THE ROLE OF ELECTRIFICATION IN MODERNIZATION OF INDUSTRY OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST IN THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
A.V. Maklyukov1,2
1Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Far Eastern Peoples, 89, Pushkinskaya Str., Vladivostok, 690001, Russia
2Far Eastern Federal University, 8, Sukhanov str., Vladivostok, 690091, Russia
Keywords: Russian Far East, modernization, industry, electrical power engineering, electrification, production
Abstract
The article considers the process of industrial enterprises electrification in the Far East in the pre-revolutionary period (late XIX - early XX centuries). The research relevance is conditioned by the need to comprehend the historical experience of Russian modernization, the Far East place and role in this process. The most important component of modernizing the industry of the Russian Far East in the late XIX - early XX centuries was electrification, i.e. introducing into production of electric energy, various mechanisms and machines operating on its basis. The study of this problem makes it possible to trace the influence of new production technologies on the transformation of the country’s economy main sectors in the late XIX - early XX centuries, and to reveal specific features of this process at the regional level. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries Russia began a profound technical reorganization in industrial production. Russian enterprises obtained various electro-technical machines that began to free workers from carrying out heavy and labor-intensive operations. In 1908-1917 the rapid technical improvement of the public and private factories of the Far East began. Electrification became the most important technological basis for industrial modernization. In such industries as gold and coal mining the transition to electric power allowed increasing production volumes significantly. Technical reorganization of enterprises in metalworking, agricultural processing, food, polymer and other industries led to the growth of the power-to-weight ratio of labor and increased its efficiency. But at the same time, the most remote region of Russia lagged behind the overall indicators of the country on the degree of electrification. The industry development occurred here under conditions of a low population density, a shortage of labor forces, and therefore it was carried out more slowly than in the center of the country. The most successful electrification took place at strategically important state enterprises, which reflected the state policy of the region development and its transformation into an outpost of Russia in the Pacific Ocean.
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