ACTIVITIES OF THE MILITARY COUNCIL OF THE NORTHERN FRONT ON FINANCIAL AND LEGAL SUPPORT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES IN LENINGRAD (June – September 1941)

The relevance of the study is due to a significant date in the Russian history – the 80th anniversary of the complete lifting of Leningrad siege. The immortal feat of Leningrad defenders should serve as an example of heroism and perseverance for future generations of Russians. The purpose of the study is to show the activities of military authorities in organizing the defense of the city, including in the field of constructing defensive structures in the early period of the Great Patriotic War. All this will contribute to a more substantive study of not only the heroism of the Leningraders who found themselves in the conditions of the siege, but also the successes achieved and mistakes made by the military leadership in organizing the defense of the city. Materials and methods. The main material for writing the article was extracted from the funds of the Central State Archive of St. ‑Petersburg, the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of St. Petersburg, published materials of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and a number of other sources. The article reveals the specifics of the activities carried out by the Military Council of the Northern Front for the construction of defensive structures around Leningrad before the beginning of the city siege. The main method of this study was a retrospective method, which enabled to consider the events of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in dynamics and development. Study results. The documents defining the legal status of the Military Council of the Northern Front are analyzed. The activity of military management bodies on financial and legal support for the construction of defensive structures in Leningrad in June – September 1941 is shown. In addition, the article describes the methods of statutory regulation of increasing financial control and discipline when forming the financial and legal system of remuneration for workers and employees involved in the construction of defensive structures. At the same time, the mechanism for providing workers mobilized to construct defensive structures with food, tools and wages was uncovered. Conclusions. It can be stated that the Military Council of the Northern Front, in an extremely limited time caused by advance of German troops, was able to mobilize the material and human resources of the city to build defensive lines around Leningrad. At this, the Council actively resolved issues of financial and legal support for this construction, financial discipline was observed and legal control was ensured. Ultimately, this made it possible to effectively mobilize human resources and raise the morale of the city defenders, set them up for stubborn resistance to the enemy, and lay the material and ideological foundation for the heroic defense of Leningrad.