☰ Contents · History of Uzbekistan

The outbreak of the Second World War

Lessons 16 · 1 lessons · Q. Rajabov, A. Zamonov. History of Uzbekistan (1917–1991): textbook for Grade 10 of secondary schools and for students of secondary specialised and vocational institutions. 1st edition. G‘afur G‘ulom Publishing-Printing Creative House, Tashkent, 2017
16

The outbreak of the Second World War and Uzbekistan’s involvement

Textbook: pp. 87–91
GoalExplain the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR’s entry into it and Uzbekistan’s mobilisation for the war.
New words
the Soviet–German non-aggression pact of 23 August 1939 with secret protocols · Molotov–Ribbentrop paktiState Defence Committee, the wartime supreme authority of the USSR (from 30 June 1941) · Davlat Mudofaa Qo‘mitasievacuation: moving people and factories away from danger · evakuatsiyadefence fund: donations collected for the front · mudofaa jamg‘armasi
Explanation

On 23 August 1939 a ten-year non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany (the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact) was signed in Moscow; its secret part set spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked Poland – the Second World War began, on 3 September Britain and France declared war on Germany, and on 17 September Soviet troops entered Polish territory. From 30 November 1939 to 12 March 1940 the Soviet–Finnish war took place (on 14 December the League of Nations declared the USSR an aggressor and expelled it), in which soldiers from Uzbekistan also took part; in 1940 the Baltic republics were incorporated into the USSR. At dawn on 22 June 1941 Germany attacked the USSR despite the pact, and on 30 June the State Defence Committee was formed. In Uzbekistan (under Usmon Yusupov, first secretary of the party’s Central Committee) mass rallies were held on 23–24 June, and over 14,000 volunteer applications reached military commissariats in the first days. The population gave money and goods to the defence fund (according to the textbook, 649.9 million roubles in total over the war years), and enterprises and people were evacuated from areas near the front: of 308 enterprises moved to Central Asia and Kazakhstan, over 100 were placed in Uzbekistan, and in October 1941 an aircraft plant started work in Tashkent.

Worked examples
Example (date): from 23 August to 1 September 1939: 31 − 23 = 8 days, plus 1 = 9 days. Germany attacked Poland nine days after the pact was signed.
Example (assessing sources): Soviet historiography presented the entry into Poland and the Finnish war briefly or differently; today’s historians use the secret protocols and archives to examine the USSR’s actions of that time as well. So one event must be checked against sources from different periods.
Class activity

Date line: 23 Aug 1939 – 1 Sep 1939 – 17 Sep – 30 Nov – 22 Jun 1941 – 30 Jun 1941. Students put cards in order and write one sentence for each.

Practice
1
When and how did the Second World War begin?
2
How many days passed between the signing of the pact on 23 August and Germany’s attack on 1 September?
3
How was the patriotic mood shown in Uzbekistan in the first days of the war?
4
Why were enterprises evacuated to Uzbekistan?