Prerequisites for tractorization in Ukraine in the early twentieth century

Abstract

The aim of the article is to establish the scientific prerequisites for tractorization in Ukraine in the early twentieth century. Research methods: general-historical and special-historical methods. Main results: the article examines historical background and factors that contributed to the spread and use of the first tractors in Ukraine, the emergence of domestic tractor construction and widespread tractorization of agriculture in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic in the 20s years of the twentieth century. The author uses the term “tractorization” which has not been used in scientific sources for a long time. It means the spread of scientific, technical and everyday ideas about tractors, the creation and distribution of their various models, the introduction of these machines into domestic agriculture and other spheres of life at the beginning of the twentieth century. A list of arguments and facts confirms that 1913 was a turning point in the study, popularization and distribution of tractors both in the world and in Ukraine. The features and results of testing the first tractors on the territory of modern Ukraine are described. The outstanding role of the first scientists and engineers who organized the testing of tractors and disseminated information about the results of these tests on farms and at exhibitions (D. Artsybashev, A. Baranovsky, V. Batyushkov, K. Debu, V. Koval B. Lintvarev, M. Pigulevsky, A. Treivas) is shown. The significant contribution to the study of the tractor business and the promotion of foreign-made tractors in Ukraine made by scientific associations, state and public institutions, as well as individual scientists is highlighted. Concise conclusions: it is determined that tsarist Russia had all the conditions and resources for the development of its own tractor industry before 1917, including Ukraine. It is proven that the development of this industry was interrupted by the Bolshevik coup and the Civil War, and until the mid-1920s, the use of tractors in Ukrainian agriculture was only isolated and completely dependent on imports of this equipment. The mass production of tractors in the USSR was organized only in the early 1930s with the commissioning of Stalingrad Tractor and Kharkiv Tractor plants. Meanwhile the needs of Ukrainian agriculture in tractors were met mainly through the mass import mainly from the United States that became important for the tractorization and its technical modernization. The practical significance: recommended for use in teaching the history of science and technology of the early twentieth century. Originality: the generalization of experience of historiography research in tractorization process is used. Scientific novelty: for the first time the role of the All-Russian factory, trade-industrial, agricultural and scientific-artistic exhibition, which took place in Kyiv in the summer-autumn of 1913 and was accompanied by testing the tractors, is covered. Type of article: research.