Tankograd : the formation of a Soviet company town : Cheliabinsk, 1900s-1950s

"Tankograd depicts the daily life and strivings of the people in the Urals, ordinary workers, peasants, engineers and managers who transformed a slumbering provincial city to a central element in Russia's defence industry. It combines social, economic, and cultural history with military analyses of the Urals' importance for the Soviet war efforts"-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 Halftitle......Page 2 Alsoby......Page 3 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 1 Cheliabinsk As a Mirror of Russia in the 20th Century......Page 14 2 From the Civil War to the Five-year Plans......Page 26 The Civil War in the Southern Urals......Page 33 The Battle of Cheliabinsk, July–August 1919......Page 41 Militarisation of labour and force against the peasantry......Page 46 Recovery under the New Economic Policy......Page 52 A new industrial landscape emerges......Page 53 Transformation of the countryside: collectivisation and dekulakisation......Page 61 3 The Industrial City As a Socialist Vision and Soviet Reality......Page 82 The changing character of Cheliabinsk city in the 1930s......Page 91 Sotsgorodók – a socialist ideal for the tractorfactory city district......Page 97 Barracks for industrial workers in ‘shanty towns’......Page 103 Health care and education......Page 107 Sport......Page 112 4 The Tractor Factory’s Civilian Productionand Military Potential......Page 116 Foreign specialists......Page 125 The significance of the tractor factory for the Red Army......Page 131 Evolution of the military doctrine......Page 136 Military-economic preparedness:The ChTZ enterprise in the 1930s......Page 141 5 Stagnation and Streamlining in theWhirlwinds of Terror, 1936–1939......Page 147 Purges of party members in 1937–1938......Page 151 Repression against technicians, engineers andleading cadres in the economy......Page 156 Mass repression campaigns......Page 163 Lavrentii Beria and the streamlining ofNKVD internal affairs......Page 167 6 Industrial Preparedness in Cheliabinsk, 1939–1940......Page 176 The USSR’s preparations for war in 1941......Page 187 The start of tank production at theCheliabinsk Tractor Factory......Page 189 7 Production Conditions for Heavy Tanks in the Urals......Page 196 The establishment of ‘Tankograd’......Page 204 The final battle for Berlin......Page 226 8 1418 Long Days on the Home Front in the Southern Urals......Page 230 Evacuation and conversion of industry......Page 233 Working conditions in Tankograd......Page 239 Soviet Germans build the new iron andsteel works in Cheliabinsk......Page 250 The countryside......Page 254 The political information sphere in the Urals......Page 262 Victory Day 1945 in the Southern Urals......Page 265 9 The New Military-Industrial Complex inCheliabinsk during the Cold War......Page 268 The reconversion of the tractor factory after the war......Page 271 The labour force......Page 274 Housing conditions......Page 277 The end of the career of the ‘Kings of Tanks’......Page 280 Youth protests in post-war Cheliabinsk......Page 281 The closed atomic cities in the Cheliabinsk region......Page 285 10 Historical Memory and Research in Today’s Cheliabinsk......Page 291 Notes......Page 303 Bibliography......Page 340 Index......Page 358 A major production site of Soviet KV and T-34 tanks in WWII, the town of Cheliabinsk in the Urals was nicknamed 'Tankograd', its civilian machine-building factories swiftly converted to arms production. This book gives a social, economic and political panorama that describes everyday life in a typical Soviet company town during the Stalin era. The once-closed town of Cheliabinsk in the Urals was nicknamed 'Tankograd' during World War Two. The dozens of new machine-building, metal and tractor factories established in the 1930s were swiftly prepared for conversion to arms production and Cheliabinsk became a major production site of the Soviet KV, IS and T-34 tanks. This book outlines a vast social, economic and political panorama that describes everyday life in a typical Soviet company town during the Stalin era. The socialist visions of the founders of the new cityscape in the early 1930s is contrasted with the dire conditions in the shanty townships on the outskirts of the city. The repression waves during the Great Terror 1937-8 are analyzed in their regional dimension, as well as the transformation of the historical memory after 1991 Machine generated contents note: Cheliabinsk as Mirror of Russia's 20th Century From the Civil War to the Five-year Plans Industrial City as Socialist Vision and Soviet Reality The Tractor Factory's Civilian Production and Military Potential Stagnation and Streamlining in the Whirlwinds of Terror, 1936-39 Industrial Preparedness in Cheliabinsk, 1939-1940 Production Conditions for Heavy Tanks in the Urals 1418 Long Weekdays on the Home Front in the Southern Urals The New Military-Industrial Complex in Cheliabinsk in the Cold War.