Social Moods of the Population of the Soviet Rear during the Stalingrad Battle

The paper notes an increase in interest in studying the social moods of the population of the USSR rear during the Great Patriotic War. The problem of the “little man”, an ordinary worker of the war, is actively investigated. Domestic historiography was supplemented by a number of historical and psychological studies of mass consciousness and its components, its role in achieving victory. However, in the opinion of the author, it is premature to consider the study of the social moods of the population of the Soviet rear as almost completely finished. On the basis of archival materials (Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, Samara Regional State Archive of Socio-Political History, Central State Archive of the Samara Region), some of which have recently been declassified and introduced for the first time in scientific circulation, the paper analyzes the spectrum of public moods of the RSFSR citizens of the Soviet rear during the Stalingrad Battle of 1942–1943. The author also studies the factors that influenced the formation of moods and behavior of the population, including the influence of power on mass consciousness, the dynamics of moods, including attitudes toward war, the enemy and allies. The author shows the forms of behavior during the war, the reaction to events on the front, the perception of the war by population. The author comes to the conclusion that patriotic moods predominated as the conscious aspiration of Soviet people to defend the Fatherland at any cost, as a moral rejection of the Nazi policies by the people. The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad strengthened the conviction, the people’s confidence in victory on all fronts