From Stapfer: Il-2 in action ( Squadron/Signal publications )

The 18th Party conference , held in February 1941, was devoted almost entirely to defence matters. The budget allocation for defence, during the period of 1928 to 1933 , had been 5.4% of the gross national product, but in 1941, it had risen to 43.4%...

Anyone know more of the topics at the conference and why defensive matters more or less?

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One has to wander at the meaning of economical statistics in the Soviet Union, first of all, so I have no idea how Squadron could conjure that figure...

No, I don't have any data on the 18th Party Conference, some things are rather obscure and mentioned only in passage. I suppose a clear, honest and duly scholar history is yet to be written.

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Thanx Za!

Anyway, forget the percentage just interested in the topics. I´d be interested to know why only defensive matters or what kinda equipment or defensive systems were ordered to be built...

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This is very strange, as these are very specific topics to be discussed at that time only among Stalin, Shaposhnikov, Voroshilov and a select few others, Kulik perhaps. Decisions were taken and then handed down the party chain of command, but only for the purposes of organization of production.

This 18th Party Conference was the occasion when Lazar Kaganovitch's brother, who had been people's commissar for aircraft production got his thumbs down, prompting his suicide.

One of many who perished during these years was Lazar's brother, Narkom of the Aviation Industry Mikhail Kaganovich. On January 10, 1940 Mikhail was demoted to director of the aviation plant N24 in Kazan. In February 1941, during the 18th Conference of the Communist Party, Mikhail was warned that if the plant missed its deadlines he would be ejected from the Party. On June 1, 1941 after a phone call from Lazar, Mikhail committed suicide.

Some brother!

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