The People's Commissariat of Communication Routes of the Soviet Union was the state body of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, which controlled the activities of the railway and other types of transport of the Soviet Union in 1923–1946.

History

In 1923, after the formation of the Soviet Union, the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was transformed into the All–Union People's Commissariat of Communication Routes of the Soviet Union.

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...

, Chairman of the All–Russian Emergency Commission, became its first head (People's Commissar). Before leaving the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes to the post of Chairman of the Supreme Council of the National Economy,

in January 1924 submitted to the

Council of Labor and Defense The Council of Labor and Defense ()Sovet truda i oborony, Latin acronym: STO), first established as the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense in November 1918, was an agency responsible for the central management of the economy and production ...

of the Soviet Union a detailed "Report on the State Merchant Marine". It analyzed the work of the Soviet navy, outlined the draft shipbuilding program for 10 years drawn up by the Central Maritime Transport Administration and the State Merchant Marine fleet, and proposed a small number of ships to be purchased abroad as a temporary measure. On 2 March 1929, the Institute of Shipbuilding and Ship Repair was established as part of the Research Department of the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes, headed by Professor (later Academician) Valentin Pozdunin. On 13 February 1930, the Presidium of the

Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (), which may be abbreviated as the CEC (), was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elec ...

approved the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars "On the reorganization of the management of sea and river transport". In the fall of 1930, the Institute of Shipbuilding and Ship Repair was transformed into the Central Research Institute of Maritime Transport (the first director was Sergeev). A year after the merger with a similar river transport institute, the Central Scientific Research Institute of Water Transport was established with a seat in Leningrad (the first director was Tolstousov) and a branch in Moscow. The institute carried out research in the field of economics and fleet operation, ship repair, capital construction and use of waterways and ports. On 30 January 1931, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union adopted a decree "On the formation of the People’s Commissariat for Water Transport of the Soviet Union", on the basis of which sea and river transport and all port facilities were separated from the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes. In 1931 and 1932, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union adopted a number of decrees aimed at intensifying transportation and improving the work of rail and road transport. In 1932, the decision of the Council of People's Commissars on the reconstruction of railways was made. This decision envisaged: strengthening the track by laying heavier rails, wide use of rubble ballast, creating powerful

locomotives A locomotive is a rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for longer and heavier freight train ...

(''

'', ''

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

''), heavy 4-axle

cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

, switching rolling stock to automatic brakes and automatic

coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mo ...

, creating semi-automatic and automatic locking systems, introducing mechanical and electrical interlocking arrows and signals and more. In 1940, the operational length of the network reached 106.1 thousand kilometers, the transportation of goods amounted to 592.6 million tons. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the European part of the railway network was almost completely destroyed, 40% of cars and 50% of locomotives were lost. Despite this, the railway transport fully provided military transportation and cargo delivery to the front. In 1946, the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes of the Soviet Union was transformed into the

Ministry of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure ...

of the Soviet Union.

People's Commissars of Communication Routes of the Soviet Union

Activities of the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes of the Soviet Union

During the First World War and the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, more than 60% of the network, 90% of the

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

and 80% of the

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

fleet were destroyed. Only by 1928 was it possible to basically restore the destroyed railway transport and to bring traffic to the volume of 1913.

References

Sources

*{{cite book , last=Under the General Editorship of Timofey Guzhenko , date=1984 , title=Sea Transport of the Soviet Union (to the 60th Anniversary of the Industry) , location=Moscow , publisher=Transport , ref=Sea transport of the Soviet Union Transport in the Soviet Union Communication Routes

History

People's Commissars of Communication Routes of the Soviet Union

See also

Activities of the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes of the Soviet Union

References

Sources