They laid up to 12 km per day manually, and not “on average about 1.5 km per day, and on some days even 4 km.”

"Russian miracle" in black sands

The very intention of the Russian government to build a railway through the Karakum desert caused a wide international response. Moreover, most of both domestic and foreign experts doubted the implementation of such a project.

American and European newspapers published ironic notes, the authors of which condescendingly called the project a “Russian utopia.” But the construction of the road that began soon cooled the ardor of the skeptics: the Western press published weekly reports on the progress of work as if it were military operations. This construction was so extraordinary that science fiction writer Jules Verne became interested in it. And already in 1892, his new novel, “Claudius Bombarnac”, was published, describing the journey of a French reporter along the already existing Trans-Caspian railway...

Transport problem

In the second half of the 19th century, Russia controlled significant territories on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. The created bridgehead made it possible to continue the offensive deep into Central Asia, which ended with the annexation of part of the Khiva, Kokand and Bukhara possessions to the empire. But the remoteness of this strategically important region from the European part of Russia created difficulties both in managing the region and in protecting new borders. In other words, it was necessary to solve the transport problem. St. Petersburg and General Mikhail Skobelev, whose troops in 1880 were preparing to storm the Geok-Tepe fortress on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, urgently asked for the same. Without taking it, there was no point in thinking about further advancement deeper into the Akhal-Teke oasis.

On July 9, 1880, the emperor ordered “to begin immediately the construction of the base and the transport of the necessary supplies to it by means of camels, horses and the Decauville portable road” and “at the same time, to begin detailed studies for the construction of a permanent railway.” And already on July 27, 1880, General Annenkov was entrusted with leading the work on the construction of the first stage of the railway from Mikhailovsky Bay to Kizil-Arvat...

From the Caspian Sea to Kizil-Arvat

In the same year, 1880, the 1st reserve railway battalion was formed, which included 25 officers, 30 technical engineers, doctors and representatives of other professions, as well as 1080 lower ranks of various specialties. These were the builders of the first section of the future Trans-Caspian Railway. Initially, it was planned to build a portable horse-drawn railway of the Decauville system here. However, it soon became clear that this was unrealistic: shifting sands, dunes and an almost complete absence of water and fodder... Without completely abandoning the use of “carrying”, Annenkov decides to build a steam railway and after 10 days (September 4) reports completion work. In response, another highest order followed, ordering the continuation of the construction of the highway to Kizil-Arvat. The total length of the road from Mikhailovsky Bay to this point was supposed to be 217 versts (230 kilometers). Exactly a year later (September 4, 1881), the first steam locomotive arrived in Kizil-Arvat, and already on September 20, regular train traffic began on this route.

The Trans-Caspian railway was built in incredibly difficult conditions: it went through sand dunes, salt marshes and steppes, was laid under the scorching sun, and there was not enough water. To speed up the work, civilian workers from Russian provinces joined the military builders. But they, not accustomed to the hot climate, lack of water and local food, often got sick. It was decided to “mobilize” Armenians from Baku, Shushi and Elizavetpol, who could more easily endure the hot climate and spoke Persian and Turkic languages. They helped Russian engineers and technicians communicate with the Muslim population.

A special packing train of 27 double-decker cars was formed for the soldiers of the railway battalion. They were adapted not only for housing, they housed kitchens and workshops, a dining room, a forge and warehouses, a telegraph and a first-aid post. The construction control center was also located here.

All necessary materials were delivered from Russia to St. Michael's Bay by steamship, then the rails and sleepers were loaded onto special trains. Construction was carried out using high-speed American technology: trains, pushed from behind by steam locomotives, approached the place where the already built track ended. After laying every 100 fathoms of track, the material train moved forward along the laid line, and work continued. The supply of materials was usually enough for two miles. When they ended, the train moved back and stood at a specially designated dead end to allow the next train with construction materials to pass. In this way it was possible to lay six miles of track per day. And to deliver lighter materials to the construction site, horse and camel transport was used. Water supply for construction was a particular problem. To completely waterless sections of the route, water was delivered by special trains and camels, transporting it in cans.

Most of the road being built, which only occasionally crossed oases, passed through clayey, saline, sandy desert, sometimes giving way to dunes. Flying sand, carried from place to place, covered and destroyed sleepers, railway tracks, barracks for workers, and rendered equipment unusable. But nothing could stop General Annenkov, who led the construction. Mikhail Nikolaevich came up with a new way to combat moving sands: he ordered to plant saxaul bushes along the railway route being built. Annenkov's method turned out to be so effective and cost-effective that it was subsequently successfully used in the construction of railways in Algeria, Libya and the Sahara Desert...

However, the completion of the construction of this section was carried out without General Annenkov. The war with the Tekins continued during construction, so the soldiers of the railway battalion had to take up arms more than once. Mikhail Nikolaevich, having received a serious injury while reconnaissance of the area in Yangi-Kala, was forced to leave his post. He returned to the Samurskoe fortification and, having recovered a little, was recalled to St. Petersburg, where he received a new assignment: he was ordered to supervise the construction of strategic railways in Polesie.

Kizil-Arvat – Merv – Samarkand

After three years of active operation of the road, in April 1885 it was decided to extend it to the Amu Darya River: already on July 12 of the same year the first rails from Kizil-Arvat were laid. The construction of the next section of the highway was again entrusted to Mikhail Annenkov. The pace of work increased sharply, and on November 29 the first locomotive arrived in Askhabad: in four and a half months, 205 miles of track were laid. In the capital of Transcaspia, a solemn meeting was arranged for the builders of the highway.

