RUSSIAN SFSR

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BYELORUSSIAN SSR

SOVIET REPUBLICS

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AZERBAIJAN SSR Contents Page

Article 1 3, Constitution of the USSR-1

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics-2

The Russian SFSR_3

The Ukrainian SSR_5

The Byelorussian SSR_7

The Azerbaijan SSR_ 8

The Georgian SSR_10

The Armenian SSR_12

The Turkmen SSR_14

The National Anthem of the Soviet Union_16

The Uzbek SSR_1 8

The Tajik SSR_20

The Kazakh SSR_ 22

The Kirghiz SSR_24

The Karelo-Finnish SSR_ 26

The Moldavian SSR_28

The Lithuanian SSR_30

The Latvian SSR_31

The Estonian SSR_32

Published by the Information Bulletin Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Washington 8, D. C. December, 1945 MIKHAIL I. KALININ Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

Article 13 of the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a federal state, formed on the basis of the voluntary association of Soviet Socialist Republics having equal rights, namely:

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic Republic The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Republic The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. USSR

THE Union of Soviet Socialist Re¬ russian SSR, respectively; and in the Stalingrad tractor plant and the Dneiper publics (USSR) occupies one-sixth spring of 1940, the Karelian Autono¬ hydroelectric power station, were erected of the earth’s surface. More than 8,500,000 mous Soviet Socialist Republic and the according to the last word in science square miles in area, it is the largest con¬ bulk of the territory that was transferred and technique. Entirely new industries tinuous state territory in the world, and to the USSR in conformity with the which had not existed in the country be¬ had a population of 193,000,000 in 1940. peace treaty signed with Finland on fore, were developed, including the air¬ Moscow is its capital. March 12, 1940, combined to form the craft, automobile, tractor and chemical The USSR stretches west to east from Karelo-Finnish SSR. industries. The industrialization of the the Carpathian Mountains and the Baltic In the summer of the same year a country was the result of the fulfillment Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and north to large part of Bessarabia, the bulk of the of the Stalin Five-Year Plans of national south from the Arctic Ocean to the population of which is Moldavian, was economic development. Parmirs and the plains of Mongolia. rejoined to the Moldavian Autonomous The USSR is also a collective farm The northern part of the USSR is cov¬ Soviet Socialist Republic (which had power. From an agrarian country in which small peasant farming predomi¬ ered by the icy wastes of the Arctic; formerly constituted part of the Ukrainian the southern part, by plantations of cot¬ SSR) to form the Moldavian SSR. nated, the Soviet Union has grown into ton and tea, and citrus fruit orchards. a country where agriculture is conducted In August, 1940, three new Soviet Re¬ on a larger scale and with a higher de¬ The USSR is rich in all the useful publics entered the USSR. They are the gree of mechanization than in any other minerals, all the strategic raw materials Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and country in the world. In 1937 there were that our globe contains. It occupies first Lithuania. place in the world for its deposits of iron 242,400 collective farms conducted on the Thus, the USSR consists of 16 volun¬ ore (with quartzites), oil, manganese, most up-to-date lines and equipped with tarily federated and equal Soviet Socialist apatite, phosphorites, magnesium salts, the best modern machinery. Republics. niobium and peat, its water power and Thanks to the socialization of the its timber reserves; and second place in The USSR is a state of a new type; means of production, there is no exploi¬ coal, lead, zinc and nickel. it is a Socialist State of workers and tation of man by man in the USSR. Ac¬ The USSR was founded on the initia¬ peasants. Political power in the Soviet cording to the census of 1939, industrial tive and under the guidance of Lenin Union is vested in the Soviets (or Coun¬ workers constitute 32.2 per cent of the and Stalin at the First All-Union Con¬ cils) of Working People’s Deputies. working population, collective farmers gress of Soviets which opened on Decem¬ The economic foundation of the So¬ 44.6 per cent, and office employees, etc., ber 30, 1922. viet Union is the socialist system of 17.5 per cent. At that time it was composed of the economy and socialist ownership of the Soviet society consists of two friendly Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Re¬ means and instruments of production. classes—the working class and the peas¬ public (RSFSR), the Ukrainian and Bye¬ Small private production by individual antry. These are social classes which lorussian Soviet Socialist Republics, and peasants and artisans is permitted, pro¬ know no exploitation. The intellectuals the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative vided the owners work themselves and do of the USSR, who directly derive from Socialist Republic, comprising the Geor¬ not exploit the labor of others. the workers and peasants, jointly with gian, Azerbaijan and Armenian Soviet In recent years, socialist economy ac¬ them wield the power in the country. Socialist Republics. counted for 99-9 per cent of the gross in¬ The USSR is a multinational state. It In 1924 the newly formed Turkmen dustrial output of the Soviet Union. is inhabited by more than 180 different and Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republics, and The USSR is an industrial power. nations, nationalities and tribes, of which in 1929 the Tajik SSR became constitu¬ From an agrarian country with a weakly 60 constitute large and fully formed na¬ ent parts of the USSR. In 1936, the developed backward industry, it has tions. As a result of the industrialization Kazakh and Kirghiz Autonomous Repub¬ grown into a land of modern industry. of the USSR and of the national policy lics, formerly constituent parts of the By the end of 1937 the industrial out¬ pursued by Lenin and Stalin, the numer¬ RSFSR, became Union Republics. At put of the USSR had increased more ous nationalities of the USSR have made the same time, as a result of the dis¬ than eightfold as compared with 1913. extraordinarily rapid economic and cul¬ solution of the Transcaucasian Fed¬ Between 1937 and 1940, it increased ap¬ tural progress. eration, and by their express wishes, proximately 40 per cent. During the war The Constitution of the USSR, which Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia also it increased, though the working force was adopted at the Extraordinary Eighth acquired the status of Union Republics. in heavy industry was smaller. Industrial Congress of Soviets of the USSR on De¬ In 1939, the peoples of the Western giants such as Magnitogorsk, Kuznetsk cember 5, 1936, gave legislative seal and Ukraine and Western Byelorussia re¬ (in the city of Stalinsk) and the sanction to these fundamental changes in joined the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelo¬ Chelyabinsk iron and steel mills, the the country.

2 Russian SFSR

The Russian Soviet Federative one of these nationalities every oppor¬ Socialist Republic (the RSFSR Area—6,444/700 sq. miles tunity for economic and cultural de¬ or Russia) occupies mainly the northern Population—109,000,000 velopment. Formerly a land of poverty and central part of the USSR. It is Capital—Moscow; population, and ignorance, it is now a flourishing bordered by the Arctic Ocean, the Black 4,137,000 and prosperous Republic. Sea, the plains of Mongolia, the borders Under the tsarist regime there were of the Soviet Baltic Republics and the cent of its steel, two-thirds of its electric 70 higher educational establishments in Pacific Ocean. power, and the bulk of the output of Russia. In 1939 there were 448 estab¬ Its natural resources are incalculable. machinery, timber, textiles, grain and tech¬ lishments of this kind in the RSFSR. It It contains colossal deposits of minerals nical crops, and food products. has more than 50,000 public libraries, 550 of the most diverse kinds. Its coal is esti¬ Moscow, the capital of the USSR, and museums, 450 theatres, 400 scientific re¬ mated at 1,500 billion tons, approximat¬ of the RSFSR, is the seat of the Govern¬ search institutes and thousands of other ing 18 per cent of the world’s deposits. ment, and of the Supreme Soviets of the scientific institutions. It possesses half the world’s iron de¬ USSR and the RSFSR. Moscow is the hub of Soviet science, posits with quarzites, millions of tons of The RSFSR was formed as a result and the seat of the Academy of Sciences of precious and rare non-ferrous metals, and of the victory of the Great Socialist Revo¬ the USSR. By 1938, about 6,000 news¬ vast deposits of chemical raw materials lution of November 7, 1917. In 1922, in papers were published in the RSFSR in and non-metallic minerals such as salts, conjunction with other Soviet Republics, the languages of the different nationalities. apatite, nepheline, graphite, mica and it formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Universal compulsory elementary edu¬ marble. The peat deposits of the RSFSR Republics. cation is the rule. Contrast this with are estimated at 150 billion tons, the The RSFSR is a union of nations tsarist Russia, where only 24 per cent of largest in the world. headed by the Russians, who continu¬ the population was literate. For the first The RSFSR is the largest of the re¬ ously assist all the nations of the Soviet time in their history, nationalities like the publics constituting the USSR, containing Union in their economic and cultural de¬ Circassian, Bashkir, Buryat-Mongolian, 74 per cent of its area and more than 50 velopment. The RSFSR is inhabited by Kalmyk and Chechen have their own na¬ per cent of its total population. The over 100 nationalities. tional culture. RSFSR is also more developed economical¬ The Soviet system has created for every The peoples of the RSFSR, like those ly than the other Union Republics, and is foremost among its peers in political, economic and cultural importance. The peoples of the Russian SFSR bore the main brunt of the effort to defeat the Nazi enemy. On the soil of this Re¬ public occurred the bitter siege of Lenin¬ grad and the great Battles of Stalingrad and Moscow, where the enemy was turned back, regarded by most authorities as the turning point of the war, as well as many other important battles. Generalissimo Stalin recognized the great role played by this Republic in the war when he said of the Russian nation: "It is the most outstanding nation of all nations forming the Soviet Union . . . and it has won in this war universal recognition as the leading force in the Soviet Union among all the peoples of our country.” Before the Second World War, the RFSSR accounted for 70 per cent, of the industrial and agricultural output of the USSR, about 20 per cent of its oil, more than 40 per cent of its coal, about 40 per cent of its pig iron, more than 50 per MOSCOW—the Government Planning Academy at the capital.

3 RED SQUARE—this great square in the heart of Moscow is the scene of many Soviet parades. of the entire Union, cherish the great of military operations were removed to only a few railways, beyond which culture of the Russian people, who have the east, and large new enterprises built. stretched vast tracts of roadless country. produced remarkable writers like Pushkin, The RSFSR is also a land of large-scale Since Soviet power was established the Tolstoy, Gorky and Mayakovsky, com¬ highly mechanized agriculture based on Republic has been covered with tens of posers like Glinka, Tschaikovsky and industrialization and collective farming. thousands of miles of railways and auto¬ Borodin, painters like Surikov and Repin, The cultivated area in the RSFSR amounts mobile roads, and its most important and scientists like Sechenov, Mendeleyev to nearly 250,000,000 acres, on which rivers and sea routes are now linked up and Pavlov and others. wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, flax, hemp, by navigable canals. The Great Northern Formerly, modern industry was de¬ sunflower, potatoes and other crops are Sea Route was opened. veloped only in a few centers of the grown. The main economic and cultural cen¬ European part of the country. Soviet Rus¬ The fields of the RSFSR are plowed by ters of the RSFSR, as well as of the sia, however, is today a powerful indus¬ 300,000 tractors and reaped by more than whole Union, are Moscow and Leningrad. trial state. Three years before the war 100,000 harvester combines. The country In addition to these there are many other began, the industrial output of the RSFSR possesses vast numbers of cattle, horses, flourishing progressive cities such as was ten times that of Russian in 1913. sheep, goats, camels and domesticated deer. Sverdlovsk, Molotov, Chelyabinsk, Gorky, Since the Soviet State has been in exis¬ Thanks to the system of collective Kazan, Kuibyshev, Yaraslaval, Ufa, Omsk, tence large industrial centers have sprung farming, the peasants were able during Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk. A large up in the Urals, in western Siberia and the war to provide the Red Army and number of new cities have been built. in other eastern regions of the Republic. the population in the rear with most of Examples of these are Magnitogorsk, When the war broke out the industrial the necessary food supplies. Stalinogorsk, Komsomolsk, Kirovsk and and munitions plants located in the area Russia in the past was intersected by Magadan.

