Bredikhin V.E. Expulsion as a sanctioned measure of regulating the composition of the Komsomol during the period of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945: a study in comparative analysis

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the sanction features of the human resource policy of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) during the period of the Great Patriotic War. The author’s attention is focused on the extreme form of corporate sanctions – expulsion, which is examined as part of the regulating mechanisms of the group’s quality and quantity composition consisting of the civilian Komsomol under the conditions of membership shortages in 1941–1945. The author presents a comparative time-spatial analysis of the sanction mechanisms’ work of expelling members during the pre-War period and during the war, on the scale of the whole USSR and on the regional level, while identifying the differences in implementation practices and reasons of substantiation. The study of the sanction policy in the Komsomol is carried out considering the governmental nature of this organisation. The article’s methodology is primarily based on the use of the historical-comparative method, including synchronic and diachronic material analysis, as well as the method of statistical data processing. In presenting the material the author adheres to the principle of historism. The article’s scientific novelty lies in its comparative examination of the questions of the sanction policy of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League during the period of the Great Patriotic War on the basis of modern methodological approaches. The sanction policy of the Komsomol during the period of the Great Patriotic War was accompanied by an absolute and a relative reduction of the proportion of expelled members in the total body of the Komsomol compared to the pre-War period, which is explained by the aim of the Komsomol authorities to maintain to the highest degree the organisational and executive potential of the organisation under the conditions of a precipitous reduction of its number and the complication of its functional responsibilities. The nature of expulsion during the period of war demonstrates the organisation’s direct link with law enforcement standards and with the objectives of strengthening social stability among the civilian population.

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