This authentic Soviet newsreel recounts some of the economic programs that defined the early history of the Soviet Union, and the industrialization of the nation that helped transform the USSR into a 20th Century superpower. The film is full of impressive imagery of Soviet power plants, mines, railroads, steel plants and heavy industry, road building, electrification, and the construction of huge factories and industrial plants.
Narrator: “1925 was the 8th year of the Soviet rule and the 4th year of the New Economic Policy. The New Economic Policy (NEP) met Lenin’s expectations. The production of consumer goods was improving, and industry was reaching the prewar level. (00.41)
But what level was that? The country remained agrarian. Most peasants had never seen tractors. Socialism had not yet proved to be the best option. (00.58) Lots of things had to be imported: Machines, pipes, cotton, rubber, vehicles. Russia paid for that in gold, bread, and timber. (00.16)”
“Only one power could overcome a century-long gap in development, the power of new factories, industrialization. Preparation for it had begun a long time ago. The GOELRO plan was developed, Shatura was built, old enterprises were reconstructed. (01.44) That’s when the first Soviet tractor was created. The first car was made. There was no foreign economic support, it was all done with the country’s own forces. Therefore, it was so important to choose the right path. (02.14) The word ‘industrialization’ was first mentioned during the 14th Congress of the Communist Party. It determined the course of the economic policy of the Soviet government for many years. (02.30)
Industrialization required energy to breathe life into plants and factories. The first hydroelectric plants started operating: the Volkhov and Zemo Avchala power stations. (02.48)
Industrialization required metal for heavy industries. The country was providing machinery for iron and steel works. New blast furnaces were constructed. (03.04) Industrialization required new sources of raw materials. Dozens of prospector groups left for Khibiny, to the Magnitnaya Mountain on the Urals, to Central Asia. (03.20)
Industrialization also liberated an unprecedented wave of enthusiasm from the workers. ‘Let us build the Dneprostroi Dam!’ – this loud call travelled across the country in 1927. Fierce, onrushing calls of ‘Let us build’ were booming in every corner of the country, urging the construction of a new life. (04.03) Good news came to the mountain villages as well. The Soviet Government began building a great railroad, TurkSib. Cries of ‘Let us build TurkSib!’ ‘Let us build the Stalingrad Tractor Factory!’ spread in the country in 1928. (04.28) Industrialization was accelerating. We were giving it our savings as selflessly as we were giving it our labor. (04.37)
“Socialism is no longer a matter of the distant future. Difficult as this task may be, new as it may be, we shall all—not in a day, but in a few years—all of us together fulfil it, so that NEP Russia will become socialist Russia.” (Lenin).
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