Afterword: the History of the Soviet Union
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AFTERWORD: THE HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION I began my studies of the history of the Soviet Union in the early 1950s by writing a PhD thesis on the Soviet budgetary system. My thesis sur- veyed the whole period of Soviet development up to that time. In 1958 it was published as The Development of the Soviet Budgetary System by Cambridge University Press. In this book I already assumed that what had been emerging in the Soviet Union was a new civilisation. I continued this work in the next half century by embarking on a quite detailed examination of Soviet history, concentrating on the econ- omy. I began by working jointly with E. H. Carr on two of the vol- umes of his Foundations of a Planned Economy, 1926–1929. My own study began from 1930 and covered the period to the eve of the Second World War. In 1930 the Soviet planned economy (as I characterised it then) began to emerge, and to develop an increasingly large and elabo- rate industry. By 1940 Soviet industry, while much weaker than United States industry, was the second largest in the world, and it was power- ful enough to play a major part in the defeat of the Axis powers in the Second World War. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 345 R. W. Davies et al., The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia Volume 7: The Soviet Economy and the Approach of War, 1937–1939, https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-36238-4 346 AFTERWORD: THE HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION But the Soviet system which emerged by 1940 was fundamentally dif- ferent from the new civilisation which I had envisaged when I began this work. I continued to hold my original conception when I was writing about the early 1930s. But as my work continued, and my knowledge of the later 1930s became more detailed and more reliable, it became clear that the Soviet system, despite playing a major role in the defeat of Nazism, was no longer any kind of ‘new civilisation’ or socialist soci- ety, but a repressive regime in which violence and tyranny played a major part. My earlier conception of the course of Soviet history was funda- mentally mistaken. While my view of Soviet history has changed, two things have remained the same. One constant factor in my work has been the idea that when the details of history are in confict with preconceived ideas, the latter should give way. Another is that I remain on the Left, believing today, as before, that a better organisation of society is possible. R. W. Davies APPENDIX A: ALL-UNION PEOPLE’S COMMISSARIATS AND OTHER AGENCIES OF THE USSR, 1937–1939 This appendix lists the nomenclature and reorganisations of the princi- pal people’s commissariats and state committees of the Soviet Union that existed on or between January 1, 1937 and December 31, 1939.1 Note that a ‘people’s commissariat’ was just a ministry by another name. In 1946, all people’s commissariats were renamed ministries. The order in which agencies are listed refects function and impor- tance mixed with chronology. The acronyms that are in use in the pres- ent and previous volumes are also provided in brackets, together with dates of original formation and fnal dissolution. Our list illustrates a variety of processes. All organisations are shown with the dates of their creation and eventual disappearance. Some organi- sations continued without change of name, or they were re-graded up or down, and this involved a change of name, but no substantial change of function. Examples are the elevation of the bodies responsible for con- struction and procurements from government committees to people’s commissariats in 1938. Many new organisations were created by the subdivision of existing bodies, which disappeared; or by being spun off from parent organisa- tions that persisted alongside. In industry, for example, there were just four people’s commissariats on the frst day of 1937, and this number 1Based on Gosudarstvennaya vlast’ (1999) and Sovet narodnykh komissarov (1999). © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 347 R. W. Davies et al., The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia Volume 7: The Soviet Economy and the Approach of War, 1937–1939, https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-36238-4 348 APPENDIX A: ALL-UNION PEOPLE’S COMMISSARIATS … increased to 20 by the frst of 1940. Subdivisions and spin-offs are shown by a right arrow. Whether or not the original body continued to exist ⇒ can be inferred from the dates of formation dissolution that are given. Occasionally, a new body was created by amalgamating old ones, which disappeared, and this is shown by a left arrow. This was how ⇐ a people’s commissariat with combined responsibility for both domestic and foreign trade was created in 