Middle Volga region

Geographical position

The Middle Volga Region with an area of ​​about 242 thousand km² occupied the central part of the Volga basin, ranging between 55 ° 11 'and 50 ° 30' s. w. and 42 ° 15 'and 60 ° 30' in. The territory was a strip stretching from west to east for a length of approximately 1250 km and a width of 10-12 km to 330 km ^{[7] [Comm. 1]} .

The northwestern part of the region bordered on the Nizhny Novgorod region ^[8] (later Gorkovsky ^[7] ) and the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , in the north - on the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , in the northeast - on the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , in the east - on the Ural ^[8] , since 1934 - the Chelyabinsk region ^[7] , in the southeast - with the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , in the south - with the Lower Volga region ^[8] (later Saratov ^[7] ), and in the west with the Central Black Earth ^[8] (later Voronezh ^[7] ) and Moscow ^[8] (in 1929 - the Central Industrial ^[7] ) regions.

The Middle Volga Region had a pronounced latitudinal direction, with the Volga serving as the meridional axis, dividing the region into two halves: the western right-bank - Volga region with an area of ​​about 150 thousand km², and the eastern left-bank - Zavolzhye, with an area of ​​about 90 thousand km² ^[7] . In the early sources, published shortly after the creation of the region, the Volga area of ​​102 thousand km² and the Volga region of 140 thousand km² was indicated ^[9] ). Both zones differed quite strongly in their physical and geographical characteristics ^[9] .

Relief

The Volga region was mainly located on the territory of the Volga Upland , descending to the Volga with steep, steep slopes, and to the west of the hollow, descending to the Oka-Don Lowland . Its individual sections have their own names: Undorsky , Kremensky, Sengileevsky and the most famous, Zhigulevsky mountains ^[10] . To the west, north and north-west of the Volga Upland, the spurs of the ridge of the Volga-Don watershed stand out, which in turn serve as the watersheds between Sviyaga , Syzran , Sura , Moksha and Wad ^[9] . There are many beams, ravines and watersheds on the territory, which creates a strong rugged terrain ^[10] .

The relief of the left bank is much softer, since the watersheds here have virtually no intersections. Almost immediately from the Volga Volga began a strip of a very flat plain ^[10] , with low soft watersheds - syrtes , even the largest of which, General Syrt , which is the Volga-Ural watershed, gave the relief only a slight hillyness ^[9] . Only the northeastern part (and especially the extreme eastern part ^[7] ) of the left bank becomes hilly again, and the terrain is markedly rugged, due to the proximity of the Ural Mountains , whose spurs changed their relief ^{[11] [9]} .

Geology

Climate

The climate of the region was quite homogeneous, since the region was elongated in the latitudinal direction. It was a typical continental climate with cold (up to 40 ° C and even lower) with little snow in winter, short spring with heavy snowmelt, hot summer (up to 40 ° C) with sharp temperature drops during the day ^{[12] [13]} . Signs of continentality increased along the line from the extreme northwest to the extreme southeast ^[12] : the average July temperature in Penza was 19 ° C (January –11 ° C), in Samara - 21 ° C (January – −13 ° C), and in Orenburg - 23 ° C (January –16 ° C) ^[13] .

The right bank had a slope to the north and northwest, the absence of significant elevations in the west and northwest made this region accessible to humid winds from the Atlantic , while the Volga Upland protected it from hot and dry winds from the deserts and semi-deserts of Central Asia ^{[13] [ 9]} . The abundance of lakes, rivers and streams and swampy lowlands also softened the climate of the Right Bank, so that although it almost completely lay north of 53 parallel, the average annual temperature ranged from +3.5 to +4.5 ° C, and the annual rainfall ranged from 400 to 550 mm, only in some areas the amount of precipitation decreased to 350 mm ^[12] .

The Volga current also divided the territory of the region in climatic terms, the line of average annual precipitation of 400 mm ran along the right bank of the Volga ^[13] .

The left bank had a gradual slope in the western and south-western direction. The Volga Upland closed the region from humid westerly and northwesterly winds, and the arrival of the winds of Central Asia was not hindered. As a result, although the region’s territory descended to 51 parallels, the average annual temperature was below +3 ° C in the northern and +4 ° C in the southern regions. The left bank was also more arid, and the degree of moisture decreased when moving southeast. Only some areas in the northwestern corner of the Left Bank, as well as the Kinelsky and Borsky areas rich in forests and ponds, had an annual rainfall of 400 mm or more, on average, the annual rainfall was only 270-350 mm ^[12] . An isohyeta of precipitation of 300 mm passed along the course of the Urals and Greater Irgiz ^[13] .

The distribution of precipitation from year to year was very uneven. So, with an average annual rate in Samara of 363 mm in various years, precipitation varied from 156 to 680 mm per year. Quite often in May-June there was no rain at all, which had an extremely negative effect on agriculture, then even heavy July rains could not save the crop. Another feature of the local climate was the frequent dry winds - hot southeast winds, which, in addition to heat and dryness, carry fine dust ( dry fog ), due to which the plants suffered from fuse . Moreover, the droughts were not limited to the Volga region, but also captured a significant part of the territory of the Syzran district ^{[Comm. 2]} in the Volga region ^[14] .

The Middle Volga Region was one of the richest in the European part of the USSR by the number of clear sunny days (about 35%). By the amount of heat and moisture, it was possible to cultivate even very heat-intensive plants (sunflower, corn) ^[12] . In practice, this was prevented by frequent spring frosts , the combination of which with severe winter frosts negatively affected the cultivation of even winter wheat ^[14] .

Hydrography

The territory of the region lay mainly in the Volga basin, with the exception of the Orenburg district, located mainly in the Urals basin, and the southwestern part of the Kuznetsk district, located in the Don basin ^[11] .

The largest rivers of the region were the Volga with its tributaries: Sviyaga , Syzran , Usa , Sura , Moksha on the right, Cheremshan , Sok , Samara , Mocha , Chagra , Big Irgiz on the left; and the Urals with a left tributary Sakmara ^{[11] [9]} . The Volga within the region flowed for 400 kilometers with the main direction from north to south, but in the Stavropol region it made a sharp turn to the east, bypassing the Zhiguli Mountains, making a loop over 200 km in length - Samarskaya Luka , and again from Syzran it flowed south ^[12] . Rivers flowed mainly in broad and deep valleys (with the exception of the steppe, in which the valleys were shallow). Parts of such valleys were flooded, forming valuable floodplain meadows ^[11] . Settlements were usually located on the unheated second river terraces . The river flow is weak, the slope is insignificant ^[9] , with the exception of the Urals ^[12] .

In addition to rivers in the region, there were over 3000 small lakes with a total area of ​​up to 25 thousand ha, but only a few of them had an area of ​​over 1 km² ^[12] .

The right bank was rich in lakes, rivers, rivers and swamps ^[7] . In the Left Bank, the rivers were mostly small and shallow, often in the upper reaches of the river drying up and decaying into separate lakes in summer ^[15] . The southeastern part of the region was even drier ^[7] .

Differences in the degree of moisture between the Volga and the Volga affected the state of spring and groundwater. If there were many springs and keys in the Volga region, groundwater was rather shallow, then in the Volga region, with the exception of the northern part of the Samara and most of the Buguruslan districts ^[14] , springs and keys are a rarity, even in the Volga zone. Groundwater lay at great depths ^[16] , well depths reached 40 meters ^[7] , and in the steppes the water was often brackish ^[16] . As a result, while in the Volga region villages were located freely along the banks of various rivers and ravines with keys ^[14] , in the Volga region they were forced to crowd around a few sources of drinking water. Far-land arose, causing significant losses ^[16] .

Soil

Significant differences in topography and humidity led to a fairly rich variety of soils in the region. The most noteworthy and valuable was the strip of fat chernozem (with a humus content of 10-12%), which took place for the most part of Buguruslansky, adjacent to the outskirts of the Orenburg and part of the Samara districts ^[17] . This strip was continued on the right bank of the Volga, where it passed somewhat to the south and, within the region, captured only the outskirts of the Penza and Kuznetsk districts. Most of the Volga region was occupied by degraded and leached chernozems, forest-steppe dark and light gray soils, pine forest sands and sandy loamy soils, clayey, loamy, and alluvial soils along river valleys ^[12] .

In the Volga region, gray forest lands were found only in separate areas among various chernozems. Moving to the southeast and a corresponding decrease in humidity, the humus content in chernozem decreased. Fat chernozem was replaced by ordinary (6-10% humus), followed by poor chernozem (4-6%) humus. When approaching isogyte at 300 mm, chestnut soils appear (3.5-4.5% humus). Weak moistening and increased evaporation in the Volga region contributed to the appearance of solonetzes . In the forest-steppe, they were found mainly in river valleys, and in the steppe they also occupied the slopes of the watersheds ^[18] .

Minerals

The region’s existence coincided with the beginning of active mineral exploration in this territory, so the data on them changed almost annually.

Until the mid-1920s, the region was practically not studied ^[19] . When developing plans for the first five-year plan, the region was classified as exclusively agricultural. It was also noted that a possible lack of fuel and energy supply impedes possible industrialization of the region. However, exploration work of 1929-1930 established that the region is rich in combustible minerals , metal ores , non-metallic minerals and mining raw materials . Many deposits were of all-Union importance, the possibility of industrialization of the region became undeniable, and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) in its decision of February 15, 1931 pointed to the broad prospects for the industrialization of the region based on local resources, and its transformation into industrial-agricultural ^{[19] [20 ] ]} .

Combustible minerals

Among the combustible minerals of the region, the first place was occupied by oil shales , which were explored in three large deposits: Kashpirskoye (Syzransky district), Undoro-Zakharyevskoye (Ulyanovsk district), General Syrtovsky (Bolsheglushitsky and Andreevsky districts). There were also poorly studied shale deposits in Mordovia ^[20] . At that time, shales were seen as huge reserves of cheap local fuel and raw materials for the chemical industry. From shale, it was possible to obtain gasoline , ichthyol , oils, resins, varnishes, paints, paraffin , etc. Shale ash was suitable for the manufacture of bricks and cement ^[20] .

Among other combustible resources peat occupied a prominent place. In the territory of the region there were over 900 peat bogs with a total area of ​​up to 35 thousand ha, with peat reserves of over 400 million tons. Peat bogs were located mainly in the Right Bank (up to 90%) and mainly in the Mordovian region (over 30% of all reserves of the region). They also met in the Sur, Barysh, Kuznetsk, Shemysheysky and Nizhne-Lomovsky regions of the Right Bank and Cherdaklinsky, Melekessky, Koshkinsky and Abdullinsky districts of the Left Bank ^[20] .

In the Dombarovsky district of the Orenburg district in 1929, a coking coal deposit was discovered ^{[19] [20]} .

