Technology, Culture, and Legitimacy Through Soviet Aviation Christopher Zakroff
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2013 Wings of the Workers' State: Technology, Culture, and Legitimacy Through Soviet Aviation Christopher Zakroff Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PUBLIC POLICY WINGS OF THE WORKERS’ STATE: TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE, AND LEGITIMACY THROUGH SOVIET AVIATION By CHRISTOPHER ZAKROFF A Thesis submitted to the Program in Russian and East European Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2013 © 2013 Christopher Zakroff Christopher Zakroff defended this thesis on May 28, 2013. The members of the supervisory committee were: Ronald E. Doel Professor Directing Thesis Jonathan A. Grant Committee Member Robert L. Romanchuk Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii In memory of my grandfather, Edwin Papritz. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Lee Kendall Metcalf along with the staff of the Department of Russian and East European Studies for allowing me the opportunity to participate in their fine program. I must also express my sincere gratitude to the members of my thesis committee for their invaluable assistance during this project. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................1 2. TAKING TO THE SKIES .......................................................................................................7 2.1 Developing Soviet Aviation ...........................................................................................8 2.2 Flight and Stalinism .....................................................................................................14 2.3 Aviators in Stalinist Cinema ........................................................................................16 2.4 “Valerii Chkalov” (1941) .............................................................................................19 2.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................21 3. FLYING FARTHER, FASTER, AND HIGHER ..................................................................23 3.1 The Organization of the Soviet Aviation Industry .......................................................25 3.2 Stalin’s Aviation Policy in the Early Cold War ...........................................................29 3.3 Myasishchev and Long-Range Aviation ......................................................................37 3.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................41 4. BEGINNING THE DESCENT .............................................................................................43 4.1 Policy after Stalin .........................................................................................................44 4.2 Aviation and the Discourses of the Thaw ....................................................................47 4.3 “Clear Skies” (1961) ....................................................................................................48 4.4 “Wings” (1966) ............................................................................................................54 4.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................61 5. FINAL APPROACH .............................................................................................................63 5.1 Turn toward Space .......................................................................................................65 5.2 Late Soviet Aviation ....................................................................................................71 5.3 The Fall of the Aviator .................................................................................................75 5.4 “Mimino” (1977) .........................................................................................................76 5.5 “Air Crew” (1980) .......................................................................................................78 5.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................80 6. CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................81 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................85 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................90 v ABSTRACT Was aviation a true Soviet success story or did it remain dependent on imported technology in order to advance? Aircraft and aviators were frequently occurring images in Soviet culture. What purpose did this significant social role serve, and how did it evolve over time? What was the relationship between the state of Soviet aviation technology and the message conveyed through its public representations? In this study, aviation serves as a thematic guide that enables the political objectives, material realities, and public perceptions of technological progress in the Soviet Union to be seen in a new light. Employing an innovative approach that blends a thoughtful examination of the development and structure of the Soviet aviation industry with analysis of the public representations of aviation as seen through Soviet cinema, this research reveals a dynamic story of the changing views on the role of technology in social progress. Under Stalin, new aircraft and the heroic pilots who had mastered the skies were heralded as beacons of progress and proof of the legitimacy of Soviet governance. In the early days of the Cold War, Soviet aviation technology made massive strides, achieving near parity with the west while beginning to make meaningful contributions to the state of the art in aerospace. However, Khrushchev’s reorientation of industry toward rocketry depleted the resources available to Soviet aircraft designers. As aviation technology faded from preeminence, Soviet society reevaluated the cultural representations of the aviator. This once heroic figure was now constrained by an inescapable fate. Aviation and the promise of the aviator were brought down to Earth. vi CHAPTER ONE INRODUCTION Northwest of Moscow’s city center stands the striking architecture of Yaroslavskii Station, terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway. From here you can board a slow, but reasonably comfortable, commuter train, known as an elektrichka, bound for the small town of Monino. Walking south from the desolate railway platform, you wander down tree-lined streets, skirting along the perimeter fence of the Gagarin Air Force Academy. If you are persistent, eventually you will come upon Russia’s Central Air Force Museum. Here, some 24 miles east of the nation’s capital, is exhibited one the largest collections of aircraft on Earth. After purchasing your ticket, you approach the open gate just a few hundred feet further down the road. Making a right turn around the high wall that surrounds the complex, you are met by the sight of a field of gleaming silver. Here on this grassy expanse, under the open sky, rest some 170 aircraft, artifacts of the history of Soviet aviation. After taking in this awesome sight, a story begins to emerge. Immediately to your right you see a machine uncannily similar to the Boing B-29, which served as the mainstay of the American strategic bombing campaign against Japan during the Second World War. Further along the walkway and on your left, the field is dominated by giant sleek shapes that immediately convey a sense of speed and power. As you walk through this collection, you see a row of lend-lease aircraft provided by the United States and other rows that trace the evolution of aircraft design and aviation technology in the years the followed the war. A deeper inquiry reveals that many of these machines are one-off prototypes of designs that only ever saw limited production. You also notice that aircraft present 1 that did see large-scale production exhibit slow and methodical changes in design over the years. Considering all that stands around you, questions start to arise. Why was all of this built? What does this tell us about technological development in the Soviet Union during the Cold War years, and is it an accurate picture of the realities of the nation’s aviation industry? This study will undertake to address these questions and to shed new light on the place of aviation and aviation technology in minds of Soviet policy makers and the Soviet public. Flight has long featured in the folk stories of the peoples of the former Russian Empire. In early years of its existence, the Soviet Union emphasized progress in aviation as a bridge to these memories of the past and as a symbol of the improved future to come. In the 1970’s, Kendall E. Bailes examined the role of technology in the new