. In: War. People. Victory. Book 3. M. 1980; Safonov M. I. Notes of the Chief of Staff. About the 157th Rifle Brigade and 301st Rifle Division in the battles for the Caucasus and Kuban in August 1942 and 1943. Saratov, 1982; and others.

33 Heroes of the mountains. Stories of participants of the Great Patriotic War about fighting in the mountains. Tbilisi. 1967; The Unconquered Caucasus. Memories. Tbilisi. 1969; When there was fighting in the Kuban. Krasnodar. 1970; The Caucasus survived, the Caucasus won! Veterans remember. Tbilisi. 1973; At the gates of the Caucasus. Militia of Rostov-on-Don. Rostov-n-D. 1972; Veterans remember. Baku. 1973; Fortress on the Terek River. They were defending Malgobek. Collection of essays and memoirs. Fearsome. 1979; and others.

34 Zakrutkin V. Kavkazskie zapiski [Caucasian Notes]. 1942-1943 Rostov-n-D. 1970; Borzenko S. Zhizn na voine [Life at war]. Zapiski voennogo korrespondenta [Notes of a military correspondent], Moscow, 1970. And the word-weapon. Ed. 2-E. M. 1978.

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These little-known pages of the war allow us to expand and deepen our understanding of the battles with the German - fascist invaders in the Caucasus.

The publication of collections of documents and materials is of great importance for in-depth study of military and political events in this region, increasing the level of research, and expanding the source base. Some work has already been done in this regard. In the 60s and 70s, local publishing houses published collections describing the contribution of the republics, territories and regions of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, the Don and Kuban to the victory over Nazi Germany .35 They contain sources concerning the Battle for the Caucasus. However, the published documents and materials do not yet reflect all aspects of this problem. Therefore, the work on identifying and publishing documents about military events in the Caucasus should continue in the future in order to comprehensively and more deeply reveal the feat of the Soviet people that they accomplished at this stage of the Great Patriotic War.

Thus, researchers and direct participants in the war have already done considerable work on studying the history of the Battle for the Caucasus. An extensive literature of various genres - scientific, popular science and memoir-has been created on this topic. A number of substantial documentary collections, which are of considerable value for the further development of these problems, have been published.

Summing up: a review of the literature on the history of the Battle for the Caucasus, published in the 60s-early 80s, highlights the following points: first, a rather deep historical disclosure of the mass heroism of the Soviet people, their perseverance, selflessness and courage in the fight against fascism as a natural manifestation of political, moral, patriotic values. factors characteristic of our socialist society; secondly, documented coverage of the leadership of the Communist Party and local party bodies in mobilizing the country's human and material resources for the needs of the front; thirdly, recreating the events of the Battle for the Caucasus on a scale that it had not been displayed before (the main thing that researchers managed to achieve was the following: this is to show it not only as a deadly struggle against fascism on one of the sections of the Soviet-German front, but also as a significant part of the entire war); fourthly, the demonstration of our victory in it as the victory of a multinational army united around the Communist Party, as the victory of the entire Soviet people, who opposed fascism not only with the country's military might, unwavering steadfastness and selflessness, but also with the strength of patriotic and internationalist ideas and fervent love for the Motherland; fifth, the growing trend towards a deeper understanding of the a large-scale reflection of the essence of the problems under consideration, a tendency to political and military-historical understanding of them, which was facilitated by the involvement of numerous sources, clearly defined concepts on the problems of the last war in Soviet historical science, increased professional competence of the authors, and the ability to rely on previous experience in studying the battle for the Caucasus.
Achievements in studying the history of the Battle for the Caucasus help not only to create a detailed panorama of it, but also to show in broad terms the military, political, socio - economic and moral processes that took place in those years, both in the country as a whole and in the region. This is important for shaping the worldview and ideological conviction of young generations of Soviet people who did not know the war. Literature about the battle for the Caucasus, like all works about the Great Patriotic War, helps to expose fascism as a monstrous product of imperialism.

35 Stavropol in the Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945 Stavropol, 1962; Trudyaschie Dona - frontu [Workers of the Don-Front]. Rostov-on-Don, 1965; Documents of courage and heroism. Kuban in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Collection of doc. and m-lov. Krasnodar, 1965; North Ossetian Party organization during the Great Patriotic War. Collection of doc. and m-lov. Krasnodar. 1974; Kabardino-Balkaria during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Nalchik. 1975; Soviet Armenia during the Great Patriotic War. (1941-1945). Collected papers. and m-lov. Yerevan. 1975; Azerbaijan SSR during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). Collection of papers. and m-lov. Tt. 1-2. Baku. 1976; and others.

page 117

Of course, the problem of defeating the German-Fascist troops in the Caucasus is far from being exhausted, and a number of its important aspects still remain insufficiently thoroughly and comprehensively developed. Thus, it is necessary to continue the work on in-depth research of the role of party and Soviet bodies, especially their grassroots links, in mobilizing labor and material resources, preparing reserves for the Active Army during the battle for the Caucasus. It is important to further study the issues of mass-political work of party organizations in the Caucasus among the population. There is a need to create a generalizing work that would comprehensively and comprehensively reveal the military and labor feats of the working class, collective farm peasantry and intelligentsia of the union and autonomous republics, territories and regions during the battle for the Caucasus and in general during the last war. The activities of the Komsomol of the region on ideological and patriotic education of young people, their mobilization for heroic work in the name of victory over the enemy, require further study. Solving these issues requires further painstaking work on collecting and publishing archival documents and other sources.

Based on the capabilities of researchers and the challenges facing historical science, it would be necessary to create a fundamental, generalizing work on the history of the battle for the Caucasus, including all its aspects and problems. Such a work, along with the literature already published, would not only advance the development of the topic, but also expose even more argumentatively the attempts of bourgeois authors to distort the history of the Great Patriotic War. The accumulated rich factual material provides a practical opportunity to create such a work. Along with this, there is a need for a generalizing monographic study, which would analyze the entire literature on the battle for the Caucasus and critically analyze the bourgeois historiography of the problem.

Relentless and painstaking work on the study of the past war is dictated not only by a legitimate desire to perpetuate the memory of the generation of Soviet people who made an invaluable contribution to achieving victory over fascism, but also by the fact that complex political, ideological and military processes are taking place in the international arena, in the light of which the tragedy of World War II, unleashed international imperialism. Its countless victims, torments and sufferings call for constant vigilance, for a resolute fight against the forces of reaction and aggression, which are intensively preparing new bloody crimes against humanity.

The study of the history of the Great Patriotic War is conducted not only in order not to leave a single fact of the immortal feat of the Soviet people in oblivion, but also to ensure that the lessons of the heroic past, which have a high ideological and moral meaning and accurately express the ideological, political, economic and social essence of the socialist system, serve the present, be aware of the realities of today's world. The lessons of the Great Patriotic War are of lasting importance, as emphasized in the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On the 40th Anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" 36 . And so it is quite understandable that a deep disclosure of the problems of the last war, showing the ideological, patriotic and socialist internationalism of the Soviet people is of great importance in the modern ideological struggle.

36 Pravda, 17. VI. 1984.

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