National University of Science and Technology MISIS (Moscow, Russia)

E. P. Maksimenko, Cand. Hist., Associate Prof., Dept. of Social Sciences and Technologies, e-mail: maksimenko.ep@misis.ru

The provision of high-performance ammunition in the required quantity has played and is playing a key role in achieving victory in military conflicts. During the Great patriotic war, the industry of ammunition production was often called the «front line of the homefront», because «without ammunition, guns and rifles do not fire, mortars and katyushas are silent, ships, tanks, planes become unarmed and defenseless ...» [1, p. 3]. The successful suppression of the enemy, the capture of fortified positions, and the support of the advancing troops directly depended on the sufficiency of ammunition supplies. The article discusses some issues of the production and consumption of ammunition (primarily land artillery) at various stages of the Great patriotic war (1941–1945). Special attention is paid to the role of ferrous metallurgy, which supplied the main raw materials and semiproducts for the manufacture of blanks for shells and weapons. Extensive statistical data are provided. As an illustrative material, the article contains samples of visual products from the Great patriotic war (photographs, posters, postcards) related to the production of ammunition. During the war years, they symbolized the unity of the front and rear, recorded the process of hard work, and showed the importance of the contribution of each industry employee to the common victory.

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