4 Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Hitler Germany attacked Poland. In view Area— Republic (the Ukraine) is situated 223,000 sq. miles of the collapse of the Polish state, the in the southwest of the USSR and is bor¬ Population—40,000,000 Soviet Government ordered the Red Army dered on the south by the north coasts of Capital—Kiev; population, to take the Western Ukrainians under its the Black Sea and Azov Sea, on the east 846,000 protection. The National Assembly of by the region which adjoins the Don Western Ukraine, which was elected by River and on the west by the northeastern universal suffrage, voted to affiliate to the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains. of the pig iron, 48 per cent of the steel Soviet Union as part of the Ukrainian It has a fertile soil, a mild humid cli¬ and 35 per cent of the manganese ore Soviet Socialist Republic at that time. mate, and is rich in mineral deposits such fumed out in the Soviet Union. The Ukraine is inhabited by Ukrain¬ as coal, iron ore, manganese, salts, oil and The political, economic and cultural ians, who constitute 80 per cent of the building materials, and has navigable growth' of the Ukraine began with the population and also by Russians, Jews and rivers which are vast reservoirs of cheap establishment of the Soviet State at the Poles, all of whom enjoy equal rights energy. end of 1917. In 1922 the Ukrainian Soviet with the Ukranians. Since the Soviet system was established Republic, jointly with the other Soviet The Ukraine before the war was the the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics, formed the Union of Soviet largest, most productive coal and metal¬ rose to the level of a great state. In Socialist Republics. lurgical base of the Soviet Union. In 1940 economic development and population it Until the autumn of 1939, the Western the industrial output of the Ukraine was is the second largest republic in the USSR. Ukraine remained under the rule of the 11 times greater than in 1913. Before the recent war the Ukraine pro¬ Polish landowners, who oppressed the In 1940 the Donets Basin produced duced 54 per cent of the coal, 60 per cent Ukrainian people. In September, 1939, 83,718,000 tons of coal. The first grade

KIEV—the Session Hall of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR.

5 KHARKOV—the House of Industry before the German occupation. iron ore of Krivoy Rog and the man¬ Gorlovka, etc.), Nikolayev, Krivoy Rog, the Ukranian schools were forced to close. ganese of Nikopol were transformed into Lvov, and others. In 1939, 85 per cent of the population pig iron, steel and metal goods. Agriculture also made tremendous head¬ of the Soviet Ukraine, not including the The Ukraine in that year produced way. Before the war the Ukraine was one Western Ukraine, was literate. Over about 9,183,000 tons of pig iron and of the largest granaries of the USSR and 6,500,000 children attended school, more 8,621,700 of steel. It manufactured rail¬ produced about 50 per cent of the winter than diree times as many as in 1913. way engines and cars, tractors, turbines, wheat, and 74 per cent of the sugar beet In 1941 the Ukraine had seven universi¬ harvester combines and mining and agri¬ crop of the Union. Sixty-two million acres ties and 148 different colleges, whose cultural machinery for all parts of the of land were planted with cereal and in¬ students numbered 130,000. There were Soviet Union. dustrial crops. Millions of head of cattle, 653 special secondary, technical and pro¬ It also produced mineral fertilizers, pigs, sheep and poultry were raised. The fessional schools with 860,216 students. soda, glass and cement. The output of the orchards of the Ukraine were famed for The Ukraine before the war had about sugar, meat-packing, flour-milling, distill¬ their apples, plums and cherries. In the 41,000 libraries and 200 scientific re¬ ing, oil-crushing and dairy industries south, high quality grapes were cultivated. search institutes, headed by the Academy reached great dimensions. Fishing was de¬ The Ukraine’s agriculture was highly of Sciences of the Ukrainian Soviet So¬ veloped on the Black Sea and the Azov mechanized with 90,000 tractors and 31,- cialist Republic. Sea. 000 harvester combines operating in her The Ukrainian SSR, rich with grain The Ukraine possessed a far-flung net¬ fields. The Ukrainian peasants were or¬ and industry, was one of the early ob¬ work of electric power stations. The Dnie¬ ganized in collective farms. jectives of the Nazi robbers, and was per power station, the largest in Europe, Before 1917, Ukrainian culture was invaded in 1941. The people of the is famous throughout the world. The cities suppressed and instruction in the native Ukraine were forced to destroy much of of the Ukraine, both old and new, de¬ language was prohibited. Only 25 per cent their own proud industry and great nat¬ veloped rapidly. During the past 25 years, of the population were literate, and these ural improvements, to keep them from 77 new cities and 285 industrial settle¬ mainly in the Russian language. Only one^ the clutches of the invader. ments were built. The main industrial third of the children attended school. centers are: Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, The same was true of the Western By the end of 1944, through the efforts Mariupol, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Ukraine while it was under the rule of the of the Red Army, the guerrillas and the the cities of the Donbas, (Stalino, Polish landowners. There, 60 per cent of entire Soviet people, the Ukrainian soil Makeevka, Kramatorsk, Voroshilovgrad, the population was illiterate. Nearly all was liberated from the German invaders.

6 Byelorussian SSR

Byelorussia 26 higher educational estab¬ Area—89,000 sq. miles lishments (there were none under the Population—10,386,000 tsarist regime), a large number of techni¬ cal schools and 41 scientific research insti¬ Capital—Minsk; population, tutes, headed by the Academy of Sciences 239,000 of the Byelorussian SSR. Before the war Byelorussia had 20 theaters and a national The Byelorussian Soviet Social¬ opera. ist Republic (Byelorussia) is situ¬ The Byelorussian Soviet Republic de¬ ated on the western border of the USSR veloped its own large-scale industry. At between the upper and middle reaches the end of 1937, the gross industrial out¬ of the rivers Dnieper, Bug and Western put was more than 20 times that of 1913. Dvina. Over one-quarter of its territory The main industrial centers of the Re¬ is covered with pine, fir, oak and aspen public are: Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk, Go¬ forests. The climate of the country is mel, Orsha, Borisov and others. mild and humid. Beneath its soil lie vast deposits of peat, phosphorites, fire-proof, The agricultural processing industries acid-proof and porcelain clay, marl, sand were highly developed and giant steps for glass making and bituminous shale. were taken in meat packing, starch and Under tsarism the peasants were illiter¬ flax producing, distilling, tanning and dairy product output. ate, had little or no land, were cruelly exploited by the Polish and Russian land¬ Agriculture in Byelorussia underwent lords and overburdened with taxation. a fundamental change. The formerly But the Revolution saved the Bye¬ wretched and poverty-stricken peasants lorussian people from poverty and de¬ began to lead prosperous and cultured generation. In 1919, the Byelorussian lives. They united in collective farms in Soviet Socialist Republic was formed. In which they jointly cultivated the soil and 1922, together with the other fraternal had their co-operative dairy farms, pig¬ Soviet Republics, it formed the Union of geries and beehives. They received im¬ Soviet Socialist Republics. mense assistance from the Government in At that time, however, only part of the the shape of tractors, harvester combines territory inhabited by Byelorussians could and other agricultural machinery, seed join the Soviet Union. Western Byelorus¬ and financial credit. In 1937, the culti¬ sia, situated between the rivers Bug and vated area of Byelorussia exceeded that Dnieper, was seized by Poland. As was of 1913 by 35 per cent. the case under tsarism, the Byelorussian The territory of the Byelorussian SSR language was banned. All the schools con¬ was invaded and occupied by the Ger¬ ducted in the Byelorussian language were man fascists. Minsk, the ancient capital, closed. Right up to the end of 1939 in¬ and the other flourishing cities of the dustry steadily declined. Republic were reduced to rubble. The After the collapse of the Polish state, MINSK—Monument to V. I. Lenin. books were burned; the schools were the people of Western Byelorussia enthu¬ wrecked. The people were tortured and siastically voted in favor of joining the murdered. million children attended school, four Byelorussian SSR. On November 2, 1939, But in the Red Army and in guerrilla times the number that attended under the the Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted tsarist regime. Numerous schools and bands, the people fought back. On their this application. other cultural institutions were established own soil they killed hundreds of thou¬ The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Re¬ for the other nationalities inhabiting the sands of enemy soldiers and officers; public made enormous progress. Univer¬ country, such as Jews, Russians and Poles. wrecked Nazi materiel and communica¬ sal education was introduced and over a Before World War II, there were in tions, and freed their land of the invader.

7 Azerbaijan SSR

The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist gation canals were owned by a handful Republic (Azerbaijan) occupies the Area—33,000 sq. miles of feudal chiefs called beks. The peasant eastern part of Transcaucasia on the fron¬ population possessed hardly any water Population—3,210,000 tier of the USSR and Iran. The country sources at all. The tsarist government de¬ Capital—Baku; population, is featured by the dry steppe of the Kura liberately fomented strife between the 809,000 lowlands; the fertile soil, deep river different nationalities inhabiting the courses, wide valleys and the slopes of the country, and suppressed their national Caucasian mountains covered at various affiliate to the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist culture. Azerbaijan women were com¬ heights with orchards, vineyards, dense Republic. pelled to live in seclusion and wear the forests and mountain pastures; and the The land is rich in minerals such as veil (chadra). They did not receive even subtropical vegetation of the Lenkoran oil, iron, aluminum, copper, lead and the most elementary education. lowlands. zinc, precious metals, sulphur pyrites and On April 28, 1920, the Azerbaijan peo¬ The Republic is inhabited by Azerbai¬ limestone. ple created their Soviet Republic, and later, janians (Tyurks), who constitute over The natural resources of this country, in conjunction with the other Soviet Re¬ 60 per cent of the population, Armenians, whose history goes back 3,000 years, were publics, formed the Union of Soviet So¬ Russians, Kurds, Tats, Talyshi and Geor¬ scarcely developed before 1917. Baku, cialist Republics, and on December 5, gians. Affiliated to Azerbaijan is the Nak¬ with its oil wells, was practically the only 1936, it received the status of a Union Re¬ hichevan Autonomus Soviet Socialist Re¬ industrial center. Throughout the rest of public. The former strife between the public (capital—Nakhichevan). The Na¬ the country primitive agriculture and different nationalities gave way to peace gorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region farming prevailed, consisting mainly of and close friendship. (capital—Stepanakert), although inhab¬ sheep raising, vine growing, silk cultiva¬ Under Soviet rule these formerly ited by Armenians, voluntarily chose to tion and cotton growing. The few irri¬ poverty-stricken and backward peoples of

OIL—the oil fields of Baku are among the world’s richest.