Based on the calculated data, back in 1923 the region was classified as obviously oil-bearing ^[21] , signs of the presence of oil were detected in the Samara Luka region and the Sok river basin ^[20] , however, active oil exploration began only in the mid-1930s. On June 3, 1936, the first oil layers of industrial importance were discovered in the Syzran region ^[22] , after which the search for oil in the Zhiguli Mountains was intensified ^[23] .

Ores

Among all metal ores, the first place was occupied by iron ores, which were found throughout the territory of the region. However, the Orsk-Khalilovskoye deposits ^[20] , discovered in 1929 and explored in 1930 ^[24] , were the most valuable. Significant reserves of iron ores were discovered in these deposits: magnesites , hematites , chromium iron ores , brown iron ore ^[24]

The Khalilovsky brown iron ore deposit contained ore of very high quality, with an average iron content of 37% and a maximum of 53%. Harmful impurities were insignificant (sulfur — about 0.1%), but they contained impurities of chromium , nickel , and titanium , which made ore an extremely valuable raw material suitable for the manufacture of high-quality steels ^[20] . In addition, there was the Novouorsk brown iron ore deposit containing ore pieces of 20 to 150 cm in diameter, the Akkermanovskoye deposit , discovered in 1933 and suitable for open pit mining, as well as a number of other smaller deposits. The total reserves of brown iron ore in the region were estimated at one billion tons ^[25] . The power of ore reserves, the relative ease of its extraction, and the high quality of ore made the Orsk-Khalilovsky district a center for iron mining on an all-Union scale, putting the region in second place in the USSR after mining near Kerch ^[25] .

In the area of Blyava station, a red iron ore deposit was discovered with an iron content of up to 63%. Magnetic iron ore was found in the Khalilovsky, Konoplansky, Blyavinsky and Kulminsky areas. However, the high content of sulfur impurities made the development of red and magnetic iron ore unprofitable ^[25] .

Iron ore was available in other areas of the region. In the vicinity of Ulyanovsk, Sengileya , Shilovka and Buerakov there were deposits of spherosiderites with an iron content of 35-35% in raw ore. It has long been mined iron ore - limonite on the territory of the former Krasnoslobodsky district of Mordovia ^[25] . However, the size and reserves of these deposits were not determined at that time ^[24] .

There were several chromite deposits: Halilovskoye and Khabarninskoye ^[26] . The total reserves of chromium iron ore remained, however, underdeveloped, although they were actively developed. The Cr ₂ O ₃ content in the sites varied significantly, averaging 30–50%, sometimes reaching 60% ^[27] .

The region also had reserves of copper ores . Since ancient times, copper has been mined in the Kargaly mines . In the Orenburg, Saraktash and Burtinsky areas there were deposits of copper sandstones. Especially valuable was the polymetallic Blyavinskoye deposit of copper pyrites discovered in 1932, which was distinguished not only by its high copper content (from 2 to 20%), but also by the presence of iron (≈20%), sulfur (≈40%), and silver (0, 000038%) and gold (0.000003%). The reserves of the deposit were estimated at 600 thousand tons of copper, 11 476 thousand tons of iron, 12 thousand tons of sulfur, 936 tons of silver, 45 tons of gold ^[25] .

Also in the Orsky district, I. Rudnitsky discovered a powerful Khalilovskoye nickel deposit, with metal reserves of up to 240 thousand tons, which made it the largest in the USSR and one of the largest in the world. There were also nickel deposits in the Kvarkensky and Novopokrovsky districts, and preliminary data indicated that the Kvarkensky deposit should be even more powerful and richer in nickel content than Khalilovskoye ^[25] .

Gold, in addition to being contained in Blyavinsky polymetallic ores, was deposited in the Aydyrinsky gold-bearing region (between the Aydyrlya and Baituk rivers ). It was located in quartz veins and nests. However, the richest gold deposits and main veins were already developed, and the average gold grade was quite small. To the east of Aydirlinsky was the Sinshikhan gold-bearing region, where there were several mines ^{[28] [25]} .

Deposits of manganese , cobalt , lead , platinum , etc., which had no industrial significance in the mid-1930s, were also found in the Orsk-Khalilovsk district ^[25] .

Hydromineral

In the region there were several groups of mineral springs of various types. In the area of ​​the village of Usolye there were salt springs that have long been used to produce table salt. Near Sernovodsk was a group of sulfur springs. Finally, in the region of the village of Undory, there was a well-known group of carbon dioxide-ferrous sources ^[24] .

Aggregates Minerals

The region was rich in a number of non-metallic minerals , which played a significant role in the economy of the region, primarily construction materials ^[24] . Everywhere in the territory of the region, various clays were found , with separate deposits of high-quality clays. In the Penza region, there were refractory clays with a reserve of over a million cubic meters. At Blyava station, deposits of refractory clays with a melting point of 1500–1600 ° C were known, and at the Kumak junction, with a melting point of 1600–1750 ° C. In Kinelsky and Orsk regions, bleaching clay was found ^[26] .

Sands were also found everywhere, white quartz sands suitable for glass production were found in the Sengileevsky district, near Chapaevsk and Halilovo. There were many marl deposits: along the Volga coast in the Sengileya region, in the Mordovian region near the village of Atemar , in the Penza district near the village of Mertovschina and others ^[26] .

Limestone and chalk deposits were very widespread. The best deposits were studied at the Morkvashi marina on the Volga, in the Chapaevsky district ( Tomylovo and Gubashevo ), in the Orsky district and others. Over 20 chalk deposits were counted: in the Sengliyevsky, Novo-Devsky, Ulyanovsk, Baranovsky districts and Kochkurovsky and Kovylkinsky districts of the Mordovian region ^[26] .

Gypsum is widespread in Samara, Krasnoyarsk, Kinelsky, Sergievsky, Orenburg, Sol-Iletsky, Saraktash and other areas. Plaster of especially high quality was in the Alabaster Ravine deposit near Tsarevshchina village. Diatomite (tripoli) was found in the Inzen, Karsun, Main, Luninsky, Baryshsky, Sengileevsky, Kuznetsk and Syzran regions, in the Mordovian Autonomous Region. Diastomites were usually associated with flasks ^[26]

In many areas, bituminous limestones and sandstones were found , their large deposits were known in the Syzran region (bitumen content up to 15%), the Zhiguli mountains (up to 20% bitumen), in the Baituganovsky and Sergievsky areas, on the Sheshma river (7-22% bitumen) and at the village of Alekseevka ^[26] .

In a significant amount, there were reserves of other raw materials: dolomites , diabase , sandstone , gravel , slate , granite ^[26] .

Gemstone Raw

In the region of Orsk, rock crystal , chalcedony , jasper , opals , garnets and other minerals were found ^{[24] [26]} .

Mining raw materials

The largest deposit of this kind was the Iletsk rock salt deposit , known since the beginning of the 16th century. The thickness of the salt mass exceeded 450 meters, while the salt was of very high quality - 99.8% purity ^[26] . Only explored reserves of the field are ten times higher than annual global consumption ^[24] . There was also a poorly studied field at that time: Mount Dead Salt, 18 km from Iletsk station. In ancient times, salt was also mined by boiling water from salt springs near the village of Usolye in Zhiguli ^[26] .

Vodinskoye (Krasnoyarsk district) and Alekseevskoye (Kinelsky district) sulfur deposits with reserves of more than 1 million tons each had important industrial value. There were a number of smaller deposits: 8 km from Alekseyevka , near the village of Syreiki , Krasnaya Glinka and others. The Blyavinskoye, Arakcheevskoye (Mordovian Autonomous Region) and others met in the region of the sulfur pyrite deposit ^[26] .

The region is rich in phosphorites , which played an important role as a raw material for the production of fertilizers for agriculture ^[26] . Their deposits were accompanied by shales, respectively, the main reserves were in the region of Undor , Kashpir, General Syrt and in the Mordovian Autonomous Region. Total reserves were estimated at 383 million tons ^[26] , which was many times higher than global annual consumption ^[24] .

Among other minerals, asbestos and ocher experts attracted the attention of experts ^[24] . In the Orsk-Khalilovsk region, there were several deposits of magnesite , talc , and graphite ^[26] .

Flora

The forest cover in the districts was uneven, from 18.5% in the Mordovian region to 3.3% in the Orenburg district. On average, it was about 11% (26,620 thousand km²) ^[29] - 14% (33 thousand km²) ^[12] . The left bank is comparatively poor in forests, as forest areas could be called only a few areas: Cherdaklinsky, Melekessky, Stavropolsky, Buzuluksky. In several districts, individual forests were found. South of the Bolshoi Kinel and the entire eastern part of the Left Bank were almost completely devoid of forest ^[12] .

The main forests were hardwoods: oak , linden , birch , aspen , maple ^[16] , hardwoods accounted for 78.2% of all forests ^[29] . Spruce was found only in the north-west of the region by individual trees or small groups. Pine forests were quite widespread on sandy soils ^[16] . Coniferous forests prevailed in only a few areas: Inzen, Novo-Pestrovsky, Kuznetsk, Kameshkirsky, Baryshsky, Novo-Spassky and Buzuluksky. Separate pine forests were found in the Melekess, Stavropol and Buzuluk districts, as well as on the Sura River ^[20] .

Ripe forests made up 34.1%, ripening forests - 28.6%, young forests - 37.3% ^[29] . The annual growth of wood along the edge was estimated at 7 million m³ ^[20] . Felling of hardwoods was easily restored naturally, restoration of pine forests in a similar situation was difficult, their place was usually taken by hardwoods: birch, aspen and oak ^[16] .

Forest cover decreased during the advance to the southeast, passing into forest-steppes and steppes ^[30] , which occupied most of the territory of the region. They have long been plowed up , sections of the primeval steppe met only in places, on the edges of forests and slopes, inconvenient for plowing. However, it was noted that 10-15 years after the end of field cultivation, in its place there were signs of steppe restoration with a characteristic predominance of cereals and dicotyledons ^[30] . With further advance to the south and southeast, the grassy steppes were replaced first by fescue-feather grass. and then wormwood ^[17] .

By the mid-1930s, not only the fuel and construction role of the region’s forests was highly appreciated, but also their enormous protective and water conservation significance, and the question arose of natural and artificial reforestation ^[20] .

Fauna

Large predators of the forest strip in the region were represented by bears , occasionally found in the Mordovian region. In the north of the region there was a lynx . Marten, fox , ermine were widespread, ferrets , minks , and weasels were found . Also in the northern part, squirrels were often found. All these animals served as objects of hunting , and their skins were traded on local markets ^[30] . In the steppe part of the region, the main predator was the wolf , which caused considerable damage to agriculture. Korsaks met, while the main representatives of the fauna in the steppe were rodents . Large marmots were found in the Orenburg district, ground squirrels were everywhere: gray , yellow and reddish . Among cereal crops, hamsters are numerous. Water often has a water rat whose fur was valued in the local market ^[17] .

