Dynamics and structure of imports in the ussr during the second world war

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Dynamics and structure of imports in the ussr during the second world war

Oleksandr Fradynskyj, Head of the Customs Development Department,

Financial Policy Research Institute State Tax University,

Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, Senior Researcher

The paper aims to study the dynamics and changes in the structure of Soviet imports during the Second World War, to assess the role and importance of the partner countries of the USSR in the field of foreign economic activity.

The results of the study were obtained by applying the dialectical method of cognition of phenomena of a legal and economic nature and relating to the study of import trade flows as an integral element of the State's foreign economic activity. In addition, the author used the following methods: statistical - for generalization, systematization and analysis of the material; tabular - for visual display of the analyzed data; abstract and logical - for substantiation of theoretical positions and formulation of conclusions.

The study found that at the beginning of World War II (01.09.1939-21.06.1941), Soviet imports were focused on high-tech means ofproduction, and the main trading partner of the USSR was Germany, which supplied samples ofweapons, equipment for the mining, chemical, and oil industries, machine tools, locomotives, and turbines.After its attack, Soviet imports were reoriented. After the German attack on the USSR, import flows were reoriented to the countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, andthe United States, Great Britain, Canada, Mongolia, Iran, and China became the main foreign economic partners. The structure of imports changed, with arms and military equipment, food, industrial equipment, strategic raw materials and semi-finished products, and petroleum products becoming predominant. Diplomatic correspondence shows that as early as the end of June 1941, the USSR expressed a desire to purchase various types of aircraft and various industrial equipment for aircraft factories and aviation fuel production, anti-aircraft guns of several calibers, equipment for explosives factories, automobile tires, and various metal alloys on credit from the United States. Imports to the USSR covered up to 70% of the total demand for acutely scarce strategic materials, raw materials and semi-finished products. The study, based on the analysis of import statistics, concludes that the bulk of supplies, both in physical terms (16.252 million tons or 67.5%) and in value (49.96 billion rubles or 81.19%), were accounted for by lend-lease, a form of military and economic assistance from the United States to its allies, which consisted of the free supply of military equipment, vehicles, machinery and equipment, technologies, materials, fuel,andfood necessary for the conduct of hostilities in World War II and the victory over the common enemy.

Key words: foreign economic activity, imports, lend-lease, supplies, World War II, USSR, USA. foreign economic activity import

ДИНАМІКА ТА СТРУКТУРА ІМПОРТУ В СРСР У РОКИ ІІ СВІТОВОЇ ВІЙНИ

Олександр ФРАДИНСЬКИЙ,

Introduction

A successful state in the field of economic and social development cannot be imagined without strong foreign economic ties that balance the flows of capital, goods, labor, etc. International trade plays an important role in these processes, as it was historically the first form of economic relations between states. Imports, exports, and transit are the three pillars on which it rests, and the correlation between them can be used to draw conclusions about the country's position and potential at the macroeconomic level.

Under conditions of global force majeure, which include military operations, the importance of imports increases dramatically, as the warring country rapidly increases the use of weapons and reorients its economy to the military. A quick solution to these problems is impossible without foreign supplies of both weapons and materials for their creation. Naturally, the entire economic landscape in the country, the level of income of individuals and legal entities, and the structure of public consumption are changing - events that can be characterized by the proverbial “guns for butter” are taking place. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the dynamics of Soviet imports during World War II, changes in its structure and reorientation to new foreign economic partners.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to analyze large amounts of background information presented in statistical reference books on USSR foreign trade and the Lend-Lease (Mezhdunarodnyie otnosheniya, 1967) to use sources of diplomatic correspondence (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, 1984) and memoirs of statesmen who headed foreign trade during the war (Mikoyan, 1999), as well as scientific works by other researchers (Sipols, 1997).