8 Azerbaijan became active builders of the economy and culture of their country. In 1939, over 73 per cent of the population could read and write. Over 500,000 chil¬ dren now attend the 3,000 schools of the country. In 1937 secondary school at¬ tendance was 35 times that of 1914. Where formerly even secondary schools were a rarity, there are now 15 higher educational establishments and about 100 technical schools. Before Soviet rule there were only 12 engineers in the country. At the present time there are over 3,000. The Republic can boast more than 500 university pro¬ fessors and scientific research workers. Thdre are scores of scientific institutions headed by the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. The national art of the peoples of Azerbaijan has made enormous progress. The country has 15 theaters, and has created its national opera and ballet. The works of the Azerbaijan classical writers, such as Nizami, one of the world’s great¬ est poets who lived 800 years ago, have been published in many languages and in large editions. Modern authors, com¬ posers and musicians have also appeared. Under the tsarist regime only two news¬ papers were published in the Azerbaijan language. In Soviet Azerbaijan about 100 newspapers are published in the vernacu¬ lar. Azerbaijan women are now free from all the shackles of national, social and cultural oppression. Under the Soviet Government the Baku oil industry has assumed world-wide im¬ A CINEMA—this building is in Baku, the capital. portance. Even before the Second World War the output of the Baku oil wells Agriculture has made enormous prog¬ tions and mulberry groves for the cultiva¬ reached 25,000,000 tons a year, more ress under the Soviet system and the cul¬ tion of silkworms. In the humid lowlands than triple the amount produced before tivated area now exceeds IVz million of Lankoran, subtropical crops such as tea 1914. The oil refining industry has been greatly expanded and modernized. A big acres. Numerous irrigation canals have and citrus fruits are now being cultivated! chemical industry has sprung up produc¬ been built, the largest of which is the for the first time. North of this region, ing mostly mineral fertilizers. Giant en¬ Samur-Divichi Canal, built in 1940. It is on the irrigated lands close to the Caspian gineering plants have been erected. The 66 miles long and irrigates 150,000 acres. coast, rice is grown. industries processing agricultural products This canal was built by the collective In winter, large droves of horses, herds have grown immensely as in the case of farmers themselves with the material and of cattle and flocks of sheep graze in the cotton ginning, cotton, wool and silk technical assistance of the Government of unirrigated lowlands, and in. spring they spinning, and fruit and meat canning. the USSR. are driven to the rich mountain pastures. In 1937 the gross industrial output of Azerbaijan is the second largest cot- In the Caspian Sea there are extensive Azerbaijan showed a six-fold increase ton-producing region in the USSR and fisheries for many varieties of sturgeon over 1913. The main industrial centers of the largest long-fibre Egyptian cotton re¬ and herring. Here 75 per cent of the world the Republic are: Baku, Kirovabad and gion. The mountain slopes are covered output of the famous black caviar is. Nukha, among others. with orchards, vineyards, tobacco planta¬ obtained.

9 Georgian SSR

The Georgian Soviet Socialist enjoyed by all the nations of the USSR. Republic (Georgia) is situated in Area—27,000 sq. miles The works of the classical Georgian writ¬ the western part of Transcaucasia, on the Population—3,342,000 ers, such as Shota Rustaveli, (12th-13th century), and others, have been published border of the USSR adjacent to Turkey. Capital—T bill si; population, in large editions. Scores of newspapers The chain of mountains which runs 319,000 through the country, the wide table¬ and magazines, and millions of books lands, and deep and fertile valleys, make are published in the languages of all na¬ the landscape rich and varied. In the schools in the country as there were be¬ tionalities inhabiting the Republic. north, the mountains are capped by fore 1917. In 1939, 113 per thousand of Georgia is the health resort of the en¬ glaciers. the population had a secondary education, tire Soviet Union. Its healing waters, On the higher terraces of the moun¬ and 11 per thousand a higher education. mountain sanatoriums—such as Abas- tain slopes stretch extensive pastures. Georgia now has 21 higher educational Tumani—and health resorts on the sea Lower down are belts of pine and decid¬ establishments and more than 200 tech¬ coast, attract visitors from all parts of uous timber merging, still lower, with nical schools. Scores of scientific research the Union. Tbilisi, the capital, and Gori, cultivated orchards and vineyards. The institutes have been established and are the birthplace of Stalin, have grown into shores of the Black Sea are covered with functioning under the direction of the beautiful cities. luxuriant subtropical vegetation. Academy of Sciences of the Georgian Since 1913 the industrial output of the Since the Soviet regime was established, SSR. Georgian Soviet Republic has increased extensive prospecting has been conducted National art has developed immensely, twenty-six-fold. The Chiatura manga¬ in the mountains. Manganese, non-fer¬ and the cultural treasures of Georgia are nese mines are among the largest in the rous and precious metals, iron, coal, oil and vast deposits of other non-metallic minerals have been discovered. The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic is inhabited by Georgians, who constitute two-thirds of the population, Abkhazians, Adjarians, Ossetians, Russians, Armen¬ ians, Azerbaijanians, Greeks, and Jews. The Georgian people regained their political independence by setting up their Soviet Republic February 25, 1921. In the same year the Georgian Soviet Re¬ public joined with the Azebaijan and Armenian Soviet Republics to form the Transcaucasian Federation, which was one of the founders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. On December 5, 1936, the Federation was dissolved and the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, aided by the Russian people, had grown and matured was raised to the status of a Union Republic. Within the Georgian Republic were formed the Abkhazian and Adjar Autono¬ mous Soviet Socialist Republics (capitals, Sukhumi and Batumi, respectively—both Black Sea ports and health resorts), and the South Ossetian Autonomous Region (capital, Staliniri). The culture of the peoples of Soviet Georgia has flourished as never before. Almost the entire population is now lit¬ STATE OPERA—opera house in Tbilisi, capital of the erate. There are three times as many Georgian SSR.

10 ■ !

TBILISI—the Square of Heroes and a new apartment house. world and serve as the basis for the ex¬ draining the marshes of Colchis, which lyric in their descriptions of the beauty tensive manufacture of ferrous alloys. extend for 250,000 acres in the valley of and wealth of Georgia. One article, in¬ Large oil refining plants have been the lower reaches of the Rion River. The solently assuming that Georgian wealth erected, and coal mining has been de¬ large-scale cultivation of subtropical fruits would soon belong to Germany, was de¬ veloped. has begun here. Incidentally, Colchis is the voted to Chiatura. A number of large hydroelectric sta¬ famous land of the Golden Fleece referred "This ore,” wrote this Nazi paper, tions have been built on Georgia’s moun¬ to in legends of ancient Greece. "will enrich many German soldiers and tain rivers. Machine-building and the On the higher slopes of the Black Sea officers now carrying on the battle in manufacture of cement, glass, dyes and coast and on the irrigated land of eastern the Caucasian Mountains. At Chiatura textiles have also developed. Timber is Georgia grow tobacco and grapes. Fruit there are great possibilities for German obtained in large quantities from the is canned in local factories. The cultiva¬ initiative and enterprise.” mountain forests and the paper making tion of silk is assuming ever greater di¬ The Nazis, however, miscalculate^ the industry has been introduced. mensions. strength and determination of ihe de¬ The country’s agriculture has under¬ Two years ago the cultivation of sugar fending forces. By the middle of 1943, gone a complete transformation. The area beet and cotton was started for the first the mines, shut down during tbe fighting, under cultivaiton has increased 50 per time in this country. In the eastern parts began to return to life. The Nazi officers cent since Soviet rule was established, of the land, wheat, barley, and millet are and soldiers who had fixed their greedy and now amounts to more than 2J/2 grown. In the western part maize is the eyes on the wealth of Soviet Georgia million acres. More than 200.000 acres principal crop. Dairy farming and stock have seen their own country defeated of land, stretching along the Black Sea breeding have made considerable prog¬ and devastated in the war which Nazi coast and extending to the foot of the ress. The Governments of Georgia and greed began. Caucasian Mountains are covered with of the Soviet Union supply the collective Now, in the saying of the Georgian plantations of subtropical crops. farms with machines and fertilizers and people, the Kvirilla River runs black A hundred times more tea is collected provide them with the means for build¬ again. This means that the ore is coming from the Georgian plantations than was ing their irrigation canals and drainage from the mines. gathered before the establishment of the works. The Kvirilla carries away particles of Soviet Republic. Plantations of lemons, During the Great Patriotic War, fierce dust from the washing of the manganese tangerines, oranges and citrons cover fighting raged at the foothills of the as it comes from the mines. When the 42,000 acres. Here, also, are cultivated the Caucasus in the Georgian SSR as the river runs clear, the mines are not being tung tree, used for the manufacture of Nazis sought to penetrate to the great worked. When it runs dark, the manga¬ special varnishes, the laurel, bamboo, euca¬ manganese mines of Chiatura and to nese is being mined. Magnitogorsk, lyptus and others used for the extraction seize their wealth of one-third of the Kuznetsk, and the rehabilitated steel of essential oils. world’s deposits of this valuable metal. mills of the South are the largest con¬ Extensive work js proceeding for In those days German newspapers were sumers of this manganese.

11 Armenian SSR

The Armenian Soviet Socialist opening a new era in the life of the .Republic (Armenia) is situated Area—12,000 sq. miles Armenian people. It restored to them their political independence and freedom, and on the high lands of the Minor Caucasian Population—1,300,000 Range, on the frontiers between the saved them from extinction. On December Capital—Erevan; population, USSR, Turkey and Iran. The winter is 5, 1936, it became a Union Republic. 200,000 usually severe and the summer dry and Tens of thousands of Armenians, who hot. Hence, Armenia’s agriculture to a had emigrated in the time of tsarism and large extent depends on irrigation. The of whom today live and work in perfect during the period of foreign intervention country is rich in deposits of copper, harmony. in 1918-20, returned. molybdenum and other ores. Tsarist rule was notorious for foment¬ The population is growing rapidly. In Before the Soviet regime was estab¬ ing strife among the Armenians, Kurds 12 years—from 1927 to 1939—it in¬ lished these resources were scarcely de¬ and Turks and frightful massacres peri¬ creased by 45 per cent. veloped. Industry was confined to the odically ensued as a result. Tsarism pre¬ Literacy is making rapid headway. In smelting of copper and the small scale vented the development of the ancient 1939, 74 per cent of the population were manufacture of wine and spirits. Armenian national culture, and the Ar¬ literate, compared with 15 per cent under The country is populated by Armeni¬ menian people lived in ignorance and tsarist rule. In 1939 the number of stu¬ ans (who constitute four-fifths of the poverty. dents attending technical schools was eight population), Azerbaijanians, Kurds, Rus¬ On November 29, 1920, the Armenian times that of 1913. The schools are con¬ sians, Georgians, Persians and Turks, all Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, ducted in the languages of the various

EREVAN—this is Government House at the capital of the Armenian SSR.

