Military Formations of the Central Asian Military District in Defensive Battles near Moscow
Abstract
The article examines the role and significance of the military formations of the Central Asian Military District that participated in the battles near Moscow during the Great Patriotic War. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that the author for the first time analyzed previously classified and therefore inaccessible archival documents and newly published materials about the heroism of the soldiers of the Central Asian Military District, who took their rightful place in the ranks of the defenders of Moscow. At the end of 1941, 21 cavalry and 16 rifle divisions, 25 rifle brigades were formed in the Central Asian Military District. The entry of the Soviet Union into World War II dramatically increased the potential of progressive forces opposing fascism, as a country with great military and economic potential, with peoples having heroic traditions, entered the war.