Summary of the main material

The structure of pre-war Soviet exports and imports fully confirms the idea of resource-based exports and, in modern terms, import orientation towards high-tech goods, primarily means of production - machinery and equipment (Table 1). As we can see, the leader of Soviet exports was food - 27.7% of its total value, followed by textile raw materials and semi-finished products - 18.1%, and fuel was third in the export ranking - 13.2%. All three groups are classified as resource-based and together accounted for 59% of Soviet exports. It is striking that exports of fur and fur raw materials (7.7%) were almost similar to exports of manufactured consumer goods (7.8%).

Table 1

Structure of Soviet export-import operations in 1940, % (Mezhdunarodnyie otnosheniya, 1967)

At the same time, the leader of Soviet imports, machinery and equipment, accounted for one-third of all imports - 32.4%; ores, metals and products made of them accounted for 26.6% and were in second place in Soviet imports, and food was in third place at 14.9%. This situation is explained, on the one hand, by adherence to the declared course of industrialization of the country's economy, and, on the other hand, by the continued militarization of the USSR in anticipation of a possible entry into World War II, which necessitated a reduction in the technological dependence of the Soviet economy, which was gradually moving to an autarkic (self-sufficient) model of development.

As of 1940, the USSR's main foreign trade partner was Germany, with a trade turnover of 40.4% of its total annual volume. The second place was occupied by the United States with 19.7%, and the third - by Mongolia with 6.0%, which in 1939, together with the USSR, took part as an ally in the fighting against the Japanese on the Halkhin Gol River and, quite naturally, needed various kinds of military and economic support from the suzerain country (Figure 1).

Trade turnover with the USSR's main European trading partners, Great Britain and France, fell from

282.3 to 2.4 million rubles and from 58.2 to 0.4 million rubles between 1930 and 1940, respectively. It is clear that this situation was due to the entry of these countries into World War II, but the general downward trend in foreigntrade with the USSR was characteristic of the period of 1930-40.

Fig. 1. The annual trade turnover of the USSR with foreign countries in 1940, in % of the total volume [1, p. 14]

Another factor that contributed to the reorientation of trade flows to Germany was the USSR's war of aggression against Finland, which led to the introduction of a moral embargo on supplies to the USSR and limited its access to the markets of Western democracies. The introduction of the moral embargo by the United States was primarily due to the fact that during the war, Finnish civilians were targeted by Soviet aircraft. Therefore, the supply of important industrial equipment to Soviet aircraft factories was suspended and Soviet aircraft manufacturers were banned from accessing aircraft manufacturing plants in the United States.

After the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the German side initiated an exchange of letters between the German and Soviet sides on the intensification of economic relations. The German side expressed a desire to purchase Soviet goods, mainly raw materials and supplies (oil, timber, food, copper, tin, nickel, and other non-ferrous metals), worth 1,300 million German marks. The Soviet side responded by reducing the volume of supplies to DM 470 million and expressed interest in the following nomenclature of German supplies: modern weapons, equipment for the mining, chemical, and oil industries, metalcutting machines, locomotives, turbines, ships, etc.

An economic agreement on the establishment of foreign economic supplies between Germany and the USSR was signed in Moscow on February 11, 1940. It wasenvisaged that over the next 12 months, the USSR would supply goods worth DM 420-430 million. These goods were defined as fodder grains (barley, oats), oil, cotton, phosphates, iron ore, chrome ore, manganese ore, non-ferrous metals, etc. In turn, Germany undertook to supply its goods for a similar amount, but over the next 15 months. The German supplies included the unfinished heavy cruiser “Lutzov”, equipment and materials necessary for its completion, samples of ship artillery, mines, torpedoes, periscopes, the latest models of aircraft, tanks and communications equipment, samples of machines and machinery (excavators, drilling rigs, electric motors, pumps, steam turbines) (Sipols, 1997).