12 nationalities inhabiting the country. Fifty newspapers and magazines, as well as books, are also published in the different languages of the Republic. Under the Soviet regime, nine higher educational and 60 technical schools have been opened. National art is now flourishing; the famous Armenian epic David of Sassun, which dates back 1,000 years, and other written and oral folklore have been re¬ vived. Modern literature has been de¬ veloped. In addition to 25 permanent ur¬ ban and rural theaters, a music conserva¬ tory, five schools of music and a picture gallery have been opened. Monuments of ancient Armenian archi¬ tecture and of the collections of valuable ancient manuscripts are given great care. Twenty-three new museums and insti¬ tutes of scientific research have been opened under the supervision of the Armenian Academy of Sciences. The Ar¬ menian branch of the Academy of Sci¬ ences of the USSR was founded in 1935, and at the end of 1943, was recognized as an independent Academy. Since the Soviet State has been in ex¬ istence, Armenia has grown into a modern industrial and agricultural country. In this period two billion rubles have been invested for economic development. The Armenian peasants are organized in collective farms, which with the as¬ sistance of the Soviet Government, are conducted on the most up-to-date lines. Before the war, over 1,000 tractors and hundreds of harvester combines were operating on the Collective farm fields of Armenia. In 1938, no less than a million acres of land were under cultivation, an increase THE CAPITAL—general view of Erevan. Mount Ararat is in the of 26.5 per cent over the area under background. cultivation before the First World War. The cotton fields, vineyards, orchards, producing crops. Dairy farming and stock has greatly increased. The extraction and and tobacco plantations in the valleys breeding—cattle, sheep, goats, horses— processing of valuable building materials and on the foothills are irrigated by newly- occupy an important place in the econ¬ such as cement, pumice-stone, marble, dug canals. Cotton occupies 42,000 acres, omy. volcanic basalt and fireproof clay are pro¬ and vineyards 34,000 acres, which is a Industry, too, is developing rapidly. In ceeding on a growing scale. three-fold increase over the area under 1941, the gross industrial output of A number of ginning and textile mills these crops before Soviet rule was estab¬ Armenia was 22.3 times as great as the have been erected which utilize home lished. The grapes of Armenia are con¬ output during the year of 1913. The five grown cotton and silk. Carpet weaving is verted into the finest wines and brandy. chief industrial cities of Armenia are: now an expanding industry. The country is famous for its luscious Erevan, Leninakan, Kirovakan, Alavardy, The food industry has canning fac¬ peaches and apricots. and Kafan (Zangezur). tories, and dairies have been opened. The cultivation of silk is also increas¬ The chemical industry, entirely new in Numerous electric power stations have ing. On the tablelands the peasants culti¬ Armenia, produces synthetic rubber and been built on the mountain rivers of vate wheat, barley, sugar beet and oil- mineral fertilizers. The output of copper Armenia and are functioning.

13 Turkmen SSR

The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Over 2,000,000 head of cattle graze Republic (Turkmenia) is situated Area—187,000 sq. miles in the pastures of the desert and foothills. Here, karakul sheep, swift and hardy on the frontier of the USSR bordering on Population—1,234,000 Iran and Afghanistan, and stretches from horses, and cattle are bred. Capital—Ashkhabad; population, the Caspian Sea to the Amu-Darya River. The products of stock breeding and 126,600 Eighty per cent of its territory comprises agriculture are being processed in newly- the desert of Kara-Kum (Black Sands). built cotton-ginning mills, silk mills, big In recent years Soviet explorers have meat-packing plants and shoe factories. discovered that the Kara-Kum Desert has Soviet power liberated and regenerated The mineral resources of the country an abundance of subsoil, surface water the Turkmenian people, who in 1924, with are being extensively developed. Turk¬ and grass, sufficient for 5,000,000 head the aid of the Russian people, set up their menia produces sodium sulphate, oil, of cattle. They have also discovered large Soviet Repuhlic, which became one of ozocerite, bromine, iodine, sulphur, fire¬ mineral deposits and oil. the Union Republics of the USSR. proof clay and common salt. It also In the south of Kara-Kum tower high The Turkmenian peasants are organized manufactures glassware. mountains, the lower terraces of which in collective farms, cultivated with the The Caspian Sea abounds in salmon, are covered with pistachio, wild almond aid of the tractors and harvester com¬ sturgeon, herring and perch. Here the and juniper. Rivers flow past green oases bines provided by the Soviet Government, famous black caviar is obtained. where most of the population has settled. which also sets aside funds for building The total industrial output of the Turk¬ Like other countries of Central Asia, irrigation canals. Agriculture is even men Soviet Socialist Republic in 1937 Turkmenia used to be a backward country. spreading into the deserts of Kara-Kum. amounted to 264,000,000 rubles, which is In the oases, cotton was cultivated in The collective farmers are now pros¬ over 7.6 times more than in 1913. The primitive fashion, while nomad tribes perous. In 1939, there were 80 collec¬ main industrial centers of the Republic drove their flocks and camel herds through tive farms with incomes of a million are: Ashkhabad, Charjui, Krasnovodsk, the desert. The land was tilled with prim¬ rubles a year each. Under tsarism all and Nebit-Dag. itive implements, and the primitive irri¬ Turkmenia had only three agronomists, This economic revival has had a pro¬ gation system on which the fruit and while at present there are 1,500. The foundly beneficial effect. From 1927 to cotton growers depended was controlled countryside, where formerly ignorance 1939 the population increased by 25 per by small groups of local chiefs who rented and wretchedness prevailed, is now well cent. About 1,400 schools have been the land and water to the peasants at supplied with radios, telephones, cinemas, opened and instruction is given in the exorbitant rates. libraries and schools. languages of all the nationalities in the The cotton yield was extremely low, New irrigation canals have been built, Republic. Thirty-three technical schools rarely reaching 0.28 tons an acre. The and this has given great impetus to the and four higher educational establish¬ orchards and vineyards, which had been cultivation of cotton. In 1937, at least ments were opened. Women, equally with cultivated in Turkmenia for generations 375,000 acres—120 per cent more than men, have access to all seats of learning past fell into decay. Many of the Turk¬ before 1914—were planted with this and cultural institutions. Sixty newspapers menian tribes led a nomad life, driven crop. In 1939, the total crop amounted to from the flourishing valleys by tsarist 240,000 tons, almost 4.6 times more than (of which 40 are in Turkmenian) and officials. before 1914. A large area is planted with seven magazines are published. Books are The country is inhabited by Turkmen¬ Egyptian long-fibre cotton. printed in editions of millions. ians, Russians, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Belujians Turkmenia is famous for her vineyards, The Turkmenian people have produced and Persians, all of whom live in peace orchards and melon patches. The sweet their own teachers (more than 5,000), and harmony under the Soviet system. fragrant Turkmenian melons grown in physicians, engineers and scientific work¬ The tsarist regime banned the Turk¬ Charjui are known in foreign markets. ers. There are over 30 scientific institu¬ menian language, and deliberately aimed New crops are now being grown, such as tions in the country, working under the at its extinction. The Turkmenian people plants for essential oils, a rubber-bearing supervision of the Turkmenian branch were practically all illiterate. Less than one plant, and ramie, a fibrous plant used in of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. per cent could read and write. Even the the manufacture of artificial silk. The Republic has 37 theaters, 700 libraries Russians inhabiting Turkmenia lacked Wheat is grown in the foothills, and and 600 reading and recreation rooms. cultural facilities. In all Turkmenia there the area under cultivation in 1939 were no more than 58 Russian schools. amounted to 1,037,000 acres, compared Ancient Turkmenian folklore has been Seclusion, the compulsory wearing of to 759,000 acres in 1913. Silk cultiva¬ revived, and modern poets and prose the veil, and drudgery were the lot of the tion and the weaving of the famous writers are producing valuable artistic women under the tsars. Turkmenian carpets have been revived. works in the Turkmenian language.

14 ASHKHABAD—Palace of the Soviets in the capital of the Turkmen SSR.

Great progress has been achieved in cultural and a medical institute—numer¬ Republic comes from factories built dur¬ the field of public health. Before the ous scientific stations and laboratories. The ing the Soviet period. Revolution, there were no more than nine local cinema studios produce popular The ratio of industry to agriculture physicians in this country. Now there are films which reflect the life and develop¬ has been radically changed. In 1925, 72 more than 1,000. Malaria, formerly the ment of the Turkmenian people. The sci¬ per cent of the total output of the Turk¬ scourge of the population, has now been entific research institutions are engaged menian national economy was agricul¬ practically eliminated. Many health re¬ on problems related to agriculture, indus¬ tural. Today industry accounts for 76 sorts have been established in the moun¬ try and public health. per cent. tains and at the seaside. Building construction, begun during The change is the more remarkable Ashkhabad, the capital of the Republic, the early years of the Republic’s existence, when it is considered that agricultural is now a large center of industry and reached its height during the period of output itself has expanded threefold. culture, with numerous educational insti¬ the Stalin Five-Year Plans. During the tutions, theaters, parks and fine wide past 20 years, two billion rubles have been During the Great Patriotic War, the streets lined with beautiful and imposing invested in construction. people of Turkmenia worked selflessly in buildings. There was a ninefold increase in the factories and farms for the defense of the The capital has 32 schools, 20 technical number of large industrial enterprises be¬ the USSR, and the sons and daughters schools, four higher educational establish¬ tween 1924 and 1944. Approximately 96 of the Republic served in the Red Army ments—a pedagogical, a teachers’, an agri¬ per cent of the industrial output of the and Navy.

15 The National Anthem > > of the Soviet Union

- f jr So - vi - et land. m

rSA -j-.J - ■7---r—— J V \J W >* A\ r r 60a H r 0 'e dy ing

i—-r-— 1 ^ 1- 'i 17 .... ' w.- .. M tt* 1 if W *

-* ^ J 3

Unbreakable Union of freeborn Republics, Sing to our Motherland, glory undying, Through tempests the sunrays of freedom have cheered us. Great Russia has welded forever to stand; Rulwark of peoples in brotherhood strong! Along the new path where Lenin did lead. Created in struggle by will of the peoples. Flag of the Soviets, peoples’ flag flying, Be true to the people, thus Stalin has United and mighty, our Soviet Land! reared us, Lead us from vict’ry to victory on! Inspired us to labor and valorous deed!

16 £2= 1111 b f; f m pW i _ n ji o t ! r flU . HblU; MO . rv - MHH Co_ aevt _ hbih Co - nit - ed and mxqh - ty our bro therhood strong! Flag of the

•^3 J £ * M. ?■ .//•

i ~ 9 J- * I i >

i F 9.Jf.- .■-r-4)- J . -pj*--—— h——f^—i #= -P—i7 p J V "f —-.^ : Caa.&b Cfl o - =T 4 BeT _ cito. e, 3Ha ‘ ms Ha _ our vi - ets peo pies fl a< =^= mm i j? i , £> Jf f--r

mm * » 9 5 ? 3* * *

1 1UGIINO r WCRO r _ un - hP°A a n - iHo. m en nufTknydb nTot nnno.6c nn . awktionV.r if’riA _ 6e . ,nen/i anbp.act nn'T* I! 2.Ck&o»//9 Tv flu - ing leadmm usjrom vic-try to vic-to-nf on.i ^throuaH PPi ^ i; -H r iPPf

m ?—?

cresc.