1938. Finally, the entries of those organisations for which the terminal date fell before the end of our three years are distinguished by a close ┤ sign to the right. The Central Government and Its Subcommittees Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom: July 6, 1923–March 20, 1991) Council of Labour and Defence (STO: July 17, 1923–November 23, 1937) ┤ ⟹ Economic Council (Ekonomsovet: November 23, 1937–March 21, 1941) Note: Below this point, bodies listed were generally All-Union peo- ple’s commissariats unless some other suffcient designation is given, so ‘Finance’ refers to the People’s Commissariat of Finance of the USSR. Other Central Regulatory Bodies State Planning Commission (Gosplan: August 21, 1923–January 9, 1948) Note: In many countries the statistical agency would have been an independent body, but in our period the Central Administration for National Economic Accounts (TsUNKhU: February 7, 1933–January 9, 1948) was a subordinate department of Gosplan. Finance (Narkomfn: July 6, 1923–November 28, 1991) State Bank (Gosbank: July 6, 1923–December 12, 1991) Internal Affairs (NKVD: July 10, 1934–January 13, 1960) APPENDIX A: ALL-UNION PEOPLE’S COMMISSARIATS … 349 Note: Although listed here as a regulator, the NKVD also had ser- vice and supply functions. While its administrations for state security (GUGB) and the police (GURKM) acted as regulators, the internal and border troops (GUPVO) provided services, and the labour camps (GULAG) functioned as a supply department for industry, agriculture, and construction. Labour (Narkomtrud: July 6, 1923–December 31, 1991) Commission for Soviet Control (KSK: February 11, 1934–September 6, 1940) Note: Parallel to the KSK and with the same date of original forma- tion was a party body, the Commission of Party Control (KPK). The Service Commissariats Defence (Narkomoborony: June 20, 1934–February 25, 1946) ⟹ Navy (December 30, 1937–February 25, 1946) Communications (Narkomsvyaz: January 17, 1932–November 28, 1991) Foreign Trade (Narkomvneshtorg: July 29, 1934–January 19, 1938) ┤ Domestic Trade (Narkomvnutorg: July 29, 1934–January 19, 1938) ┤ ⟸ Trade (Narkomtorg: January 19, 1938–March 5, 1953) Procurements, People’s Commissariat of (Narkomzag: January 15, 1938–March 15, 1953) Note: Narkomzag was formed on the basis of the previously existing Committee for Procurements (Komzag) of Sovnarkom. Health (Narkomzdrav: July 20, 1936–November 30, 1991) Note: Throughout this period, responsibility for education was devolved to the Union Republics, exercised in the RSFSR by a repub- lican People’s Commissariat of Education (Narkompros). The Supply Commissariats (Industry, Transport, Agriculture and Construction) Heavy Industry (Narkomtyazhprom: January 5, 1932–January 24, 1939) ┤ ⟹ Defence Industry (8 December 1936–January 11, 1939) ┤ ⟹ Aircraft Industry (January 11, 1939–March 15, 1953) 350 APPENDIX A: ALL-UNION PEOPLE’S COMMISSARIATS … ⟹ Ammunition (January 11, 1939–January 7, 1946) ⟹ Armament (January 11, 1939–March 15, 1953) ⟹ Shipbuilding Industry (January 11, 1939–March 5, 1953) ⟹ Machine Building (Engineering) (August 22, 1937–February 5, 1939) ┤ ⟹ General Machine Building (February 5, 1939–November 26, 1941) ⟹ Medium Machine Building (February 5, 1939–February 17, 1946) ⟹ Heavy Machine Building (February 5, 1939–March 5, 1953) ⟹ Construction Materials (January 24, 1939–May 10, 1957) ⟹ Fuel Industry (January 24, 1939–October 12, 1939) ┤ ⟹ Oil Industry (October 12, 1939–March 4, 1946) ⟹ Coal Industry (October 12, 1939–January 19, 1946) ⟹ Chemical Industry (January 24, 1939–June 7, 1958) ⟹ Nonferrous Metallurgy (January 24, 1939–July 29, 1948) ⟹ Ferrous Metallurgy (January 24, 1939–July 29, 1948) ⟹ Electrical Industry (January 24, 1939–April 17, 1940) Timber Industry (Narkomles: January 5, 1932–July 29, 1948) Light Industry (Narkomlegprom: January 5, 1932–March 15, 1953) ⟹ Textile Industry (January 2, 1939–December 28, 1948) Food Industry (Narkompishcheprom: July 29, 1934–March 15, 1953) ⟹ Fishing Industry (January 19, 1939–May 8, 1946) ⟹ Meat and Dairy Industry (January 19, 1939–March 15, 1953) Note: In addition to the industrial supply departments shown above, each Union-Republic had its own People’s Commissariat of Local Industry through this period. Transport (Railways) (Narkomput': July 6, 1923–January 20, 1992) Water Transport (Narkomvod: January 30, 1931–April 9, 1939) ┤ ⟹ Maritime Fleet (April 9, 1939–March 15, 1953) ⟹ River Fleet (April 9, 1939–March 15, 1953) Agriculture (Narkomzem: December 7, 1929–February 4, 1947) State Farms (Narkomsovkhozov: October 1, 1932–March 26, 1946) Construction, People’s Commissariat of (Narkomstroi: May 29, 1939– January 19, 1946) Note: Narkomstroi was formed on the basis of the previously existing Committee for Construction of Sovnarkom. APPENDIX B: TabLES REPRESSION AND FORCED LABOUR See Tables B.1 to B.4. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The