Naturally, Germany's attack on the USSR radically changed the situation not only in the political arena but also in the field of export-import contacts, significantly reducing their volume, redrawing their structure, and reorienting them to new counterpart countries. These countries were the states that were members of the Anti- Hitler Coalition (Great Britain, Canada) or, at that time, had not yet entered the war, but sympathized with the fighters against Nazism and fascism (the United States). The Soviet leadership was well aware of the problems that the invasion would bringto the country, so in the first week of the war it raised the issue of organizing imports from the Allied countries.

On June 29, 1941, Soviet Ambassador to the United States K. Umansky received a telegram from People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V Molotov, which contained a directive to clarify the possibility of purchasing on credit “You should now go to Roosevelt or Hall (Welles) and raise the question of the possibility of assisting the Soviet Union with the following supplies: 1) single-engine fighter planes - 3,000; 2) bomber planes - 3,000; 3) machines, presses and hammers for aircraft factories - 30 million dollars; 4) anti-aircraft guns. 4) anti-aircraft guns from 25 to 47 millimeters - 20 thousand pieces with ammunition, 5) crackers and other installations for the production of high-octane jetfuel and installations for the production of air mass, 6) toluene - 50 thousand, 7) equipment for toluene plants, 8) equipment for a tire plant, 9) equipment for a plant for the production of rolled light alloys. It is desirable to have a five-year loan for these goods. Telegraph the results” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, 1984).

The United States entered the war after Japan attacked its naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 07, 1941, and as of the summer of that year, it was a country with developed industrial and agricultural potential, located on another continent and fully protected from enemy attacks by both nature and its own armed forces. Therefore, the choice of the main supplier country for the USSR was understandable and quite acceptable. The only problem in the organization of supply was the problem of cargo delivery, since the Baltic and Black Sea ports of the USSR, which were the most convenient for servicing trade flows, were blocked by the enemy, so the sea harbors of the Soviet North and the Far East remained to be used.

Table 2 shows that during the war, the United States became the undisputed leader in imports to the USSR. Their share in the entire period of supply amounted to 83.7%, and while in 1941 it was 19.9%, in 1944 it reached its maximum of 89.5%. The share of imports from Great Britain gradually decreased: from 49.7% in 1941 to 5% in 1945, amounting to 8.2% in total. This situation can be explained by the fact that at the beginning of the war it was extremely important for the UK to keep the USSR from surrendering, because the USSR's loss meant the inclusion of its industrial and partly demographic potential in the war on the side of Germany, and then there was virtually no chance for London to win the confrontation. Canada (British Dominion) rounds out the top three, with total imports amounting to 2.2%, with no Canadian cargo imported at all in 1941, and the largest share of 3.2% of total imports in 1942. Other notable importers included Mongolia (0.9%), Bulgaria (0.8%),Iran (0.8%), and China (0.6%).

Table 2

The results of import operations in the USSR by major countries and years for the period 22.06.1941-31.12.1945 (Vneshnyaya torgovlya Soyuza SSR, 1947)

Analyzing the commodity nomenclature by importing countries (except for the United States, for which this will be done in more detail in the following subsections of the study), it should be noted that the UK supplied the largest range of its goods: weapons and military equipment (aircraft and spare parts for them, tanks, armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, guns, gunpowder, communications equipment, ships and naval equipment, military engineering property) with a total volume of

341.5 thousand tons. tons; industrial equipment and technical supplies (machinetools, electric furnaces, forging and pressing equipment, rolling, mining and lifting and transport equipment, power plants, etc.) worth RUB 910 million; 183 thousand tons of metals and metal products; petroleum products totaling 73 thousand tons; 140 thousand tons of rubber and rubber products; 55 thousand tons of chemicals; 159 thousand tons of food.

Canada, as a British dominion, imported 44.6 thousand tons of weapons and military equipment to the USSR, including 1590 repair shops; gunpowder accounted for 17 thousand tons of 22 thousand tons of artillery weapons; communications equipment amounted to 7.5 thousand tons. tons; 644 machine tools; 200 truck cranes; 272 compressors; 1356 railway platforms; 166.8 thousand tons of metals and metal products; 80.8 thousand tons of railway rails; 661.8 thousand tons of food (mainly wheat - 187.5 thousand tons and flour - 454.1 thousand tons), etc.

