Το φράγμα του Δνείπερου, ή σοβιετική εκβιομηχάνιση: ένα αμερικάνικο θαύμα

[Σενέκας]

MOSCOW, July 9.--Colonel Hugh L. Cooper, head of the American engineering firm which bears his name, returned to Russia today and said he was convinced that Joseph Stalin's recent enunciation of a new Soviet industrial policy was fraught with the deepest significance, not only to the Russian people but for the world at large. '

https://www.nytimes.com/1931/07/10/arch ... olicy.html

[Fluffy]

Πού υπάρχει πρόβλημα; Οι πραγματικοιωσοσιαλιστές όπως ο Στάλιν πάντα είναι πραγματιστές και ως εκ τούτου ανοιχτά μυαλά. Ήθελαν να εκσυγχρονίσουν τη χώρα ως προς την ενεργειακή παραγωγή και έφεραν τους καλύτερους. Άλλοι είναι οι προβληματικοί Τα βλέπουμε στη συγχρονη εποχή με την υστερία για το 5G που οι "φιλελεύθεροι" βάζουν εμπόδια στους διαγωνισμούς που γίνονται ή πρόκειται να γίνουν.

Φαντάζομαι, αυτό που λέει είναι πως η αμερική και μια χούφτα ακόμα ιμπεριαλιστικες χώρες είχαν την τεχνογνωσία που δεν είχε κατακτήσει ακόμα το πρώτο εργατικό κράτος, και ισχύει. Κατα τα άλλα και γω δεν βρίσκω κάποιο θέμα.

[Fluffy]

Εκείνη την περίοδο πολλοι κοιταζαν με θαυμασμό την προοδο του πρωτου εργατικου κράτους, ήταν η περίοδος της κρίσης για τον καπιταλισμό. Στις ενωμενες πολιτείες είχαν ως και γραφεία ευρεσεως εργασίας (ωραιο θεμα θα ήταν) για να εργαστουν στην ένωση.

[Beria]

Εκείνη την περίοδο πολλοι κοιταζαν με θαυμασμό την προοδο του πρωτου εργατικου κράτους, ήταν η περίοδος της κρίσης για τον καπιταλισμό. Στις ενωμενες πολιτείες είχαν ως και γραφεία ευρεσεως εργασίας (ωραιο θεμα θα ήταν) για να εργαστουν στην ένωση.

Στα χρόνια της Μεγάλης Κρίσης χιλιάδες Φινλανδοί εργάτες περνούσαν παράνομα τα σύνορα με τη σοβιετική Ένωση για να βρουν δουλειά.

[hades]

Εκείνη την περίοδο πολλοι κοιταζαν με θαυμασμό την προοδο του πρωτου εργατικου κράτους, ήταν η περίοδος της κρίσης για τον καπιταλισμό. Στις ενωμενες πολιτείες είχαν ως και γραφεία ευρεσεως εργασίας (ωραιο θεμα θα ήταν) για να εργαστουν στην ένωση.

Περίπου 30000 Αμερικάνοι πήγαν στην ΕΣΣΔ Για πες όμως τι απέγιναν μετα τις μεγάλες εκκαθαρίσεις ;

[Dwarven Blacksmith]

Θυμίζει την ιστορία με το σκορπιό και το βάτραχο αλλά ανάποδα.

Ρωταει ο κομμουνιστής "Γιατί μου πούλησες το σχοινί αφού ήξερες ότι θα σε κρεμάσω;".
Κι απαντάει ο καπιταλιστης "είναι στη φύση μου".

[Fluffy]

Εκείνη την περίοδο πολλοι κοιταζαν με θαυμασμό την προοδο του πρωτου εργατικου κράτους, ήταν η περίοδος της κρίσης για τον καπιταλισμό. Στις ενωμενες πολιτείες είχαν ως και γραφεία ευρεσεως εργασίας (ωραιο θεμα θα ήταν) για να εργαστουν στην ένωση.

Περίπου 30000 Αμερικάνοι πήγαν στην ΕΣΣΔ Για πες όμως τι απέγιναν μετα τις μεγάλες εκκαθαρίσεις ;

1. Τι είναι οι μεγάλες εκκαθαρίσεις;
2. Κολλάει με το θέμα του νήματος;

[hades]

Εκείνη την περίοδο πολλοι κοιταζαν με θαυμασμό την προοδο του πρωτου εργατικου κράτους, ήταν η περίοδος της κρίσης για τον καπιταλισμό. Στις ενωμενες πολιτείες είχαν ως και γραφεία ευρεσεως εργασίας (ωραιο θεμα θα ήταν) για να εργαστουν στην ένωση.

