Ivanovo-Voznesensk War Industry Committee in 1915–1917: Problems and Achievements

Abstract

The article examines the activities of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk military-industrial committee in 1915– 1917. Close attention to the object of study is determined by the fact that Ivanovo-Voznesensk was the center of the largest textile region in Russia, and the local military-industrial committee united enterprises with a total number of more than 30 thousand workers. On the basis of the analysis of the archival documents of the committee, the author comes to the conclusion that the sole direction of its activity was the supply of the army with military equipment: the production of grenade and shell cases, and the production of asphyxiant gas. For this, special enterprises (shell and phosgene plants) were founded, generously financed by the members of the Committee. They regularly carried out deliveries for the military department. On the other hand, the local textile enterprises, which fulfilled large defense orders for the supply of fabrics, found themselves outside the sphere of influence of the military-industrial committee. All factories received orders and reported on them independently. Based on this, the thesis is confirmed that the military-industrial committees were not monopolists in the distribution of military orders. Even the attempts of local manufacturers, with the help of the military-industrial committee, to ensure the allocation of additional labor, raw materials, fuel and equipment were not very successful. As a result, no more than 40 % of the capacities of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk textile industry were mobilized for “defense production”. In addition, there is absolutely no trace of the role of the local military-industrial committee in the political organization of the bourgeoisie in Ivanovo-Voznesensk. This can be attributed to the fact that, on the one hand, the committee solved mainly economic problems, and, on the other hand — that the local bourgeoisie had other economic and political organizations that had operated long before the committee was created.