Construction of defensive fortifications on the territory of the Saratov region during the Great Patriotic War

In the article the author addresses one of the little-studied issues of the history of the Great Patriotic War in regional historiography. The construction of defensive lines on the territory of the Saratov region, which was located for a long time in the near rear of the Soviet-German front, was carried out for a year and a half, took on a large spatial scale and required large-scale expenditures of human and material resources. From the autumn of 1941 until March 1943, six field-type defense lines with a total length of over 600 kilometers were built in the region. It is shown that the Saratov defensive lines were part of a general deep-echeloned system of fortifications designed to cover the main strategic areas, economic and administrative centers of the country. The organization and progress of the construction of defensive fortifications on the outskirts of Saratov, the nature and extent of the participation of special units of the Red Army and the local population in it are considered. The question is raised about the expediency of erecting protective lines on the territory of the region, the validity of the construction period. 

defensive lines, construction, the Great Patriotic War, Saratov Region, sapper troops, local population