Περίπου 30000 Αμερικάνοι πήγαν στην ΕΣΣΔ Για πες όμως τι απέγιναν μετα τις μεγάλες εκκαθαρίσεις ;

1. Τι είναι οι μεγάλες εκκαθαρίσεις;
2. Κολλάει με το θέμα του νήματος;

Απλώς ανέφερα τον αριθμό των Αμερικανών που πήγαν στην σοβιετική Ένωση και οτι δεν μακροημερευσαν Είναι συνέχεια αυτού που είπες για τα γραφεία ευρέσεως εργασίας στις ΗΠΑ

Και πόλλοι Κινέζοι μετά την επίθεση των Ιαπώνων στα μέσα της δεκαετίας του.30 πήγαν στην σοβιετική Ένωση

[Fluffy]

οκ, οφ τοπικ, από διάφορες εθνότητες είχε μετανάστες η ένωση και πολλοί ζήσαν για γενιές εκεί δηλαδή μακροημέρευσαν. Πάντως να ξέρετε οι κατηγορίες των αστων για την ένωση όσν αφορά και καλα ανθρωπους που σκοτωναν δεν μπορουν να σταθουν σε σοβαρή κριτική, δεν βγαίνουν και τα νουμερα δηλαδή, μονο αν γεννουσαν σαν κουνελες 7-8 παιδιά καθε χρόνο οι γυναίκες.

[hades]

οκ, οφ τοπικ, από διάφορες εθνότητες είχε μετανάστες η ένωση και πολλοί ζήσαν για γενιές εκεί δηλαδή μακροημέρευσαν. Πάντως να ξέρετε οι κατηγορίες των αστων για την ένωση όσν αφορά και καλα ανθρωπους που σκοτωναν δεν μπορουν να σταθουν σε σοβαρή κριτική, δεν βγαίνουν και τα νουμερα δηλαδή, μονο αν γεννουσαν σαν κουνελες 7-8 παιδιά καθε χρόνο οι γυναίκες.

Σε αυτό συμφωνω υπάρχει υπερβολή και αρκετή μάλιστα Κανένα κράτος δεν ξοδεύει έτσι πολίτες του Μόνο η Κίνα ποιο παλιά
Πάντως συγκεκριμένα για τους Αμερικανούς δεν υπάρχει τπτ μετά το 40

[Fluffy]

δε θα υπεισελθω βαθυτερα σε αυτο το νημα

[Chainis]

οκ, οφ τοπικ, από διάφορες εθνότητες είχε μετανάστες η ένωση και πολλοί ζήσαν για γενιές εκεί δηλαδή μακροημέρευσαν. Πάντως να ξέρετε οι κατηγορίες των αστων για την ένωση όσν αφορά και καλα ανθρωπους που σκοτωναν δεν μπορουν να σταθουν σε σοβαρή κριτική, δεν βγαίνουν και τα νουμερα δηλαδή, μονο αν γεννουσαν σαν κουνελες 7-8 παιδιά καθε χρόνο οι γυναίκες.

Πες μας πόσοι μπολσεβικοι από αυτούς που ηγούνταν της επανάστασης το 17 ζούσαν το 40 γιατί οι κακοί αστοί διαδίδουν ότι το 70% εξοντωθηκε μέχρι το 1938.
.
Α και δεν τους σκότωναν όλους, σκότωναν όσους ήταν απαραίτητο για να μην κινδυνεύει το προσωπολατρικο μόνο κομματικό δικτατορικο καθεστώς, όπως κάνουν άλλωστε όλα τα ανάλογα καθεστώτα.

[Σενέκας]

1865 – 1937

Born in Sheldon, Minnesota, Hugh Lincoln Cooper was 16 when he undertook his first engineering project, a 40-foot bridge across a creek that ran through a farm on which he was working a summer job. The rock-and-timber structure was still in service 50 years later. Cooper's father, a millwright, wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and disapproved of his decision to become an engineer. His mother was more understanding. After he graduated from Rushford High School, she helped him run away from home to take an apprenticeship with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, where he was assigned to build bridges in Wisconsin.

