Issue 3 (92)
| 25 YEARS OF SOVIET OPTICS: THE RESULTS OF INDUSTRIAL MODERNIZATION (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE 1943 CEREMONIAL MEETING) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2026 | Number | 3 (92) |
| Pages | 179-189 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 4(47)”1943” | BBK | 63.3(2)6 |
| Authors | Sludnyh Anatoly V. |
Topic | HISTORICAL MOSAIC |
| Summary | The article analyzes large-scale processes of modernization within the domestic optical-mechanical industry during the first half of the 20th century. The study is based on a unique historical source — the transcript of a ceremonial meeting held to mark the 25th anniversary of the State Optical Institute (Gosudarstvenny’j opticheskij institute — GOI) in 1943. The paper examines in detail the key developments in the Soviet optical industry over a quarter of a century, and identifies the specific mechanisms by which the academic community adapted to the stringent demands of wartime, the difficult conditions of evacuation and the acute shortage of material and technical resources. On the basis of a thorough analysis of archival materials, the author demonstrates that by 1943, the GOI had completely transformed itself into a powerful, integrated scientific and industrial complex, which successfully ensured the USSR’s complete technological and raw-materials independence in the strategic fields of military glassmaking and defense instrument engineering. The institute’s anniversary meeting is viewed not as a formal, ceremonial event, but as a symbolic act marking the scientific and technical maturity of Soviet optics, as well as an effective institutional mechanism for interaction between fundamental science and the People’s Commissariat for Armaments. It is concluded that, during the Great Patriotic War, there was a significant increase in the influence of academic research on mass industrial production. This process not only promptly met the urgent needs of the front, but also laid a solid technological foundation for the successful fulfilment of the country’s subsequent strategic objectives in the post-war period. | ||
| Keywords | optical and mechanical industry of the USSR, State Optical Institute, optical science, technological sovereignty, mobilization model | ||
| References |
Chekhmataev D. P. [A Quarter of a Century of the State Optical Institute]. Dvadtsat’ pyat’ let Gosudarstvennogo Opticheskogo Instituta. XXV. 1918–1943 [Twenty-Five Years of the State Optical Institute. XXV. 1918–1943]. YoshkarOla: [s. n.], 1943, pp. 3–5. (in Russ.). Eshtyganova S. S. [The Volga Forestry Engineering Institute Named After M. Gorky During the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)]. Vestnik Mariyskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoricheskiye nauki. Yuridicheskiye nauki [Vest nik of the Mari State University. Chapter History. Law], 2021, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 140–148. DOI: 10.30914/2411-3522-20207-2-140-148 (in Russ.). Koshkina O. A., Sergeyeva A. N. [The State Optical Institute in Evacuation (1941–1945): Documents from the State Archive of the Mari El Republic]. Vestnik Arkhivista [Herald of an Archivist], 2022, no. 2, pp. 396–407. DOI: 10.28995/2073-0101-2022-2-396-407 (in Russ.). Krechetova I. V., Tselishcheva L. V. [Scientific Activity of the State Optical Institute During the War Years (YoshkarOla Period): From the History of Physics Science]. Filosofiya nauki i tekhniki [Philosophy of Science and Technology], 2022, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 149–162. DOI: 10.21146/2413-9084-2022-27-1-149-162 (in Russ.). Simonov N. S. Voyenno-promyshlennyy kompleks SSSR v 1920–1950-e gody: tempy ekonomicheskogo rosta, struktura, organizatsiya proizvodstva i upravleniye [The Military-Industrial Complex of the USSR in the 1920s–1950s: Rates of Economic Growth, Structure, Organization of Production and Management]. Moscow: ROSSPEN Publ., 1996. (in Russ.). Vavilov S. I. Sovetskaya nauka na sluzhbe Rodine [Soviet Science in the Service of the Motherland]. Moscow: AN SSSR Publ., 1946. (in Russ.). |
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