The secret weapon that helped the Soviet Union quickly become a superpower

In 1897, in front of the Yenisei River, Russia's 5,539km long river and the 5th longest in the world, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin said: "This boundless power will be used, people will turn that power into movement, into light, into energy. With time, a life full of intelligence and courage will shine on both banks of this river."

Electrification to build the Soviet regime

In 1920, the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet decided to establish the All-Russian State Committee for Electrification (GOELRO). Lenin then made a famous assertion: "Communism equals Soviet power plus electrification of the whole country."

Lenin said: “Only when our country is electrified, only when industry, agriculture and transport stand firmly on the technical basis of modern large-scale industry, then we can achieve complete victory.”

Lenin also emphasized: "The only material basis of socialism can only be large-scale mechanical industry capable of transforming agriculture."

Writing a letter to Gleb Krzizanovsky (1872 - 1959), Chairman of the All-Russian State Electrification Committee (GOELRO), Lenin believed: "In about ten years we will build 20 to 30 power plants within a radius of 400 miles, running on coal, water, coal, oil... After 10 years we will completely electrify Russia."

In fact, a hydroelectric plant is a place that creates a huge amount of electricity enough to supply a large region but has many advantages.

For example, hydroelectric power plants have a long life (about 100 years or more), and maintenance costs are also very low compared to other types. Producing electricity from water not only helps to reduce costs but also does not pollute the air or discharge toxic substances into the environment.

Moreover, the reservoirs can store a huge amount of water, which can completely overcome the dry season, ensuring that there is always enough electricity to serve production and daily life. These advantages help the industrialization and modernization of the Soviet Union and later the Soviet Union become more favorable.

The Soviet Union rapidly developed its economy.

The Dniepr is a large river that flows through Ukraine. This river, with a series of hydroelectric power plants built, has become a symbol of the industrialization and modernization of the Soviet Union.

The first is the DneproGES hydroelectric power plant built in 1927-1932 with a capacity of 558MW. This plant was completely destroyed during World War II and in 1948 it was rebuilt and its capacity increased to 750MW.

Subsequently, on the Dniepr River, many other hydroelectric power plants were also built. The Kremenchuk hydroelectric power plant was built in 1954-1960, the Kiev hydroelectric power plant was built in 1960-1964, the Dneprodzerzhinsk hydroelectric power plant was built in 1956-1964 and the Kanev hydroelectric power plant was built in 1963-1975.

Thanks to that, the Soviet Union built a series of giant industrial complexes along the Dniepr River.

Soviet poet S. Marshak wrote the poem “Speaking to the Dniepr River” to praise the hydroelectric projects on this river: “People speak to the Dniepr River/ I will block you with a steel wall/ So that from above/ You will flow down/ at full speed/ For the ships to run/ faster/ For the engines to run/ without stopping/ So that from now on/ The river water/ will no longer flow/ in vain/ But will bring/ bread, electricity, coal/ For our people to enjoy/ So that in the fields/ the sound of tractors and engines can be heard/ So that electricity will be on all night/ in the houses/ and on the streets”.

It is difficult to deny the contribution of hydropower to the industrialization and modernization of the Soviet Union. If in 1928, the Soviet Union only had 5 billion kWh of electricity, by 1932 it had reached 36.2 billion kWh of electricity, of which electricity from hydropower plants accounted for a large proportion. Thanks to that, after the first Five-Year Plan (1928 - 1932), the Soviet Union had a heavy industry with advanced technology, building 1,500 enterprises, mainly large and modern.

In 1935, the Soviet Union began construction of the first phase of the Moscow Metro, a 11.2km-long line that was state-of-the-art at the time and is still in use today. By 1937, the Soviet Union's industrial output accounted for 77.4% of its gross national product, ranking second in the world (accounting for 14% of the world's industrial output).

Historically, it took Britain 200 years, the United States 120 years, and Japan 40 years to become an industrialized country, while the Soviet Union only needed 18 years to basically complete its industrialization process. This is the fastest industrialization rate the world has ever recorded.

Later, the Soviet Union increasingly promoted the construction of hydroelectric power plants. As a result, by 1965, the Soviet Union's electricity output had reached 507 billion kWh. Next, on the Angara River, the Soviet Union inaugurated two giant hydroelectric power plants.

These are the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Plant with a capacity of 4,515 MW inaugurated in 1967 and the Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Power Plant with a capacity of 3,840 MW inaugurated in 1974. On the Yenisei River, the Soviet Union also inaugurated the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Power Plant with a capacity of 6,000 MW in 1972 and in 1978, the Soviet Union also inaugurated the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant with a capacity of 6,400 MW.

Therefore, by the 1970s, all farms and farms were electrified, completely changing the working life of Soviet farmers. In particular, by 1972, the total industrial output of the Soviet Union had increased 321 times compared to 1922 (the year the Soviet Union was founded), and national income had also increased 112 times. In 1975, in just 2 and a half days, the Soviet Union produced the same amount of products as in 1913 (the highest year of the former Russian Empire).

In addition, from 1960 to 1970, the Soviet Union provided technical assistance to socialist countries in rebuilding and re-equipping more than 500 large industrial and agricultural facilities. From 1976 to 1983, the Soviet Union exported to socialist countries 378 tons of oil, more than 90 billion cubic meters of gas and 64 billion kWh of electricity.