Formation and Development of the Vinnytsia Tool Plant as a Reflection of the Realities of Soviet Industry (According to the Periodicals of the Late 1940s - Early 1980s)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to cover the process of founding, formation and development of the Vinnytsia Tool Plant and show its activities through the prism of the Soviet press. The methodology of research is based on the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, systematization, generalization) and special-historical (historical-critical, historical-comparative, problem-chronological, discourse-analysis, document processing) methods. The study is based on the universal principles of historicism, scientificity, multifactoriality and systematicity. The scientific novelty of the work is that the authors for the first time, based on the analysis of periodicals as a source, revealed various aspects of the functioning of the Vinnytsia Tool Plant in the system of realities of Soviet industry. Conclusions. The materials placed on the pages of Soviet periodicals testify to the undoubted positive results in the activities of the Vinnytsia Tool Plant during its existence. This is reflected in the significant achievements of the enterprise, the establishment of competitive products, improving the organization of production, its automation, infrastructure development, improving working conditions and living conditions of workers. These achievements were comprehensively covered in the pages of periodicals. However, the Soviet press had its own specifics of creating an information picture about the development of the Soviet economy, carefully retouched the shortcomings of the command-administrative system and its insensitivity to the demands of the time. Newspaper columns in the late 1940s and early 1980s were one of the platforms for demonstrating the labor exploits of the Soviet people and shaped public opinion about the benefits of socialist development in society. Nevertheless, despite the bias, propaganda and stereotypes of the publications, the information in the Soviet media allows us to assess not only the achievements in the plant's activities, but also to identify shortcomings and miscalculations. But, in our opinion, these shortcomings should be connected first of all with features of development of the all-Union industry - following instructions "from above", necessity of performance of plans of the next five years, lag of the USSR in scientific and technical progress, lack of effective communication of science and production, using outdated equipment and technologies and involving instead the "human factor" to fulfill the tasks set by the party and state leadership to increase productivity, increase the number of products and improve its quality.