But St. Petersburg demanded that construction be accelerated. The 1st reserve railway battalion was renamed the 1st Transcaspian, and the 2nd Transcaspian railway battalion was formed to help it. The very next year, the battalions were united into a single railway brigade and replenished with special personnel companies.

On July 2, 1886, the road reached the city of Merv. When the first Russian train arrived here, in Merv, according to eyewitnesses, triumph and rejoicing reigned... This day was noted by the commander of the 2nd Transcaspian railway battalion, Colonel Andreev, with a corresponding order, which said: “Today, exactly a year after the start of laying the continuation Trans-Caspian military railway, after long, urgent and intense work, amid all sorts of hardships under the midday heat and cold, under snow and rain, along the rails laid by our battalion for 527 miles, the first Russian steam locomotive arrived in the city of Merv, located in the depths of Asia, on the most remote outskirts of our fatherland and having special significance and importance in Central Asia... From the first days of the formation of the battalion entrusted to me, he had the enviable fate of fulfilling an independent task - to lay a rail track to Asia, through the Trans-Caspian region and Bukhara to Turkestan. Now, thanks to the common efforts of all the ranks of the battalion, who worked honestly and conscientiously for this matter, the extensive task has already been half completed quite successfully; in one year, 527 miles of track were laid and 21 stations were furnished with the conditions necessary for proper movement, which represents a fact that has not yet been unprecedented until now. , since neither in Russia nor in other states where there are special railway units of troops, such extensive tasks were not assigned to them and similar results were not achieved, and the lines built abroad were only meant as access, bypass or connecting tracks of a very insignificant length... "(TsGVIA, Kushkinsky field company. Orders for the Turkestan brigade. Case 21, f. 5873-1, sheets 218–224).

The work continued under incredibly difficult conditions. The sandy section between Merv and Chardzhuy was especially difficult. At the slightest breath of wind, the ridges of the dunes began to smoke; with a stronger wind, the contour of the area instantly changed. Where there was a sandy hill, a recess was formed, and at the site of the recess a mound grew. It happened that we didn’t have time to make the canvas, but it was immediately destroyed, the excavation was carried over, and the embankment was blown out. However, despite such obstacles, construction of the road proceeded quickly.

Having completed the most difficult section of the highway through the waterless expanses of the Karakum desert, the builders reached the Amu Darya on November 30, 1886. By this time, the 1st Transcaspian Railway Battalion had built a 27-verst line from Mikhailovsky Bay to a new, more convenient port on the Caspian Sea, Uzun-Ada, which from now on became the starting point of the Transcaspian Railway.

The lands beyond the Amu Darya belonged to the Bukhara Emirate. The Russian government managed to agree with the emir to continue the construction of a highway through his territory to Samarkand. And immediately the builders were faced with the most difficult task - building a bridge across the Amu Darya. But General Annenkov coped with it: in 124 days of continuous day and night work, the job was done. The enterprising Annenkov built a wooden bridge with a length of 2 versts and 247 fathoms. No one has ever built wooden railway bridges of this length anywhere in the world! And therefore, the largest railway engineers from Europe and America specially came to admire this miracle of construction equipment.

And already in the summer of 1887, an order was issued to the 2nd Transcaspian Railway Battalion to begin laying a railway track deep into Turkestan: from the Bukhara city of Chardzhuya to the “Russian” Samarkand. The experience acquired by the builders in the Trans-Caspian region, and carefully carried out engineering surveys along the line of the new site, gave the opportunity to General M.N. Annenkov to do this work in more favorable conditions. The pace of laying the linen increased, and already in the last days of February 1888 the first train arrived in Bukhara. And then it took only a month to bring the canvas almost to the very border of the emirate...

The first train, leaving Krasnovodsk, more precisely, from the Uzun-Ada station, arrived in Samarkand on May 15, 1888 - on the day of the anniversary of the coronation of Emperor Alexander III, during whose reign Central Asia was annexed to Russia. The completion of such a large-scale project literally amazed the entire civilized world: the construction of the railway was called the construction project of the century, which henceforth began to be called the “Russian miracle”.

The Trans-Caspian Military Railway was the first experience of construction of such a scale by a military department. The average cost of each of the 1,343 versts from Uzun-Ada to Samarkand was only 33,500 rubles. Such a quick and cheap construction of a road through the sandy steppe and waterless desert was accomplished only thanks to the exceptional energy and heroic work of the builders. The hero of the above-mentioned novel by Jules Verne (alter ego of the author himself) states: “They often talk about the extraordinary speed with which the Americans laid a railway track across the plains of the Far West. But let it be known that the Russians in this respect are in no way inferior to them, if not even superior, both in the speed of construction and the boldness of industrial plans.”

It is truly difficult to overestimate the services of General Annenkov to the fatherland. The construction of the Trans-Caspian Military Railway cost the Russian government only 43 million rubles. For comparison: not a single railway built in the country cost such a modest amount. And this is despite the fact that nowhere else have we had to face such difficulties in the delivery of equipment and building materials, the range of their delivery, shifting sands and waterless deserts, the scorching sun and hot steppe winds...

Mikhail Nikolaevich Annenkov (1835–1899) was a hereditary military man. His father, Adjutant General Nikolai Nikolaevich, distinguished himself during the Polish campaign. Then he was the commander of the Izmailovsky regiment, director of the office of the War Ministry. Consistently held the posts of Novorossiysk and Bessarabian governor-general, state controller, Kyiv, Podolsk and Volyn governor-general. He was a member of the State Council. Mikhail Nikolaevich graduated from the Corps of Pages, then from the Academy of the General Staff, and took part in pacifying the Polish rebellion. In 1867 he published a series of articles on the use of railways in military affairs. In 1869, he was promoted to major general and appointed head of troop movements along all Russian railways. His engineering and organizational talent brought many benefits to the fatherland during the Russian-Turkish War. In 1879, Annenkov was promoted to lieutenant general. This was followed by a business trip to Turkestan for the construction of the Trans-Caspian Military Railway. He was the first head of the military communications department of the Trans-Caspian region. In the last years of his life, he held various responsible posts in Central Russia, in particular, he led a special department of public works to provide assistance to the population affected by crop failure... But the main work of his life, which inscribed the name of Mikhail Nikolaevich in the annals of the fatherland, was, of course, the construction Transcaspian railway.