Mongolia's honorable 4th place is explained by the fact that it viewed the USSR as its ally in the confrontation with Japan and that it had already proved that it could be relied on in 1939 in joint battles with the Japanese on the Khalkhin Gol River. Therefore, if the USSR survived the confrontation with Germany, Mongolia as a state would have prospects. Its main imported commodity was livestock: 722.2 thousand heads of cattle, 4931.4 thousand heads of small livestock (mainly goats and sheep),

366.7 thousand working and cavalry horses, 61.2 thousand heads of meat horses. In addition to live animals, food (meat, animal fats, game), leather raw materials, boots, coats, spinning materials, and scrap metal were imported.

The situation with Bulgarian imports looks semi-anecdotal. As we can see, it was carried out only in 1945 and amounted to 3.3% of the total annual volume. This situation can be explained by the fact that until September 1944 Bulgaria was an ally of Germany (as well as Romania, Finland, and Hungary). As a result of the coup d'etat of September 8-9, 1944, pro-Soviet politicians came to power and signed an armistice with the USSR on October 28, 1944, opening the way for the resumption oftrade relations. A total of 143.2 thousand tons of goods were imported from Bulgaria,including non-ferrous metal ores (38.4 thousand tons), foodstuffs (39.6 thousand tons), sulfur dioxide (33.2 thousand tons), tobacco (22.6 thousand tons), chemicals (920 tons), leather, and spinning materials.

The total physical volume of imports from Iran amounted to 203.6 thousand tonsand was quite diverse. First of all, it is worth highlighting food supplies totaling 130 thousand tons: rice (85.8 thousand tons), fish products (18 thousand tons), dried fruits(17.3 thousand tons), beans (4.7 thousand tons), animal and vegetable fats, canned food, almonds. In addition to finished food, cattle and small cattle were imported,

79.4 thousand and 608.2 thousand heads, respectively, as well as 16.7 thousand horses, about 3 thousand heads of donkeys, mules, and camels. Leather goods included tanned leather, about 300,000 pairs of leather shoes, 171,000 armed belts, 235,200 gloves, and 38,800 coats. Supplies of small arms consisted of 141.6 thousand Mauser rifles, 9.6 thousand submachine guns, 900 machine guns, and

19.7 million rifle cartridges.

Without exaggeration, tungsten concentrate was the most important strategic material imported from China, with 17.3 thousand tons imported (out of 39.3 thousand tons of total Chinese imports). The importance of this metal was explained by the fact that it was used in the manufacture of cores for sub-caliber artillery shells, which were used to guarantee the defeat of heavy German armored vehicles (a kind of analog of the Javelin at the time). Imports of non-ferrous metals (tin, mercury, antimony) amounted to 7.7 thousand tons; tung oil, used for the production of paints and varnishes, - 3.74 thousand tons; imports of food products were limited to 577.4 tons of tea, and it is also worth noting leather, wool, silk, and bristles.

In addition to the above countries, during the war the USSR imported mainly raw materials from the following countries:

Argentina (29.6 thousand tons) - mica, casein, lard, vegetable oil, leather, wool and woolen blankets, quebracoat glue and quebracoat extract (a tanning agent used for leather dressing);

Afghanistan (1.3 thousand tons) - leather, wool, cotton, opium;

Venezuela (0.7 thousand tons) - coffee and cocoa beans;

Colombia (3.3 thousand tons) - coffee;

Mexico (2.2 thousand tons) - car tires, sisal;

Manchuria (3.1 thousand tons) - soybeans;

Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) (3.6 thousand tons) - rubber, tea, kapok (vegetable fiber for padding mattresses and pillows), quinine (a substance for making malaria drugs);

