Baku occupied a special place in the plans of Nazi Germany. The head of the Foreign Policy Department of the NSDAP, Alfred Rosenberg, drew up a special "Plan for the management of the Caucasus", which assumed the inclusion of Baku in the sphere of influence of the Third Reich. According to the plan, it was necessary to occupy Baku by September 25, 1942. [1]
In March 1941, Adolf Hitler issued an instruction according to which, following the occupation of Baku, the production, processing, and transportation of Baku oil had to be provided by the "Continental Oil Society". It was planned to turn Baku into a major military facility. [2] [3]
In the summer of 1942, Operation Edelweiss was drawn up in order to capture the Caucasus, in particular, Baku and Grozny. A similar plan called Velvet was also drawn up by the allies of the USSR – England and the United States. [4]
In 1942–1943, 74 attempts of the German air forces to invade Baku were stopped. [3]
There was Baku Automobile Plant built in the city. More than 130 types of weapons were manufactured: Katyusha missiles, Yak-3, P-39 and UTI-4 fighters, Shpagin machine guns, and so on. [3] [5] [6]
According to the Resolution of the State Defense Committee of April 5, 1942, in May, the Baku Air Defense Corps district was reorganized, as a result of which, the Baku Air Defense Army was formed. [7]
After the declaration of martial law in September 1942, the Baku Defense Area was laid down. [8]
In 1940, the groundwork for drilling ultra-deep wells in the oil fields of Baku was laid. [1]
On December 24, 1940, the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) adopted a resolution "On strengthening the material and technical base and ensuring the development of oil production and refining in the Baku oil region". [1]
In 1940, 71.4% of all oil production, 80% of aviation gasoline, 90% of ligroin and kerosene, 96% of automotive and industrial oils in the USSR were produced by Baku enterprises. [1] [9] [10]
On June 22, 1941, a mass meeting of workers was held in Baku. [11]
In 1942, an inter-regional intelligence school was opened in Baku. [12]
In the autumn of 1942, a resolution of the State Defense Committee was issued, according to which nine Baku drilling offices and oil enterprises were transferred to Bashkiria, Kuibyshev, Perm, and Orenburg in order to ensure the accelerated development of oil production. [1] [13]
In 1942, a shipping depot for industrial enterprises that were sent to the regions of Central Asia and Kazakhstan was built. [1]
There was also an aircraft repair plant, an evacuated plant of the People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry, a plant for the production of high-octane alkylbenzene, a branch of the plant for testing new types of naval weapons. [1] [14]
At a meeting of the all Baku party activists in August 1942, it was decided to erect defensive structures around the city, as well as to create fighter battalions. [1]
In 1943, the film Submarine T-9 was shot at the Baku Film Studio. [15]
On January 23, 1945, the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR was established. [16]
To this day, there are monuments to war heroes in Baku—Mehdi Huseynzade, Hazi Aslanov, Geray Asadov, Richard Sorge (1981). The memorial complex "Mass Grave" and the memorial monument "1941–1945" were built. [17]
Every year, on May 9, Baku hosts commemorative events dedicated to "WWII Victory Day". [18]
Mikhail Ivanovich Meltyukhov is a Russian military historian.
The 216th Rifle Division was a division of the Red Army and Soviet Ground Forces. It was the successor to a motorized division of that same number that was destroyed during the Battle of Uman in August 1941. It fought at Kharkov and in Karelia, Crimea, and Kurland.
Ahmadiyya Mikayil oghlu Jabrayilov is said to have been a French Resistance member of Azerbaijani ethnicity.
Shalva Loladze was a former Soviet Georgian POW and an officer in the German Wehrmacht who headed a revolt of the Georgian soldiers against the German commandership on the Dutch island of Texel.
The 87th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, active before, during the Second World War and afterwards.
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic entered World War II with the Soviet Union after the German declaration of war on June 22, 1941. Azerbaijan's oilfields were enticing to the Germans due to the USSR's heavy dependency on Caucasus oil – setting the scene for German campaigns attempting to capture and seize the oilfields in Baku during the Battle of the Caucasus. Azerbaijan’s oil was very decisive for Soviet victory. More than 600,000 people from Azerbaijan were conscripted to the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army during World War II from 1941 to 1945.
The 10th Air Army was a unit of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II and the Cold War years.
The 63rd Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army during World War II, formed twice.
Jalil Mammadali oghlu Javadov was a Soviet Azerbaijani commander, counter admiral (1968), first admiral of Azerbaijan and Turkic-muslim world of the USSR, chairman of Republic Committee of Army, Aviation, Volunteer Assistance Society of Azerbaijan SSR (1954-1971), member of the 5th convocation (1959-1963) of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR.
Yaponts Arskievich Abadiyev was a Soviet cavalry regiment commander during the Second World War. At the start of the war he was positioned as the deputy commander of a tank regiment, but was soon assigned as the commander of the 126th Cavalry Regiment. He briefly served as commander of the 255th Separate Chechen-Ingush Cavalry Regiment, but soon accepted command of a regiment within the 115th Kabardian-Balkar Cavalry Division. During the war he was injured multiple times, as his division was ordered to confront the 4th Panzer Army despite their cavalrymen being no match for the tanks. Despite his long service in the Red Army, his entire family was deported in the Aardakh, and was sent to Bashkortostan to command a reserve regiment. After the war he was stationed in a variety of cities, but did not get to return to his homeland of Ingushetia until the 1980s.
The 402nd Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served throughout the Second World War in that role. It was raised as an Azerbaijani National division in the Transcaucasus Military District and first formed part of the occupation force following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. It returned to the USSR in April, 1942, remaining in the Caucasus region until the forces of German Army Group A began its drive on the oil fields there as part of Operation Blue. In October it joined the Northern Group in the Transcaucasus Front, in the 44th Army, defending the direct route to Baku. The division took part in the counteroffensive that threw the German forces out of the Caucasus, but took heavy losses in the process. Once the German threat receded the 402nd returned to guard duties along the border with Turkey and served as a training establishment for Azeri recruits for the duration of the war.
The 406th Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served throughout the Second World War in that role, but saw relatively little combat. It was raised as a Georgian National division in the Transcaucasus Military District, where it remained until the forces of German Army Group A began its drive on the oil fields there as part of Operation Blue. In August 1942 it joined the Northern Group in the Transcaucasus Front, in the 46th Army, defending the high passes through the High Caucasus Mountains west of Mount Elbrus. Once the German threat receded, the 406th returned to guard duties along the borders with Turkey and Iran for the duration of the war.
The 10th Guards Budapest Rifle Corps was a unit of the Soviet Red Army during the Eastern Front of World War II. It traces its history to the 3rd Guards Rifle Corps, originally activated in January 1942, which was redesignated the 10th Guards Rifle Corps on 13 August 1942.
Akbar Sattar oglu Aghayev, was a Soviet-Azerbaijani servicemen, lieutenant of the Red Army, and one of the leaders of the anti-fascist resistance in the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Bilateral relations exist between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Colombia in political, socio-economic, cultural and other spheres.
Azerbaijan–Morocco relations are the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Morocco. Azerbaijan has an embassy in Rabat. Morocco has an embassy in Baku.
Azerbaijan—France relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the French Republic in the political, socio-economic, cultural, and other spheres.
With the outbreak of hostilities in the Caucasus as part of World war I, Azerbaijan was also involved in the war, being part of the Russian Empire. Baku oil was of particular importance.
The 777th Special Forces Regiment is a special forces unit in the Azerbaijani Land Forces.
"Scientists' residential house" also known as "Residential house of science workers" is a building on Neftchilar Avenue in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.