Zykin I. —
Timber industry activity of the GULAG correctional labor camps of the OGPU-NKVD of the USSR in the late 1920s - 1937
// Genesis: Historical research. – 2022. – ¹ 7.
– P. 21 - 33.
DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2022.7.36098
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/hr/article_36098.html
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Abstract: The article examines the activity of correctional labor camps specializing in timber industry in the Soviet Union in the period from the late 1920s to 1937, singled out as the first stage of development of this group of camp complexes. The definition of the concept of "forest" correctional labor camps is given. For the first time, an analysis of the timber industry activity of the camps was undertaken. "Forest" camps functioned in the areas of the largest Soviet cities (Moscow and Leningrad), in the European North, the Urals and Siberia. Their main function was reduced to the development of woodlands, timber harvesting, mechanical processing of forest resources developed to a lesser extent. Conclusions are drawn about the gradual expansion of the scale of the timber industry activity of correctional labor camps in the period from the late 1920s to 1937. However, at this stage, the volumes of harvesting and mechanical processing of wood by "forest" camps were insignificant against the background of the development of the forest industry in the country. The first multi–industry "forest" camp appeared - the White Sea-Baltic Combine, which had a strong influence on the development of the timber industry in the autonomous Karelian Republic. With the help of prisoners' labor, the construction of a pulp and paper enterprise in the Urals was carried out. The experience of using prisoners in the timber industry in the period from the late 1920s to 1937 was a significant groundwork for further enhancing the role of the Main Directorate of Camps of the NKVD of the USSR in the industry.
Zykin I. —
The Structure of Forest Management and the Role of the Soviet Union in the World Wood Industry During the Modernization Era at the End of the 1920s - 1930s
// History magazine - researches. – 2020. – ¹ 2.
– P. 143 - 158.
DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2020.2.31947
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/hsmag/article_31947.html
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Abstract: In the late 1920s - 1930s, according to official figures, the Soviet Union significantly increased its volume of timber industry production. However, the statistics did not include the private harvesting and procurement of wood by the population, that is, for household consumption, which until about the mid-1930s and its almost complete cutback, reached impressive quantities. Historiography formed an incomplete picture of timber management in the Soviet Union during the modernization period, and part of the official indexes are still today used by researchers to prove a significant increase in the volume of timber production in the country during the late 1920s - 1930s. This has made currently very relevant the task of studying changes in the structure of forest management and of determining the country's place in the global timber industry using estimates of the total volume of forestry resources and the value of the gross output of the wood industry. The author reveals that in the first decades of the 20th century the most actively developed areas of forestry were logging and mechanical processing of wood, while the proportion of deep wood processing in the value structure of forest management has changed little and remained at a low level. The author identifies the principal systemic problems in the forest industry of the Soviet Union in the late 1920s - 1930s, which became the causes of imbalances in its structure. Additionally, the author conducted a comparative analysis of the indexes of the Soviet state and of other countries and regions - leaders in the global wood industry. The study's conclusions include the highlighting of the persistence of imbalances in the timber industry in the late 1920s - 1930s and the lagging of the Soviet Union from other countries - industry leaders in the most important areas of timber production.