Apywi . fOrbi h«lW . po _ jfoa^ Bui - wark of peo - pies in.

i.,rx» m cresc. r r> It a: i i ^

Sing to our Motherland, glory undying, Our Army grew up in the heat of grim Sing to our Motherland, glory undying, battle, Bulwark of peoples in happiness strong! Bulwark of peoples in glory so strong! Barbarian invaders we’ll swiftly strike Flag of the Soviets, peoples’ flag flying. down. Flag of the Soviets, peoples, flag flying,

Lead us from vict’ry to victory on! In combat the fate of the future we settle. Lead us from vict’ry to victory on!

Our country we’ll lead to eternal renown! Russian lyrics by Sergei Mikhalkov and El Registan

Translated by H, Marshall

17 Uzbek SSR

The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Re¬ ginning of cotton, which was produced public (Uzbekistan) is situated Area—158,000 sq. miles entirely for export. The vast mineral de¬ along the frontier which separates the Population—6,282,000 posits were never explored. It was not USSR from Afghanistan, in the middle Capital—Tashkent; population, until just before the First World War of Soviet Central Asia, on the foothills 585,000 that attempts were made to develop the and lower slopes of the Tien-Shan and oil resources, but the results were very Pamir Mountains and the adjoining ex¬ meagre. In 1913, only 13,000 tons of oil tensive semi-desert plains of Kyzyl-Kum were extracted. (Red Sands). tures, so large as to provide grazing for There were scarcely any schools in the The foothills are intersected by numer¬ millions of head of cattle. It is also rich in country, and those that existed were con¬ ous rivers. The loess soil of the valleys coal, oil, sulphur, copper, limestone and ducted in Russian. Only 2 or 3 per of these rivers—Ferghana, Syr-Darya, phosphorites. cent of the Uzbek population were liter¬ Zarevshan, Amu-Darya and Chirchik— Uzbekistan has long been famous for ate. There was scarcely any medical serv¬ protected from the cold winds by the its cotton, but the peasants who produced ice, and the population was entirely at mountains, is spotted with oases in which this "white gold’’ formerly lived in dire the mercy of ignorant witch doctors. the population of Uzbekistan is mainly poverty, toiling on their small plots of Seclusion, the compulsory wearing of the settled. land and paying high rents for the use horsehair veil paranja, marriage during In addition to Uzbeks, who constitute of the soil and for the vitally necessary childhood, and the buying of brides was three-quarters of the population, Kara- water. the lot of the Uzbek women. Kalpaks, Russians, Tajiks and Kazakhs They lived in a state of wretchedness, But a fundamental change took place also inhabit the country. ignorance and national oppression. In¬ with the establishment of the Soviet The country possesses extensive pas¬ dustry was confined to the primitive system. In 1924, the Uzbek people, for

TASHKENT—Navoi Street in the capital of the Uzbek SSR.

18 the first time in their history, established their own state, the Uzbek Soviet Re¬ public, which as a Union Republic is af¬ filiated to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Within the Uzbek Republic there is the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Soviet So¬ cialist Republic, situated in the valley of the Amu-Darya and in the deserts of Kyzyl-Kum, and inhabited mainly by the people known as Kara-Kalpaks. Uzbekistan is one of the largest regions of irrigated agriculture in the USSR. In 1938, of the 7,000,000 acres of land under cultivation, 3,700,000 acres were irrigated. During the past few years irrigation canals have been constructed on a tremendous scale. Among the largest of these is the Great Stalin Ferghana Canal, built in 1940. It is 168 miles long and serves to irrigate 1,250,000 acres of land with the waters of the Syr-Darya. Uzbekistan is the largest cotton region in the USSR, producing 60 per cent of the total cotton crop. Here cotton planta¬ tions cover over 2Yz million acres, and the crop in 1938 exceeded 1,500,000 tons —three times as large as the annual crop produced under the tsarist regime. In addition to cotton, others, such as PALACE—Textile Workers’ Palace of Culture. rice, oil-bearing and bast crops, sugar beets, mulberry trees, fruits and vines are Industry, too, has developed extensively Universal compulsory education has been cultivated on these irrigated lands. Uz¬ in Uzbekistan under the Soviet regime. introduced and a large network of bekistan provides the rest of the country Old cotton-ginning mills have been ex¬ schools has been established, attended by with dried fruit, such as raisins, sultanas, tended and modernized and huge new 1,300,000 children, 80 times more than and apricots; canned fruit, vegetables, and textile mills have been built. Silk weaving attended before 1914. wine; and almonds, figs, and pome¬ and spinning have also been modernized Uzbekistan has 27 higher educational granates. and extended. Uzbekistan produces large establishments (there were none before On the non-irrigated lands the peasants quantities of cottonseed and other vege¬ the Revolution), over 100 technical cultivate wheat, barley and maize. The table oils. The production of coal, crude schools and over 3,000 public libraries and ancient mattock has given way to modern and refined oil, sulphur, mineral fer¬ public reading and recreation rooms. tractors and harvester combines. The tilizers and cement has been extensively Over 200 newspapers are published fields of Uzbekistan are today cultivated developed. of which 130 are in the Uzbek language. by over 20,000 tractors with modern mul¬ Steel mills, machine construction plants The Republic has more than 40 tiple share plows, and by over 1,500 har¬ and large electric power stations have theatres, and an Uzbek national opera vester combines. been built. In 1938 the gross industrial and ballet have been created. Over 20 Stock breeding is an important item output of the Republic showed a six-fold scientific research institutes and labora¬ in the economy of Uzbekistan, and at the increase over the output of 1913. tories are now functioning under the present time the stock is estimated at In the trying days of the Patriotic War, supervision of the Academy of Sciences over 6,000,000 head. The country breeds Uzbekistan unfailingly supplied the vic¬ of the Uzbek SSR. The Uzbek women, horses, cattle, sheep both for mutton and torious Red Army and population in the freed from the fetters of both national karakul, goats and camels. Kara-Kal- rear with armaments, grain, cloth, wool and social oppression, now take a free pakia is the largest karakul sheep produc¬ and fruit. and equal part with men in the work of ing region in the USSR. United in their A modern written language has been economic and cultural development and collective farms, the peasants of Uzbekis¬ adopted. Illiteracy is rapidly being elim¬ have been elected to many posts of re¬ tan are now leading prosperous and cul¬ inated, and in 1939 70 per cent of the sponsibility and as Deputies to the Su¬ tured lives. population were able to read and write. preme Soviet of the Republic.

19 Tajik SSR

hara and the local feudal chiefs—the beks With the aid of the Russians, the Tajik

Area—55,000 sq. miles and beys. The taxes and rent for land and people threw off the feter of the tsar and water extorted as much as 8 per cent of Population—1,485,000 the emir, and in 1924 set up an Auto¬ the peasants’ crops. The bulk of the Tajik nomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which, Capital—Stalinabad; population, population were engaged in stock breed¬ in 1929, was advanced to the status of 83,000 ing. Industry was practically non-existant. Union Republic. Just before 1914 the coal and oil indus¬ Under the Soviet regime the people of tries began to develop, but the output Tajikistan have made enormous progress. he Tajik Soviet Socialist Re¬ T of these fuels was limited to a few thou¬ With funds provided by the Soviet Gov¬ public (Tajikistan) lies on the sand tons. Ignorance and wretchedness ernment, immense irrigation systems have frontier of the USSR, adjacent to Af¬ prevailed. Only one in every 200 Tajiks been built in the valleys of western Ta¬ ghanistan and western China, at the junc¬ could read and write. The women were jikistan and the adjacent mountains. Out¬ tion between the Tien-Shan Range, mean¬ compelled to wear the paranja (veil) and standing among these constructions are ing the "Celestial Mountains,” and the live in seclusion. the Vaksh (Tajikistan) section of the Pamirs, which are called the "Roof of the Great Stalin Ferghana Canal, the North¬ World.” ern Ferghana Canal and the Gissar Canal. The country is inhabited by Tajiks, who The total irrigated area in 1938 was 725,- constitvte three-quarters of the population, 000 acres, a 67 per cent increase over Uzbeks, who live in the northwestern part 1914. of the country, Kirghizians and Russians. In the irrigated valleys and foothills On the tablelands and slopes of the Pamirs spread extensive rice and cotton planta¬ there is the Gorno-Badakhshan Autono¬ tions, some old ones greatly extended, and mous Region, affiliated to the Tajik Re¬ others newly planted. The total area given public, with its capital Khorog, inhabited to crops in 1937 amounted to 275,000 by Kirghizians and Tajiks. acres, a six-fold increase compared with The country appears as though laid out the period under tsarism. in vast terraces. There are deep valleys, semi-desert steppes and irrigated lands Cotton is grown not only in the north¬ covered with flourishing orchards. Vine¬ west, where it had been cultivated pre¬ yards and cotton plantations merge with viously, but also in the midlands and south the foothills and lofty mountains. Some of of Tien-Shan, where long-fibre Egyptian the mountains are bare while others are cotton was planted for the first time with covered with pistachio, almond, hazel and the assistance of Soviet government mulberry trees in the lower zones, with agriculturists. In 1939 no less than 100,- deciduous trees in the middle zone, and 000 acres were planted with this grade of mountain pastures in the heights. High cotton. This is now the principal Egyptian semi-desert tablelands covered with worm¬ cotton-growing center in the USSR. Even wood and, in places, with extensive mead¬ until 1929 the average yield of the cotton ows, give way to lofty mountain summits, crop was about 1.5 metric tons per acre, towering about 23,000 feet, covered with but at the present time it ranges between huge glaciers. The Tien-Shan Mountains 4 and 4.5 metric tons. contain the Stalin Peak, the highest moun¬ On the irrigated lands the finest apricots tain in the USSR, 24,600 feet high; the in the USSR and the sweetest grades of Lenin Peak, 23,400 feet high, and the grapes are grown. The orchards also bear glacier known as the Fedchenko Glacier, rich crops of apples, pomegranates, al¬ 48 miles long, which with its adjacent monds, pistachios and walnuts. In the glaciers, covers a length of over 68 miles, extreme south sugar cane is now being one of the largest glacial areas in the grown. This is the only district in the world. USSR where this crop is cultivated. Under the tsarist regime Tajikistan On the non-irrigated lands, wheat and was an extremely backward and primitive barley are grown, these crops now cover¬ country. The best land and pastures and ing almost 1,500,000 acres, 30 per cent almost the entire irrigation system were more than before the First World War. the private property of the Emir of Bok¬ COTTON—the crop is dried. Cereals and grapes have even appeared

20 on the high slopes and tablelands of the Pamirs. In no country is agriculture car¬ ried on at such high altitudes as in Ta¬ jikistan. Grapes are cultivated at the height of 6,000 feet, and barley at 10,000. In the mountain pastures hundreds of thousands of horses, cattle, sheep, and goats graze. Tajikistan is famous for its fat Gissar sheep, the largest in the world. Here, too, karakul sheep are bred. New factories have been erected for the manufacture of cotton and silk yarns, cotton and silk fabrices, leather goods, footwear, cottonseed oil, and the canning of fruit, vegetables and meat. During the past few years measures have been taken to harness the country’s swift rivers for electricity. During the past few years the produc¬ tion of coal, oil, gold and non-ferrous metals, rare elements and building ma¬ terials has greatly increased. The total industrial output of Tajikistan today is 242 times that of the period before the Revolution. In tsarist times Tajikistan was prac¬ tically a roadless country. The Pamirs were reached by means of narrow, pre¬ cipitous tracks. Today the country is covered with a network of automobile roads. The conditions of life and culture of the Tajik people have improved im¬ mensely under Soviet rule. Women, who had formerly been bereft of all rights in the family as well as in society, have obtained equal rights with men, and are now taking an active part in economic and social life. Between 1927 and 1939 (the dates of the last two census tabulations) the popu¬ lation of the Republic increased 44 per cent. Four thousand elementary schools, over 300 secondary schools, seven higher educational establishments, 30 technical schools and hundreds of public libraries and reading rooms have been established. A quarter of a million children now at¬ tend school. In 1939, 72 per cent of the population were literate. Seventy news¬ papers are published, most of them in the Tajik, Uzbek and Kirghiz languages. Ta¬ jik drama, music and art are famous throughout the Soviet Union. A number of scientific institutions are supervised by the Tajik branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. STAUNABAD—a street scene.

