Table of Contents
What is Magnitogorsk known for?
Magnitogorsk contains the largest iron and steel works in the country: Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. The official motto of the city is “the place where Europe and Asia meet”, as the city occupies land in both Europe and Asia.
What was it like to be a worker in Magnitogorsk?
The conditions were hard, cold, brutal, as was the work load itself. Teams were organised in competition to complete (often unsatisfactory) work under ultra-tight deadlines. Fires plagues the concrete landscape, dragging construction efforts into entropy whilst Stalin’s clock ticked away the scheduled build time.
What challenges were faced in building Magnitogorsk from scratch?
Magnitogorsk was reportedly inspired by the US Steel plant in Gary, Indiana, then the largest in the world. The first years of construction, however, were chaos, as the impossibly short deadlines set by Moscow collided with the total lack of infrastructure, chronic fires and a shortage of skilled workers and equipment.
What was Magnitogorsk Russia?
Magnitogorsk, city, Chelyabinsk oblast (region), western Russia, on both banks of the Ural River. It was founded in 1929 to exploit the rich magnetite iron ore of Mt. Magnitnaya, just east of the city.
Why was Magnitogorsk built?
Magnitogorsk was built in the 1930s to fulfill Stalin’s plan to transform the predominantly agrarian nation into a “country of metal”. Stalin was impressed by the great progress the Americans had made in heavy industries. Magnitogorsk was supposed to be a completely planned city.
How did the kulaks resist collectivization?
Stalin and the CPSU blamed the prosperous peasants, referred to as ‘kulaks’ (Russian: fist), who were organizing resistance to collectivization. Allegedly, many kulaks had been hoarding grain in order to speculate on higher prices, thereby sabotaging grain collection. Stalin resolved to eliminate them as a class.
What was kulaks in Russia?
kulak, (Russian: “fist”), in Russian and Soviet history, a wealthy or prosperous peasant, generally characterized as one who owned a relatively large farm and several head of cattle and horses and who was financially capable of employing hired labour and leasing land.
How was Magnitogorsk created?
How did collectivization benefit Russia?
This caused a major famine in the countryside (1932–33) and the deaths of millions of peasants. Despite these great costs, the forced collectivization achieved the final establishment of Soviet power in the countryside.
What is it like to live in Magnitogorsk?
Magnitogorsk’s astounding steel producing capacity can be smelled right in its air. The tinge of burned charcoal hangs ominously in the air while an acrid dryness burns the back of the throat. Like most industrial cities in Russia, Magnitogorsk is one of the most polluted.
Is Magnitogorsk the most polluted Russian city?
Like most industrial cities in Russia, Magnitogorsk is one of the most polluted. According to an environmental group called EcoMagnitka, only one in 20 children born in the city is completely free of health problems and allergies.
What is Magnitogorsk steel and why is it important?
Magnitogorsk proved its worth during the Second World War when it supplied nearly half of all steel the Soviet Union used to make tanks and a third of all steel used to make ammunition shells during the years of the war.
Who were the first builders of Magnitogorsk?
The “first builders” of Magnitogorsk have been lauded in poetry, film and song; Soviet propaganda stressed the contribution of young communist volunteers and members of the Komsomol, a national youth movement that started largely in Magnitogorsk. But Akhmetzyanov was not a volunteer.