Foreign Delegations in Dnipropetrovsk City and Dnipropetrovska Oblast in 1945–1959

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to figure out the features of a foreign presence in the city and the region during 1945–1959, its intensity and content on the example of the visit of foreign delegations – from the end of the World War II, as a result of which the political map of Europe and the world, the content of international relations have changed, to the assignment to Dnipropetrovsk the status of a conditionally closed city in August 1959, which led to the prohibition of its visit by foreigners until 1987.Research methods: historical-chronological, comparative.Main results: One of the aspects of foreign presence in the region is revealed on the example of target groups, which, as a rule, came at the invitation of public organizations, as well as certain departments. Some features of visiting the region by foreign delegations, quantitative indicators, the composition of individual groups, residence programs, service problems were identified. It was found that a certain limit in visiting foreigners to the region, as well as in the whole USSR, was 1953, when, as a result of the liberalization of the foreign policy of the Soviet leadership, the foreign presence in the region became more massive and public. Dnipropetrovsk and the surrounding areas, along with Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, were one of the visiting points. The purpose of its visits was to familiarize with the Soviet reality for the formation of a certain image of the USSR, to demonstrate the "advantages" of the Soviet model, and, therefore caused a significant ideological load of programs and strict control by the party bodies. Since the mid-1950s, with the intensive development of international economic relations in the region, primarily in heavy industry, the number of delegations with production targets had been growing. The economic component of relations dominated the tourism sector, which almost did not cover the Dnipropetrovsk region, given the formation of closed industries. In conclusion, it was noted that already at the stage of late Stalinism, the city and region were a significant part of the international presentation of the USSR and Ukraine. However, the stay of foreign groups revealed significant problems in their service due to material difficulties, lack of experience and personnel, and the specifics of organizing admissions under conditions of totalitarian state.Practical significance: the article recommended for the practice of teaching and research regional and urban history.Originality: sources that were first introduced to scientific circulation were used – the Central State Archive of the Public Organizations of Ukraine, the State Archive of the Dnipropetrovsk Region (oblastʼ) and regional periodicals of the period.Scientific novelty: the issue of the presence of foreign delegations in the Dnipropetrovsk region during 1945–1959 was considered, the problem of the place of Dnipropetrovsk region, Dnipropetrovsk in the system of international relations of Ukraine of the totalitarian period was determined.Article type: explanation.