21 Kazakh SSR

The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Re¬ sources and to improve their national cul¬ public (Kazakhstan) is situated in Area—1,036,000 sq. miles ture. In the more backward sections, the southwestern part of Soviet Asia, on Population—6,146,000 progress which elsewhere had taken cen¬ the frontier of the USSR and Sinkiang Capital—Alma-Ata; population, turies was achieved in a few short years (Western China), and stretches from the 230,000 as modern methods were applied to agri¬ lower reaches of the Volga to the Altai culture and industry. Mountains, and from the Trans-Siberian With the aid of the Russians the railway to the mountains of Tien-Shan. Kazakh people built up their national rare metals and large deposits of mineral The country is inhabited by Kazakhs, state, first as an Autonomous Soviet Re¬ salts and building materials. who constitute 60 per cent of the popula¬ public, in 1920, and then as a Union Under the tsarist regime the natural tion, and Russians, Ukrainians, Kirghiz, Republic, in 1936. resources of Kazakhstan remained al¬ Uzebks, Kara-Kalpaks, Dungans and Kazakhstan is today one of the largest most untouched. Only lead, copper and Uigurs. stock-raising regions in the USSR, the The geographical features of the coun¬ coal were extracted and the methods were largest center for nonferrous metals, and try are extremely varied. Mountains so primitive as to make the yield almost the third largest coal region. capped by eternal snow and glaciers on negligible. Agriculture was developed Huge works have been erected for the mainly in the northern black-earth wooded the one hand, and arid deserts on the processing of lead, zinc, copper, gold, other; excessive rain, and complete dearth steppe by Russians and Ukrainians. nickel, antimony, tungsten and tin. The of water; green mountain pastures and The Kazakhs were deprived of arable coal output, concentrated mainly in flourishing oases in the foothills, and sun- lands. They wandered across the steppes Karaganda, has increased enormously scorched plains and salt marshes. and deserts of the country with their and is today 100 times as large as it was Mountain and steppe pastures cover cattle and domestic belongings; and under the tsarist regime. 430,000,000 acres—over 60 per cent of thousands of animals perished every Large oil producing centers have sprung the area of the country—while 135,000,- winter from severe frost and shortage of up northeast of the Caspian Sea. The 000 acres are arable. fodder. The population was almost en¬ phosphorites produced in the country are The mountains and tablelands of tirely illiterate. Only two per cent were converted into fertilizers. Large-scale ma¬ Kazakhstan contain immense riches in¬ able to read and write. chine building has been developed, and cluding 100 billion tons of coal, over a All this was changed with the estab¬ numerous electric power stations have billion tons of oil, vast deposits of gold, lishment of Soviet power. The people, been erected. lead, zinc, nickel, copper, iron, tin and freed of oppression and in possession of During the Second World War a steel aluminum ores, cromites, phosphorites, their own land, began to develop its re¬ mill for the production of ferrous alloys

ALMA-ATA—A new cinema of the Kazakh capital.

22 was erected here and Kazakhstan became one of the Soviet Union’s main arsenals. Since Kazakhstan became a Soviet Re¬ public enormous changes have taken place in the industries for processing agricultural produce. Large cotton ginning mills, meat packing plants, sugar re¬ fineries, tobacco factories, tanneries, cloth weaving mills and fruit and vegetable canning factories have been erected and are now functioning. Fishing is exten¬ sively developed on the Caspian and Aral

Seas and on Lake Balkhash, and a large ' :<■ V: '• ■ - .. 5 part of the catch is canned. . In 1941 the gross industrial output of Kazakhstan was 22 times as much as the output of 1913. Under the Soviet Govern¬ ment, thousands of miles of railway and automobile roads have been laid. Agriculture has developed not only in the north, where two-thirds of the total crops are concentrated, but also in the south of the Republic, along the spurs of the Tien-Shan Mountains and in the oases of the central deserts. Many hundreds of miles of irrigation canals have been built. On the irrigated lands of the south, cotton, rice, sugar beets, tobacco and oil producing crops and rub¬ ber-bearing plants are cultivated. In the north, wheat, barley and millet are grown. The total area under cultivation today amounts to 17,000,000 acres, an increase of 70 per cent over the 1914 level. Over 10,000,000 head of cattle graze in the pastures of Kazakhstan, housed under cover and supplied with fodder during the winter. The country breeds horses, cattle, sheep for mutton and kara¬ kul, goats and, in the mountain regions of Altai, deer. KARAGANDA—This city is on the Kazakh steppes. As in the other Republics, the peasants of Kazakhstan cultivate their fields col¬ number that attended before the Revolu¬ over 100 technical schools and scores of lectively. As a result, these former nomads tion. scientific research institutes, which work are today leading prosperous and cul¬ Three-quarters of the population were under the supervision of the Academy of tured lives. They receive considerable as¬ literate in 1939. There are 2,000 public Sciences of the Kazakh SSR which was sistance from the State in the shape of libraries and 4,000 reading and recrea¬ organized in 1938. tens of thousands of tractors, harvester tion rooms. A Kazakh written language In the field of art the Republic boasts combines and other agricultural machines, has been introduced. 35 theaters, a national opera and ballet, and numerous art galleries. fertilizers, credits, and funds for building Under the tsarist regime not a single Scores of new towns have sprung up irrigation canals. newspaper in the Kazakh language was since the Soviet system was established, Education has spread throughout the published. Today 350 newspapers are among them Karaganda and Balkhash. country. About 8,000 schools are now published in the country, 170 in the The capital of Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata functioning, compared with 1,500 in Kazakh language. There are 20 higher (Father of Apples), is a beautiful garden 1911; and these schools are attended by educational establishments in existence city at the foot of the spur of the Tien- over 1,000,000 children, 60 times the today (there were none before 1920), Shan Mountains.

23 Kirghiz SSR

The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist to the status of a Union Republic. Republic (Kirghizia) is situated Area—78,000 sq. miles During the twelve years preceding the in the east of Soviet Central Asia, on the Population—1,300,000 1939 census the population increased by frontier between the USSR and Sinkiang Capital—Frunze; population, 45 per cent. (Western China). Mountain ranges with 93,000 Education spread considerably among snow-capped peaks and glaciers, with fir the Kirghizian people, and in 1939 no forests on their northern slopes and less than 70 per cent of the population walnut woods on the southwestern slopes, were literate. For the first time in their extensive tablelands, deep valleys, rush¬ few small handicraft establishments and history the Kirghiz people have a written ing rivers—such is the Tien-Shan (Heav¬ coal mines of the most backward kind. language. enly Mountains), or, the land of the The Kirghiz people were on the verge As compared with 118 schools under Kirghiz. of extinction. During the last decade be¬ tsarism, there are now 2,000 schools in Kirghizia is inhabited by Kirghiz (who fore 1914, the Kirghiz population de¬ the country, attended by 300,000 children, constitute two-thirds of the population), clined 10 per cent. Their cultural level 28 technical schools, and five higher Russians, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Uigurs and was very low. Only two per cent were educational establishments, in addition to Dungans, the latter being a people of literate, and the few schools in Kirghizia scores of public libraries, hundreds of Mohammedan-Chinese origin. (including Russian schools) were at¬ people’s palaces of culture and reading In the main, the population inhabits the tended by only 7,000 children. and recreation rooms. wide semi-enclosed valleys of the north The Kirghizian women were slaves, The popular epic Manas has been re¬ (the valleys of the rivers Chu and Talas as were most of the women of the East. vived, and the peoples bards (akyns as and the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul), the Soviet rule brought regeneration to the they are called), who sing the ancient southwest (the Ferghana Valley) and the Kirghizian people. Like the other nation¬ ballards, enjoy the widest popularity. south (the Altai). alities in the USSR they obtained national A modern Soviet literature has arisen, On the high slopes and table-lands autonomy, and in 1926, they formed their and numerous newspapers and magazines there are extensive pastures, 27,000,000 Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic are published. In 1936, 36 newspapers acres in area. In the foothills and irrigated which, on December 5, 1936, was elevated were published in the Kirghizian valleys there are flourishing language. fields of cereals and industrial Drama is flourishing. Sev¬ crops, orchards and vineyards. enteen theaters have been es¬ Below the surface there are tablished. A Kirghizian opera large deposits of coal, oil, has been created for the first gold, lead, antimony, quick¬ time. silver, sulphur and limestone.- Extensive scientific re¬ Kirghizia was one of the search work is being con¬ most backward regions of ducted under the supervision the former tsarist empire. of the Kirghizian branch of Driven from their fertile the Academy of Sciences of valleys to the mountain slopes the USSR. the Kirghiz lived the life of The habits and customs of nomads, wandering about the people have greatly with their flocks and herds, changed. Women have be¬ their felt tents (yurtas), and come equal partners with domestic belongings. The best men in the work of building pastures were controlled by up Soviet society. a handful of feudal chiefs This formerly nomad peo¬ (manaps), and big cattle ple has settled down, and per¬ owners (beys). manent habitations have The Kirghiz engaged very sprung up in the mountains little in agriculture, and what and foothills of Tien-Shan. little ground they did culti¬ The peasants have taken to vate they tilled with the most agriculture in collective farms, primitive implements. There and the Soviet Government was no industry except for a has been supplying them with