Among forest birds, black grouse and hazel grouse , which were of commercial importance, stood out. A rare red duck was found in the Zhiguli Mountains ^[30] . Larks , quails , partridges , carnivorous steppe moons , as well as large bustards and bustards , were widespread in the steppes ^[17] .

The most valuable fish species ( sturgeon , beluga , spike , sterlet ) were found in the Volga, as well as in the Urals to the mouth of Sakmara . Sterlet was also found in Sura and Moksha ^[15] .

Among the insects of the region, pests were most studied, the typical representatives of which were grasshoppers and filly. In the southern parts of the region, it was mainly Italian and striped locusts , in the northern parts were dark - winged and cross filly. Occasionally, an invasion of the Asian (real) locust was observed. A serious problem was the malaria mosquito , which was widespread everywhere, especially in the Volga region, and was a source of malaria infection ^[17] .

Area Settlement

The first peoples permanently residing in the territory of the region were Mordovians in the west, Bashkirs in the east, Bulgars lived in the northern part, some of which later became known as Chuvashs . In the XIII century, the territory of the region became part of the Golden Horde ^[31] .

In the first half of the 15th century, the first Russian settlements appeared on the territory of the region: Krasnoslobodsk (1535), Alatyr (c. 1552). In 1586, the first Volga city appeared - Samara . Active colonization of the land of the region began after the end of the Time of Troubles . To protect the Russian settlers, Upper (1636) and Nizhny Lomov (1636), Kerensk (1639), and Insar (1648) fortresses appeared. For better defense, a “line” was built between the fortresses - a deep ditch with a shaft poured near it; in the forests, the line was drawn using a notch . Gradually, the fortifications reached the Volga region, where in 1648 Simbirsk was founded. In the next decade, the construction of fortifications switched to the left bank, where the line passed along the Cheremshan River . Along with the advancement of the border of Russian lands in the Volga region, the Volga region was actively populated. Penza appeared in the 1660s, and Syzran in 1683 ^[31] .

In the 1730s, construction began on a new defensive line along the Sok River. Large settlements appear south of this line, in 1748 the Buguruslan settlement was mentioned ^[31] , and at the mouth of the Ori in 1735 the construction of a border city began, designed to serve as a trading point in trade with the steppes and eastern merchants - Orenburg. In 1742, Orenburg was transferred to a new place, and the former settlement was renamed Orsk . From Orenburg to Samara there was a new line of fortresses, including Buzulukskaya , between which the fortifications were no longer built ^[32] .

In the early stages of the development of the region, the basis of the settlers was military garrisons and all sorts of runaways, who were looking for free life on the Volga, or who fled from debt or oppression. With the pacification of the Volga region and the advancement of borders further east, the influx of new immigrants to the region grew. Land in the new region received various kinds of service people for their service to the state, thereby becoming landowners . Other landowners also received new estates from the state, for the development of which they transferred their peasants from the internal regions of Russia. The state resettled peasants belonging to it from the overpopulated Ryazan , Kursk , and Voronezh provinces to the free lands. In the first half of the 19th century, land allotment in the region for retired soldiers or low-income noblemen — one - man palaces — was widely practiced ^[32] .

Initially, Russian colonization did not meet with objections from the local population. The Mordvinians traditionally hunted and hunted for flight ^[32] and the Russian farmers who settled in the steppe did not interfere with them at all, on the contrary, they were welcomed, as trade intensified. But with the growth of the Russian population, deforestation began, the government began to record Mordvins in serfs , which led to Mordovian migration, when the Mordvins expelled from their places went south, to the Penza region, then to Samara Luka and its environs, and even further south, to Saratov ^[33] and the Orenburg region ^[34] . The Bashkir nobility also first welcomed the appearance of Russian settlers, actively selling plots of public land. However, the rapid influx of Russian settlers led to unfounded fears that soon the Bashkirs could lose all their estates. Discontent grew, but flare- ups were suppressed by the tsarist government. As a result, all Bashkir lands within the region were occupied by Russian settlers, only in the upper reaches of Bolshoi Irgiz there were several settlements where the Bashkirs settled after one of the uprisings ^[33] .

Not only Russians took a significant part in the colonization of the region. In the north of the Samara province there were lands of German Mennonites who received them under an agreement with the tsarist government . Similar colonies subsequently appeared on the territory of the Orenburg province. There were colonies of Ukrainians who, in addition to the lands allotted to them, often additionally bought independently selected plots. Traditional Ukrainian economic practices and land cultivation techniques were quite suitable for local conditions and even became an object of imitation among the Russian population ^[35] . In 1737, the fortress of Stavropol (now Togliatti) was founded, which became the center of the region of baptized Kalmyks who accepted Russian citizenship, but by the middle of the XIX century Kalmyks were resettled closer to the Urals ^[33] .

In general, the colonization of the region was moving from the north-west and west, which was manifested in the distribution of population density among regions of the region, significantly decreasing with the advance to the southeast. In the last third of the 19th century, the population in the region grew so much that even from the Samara and Orenburg provinces not so long ago known for land expanses, due to overpopulation, migration further east began ^[35] .

Create a Region

The first draft of the new zoning of vast territories of the Volga region, the authorship of Professor I. G. Alexandrov, of the Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR was reviewed and approved as early as 1921. It was supposed to divide the Volga into three regions: Lower Volga, Middle Volga and Vyatka-Vetluzhskaya. One of the significant differences from the previous provincial division was a change in the role of the Volga. If before the river served as a natural border between neighboring provinces, now it was assumed to be the axis around which the economy of the surrounding areas was grouped ^[36] .

According to Aleksandrov’s project, which was further specified when the All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved it, the Samara , Ulyanovsk , southern parts of the Penza , south-eastern districts of the Nizhny Novgorod provinces and the Tatars and Chuvash republics were to be included in the Middle Volga region. The very first discussions with representatives of the regions showed the bankruptcy of the project, primarily due to opposition from the national republics that considered it to be inadequate. And although the proposal was not implemented, but it gave rise to the very idea of ​​designing a new large administrative unit on the Middle Volga ^[36] .

The zoning technique used by Aleksandrov remained not quite clear ^[36] . Despite the author’s assurances of its novelty, critics noted that nothing fundamentally new was contained in it. The well-known statistician G. I. Baskin noted that, apparently, the long-known method of summation of attributes was used ^[37] . As an alternative, he proposed a new methodology on a single basis - the distance of farms to cultural and economic centers. However, when trying to use it, the author encountered methodological difficulties and, as a result, more arbitrarily than scientifically, came to the same composition of provinces that were supposed to enter a new area as Alexandrov. Baskin’s methods, however, were partially embodied in the design of districts that began in 1923 within the Samara, Penza, and Ulyanovsk provinces ^[38] .

To study and justify the borders of the Middle Volga region, Gosplan created a regional planning commission, which included representatives of the Samara, Penza and Ulyanovsk provinces. The Tatar and Chuvash republics abstained from participating in the commission. In the results of work ^[39] published in 1925, it was concluded that the Samara, Ulyanovsk provinces, the Penza province without the Krasnoslobodsky , Temnikovsky and Bednodemyanovsky districts, as well as the Tatar and Chuvash republics should have entered the region. This work also for the first time substantiated the need to include in the new administrative unit the more eastern regions: the Bashkir Republic and the Orenburg province ^[40] .

By order of the Gosplan in July 1926, the planning commission was closed, the responsibilities for working out the issue of establishing the borders of the new region were assigned partly to the Samara governorate, which did not have sufficient resources, partly to the apparatus of the State Planning Commission itself. In fact, work has stopped ^[40] . For some time, official documents of the State Planning Commission of the RSFSR and the USSR indicated that the region would include the regions indicated by Professor Alexandrov, and unofficially the Orenburg province was added to them ^[41] .

In December 1927, at the XV Congress of the CPSU (B.), It was decided to complete work on regionalization of the regions. This led to the fact that at the beginning of 1928 the USSR State Planning Committee proposed revising the grid of districts that had not changed since 1921, motivating the need to take into account the vast zoning material collected locally over the years. This caused the emergence of many different projects with varying degrees of sophistication. Among others, the Saratov Provincial Executive Committee presented a draft of the Lower Volga Region , in addition to the Saratov Province, which included most of the Samara and parts of the Ulyanovsk, Orenburg and Penza provinces, that is, three quarters of the proposed Middle Volga Region. It was supposed to create a region in which all wheat will be produced in the eastern part of the European part of the USSR ^[41] . The project was presented in a number of reports, was published as a separate book ^[42] , found many supporters, and was eventually approved by the State Planning Committee of the RSFSR ^[43] .

The project of the Middle Volga Region supported by the Samara Provincial Executive Committee was less developed, and could only rely on a clearer picture of the features of the Middle Volga and an indication of the shortcomings of the Saratov project, such as a complete disregard for the heterogeneity of climate, soil and economic conditions in such a vast territory that it could be practice to apply a truly unified set of measures for the development of wheat production. The Samara Provincial Executive Committee argued that the former Gosplan grid, suggesting the Middle Volga region, had not lost its relevance at all ^[43] . It was pointed out that just such a region would be most cost-effective, would successfully show its specialization when it is possible to transfer resources to new, underdeveloped territories of the Volga region from regions with land shortages: the Ulyanovsk, Penza provinces, the Tatar and Chuvash republics, for which inclusion in the Orenburg region is desirable province and the Bashkir Republic, where a huge growth of agriculture is possible ^[44] .

In the USSR State Planning Commission, the idea of ​​creating the Lower Volga Region did not find support, but the creation of the Middle Volga Region was not approved. The project of creating the Volga-Caspian Territory with a center in Stalingrad was supported, which envisaged the unification of the territories lying higher on the Volga into a separate region with a center in Saratov . However, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee ignored both the decision of the State Planning Commission of the RSFSR and the decision of the State Planning Commission of the USSR, decreeing the creation of the Lower Volga and Middle Volga regions in 1928, returning to the ideas of Aleksandrov, although with some changes in the composition of the provinces ^[44] .

Administrative division

The Middle Volga Region was created by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on May 14, 1928 "with the transition from the provincial, district and volost divisions to the district and district and with a corresponding change in the name of local authorities" ^[45] .

The created region included the Penza, Ulyanovsk, Orenburg provinces in full, the Samara province without the Pugachev district and the Kuznetsk district of the Saratov province ^{[46] [47]} .