For the brilliant performance of important and responsible work, completed in such a short time, for the impeccable honesty and dedication of M.N. Annenkov was awarded a certificate from Emperor Alexander III, awarded the diamond sign of St. Alexander Nevsky and showered with other favors. And to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the railway, grateful Russia erected a monument to its worthy son on the station square of Samarkand. More than a hundred officials from various cities of Russia and the same number of guests from neighboring regions of Turkestan, local officials, officers and eminent citizens were invited to the celebrations on this occasion in the former capital of Timur’s empire. Guests from Russia were greeted on the platform of the Samarkand station on October 20. And the next day, with a large crowd of people in a solemn atmosphere, the opening of the monument to the general took place. It was a gray granite pedestal made of blocks, on which a bust was installed next to a double-headed eagle. On the front side of the monument there was an ornate inscription “General of Infantry Mikhail Nikolaevich Annenkov, builder of the Trans-Caspian Military Railway. 1835–1899." On the back side of the monument, facing the station, there was brief information: “The construction of the Trans-Caspian Military Railway began on November 25, 1880, and was completed on May 15, 1888.” The celebrations concluded with a sumptuous dinner at the Public Assembly, given on behalf of the city. 200 invited persons, both non-resident and local, took part in it. Documents preserved in the archive indicate that this feast cost the city treasury 1,400 rubles...

In Soviet times, a bust of M.N. Annenkov, the double-headed eagle and both inscriptions were destroyed. On the vacated pedestal in September 1924, the figure of the leader of the world proletariat was erected. Accordingly, a new inscription appeared:

“...Leninism is alive. Lenin's ideas are as firm and unshakable for us as this rock on which we immortalized the memory of Ilyich. We will fulfill Lenin’s behests.” Some time later, in the spirit of Stalin’s propaganda, a Soviet myth was created about the construction of this monument: “On the station square of ancient Samarkand, as a sign of love for the great leader V.I. The workers, farmers, and working intelligentsia of the city erected a majestic monument to Lenin on their own. On a huge block of marble, carved from a solid rock in the Nurata Mountains, a bronze figure of a leader was installed." This monument, which stood for the next seven decades, was then dismantled...

The Palace of the Soviets is a labor of love between modernist Art Deco and harsh Soviet neoclassicism. Designed in the 30s of the last century, the design of this building impresses with its exterior to this day (though only in pictures). The hundred-story, 420-meter Palace of the Soviets was supposed to be the tallest building in the world.

Its construction began in 1937 and suddenly ended in September 1941, when the building materials intended for the palace were used for military needs. After the war, they decided not to resume construction; there was no time for that.

Main Turkmen channel

The year 1950 marked the beginning of the great all-Union construction project. The Main Turkmen Canal was designed with the aim of watering and reclamation of the arid lands of Turkmenistan, increasing the area under cotton cultivation, and also with the aim of establishing a shipping connection between the Volga and Amu Darya. It was planned to carry 25% of the flow of the above-mentioned Amu Darya along the dry riverbed of the Uzboy to the city of Krasnovodsk.

The goal is truly impressive, especially considering that the length of the designed canal was about 1200 km, width - at least 100 m, depth - 6-7 m. In addition to the main canal, a network of irrigation canals with a total length of 10,000 km, about 2,000 reservoirs, three hydroelectric power stations. During construction it was planned to use 5,000 dump trucks, 2,000 bulldozers, 2,000 excavators, and 14 dredgers. It was decided to use prisoners and local residents as labor. In 1953, there were 7,268 free laborers and 10,000 prisoners at the construction site.

Of course, the ruling elite was not limited to the above means. The whole country worked on this construction project, as the figure of 1000 (!) freight cars that were delivered here from all over the Union every month eloquently tells us.

Immediately after the death of the leader, the construction of the State Customs Committee was stopped on the initiative of Beria. And then it was completely stopped due to reasons of unprofitability. But by this time, more than 21 billion Soviet rubles, or 2.73 trillion modern Russian rubles, had been irrevocably spent on the construction of the facility.

Transpolar Railway (construction 501-503)

Man of the Year (1940, 1943) according to Times magazine (talking about Stalin, if anything) did not limit his ambitions on a geographical basis. On his initiative, in the post-war period, from 1947 to 1953, a large construction organization with the simple name “GULAG” worked on a grandiose project - the Transpolar Highway.

The purpose of this construction was to connect the western north (Murmansk, Arkhangelsk) with the eastern north (Chukotka, the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk).

Due to extremely tight deadlines, construction was carried out in parallel with design and survey work, which could not but affect the quality of the railway track being built. In total, approximately 80 thousand people were involved in the construction, not counting security. In 1953, work was stopped, and in 1954 - their cost has been calculated: approximately 1.8 billion Soviet rubles.

Sakhalin Tunnel (construction 506-507)

Another colossal construction project that ended its existence with the death of Stalin is the Sakhalin Tunnel.

