The Auxiliary Activities of Peat Enterprises in Support of Peat Extraction under the Conditions of the Great Patriotic War (Based on Materials from the Vladimir and Ivanovo Regions)

Identificator

EDN: QLFQYI; УДК: 947.8(470.314+470.315)

Authors

Tryakhov Ilya Sergeevich, PhD in History, associate professor, associate professor of the Department of Russian History, Vladimir State University n. a. A. G. and N. G. Stoletov. Russia, Vladimir. ORCID: 0000-0001-6488-5205.ResearcherID: AAE-6529-2021. E-mail: ilja.tryahoff@yandex.ru

Journal

HERALD OF HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION №2 (42), 2026

Section

NATIONAL HISTORY

Pages

62-72

Abstract

The article is devoted to the non-core activities of peat enterprises under the conditions of the Great Patriotic War. During the hard times of the war, peat was one of the most important sources of energy both for generating electricity and for the plants and factories of a number of industries. In addition, this type of fuel was actively used by the municipal utilities of the Vladimir and Ivanovo regions. The main activity of the enterprises was connected with a whole range of measures that were necessary for the effective work of the peat producers, given the difficult working and living conditions of the workers. The sources were the collections of the state archives of the Vladimir and Ivanovo regions, among which the documents of the primary party organizations of a number of enterprises were of particular importance. They contain information (not always complete) about the functioning of subsidiary farms, the social practices of the war years, and the work and conduct of the members and candidate members of the CPSU(b) among the workers and the managers of the peat workings. The collections of the regional, city and district party committees, in which the work of the peat enterprises was discussed to various degrees, as well as periodical press materials, also played their part in the study. These sources reflect the efforts of the propaganda bodies, the aim of which was to motivate the workers to fulfil and overfulfil the planned targets. As a result of the study, one should note the diversity of the activities of the peat-extraction enterprises and their active participation in aid to the front. At the same time, the social infrastructure of the peat workers' settlements was insufficient, and the self-provision of the enterprises with food was worse than in other industries. The remoteness of the peat-extraction sites from urban centres more often led to various abuses on the part of the administration.

Keywords

the Great Patriotic War peat enterprises the food problem agitation and propaganda the social practices of the war years

Recieved

13.10.2025

Published

20.08.2026

References

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