Although he had no formal technical training, the skills he acquired through self-study and practical field work were such that when a bridge project at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, appeared to be failing, he was given full charge and went on to complete the troubled construction. In 1891, Cooper became interested in hydroelectric power and left bridge-building to learn about the construction and equipment used in harnessing water to generate electricity. He took a position with a firm in Dayton, Ohio, Stillwell, Bierce, and Smith Vaille, that built water wheels and installed power plants. Eventually, he constructed power plants at Jamaica, West Indies, and Ellenville and Dolgeville, New York. He then spent three years designing and building a power plant for the Sao Paulo Tramway, Light & Power Company, in Brazil.

On returning to the U.S., he became a hydraulic engineer on his own, eventually forming the Hugh L. Cooper Company. He was then ready to tackle the seemingly impossible—a plant to harness the raging Horseshoe Rapids above Niagara Falls. Despite skepticism and opposition from local Canadian authorities, Cooper devised a design for the Electrical Development Company of Ontario power plant that overcame the difficulties. Construction of the power plant was completed in 1907. He then turned to another project regarded as impractical: designing a hydroelectric dam across the Mississippi River between Keokuk, Iowa, and Hamilton, Illinois.

Completed in 1913, the Keokuk Water Power Project, marked a significant change in hydroelectric generating practice because it employed a wide, slow-moving river to drive its turbines. Cooper's next major project was in Africa. Egyptian authorities called on Cooper in 1913 to help them convert the Aswan Dam into a power source; the work was interrupted by World War I and not resumed until the 1920s. Cooper entered the U.S. Army during the war, supervising plans for what was to become the Wilson Dam at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The dam later became part of the Tennessee Valley Authority's waterway system.

After the war, Cooper was retained by the Soviet Union to construct the Dneprostroi Dam (later renamed Dneproges) across the Dnieper River in the Ukraine, at that time the largest hydroelectric plant in Europe. Completed in 1932, its generating capacity was 500,000 kilowatts and the dam made the river navigable for the first time by raising its level. Destroyed in World War II, the facility was rebuilt in 1947. Cooper's work in Russia is regarded as a model for transfer of industrial skills from technologically advanced societies to those less so. In their paper, "Expanding the Content Base of Technology Education: Technology Transfer as a Topic of Study," Scott D. Johnson, Elizabeth Faye Gatz, and Don Hicks write: "Although Stalin was a powerful change agent, he did not have enough knowledge of the technology to lead the transfer effort...Hugh Lincoln Cooper was employed from the U.S. because he had both the technical expertise to guide such a project and the influence needed to see that the project succeeded."

https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engine ... oln-cooper

[Σενέκας]

[Σενέκας]

How America Helped Build The Soviet Machine

https://www.americanheritage.com/how-am ... et-machine

But beyond politics and national economics, another America has been making a profound impression on Russians for about a century. That is technological America, the developer of the most creative and fecund system of production the world has ever known. Although the idea of America as a moral force has never faded, many foreigners think mainly in terms of inventive, productive America. Witness the thousands of visitors from overseas who headed for the automobile factories of Detroit in the 1920s, the hydroelectric plants of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s, and Silicon Valley in the 1980s. A fair test of where our greatest national prestige lies would be to ask Mikhail Gorbachev which he would prefer: two weeks in the Cradle of Liberty or three days in Silicon Valley.

V. I. Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin all opted for technological America. One of the momentous and almost forgotten chapters of modern history concerns the Bolsheviks’ fierce determination between the two world wars to adopt the industrial legacy of the United States: to re-create the steel mills of Gary, Indiana, behind the Urals; to duplicate Ford’s River Rouge plant in Nizhni Novgorod; to erect a copy of the great dam and generators of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on the falls of the Dnieper River—all using American methods and American engineers, planners, and managers. Few Americans today can identify Frederick W. Taylor, the father of scientific management, but he and Henry Ford and other modern American industrialists and engineers influenced Soviet history deeply and permanently. For the Bolsheviks in the 1920s, Fordism plus Taylorism equaled Americanism. And Americanism, in that sense, was crucial to the success of the communist state.

....

