The female factor in the organization of construction and the production process in the agricultural industry of Ukraine in 1943–1945

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the publication is to determine the place and role of Ukrainian rural women in
ensuring the functioning of the agricultural sector of the republic’s economy in the conditions of reconstruction in 1943-1945,
to assess their labor achievements in the field of food production for the front and rear.
The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the materials presented in it, in the context of the stated goal,
complement the national historiography of the period of the Second World War in general, and the historiography of the
Ukrainian peasantry of this period in particular.
Conclusions. In 1943-1945, women constituted the majority among the rural population of the republic. They played an
important role in ensuring the functioning of the agrarian sphere during its reconstruction in the conditions of the ongoing
war and the first half of the post-war period. Women successfully performed the duties of managers of public and state farms
and their production structures (farm managers, foremen, farm workers), were the main workforce in collective farms and
state farms during complex field work and in the production of livestock products. Thanks to their hard daily work, which was
mainly carried out manually with the use of live draft, the size of the replanting acreage and the volume of cultivated grain and
technical crops increased annually, the number of livestock increased, and the front and rear, both during the war and after its
end , received the necessary food and raw materials. Although there were still serious problems and shortcomings in the work
of the agricultural industry, and the volumes of plant and animal products produced were far from real needs, as a result of
the large-scale work carried out in 1943-1945 with the active participation of women, the agricultural industry of the republic
was revived to a large extent and laid good foundations for the growth of its potential in the future. Along with hard work on
collective farm and state farm fields and farms, the majority of women took care of homesteads and livestock, which were the
main source of livelihood for rural families.
Therefore, the female potential of the Ukrainian village during the reconstruction period was a significant component of
the rural society, and it was women who had to bear the main burden in the matter of revival and ensuring the functioning of
the agricultural industry in extreme conditions after the occupation devastation and the ongoing war.