Poland (3,279 thousand tons) - non-ferrous metals (4.4 thousand tons), steel and steel products (36.5 thousand tons), coal and coke (3,279 thousand tons), cement (90.3 thousand tons), chemical products (2.59 thousand tons), sugar (1 thousand tons), glass and glass products, spinning products and finished products;

Portugal (3.6 thousand tons) - finished cork and cork bark;

Romania (195.4 thousand tons) - petroleum products (169.9 thousand tons),timber and timber products (23.4 thousand tons), roofing felt, sheet glass, yarn;

Xinjiang, since 1949 - part of China (138.8 thousand) - food products (9.8 thousand tons), livestock (89.4 thousand cattle, 1612.3 thousand small cattle, 148 thousand horses, 50 thousand donkeys,

3.1 thousand camels), leather, wool (11.6 thousand tons), cotton, raw silk, hair, bristles;

Tuva (35 thousand tons) - food products (3.05 thousand tons), livestock (58.9 thousand heads of cattle, 283.5 thousand heads of small cattle, 26.8 thousand horses), leather raw materials (1.03 thousand tons), leather skins, wool;

Finland, after the end of the war and the signing of the peace treaty (228.6 thousand tons) - sulfuric acid (68.6 thousand tons), pulp (31 thousand tons), paper (56.8 thousand tons), standard houses (173.1 thousand square meters);

Philippines (1.9 thousand tons) - copra, yarn, Manila rope;

Sweden (21.4 thousand tons) - industrial, metallurgical, lifting and transport, oil, power, electrical equipment, pumps, tools, ball bearings, metals and metal products;

Czechoslovakia (2.7 thousand tons) - power equipment, steel and steel products;

Yugoslavia (27 thousand tons) - non-ferrous metals: copper, lead, antimony(6.5 thousand tons), nonferrous metal ores (10.4 thousand tons), sulfur dioxide (3.2 thousand tons), sheet glass, alcohol, red pepper, wine, vodka, yarn, tobacco (1.655 thousand tons), opium, hops.

As can be seen from Table 3, the volume of Soviet imports during 1941-1945 in physical terms amounted to 24.082 million tons. At the same time, the value of imports amounted to 60.306 billion rubles against 3.163 billion rubles of Soviet exports (19 times higher). The lowest foreign economic activity, which is quite natural, was in 1941: for imports, it amounted to 0.552 million tons (2.29% of the total), and for the value of exports - 0.163 billion rubles (5.2% of the total). The maximum values were recorded for imports in 1944 (31.21 million tons, or 22.089%) and for exports in 1945 (1.572 billion rubles, or 49.7%).

Table 3

Dynamics of the USSR's import operations for the period of 22.06.1941-31.12.1945

(Vneshnyaya torgovlya Soyuza SSR, 1947)

An analysis of the indicators in Table 4 allows us to conclude that the main groups of imported goods in their physical terms were: food - 4.88 million tons, or 20.26%; metals and metal products - 3.72 million tons, or 15.44%; arms and military equipment - 3.499 million tons, or 14.52%. As for the value structure of imports, the situation is quite different: the largest volumes are accounted for by weapons and military equipment - 29.82 billion rubles, or 49.44%; food products are estimated at 9.26 billion rubles and account for 15.36%; the cost of industrial equipment andtechnical supplies is 6.74 billion rubles, or 11.17%.

