With the outbreak of hostilities, the Soviet people faced challenges, the solution of which was difficult because of the loss of economically important regions. In the occupying enemy of the territory of the USSR, up to 33% of the total gross output of the country was produced. Heavy industry was particularly affected. Before the war, the occupied regions provided 71% of the all-union production of pig iron, 58% of steel production and 57% of ferrous metal rolled products. The Donetsk coal basin was lost, where in 1940 it was possible to extract up to 60% of all coal. In the country as a whole, the main production assets in 1941 decreased by 28% compared with prewar times.

The agriculture of the country suffered enormous damage. The enemy occupied territories where up to 87% of all sugar, 50% of all-Union grain was produced. Highly developed grain, milk and meat state farms, stud farms, elite cattle farms were lost.

The occupied areas had an extensive railway network. Here, before the war, per 1 thousand square meters. km accounted for 39 km of railways (in the United States per 1 thousand sq. km then there were 40 km of railways).

From the very first days of the war, attempts were made to save the industrial equipment of enterprises of the most important sectors of the economy. On June 24, 1941, a Council for Evacuation was established by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.). After the reorganization of the Council, held in July, it was headed by the first secretary of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, N. M. Shvernik. The structure of this body also included A.N. Kosygin, M.G. Pervu-Khin, A.I. Mikoyan, M. 3. Saburov and some other Gosplan specialists, as well as various narcotics.

On June 27, 1941, the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and the Council of People's Commissars "On the Procedure for Exporting and Deploying Human Contingents and Valuable Property" was adopted. During the first 4 months of the war, the government managed to organize the removal of equipment from all the factories of the tank, aviation, moto-construction and other military industries. In the shortest possible time, more than 1,360 large, mainly military enterprises were evacuated to the east. More than 210 enterprises were sent from Moscow alone to the east, about 200 from Kiev.

The deputy chairman of the evacuation council, who headed the group for exporting industrial facilities, and A. was authorized by the Central Committee of the party and the SNK for evacuation from Moscow and the region. N. Kosygin. Since October 25, 1941, along with the Council for Evacuation, the Committee for the Evacuation of Stockpiles of Food, Raw Materials, Industrial Goods, and Equipment for Textile, Sewing and Tobacco Factories and Soap Plants also operated in connection with the large volume of work.

However, despite the measures taken, far from all the equipment, property and food managed to be taken to the east of the country. Already on June 29, 1941, a directive of the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) followed, stating that "all valuable property, including non-ferrous metals, bread and grief, which cannot be exported, must be unconditionally destroyed." Dneproges was destroyed. Part of the power plant equipment was evacuated, and the station itself was blown up. The German economic group "South" in its report for November 1941 reported to Berlin that "there is not a single enterprise in which no explosions or destructions were carried out. Destruction covers not only factories, but also extends to tools and workshops , plans and various documentation of all kinds that have been evacuated or destroyed. "

Fulfilling the directive of the government, the Soviet people destroyed the harvest of 1941, which was a success everywhere. In a number of cases, food was distributed to the population and units of the Red Army. Stalin objected strongly to the latter, stating that the troops “could turn into gangs of marauders”.

The urgency of measures to destroy food and equipment was dictated by the fact that the onset of enemy troops was carried out at a rapid pace. So, on June 28, Minsk was taken, where more than 330 industrial enterprises were located. They could not be evacuated due to interception of communications by the enemy, destruction, general fire and bombing. Given the speed of advance of the Nazis, on July 10, 1941, Stalin sent a note to the secretary of the Communist Party (B) of Ukraine, Khrushchev, in the name of the State Defense Committee obliged the latter to destroy equipment, livestock and other property of the 70-mile area from the front ".

The loss of vital densely populated areas with powerful industry and highly productive agriculture, which was accompanied by the relocation of industry and vehicles to the east of the country, led to the fact that in November 1941 the average monthly production was the lowest in all the war years and amounted to only 51.7% of the total volume of production in November 1940. At that time, the output of certain types of engineering products completely stopped. All the mines of not only Donetsk, but also the Moscow coal basin were stopped. This was the first period of the war economy of the USSR, which lasted until June 1942. The enemy’s military-industrial potential at a specified time was significantly higher than that of the Soviet Union.

In February 1942, specific areas of work were personally assigned to the GKO members. Control over the implementation of the decisions of the T-bills for the production of tanks was assigned to Molotov. Malenkov was instructed to focus his efforts on the fulfillment of tasks for the production of aircraft and engines, as well as on the work of the Air Force. Beria was supposed to oversee the production of weapons and ammunition.

The second period in the development of the war economy of the USSR covered the time from July 1942 to October 1943. This was a period of decisive change, which ensured superiority in armament over the enemy. The fall in industrial production was stopped only at the very end of 1941. From March 1942. You can talk about the beginning of its growth. However, on the whole, the Soviet advantage in the ratio of military-economic forces and technology was only indicated by the summer of 1943, steadily growing after the Battle of Kursk. Increasing attention was paid to the manufacture of new types and models of weapons: tanks, aircraft, artillery. Since the spring of 1943, the Soviet aviation industry produced an average of 2.5 thousand combat aircraft every month, or 30 thousand in terms of annual production, while the German industry produced 25.5 thousand combat aircraft in 1943. -you.

The third period of the development of the military economy — from November 1943 to May 1945 — was held under the banner of the growing superiority of the USSR on the scale of military production. The important point that ensured this growth was the high concentration of the defense industry in the eastern regions of the country.

With the liberation of the occupied territories of the Soviet Union, the restoration of a number of industries began. On April 13, 1942, the State Defense Committee approved the plan for the construction and reconstruction of the steel industry in the central and southern regions of the country. On August 21, 1943, the CPC and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) approved the decree "On urgent measures to restore the economy in areas liberated from the German occupation." To accomplish this task, a special Committee was created under the CPC, which included A.I. Mikoyan, N.A. Voznesensky, A.A. Andreyev and other responsible workers.

On March 29, 1944, the State Defense Committee adopted a detailed resolution "On priority measures for the restoration of industry and agriculture in Leningrad in 1944." The Resolution envisaged achieving a significant increase in production in 1944 and bringing it to 25% of the pre-war level. To restore the national economy of the liberated regions in 1942-1945. The government allocated 39.5 billion rubles, including 14.2 billion rubles in 1944. and 18 billion rubles in 1945

With the end of the Great Patriotic War, on May 26, 1945, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution "On measures for the restructuring of industry in connection with a reduction in the production of armaments". Thus, the next step was taken to transfer the national economy to a peaceful footing. The expansion of the production of machines and civil products in general began at the military factories. In 1945, compared with 1944, military output dropped by 31%.