Work on regionalization of the region had to be carried out as soon as possible. There were no particular difficulties with the creation of the districts, since for the three provinces the necessary materials were collected as far back as 1925-1926, the resulting 9 districts were quite solid in economic terms ^[46] , but they differed in area and population ^[47] . Zoning of the Volga region was based on a very efficient production method, which resulted in three districts, each with its own production profile, but with an approximately equal number of rural population, and the Buzuluk district located at the intersection of roads stood apart. When zoning the Volga region, this method was applied only in the Kuznetsk district. Penza, Mordovian and Syzran practically did not differ in production terms: low land, agrarian overpopulation, the prevalence of the triple field and the consumer type of field husbandry and animal husbandry. The Ulyanovsk district stood apart, as part of it was in the Volga region, where the pace of economic development was much higher. Therefore, to create the district and district network of the Right Bank, the method of economic gravitation was used. However, this was hindered by the lack of large cities capable of becoming district centers. The national question also intervened, because of which the Penza province had to be divided into two districts, although Saransk, which became the center of Mordovsky, did not fit this role, having only 16 thousand of the population. There were two cities in the Ulyanovsk province that could become the center of the district: Ulyanovsk and Syzran, both of which served as the nucleus for the formation of districts ^[48] . As a result, two large, two small and one intermediate districts were formed in the Volga region ^[47] .

Designing a district grid turned out to be a more complicated task ^[46] . The complexity was represented by the unusual sizes of the new ADT units, which were about five to six times smaller than the former counties, and about the same time larger than the volosts ^[49] . Additional problems were created by the requirement from the very beginning of existence to make the regions budget -free , which forced them to neglect economic feasibility. In addition, zoning work took place during the summer, when most of the agricultural population simply could not participate in the discussions. One way or another, but by the established deadlines, 116 districts were created, although they were quite heterogeneous ^[46] .

On July 16, 1928, the division of the region into 9 districts and 116 districts was approved ^[50] :

Work to optimize the grid of district and district divisions, as well as to clarify the external borders of the region, continued in the future, based on statements from the population ^[46] . Significant corrections were approved by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on January 21, 1929. The Buzuluk district was completely abolished, the Sorochinsky district from its structure entered the Orenburg district, the rest - in Samara ^[51] . The Kondolsky district passed from Kuznetsky to the Penza district ^[52] , the Teleshov, Nikolsko-Cheremshansky, Anuchinsky and Golitsinsky districts were abolished ^[51] . Many changes were also made to the borders of individual village councils and districts ^{[52] [51]} . The result was the following picture ^[52] :

The Russian population of the region was 75%. In some cases, national minorities lived quite compactly, which allowed the formation of entire national regions . Of 112 districts, 17 were national (9 Mordovian, 3 Tatar and Chuvash, 2 Kazakh). In October 1929, the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee created another Chuvash district, increasing their total number to 113 ^[47] .

On October 20, 1929, by a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR, the Middle Volga Region was renamed the Middle Volga Region ^[54] . Clarifications of the external borders of the region continued in the future. The border of the Orenburg district was especially difficult, during which frequent land crossings of neighboring regions were encountered ^[47] . In addition, there was no regionalization of the neighboring Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Urals Oblast, and the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, as a result of which it was supposed that the territories of the region could be changed ^[55] .

Only 32.2% of the Mordovian population lived within the borders of the Mordovian okrug and when it was created it did not receive national status, however, the policy of the Soviet state led to the creation on January 10, 1930 of not just a national okrug, but an autonomous Mordovian oblast as part of the Middle Volga, and therefore By a resolution of the Council of People 's Commissars, the Middle Volga Region was renamed the Middle Volga Region ^{[47] [51]} . On July 23, 1930, by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the okrugs were abolished ^[56] , and the districts were transferred to the direct administration of the krai.

In 1931, the region consisted of 64 districts, the Mordovian Autonomous Region with 18 districts, 21 cities, 6 of which were directly subordinate to the regional center ( Samara , Orenburg , Penza , Ulyanovsk , Syzran , Chapaevsk ). There were a total of 14 016 settlements, which were united in 3192 village councils ^[57] . However, the changes continued in the future.

On April 20, 1934, the Orsk Industrial District was created as part of the region ^[51] . As of July 1, 1934, the Territory included the Mordovian Autonomous Region with 20 districts, the Orsk Industrial District with 4 districts and 63 districts (32 in the Left Bank, 31 in the Right Bank). In total, there were 87 districts, of which ten were national: 4 Mordovian: Baranovsky , Boklinsky , Klavlinsky , Shemysheysky ; 3 Chuvash - Bogdashkinsky , Stalin and Chelnovershinsky ; 2 Tatar - Baytugansky and Staro-Kulatkinsky ; 1 Kazakh - Burtinsky ^[7] . On December 7, 1934, according to the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Orenburg Region stood out from the Middle Volga Region , which included 18 districts and the Orsk Industrial District ^[51] . On December 20, 1934, the Mordovian Autonomous Region was transformed into the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic with its entry into the Middle Volga Region ^[51] .

January 27, 1935 Samara was renamed Kuibyshev , and the Middle Volga region in the Kuibyshev region ^[51] .

With the adoption of the Constitution of the USSR on December 5, 1936, the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic left the territory of the region, as a result of which it was transformed into the Kuibyshev region .

The population of the region was very unevenly distributed over its territory, with a marked decrease in population density towards the southeast: from 56.6 people. per 1 km² in the Mordovian district (in certain areas up to 70 and above) ^{[58] [Comm. 3]} up to 10 people per km² in Orenburg. Even the most populated left-bank district - Buguruslan (29.7 people per km²) had a lower population density than the most poorly populated right-bank Syzransky (31.9 people per km²) ^[59] .

According to estimates for 1929, the share of the urban population (12.1%) was lower than the average for the RSFSR (13.4%) and the USSR (17.9) ^[60] . There were only 5 large cities in the region, with a population of over 50 thousand people: Samara, Orenburg, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Syzran, another 7 cities had a population of over 10 thousand people ^[60] .

A significant predominance of the female population was observed. If before the First World War there were 106 women per 100 men, then by the beginning of the 1930s there were already 113 (with average figures for the RSFSR - 112 and the USSR - 107), while the decrease in the proportion of men equally affected both the urban and rural population , while in the whole country only the proportion of male villagers decreased. This was associated with a significant involvement of the region’s population in the events of the civil war in Russia , which affected the townspeople ^[61] .

By 1932, the population was 7643 thousand people. The urban population was 13.2% ^[62] , while the all-Union level exceeded 18% ^[58]

National composition

According to the 1926 census , representatives of 13 large ethnic groups lived in the region ^[63] :

69.5% of the entire Mordovians of the USSR (77.9% of the RSFSR) and a significant proportion of the total number of Mishars and Meshra lived on the territory of the Middle Volga Region ^[65] . The Mordovian population was concentrated in the Penza, Kuznetsk and especially Mordovian districts - the original territory of the settlement of Mordovians. Also, a significant proportion of Mordovians lived in the Buguruslan District, where Mordovians resettled in the 17th – 18th centuries ^[34] .

The Russian population prevailed in all districts of the region, it was the weakest represented in the Kuznetsk - 51.1% and Buguruslan - 54.1% of the districts. The second largest ethnic group in both districts were Mordovians (29.8% and 23%, respectively), the Tatars (17%) were also large in the Kuznetsk okrug, and the Chuvashs were the third largest nation in Buguruslan (10.3%) ^{[66 ]} . The smallest national diversity was in the Mordovian district, which 95% consisted of representatives of two peoples: Russians and Mordovians ^[67] . And although the Russian population in the district was almost twice the size of the Mordovian population, it was transformed into the national one as a center for the study and concentration of Mordovian culture ^[68] .

Demographics

The age distribution of the region’s population had its own characteristics related to its history ^[69] .

In comparison with the all-Russian indicators, there were statistically noticeable failures in the number of children aged 8-13 years, associated with a decrease in the birth rate during the First World War and the Civil War and a significant decrease in the number of children under the age of 8 in the Samara, Ulyanovsk, Syzran and Orenburg districts - a consequence of the famine in the Volga region in the early 1920s ^[70] .

Migration registration in the territory of the region was practically not kept, therefore, data on the mechanical increase in the population are not available ^[71] , but there is quite detailed information about the natural increase for 1927 with a breakdown by district ^[72] :

In all districts, a decrease in the birth rate was observed compared with the level of 1910, however, if in the right-bank part the birth rate decreased by 1923, and further by 1927, then in the left-bank districts (in 1910 they occupied the leading positions in the country in terms of fertility: Orenburg province - 61.2, Samara - 58.3) after a sharp decline in the birth rate as a result of famine in 1923, there was a recovery in indicators, although it did not reach pre-war values. This was explained by economic backwardness and agrarian overpopulation of the right-bank districts that impeded the recovery process ^[72] . Mortality in the region in all districts decreased significantly compared to 1910, even despite a sharp jump in the indicator during the hungry years. In total, these indicators yielded a significant level of population growth compared with the pre-war ^[73] , primarily due to a reduction in mortality due to changes in living standards ^[74] .

By 1931, natural growth in rural areas was 2.4% per year, in cities - 1.7%. Moreover, the growth of the urban population was about 4.7% per year, mainly due to the relocation of the rural population to cities with developing industry ^[57] .

From 1925 to 1930, the region was considered a region of possible colonization, primarily underpopulation of the Volga districts intended for resettlement from the country's low-land regions. However, the plans of the first five-year plan envisaged the creation of a number of large grain state farms in the Volga region, for which areas were previously allotted for resettlement, and therefore the region was excluded from the colonization areas. Active work was also carried out on the resettlement of residents of overpopulated Volga districts. Over the period 1928-1930 alone, more than 33 thousand people were resettled in the colonial regions of the USSR ^[75] , another three thousand were resettled within the region, in the Volga region. The resettlement program was supposed to be temporary, the calculation was based on the intensification of agriculture, the active use of mechanization, fertilizers, which should have made it possible to obtain large crops on former small plots of land and in the Volga region ^[76] .

Before the revolution, the provinces, from the territories of which the Middle Volga Region was composed, had a clearly agrarian character ^[26] , 84% of all production was agricultural, industry was extremely poorly developed ^[77] . As a result, the Middle Volga region was also originally primarily agricultural ^[78] . In 1927-1928, the gross agricultural output of the region in its value exceeded industrial output by 3.3 times, while in the USSR the excess was only 1.6%. And although next year in the USSR there was already an excess of the cost of industrial products over agricultural products by 4.3%, in the region everything remained as before, agricultural products prevailed 3.2 times ^[24] .

