Page 166 - The Chief Culprit
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Mobilization of the Economy
A doctrine about war fought on enemy territory took hold during the prewar years, which
was of a clearly aggressive nature.
—C S. V, H S U
or many years, the People’s Commissariat of Defense Industry was in charge of arms
production in the USSR. On January 11, 1939, it was dismantled, and four new
FPeople’s Commissariats were created instead: one for the shipbuilding industry, one
for weapons, one for the aviation industry, and one for ammunition.
e Shipbuilding Commissariat was unofficially called the Submarines Narkomat (short
for People’s Commissariat). In theory, this commissariat produced both civilian and military
ships. But in practice, the facts were such that “by 1935 all major shipyards were redesigned
for production of military ships.” In 1939, Germany entered into World War II with fifty-
1
seven submarines. We are assured that the Soviet Union had no intentions of entering into
the war, but in September 1939 it possessed 165 submarines. e submarines matched up to
the best world standards. Some of the submarine designs were developed in Nazi Germany
2
on Soviet orders by the company Deschimag AG Wesser. ey say that Stalin trusted Hitler.
ey should look more carefully into who trusted whom.
In the Soviet Union, the most modern American technology and renowned American
engineers were used in the process of submarine production. ey say that Stalin was too
trustful, but I think Roosevelt possessed more of that particular quality. Aside from American,
German, British, Italian, and French accomplishments, the Soviet shipbuilding industry also
made its own technological advances. We also had some talented engineers.
From the moment of its founding, the Shipbuilding Narkomat undertook strictly mili-
tary projects. Moreover, many ships that had earlier been built for civilian needs were now
armed and given over to the navy. With just one directive by the Soviet government, on May
25, 1940, the following numbers of civilian ships were handed over to the military: 74 to the
Baltic fleet, 76 to the Black Sea fleet, 65 to the North fleet, and 101 to the Pacific fleet. At the
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