This page was created by Christopher Matthew Jarmas. 

Imperiia: a spatial history of the Russian Empire

Ufa in The Great Patriotic War: 1941-1945

For much of its history, Ufa's provinciality was a liability in the city's defense. Far from Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, Ufa was a weak spot of central control, as the city's capture by Pugachev's rebels in 1774 demonstrates. But in World War II, Ufa's remoteness became the city's strength, welcoming an influx of migrants and entire industries from the front. At the start of the war, 104,000 Soviet citizens were evacuated to Ufa from western regions, which were threatened by invasion (Bikmeyev).

Theaters, factories, and orphanages were transferred to the city - the Kiev opera and ballet both continued to perform in Ufa during the war (Bikmeyev). One institution's role was also increased during the war: religion. Most of Ufa's mosques and churches were closed during the early years of Soviet rule (just two mosques and three churches remained in all of Bashkiria in 1941), but between 1944 and 1945, facing petitions from local residents, the Soviet authorities permitted the opening of an additional seven churches. The arts also benefited from the war's displacement of the Soviet population. Numerous well-known Soviet composers were evacuated to the city, and the Leningrad Symphony performed in Ufa (Bikmeyev). Political institutions were also moved eastward, and during the war, institutions of the Executive Committee of the Communist International operated in the city (Bikmeyev).

While the Great Patriotic War cost the Soviet Union dearly, and indeed many Ufa families lost relatives, the period was undeniably a boon to the city's development, importing - under terrible circumstances, to be sure - arts, culture, and industry to a region that had long been a Russian and Soviet backwater.

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