The right bank was characterized by pronounced low land use, the use of the tri-field system, and the lack of pastures ^[79] . The main products of field cultivation were rye , oats , hemp . Cattle developed in the dairy direction, pig husbandry was poorly developed ^[80] . There was sufficient land in the Left Bank, the fallow cultivation system was widely used, there were large pastures for livestock, but had somewhat worse environmental conditions: insufficient humidity and a high probability of drought ^[79] . The main products were wheat , barley , and sunflower ^[80] . Cattle production was oriented towards the meat industry, in some places pig husbandry was well developed, and there was considerable sheep breeding ^[80]

In general, the region specialized in the production of grain , which accounted for 88-89% of all crops ^[80] . The region was a leader among the Volga regions ^{[Comm. 4]} in this direction, giving over 40% of the total volume of marketable grain ^[81] . The total cultivated area in the region for the summer of 1929 amounted to 7691 thousand ha, which was 22.8% of all cultivated areas of the Volga region. According to this indicator, the Middle Volga Region was the largest region of the Volga Region. The region was also a leader in the production of rye (21.6%) and hemp (about 40%), and in the production of wheat and sunflower it was second only to the Lower Volga region ^[80] . In the field of animal husbandry, the position of the region was somewhat weaker, taking the second place (21.5%) among the Volga regions in meat production and the third (17.8%) in dairy production ^[81] . The region ranked fourth (11.5%) in terms of the output of leather products ^[78] .

During the first five-year plan, the area under crops in the region increased significantly, reaching 9,475 thousand hectares by 1933. The composition of crops has changed, the share of industrial crops and sowing herbs has gradually grown, the share of rye has been reduced due to an increase in the share of more valuable winter wheat, and oats have been replaced by more drought-resistant barley. However, the lack of forage crop areas and their low productivity, still restraining the growth of animal husbandry, continued to affect ^[82] . The specialization of the region’s regions grew: the Right Bank focused on the production of industrial crops (hemp, flax, potatoes), garden and succulent fodder crops, as well as winter grains. The left bank specialized in the production of wheat, corn, field fodder, silage and new industrial crops ^[83] . The average grain yield in 1932 was 5.1 centners per hectare ^[84] .

With the growth of the sown area, the mechanization of agriculture of the region also grew. In 1931, 115 MTS and 25 machine and tractor brigades operated in the region, which covered 36.5% of the total area of ​​spring sowing ^[83] and 40% of the territory of collective farms ^[86] , while the lack of spare parts and fuel and lubricants led to downtimes that reached up to 30-35% of the tractor fleet ^[58] . In the following years, new tractors were massively purchased, so in 1934 the majority (57%) of tractors were relatively new, acquired in 1932–1333 ^[86] . By 1934, there were already 198 MTS in the region ^[85] , the main fleet of which was tractors with a power of 301–600 hp (43.4%), which were already 54% in 1933 and 70.3% in 1934 collective farm acreage ^[86] . On average, in 1934 there were 38 tractors with a total power of 561 hp per MTS ^[86] . The number of combines increased, which by the beginning of the second five-year plan had 1315 combines concentrated mainly on state farms ^[82] and cars (1345 in 1932), but their number was still insignificant and it was planned to further increase the number of combines 7 times. and cars in 10 ^[86] . Horses continued to account for 63.6% of the energy balance of agriculture in 1932, while an increase in the area under crops and a decrease in the number of livestock led to a constant increase in the load on horses, and this state of affairs was to last at least a few more years ^[82]

In the future, in the region’s agriculture, it was planned to expand the areas of the most valuable crops: spring and winter wheat, legumes, sugar beets, potatoes and fodder ^[82] , and on the whole, the role of the region in the agriculture of the Volga region was further expected to increase, due to the fact that overlying along the Volga, the regions primarily sought to develop industry ^[78] . However, an unstable drought-hazardous climate for the successful development of agriculture in the region required significant investments in the cultivation of drought-resistant varieties of crops ^[87] and extensive land reclamation ^{[88] [89]} , which was hampered by the lack of energy supply in the region. Fisheries at all times of the region's existence had only local significance ^[15] .

In the Russian Empire, the territories of the provinces that formed the Middle Volga Region were considered relatively poor minerals and did not have the main types of industrial fuel - coal and oil. As a result, the industry in them was rather poorly developed, before the start of the First World War, the average Volga region was more than two times behind the rest of the country in terms of industrial production per capita and the percentage of workers per 1000 people ^[90] . By the time the region was created, these indicators only worsened; in 1928-1929, the region’s industry was 3-4 times behind the industry of the USSR (5.4 workers per 1000 population versus 20.4 people on average in the USSR ^[91] ), and if we do not take into account the milling industry, which is associated more with trade than with industry itself, then by 4-5 times ^[92] . The urban population and the population of workers' settlements amounted to only 12.2% of the population of the region (18.2% on average for the USSR) ^[91] . The existing industry focused mainly on the processing of agricultural products ^[93] . Volumes of production were small, notably inferior to most Volga regions in this indicator ^[94] .

Factory Industry

By 1928, there were only 446 active licensed enterprises in the territory of the region ^{[Comm. 5]} with the number of employed workers at 34,220 people ^[90] . The main industries in the region were flour milling, paper, woodworking, wool, food flavoring and the production of building materials, which together accounted for 86.2% of the entire industry of the region ^[95] .

The main industry was the food and beverage industry, which accounted for 48.6% of the gross output of the entire qualification industry. 60% of the food industry accounted for flour milling, another 20% for distillery and distillery. The total share of all sectors involved in the processing of agricultural raw materials, including food, reached 72.2%, which made it possible to characterize the region's industry as specializing in the processing of agricultural raw materials ^[90] , which was especially evident when comparing these indicators with the Union-wide: food industry in general the volume of production in the USSR at the same time was 22.4%, and the entire industry engaged in the processing of agricultural raw materials was 52.8% (33.2% excluding cotton production) ^[96] .

In 1927-1928, flour milling in the Middle Volga Region accounted for 6.2% of the total industry in the USSR. Also significant was the role of distillery, distillery and brewing production, which amounted to approximately 5.5% of the total industry volume in the country ^[96] . Other branches of the food industry were rather poorly developed ^[97] , with insignificant enterprises and insignificant production volumes. An exception was the sugar factory in Timashevo of the Buguruslan District, which was one of the largest in the USSR ^[97] . The second largest industry is the textile, 93.5% of which accounted for the production of coarse cloth. The Middle Volga region was the main supplier of coarse woolen fabrics in the USSR and accounted for 8.5% of the total output of the entire qualified wool industry ^[97] . The third of the significantly developed industries in the region was woodworking, which consisted mainly of sawmills, in addition to which there were two cross-impregnating plants and two furniture factories. The Middle Volga region accounted for about 6.5% of the total sawmill industry in the USSR and about 5.5% of the total woodworking industry ^[98] . The remaining branches of production were represented very slightly and occupied insignificant shares in the total volume of production in the USSR ^[99] . Among the Volga region regions, where heavy industry accounted for 18.6% of the total production volume, it occupied the penultimate place ^[100] , but played an important role in the flour and paper production of the Volga region, accounting for 33.9% and 19% of production, respectively ^{[ 95]} .

The most industrial districts were Syzran, Samara and Ulyanovsk, the least industrial - Buguruslan and Mordovian ^[101] . There were only 6 large enterprises with more than a thousand workers ^[102] : the Krasniy Gigant glass factory in the Kuznetsk District, the sugar refinery in Timashevo of the Buguruslan District, the cloth factory Krasny Oktyabr (Kuznetsk District) and the Name of Lenin (Syzransky district), the flax-spinning factory in Melekess and the paper station “Lighthouse of the Revolution” in Penza ^[102] . Local needs absorbed only a small fraction of the total production in the region, most went to other regions of the country ^[103] . The products of the Orenburg mountain trust were exported - chromite and magnesite , as well as matches, dishes, husks ^[102] .

The significant backwardness of the censored industry led to the widespread use of censored industry and handicraft production, which reached approximately the same production volumes as the entire censored industry, while providing 4-5 times more jobs ^[92] . This was largely attributed to the lack of a powerful and cheap energy base in the region ^[104] ; therefore, considerable hopes for the industrialization of the region were associated with the implementation of the Volgostroy project ^[105] .

When developing plans for the first five-year period, the region was classified as exclusively agricultural, it was noted that the lack of fuel and energy supply hinder the possible industrialization of the region ^[20] , and therefore it was planned to develop enterprises primarily in light industry, as well as the production of building materials, woodworking, and oil refining . In the more distant future, widespread development of oil, shale, phosphorite deposits and metal mining in the extreme east of the region was planned ^[95] . At the same time, the share of heavy industry by 1932 was planned to increase by 8.5 times compared with 1927, reaching 35% in the industry of the region ^[91] .

However, exploration work in the late 1920s established that the region is rich in combustible minerals , metal ores , nonmetallic minerals and mining raw materials , as a result of which the possibility of industrializing the region became obvious, which was confirmed by the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in its decision of February 15, 1931 , where he pointed to the broad prospects for the industrialization of the region "based on the energy and chemical use of huge reserves of oil shale, the use of many types of mineral raw materials, brown iron ore and phosphorites" taking into account m plans for the construction of Volgostroi ^[24] .

The pace of industrialization also did not coincide with the planned one. Already in 1929, the share of industry, even with insufficient investment, amounted to 26.8%, in 1931 it increased to 40% ^[91] , in the very first year of the five-year plan (1929) the gross output of the censored industry increased by 11.5%, and the number employed in it grew by almost 32% ^[91] . In 1933, the share of industrial products in the total cost of products manufactured in the region amounted to 51.9%, that is, the region became industrial-agricultural ^[77] . However, heavy industry in terms of gross industry in 1934 was only 19% of the total gross industry of the region, yielding even to artisanal production and light industry (21% each), the rest fell to the food industry ^[77] . Compared with neighboring regions: Chelyabinsk Region, Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Saratov and Gorky Territories, Voronezh Region, the Middle Volga Region was still distinguished as a region with exceptional weakness of heavy industry and relatively strong light industry. This lag was explained by the lack of powerful finished energy resources and a significant lag in terms of mineral exploration ^[77] .

The average wage in 1928 - 584 rubles, in 1931 - rose to 715. By the beginning of 1931, over 35% of all workers of the region were transferred to a 7-hour working day ^[91] . By 1930, unemployment was eliminated, there was a significant shortage of professional industrial personnel ^[91] .

The year 1932 was planned as a year of turning point in turning the agricultural land into an industrial-agrarian ^[91] . The most important priority was the improvement of energy efficiency. A huge role was given to the Khalilovsky Metallurgical and Metal Processing Plant, the construction of which began in 1932. The construction of a copper-nickel plant, enterprises for the production of building materials, talc, and the expansion of a chrome-dressing factory were accelerated at a rapid pace. The construction of chemical plants on General Syrt and Kashpir began ^[91] .

Since 1932, the oil refining industry: the construction of 23 cracking units, an oil refinery, which they began to build in 1931, an oil production plant ^[83] .

