From the Archives Komsomol and rural electrification

 From the Archives

Komsomol and rural electrification

The development of the electrification of the Soviet country 1921-1925. State Publishing House of Political Literature M. 1956, pp. 383-385.

Central Committee of the RCP (b)

When the All-Russian Congresses of Soviets approved in 1920 and 1921 the plan for the electrification of Russia, the Komsomol was then only in its infancy and it took shape mainly in the cities.

Since then, the picture has changed.

The Komsomol has become a huge force; it now has over 500,000 members, and there are many thousands of rural cells in its ranks.

Over the years, electrification has also moved forward. Along with the construction of large regional electric power plants for tens of thousands of horsepower, the construction of rural power plants has intensified, and now this issue is being dealt with in one form or another in all provinces and regions of the country.

It is clear that by such an important work to improve agriculture as electrification, young people could not pass indifferently.

The first steps

The Komsomol cells began their first campaigns on the propaganda of electrification two or three years ago. Then there was almost no material for this work: books, magazines, posters, light paintings and pictures for cinema.

All this appeared only now - last year and this year.

I had to start a new business without knowledge and outside help. Of course, great results could not have been achieved under such conditions, and the participation of Komsomol cells in electrification was then rare and accidental. Nevertheless, there were illustrative examples here too, for example, in Mogilev, where a cell of the RLKSM arranged a special exhibition on electrification for the peasants, illuminated one village, and in general did a great and interesting work experience. This was written in the "Poor" and in other newspapers.

More systematic work of the Komsomol began last year, when Elektrokredit arose, which began to carry out energetic coverage in newspapers and magazines of all questions on the electrification of the countryside and attracted the trade unions, the cooperatives and the Komsomol to this work. Then an interesting project arose in the center to involve the Komsomol in a special campaign in the village called

"Electrification Day"

The Central Committee of the RLKSM this summer set the following task for its local organizations: to use the popular holiday "Day of Elijah the Prophet" on August 3 to speak in the countryside against peasant superstition and to explain to the rural masses the basic information on electricity and electrification. A field work plan was developed.

What did the Komsomol members do that day in the villages? There is no detailed summary yet, but individual examples can be given.

On this day, significant groups of young people, workers and visiting peasants were gathered in Yaroslavl; they went with them to the Volga, to the Lyapinskoye swamp, where a large, 8 thousand horsepower, electric station is being built for the entire region. They examined it carefully, listened to the lectures and reports of the builders, walked through the swamp, where hundreds of thousands of pounds of peat were harvested for the station, solemnly handed over a banner to the union of construction workers, and then immediately at the station they arranged a holiday on the occasion of the opening of lighting lines to the first Trans-Volga villages - Tveritsy and Horny. In the evening, in the factory and city clubs, there were reports and performances related to electrification, with the participation of students and workers of the workers' faculty.

 In the Vologda province, the Korbant cell staged a report on electricity for the peasants in the village of Gorki, and then a show trial of the kulaks who made it difficult to reach a multi-field system.

In the Bryansk province, in the Komsomol ranks, the question arose of creating permanent circles for electrification. In the village of Sloboda, Mozyr district, Minsk province, students and Komsomol members set up an "electric hut", where they installed appliances and machines and showed the peasants by experience what can be done with electricity. The peasants decided to collect 3-5 rubles each from their homes and start equipping [a power plant] in their village.

In some places, "Ilyin's Day" was associated with the grand opening or laying of rural power stations. In the workers' districts - the Donets Basin and in the Kuzbass (in Siberia), "Ilyich's Light Bulb Evenings" were organized jointly with the peasants and workers, with reports, performances, concerts, etc.

These performances were everywhere a great success among the peasants and workers. As you can see, they were quite varied and interesting and will serve as a good experience for subsequent years, especially since now good books dedicated to Ilya's Day, published by the Central Committee of the Komsomol, have already gone out of print to help the localities.

The experience of "Ilyin's Day" prompted many rural cells of the Komsomol to take part in the constant work of cooperative and special organizations for the electrification of the countryside. Komsomol members participate in various meetings, draw up charters, help collect membership fees for the construction of power stations, distribute literature, put up pictures with a magic lantern, and so on. This is a great and useful school for young people.