The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project number 24-28-01265, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-01265/
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-5-364-380
Abstract
This study examines the economic aspects of the volunteer movement in rural areas of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) during the Great Patriotic War, focusing on the Rostov region as one of Russia's historically agrarian territories. The research is grounded in both published and archival materials. It explores the influ ence of the collective farm system, estab lished in the USSR throughout the 1930s, on the volunteer movement. The findings reveal that collective farms emerged as a crucial fac tor in wartime volunteering. The significance of these collective enterprises is highlighted in their role in organizing and supplying volun teer Cossack cavalry units formed in the Ros tov region during the Great Patriotic War. Un like pre-Soviet practices, collective farms ena bled the provision of essential equipment and supplies to Cossack cavalrymen without caus ing significant material hardship for the fami lies of volunteer Cossacks. The study notes that, thanks to the high mobilization potential of collective farms, Cossack cavalry units received necessary reinforcements in person nel and horses, maintaining their combat ef fectiveness throughout the war years. The role of collective farms in organizing voluntary material support for the front is highly valued, with collective farmers processing additional “defense hectares” and collecting donations for the active army in the form of money, food, clothing, and other goods.
Keywords
Great Patriotic War,
collective farms,
Rostov region,
voluntary support for the front,
volun teer movement
Supporting agencies: The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project number 24-28-01265, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-01265/
About the Author
V. A. Bondarev
Don State Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Vitaliy A. Bondarev, Doctor of History, Associate Professor, Department of History and Cultural Studies
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Review
For citations:
Bondarev V.A. The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project number 24-28-01265, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-01265/. Nauchnyi dialog. 2025;14(5):364-380. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-5-364-380
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