Military Expenditures of the USSR on the Eve and During the Great Patriotic War

The authors, while highly appreciating the historiography devoted to the study of current issues of the Great Patriotic War, at the same time note that one of the historiographic gaps is the history of financial support for the combat operations of the Red Army and Navy in 1941-1945. They, relying on a wide range of published and unpublished sources, including archival documents, trace the dynamics of funding for the Soviet front and rear throughout the years of military operations. They emphasize the thoughtfulness of the Soviet leadership's strategic actions regarding state budgets. Financial expenditures on defense were adopted annually, taking into account both the situation on the fronts and the prospects for further military actions. Financial documents suggest that the main burden on the Soviet economy fell in 1944. The authors argue that it is appropriate to consider the events of the Great Patriotic War in the context of the military actions that preceded it: the military clashes with Japanese troops on Lake Khasan and the Khalkhin-Gol River, as well as the war between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939-1940, which are essentially fragments of the Second World War. The article provides detailed data on the total financial expenditures of the USSR for the entire period of the war.