THE SYSTEMIC CRISIS OF OSOAVIAKHIM IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD (1945–1948) AND ITS REORGANIZATION: A REGIONAL ASPECT (CASE STUDY OF YAKUTIA)

Varvarikov Dmitry Spiridonovich

This article, based on archival materials from the National Archive of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) introduced into scholarly discourse for the first time, investigates the systemic crisis of the Yakut Republican Organization of OSOAVIAKHIM in the early post-war period, which culminated in its reorganization in 1948. The author provides a comprehensive analysis of the interconnected factors that precipitated the crisis: the demographic consequences of the war, manifested in the altered gender and age composition of the organization and the loss of its most qualified personnel; the catastrophic state of its material and technical base; an acute personnel shortage; and financial insolvency. Particular attention is paid to the specific manifestations of the crisis at the regional level: the chronic failure to meet planned targets, the institutionalization of formalism in its operations, systemic financial abuses, and the de facto disintegration of a significant portion of its primary organizations. Archival documents provide concrete examples illustrating the scale of this organizational degradation. The study argues that the reorganization of OSOAVIAKHIM was prompted not so much by the need for specialized training, but by a profound systemic crisis that rendered the previous organizational model unviable under new historical conditions. Using the Yakut ASSR as a case study, the article demonstrates how nationwide trends were exacerbated by regional specificities—vast distances, transport isolation, and limited local resources—which collectively led to the organization's complete loss of mobilization potential and necessitated its fundamental structural overhaul.

Keywords:OSOAVIAKHIM, post-war period, systemic crisis, reorganization, Yakut ASSR, DOSARM, DOSAV, DOSFLOT, personnel shortage, material and technical base.