In total, the Orsk industrial district was built ^[106] :

• Orsk Thermal Power Plant (start of construction 1933, commissioning - 1935, capacity 50 thousand kW)
• Khalilovsky Metallurgical Plant (1934-1941),
• Khalilovsky Iron Mine (1932-1932).
• Blyavinsky Combine (Ormed) (1934-1936).
• Nickel Plant (1934,?)
• Locomotive Building Plant (1932-1936).
• The Caspian-Orsk oil pipeline (1932-1935).
• Oil refinery (1931-1935).
• Meat processing plant (1931-1935).

The Samara industrial unit was developing as a machine building. The main enterprise was to become the Samara Automobile Plant of five-ton trucks, the construction of which was to begin in the second five-year plan according to the decision of the XVII Party Congress. It was planned to produce 20 thousand double-axle cars, as well as buses, chassis for special vehicles, 3 thousand three-axle trucks, spare parts for them. In June 1934, Bezymyanka was chosen as the site for the plant, where in the Zubchaninovka area a social city was planned for 65-70 thousand inhabitants ^[106] .

In total, the Samara industrial unit was built and planned for construction ^[106] :

• car factory (1936-1941),
• SamGRES (1930-1936),
• Carburetor Plant (1931-1936),
• Sazherez (1932-1934).
• Kinap II (reconstruction, 1931-1937).
• Machine Tool Plant (1935–1336),
• Meat Processing Plant (1932-1935)
• Feed mill (1931-1935),
• Sunflower oil plant (1935-1936).

Vatozapchast, an old machine-tool plant, a boiler plant and ZIM were also already operating ^[107] .

The Syzran industrial unit focused on chemical industry enterprises: the Kashpir Gas Chemical Plant, the gas pipeline: Syzran-Chapaevsk-Samara, the Kashpir Shale Reagent Plant and the rubber tire factory ^[107] .

The main enterprises ^[107] :

• Kashpirsky shale mine No. 1 (1931-1934),
• Kashpirsky shale mine No. 2 (1935-1937),
• Kashpir Gas Chemical Plant (1935-1938),
• Rubber tire factory (1936-?),
• Artificial Wool Factory (935-1936),
• Woolwash (1935-1936),
• Fruit and vegetable plant (1931-1937).

The question of placing a huge knitwear factory for 35 thousand workers: Samara or Syzran ^[107] also remained open.

Ulyanovsk industrial unit ^[107] :

• dry elements factory (1935-?),
• camera factory (1935-1937),
• Caramel Factory (1936-1937),
• Sewing factory (1937-1938).

The industrial unit of Mordovia specialized in the industrial processing of agricultural raw materials: a canned milk factory (1932-1934), a poultry plant (1932-1935), a fruit and vegetable factory (1936-1936), a hemp factory (1934-1935), a kotonin factory (1933-1934), Automotive equipment factory (1935-1937) ^[107] .

A leather factory, a sheepskin-fur coat factory, and a fur-coat and sewing factory were already operating in Kuznetsk for 1934. In the second five-year plan, it was planned to develop this area: a shoe factory (1934–1935), a factory of rigid semi-finished products (1935–1937), a bridge factory (1936–1937), and a rosin-extractor plant (1935–1937) ^[107] .

The total investment in the second five-year period was almost three times the investment in the first five-year period. If in the first 23% of the total amount of capitalization was invested in the whole industry, then everything changed in the second: 57% of all investments went into industry. Moreover, in absolute figures, investments in agriculture not only did not decrease, but increased by 52% ^[62] .

Gross regional production ^[62] :

• 1928: Industry: 20%, agricultural: 80%. Only 1002 million rubles.
• 1932: industry: 56%, agricultural: 44%. A total of 1234 million rubles.
• 1937 (plan): industry - 67%, agricultural: 33%. A total of 3,566 million rubles.

Mining

The capacity of ore reserves, the relative ease of mining (open cast mining), the high quality of the ore, and the comparative proximity of the fuel base (local coal or fuel from Karaganda) made the Orsk-Khalilovsky district an all-Union scale iron mining center, putting the region in second place after development near Kerch ^{[25 ]} . With the mechanization of work and the transition to powerful excavators with shipment to cars, the ore of the Orsk-Khalilovsk region would be the cheapest in the world ^[25] .

In 1934, the Khalilovsk Metallurgical Plant was supposed to begin work, in terms of power approximately equal to the famous Magnitogorsk, and in terms of product quality to exceed it. The enterprise’s energy was built on imported, Karaganda coal ^[108] . A locomotive building plant was being built next to it. Also, the Samara Heavy Truck Plant, the Samara Machine Tool Plant, the plant of automotive tractor equipment, the plant of diesel fittings and carburetors and others ^[108] were supposed to work on Khalilov metal.

To develop sulfide ores of the Blyavinskoye deposit, a mechemical plant was built, consisting of a smelter, sulfuric acid workshop, and a fertilizer plant (construction began in 1934) ^[108] .

To develop nickel deposits, a nickel plant was designed, the construction of which was to begin at the end of the second five-year plan ^[108] . In Orsk, at the end of the Caspian-Orsk oil pipeline, an oil refinery was being built ^[108] .

A special plant was built for the processing of magnesite in 1928, but a significant demand for its products forced in 1930 to almost double its capacity. The plant produced caustic powder intended for construction ^[109] . It was also assumed the possibility of producing magnesium used in metallurgy, primarily in aviation ^[110] .-->

The domestic market required the supply of iron ore in large pieces, as it was used for the internal masonry of metallurgical furnaces. The European market, however, required a high content of Cr ₂ O ₃ regardless of the shape of the ore, even taking dust if it was high percent. This made it possible to efficiently use the results of the development of high-grade ores, primarily the Khalilovskoye deposit, however, the development of ores with an average iron content already required significant investments in the storage of low-percentage dust or in its enrichment ^{[27] [26]} .

In Batraki and Pechersky limestones were developed with a reserve of 3 million tons and a bitumen content of up to 15%. The development of the Bakhilovsky bituminous sandstone with a bitumen content of up to 20% was carried out. Bituminous sandstones were also known in the Baytuganovsky and Sergievsky areas and on the Sheshma river (7-22% of bitumen). Bituminous limestones were found near the village of Alekseevka ^[26]

Also in the second five-year plan: two phases of SamGRES, Kashmir TPP - 72 thousand kW, Orsk TPP - 1500 kW, Khalilov TPP - 125 thousand kW, Ulyanovsk TPP - 12 thousand kW. Ulyanovskaya was supposed to work on the Cherdaklinsky peat, Samarskaya - on shale and gas, Orsk knot: on the Dombarovsky, Poltava-Bredinsky thermal waste ^[62] .

Crafts and crafts

Handicraft industry in the region was highly developed, producing products that were either not produced at all by industry (for example, down scarves), or were produced in insufficient quantities (felt boots, ropes, nets, clothes, shoes) ^[111] .

A feature of artisanal production was the use of exclusively physical force, without the use of mechanization ^[111] .

The difference between artisans and artisans continued to be present. Whereas the former primarily processed their raw materials and worked for a certain buyer, also continuing to engage in agriculture, the latter primarily used the customer’s raw materials, all the time doing this production. But the border was gradually erased ^[112] .

The products of the handicraft industry significantly supplemented the products of the state, having monopolistic importance in certain types (production of matting, kulei, down knitting). Some of the products were marketed abroad ^[112] .

An important role was played by artisan production in the provision of jobs; the number of artisans was six times the number of workers in the qualified industry. Gross artisan production accounted for 86.6% of the products of the censored industry. In the low-land districts of the region, handicrafts often served as the main means of subsistence, absorbing excess working hands ^[112] .

The main types of crafts were:

• textile and knitwear production (37.1% in terms of the number of employees, 28.9% in terms of production), especially down-knitting, which also exported products ^[112] , primarily Orenburg shawls ^[113] .
• woodworking (17.5% of employed, 4% in total) monopoly supplied the peasant market with wood chips ^[112] . Rogozh, in the production of which half of all woodworkers were engaged, was exported, making up a significant part of the total volume of export of matting in the country ^[114] .
• shoe (12.3% of employed, 9% of gross output) ^[114]
• metalworking (7.4% employed, 8.1% gross output) ^[114]
• food and beverage industry (14.6% of employees, 46.1% of gross output) ^[114] .

The production of building materials was actively developing, primarily based on fossil raw materials ^[114] (brick, alabaster, lime, chalk, tile, rubble stone) ^[115] .

Like the local censored industry, artisanal production was also oriented toward the agricultural specialization of the region, 83.1% of all artisanal production accounted for rural areas ^[115] . The largest number of handicraftsmen were in the Orenburg, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Kuznetsk districts and the Mordovian region, which together amounted to 73.5% of all handicraftsmen ^[115] . In urban areas per 1000 people there were an average of 35.6 people employed in the handicraft industry, in rural areas - 24.5 people ^[115]

The main reason for the development of artisanal production is the low availability of peasant farms with land allotments in a number of districts ^[116] .

In 1929/30, 236843 people were employed in the cottage industry, compared to 179 thousand in 1926/1927. Gross production accounted for 41% of the cost of all products of the region (without seized and dairy). Cooperation covered about 35% of all artisans ^[91] .

During the existence of the region, energy played a decisive role in the development of production forces. In the region, energy was used from three sources: the burning of combustible materials, water resources, and wind energy ^[19] .

Assessments of the possibilities for the development of regional energy have constantly changed with the growth of industry in the region and the degree of knowledge of the natural resources of the region.

Energy Production

As early as 1929-1930, the most important role was played by wood fuel, which covered up to 82% of the total fuel demand in the region. Forest cover in the region was very uneven, decreasing to 3.3% in the Orenburg district, but in the western districts it was 12.7-18.5% ^[29] . Forecasts suggested that there was enough wood fuel to provide the region with energy throughout the first five-year period, even taking into account the export of firewood outside the region ^[117] .

The power supply of the region was extremely weak, energy production per inhabitant of the region in 1928 was 9 times lower than the all-Union level ^[24] .

The main prospects for energy production growth were associated with the burning of peat. However, the study of peatlands with sufficient amounts of wood fuel was practically not carried out, peatlands and by 1930 were far from completely taken into account. Estimated estimates of peat reserves showed that industry used it only 0.9% in 1928-1929 with the prospect of growth to 3.8% in 1932-1933 ^[118] . Peatlands are also very unevenly distributed among the districts of the region, 95.44% of the peat reserves were in the Volga districts ^[119] . A lot of work was required to further evaluate peat reserves and to establish the practical possibility of its use ^[120] .

Other renewable sources: straw ^[120] , dung , husks ^[121] and non-renewable resources: shale ^{[121] were} also considered as promising sources of fuel for energy needs. By 1932, oil shale was considered as the most promising type of fuel ^[19] , because in the territory of the region there was the largest known at that time in the USSR deposits that were practically not used, as well as a number of other large deposits of a smaller volume ^[122] .