24 tractors, harvester combines and other of the high mountain districts here. The progress made in industry may be modern farm implements of mechanized An important item in the economy of judged from the fact that under tsarism farming. Kirghizia is the breeding of cattle, horses 1,000 workers were employed in industry, In 1937 over 2V2 million acres of land and sheep. There is a marked improve¬ whereas in 1940, the number employed were under cultivation, a large propor¬ ment in the breed and fertility of the was no less than 115,000. tion being devoted to industrial crops— stock, and almost everywhere coarse-wool During the war Kirghizia provided a rise of 60 per cent over the average sheep are giving way to fine-wool va¬ the USSR with large quantities of grain, under tsarism. Huge irrigation canals rieties. At present the number of live¬ sugar, fruit, meat, wool and nonferrous have been dug, and during the past few stock in the country is estimated at metals for war industry. years the irrigated area has increased by 3,000,000 head. A most striking example of the prog¬ 750,000 acres. The food industry of Kirghizia has ress made by Kirghizia is Frunze, the This is planted to sugar beet (for the made considerable progress, particularly capital of the Republic. The city (for¬ first time), tobacco, poppies (in the in meat packing, the manufacture of merly called Pishpek) bears the name of north) and cotton and rice (in the sugar and the production of essential oils. the great Soviet military leader in the southwest). The foothills are covered The textile industry is expanding, Civil War (1918-20), who was born with mulberry trees and orchards—apple and a number of cotton ginning, wool there. in the north, and apricot orchards and combing, cloth weaving, silk winding and Not so very long ago Frunze was a vineyards in the southwest. silk weaving mills have been established. tiny dusty township. At present it is a On the unirrigated land wheat and Kirghizia supplies coal for almost the well-built city, graced by gardens and barley are cultivated in the north, and whole of Central Asia. The Republic also avenues of poplar and oak, its streets paved maize in the southwest. Agriculture is produces gold, oil, sulphur, and rare and with asphalt and lined with beautiful even penetrating into the deep valleys nonferrous metals. buildings of modern construction.

FRUNZE—the House of Government at the Kirgizhian capital.

«

25 Karelo-Finnish SSR The Karelo-Finnish Soviet So¬ Under the tsarist regime, the Karelians cialist Republic (Karelia) is Area—76,000 sq. miles were driven from the arable lands to the situated in the northwestern European Population—469,000 (in former regions of the marshes and dense forests, part of the USSR, between the White Sea Karelian Autonomous SSR, 1939) where they engaged in lumbering, hunt¬ and the Baltic Sea, at the frontier of the ing, fishing, and tilling tiny plots of land. Capital—Petrozavodsk; popula¬ USSR and Finland. Karelia is called "the They lived in extreme poverty, and were tion, 70,000 land of lakes, forests and granite.” It lies obliged to eat bread made of rye flour on an ancient granite bed. Karelia is mixed with pine bark and straw. dotted with a labyrinth of lakes number¬ The people which had created the im¬ ing over 26,000 and occupying no less Two-thirds of the area of the Karelo- mortal epic poem Kalevala had no writ¬ than 15 per cent of its area. The largest Finnish Republic is covered by dense ten language of their own, and the Kare¬ lakes in Europe are to be found here— pine and fir forests. In the South, these lian spoken language was practically Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega. The Kare¬ merge with forests of the famous Kare¬ banned. Even the Russian schools were lian lakes are connected with each other lian birch, from which valuable furniture closed to the children of the poorer and with the adjacent seas—the White and other articles are made. The Karelo- classes of the Karelian peasants. Sea and the Gulf of Finland—by numer¬ Finnish SSR is rich in granite, diabase, Industry was represented by one iron¬ ous rivers. The falls of this vast water¬ porphyry, sandstone, marble, mica, peg¬ smelting plant in Petrozavodsk, which had shed have a tremendous potential for matites, iron, titano-magnetites, non-fer¬ been established as far back as the days creation of electrical energy. rous metals and peat. of Peter I.

TIMBER—its lumber is Karelia’s greatest wealth. *

26 Karelia was a roadless country. Only in the winter, when its rivers, lakes and marshes froze, was it possible to travel at all over the country. It was not until the First World War that the first rail¬ way was built in Karelia, namely, the Murmansk Railway. The whole face of the country was changed after Soviet rule was established. With the aid of the Russian people the Karelians, for the first time in their his¬ tory, set up their own state. In 1923 the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed. In March, 1940, after the Soviet Union had been obliged to eliminate the enemy’s jumping-off place on the Karelian Isthmus, and after peace had been con¬ cluded with Finland, the new regions on the Isthmus and the northwest were joined to Karelia. The Finns in these PETROZAVODSK—The Severnoya Hotel at the capital. regions united with their kinsmen, the Soviet Karelians, and the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was formed with the status of a Union Republic. Agriculture has made considerable have appeared. Theaters have been built. The basis of Karelia’s economy is progress under Soviet rule, mainly in the The country has hundreds of public timber. Under the Soviet regime timber south of the Republic. Here potatoes and libraries and reading and recreation output increased considerably, and in vegetables are the principal crops, al¬ rooms. 1939 reached almost 14,000,000 cubic though barley, oats, rye and wheat are In the early days of the war, the yards, which was eight times more than also grown. These crops have increased Karelo-Finnish SSR was invaded by the output of 1913. Hand labor gave way ten-fold compared with the period be¬ German and Finnish troops, who wrecked to electric saws, tractors and motor trans¬ fore the Revolution. Marshes have been cities, destroyed industry, and shot, tor¬ port. Good roads were laid running into drained and forests cleared in order to tured or starved the people who refused to submit. the forests depths, where convenient extend the cultivated area. Stock breeding largely takes the form of dairy farming. Such towns as Kondopoga and Med¬ workers’ settlements were built with In the north, reindeer are bred. vezhegorsk were almost wiped from the large houses, public dining rooms, hos¬ The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Republic face of the earth. Petrozavodsk was pitals and schools. The communities were has ceased to be a roadless country. Her badly damaged, and many villages simply equipped with electric light, telephones territory is now intersected by a number disappeared. and radio. of railways, and canals. The Stalin White The troops of the Karelian front liber¬ The saw milling industry, concentrated Sea-Baltic Sea Canal, 140 miles long, was ated Petrozavodsk from the German and at the river mouths on the White Sea built in 1933. The Saima Canal connects Finnish invaders on June 29, 1944. Soon coast, increased almost four-fold. The the Gulf of Finland with Lake Saima. afterward the enemy was driven from Karelo-Finnish Republic became the The Karelian population has rapidly the land altogether. The Karelo-Finnish largest cellulose and paper making center increased, and from 1920 to 1939 it SSR thus was enabled to take its proper in the USSR. doubled. Before Soviet rule only 44 per place again. cent of the entire population were literate The Karelo-Finnish SSR, in its pres¬ Important items in Karelia’s economy and among the Karelians it barely ent period of reconstruction, is one vast are the quarrying of granite, diabase and reached 13 per cent. building project. This is not new con¬ marble, and the extraction of feldspar, With the introduction of compulsory struction, however, but the replacing of mica and pegmatites. Machine building universal education, literacy became the buildings and industries destroyed and shipbuilding have also been de¬ almost universal. In 1939, 95 per cent by the invaders. veloped. Large hydroelectric stations pro¬ could read and write. As many as 13 Plans are under way for expanding the vide power for industry and supply the technical schools and three higher edu¬ economy of the Republic, built around domestic requirements of the population. cational establishments have been opened. its great timber industry. A great plant Fishing is extensively carried on in the Karelian art has revived and is flourish¬ to build prefabricated houses is a prin¬ lakes and off the coast of the White Sea. ing. Modern poets, artists and dramatists cipal item in these plans.

27 Moldavian SSR

The Moldavian Soviet Socialist removed. Bessarabia was restored to the Republic (Moldavia) is situated Area—13,000 sq. miles Soviet Union. On August 2, 1940, the in the extreme southwest of the USSR Population—2,200,000 Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted the on the frontier of Rumania. It occupies petition of the Moldavian people in Capital—Kishinev; population, an undulating plain between the rivers Bessarabia to join with the people in the 110,000 Pruth and Dniester, extending somewhat Moldavian Autonomous Republic to beyond the latter river. Only in the mid¬ form a Soviet Socialist Republic, which lands is the plain intersected by low hills received the status of a Union Republic. countries. Wretched poverty and high covered with oak, beech and birch. The Seventy per cent of the population of mortality were the lot of the Bessarabian country is rich in building materials such this Republic are Moldavians, the rest be¬ rural districts. Infant mortality among as limestone, brick, clay and sand used ing Russians, Ukrainians and Jews. For the peasants was as high as 60 per cent. for making glass. the first time in their history, the Mol¬ Up to 60 per cent of the total popula¬ Before the end of the First World War, davian people acquired a written lan¬ tion were illiterate and among the peas¬ Moldavia, the major part of which is guage and their own national literature. ants the figure reached 73 per cent. The Bessarabia, belonged to Russia, but Ru¬ The number of schools and other cultural Moldavian language and culture were mania seized the country up to the Dnies¬ institutions in the country increased. banned, as were those of the other na¬ ter and forcibly Rumanianized it. This The number of school children in¬ tionalities inhabiting the country. caused its economic and cultural decline. creased to a half million. There were On the other side of the Dniester the The area of cultivation of fruits, vines three higher educational establishments life of the Moldavians was entirely dif¬ and tobacco, and the stock of cattle, functioning in the country—an agricul¬ ferent. Here, with the aid of the Russian diminished. Industrial output declined. tural and two higher pedagogical schools. and Ukrainian peoples, the Moldavian The number of workers employed in in¬ In addition there were numerous tech¬ dustry was reduced by 50 per cent. Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic nical schools, attended by 5,000 students. During the period they were in oc¬ was formed, and agriculture, industry, and Newspapers were published in the Mol¬ cupation, the Rumanians exterminated Moldavian national culture made rapid davian and other languages. National the¬ over 30,000 of the inhabitants. Three progress. aters were established. Hospitals, dispen¬ hundred thousand were obliged to flee In June 1940 the injustice of the saries, maternity homes and children’s the country to the USSR and to other annexation of Bessarabia by Rumania was creches were built. The Moldavian peasants, formerly landless or almost so, received allotments to develop their husbandry. In Bessarabia alone the peasants received land amount¬ ing to a total of 500,000 acres. Following this, the peasants of the newly affiliated region formed collective farms, and the fertile black earth between the Pruth and Dniester was cultivated with tractors and harvester combines. New orchards and vineyards were planted, mainly on the wooded downs and adjacent valleys of the midlands. Grapes, plums, apples, pears, apricots, peaches and walnuts, to¬ matoes and egg plants were grown. The vineyard area increased to 260,000 acres. Cereal crops took an important place in Moldavia’s agriculture and an extensive area was devoted to wheat, barley and maize. Other crops cultivated on an in¬ creasing scale were sugar beet, tobacco and sunflower. Dairy farming and pig and poultry breeding also became im¬ portant. Fishing was conducted on the KISHINEV—View of the center of the city. Dniester and Pruth.

