The first enterprises of the Tuvan People's Republic 1921-1944

The article examines the history of industrial construction in the Tuvan People's Republic in 1921-1944. The formation and development of the industrial sector of the Tuvan economy is not well represented in Russian historiography. Available works on this topic were written in Soviet times but now it is necessary to look at these problems from a modern perspective. Therefore, the author highlights important but poorly developed problems of the history of the transition of the Tuvan people to an industrial society. The purpose of the article is to consider the first steps towards the establishment of industrial production in Tuva to realize the local raw material potential. In accordance with the concepts of historical-genetic and retrospective methods, the history of the formation of the first industrial enterprises was revealed; content-analysis revealed productivity, technical equipment, volume and quality of their products. When writing the work, materials from the funds of the State Archive of the Republic of Tyva, excerpts from official documents were used. Also, the work was done using the data available in the works of predecessors who studied the topic. In 2019, the Republic of Tyva was recognized as the poorest region of the Russian Federation. According to the statistical data, the poverty level in the republic is 41.5% of the population. Such data are explained by the fact that the unemployment in the republic is highest in Russia, and many families live on government benefits. To date, Tuva lags behind other regions in industrial development in terms of infrastructure, economic potential, poverty and unemployment, etc. To understand the reasons for Tuva's industrial backwardness, it is necessary to turn to the history of industrial development of the republic, which turned 100 years old in 2021. The article shows that the process of industrial construction was difficult, since the majority of the Tuvan population was associated with traditional agricultural occupations, so the formation of collective industrial enterprises was hindered due to the lack of qualified workers. The article shows in detail that Russia provided serious assistance in the formation of industry in the Tuvan People's Republic. As a result, by the early 1940s, the foundations of the industrial sector of the republic's economy were laid; the first industrial enterprises and workforce were formed. The experience of industrial construction of Tuvan People's Republic shows the effectiveness of creating small enterprises that have the flexibility to quickly respond to market requirements. Also, attention should be paid to the preservation of animal husbandry skills among the indigenous population, which create a stable base for the development of meat processing, canning industry, wool processing and the hides and skin sector. Achieving sustained economic growth is possible with an increase in the level of employment and an increase in regional budget revenues. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References