By 1930, with the help of turbines and water wheels, the region used about 25% of the estimated power of all rivers (except the Volga) in 120-190 thousand hp ^[123] . To study the issue of using the energy of the Volga current in the region, a special Volgostroy committee was created ^[21] . Research by Volgostroi already in 1932 put hydropower in second place in terms of energy potential with a forecast for the capacity of hydropower plants in the Samara Luka area of ​​1.2 MW ^[19] .

Accurate information about the use of wind energy is not known, but based on data from individual counties, the number of wind engines in the region in 1930 was estimated at 7400 ^[124] .

In 1934, almost all power plants and thermal installations of the region worked on liquid fuel and firewood. The first was imported, and therefore expensive, the second had serious technical, transport and energy restrictions. Peat industry in the region was still at an embryonic level. Recent plans to use straw, husks, dung have been ridiculed as having no serious significance for resolving the region’s energy problems. Wind power continued to exist, but it was suitable only for small farms and was in no way suitable for powering large industrial plants ^[125] . In total, there were electrical installations in the region with a total capacity of 47 thousand kW ^[125] .

The main prospects for the development of energy were associated with the construction of a large hydroelectric station near Samarskaya Luka, whose estimated capacity was seen at 1,680 thousand kW with an annual production of over 9 billion kWh. However, the scale of the work was such that it exceeded the capabilities of the next two five-year plans, according to Krzhizhanovsky ^[126] . At the same time, energy was required to the edge much faster ^[125] .

In the decision of the XVII Congress of the CPSU (b), it was proposed to launch "wide industrial construction in such previously industrially backward regions as the Middle Volga ... and others on the basis of the development of large-scale industry in them" ^[125] . To solve the energy issue, they continued to rely on oil shale ^[125] , by the reserves of which the region was in first place in the USSR ^[108] .

According to the plan of the second five-year plan, two mines with a capacity of one million tons of shale each were to be put into operation at the Kashpirskoye field. The Kashpirsky gas chemical plant (also known as the Syzran oil shale processing plant) was supposed to process oil shale into gas, and General Syrtovsky into liquid fuel ^[108] .

The annual growth of wood around the edge was estimated at 7 million cubic meters. In the late 1920s, this was considered sufficient to provide the region with wood fuel ^[20] .

During the first five-year plan, agricultural electrification advanced somewhat, reaching a plant capacity of 4000 kW. Plans for the second five-year period amounted to 32,000 kW ^[82] .

Power Consumption

78% of the energy consumed in the region was accounted for by the needs of the population and various institutions, industry consumed only 13.9% with the prospect of growth to 17.6% in 1932-1933 ^[127] .

82.4% of all energy in the region was provided by burning wood, 8.6% - by burning various surrogates (husk, dung, etc.), oil products (6.3%), coal (2.6%). The share of peat was only 0.4%. By the end of the first five-year plan, it was planned to increase the share of peat and coal and reduce the consumption of other fuels ^[127] .

In general, it was believed that, with rational use, the region would have enough of its own fuel reserves throughout the first five years, even without taking into account imported coal and oil ^[128] .

Energy infrastructure was very poorly developed. Only cities were electrified, and far from all, there was no own power station even in Penza, where the excess capacity of the factory power plant was used. All rural settlements accounted for no more than ten specially built and equipped power plants, used primarily for lighting. There were practically no power lines ^[129] . The total electricity generation per person was very insignificant even in the regional center: about 30 kWh per person, in Ulyanovsk and Orenburg even lower: 16-26 kWh per person, the actual consumption by the population is even lower, since industry also used the generated electricity ^[130] . In the same period in Western Europe, energy consumption by the population ranged from 140 to 430 kWh ^[130] .

By the end of the first five-year plan, it was planned to increase the installed capacity of power plants in the region by 3.85 times, and the actual output by 3.3 times ^[131] for which it was planned to expand existing power plants, build new ones. It was also planned to expand the functionality of power plants during modernization in order to turn them into TPP ^[132] . There was no rural electrification plan for the first five-year plan ^[133] .

The main cargo destinations were the CPP (28.5%), the Uzbek SSR (12.6%), the Kazakh SSR (10.8%), the Ukrainian SSR (10.2%) ^[134] . Cargo suppliers were the Ukrainian USSR (25.8%), the Kazakh SSR (13.3%), the Siberian Territory (10.4%), the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (10.3%) ^[135] .

Mostly grain was exported to the Uzbek , Turkmen SSR , the Central Industrial Region and the North-Western Territory and the Leningrad Region ^[136] .

The main addressee of the forest and firewood was the Ukrainian SSR (34.8% of the total) ^[137] .

In the late 1920s, the region occupied one of the last places in the RSFSR in terms of budgetary expenditures per capita. Moreover, the gap from the average level in the republic gradually increased (from 2 rubles 85 kom. In 1927-1928 to 3 p. 34 kopecks in 1928-1929. This was due to the exceptional general economic and cultural backwardness of the region ^[138] .

In the total mass of budgets of the RSFSR, the budget of the Middle Volga Region amounted to 4.3% in 1927-1928. When creating the plan for the first five-year plan, it was envisaged to increase the share of the region to 4.7% in 1932-1933 ^[138] . The gross industrial output of the region in 1928-1929 per inhabitant was 26 rubles 30 kopecks against 91 slaves. 30 kopecks on average in the RSFSR, that is, 3.5 times less ^[24] .

Only during the first five-year period, so many investments were made in the industry of the region, which was three times higher than the real value of all industry along the borders of the region for 1925 ^[77]

In 1931, budget expenditures per person were already 18 rubles. 18 kopecks, against 15 rubles. 12 kopecks in 1930 ^[57] .

Water transport

The Volga, which did not have any rapids on the territory of the region, was the main transport artery of the region, suitable for all types of manual navigation and rafting. The largest marinas in the region were: Ulyanovsk, Samara, Syzran, the less significant were Undory , Shilovka , Sengiley , Khryashchevka , Stavropol , Ekaterinovka ^[9] .

The Volga was also the only constantly navigable river within the region. During the spring flood it was also possible shipping to Sok , Samara and Greater Irgiz . Previously navigable were Sura and Moksha , but by the time the region existed they were considered only rafting. The Urals within the region were initially non-navigable, vessels reached only Uralsk ^[15] , however, with the help of bottom-dredging works ^[9] since 1932, vessels began to sail regularly to Orenburg ^[139] . It was planned in the future to bring shipping to Orsk ^[12] .

However, in 1931 there were serious infrastructural problems: poorly equipped mooring lines, lack of mechanization of loading and unloading operations, untreated backwaters. By 1930 alone, freight turnover exceeded the pre-war figures of 2.85 million tons ^[140] .

Rail Transport

The first railway in the territory appeared in 1874 ^[141] . The total length of the railroads by 1930 (and by 1932) was 3,307 km, with most of it being on major transit routes connecting the European part of the USSR with the regions of the Urals, Siberia, and Central Asia ^[142] . According to the comprehensive indicator of railroad services to the population, the Middle Volga Region occupied the third place in the country, after the Turkmen and Byelorussian SSRs , significantly exceeding the average for the RSFSR ^[143] .

In the total mass of goods passing through the railways of the region, transit amounted to 38.1% ^[144] . In the structure of cargo export, the first place was occupied by grain ones, occupying 20–33% depending on the crop in a particular year ^[145] .

The second place in terms of turnover was occupied by forest materials and firewood, partially exported from right-bank forest districts, partially from transshipment points, as a result of overloading rafting forest onto the railway ^[146] .

Significant volume in the structure of railroad cargo was occupied by oil and oil products, which was caused by the presence of transshipment points of Baku and Chechen oil that came to the region along the Volga to the railways in Samara, Ulyanovsk and Batraki ^[137] .

The total supply of railways was 13.5 km per 1000 square meters. km ^[143] .

The density of the railway network was 4.76 km per 10 thousand inhabitants ^[57] .

Cargo turnover for 1929/1930 amounted to 7.3 million tons of shipped cargo and 5.4 million tons of arrived ^[57] .

Roads

The low availability of railroads attached great importance to rail transport. However, the situation with roads in the territory of the region was extremely difficult, the basis of the transport network was dirt roads without any stone cover, often difficult to pass in separate seasons. A number of roads did not at all provide the possibility of a full load of carts even in favorable weather due to the high rut and steepness of the lifts ^[147] .

The total length of the region’s roads was estimated at 72,613 km, of which 548 km were of state significance, 1219 km of republican roads, 1367 km of regional roads, 4436 km of district roads, 64,043 km of district and rural roads. Stone coating is minimal at all: on average 140 meters per km on state roads, 110 m per km - republican, 70 m per km - regional, 50 m per km - district, 2 m per km - for rural and regional roads ^{[148 ]} . Even in those areas where the coating was available, it was a simple cobblestone pavement without any ghosting of stones, very difficult for horse-drawn and automobile transport. Only 10% were highways , another 7% was covered with gravel ^[148] .

In 1932, it was 548 km (101.5 km) covered by the Union, 949 km republican (92.1 km covered), 2861.5 km - regional (385.1), 64242 km - rural (85.3 km). Only 72 600 km, 655 km (0.9%) are covered ^[140] .

In this case, their condition was very deplorable, no more than 17% were in satisfactory condition, that is, it required only current repair ^[149] , while others required a major overhaul or complete reconstruction ^[149] . By 1932, 88% of covered roads already required major repairs ^[140] .

There were also very few bridges with an average supply of 1.73 linear meters per km, with an indicator for the RSFSR of 3.3 linear meters ^[149] . Only 14% of the bridges required ongoing repairs, while the rest were overhauled or completely rebuilt ^[149]

Even the postal and telegraph industry was heavily dependent on the agricultural economy of the region. Revenues in the industry decreased markedly with crop failures, and grew with a good harvest, which is not surprising since rural post exchange in the province was 28.8%, with the USSR average at 15.4% ^[150] .

In the Territory for 1930 there were 383 post offices and 5012 mailboxes. 94.8% of the region’s population was reached by postal services, with an average of 88% for the USSR ^[151] .

Telephone and telegraph communication was at a level slightly below the national average; 25725 people accounted for 1 enterprise with telecommunications ^[152] . By the end of 1930, only one district executive committee had no telephone connection, however, the picture was different among the village councils, only 6.7% were telephoned ^[153] .

Telephone communication with Moscow had Samara, Kuznetsk, Syzran and Penza. With the introduction of the Moscow-Samara-Orenburg telephone line in 1930, communication with the capital also appeared in Orenburg ^[153] . By the end of the five-year plan, it was planned to connect Ulyanovskaya and Buguruslan ^[154] .

