Main activities of engineering and technical workers at Lower Volga enterprises in the sphere of industrial recovery and development, 1943 – early 1950s

The aim of the study is to identify the main areas of activity of engineering and technical workers at industrial enterprises in the Lower Volga region in the field of industrial technological development between 1943 and 1950. The article examines the contribution of technical specialists from the Lower Volga to the development of the region’s industry. The work characterizes the primary challenges in implementing technological improvements and reveals the results of the activities of engineering and technical workers at the region’s enterprises from 1943 to the early 1950s. The scientific novelty of the research lies in uncovering the conditions under which engineering and technical workers had to work at Lower Volga enterprises, which in turn determined the nature of the main directions of technological development. The study details the process of mechanization and automation of industrial enterprises in the Lower Volga region, as well as the improvement and expansion of the product range under conditions of limited resources. The analysis reveals not only large-scale projects but also a series of “small improvements” which, through systematic implementation, allowed for the significant development of such major enterprises as the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, the Krasny Oktyabr metallurgical plant, the Kirov Shipyard, Rybsudmotor, and others. Based on previously unpublished archival materials, the study identifies the economic impact of the technological activities of engineering and technical workers at Lower Volga enterprises, as well as the specifics of organizing technological production development both within specialized bodies and through participation in the mass rationalization and invention movement. As a result of the research, it was established that the most critical task for technical specialists in the Lower Volga from 1943 to the early 1950s was the mechanization and automation of production processes. The necessity for automation and mechanization was driven by the consequences of the Great Patriotic War and the difficult post-war recovery, namely a significant reduction in the skilled labor force (including engineering and technical workers themselves) and the destruction or severe damage of industrial plants. Amidst the shortage of workers, engineers, and material resources, as well as constantly increasing production quotas, automation allowed for the acceleration of the post-war recovery process and facilitated the development and introduction of new types of products manufactured at the plants of the Lower Volga.