Andrey Tikhomirov - South Urals industry in 20—30s of the XX century. Scientific research

© Andrey Tikhomirov, 2021

ISBN 978-5-0053-4612-4

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Industrial development of the South Urals in the years of the new economic policy and pre-war five-year plans is a topic of topical importance for modern Russia. Regardless of political preferences, the problem of the country’s modernization and its accelerated transformation into an industrially developed power comes to the foreground. In this regard, the search for fundamental trends and regularities of domestic historical experience will help to better illuminate ways to solve modern economic problems.

The construction of the industrial foundation in Russia and the USSR lasted for many decades. The rapid development of industry, which began in Russia after the abolition of serfdom, continued under Soviet rule as an integral, organically interrelated process. In the late 20s – early 30s of the XX century, in connection with the transition to the planned nonproprietary economy, the country’s

leadership relied on theory of “leapfrogging” – an accelerated transition to a developed industrial society.

It was declared about the country’s transformation from agrarian-industrial to industrial-agrarian way of building factories and plants, especially enterprises of heavy industry. Huge funds and allocations were directed to the accelerated development of heavy industry enterprises. Millions of workers and peasants were sent to construction sites. The parallel collectivization – planting of the

kolkhoz system – contributed to the mass influx of workers.

Modernization of the late 20s – early 30s of the XX century in Russia objectively pursued the same goals as the reforms of 60—70s of the XIX century. It also had a “catching-up character”, so it had in many ways the same objectives. The problems of industrialization were set as a priority task for the development of the Soviet economy in the second half of the twenties. At the same time, its main goals were also defined:

the elimination of the country’s industrial underdevelopment;

to achieve economic independence;

to create an industrial base;

priority development of heavy industries.

These tasks were hampered by a lack of material and financial resources, resulting in the centralization of resource allocations. In 1927, Soviet economists began to develop the first five-year plan, which was to provide for the integrated development of the country’s regions and accelerate industrialization.

The transition to industrialization meant a new stage in the development of the entire country. The restoration of the national economy after the end of the civil war took place mainly at the old technical base. The problems of economic recovery were to be solved by a new economic policy introduced in 1921. The socialist industrialization of the country at that time had the main goal of creating the material and technical basis of industry on the basis of state control, development and strengthening of “socialist” production relations in the country, based on state ownership of the means of production. The Soviet power transformed industrialization into a tool for implementing the ideas of restructuring society. The South Urals occupied an important place in the process of industrialization as a raw material base of the country. These are deposits of chrome ore, magnesite, asbestos, copper, iron and nickel ores, salt, oil shale.

The tasks facing the South Urals’ industry were to develop and use new industrial deposits of copper, nickel, iron ores, ceramic raw materials, construction materials, and potash salts. Five years of the 30-s should have promoted accelerated formation of the industry of the region, the inhabitants of the region faced enormous tasks – to turn the agricultural area into an industrial region.

The purpose of scientific work is to illuminate theoretical bases and practical experience of development of the industry of Southern Ural Mountains in years of the new economic policy and pre-war five-years that can be useful for modernity.

Work tasks:

1. to form a holistic view of the South Urals industry development during the new economic policy years;

2. to consider the development of industry in the region during the first five years;

3. to draw main conclusions on the results of industrial development of the region.

Aims, methods, sources, terms of industrialization of the South Urals:

Objectives: to transform the region from an agrarian to an industrial one. industrial-agrarian, ensuring technical-economic independence, to strengthen the defense capabilities and improve the welfare of the people, a demonstration of the benefits of socialism;

Methods: State initiative supported by enthusiasm from below.

Command and administrative methods dominate – the systematic nature of industrialization;

Sources: domestic savings, loans, pumping out of the village, foreign trade income, cheap labour, worker enthusiasm, prison labour; the tight deadlines for industrialization and the concomitant pace of its implementation. High growth of industrial production.

Negative moments of industrialization which have appeared in Southern Ural: commodity hunger, ration cards (1928—1935), decrease in wages, shortage of highly skilled personnel, migration of the population and aggravation of housing problems, difficulties in adjustment of new manufacture, mass accidents and breakdowns – search for guilty, reprisals.

The basic directions of economic activity in Southern Urals: the accelerated rates of development of the enterprises of group “A” (manufacture of means of manufacture), the main problem – creation of the second coal-metallurgical base in the east (the Ural-Kuznetsk industrial complex), creation of new industries, struggle for mastering of new technics, development of power base, preparation

of qualified labour force and ITR.

The end of the civil war created the necessary conditions for the immediate start of “socialist” construction, but to begin construction in early 1921 was even harder than in early 1918. During the Civil War, Russia’s already backward economy was thrown back decades. Only the small peasant farms that prevailed in the country at the time could provide food for the starving population of the cities and raw materials for the destroyed industry. Therefore, under the new economic policy, the Soviet authorities had to use private capital to produce the necessary industrial goods more quickly. The transition to new economic policy thus, from the point of view of Soviet historians, meant a temporary resumption of capitalist production in small industrial and artisanal enterprises producing consumer goods. As a result, a number of small enterprises were denationalized, and private individuals were allowed to rent public enterprises. Capitalists were only allowed to produce a number of consumer goods, i.e. in very necessary, but not decisive, sectors of production. And the decisive industries, according to Soviet economists, the command heights in the economy – large industry, land, banks, transport, foreign trade – were to remain in the hands of the Soviet state.

“Russia later countries of Western Europe embarked on the path of industrial development in the late XIX and early XX centuries. By the time of the October socialist revolution, it remained an agrarian country with a predominance of precapitalist small commodity production of peasants and craftsmen (about 90% of the total working population). This meant that there were no material conditions for direct and direct transition to socialism. Aware of and considering this fact, in 1921 Lenin proposed a new economic policy, namely: to direct the inevitable development of small commodity and capitalist production in the direction of state capitalism of a special kind, with a public sector leading role in industry and under the control of the state of workers and in their interests through intermediary links (cooperation of small producers, equivalent to the exchange of goods between town and village, the use of the market and commodity-money relations). This was the only possible and scientifically sound way of moving towards socialism.