IF THERE WAS NO THE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY OF AZERBAIJANI OIL AND SCIENTISTS, A GREAT VICTORY WOULD NOT BE REACHED
The 78th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 is coming to an end. Since our country played a special role in this victory, we have more rights to celebrate this event. From this point of view, these days, in accordance with the relevant order of the head of state, Mr.Ilham Aliyev, the payment of 1,500 manats to persons who participated in the Second World War of 1941-1945, the provision of one-time material assistance in the amount of 750 manats to the widows of soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War, or those who died later, persons awarded orders and medals for selfless work in the rear, employees of special forces who performed tasks for the benefit of the army and navy in the rear lines of combat fronts or in the combat zones of warring fleets during the Second World War, persons awarded the appropriate medals and badges for the defense of Leningrad city during the Second World War, as well as participants in the blockade of Leningrad, is the most obvious example of the attention shown to the significance of that victory for us as a country, people, state, in the example of the participants in the war and their families, who made a great contribution to the victory in question. In the truest sense of the word, the contribution of Baku oil to the Great Victory was invaluable.
The open encyclopedia says that although the Soviet-German war began in the northwestern regions far from Azerbaijan, Hitler considered the capture of oil-rich Baku one of his main goals. Imagine that in 1941 Azerbaijan produced 23.5 million tons of oil, which was 71.4 percent of the oil produced in the entire Soviet Union, not to mention Azerbaijan. Such high performance is an unproven axiom that it was able to ensure the victory of the former USSR in the Second World War. Historians will confirm that on July 23, 1942, Hitler signed Directive No. 45 on the conduct of a strategic operation in the Caucasus, code-named “Edelweiss”. In this plan, it was clearly emphasized that after the capture of the main oil regions of the Caucasus (Baku, Maikop, Grozny), the Wehrmacht would supply urgently needed fuel from the oil of these regions. Thus, according to the Edelweiss plan, aimed at the exclusively strategic goals of the Germans, Baku was to be occupied on September 25, 1942. Even the German military command planned to unexpectedly send an airborne army into Baku so that the Soviet authorities would not have the opportunity to disable the oil fields.
The fact that at the end of August 1942 the fascist military units reached the North Caucasus, and the occupation of the Grozny oil region by the fascist army testifies to their seriousness, this fact alone strengthens and highlights the significance and role of Baku oil during the war. Imagine, during the war, Azerbaijan supplied 80 percent of all gasoline and 90 percent of lubricants needed by the front from the Baltic to the Black Seas. In 1943, when the technique and technology was not formed, the method of marine seismic exploration was developed, seismic data and the results of applied research were used.
The fact is that not only Baku oil played a role in deciding the fate of the Second World War. The unparalleled work of academician Yusif Mammadaliyev, Azerbaijani scientists, and his students is worth talking about them. At that time in the USSR there was a great need for high-octane gasoline. This type of gasoline was an important factor in gaining an advantage in aerial combat. Thus, the high content of gasoline increased the speed of the aircraft and reduced the takeoff time. Thanks to the scientific research of our chemist Yusif Mammadaliyev, such high-octane gasoline was obtained in a short time. He developed a method for synthesizing isopropylbenzene by alkylating benzene with propylene, and succeeded in producing high-octane aviation fuel. Thanks to this, from the winter of 1943 until the end of the Second World War, Soviet IL-2 and LA-5 fighters were able to gain air superiority. In this regard, the Vyshka newspaper wrote that asked the famous hero of Soviet aviation Pokryshkin, the gallant planes of General Dzusov or the fighters of General Osipenko, who helped you dominate the air? Yakovlev, Mikulin and Mamedaliyev – they did one thing: they helped Soviet aviators fly higher and farther than anyone else.
The “Molotov cocktail”, which became the nightmare of the German fascists, was the result of the scientific work of Academician Yusif Mammadaliyev and his student Ali Guliyev. In addition, during the Second World War, about 700,000 soldiers were sent from Azerbaijan to the front, of which more than 350,000 died and went missing. During the war, the heroic children of Azerbaijan showed numerous feats and inscribed their names in military history as war heroes. But Baku was not awarded the title of “Hero City” for its oil, and the Azerbaijani academician Yusif Mammadaliyev was not awarded the Nobel Prize for applying his scientific discoveries. The heroism and selflessness of the Azerbaijani soldiers, as well as the immense work of the Baku oil workers, who ensured the victory of the Soviet Union in the II World War, the role of the Azerbaijani population in the rear, their work under the motto “everything for the army and the Motherland” was not properly appreciated. The names “Hero City” and “City of Military Glory” were given to cities that made a much smaller contribution than Baku, which ensured the victory of the USSR in the war. Not conferring such an honorary title on Baku was tantamount to canceling Baku’s merits in the II World War. Although 78 years have passed since our victory over fascism, the Kremlin leadership, posing as the main author of the victory, awards various honorary titles to some cities for merits in the victory in the Second World War of 1941-1945. Baku, which served immensely and was called the fuel of victory, did not receive any honorary title.
That is true, Soviet officials and leaders assess the role of Azerbaijan in the second World War as incomparable with other republics. For example, the Soviet statesman, Lenin Prize winner, Doctor of Technical Sciences, USSR State Prize winner, Honored Oilman of the USSR Nikolai Baibakov said that no a republic did what Azerbaijan did to defeat fascism.
Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky noted that Baku oil workers had a share in the attack of each of our aircraft and tank crew on the enemy.
But the fact remains. If this were not the case, then in subsequent periods the creation of mining and processing enterprises in the oil sector in Azerbaijan would not have been deliberately allowed by the leadership of the USSR among the union republics. In other words, the Soviet leadership showed a different attitude between Azerbaijan and other republics in the oil sector, as in all areas. At that time, the factories were directly subordinate to the Union ministries in order to prevent the republic from seriously interfering in the production activities of this industry. As a result, the issues of the oil industry of the republic and its development were subordinated to the interests of the general union, and the decisions made often completely contradicted the interests of Azerbaijan.
After the national leader Heydar Aliyev came to power, thanks to his determination and will, a major turning point began in the restoration and modernization of the oil industry in Azerbaijan. He rightly posed the following question to the Soviet leadership: if one of the 3 factors that decided the fate of the Second World War, which you call the Great Patriotic War, was associated with Azerbaijani oil and the scientific inventions of Academician Yusif Mammadaliyev, then why should discrimination be allowed against this republics?
Summarizing the above, if we try to answer the question of what would happen without the great scientific achievement of Azerbaijani oil and Azerbaijani scientists, then there is only one answer: our country would be devastated, our people would be captured, exiled, and most importantly, our country would lose in the future chance to exist in the world as a union republic. Therefore, may the souls of those who have passed away, who gave us this victory, be happy, may their places be in heaven, and may the souls of those who survived be healthy!!!
Afsun Sujayev NAP Board member,
Institute of Chemistry of Additives,
Executive Director, Doctor of Chemistry