Construction, which started in 1950, was scheduled to finish in 1955. With a tunnel length of 10 km, the deadlines were more than tight. From socialism to communism in five-year steps! And the country walked specifically on this construction site with the feet of more than 27 thousand people, all the same prisoners and free workers. And in the spring of 1953, the construction site was closed.

Turn of Siberian rivers

Let’s make a reservation right away: no one was going to turn the rivers around. It was only planned to transfer part of the flow of some Siberian rivers, for example the Ob and Irtysh, to the arid regions of the USSR - for agricultural reasons.

The project became one of the most ambitious projects of the twentieth century. For more than twenty years, 160 scientific and industrial organizations of the USSR worked on it.

The first stage of work involved the construction of a canal 2,500 km long, 130 to 300 m wide and 15 m deep. The second stage involved changing the direction of the Irtysh flow by 180 degrees. That is, the waters of the Irtysh were planned to be directed in the opposite direction using pumping stations, waterworks and reservoirs.

Of course, this project was not destined to come to fruition. Common sense prevailed over imperial ambitions - Soviet academics nevertheless persuaded the country's leadership to leave the Siberian rivers alone.

Nikitin Tower - Travusha 4000 (project)

In 1966, engineers Nikitin (by the way, the chief designer of the Ostankino TV tower) and Travush proposed a project for the tallest skyscraper in the world. Moreover, they planned to build it in Japan. Theoretically, the skyscraper was magnificent: its height was 4 km! The tower was divided into four mesh sections a kilometer long and with a diameter at the base of 800 m. The tower, being a residential building as planned, was supposed to accommodate up to 500 thousand people.

In 1969, design work was stopped: the customers suddenly came to their senses and demanded that the height of the building be reduced to 2 km. Then - up to 550 m. And then they completely abandoned the Tsar Tower.

Terra-3

The remains of structure 41/42B with the 5N27 laser locator complex of the 5N76 Terra-3 shooting complex. Photo 2008

"Terra-3" is nothing more than a project for a zonal anti-missile and anti-space defense system with a beam destructive element. It is also a scientific-experimental shooting-laser complex. Work on “Terra” has been carried out since the 60s of the last century. Unfortunately, already in the early 70s, scientists began to realize that the power of their lasers was not enough to shoot down warheads. Although she shot down satellites, this cannot be taken away from her. The project somehow came to naught.

Industrialization is the period from 1928 to 1941 (interrupted by war), during which the Soviet government implemented the plans of the first three five-year plans, which made it possible to strengthen the industry of the USSR, as well as ensure the independence of the military-industrial complex and the main elements of the economy from Western countries. The beginning of industrialization should be sought in the twenties of the last century, which led to the introduction of the NEP. The first conversation about a course towards industrialization (although it was emphasized that the USSR would still remain an agricultural country for some time) occurred in 1925.

To properly understand the essence of what is happening, it is necessary to highlight 2 main tasks facing industrialization:

• To put the USSR economically and industrially on par with the advanced countries of the world.
• Complete modernization of the military-industrial complex and its independence from other countries.

Preparation for industrialization (period from 1925 to 1928)

In general, the path to industrialization was opened at the 14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in 1925 and the 16th Party Conference in April 1929, as a result of which the basic principles of development were created. There were 2 industrialization plans on the agenda:

• "starting" Indicators with the required minimum.
• "optimal". Inflated figures, on average by 20%.

We know that the Soviet government always attempted the impossible. Therefore, we chose the “Optimal” plan, which had inflated interest rates. The next important event occurred in April 1926. For the first time, the idea of ​​building socialism in the USSR, without regard to other countries, won in the Bolshevik Party. Let me remind you that Lenin and Trotsky were supporters of the world revolution. They believed that first it was necessary to overthrow the bourgeoisie wherever possible, and only then engage in socialism. Stalin said that the USSR is a unique product, it needs to be treasured and socialism built here and now. Ultimately, Stalin's approach won. But I want to note that the new path was fundamentally contrary to the ideology of Marxism. The important point here is that industrialization itself has become not just an economic means, but also a political one.

In the fall of 1926, the Bolsheviks put forward a new slogan (they loved this business): “Catch up and overtake the capitalist countries!” It was impossible to do this under the conditions of the NEP, which was already rotting in its liberalism and petty trade. Therefore, more and more people supported the idea of ​​​​starting industrialization in the USSR, as the only means to catch up with the countries of Europe and the USA.

In April 1929, the next party congress approved the “optimal” plan for the first five-year plan. We already talked above about what this plan is. The main thing in this regard is the construction of new industrial facilities (factories and factories). In total, it was planned to build 1,200 new large facilities. I’ll say right away that later this plan was revised 2 times in the direction of reducing volumes, but more on that later. The priority was production facilities and heavy industry. 78% of all budget revenues were allocated for the implementation of this idea.

Sources of industrialization

Industrialization required enormous amounts of money. This is logical, because building an industry requires a lot of money and does not give immediate returns. But this was the only way to save the economy of the USSR. And the party leadership began to seek funds to create industry in all available ways:

• International trade. The Soviet government sold oil, timber, flax, gold, and grain to Europe. The greatest demand was for grain, timber and oil. In total, they brought in more than 2 billion rubles annually.
• Collectivization actively worked for industrialization. Agricultural products were taken for almost nothing and transferred to the needs of industry.
• Complete abolition of private (retail and wholesale) trade. All NEP privileges were cancelled. This happened in 1933. Let me remind you that the share of NEPmans in the retail market was 75%.
• Creation of "deficits". The population was purposefully limited in everything in order to invest as much as possible into industry. As a result, the standard of living of people in the USSR in 1933 fell by 2 times compared to the indicators in 1928!
• Ideological alignment of citizens. All party organizations instilled in people a sense of patriotism and duty in order for them to work better. Which is exactly what happened.
• Special equipment.

