Activity of Political Departments on Railway Transport in Far East of the USSR (1933– 1941)

Abstract

An active and comprehensive study of all aspects of the political and ideological impact of the power structures on the population of the country has received a new impetus only in the last few decades. One of the means of this influence was political departments established in some of the most important economic sectors, including rail transport. At the same time, in contrast to the study of the activities of political departments in rural areas that received due development in the historical literature, railway political departments received little attention. Thus, the purpose of the article is to use archival documents and materials to analyze activities of political departments in the railway transport of the far Eastern region of the Soviet Union in the prewar period. The creation of political departments was a continuation of the party line on the formation and implementation of certain political and ideological levers of influence and control in the socio-economic sphere, including transport. As one of the most important components of the program of ideological reorganization of the Soviet society in the course of socialist reforms, they had to introduce certain ideological and political principles into the public consciousness and thereby stimulate the development of labor qualities in the population of the country. With their help, according to the authorities, in the shortest time could be eliminated many shortcomings in the organization of transport at all levels and achieved high productivity.