Oriental Studies (Oct 2022)
Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR during the Great Patriotic War: The Bashkir Period Revisited
Abstract
Introduction. The article deals with activities of institutes of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences evacuated to Bashkiria in 1941–1943. Goals. The article aims at revealing functioning features of Ukrainian scientific institutions, their research efforts, and academic results in the mentioned period. Materials and methods. The work focuses on archival documents and published sources. The principles of historicism, objectivity and scholarship proved key to analyses of sources, evaluations of events and phenomena. The study employs a variety of research methods, such as the comparative historical, chronological, retrospective, logical ones, etc. Results. The insights into archival documents and published sources depict academic institutions of the Ukrainian SSR during their WWII evacuation in the Bashkir ASSR, outline features of their research activities and actual impacts in military and economic endeavors. The period introduced cardinal changes not only in the scope of their work but also influenced the shaping of new scientific directions. Despite the extreme wartime conditions, the researchers were striving to implement research tasks that had been determined in Ukraine. They were conducting scientific research, undertaking expeditionary trips to rural Bashkiria further to be further described in published papers. They also joined efforts with Bashkir scientists to examine various problems of the autonomous Republic, thus not only continuing research and exploration work but also taking an active part in pursuing the assigned responsible missions. Conclusions. In the years under review, the stay of institutes and scientists of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Bashkiria became a most fruitful and productive period, which is evidenced by the scope of published scientific works. Joint efforts with scientists of the Republic and other evacuated Soviet scientific institutions and universities proved an excellent school for them to gain experiences, resulted in the emergence of new research areas, and the expansion of scientific and industrial ties.
Keywords
