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ISSN 2409-630X (Print), ISSN 2618-916X (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.065.020.202402.133-147

УДК 94(470.5): 631.372

Vladimir N. Mamyachenkov1, Vladimir P. Motrevich2

1 Ural State University of Economics (Ekaterinburg, Russia),

e-mail: mamyachenkov@mail.ru

2 Ural State Law University named after V. F. Yakovlev (Ekaterinburg, Russia),

e-mail: vladimir.motrevich@mail.ru

 

Tractor Fleet of Soviet Farms in the Urals in the 1950s (According to the Consolidated Annual Reports of State Farms)

 

Abstract

Introduction. The article examines the tractor fleet of Soviet farms in the Urals during a very interesting historical period. The relevance of the topic is determined by the fact that it was tractors, along with other agricultural machinery, that formed the basis of the machine park of Soviet farms. The latter appeared already in 1917 and were large state-owned agricultural enterprises, being the second (after collective farms) main form of agricultural production in the USSR economy. The scientific novelty of the work is ensured by two circumstances: firstly, the problem raised in the article has not actually been studied to date, and secondly, the bulk of the archival materials we publish from the federal archives is being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

Materials and Methods. The main source base for the study is the materials of the USSR Central Statistical Office stored in the Russian State Archive of Economics, which made it possible to trace the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of the tractor fleet of state farms in the Urals in the period under study. The work is based on the use of a complex of methods: general scientific and special scientific (historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-systemic).

Results. The analysis of the dynamics of the number of state farms in the Urals in the studied decade is carried out. It is emphasized that during the Great Patriotic War, their number in the Urals as a whole decreased significantly due to the transfer of fixed assets of many state farms to large defense enterprises. It is stated that even by the beginning of the study period, all regions of the Urals, without exception, were still unable to restore the pre-war number of tractors. It is claimed that, since 1957, in agriculture in the Urals, the process of significant expansion of the state farm sector began, while at the same time, due to the arrival of modern equipment, its tractor fleet was being strengthened.

Discussion and Conclusion. During the period under study, in all regions of the Urals there was a process of saturation of Soviet farms with tractor equipment. The rapid growth of the tractor fleet of state farms was predetermined by the equally rapid growth of tractor manufacturing in the USSR. As a result, the number of tractors on state farms in the Urals and their total power increased significantly over the decade under study. At the same time, throughout the entire decade, there was a continuous qualitative renewal of the tractor fleet. All this made it possible to significantly increase labor productivity on state farms and contributed to increasing the level of food security in the country.

Keywords: RSFSR, Ural region, 1950s, Soviet farms, tractor fleet.

For citation: Mamyachenkov V. N., Motrevich V. P. Tractor Fleet of Soviet Farms in the Urals in the 1950s (According to the Consolidated Annual Reports of State Farms). Ekonomicheskaya istoriya = Russian Journal of Economic History. 2024; 20(2): 133–147. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.065.020.202402.133-147.

 

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