What are special means for industrialization

What do you mean by “special means”? In 1917, the Bolsheviks carried out massive expropriation. The funds went to Swiss banks (the financial center of Europe), from where they could be used for the needs of the revolution in other countries. These funds were allocated to specific accounts and to specific people. These were representatives of the Lenin Guard.

During the NEP period, money was also received, and it also went into accounts in Swiss banks. There were only about 100 members of the Lenin Guard who had accounts in foreign banks. I repeat, it was not their personal money, but it was in personal accounts. Since there is no world revolution, they lay there like dead weight. And the amounts were huge - an average of 800 million dollars (you just need to remember that the dollar then, compared to today, needs to be multiplied by 20-25). That is, these were huge sums, and in the 1930s Stalin received this money and, largely thanks to it, industrialization took place in the USSR.

Stalin's personal intelligence service went through Western banks and, by bribing employees, she brought out those people who had money in their accounts. Because Stalin simply could not know this. He wasn't in the game at that point. This was done along other lines, for example, along the Commintern. Then the so-called Stalinist terror began, when representatives of the Leninist Guard began to be arrested. At first they were given very moderate sentences. But few people know that these terms (5-7 years) were exchanged for their funds in Swiss banks. These are the very special equipment that solved many problems.

At the same time, a terrible crisis was raging in the world, which went down in history as the “Great Depression.” Thanks to this crisis, the Soviet government was able to literally buy the industrial facilities they needed for next to nothing. There is one more point that stories very rarely talk about. At the same time, the US lost the UK market and was forced to look for new ones. One of them was the USSR market. So, part of the industrialization in the USSR was carried out with the money of American billionaires.

Progress of industrialization

Period before the start of work on the first five-year plan

In fact, by 1928, a situation had developed in which the USSR devoted all available resources to creating industry. Stalin already said then that without industry the USSR would be destroyed and crushed, most likely by war (surprisingly, Stalin was almost never wrong in his forecasts).

Three five-year plans were allocated for industrialization. Let's look at each five-year plan in detail.

First Five-Year Plan (Implemented from 1928 to 1932)

Technology is everything!

Slogan of the first five-year plan

The first five-year plan was supposed to produce up to 60 large enterprises. In total, let me remind you, it was initially planned to build 1,200 objects. Then it turned out that there was no money for 1200. They allocated 50-60 objects, but then it turned out again that 50-60 objects was also a lot. Ultimately, a list of 14 industrial facilities was compiled that were to be built. But these were really large and necessary objects: Magnitka, TurkSib, Uralmash, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, DneproGES and others, no less significant and complex. 50% of all money was spent on their construction.

In total, the following indicators were identified as optimal:

• Industrial output = +136%;
• Labor productivity = +110%.

The first 2 years of the first five-year plan showed exceeding the plan, industrialization was in full swing, as a result of which tasks were increased by 32%, and then by another 45%! The leaders of the USSR assumed that an endless increase in the plan would lead to increasingly greater labor efficiency. Somewhere this happened, but most often people began to engage in “additions” when indicators were given that were deliberately false. True, if this was discovered, then the person was instantly accused of sabotage, and in the best case, prison followed.

The first five-year plan ended with the leadership of the USSR proudly reporting that the plan had been exceeded. In fact, it didn't even remotely resemble reality. For example, labor productivity increased by 5%. On the one hand, it’s not bad and there is progress, but on the other hand, they said something about 110%! BUT here I want to warn everyone against hasty conclusions. Despite the fact that almost all the indicators announced before the five-year plan were not met, the country made a giant leap. The USSR received industry and an excellent base for further work and growth. And this is the most important thing. Therefore, the result of the first five-year industrialization plan in the USSR should be assessed positively.

Second Five-Year Plan (Implemented from 1933 to 1937)

Personnel decides everything!

Slogan of the second five-year plan

The first five-year plan laid the foundation and created a quantitative indicator. Now quality was required. And it is no coincidence that the construction projects of the first five-year plan are immediately remembered, but the construction projects of the second five-year plan are not. The point is not that construction has become worse or ambitions have disappeared, but that industrialization has moved to the next level. That is why in these years it is no longer enterprises that are popular, but personalities - Stakhanov, Chkalov, Busygin and others. And this emphasis on quality yielded results. If from 1928 to 1933 labor productivity increased by 5%, then from 1933 to 1938 by 65%!

Third Five-Year Plan (Implemented from 1938 to 1941)

The Third Five-Year Plan began in 1938, but was interrupted in 1941 due to the outbreak of war.

The Third Five-Year Plan began in 1938, and the plan for it was approved at the 18th Party Congress in 1939. The main slogan of this stage of development of the USSR was - Catch up and overtake Western countries in production per capita. It was assumed that this should be achieved without reducing the costs of the military-industrial complex. But since war began in Europe literally less than a year later, spending was more focused on the military-industrial complex. The main emphasis of the third five-year plan was on the chemical and electrical industries. The measure of the Five-Year Plan's activities was that the national gross income was to double. This was not achieved, but the reason for this was the war. After all, the five-year plan was interrupted 2.5 years before its completion. But the main thing that the Soviet government managed to achieve was that the military-industrial complex became completely independent from other countries, and industrial growth reached a stable +5/6% annually. And this is a direct result of industrialization in the Soviet Union.

