The Fate of the GOELRO Plan (Towards the Centenary of Soviet Russia’s Economic Development Program)

This article attempts to overcome one-sidedness in the assessment of the GOELRO Plan in the context of its centenary as well as to introduce some new data concerning this monumental economic program of the 20th century. The article touches upon the following themes: regarding an outstanding scientist and educator V. I. Grinevetskii as one of the leading ideologists of electrification; proving the prerevolutionary origins of the plan; assessment of the plan as a general economic program for the country’s development; insufficiency of time allocated for the work of the GOELRO Commission, and, accordingly, the plan’s shortcomings; analysis of statuses of the electrification programs and the first five-year plan; and comparison of different researchers’ opinions concerning the degree of completion of the GOELRO Plan. Comparative analysis of the plan and its international counterparts allowed to conclude about supranational scale and timeless topicality the GOELRO Plan that formed the basis for future national panning of industrial development.

Keywords

power engineering, electrification, GOELRO Plan, GOELRO Commission, V. I. Lenin, G. M. Krzhizhanovskii, V. I. Grinevetskii, second GOELRO Plan, first five-year plan

Received

12.12.2021

Publication date

14.12.2021

Number of characters

68910

Cite

GOST	Gvozdetsky V. The Fate of the GOELRO Plan (Towards the Centenary of Soviet Russia’s Economic Development Program) // Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki – 2021. – V. 42. – Issue 4 C. 656-683 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://vietmag.org/S020596060017426-0-1 (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020596060017426-0
MLA	Gvozdetsky, Vladimir "The Fate of the GOELRO Plan (Towards the Centenary of Soviet Russia’s Economic Development Program)." Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 42.4 (2021):656-683. DOI: 10.31857/S020596060017426-0
APA	Gvozdetsky V. (2021). The Fate of the GOELRO Plan (Towards the Centenary of Soviet Russia’s Economic Development Program). Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 42(4), pp.656-683 DOI: 10.31857/S020596060017426-0

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 405

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Bogdanov, N. P. (1961) Skvoz’ grozy i buri [Through Thunderstorms and Tempests], in: Neporozhnii, P. S. etc. (eds.) Sdelaem Rossiiu elektricheskoi [Let’s Make Russia Electric]. Moskva: Gosenergoizdat, pр. 39–57.
2. Chubais, A. B. (ed.) (2000) 80 let razvitiia energetiki: ot plana GOELRO k restrukturizatsii RAO EES Rossii [80 Years of the Development of Power Engineering: From the GOELRO Plan to the Restructuring of RAO UES of Russia]. Moskva: AO Informenergo.
3. Energetika Rossii. 1920–2020 gg. [Power Engineering in Russia. 1920–2020] (2006). Moskva: ID “Energiia”, vol. 1: Plan GOELRO [The GOELRO Plan].
4. Flakserman, Iu. N. (1964). Gleb Maksimillianovich Krzhizhanovskii [Gleb Maksimilianovich Krzhizhanovskii]. Moskva: Nauka.
5. Flakserman, Iu. N. (1985) Teploenergetika SSSR. 1921–1980 [Heat Power Engineering in the USSR. 1921–1980]. Moskva: Nauka.
6. Grinevetskii, V. I. (1919) Poslevoennye perspektivy russkoi promyshlennosti [Postwar Prospects of Russian Industry]. Moskva: Vserossiiskii tsentral’nyi soiuz potrebitel’skikh obshchestv.
7. Grinevetskii, V. I. (2010) Poslevoennye perspektivy russkoi promyshlennosti (reprint) [Postwar Prospects of Russian Industry (reprint)]. Moskva: Inzhener.
8. Gvozdetskii, V. L. (1980) Voprosy teorii planirovaniia narodnogo khoziaistva v plane GOELRO [The Issues of the Theory of National Economic Planning in the GOELRO Plan], Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki, no. 4, pр. 11–20.
9. Izvlecheniia iz doklada V. I. Lenina na VIII s”ezde Sovetov o deiatel’nosti Soveta narodnykh komissarov. 22 dekabria 1920 g. [Excerpts from V. I. Lenin’s Report at the Eighth Congress of Soviets on the Work of the Council of People’s Commissars. December 22, 1920] (1933), in: Krzhizhanovskii, G. M. Sochineniia [Works]. Moskva and Leningrad: Energoizdat, vol. 1: Elektroenergetika [Power Engineering].
10. Krzhizhanovskii, G. M. (1957) Izbrannoe [Selected Works]. Moskva: Gospolitizdat.
11. Lenin, V. I. (1952) Sochineniia. 4-e izd. [Works. 4th ed.]. Moskva: Gospolitizdat, vol. 35.
12. Lenin, V. I. (1964) Ob elektrifikatsii [On Electrification]. Moskva: Gospolitizdat.
13. Ob elektrifikatsii [On Electrification] (1957), in: Krzhizhanovskii, G. M. Izbrannoe [Selected Works]. Moskva: Gospolitizdat, pp. 190–218.
14. Piatiletnii plan narodnokhoziaistvennogo stroitel’stva SSSR [Five-Year Plan of Building National Economy of the USSR] (1957), in: Krzhizhanovskii, G. M. Izbrannoe [Selected Works]. Moskva: Gospolitizdat, pp. 261–306.
15. Plan elektrifikatsii RSFSR. 2-e izd. [The Plan of Electrification of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. 2nd ed.] (1955). Moskva: Gospolitizdat.
16. Postanovleniie VIII Vserossiiskogo s”ezda Sovetov (22–29 dekabria 1920 g.) po dokladu G. M. Krzhizhanovskogo ob elektrifikatsii [Decree of the 8th All-Russian Congress of Soviets (December 22–29, 1920) on G. M. Krzhizhanovskii’s Report on Electrification] (1933), in; Krzhizhanovskii, G. M. Sochineniia [Works]. Moskva and Leningrad: Energoizdat, vol. 1: Elektroenergetika [Power Engineering].
17. Shirshov, L. F. (1951) Leninsko-stalinskaia elektrifikatsiia SSSR [The Leninist-Stalinist Electrification of the USSR]. Moskva and Leningrad: Gosenegroizdat.
18. Stalin, I. V. (1951) Sochineniia [Works]. Moskva: Gospolitizdat, vol. 13.
19. Steklov, V. Iu. (1936) Elektrifikatsiia Strany Sovetov [The Electrification of the Country of the Soviets]. Moskva: Partizdat.