GOELRO (russian: link=no, ГОЭЛРО) was the first
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
plan for national economic recovery and development. It became the prototype for subsequent
Five-Year Plans drafted by
Gosplan
The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan),
was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...
. GOELRO is the transliteration of the Russian abbreviation for "State Commission for Electrification of Russia" (Государственная комиссия по электрификации России).
![Stamp of USSR 1666](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Stamp_of_USSR_1666.jpg)
The Commission and Plan were initiated and supervised by
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
. Lenin's belief in the central importance of
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
to the achievement of
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
is represented by his statement that
The commission was established by the Presidium of the
VSNKh on February 21, 1920,
in accordance with February 3, 1920,
VTsIK
The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( rus, Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет, Vserossiysky Centralny Ispolnitelny Komitet, VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and r ...
resolution on the electrification plan development.
The director of the commission was
Gleb Krzhizhanovsky
Gleb Maximilianovich Krzhizhanovsky (russian: Глеб Максимилианович Кржижановский; 24 January 1872 – 31 March 1959) was a Soviet scientist, statesman, revolutionary, Old Bolshevik, and state figure as well as a geo ...
. About 200 scientists and engineers participated, including
Genrikh Graftio
Genrikh Osipovich Graftio (russian: Генрих Осипович Графтио, 26 December 1869 in Dünaburg – 30 April 1949 in Leningrad) was a Russian/Soviet engineer credited as a pioneer of the hydroelectric station construction, as o ...
,
Ivan Alexandrov
Ivan Gavrilovich Alexandrov (1875–1936) was a Russian/Soviet engineer who played a significant role in the modernization of the Soviet Union.
Early life
Alexandrov participated in developing the GOELRO plan, and was responsible for the Dnieper ...
, Mikhail Shatelen and others.
By the end of 1920 the Commission devised the "
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
Electrification Plan" (), that was approved subsequently by the
8th Congress of Soviets on December 22, 1920,
[On GOELRO Plan – at Kuzbassenergo]
and accepted by the
Sovnarkom
The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
(Soviet government) on December 21, 1921.
The Plan represented a major restructuring of the Soviet economy based on total electrification of the country. Lenin's stated goal for it was "...the organization of industry on the basis of modern, advanced technology, on electrification which will provide a link between town and country, will put an end to the division between town and country, will make it possible to raise the level of culture in the countryside and to overcome, even in the most remote corners of land, backwardness, ignorance, poverty, disease, and barbarism."
Foreign authors about the plan
In 1920, British writer
Herbert George Wells visited Soviet Russia and met with Vladimir Lenin. Wells believed that it was impossible to realise the Russian revolutionary’s plan, as he wrote in his book
Russia in the Shadows:
''"Interestingly, Herbert Well revisited the Soviet Union in 1934 and was really astonished with what he saw"'' - Yelena Kosheleva, Head of
Mosenergo
Mosenergo (also known as TGK-3;) is a Russian power generating company operating on fossil fuel and a large thermal generation. In addition to electric power it also generates and sells heat for consumers in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast. The compa ...
’s Museum Group, noted, when Mosenergo PLC had published a book called "GOELRO: 100 Years On", prior to the anniversary.
Implementation
The GOELRO Plan was implemented during a 10- to 15-year period. According to the Plan, the territory of the
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
was divided into eight regions, with distinct development strategies due to the specific features of each region: Southern Region, Central Industrial region, Northern Region,
Ural
Ural may refer to:
*Ural (region), in Russia and Kazakhstan
*Ural Mountains, in Russia and Kazakhstan
*Ural (river), in Russia and Kazakhstan
* Ual (tool), a mortar tool used by the Bodo people of India
*Ural Federal District, in Russia
*Ural econ ...
Region,
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
Region,
Turkestan
Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang.
Overview
Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...
Region,
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
Region and Western
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
Region.
The Plan included the construction of a network of 30 regional
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
s, including ten large
hydroelectric power plant
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
s, and numerous electric-powered large industrial enterprises.
It was intended to increase the total national power output per year to 8.8 billion
kWh, as compared to 1.9 billion kWh in
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
in 1913.
Soviet propaganda claimed that the plan was basically fulfilled by 1931.
In reality, only three out of ten hydroelectric stations were built by 1930: the
Volkhov
Volkhov (russian: Во́лхов) is an industrial town and the administrative center of Volkhovsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the river Volkhov east of St. Petersburg. Population:
It was previously known as ''Zvan ...
, the
Svir, and the
Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station ( uk, ДніпроГЕС, DniproHES; russian: ДнепроГЭС, DneproGES), also known as Dneprostroi Dam, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is the largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper river. ...
s.
The goal of 8.8 billion kWh was reached in 1931, and national power output continued to increase significantly. It reached 13.5 billion kWh by the end of the
first five-year plan
The first five-year plan (russian: I пятилетний план, ) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a list of economic goals, created by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, based on his policy of socialism in ...
in 1932, 36 billion kWh by 1937, and 48 billion kWh by 1940.
Ivan Alexandrov
Ivan Gavrilovich Alexandrov (1875–1936) was a Russian/Soviet engineer who played a significant role in the modernization of the Soviet Union.
Early life
Alexandrov participated in developing the GOELRO plan, and was responsible for the Dnieper ...
later directed the Regionalisation Commission of
Gosplan
The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan),
was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...
which divided the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
into thirteen
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an and eight
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
tic economic regions, using rational economic planning rather than "the vestiges of lost sovereign rights".
The term "Ilyich's lamp" (лампочка Ильича) for an
electric bulb, a reference to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, is a reminder of the Plan period.
File:GOELRO plan title page 1920.jpg, The GOELRO plan title page, 1920
File:RIAN_archive_436925_Poster_-742_%22Rosta_Windows%22_dedicated_to_Russia%27s_electrification_by_Vladimir_Mayakovsky.jpg, Poster #742 "Rosta Windows" dedicated to Russia's electrification by Vladimir Mayakovsky
File:RIAN archive 528016 Map depicting Russia's electrification.jpg, A map depicting Russia's electrification (1973)
File:RIAN_archive_763450_%22GOELRO_Plan%22_poster.jpg, "GOELRO Plan" poster by Alexander Lemeshchenko (1967)
File:Goerlo 03.jpg, The electrification of the Southern District according to the GOELRO plan
References
External links
85th anniversary of GOELRO planat the website of
RAO UES
OAO RAO UES (OAO Unified Energy System of Russia; russian: ЕЭС России or russian: Единая Энергетическая Система) was an electric power holding company in Russia. It controlled about 70% of Russia's installed el ...
Map of the electrificationfrom the
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
{{authority control
Documents of the Soviet Union
Economic history of the Soviet Union
1920 establishments in Russia
1920s economic history
1920 documents