“And apple trees will bloom on Mars,” the youth of the Soviet Union dreamed and believed in the future. But before embarking on the conquest of other planets, it was necessary to put in order your own. The drought and famine of the forties pushed the Soviet government to the idea that the country's nature needed to be controlled and transformed.
Prerequisites for creating a plan
The Great Patriotic War was a heavy blow to the economy of the USSR. Hunger, disease, devastation became its consequences. But the country did not have time to recover from the troubles brought by the war, when another tragedy hit it, this time of a natural character - the drought that happened in 1946 and provoked a new wave of hunger and disease.
In order to prevent such tragedies in the future, in October 1948, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a decree with a long and complex title - “On the plan of field-afforestation, introduction of grass crop rotation, construction of ponds and ponds to ensure high sustainable yields in the steppe and forest-steppe regions European part of the USSR. " Many later this plan is known under a different name - "Stalin's plan for transforming nature." That is what he was called in the press and in other media. It has a few short names, for example, “The Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature” or “The Great Transformation”.
The essence of the project
The Stalinist plan for the transformation of nature was a program of comprehensive regulation of nature and the distribution of natural resources by scientific methods. The program began in the late 40s - early 50s of the last century. The project was designed for the period from 1945 to 1965, during which it was planned to create several large forest belts in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of the country and an irrigation system.
Plan development
The plan conceived by IV Stalin and approved by the country's leadership did not appear from scratch. Its appearance was preceded by long research and experiments by scientists. Since 1928, experts from the Academy of Sciences and other scientific centers of the USSR, agricultural university students from all cities and volunteers worked on the transformation of one of the desert sites in Astrakhan: they planted trees, carried out continuous measurements, and tried to adapt the unsuitable land for agriculture. It took twenty years for their work to bear fruit. The trees grown by the hands of scientists and foresters, never before seen in the desert, not only were able to survive on their own, but also began to change the climate and the land around: thanks to the shade it became 20% cooler. The water vapor has changed. The experiment, during which it was measured how much rain one small pine tree collects during the winter, showed that by planting a grove it is possible to irrigate the earth with several tons of moisture.
Project Scope
The scale of landscaping was so great that forest plantings were supposed to change the climate in a vast territory. It is approximately equal to the area of England, France, Italy, Holland and Belgium combined.
The goal of the Stalinist transformation of nature
The main goal was to prevent natural disasters that so often hit the country and harm agriculture - droughts, storms, hurricanes. On a large scale, the goal of the Stalinist reforms was climate change throughout the USSR.
The construction of reservoirs, the change of riverbeds, planting of forests and new species of plants should have had a favorable effect on the climate of a vast country. Particular attention was paid in the Stalin plan to the transformation of the nature of the south of the USSR (Ukraine, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan), since the most fertile lands were located in these territories, and the hot southeast winds interfered with farming.
Preparing for the Great Transformation
Stalinist transformations were supposed to change the climate in vast territories. To achieve such a large-scale goal, it was necessary to carry out a number of preparatory measures.
In addition to the experiment in the Astrakhan desert, scientists V.V. Dokuchaev, P.A. Kostychev, V.R. Williams worked on the grassland farming system. They needed to pick up such herbs and legumes, which could sow the soil, in need of rest. Plants were selected in such a way that they would not only enrich tired land as much as possible, but would also be suitable for livestock feed. Thus, the Stalinist plan for the transformation of nature envisaged not only climate change and assistance in crop production, but also an improvement in the situation regarding the production of meat products.
Agricultural workers began to pre-harvest the seeds of trees and shrubs needed to make the plan a reality. The number of harvested seeds included linden, ash, oak, Tatar maple, yellow acacia - all the trees were worked out in advance by scientists and selected so that together they could make an ideal forest belt. Shrubs were selected so that their fruits attracted the attention of birds - a special preference was given to raspberries and currants.
To speed up the landscaping process, a special ministry has developed machines for the simultaneous planting of seven strips of trees.
To work out and implement the plan, the Agrolesproekt Institute was created. Thanks to the work of his specialists, it was possible to realize many bold ideas for landscaping the USSR.
Basic principles of the Stalinist plan for the transformation of nature
Despite the fact that the territories of the USSR were truly huge, there were general principles with which they approached the change of nature. The following principles have been commonly used:
- The forest was planted at the borders of fields, along the slopes of ravines, the banks of water bodies, as well as in desert and sandy zones for fixing sand.
- For each type of plant, a different type of fertilizer was selected.
- Irrigation was carried out at the expense of local sources of water, ponds and ponds were built for these purposes.
Plans of the Stalinist government
It was planned to plant more than 5 thousand kilometers of forest plantations in 15 years (from 1950 to 1965), which would have amounted to more than 100 thousand hectares.
The Stalinist plan for the transformation of nature as a severe necessity appeared before the people of the Volga region. The whole history of this region led to such measures - frequent crop failures, droughts and, as a result, hunger many times became a real disaster for the Volga. Therefore, tree planting along the banks of the Volga was carried out in several directions.
Most of the trees were planned to be planted along the banks of the river. Volga: from Saratov to Astrakhan. It was planned to plant 900 km of coastal territories there. From the Volga to Stalingrad, the forest was to take 170 km. 570 km was supposed to take the forest in the direction of the Volga - Vladimir.
600 km of landings were planned along the watershed in the direction of Penza - Kamensk.
Also, special attention was paid to the Ural and Don rivers. It was planned to plant more than 500 km along the banks of these rivers.
More than 40 thousand reservoirs should have appeared, which would have allowed the creation of farms that did not depend on natural conditions in the entire USSR. According to some estimates, the crop that was planned to be obtained through the implementation of the Stalinist transformation plan was so large that it could feed half the inhabitants of our planet.
