Deportations and Сompensatory Migrations in the Azov-Black Sea Region during the Great Patriotic War (on the Materials of the Don, Kuban and Stavropol)

Introduction . The study highlights course and results of the migration campaign initiated in the USSR in 1944 to overcome the negative economic and demographic consequences of the eviction of Crimean Tatars from Crimea in May of the same year. The relevance of the topic is conditioned by the remaining lacunas in the historiography. In particular, the South Russian regional historiography does not sufficiently analyse the activities of the local Party and Soviet authorities in the implementation of government resolutions on the resettlement of Don, Kuban and Stavropol collective farmers in the Crimea and the attitude of collective farmers themselves to this campaign. Materials and Methods . This paper is based on archival and published documents and materials. The leading research methods were chronological and comparative-historical. Results . It is noted that the deportation of Crimean Tatars entailed a sharp deterioration of the economic and demographic situation on the peninsula. In an effort to restore the economy of the Crimea, in 1944 the USSR government organised the resettlement of 17 thousand collective farmers’ farms to the peninsula. The Ukrainian SSR and the RSFSR acted as donor regions for resettlement to the Crimea. In particular, such administrative-territorial formations of the Russian Federation as Rostov Oblast, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories were to allocate 7 thousand farms for resettlement to the Crimea. Many collective farmers actively responded to the call of the authorities and voluntarily resettled in the Crimea. All this made it possible to fulfil the planned resettlement plans. Discussion and Conclusion . It has been proved that the final effect of this compensatory migration was minimal. The main reason for the failure of the government’s plans was the fact that neither resettlement collective farms nor ordinary collective farmers could fully adapt to the unfamiliar natural, climatic and economic conditions of the Crimea. This hindered the process of economic consolidation of settlers on the peninsula and stimulated the mass return of collective farmers to their homeland.