Local telephone networks were available only in twenty settlements of the region, and the technical condition was extremely unsatisfactory with material depreciation of 50% and moral in 60%. ^[154] . The total capacity of the switches was 5554 numbers, there were 4343 subscribers (1930). There were only 0.06 subscribers per 1000 inhabitants, which is ten times lower than the total for the USSR ^[154] . Mostly with the use of telephone operators , but with the beginning of the first five-year period, active work began on the transfer to automatic telephone exchanges ^[154]

Radio communication in the region was provided by 3 broadcast stations (Samara, Orenburg, Penza), 13 broadcast nodes. Reception was provided by 2500 lamp receivers, 5300 detector receivers, 3000 radio points on the wire ^[154] .

Public utilities

The population of the cities with a living space was low - 5.03 km. Meter with an average of 6 km meters in the RSFSR. In Chapaevsk, the indicator was reduced to 3 km. The darkness of the construction of new housing did not keep pace with the population growth rate, only in 1928 in Samara the norm of living space decreased from 4.57 km to 4.37 m² ^[155] .

In 1930, new housing construction was predominantly wooden and small, only 5% accounted for stone apartment buildings, which, however, accounted for about 30% of the total area commissioned ^[156] .

Also lagging behind the national level and the provision of other utilities. There were only 13.4 kilowatts of installed capacity of power plants per thousand people versus 15 in the RSFSR ^[157] . In Temnikov and Chapaevsk there were no power stations at all, in nine cities there was no water supply, in five - baths ^[157] .

Material depreciation of utilities in 1930 was 25% ^[157] .

Water supply was available only in 9 out of 20 cities, the average level of household connection to the water supply network was only 9%, the maximum was in Ulyanovsk, where 15% of households used centralized water supply ^[158] . On average, the water consumption per inhabitant was 9.5 m³ per year, however, water consumption by enterprises was not taken into account in this figure ^[158] .

Of the twenty cities in the region, only three had sewage: Samara, Orenburg and Ulyanovsk ^[158] , and the number of subscribers connected to the system was very small, in Samara only 5% of households had a connection to the sewage system ^[158] .

Cesspool carts were available in Penza, Ulyanovsk, Syzran, Samara, Buzuluk and Melekess ^[158] .

Utility baths were available in all cities except Saransk, Ardatov and Kroasnoslobodsk. There were 7.2 visits per inhabitant per year ^[158]

There was a tram only in Samara, where on October 1, 1928 there were 45 kilometers of tracks, including 33 kilometers of double-track, 10 kilometers of single-track and 2 park ^[159] . The rolling stock consisted of 67 motor cars, 18 passenger trailers, 6 freight cars, 2 snow plows ^[159] . Between 1927 and 1928, 138.7 trips were made per capita, however, due to the lowered fare and the large number of tram fleet maintenance staff, the tram was unprofitable (71.1 ruble of income for 74.8 rubles per day) ^[159] .

Bus traffic was established in Orenburg, Penza and Ulyanovsk. There were 22 buses in total, which yielded only 11.6 trips per inhabitant per year in the years 1927-1928. Transportation was also unprofitable, probably due to the insufficient number of buses and the fact that most of the rolling stock was not actually buses, but converted cars with reduced capacity ^[159] .

And without that, the low improvement of cities in the region often decreased almost to zero. So in Bednodemyansk only 1% of the streets and squares of soaps are paved, in Buguruslan only 1% of the territory was occupied by green spaces. Those cities where improvement was higher experienced a problem with its maintenance, the average wear of pavements and sidewalks was 60-70% ^[159] .

On average, green areas in the cities accounted for only 3% of the total area under existing sanitary rules with a minimum of 10%. The total surface of the bridge was about 20% of the total area of ​​streets, driveways and squares of the cities of the region. Most of the pavements are stone, asphalt made up only 2%, even in Samara. Total bridge wear exceeded 50% ^[160] .

Street lighting also lagged significantly behind national standards. In 1927-1928 there were only 1,077 lanterns in the region, which gave an indicator of 1.2 lanterns per kilometer of streets, with an average of 2 lanterns in the RSFSR for the period 1926-1927. In some cities, the situation was even worse: Orenburg - 0.8 lanterns per km, Penza - 0.7, Syzran - 0.4 ^[161] .

The countryside throughout the territory of the region had practically no improvement. Of all the possible utilities, there was only one small power station in Belinskaya and a 1.3 km long water supply in Korsuni ^[162] .

The fire brigade in the region was in extremely poor condition, with approximately 40% of its equipment, and what was significantly worn out, with a constant decrease in funding, and as a result, the region was one of the first in terms of combustibility in the RSFSR, from 1927-1928. there were 8869 fires in the region, in which 160836 buildings were completely burned, which caused huge losses ^[162] .

In general, the municipal economy of the region was in extremely poor condition. The rural population was deprived of all elements of improvement, had an extremely weak fire protection ^[163] . The cities had dilapidated pavements, had a significant shortage of green spaces, were practically not sewer, with insufficient number of baths, not provided with water pipes, poor street lighting and insufficient capacity of power plants. All this was accompanied by an acute housing crisis in conditions of significant deterioration of the existing housing stock ^[164] .

From 1928 to 1931, 873 thousand m² of housing, 5 power plants with a capacity of 510 kW, 6 baths, etc. were built. But the growth of living space lagged behind the growth of the population of cities. Serious difficulties were in Samara, Chapaevsk, Ruzayevka, Penza, Abdulino, the situation was especially bad in new buildings: Halilovo, General Syrt, Kashpir ^[140] . By 1932, it was planned to bring the security rate to 5.1 square meters. measure per person ^[140] . It was also planned to build power plants in Abdulino (2 MW), Buguruslan (3 MW), 8 new water pipelines (Abdulino, Kinel, Orsk, Halilovo, Sol-Iletsk, Batraki, Ruzayevka), 26 new saunas ^[140] .

Education

According to the data for 1926-1927, the average literacy rate in the RSFSR was 44.1%, in the Middle Volga Region it was only 36.4%, which put the region in one of the last places in this indicator in the RSFSR. Literacy among national minorities was even worse: literacy among Mordovians was 22.7%, Chuvash - 32.4. Moreover, women's literacy was even lower: among Mordovians - 8.4%, Chuvash - 17.3% ^[165] . In the Samara District, literacy rates were highest - 43.4%, the minimum were in the national Buguruslan District (27.4%) and the Mordovian Region (27.3%) ^[165] .

Coverage of children of school age 8-11 years was only 72.7%, with an average of 86.3% in the RSFSR ^[166] . Similarly, the backwardness of the region was also observed in the provision of schools of other ages.

The load on a school worker in the region was 44 people, with an average of 40 people in the RSFSR ^[167] .

The provision of the population with vocational education was half the average for the RSFSR ^[168] . The region was extremely large in the number of university students: 0.07 people per thousand population, with an average of 1.32 in the RSFSR ^[169] .

The region’s indicators for providing the population with huts and reading rooms (8500 people per hut vs. 5555 people on average in the RSFSR), libraries (7645 people against 6240), and a book fund (6.2 people per book against 5) were significantly behind.

From the beginning of the academic year 1930–1931, compulsory universal primary education was introduced for children aged 8–11 years ^[57] .

In 1931, adult illiteracy was eliminated ^[57] . Coverage of children of preschool age by preschool institutions increased from 0.53% in 1927/28 to 46.2% in 1931. Coverage of children of school age increased from 54.6% to 99.3%. The number of residents of the region per one reading-house hut dropped to 5100. Students in vocational education institutions per 1000 inhabitants increased from 2.93 to 6.5, and students in a call from 0.07 to 0.67. Local budget spending on public education increased from 2 p. 67 per person to 7 p 71 in 1931 ^[57] . However, 92.6% of the rear educational institutions were wooden, 44% of them were built before 1905 ^[57] .

Expenditures on public education accounted for the main place in the expenditures of the local budget in 1931 - 43.7% ^[57] .

The situation with qualified personnel was extremely difficult. For every 100 workers, there were 0.3 engineers and 1.2 technicians, while on average in the USSR the indicators were 0.98 and 2.26 people, respectively ^[57] . There was a similar shortage of specialists in agriculture. In 1931, the main branches of the national economy of the region experienced a deficit of 4.5 thousand specialists with higher education and 11.2 thousand with secondary vocational education ^[57] .

Health

The provision of medical care to the population of the region noticeably lagged behind that on average in the RSFSR; there was also a significant gap in the level of provision of basic types of medical care for the urban and rural population of the region ^[170] .

In 1929-1930, in the hospital bed in 1929-1930 there were 845 people (549 - on average in the RSFSR), 18756 people per medical unit (17190), 4715 people per doctor (2666) ^[170] .

There were 4.6 hospital beds per 1000 people in cities (5.9 on average in the RSFSR), 0.23 in rural areas (0.56 for the RSFSR) ^[170] . By 1931, 4.6 hospital beds per 1000 in cities (6.45 in the RSFSR) and 0.45 in rural areas (0.64 in the RSFSR) ^[57] . The number of hospital beds in 1931: 9928 (1929–7590), of which 5336 (498) and 4592 (2992) in villages were in cities ^[57] .

The region was characterized as highly epidemic, which was associated with a low level of communal improvement, the neighborhood with disadvantaged national republics, periodic crop failures, and a quantitative weakness of the treatment and prevention network ^[170] .

There were two tuberculosis sanatoriums for adults and one for children ^[171] . In the territory of the region there were three resorts of state significance: Sergievsky Mineral Waters and the kumysolechnicheskaya Krasnaya Polyana and Stepnaya Mayak. The total capacity of local sanatoriums was estimated at 1900 bed months for adults and 1200 bed months for children ^[171] .

In 1931, health care expenditures ranked second in the local budget — 11% ^[140] .

1. ↑ Hereinafter, in the absence of special notes, the territory of the region is described until December 7, 1934, when the Orenburg region was allocated as a separate entity of the RSFSR
2. ↑ Hereinafter, for the convenience of orientation, the okrug districts that were abolished back in 1930 are indicated
3. ↑ According to an earlier source - 49.7 people per 1 km² in 1929 ^[59]
4. ↑ According to the existing division, the Volga region included the Moscow Region , Ivanovo Region , Nizhny Novgorod Territory , the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , the Middle Volga Region , the Lower Volga Region
5. ↑ According to the criteria of that time, enterprises with a staff of at least 30 people in the absence of an engine and 15 with an engine belonged to the censored industry

• The Middle Volga Region (economic and socio-cultural review) . - M. - Samara: State. publishing house; Middle Volzh. edges. Department, 1930 .-- 530 s.
• Middle Volga. Socio-economic reference book / F. Popov. - M., Samara: Srednevolzhsk regional state publishing house, 1932. - 174 p. - 8100 copies.
• Middle Volga. Socio-economic directory / under total. ed. S. N. Krylova. - 2nd ed., Ext. - M., Samara: Middle Volga regional publishing house, 1934. - 391 p.