In the 1920s the cream of American firms involved with automobiles, electricity, and workplace management were eager to sell the state of their art—give or take a few years—to the “Reds,” despite powerful anticommunist voices on the right. The Soviets were ready to buy, despite their aversion to capitalism. (They distinguished, as many Americans cannot even today, between America’s history-shaping means of production and our free-enterprise economic superstructure.) The United States had never enjoyed greater worldwide respect—or envy—than after World War I. The Soviets believed that the American system of production could consolidate the Bolshevik Revolution.

By 1926 dreams of “Americanization” were mesmerizing Soviet engineers and managers. Soviet planners believed that their future required large systems of production on a regional scale, larger even than those in the United States; they would be feasible because socialism would not be burdened by the political and economic “contradictions” of capitalism, which constrained the full development of modern production technology. Lenin understood that modern industrialization involved more than machines, processes, and devices; it involved order, centralization, control, and systems. And so the regime drove peasant workers mercilessly to gather grain and cut wood and dig minerals that were exchanged in prodigious quantities for foreign, especially American, technology. Stalin summarized the Soviet celebration of American technology and management in 1924: “The combination of the Russian revolutionary sweep with American efficiency is the essence of Leninism.”

The falls of the Dnieper River, once dominated by a fortress of Ukrainian Cossacks, was chosen as the site of the most ambitious of the new construction schemes, a mammoth hydroelectric plant and regional complex. Often compared to the Muscle Shoals hydroelectric project of 1917 to 1925, which became the first unit in the Tennessee Valley Authority system, the Dnieper effort was done in American style. The Soviets named the American Hugh Cooper as chief consulting engineer. I. Aleksandrov, a Soviet engineer, headed the project. American companies supplied equipment and engineers. International General Electric built five of the nine giant generators needed; the rest were built in Leningrad under American supervision. The Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company constructed the nine 85,000-horsepower turbines, the world’s largest. German and Swedish firms assumed responsibility for other major items, but about 70 percent of the hydroelectric equipment was American. Steam shovels, hoists, locomotives, rock drills, and construction steel also came from the United States. One American who saw the site said it looked like a “Little America” —the only unfamiliar part being the presence of women workers. When the American photographer Margaret Bourke-White visited the construction, she observed four soft-spoken Virginians in charge of the Soviets installing the turbines.

Construction, by tens of thousands of workers, began in 1927. On May 1, 1932, the V. I. Lenin power station was dedicated and began operation as the largest hydroelectric plant in the world. The project schooled countless Soviet engineers and workers in Western technology. Hugh Cooper believed that the experience gained on the Dnieper would enable the Soviet Union, with its abundance of human and natural resources, to take a commanding position as a world power.

In line with Lenin’s insistence on the large-scale, the Dnieper planners proposed to erect a power system like the one that had mushroomed around Niagara Falls and make it the core of “a unified industrial complex economically and technically inter-connected.” They projected a nitrogen-fixation plant, a cement works, an aluminum-production plant, and a steel-producing complex, all knit together by high-voltage power lines and an electrified railway. They built a complex of canals around the falls and dam that made possible unbroken navigation on the Dnieper from northern Russia to the Black Sea—a dream of Catherine the Great. And they planned high-transmission lines to carry power to industry in the Don Basin two hundred miles away. They also envisioned a new city for 150,000 workers in the heart of the Dnieper complex, predicting that the population in the area would grow to as much as eight million.

At the ceremonies dedicating the hydroelectric station, in 1932, the government awarded Hugh Cooper its highest honor, the Order of the Red Star. He was the first foreigner so honored. Born in Sheldon, Minnesota, in 1865, Cooper had built hydroelectric projects throughout the world, including the mile-long Keokuk dam and power plant on the Mississippi and the U.S. government installation at Muscle Shoals. While under contract to the Soviet government, from 1927 to 1932, he spent one or two months each year at the Dnieper site. He and his American staff lived in a special foreign section, with comfortable housing, excellent imported provisions, and access to a swimming pool and a golf course.

Cooper, a dry and cautious man, once said that he did not accept any “isms” except good, old-fashioned American common-sense-ism, but he added that he found all the Soviet leaders with whom he dealt—including Joseph Stalin—men of great intellectual ability, committed to improving living conditions through technology. He commended their forthright business dealings and their lack of corruption, and he also liked Russian workers, whom he found eager to help on his huge project. Trying to teach peasant laborers to use complex equipment could be heartbreakingly frustrating, but he made headway. The Soviet managers’ clear authority over their workers and their use of piecework wages also pleased Cooper.