Ural Region’s Contribution to Reconstruction of Belarus’s Economy in 1944–1950s

This study investigates the role of one of the most powerful regions of the USSR — the Ural — in assisting the restoration and development of the Byelorussian SSR during the final years of World War II and the early postwar period. The research draws on materials from Russian and Belarusian archives. It demonstrates that during this time, the BSSR undertook significant efforts to rehabilitate its economy. The restoration of industry, transportation, agriculture, and other sectors is highlighted. The study emphasizes that substantial support was provided by the republics of the Soviet Union in this endeavor. The novelty of this research lies in the introduction of previously unexamined archival materials from Russian and Belarusian sources, which reveal that Ural enterprises supplied metals, machinery, equipment, timber, raw materials, and other necessities for industrial production. Furthermore, Belarusian specialists received training at Ural enterprises and educational institutions. The authors conclude that the Ural region played a crucial role not only in the reconstruction of the war-torn economy of the republic but also in its subsequent development through the establishment of heavy industry, machine engineering, energy production, and road construction. The mechanisms by which directive bodies from the Ural regions and the Grodno region implemented these decisions are also explored.

1. Assistance of the Union center of the Belarusian SSR in the restoration of agriculture in 1943—1945. (2019). Bulletin of the Samara University. History, pedagogy, philology, 25 (2): 48—54. DOI: 10.18287/2542-0445-2019-25-2-48-54. (In Russ.).

2. History of the socialist economy. In 7 volumes, 6. (1980). Moscow: Nauka. 589 p. (In Russ.).

3. Khisamutdinova, R. R. (2018). Restoration of agriculture in Belarus: 1943—1945: documents and materials. Minsk: National Archive of the Republic of Belarus. 648 p. (In Russ.).

4. Kondrashin, V. V., Selemenev, V. D. (2019). Assistance of the Union center of the Belarusian SSR in the restoration of agriculture in 1943—1945. Bulletin of the Samara University. History, pedagogy, philology, 25 (2): 48—54. DOI: 10.18287/2542-0445-2019-25-2-48-54. (In Russ.).

5. Morgunov, N. S. (1956). The Communist Party of Belarus in the struggle for the restoration of the republic’s industry in 1943—1945. Author’s abstract of PhD Diss. Minsk. 22 p. (In Russ.).

6. Motrevich, V. P., Mamyachenkov, V. N. (2023). Dynamics of livestock production in the Sverdlovsk region in the first post-war years (1946—1950). History and modern worldview, 5 (2): 39—47. DOI: 10.33693/2658-4654-2023-5-2-39-47. (In Russ.).

7. Restoration of agriculture in Belarus. 1943—1945: Doc. and materials. (2018). Minsk: NARB. 648 p. ISBN 978-985-6372-84-4. (In Russ.).

8. Selemenev, V., Kulinok, S. (2021). The revival of agriculture after the Great Patriotic War. Science and Innovation, 6 (220): 17—21. (In Russ.).

9. Terentyev, V. V. (2024). Assistance of the peoples of the USSR in restoring the national economy of the BSSR in the post-war period. On the way to civil society, 2 (54): 60—64. DOI: 10.26456/vthistory/2021.2.103-111. (In Russ.).

10. The history of the national economy of the Urals: in 2 hours, 2. (1990). Sverdlovsk: Publishing House of the Ural University. 256 p. (In Russ.). Timofeev, R. V. (2021). Post-war restoration of transport in the Belarusian SSR. Science and Innovation, 6 (220): 22—25. (In Russ.).

11. Timofeev, R. V. (2020). Restoration of railway transport in the post-occupation period of the Great Patriotic War. In: Victory is one for all: proceedings of the II International Scientific and Practical Conference, Vitebsk, April 23—24, 2020. Vitebsk: Masherov State University. 127—130. ISBN 978-985-517-739-6. (In Russ.).

12. Tsys, V. V. (2015). Assistance of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in restoring the national economy of Belarus at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War (autumn 1943 — early 1945). Bulletin of Nizhnevartovsk State University, 4: 4—49. (In Russ.).

13. Tsys, V. V. (2017). The use of the labor of Red Army servicemen in the restoration of the national economy at the final stages and after the end of the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars. Monograph. Nizhnevartovsk: Nizhnevart Publishing House. Unita. 345 p. ISBN 978-5-00047-410-5. (In Russ.).

14. Volodarsky, L. M. (1946). The revival of the regions of the USSR affected by the German occupation Text. Moscow: Gosplanizdat. 104 p. (In Russ.).

15. Zapariy, V. V., Getsevich, A. K., Ermak, Yu. G., Zaitseva, E. V. (2024). Assistance of the Union republics in the restoration of the industry of the BSSR in the first post-war years: historiography of the issue. History and modern worldview, 6 (2): 154—161. DOI: 10.33693/2658-4654-2024-6-2-154-161 4. (In Russ.).