AVIATION DEVELOPMENT AS ONE OF THE FACTORS IN THE FORMATION OF PARAUTUTISM IN THE USSR IN THE 1930s

Abstract

The study analyzes the origin of aviation in the leading countries of the world, including Russia, at the beginning of the 20th century, its qualitative improvement and quantitative growth during the First World War and in the interwar period. The article convincingly proves the objective necessity of introducing parachutes into aviation as a reliable means of saving pilots. At the same time, the necessity of the invention of a fundamentally new means of salvation is justified in comparison with those used in aeronautics, namely, a backpack parachute. The article features the analysis of their use at the final stage of the First World War, from which it follows that the Russian parachutes were much more reliable than the French ones, the latter were in large numbers in service with the Russian army. Special attention is paid to the process of converting parachutes from a means of rescuing pilots into a combat means, a means of dropping airborne troops. The article presents data of archival materials and periodicals of various regions in the south of Russia, which allow to analyze a wide range of issues related to the development of parachuting in the country in the 1930s: from the emergence of the first paratroopers and organization of the All-Union Parachute Center to the establishment of an actual military branch - Airborne troops. The latter were widely used during military exercises of the troops in a number of military districts, which would have been impossible without the development of mass para-chutism facilitated by an extensive network of aeroclubs, parachute and parachute stations towers. Osoaviakhim and Komsomol played a huge role as they turned the development of aviation sports, including parachuting, into a priority area of their activities. The study analyzes the contribution of such southern regions as the Kuban, Stavropol, Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria to the development of parachutism. The article emphasizes that it is Russia that is the birthplace of aviation, the invention of a backpack parachute and the creation of the Airborne Forces.