“The plan outlines the creation during 1950-1965. large state forest shelter belts with a total length of 5320 km, with an area of forest planting 112.38 thousand ha. These bands will pass: 1) on both banks of the river. Volga from Saratov to Astrakhan - two lanes 100 m wide and 900 km long; 2) on the watershed pp. Khopra and Medveditsa, Kalitva and Berezova in the direction of Penza - Ekaterinovka - Kamensk (on the Seversky Donets) - three lanes 60 m wide, with a distance between the lanes of 300 m and a length of 600 km; 3) on the watershed pp. Ilovli and Volga in the direction of Kamyshin - Stalingrad - three strips 60 m wide, with a distance between the strips 300 m and a length of 170 km; 4) on the left bank of the river. Volga from Chapaevsk to Vladimirova - four lanes 60 m wide, with a distance between lanes of 300 m and a length of 580 km; 5) from Stalingrad to the south on Stepnaya - Cherkessk - four strips 60 m wide, with a distance between strips 300 m and a length of 570 km, although at first it was conceived as a forest belt Kamyshin-Stalingrad-Stepnoy-Cherkessk, but due to certain technical difficulties, it was decided to divide into 2 forest belts Kamyshin-Stalingrad along the river. Ilovlya and p. The Volga and Stalingrad proper - Cherkessk and the Green Ring of Stalingrad as a connecting link between them; 6) along the banks of the river. Urals in the direction of Mount Vishnevaya - Chkalov - Uralsk - Caspian Sea - six lanes (three on the right and three on the left bank) 60 m wide, with a distance between the 200 m and a length of 1080 km; 7) on both banks of the river. Don from Voronezh to Rostov - two lanes 60 m wide and 920 km long; 8) on both banks of the river. Seversky Donets from Belgorod to the river. Don - two lanes with a width of 30 m and a length of 500 km. "
Excerpt from the Stalinist Plan for the Transformation of Nature
Putting the plan into practice
Of course, the Stalinist plan for transforming nature was very ambitious. But thanks to the coordinated work of many government agencies and several scientific institutions, the first stage of implementation was extremely successful.
Thanks to the work of Agrolesproekt, forests along the Dnieper, Don, Volga and Urals have turned green.
More than 4 thousand reservoirs were created, which positively affected the environment and made it possible to obtain cheap electricity through the use of the power of water. The water accumulated in the reservoirs was successfully used for irrigation of gardens and fields.
But the plan, designed for 15 years, did not have time to be completed, and was curtailed with the death of Stalin in 1953.
Work on the transformation of nature after the death of Stalin
After the death of I.V. Stalin, N. S. Khrushchev came to power. The new head of state did not want to continue the old course regarding nature and ecology. The "last blow of Stalin" - the Stalinist plan for the transformation of nature - was rejected by the new government. Firstly, Khrushchev aimed to get rid of all of Stalin's legacy. Secondly, the plan for the transformation of nature, developed by Stalin, was too long-term, and the new government was aimed at obtaining a quick result. As a result, the country switched to an extensive way of farming, and, as directed by Khrushchev, all forces were devoted to the development of new lands. The consequences of this decision were deplorable. In the beginning of the 60s, a catastrophe happened: virgin soil erosion and crop failures began on virgin soil. The country again faced the threat of hunger, grain was purchased abroad.
Only in the 80s, during the reign of Brezhnev, it was decided to continue work with the Stalinist plan for the transformation of land. About 30 thousand hectares of forest were planted.
However, they returned to the plan too late: many forests and reservoirs were abandoned. Due to the large number of dried trees, forests began to pose a fire hazard. Forest resources cut down or destroyed by fire became an irreplaceable loss for the environment, as new trees did not have time to take the place of old ones.
Plan results
Thanks to a number of activities called in the literature “Stalin's Plan for the Transformation of Nature”, at the first stage of its implementation, excellent results were achieved: grain yield growth was more than 25%, vegetable yield in some places increased by 75%, and herbs - by 200%! All this made it possible to improve the condition of collective farms and the well-being of residents of villages and villages, and allowed the development of livestock farming.
By 1951, the production of meat and fat increased. Milk production increased by more than 60%, and egg production by more than 200%.
The consequences of Khrushchev’s actions
Despite the impressive results, the plan was urgently curtailed as directed by Khrushchev. Because of this, 570 stations responsible for forest protection were liquidated. All this caused environmental problems and the food crisis.
By 1962, prices for dairy products and meat rose sharply.
Current state
Despite Khrushchev’s actions, the Stalinist transformation of nature today is still noticeable and plays a role in agriculture. For example, windbreaks continue to hold back wind and snow. But due to the fact that the plan for a long time was forgotten, and Brezhnev’s actions were extremely untimely, the forest belts are in poor condition. Planting trees on forest belts is extremely small. Forests are cut down due to poor condition, destroyed by fires. Part of the forest has been destroyed in favor of mass construction and continues to be destroyed to this day.
“Until 2006, they were part of the Ministry of Agriculture, and then they were liquidated statusfully. Finding no one, the forest belts began to be cut down intensively for cottage development or for the purpose of obtaining wood. ”
Director General of the Rosgiproles Institute (formerly Agrolesproject) M. B. Voytsekhovsky
The Stalinist plan for transforming nature in the photo is extremely grandiose and large-scale. Therefore, the works of Soviet people are not completely destroyed, but it is not difficult to imagine how the forest belts look today. The program, which has no analogues in the world, both in scale and in execution, was prematurely curtailed and forgotten. Therefore, even in the XXI century, you can hear a complaint that the crop was destroyed by natural disasters, frost or rain.