Table 4

Structure of the USSR's import operations in 1941-45 in physical andvalue terms by product group (Vneshnyaya torgovlya Soyuza SSR, 1947)

When analyzing imports, it should be understood that the bulk of the revenues both in physical terms (16.252 million tons or 67.5%) and in value terms (49.96 billion rubles or 81.19%) (Table 5) are accounted for by lend-lease, a form of militaryand economic assistance to the allied countries by the United States, which was a freesupply of military equipment, vehicles, equipment, technologies, materials, fuel, and food necessary for the conduct of hostilities in World War II. A comparison of the value of Soviet imports and the Lend-Lease allows us to conclude that the Lend-Lease accounted for 81.19% of imports, and for all commodity items the share of the Lend-Lease exceeded 60%. The largest share was for railroad traction and rolling stock - 95.67%; in second place, with almost identical figures, are food products - 94.96% and chemicals - 94.21%; the situation is similar with the third position, whichis shared by metals and metal products - 87.48% and oil products - 86.51%. The relatively low share of arms and military equipment (61.04%) is explained by the factthat significant volumes of them were supplied by the UK and Canada.

Table 5

Specific value of the U.S. Lend-Lease in the structure of the USSR'simport operations in 1941-45 (Vneshnyaya torgovlya Soyuza SSR, 1947)

as 5.3: 1.

The memoirs of A. Mikoyan, People's Commissar (analogous to the post of Minister) of Foreign Trade of the USSR, contain a revealing point: the statement that during the war “Soviet industry satisfied more than 70% of its demand for urgently needed and strategic goods and raw materials necessary for the production of tanks, airplanes, guns, ammunition from the stocks of the Ministry of Foreign Trade” (Mikoyan, 1999), i.e., from imports.

Conclusions and Prospects for Further Research

Soviet imports during World War II should be divided into two stages:

- the first stage (09/01/1939-21/06/1941), when Germany became the main foreign economic partner of the USSR, from which equipment and machinery for various sectors of the economy, weapons, etc. were imported;

- the second stage (22.06.1941-02.09.1945), when, as a result of the German attack, there were dramatic changes in the USSR's foreign economic activity, both in terms of changes in the volume and structure of imports and in reorientation to other partner countries, primarily allies in the Anti-Hitler Coalition.

The outbreak of hostilities between the USSR and Germany led to the fact that the main item of foreign economic supplies was the supply of arms and military ammunition, food, industrial equipment and strategic materials, raw materials and semi-finished products. A huge role in this was played by the land-lease as a method of military and economic support of its allies by the United States. For the Soviet Union, it amounted to 81.19% in value terms of all imports. The largest volumes of imports, both in terms of value and quantity, occurred in 1944-45, when logistics supply chains were developed.

Further research in this area of study is seen in the study of issues related to the activities of Soviet government agencies (primarily diplomatic) and commercial organizations (e.g., Amtorg, the Government Procurement Commission) in organizing imports during World War II.

References:

1. Mezhdunarodnyie otnosheniya (1967). Vneshnyaya torgovlya SSSR 1918-1966 g. (Statisticheskiy sbornik) [Foreign trade of the USSR 1918-1966 (Statistical collection)]. Moscow: International relations.

2. Mikoyan A.I. (1999). Tak byilo [It was.]. Moscow: Vagrius [in Russian].

3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR (1984). Sovetsko-Amerikanskie otnosheniya vo vremya Velikoy Otechestvennoy voynyi, 1941-45: Documents and materialyi. V 2-h t. T. 1. 1941-43. [Soviet-American relations during the GreatPatriotic War, 1941-45: Documents and materials. T. 1. 1941-43.]. Moscow: USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

4. Sipols V. Ya. (1997). Torgovo-ekonomicheskie otnosheniya mezhdu SSSR i Germaniey v 1939-1941 gg. v svete novyih arhivnyih dokumentov [Trade and economic relations between the USSR and Germany in 1939-1941. in the light of new archival documents]. New and recent history, 2, 29-41.

5. Vneshnyaya torgovlya Soyuza SSR. For the period from 22-VI-1941 to 31-XII-1945. Po dannyim operativnogo ucheta (1947). [Foreign trade of the USSR. For the period from June 22, 1941 to December 31, 1945. According to operational records (1947)]. Istoricheskie materialyi [Historical materials]. Retrieved from http://istmat.info/node/40607 [in Russian].

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