28 MUSEUM—Ethnographic Museum of the Moldavian SSR.

Industry was, in the main, engaged in the Siguranza, thousands of innocent ince, to be called by them Transistria. processing the country’s agricultural pro¬ Moldavian and other peoples of the Re¬ In the rear of the enemy, men and duce. The most important branches were public were shot or tortured to death. women partisans waged constant struggle wine making, meat packing and flour More than 63,000 victims were shot or against the invaders. They wiped out tens milling; the processing of natural fats hanged in the territory of this Republic. of thousands of soldiers and officers, and oils; the manufacture of macaroni Approximately 50,000 young Moldavian wrecked more than 2,500 locomotives and tobacco; fruit and vegetable canning, men and women were driven off to serve and railway cars, blew up 45 bridges, and and distilling. The main industrial cen¬ as slave laborers. destroyed much enemy materiel. The economy of the Republic, which ters of the Republic are: Kishinev, Tiras¬ Two such partisans, Frolov and Timo- had made great progress before the war, pol Belzy, Soroky and Bendery. shuk, have been awarded the title of suffered serious damage. Stone quarrying and brick and tile Hero of the Soviet Union. making were also developed. An oil re¬ Kishinev, the capital, was almost razed Now the Republic has again returned finery which had been standing idle for to the ground; 76 per cent of all its to the Soviet family of nations. years under the Rumanian regime, was buildings were destroyed. Other cities The land has been restored to the put into operation by the Soviet Govern¬ were similarly shattered. All of the power peasants. Collective and State farms and ment and measures were taken to develop stations, public utility plants and medical machine and tractor stations have been the metal industry, which had scarcely institutions were wrecked. restored. Moldavian agriculture has been existed in the country. These develop¬ Agriculture, transport and industry supplied by the Government of the ments, of course, suffered a severe set¬ were shattered. The cattle were driven to USSR with 3,500,000 rubles worth of back after June 1941, but today the Germany and Rumania. The agricultural devastation is being repaired. machinery and implements were de¬ machinery, tens of thousands of heads of Soviet Moldavia was one of the first stroyed. The great vineyards and gardens cattle and great stores of seed. The Mol¬ of the Union Republics to suffer inva¬ were laid waste. davian State budget for 1945 includes a sion by German and Rumanian troops. The fascists attempted to enslave the 300 million ruble subsidy from the In the dungeons of the Gestapo and people and to set up a Rumanian prov¬ USSR Government.

29 Lithuanian SSR

KAUNAS—View of the city across the Niemen River bridge.

The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist ment was abolished, and in the course of Repurlic (Lithuania) lies on the Area—24,000 sq. miles a year the number of workers engaged in eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, on an un¬ Population—2,880,000 industry increased by 30 per cent. The dulating plain intersected with numerous Capital—Vilnius; population, land became public property, and 1,400,- lakes and marshes. It has a fertile soil, 230,000 000 acres were distributed for cultiva¬ covered in parts by forests and peat bogs. tion among the peasants, who previously The country is inhabited by Lithuanians, had little or no land. The fields began to who constitute 85 per cent of the popu¬ the USSR with the status of a Union be cultivated with tractors for the first lation, Russians, Jews, Poles and Bye¬ Republic. time in Lithuania’s history and crops in¬ lorussians. The Lithuanian SSR is the leading creased greatly as a result. Lithuania is vitally connected with the agricultural republic among the Soviet A great stimulus was given to the de¬ peoples of the USSR by their common Socialist Republics of the Baltic coast. velopment of culture and public health. struggle against the German invaders and The main branches of the economy of Social insurance was introduced. A free against the tsarist regime; also by their Lithuania are the breeding of dairy cat¬ medical service was established. Schools, common economic and cultural interests. tle and pigs and the cultivation of cereal kindergartens and theaters were opened. crops. The crops grown are rye, wheat, The two universities in the country were In 1919 it was torn from Soviet Russia oats, barley, flax and sugar beet. expanded and for the first time a Lithu¬ and remained separated for over 20 years. Industry in Lithuania was mainly con¬ anian Academy of Sciences was estab¬ This separation proved fatal for the econ¬ nected with the processing of agricultural lished. omy of the country. It also retarded the produce. The food industry predominated. For three of its five years as a Union development of the national culture. But Its most important branches were the Republic, the Lithuanian SSR lived under in June, 1940, the Lithuanian people production of butter, bacon and other the heel of the fascist invader. But it overthrew their reactionary rules and, meat products and flour. Just before the lived indeed. Throughout the Republic, exercising their sovereign rights, adopted Second World War the refining of sugar in the enemy’s rear, guerrilla detach¬ the Soviet form of government and was started. Lithuania also manufactured ments fought valiantly for the freedom economy as the only guarantee of their linen fabrics, yarn, cotton fabrics, leather of the land. national independence, free cultural de¬ and tobacco. Sawmills and plywood fac¬ Everywhere in the young Republic, the velopment and rapid economic growth. tories were important in Lithuanian in¬ fascist armies found themselves blocked. On July 21, 1940, the National Diet dustry. The Fifth Anniversary of the establish¬ of Lithuania, elected by universal suffrage, After its affiliation to the Soviet Union, ment of the Republic and its liberation proclaimed the country a Soviet Republic, extensive new industrial development was from the Nazi oppression were celebrated which, on August 3, 1940, affiliated to undertaken in the Republic. Unemploy¬ together.

30 Latvian SSR

The Latvian Soviet Socialist Re¬ Baltic Republics. Considerable progress public (Latvia) lies on the coast of Area—25,000 sq. miles was made in the development of electrical engineering. Railway shops and an iron the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga, Population—1,971,000 on a plain intersected with picturesque and steel plant functioned. Capital—Riga; population, hills and deep river valleys and lakes. The country’s production included 385,000 More than a quarter of the country’s area rubber goods, dyes, mineral fertilizers, is covered with timber. Its arable lands candles and glassware. The food industry are extensive, but fertilizers and drainage manufactured butter, linseed oil, cheese, In farming, dairy production and meat are required. Among its most important meat products, starch, flour, spirits and packing predominated. An important mineral deposits is peat, estimated at sugar. Fishing for herring and sprats, agricultural item was cultivation of grass 3,000 million tons. Others are dolomite, was carried on in the Baltic Sea and the and fodder, which covered 27 per cent of Gulf of Riga. The country had large limestone, chalk, clay and gypsum. the planted area. Other crops were oats, sawmills, paper mills, match factories Latvia is inhabited by Letts, constitut¬ rye, barley, wheat, flax and sugar beet. and cement works. ing 59 per cent of the population; Lat- After its affiliation to the USSR, ex¬ galians, a people kindred to the Letts tensive industrial development was un¬ Latvia had a number of large electric power stations, outstanding among which and constituting 16 per cent of the popu¬ dertaken. Old plants were extended and were the Riga Power Station with a ca¬ lation, Russians, Jews, Poles, Byelorus¬ new ones were built. Unemployment was pacity of 35,000 kwts., and the hydro¬ sians and Lithuanians. abolished. Tke land became public prop¬ erty and was distributed for cultivation electric power station on the Western Until the end of the First World War among the peasants, most of whom until Dvina, with a capacity of 75,000 kwts. Latvia was part of Russia, connected for then had little or no land. About 75,000 Soviet Latvia, for 700 years the scene many centuries with the Russian nation peasants obtained land for the first time. of recurring German invasions, was oc¬ by common historical and cultural in¬ Tractors and modern agricultural ma¬ cupied by the Nazis during the Great terests, by the joint struggle against Ger¬ chinery appeared in the fields. Patriotic War. Here the battle for Riga man invasions and against the tsarist Cultural development took great strides was fought. autocracy, and by strong economic ties. forward. The number of children attend¬ The beautiful cities were wrecked; ing school increased by 50 per cent. The their avenues were re-named in honor of universities, the Agricultural Academy, the barbarous leaders of the invaders. In the Academy of Arts and the Conserva¬ the three years of occupation, the capital toire of Music were reorganized and en¬ of Riga was one great prison for the larged. people. Sons and daughters of the Re¬ During the period when it was sep¬ public fought bravely for its freedom arated from Russia (1919-39), the coun¬ and that of the USSR and the world. try was in a constant state of economic distress. Industry declined, and many of the larger plants either closed down or cut down production. Meanwhile, the So¬ viet Union was undergoing vast indus¬ trial and cultural development. On July 21, 1940, the democratically elected National Diet of Latvia pro¬ claimed the country a Soviet Republic; and on August 5 of that year, it affiliated to the USSR with the status of a Union Republic. A new glorious era opened for the Latvian people which, however, was temporarily interrupted by the treacher¬ ous invasion of the USSR by the German fascists. Latvia was predominantly an agricul¬ tural country, but at the same time it had LATVIA—The Arts Academy. become the most industrialized of the RIGA—A general view.

31 Estonian SSR

The Estonian Soviet Socialist Over 1,600,000 tons of shale were Republic (Estonia) is situated on Area—18,000 sq. miles mined annually and converted into gaso¬ the Baltic coast, between the Gulfs of Population—1,131,000 line and lubricating oil. The shale-refin¬ Finland and Riga, and on the numerous Capital—Tallinn; population, ing industry of Estonia was the largest adjacent islands. The mineral resources of U7J000 of its kind in the world. the country are shale—the deposits of After Estonia affiliated to the USSR which are estimated at five billion tons— extensive industrial development was move gave fresh impetus to the country’s peat, phosphorites, dolomites, and blue undertaken. Old plants were expanded economic and cultural development. clay. Until the end of the First World and the construction of new ones begun. War, Estonia had been part of Russia, Estonia is inhabited by Estonians— In one year of Soviet rule the country’s and was connected with her by historic who constitute 88 per cent of the popula¬ industrial output increased 63 per cent. joint struggles against invasions by Ger¬ tion—and Russians. The urban population Agriculture was mechanized. mans and Swedes, and by firm economic constitutes about 30 per cent of the whole. The land was nationalized and tens ties. Before the invasion of the German of thousands of peasants with little or During its separation from Russia fascists, Estonian industry was fairly well no land received plots. Unemployment (1919-39) the country’s economy was in developed. The textile industry was rep¬ was abolished. The number of children a state of decline, while Russia, having resented by the two large Kreenholm and attending school increased 33 per cent. adopted the Soviet system, rapidly fol¬ Baltic cotton mills, three cloth mills and Soviet Estonia’s occupation by Nazi lowed the path of progress. nine linen mills. It had large shipbuild¬ troops early in the war was her second In June, 1940, the Estonian people ing yards, railway car and cement works, occupation by German invaders in three overthrew the reactionary clique that saw and paper mills, and match and wood¬ governed the country and elected a demo¬ decades. Her people fought bravely. The working factories. cratic State Diet which proclaimed the struggle ended in the autumn of 1944 country a Soviet Republic. On August 6, The highly developed food industry when Red Army troops, including the 1940, Estonia affiliated to the USSR with produced natural fats, bacon and flour Estonian National Guards Corps, drove the status of a Union Republic. The Fishing was carried on in the Baltic. the Germans from the land.

TALLINN—View of the capital of the Estonian SSR.

32

GEORGIAN SSR ARMENIAN SSR TURKMEN SSR

UZBEK SSR TAJIK SSR KAZAKH SSR

LITHUANIAN SSR LATVIAN SSR ESTONIAN SSR