What the Five-Year Plans gave the country and their significance for Industrialization

Since the task was to create an industrial society, the results must be assessed based on the answer to the main question. And it sounds like this: “Has the USSR become a fully industrial country or not?” This question cannot be answered unambiguously. Yes and no, but on the whole, the problem was solved. I'll prove it with an example. Official figures say that 70% of the national income came from industry! Even if we assume that these figures are inflated (the leadership of the CPSU Central Committee liked to do this) and the share of industry in the national income was 50% - these are, in any case, colossal figures, which many of the modern powers are far from achieving. But the USSR passed this path in just 12 years.

I will also give some figures for the development of the USSR in the period from 1922 to 1937:

• Up to 700 factories and factories were put into operation annually (the lower figure is 600).
• By 1937, industrial growth was 2.5 times faster than in 1913.
• Industrial volumes have grown significantly, and according to their indicators, the USSR has taken 2nd place in the world. Let me remind you that in 1913 the Russian Empire ranked 5th in the world in terms of this indicator.
• The USSR became a completely independent state in terms of military and economic from other countries. Without this it was impossible to win the war.
• Complete absence of unemployment. It is noteworthy that in 1928 it was 12%, but thanks to industrialization, everyone worked in the USSR.

The working class and its life

The main idea of ​​industrialization was to provide every person with a job and ensure strict control over him. In principle, this was achieved, although even Stalin’s rule did not have complete control over the minds of the workers.

Beginning in 1932, the USSR introduced compulsory passports for everyone. In addition, penalties for violation of discipline in the workplace were tightened. For example, if a person does not show up for work without a good reason, immediate dismissal occurs. At first glance it seems cruel, but the fact is that the Soviet worker of that time was a former peasant who was accustomed to being watched in the village, controlled and told what to do. In the city, he received freedom, after which many were “blown away.” Therefore, it was necessary to impose social discipline. It must be truthfully said that even the Stalinist regime failed to completely solve social discipline in Soviet society.

In 1940 (this was due to preparations for war), the worker lost the right to move to another place of work without permission from the administration. This decision was only reversed in 1955.

In general, the life of the common man was extremely difficult. The card system was abolished in 1935. Now everything was bought for money, but the prices were high, to put it mildly. Judge for yourself. The average monthly salary of a worker in 1933 was 125 rubles. Wherein:

• 1 kilogram of bread cost 4 rubles.
• 1 kilogram of meat cost 16-18 rubles.
• 1 kilogram of butter cost 40-45 rubles.

Now think about what a worker could afford in 1933? By the end of the 30s, the financial situation of the workers improved somewhat, however, they still felt a number of problems.

Intelligentsia under Industrialization

As for the intelligentsia and engineers, the 1930s were certainly a period when the intelligentsia and engineers lived very well. Almost everyone had housekeepers; they received a good salary. The authorities tried to provide conditions comparable to those of 1913 for that part of the intelligentsia that joined the regime. Let me remind you that, for example, in 1913, a professor received the same salary as a minister.

Specialty and its features

Since very often plans were not carried out, they decided to introduce such a concept as pests, or people who interfere with the formation of Soviet power. In 1928-1931, the Spetsiedstvo company developed. During this company, up to 1000 old specialists from various fields were expelled from the country. They were also accused of not understanding the tasks of socialism. And this became one of the hallmarks of industrialization.

What is a specialty? Let me explain with a specific example. For example, they tell an engineer that 200% productivity is needed. He says that this is impossible, the technology will not stand it. The conclusion of the Soviet official is that the specialist thinks in bourgeois categories and is against socialist construction, which means he needs to be expelled from the country.

In parallel with this, there was a process of creating new workers and promoting new personnel. They were called “Promoters”. Their number at the end of the first five-year plan was 1 million people. But by mid-1931 it became clear that these new personnel were one of the main brakes on industrialization. And Stalin solved this problem - he returned old specialists to positions, gave them good salaries, and forbade promoters from conducting negative campaigning against these specialists. So the Specialty was discontinued, and the nominees were practically gone.

The economy of the USSR towards the end of industrialization

It is very interesting how administrative methods and cost accounting methods were combined. In 1934, self-financing was introduced everywhere. Everything was fine for 2 years. Then in 1936 - again strict administrative control. And so on in a cycle. That is, there was a constant combination of administrative methods and cost accounting methods.

The first five-year plans did the main thing - they created industry and created a new economy. Thanks to this, the USSR had a future. But this is where the main obstacle begins - many departments and ministries. In total, 21 of them were created. Industry was divided between monopolies, and while there were few of them, the State Planning Committee managed to grind them into each other. However, over time this became more difficult, and the creation of the plan gradually turned into administrative arbitrariness. And already in the 50s, the planned economy in the USSR was very, very conditional.

In any case, industrialization in the USSR was an extremely important step that provided the country with industry and a real economy that had an effective orientation and was able to live independently of other countries.

(The grandiose reconstruction of Moscow began with the Soviet Hotel "Moscow")

In the 30s of the 20th century, a grandiose reconstruction of Moscow was carried out, almost half the city was remade. This was necessary, since after the revolution the city had a chaotic development pattern, and the population grew rapidly.

In the 30s, a large number of works took place; at the end of the decade, the capital became a comfortable, new and clean place, where it was very spacious. During this time, the modern appearance of Moscow was expanded, remaining almost unchanged until the end of the 20th century.

General plan for reconstruction and development of Moscow 1935

(According to one of the options in the State Planning Committee, Red Square could be like this)

The history of the grandiose plan for the reconstruction of Moscow in 1935 began back in the 20s, when the “Greater Moscow” project was created. According to this project, the city was supposed to grow not in height, but in breadth. It was supposed to move around by car. But in 1935, the plenum of the central committee of the Bolshevik Party adopted a different plan: Moscow should become multi-story, with wide avenues and rays radiating from the center - the streets, a communist star city.

