On the Centralisation of the Leadership of the Partisan Movement during the Great Patriotic War

The formation of the partisan units in the rear of the advancing Nazi troops and the establishment of resistance in the first months of the Great Patriotic War were led by the party and Soviet authorities, intelligence departments and political administrations of the Red Army fronts and USSR state security agencies. As some leaders of the first partisan detachments noted, there was an abundance of organisers, but in reality the resistance was literally stuck at the beginning of the war. The paper studies the development and operation of the central headquarters of the partisan movement, its cooperation with the Red Army and state security agencies with the aim of improving the leadership and the effectiveness of intelligence, sabotage and combat operations of partisan units in occupied Soviet territories during the Great Patriotic War. The author points out deficiencies that existed in the organisation of the partisan resistance and draws conclusions about the positive role of the central headquarters of the partisan movement in the organisation and management of combat efforts behind enemy lines.