Suchergebnisse

Episodes of Soviet-German cooperation in 1920-s, which was the most controversial period of Russian history, is analyzed in the article. The authors use vast array of different sources and investigate main waypoints of Soviet-German cooperation in trade, concessions, military affairs. Research allowed to characterize main stages of Soviet-German cooperation in spheres, mentioned before, as well as conditions of diplomatic departments affairs, influence of political authorities, OGPU and main superpowers on the scale of cooperation. Authors state that main foreign events that caused changing pro-Soviet orientation were ratification of Dawes plan and entering League of Nations.

Introduction. The article deals with the issue of the situation in the urban economy and the socio-cultural sphere of the city of Stalingrad in the mid-1920s, on the eve of the beginning of socialist reconstruction.

Methods. The authors use the historical-descriptive (idiographic), historical-genetic, historicalcomparative methods, as well as quantitative methods in the study of statistical sources.

Analysis and results. By this time, urban infrastructure, which had suffered significantly during the Civil War, was largely restored. Water supply, transportation worked in general satisfactorily. The number of healthcare and educational institutions, their accessibility to the population increased compared with the pre-war period. Nevertheless, the situation in the social sphere remained very tense. Despite the fact of the increase in employment, unemployment continued to increase. The level of wages was rather low even in state institutions; the market periodically experienced interruptions in the supply of food, especially bread and meat. The lack of housing was an urgent problem. The commissioning of new and renovated residential buildings did not keep pace with population growth. With a constant increase in the cost of education, schools were located in unsuitable premises, classes were crowded. Despite all the efforts of the city authorities, health care institution also experienced serious financial difficulties. The social security system covered only a small fraction of those in need of assistance. In the city, there were still hundreds of street children and adult beggars. Hooliganism was still widespread on the working outskirts. The main reason for the inability of local authorities to fundamentally solve social problems was the lack of financial resources. The existing model of new economic policy actually exhausted its capabilities.

Introduction. The success of the large-scale transformations carried out in the country at the first stage of socialist reconstruction largely depended on the solution of the personnel issue in the process of systematic training of qualified personnel both for the economic sphere and for the Soviet authorities. Methods and materials. The study was based on traditional methods (historical-comparative, historical-systemic, genetic) and principles (objectivity, historicism, consistency) of historical research. Most of the documents involved in the research process were unpublished archival sources from the State Regional Archive of the Volgograd Region and the Center for Documentation of the Recent History of the Volgograd Region. Analysis. The research is aimed at identifying the problems of training and retraining personnel of Soviet authorities in the Lower Volga Region. Results. The first stage of socialist reconstruction, the administrative-territorial reform, and the creation of the Lower Volga Region brought the problem of personnel training into the category of key problems, the success of solving which was directly linked to the implementation of major changes in the political, economic, and social spheres during the first five-year plan. The problem of training and retraining personnel of the Soviet authorities in the region had to be solved against the background of the systemic "processing" personnel, the low level of education of applicants and working Soviet managers, the lack of a systematic accounting the personnel link until 1929 and, as a result, high rates of personnel rotation, especially at the level of the district and village, which determined the main directions of activity of the regional authorities in this matter – the need to intensify efforts to introduce accounting, accurately identify "bottlenecks" in the process of training and retraining of personnel, systematic planning of educational activities for the training and retraining of personnel.

The article deals with the problem of organizing public catering for workers of large industrial enterprises in Stalingrad in the late 1920s – early 1930s, during the first five-year plan. Methods and materials. In this study traditional methods (historical-descriptive, historical-genetic, historical-comparative) and the principles of historical research (historicism, systemacity) were used, which made it possible to restore the stages of organizing workers' catering in Stalingrad at the first stage of industrial modernization, as well as to identify and analyze reasons for the manifestation of crisis phenomena in the public catering system. Analysis and results. As early as the initial stage of industrialization, the food problem sharply worsened. However, largely generated by the problems of industrialization, it was the food crisis that contributed to the development of the public catering system. In the conditions of normalized distribution of food products, the tasks of implementing planned installations for the administration of catering enterprises were simplified as much as possible. Having received standardized food products, workers could get the rest of the products only in canteens, which from the second half of the 1920s were part of the cooperative system, consolidated into a single Central Workers' Cooperative (CWC), which had both its advantages (centralized supply) and disadvantages (lack of close communication with the consumer and, as a result, lack of feedback and direct influence of enterprise management on the process of organizing food for workers). Factory buffets, canteens, and giant kitchen factories created at an accelerated pace were put into operation with a huge number of shortcomings. Unsanitary conditions at public catering enterprises, a chronic lack of kitchen equipment, disruptions in food supplies, a monotonous menu, and, as a result, poor diet of workers have become commonplace. Prices in closed cooperative canteens were often comparable to market prices, while the quality of products did not meet the established requirements. Neither the tightening of control, nor the reorganization of the catering system (the introduction of working supply departments) led to a radical improvement in the situation with catering. Meanwhile, systemic problems with the organization of public catering also determined the degree of public confidence in the authorities. Negative statements about the Soviet government on the basis of problems with public catering have become a very common phenomenon in the working environment and a kind of litmus test for determining the level of public confidence in the government's course.

Introduction. This article examines the problem of food supply for the residents of Stalingrad in the late 1920s – mid-1930s, i.e. during the period of industrialization. Methods and materials. The authors use the historical-descriptive (idiographic), historical-genetic, historical-comparative methods, as well as quantitative methods in the study of statistical sources. In the course of the research, documentary materials of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, the State Archives of Volgograd Region, and the Center for Documentation of the Contemporary History of Volgograd Region were used to illustrate the main methods and directions for resolving the food problem in the city of Stalingrad in the late 1920s – first half of the 1930s. Analysis and results. The first five-year plan brought to citizens a sharp deterioration in food supply. Having refused to take economic measures the city authorities were forced to introduce a standardized distribution on the ration books of workers' cooperatives. In 1931, Stalingrad as an important industrial center was included by the government in the list of the cities, which were supplied with basic products in a centralized manner. However, problems with food remained until the abolition of the card system in 1935. Interruptions in the supply of even standardized products, giant queues for them were the result not only of insufficient allocation of resources, but also of the unwillingness of the cooperative and state trade system to work effectively in the new conditions. The city's population also grew too rapidly due to the peasants fleeing from the countryside, which contributed to the food shortage. The creation of subsidiary farms at large enterprises, the organization of collective farm fairs also did not lead to a noticeable result. The goal stated in the resolution of 1931 to bring the food supply of Stalingrad workers closer to the level of Moscow and Leningrad turned out to be unattainable. Some improvements in the food situation occurred only in autumn 1934, when a good harvest allowed the government to fulfill the state supplies, but the problem was never completely solved.