Great Construction Projects of Communism () is a phrase that is used to identify a series of the most ambitious

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

megaproject A megaproject is an extremely large-scale construction and investment project. A more general definition is "Megaprojects are temporary endeavours (i.e. projects) characterised by: large investment commitment, vast complexity (especially in org ...

s of major great importance for the

economy of the Soviet Union The economy of the Soviet Union was based on state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, and Industrial engineering, industrial manufacturing. An administrative-command system managed a Soviet-type economic planning, dis ...

. The projects were initiated in the 1950s on the command of

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 ...

. The following projects in

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

, and

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

were initiated in 1950.A.A. Sokolov, ''

Hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary ...

of the USSR'', '' Gidrometeoizdat'', Leningrad, 1952
section "Great construction sites of communism
*Kuybyshev Hydroelectric Station, now Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station in

Samara Oblast Samara Oblast (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Samara. From 1935 to 1991, it was known as Kuybyshev Oblast. As of the Rus ...

, Russia *Stalingrad Hydroelectric Station, now Volga Hydroelectric Station near

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

, and the associated

network in the

Caspian Depression The Caspian Depression or the Caspian Lowland is a low-lying flatland region encompassing the northern part of the Caspian Sea, the largest enclosed body of water on Earth. It is the larger northern part of the wider Aral–Caspian Depressio ...

*The system of Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in the lower part of the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

river *

North Crimean Canal The North Crimean Canal, formerly known as the North Crimean Canal of the Lenin's Komsomol of Ukraine in Soviet times, is a land improvement canal for irrigation and watering of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. The c ...

, Kakhovka Canal, and irrigation networks in northern

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and southern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

* Main Turkmen Canal, unfinished *The

Volga–Don Canal Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal (Russian language, Russian: Волго-Донской судоходный канал имени, ''В. И. Ленина, Volga-Donskoy sudokhodniy kanal imeni V. I. Lenina'', abbreviated ВДСК, ''VDSK'') is a ...

Сталинградская ГЭС.jpg, Stalingrad Hydroelectric Station Volgo-Don-Stalingrad.jpg,

USSR stamp 1951 CPA 1653.jpg, Kakhovka Dam Stamp of USSR 1657.jpg, Kuybyshev Hydroelectric Station Stamp of USSR 1656.jpg, Main Turkmen Canal Other "construction projects of Communism" include: * Tsimlyansk Hydroelectric Station, now in

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblastʹ, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast ...

, Russia *The

White Sea–Baltic Canal The White Sea–Baltic Canal (), often abbreviated to White Sea Canal (), is a man-made ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea, in the Arctic Ocean, with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. U ...

*The

Moscow Canal The Moscow Canal (), named the Moskva–Volga Canal until 1947, is a canal in Russia that connects the Moskva (river) with the Volga. It is located in Moscow itself and in the Moscow Oblast. The canal connects to the Moskva River in Tushino (an ...

Dnieper Hydroelectric Station The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (), also known as the Dnipro Dam, is a hydroelectric power station in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Operated by Ukrhydroenergo, it is the fifth and largest station in the Dnieper reservoir cascade, a s ...

* Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station *"Magnitka":

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (), abbreviated as MMK, is an iron and steel company located in the city of Magnitogorsk, Russia. As of 2017, it was the 30th largest steel company in the world. In 2021, the company's revenue amounted to 786 bil ...

* Baikal–Amur Mainline

References

{{reflist Soviet phraseology Economic history of the Soviet Union 1950s in the Soviet Union

See also

References