Arkhangelsk in 1939–1945: Militarization of Administrative Practices and Urban Everyday Life in Wartime

Abstract

The article is devoted to little studied aspects of the regional history of the Soviet port city: transformation of everyday life during the Second World War, the process of government system militarization, public life and public consciousness, the impact of the war on life and health of its inhabitants. The experience of wartime Arkhangelsk is unique because in percentage terms Arkhangelsk was the second city in the Soviet Union after besieged Leningrad by the number of civilian victims. Arkhangelsk was not blockaded, but a quarter of its civilian population died in wartime from famine and war-related illnesses. Being a major transport hub and a seaport of national importance in the North of the country, the city played an important connecting role, taking a significant part of strategic cargos from the USSR allies in the anti-Hitler coalition and directing them inland to the front by rail.

Keywords

• world war ii
• arkhangelsk
• militarization
• famine
• repression
• population mortality rate