The work of industrial enterprises in Kostroma during the USSR participation in World War II: difficulties and ways to overcome them

As a result of the analysis of archival materials, collections of documents, and memoirs of the war survivors, the authors of the article for the first time comprehensively have analysed the work of industrial enterprises in Kostroma during the participation of the USSR in World War II. In order to better understand how difficult it was to fulfill military orders, a description of pre-war Kostroma is given, showing the unsolved tasks, the fulfillment of which was aggravated by the war. The subjective and objective reasons for the under-fulfillment of the military production plan were identified: personnel shortages, difficulties in restructuring for the production of military products, arrival of unskilled workers, shortages of raw materials and fuel, underperformance of managers at various levels, and household problems. But since the 2nd half of 1943, all Kostroma enterprises had begun to fulfill and exceed their plans. The authors analysed a set of measures that helped this: multifaceted work with personnel, primarily with newcomers to enterprises, diverse ideological and political work, introducing new forms of socialist competition, improvement of the morale climate due to victories on the fronts, etc. As a result, the enterprises successfully fulfilled defence orders and, overcoming physical and psychological difficulties, residents, like the whole country, achieved victory over a strong enemy.