Features of the architectural appearance of Moscow in the 1930s

The main styles of Moscow architecture at that time were traditionalism and constructivism. Constructivism can be traced mainly in the final construction of buildings from the late 20s:

(State Library of the USSR named after. V. I. Lenina)

• State Library of the USSR named after. V. I. Lenin;
• Service station house (1933-36) - modern. the building of the State Duma in Okhotny Ryad;
• Crimean Bridge (1936-38).

Traditionalism is based on the pre-revolutionary experience of architecture. This is how a residential building was built on Mokhovaya in 1934, where one of the favorite decorative techniques was used - a colonnade.

Old style features are being revived in construction, architects are trying to combine the old and the new, this is how national schools and VDNKh pavilions are built.

Bright architectural buildings of the 30s in Moscow

• The first hotel built under Soviet rule appeared. This project has characteristic features from the transitional period of constructivism to the Stalinist Empire style and was built from 1933 to 1936. The hotel was decorated with sculptures, paintings, panels, mosaics and looked very pompous.

(The building of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the 30s of the USSR)

• People's Commissariat of Agriculture - the building was built in the style of late constructivism (1928 - 1933). This is a bold experiment in the use of new technologies in construction and the implementation of avant-garde design. This style involved a frame building system. New materials were used, and rounded elements appeared in the building's architecture.

(How the house was moved in the newspaper "Pravda")

(Sukharevskaya Tower on a postcard from 1927, will be demolished in the 30s)

By the end of the 30s, the architecture of Moscow acquired a touch of ceremonial pomp. The era of Stalin's Empire style begins.

Construction projects in the Soviet Union were large-scale, as were the ambitions of this state. Nevertheless, no one ever thought about human destiny on a large scale in the USSR.

Algemba: About 35,000 people died!

Stalin is traditionally considered the most cruel ruler of the Soviet Union, who violated the behests of Ilyich. It was he who is credited with creating a network of camps (GULAG), and it was he who initiated the construction of the White Sea Canal by prisoners. They somehow forget that one of the first construction projects took place under the direct leadership of Lenin. And it is not surprising: all materials related to Algemba - the first attempt of the young Soviet government to acquire its own oil pipeline - were classified for a long time.

In December 1919, Frunze's army captured the Emben oil fields in Northern Kazakhstan. By that time, more than 14 million pounds of oil had accumulated there. This oil could be the salvation for the Soviet republic. On December 24, 1919, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense decided to begin construction of a railway through which oil could be exported from Kazakhstan to the center, and ordered: “Recognize the construction of the Alexandrov Gai-Emba broad-gauge line as an operational task.” The city of Alexandrov Gai, located 300 km from Saratov, was the last railway point. The distance from it to the oil fields was about 500 miles. Most of the route ran through waterless salt marsh steppes. They decided to build the highway at both ends simultaneously and meet on the Ural River near the village of Grebenshchikovo.

Frunze's army was the first to be sent to build the railway (despite his protests). There was no transport, no fuel, or enough food. In the conditions of the waterless steppe there was nowhere to even place soldiers. Endemic illnesses began and developed into an epidemic. The local population was forcibly involved in the construction: about forty-five thousand residents of Saratov and Samara. People almost manually created an embankment along which rails were later to be laid.

In March 1920, the task became even more complicated: it was decided to build a pipeline in parallel with the railway. It was then that the word “Algemba” was heard for the first time (from the first letters of Aleksandrov Gai and the name of the deposit - Emba). There were no pipes, like anything else. The only plant that once produced them has been standing for a long time. The remains were collected from warehouses; at best, they were enough for 15 miles (and it was necessary to lay 500!).

Lenin began to look for an alternative solution. At first it was proposed to produce wooden pipes. The experts just shrugged: firstly, it is impossible to maintain the necessary pressure in them, and secondly, Kazakhstan does not have its own forests, there is nowhere to get wood. Then it was decided to dismantle sections of existing pipelines. The pipes varied greatly in length and diameter, but this did not bother the Bolsheviks. Another thing was confusing: the collected “spare parts” were still not enough even for half the pipeline! However, work continued.

By the end of 1920, construction began to choke. Typhoid killed several hundred people a day. Security was posted along the highway because local residents began to take away the sleepers. The workers generally refused to go to work. Food rations were extremely low (especially in the Kazakh sector).

Lenin demanded to understand the reasons for the sabotage. But there was no trace of any sabotage. Hunger, cold and disease exacted a terrible toll among the builders. In 1921, cholera came to the construction site. Despite the courage of the doctors who voluntarily arrived at Algemba, the mortality rate was appalling. But the worst thing was different: four months after the start of construction of Algemba, already in April 1920, Baku and Grozny were liberated. Emba oil was no longer needed. Thousands of lives sacrificed during construction were in vain.

It was possible even then to stop the pointless activity of laying the Algemba. But Lenin stubbornly insisted on continuing construction, which was incredibly expensive for the state. In 1920, the government allocated a billion rubles in cash for this construction. No one has ever received a full report, but there is an assumption that the funds ended up in foreign accounts. Neither the railway nor the pipeline were built: on October 6, 1921, by Lenin's directive, construction was stopped. A year and a half of Algemba cost thirty-five thousand human lives.

White Sea Canal: 700 deaths a day!

The initiator of the construction of the White Sea Canal was Joseph Stalin. The country needed labor victories and global achievements. And preferably - without extra costs, since the Soviet Union was experiencing an economic crisis. The White Sea Canal was supposed to connect the White Sea with the Baltic Sea and open a passage for ships that previously had to go around the entire Scandinavian Peninsula. The idea of ​​​​creating an artificial passage between the seas was known back in the time of Peter the Great (and the Russians have been using the portage system along the entire length of the future White Sea Canal for a long time). But the way the project was implemented (and Naftaliy Frenkel was appointed head of canal construction) turned out to be so cruel that it forced historians and publicists to look for parallels in slave states.

