Development of Forest Resources in the Eastern Regions of the Soviet Union: Experience of the First Five-Year Plan

Abstract

Introduction. The policy of industrialization in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s and early 1940s radically changed the appearance of the country, contributed to the active development of the eastern regions of the country. A major factor in this process has been the availability of large forest resources. Materials and Methods. The place of the forest industry of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East in the strategy of the first five-year plan (1928–1932), which set the key vectors of the development of the industry, has not been studied enough. The study of the topic based on the concept of modernization is relevant. An analysis of the indicators of the first five-year plan and statistical information on the development of regional timber complexes in the eastern regions of the Soviet Union was undertaken, models of their development are described. Results. According to the first five-year plan, regional plans, the timber industry complex became a significant component of the macro-region economy. Its development was associated with the implementation of large projects for the construction of enterprises, the industrial development of the eastern regions – primarily the Ural-Kuznetsk plant. A conclusion was made on the planning of the development of the forest industry of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East in the direction of developing new forest areas, combination of machining and deep wood processing. Conclusions. As a result of the implementation of the first five-year plan, the models of regional timber complexes were adjusted. In particular, in Siberia and the Far East, projects for the construction of pulp and paper enterprises that could contribute to the integrated processing of forest resources were not implemented.