UDC

Authors

Abstract

On the basis of archival documents, the paper present the first summary of the data on telecommunication development in besieged Leningrad, the type of communications desperately needed by the state during the Great Patriotic War. Before the war, Leningrad, as well as Moscow, was a major centre of telecommunications. The city had 100,000 phones used to make over 2 million calls a day; each large factory had its own telephone exchange. By the outbreak of war, Leningrad had more than 3,000 telecommunications workers, many of whom were sent straight to the battlefront. A separate signal battalion consisting of the most qualified workers was formed, providing continuous communications between the factories and military units. The city telephone system was severely damaged during the siege and Leningrad telephone operators spent much time laying new lines and installing new telephones. Compared to the pre-war level, the volume of this work quadrupled. In 1944, the local telephone network fulfilled the plan 112 %, while the long-distance telephone network – 115.1 %. The author concludes that the harsh conditions of the war boosted the development of communication facilities in the city, thus greatly contributing to the victory of the Soviet Union.

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