The total length of the canal is 227 kilometers. On this waterway there are 19 locks (13 of which are two-chamber), 15 dams, 49 dams, 12 spillways. The scale of construction is amazing, especially considering that all this was built in an incredibly short period of time: 20 months and 10 days. For comparison: the 80-kilometer Panama Canal took 28 years to build, and the 160-kilometer Suez Canal took ten.

The White Sea Canal was built from start to finish by prisoners. The convicted designers created drawings and found extraordinary technical solutions (dictated by the lack of machines and materials). Those who did not have an education suitable for design spent day and night digging a canal, waist-deep in liquid mud, urged on not only by supervisors, but also by members of their team: those who did not fulfill the quota had their already meager ration reduced. There was only one way: into concrete (those who died on the White Sea Canal were not buried, but were simply poured haphazardly into holes, which were then filled with concrete and served as the bottom of the canal).

The main tools for construction were a wheelbarrow, a sledgehammer, a shovel, an ax and a wooden crane for moving boulders. Prisoners, unable to withstand the unbearable conditions of detention and backbreaking work, died in the hundreds. At times, deaths reached 700 people per day. And at this time, newspapers published editorials dedicated to the “reforging by labor” of seasoned recidivists and political criminals. Of course, there were some additions and fraud. The canal bed was made shallower than was calculated in the project, and the start of construction was pushed back to 1932 (in fact, work began a year earlier).

About 280 thousand prisoners took part in the construction of the canal, of whom about 100 thousand died. Those who survived (one in six) had their sentences reduced, and some were even awarded the “Order of the Baltic-White Sea Canal.” The entire leadership of the OGPU was awarded orders. Stalin, who visited the opened canal at the end of July 1933, was pleased. The system has shown its effectiveness. There was only one catch: the most physically strong and efficient prisoners earned a reduction in their sentences.

In 1938, Stalin, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, raised the question: “Did you correctly propose a list for the release of these prisoners? They leave work... We are doing a bad job by disrupting the work of the camps. The release of these people, of course, is necessary, but from the point of view of the state economy it is bad... The best people will be released, but the worst will remain. Isn’t it possible to turn things around differently, so that these people stay at work - give awards, orders, maybe?..” But, fortunately for the prisoners, such a decision was not made: a prisoner with a government award on his robe would look too strange ...

BAM: 1 meter – 1 human life!

In 1948, with the beginning of the construction of the subsequent “great construction projects of communism” (the Volga-Don Canal, the Volga-Baltic Waterway, the Kuibyshev and Stalingrad hydroelectric power stations and other objects), the authorities used an already proven method: they built large forced labor camps that served the construction sites. And finding those to fill the vacancies of slaves was easy. Only by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of June 4, 1947, “On criminal liability for theft of state and public property,” hundreds of thousands of people were brought into the zone. Prison labor was used in the most labor-intensive and “harmful” industries.

In 1951, USSR Minister of Internal Affairs S.N. Kruglov reported at the meeting: “I must say that in a number of sectors of the national economy the Ministry of Internal Affairs occupies a monopoly position, for example, the gold mining industry - it is all concentrated here; the production of diamonds, silver, platinum - all this is entirely concentrated in the Ministry of Internal Affairs; mining of asbestos and apatite is entirely carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We are 100% involved in the production of tin, 80% of the share is occupied by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for non-ferrous metals...” The minister did not mention only one thing: 100% of radium in the country was also produced by prisoners.

The world's greatest Komsomol construction project - BAM, about which songs were composed, films were made, and enthusiastic articles were written - did not begin with a call to youth. In 1934, the prisoners who built the White Sea Canal were sent to build the railway, which was supposed to connect Taishet on the Trans-Siberian Railway with Komsomolsk-on-Amur. According to Jacques Rossi’s “Handbook of the Gulag” (and this is the most objective book at the moment about the camp system), about 50 thousand prisoners worked at BAM in the 1950s.

Especially for the needs of the construction site, a new camp for prisoners was created - BAMlag, the zone of which extended from Chita to Khabarovsk. The daily ration was traditionally meager: a loaf of bread and frozen fish soup. There weren't enough barracks for everyone. People died from cold and scurvy (in order to at least briefly delay the approach of this terrible disease, they chewed pine needles). Over the course of several years, more than 2.5 thousand kilometers of railway were built. Historians have calculated: every meter of the BAM is paid for by one human life.

The official history of the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline began in 1974, during the Brezhnev era. Trains with young people reached BAM. The prisoners continued to work, but their participation in the “construction of the century” was kept silent. And ten years later, in 1984, the “golden spike” was driven in, symbolizing the end of another gigantic construction project, which is still associated with smiling young romantics who are not afraid of difficulties.

The above-mentioned construction projects have a lot in common: the fact that the projects were difficult to implement (in particular, the BAM and the White Sea Canal were conceived back in Tsarist Russia, but due to a lack of budgetary funds they were shelved), and the fact that the work was carried out with minimal technical support, and the fact that slaves were used instead of workers (it is difficult to describe the position of the builders otherwise). But perhaps the most terrible common feature is that all these roads (both land and water) are many kilometers long mass graves. When you read dry statistical calculations, Nekrasov’s words come to mind: “And on the sides, all the bones are Russian. How many are there, Vanechka, do you know?”

(Material taken: “100 famous mysteries of history” by M.A. Pankov, I.Yu. Romanenko, etc.).