DOC Stalin's World War II Evacuations: Triumph and Troubles in Kirov (Modern War Studies (Hardcover)) by Larry E. Holmes in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Untold Side of the Soviet EvacuationsBy Albert A. NofiA summary of the review on StrategyPage:'While the massive evacuation of people and industrial plant sparked by the German invasion in June of 1941 is fairly well-known; its effects on the areas of the USSR to which the people and equipment were relocated has received little notice. In his new book; Prof. Holmes (emeritus; South Alabama); author or several works about internal administration in the Soviet Union; takes a look at how the resettlement affected life in Kirov; northeast of Moscow. He reveals serious tensions between prewar inhabitants and wartime evacuees; who threatened to overwhelm local resources. This was worsened by a surprisingly vigorous bureaucratic “resistance” by regional party leaders; managers; local elites; and common citizens to further regional – and even personal – interests over the needs of their evacuee “comrades”; revealing the complex nuances of politics and life under the Stalinist regime. Of great value to serious students of the Russo-German war; the Soviet home front; of politics under the Stalinist regime; yhis is not likely to be of interest to most arm chair students of the war.'For the full review; see StrategyPage