The period of existence of the Soviet Union has always been accompanied by various large-scale and bold transformations: from industrialization to the space program. However, history knows almost more projects that remained on paper due to their excessive ambition. Here are 7 ideas of Soviet leaders who turned out to be too bold to be implemented.
1. United States of the World
Even before the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin was actively developing not only the mechanism for building communism on the territory of the Russian Empire. His plans, or at least dreams, were much more far-reaching. So, for example, in 1915 he wrote an article "On the slogan of the United States of Europe", where he subjected devastating criticism of the idea of their Western colleagues in socialist ideology to create a United States of Europe.
And the point here is not only in his assertion that it is impossible to create such an alliance from the countries of the capitalist system. All rather because Lenin saw the ideal world order in the form of the creation of the United States of the world, and, of course, on the basis of socialist ideology. The next step, he saw the creation of the material and technical base for building communism in the 1930-1940s.
2. Tunnel to Sakhalin
The Trans-Siberian Railway is really impressive in its size, but it still did not cover one area: we are talking about Sakhalin Island. The first statements regarding the need to combine such an inaccessible territory with a large transport artery sounded back in the 19th century, but the conditions and historical context did not allow the development of ideas of this kind. But in the Soviet era, where “great construction projects” were at almost every step, this idea pleased the party and personally Joseph Stalin.
It was the latter's personal initiative that significantly accelerated the development process of this project. By 1950, the Council of Ministers of the USSR approved the start of the physical construction of the tunnel, and it was planned to launch traffic along it in five years.
However, the ambitious project actually died after Stalin in 1953: after the father of nations passed away, construction was actually completed, and today, only the remains of a few objects that have been built are reminiscent of the large-scale idea: mine shafts, unfinished dams and a bulk island.
Interesting fact: the builders did not immediately go home after the work on the Sakhalin tunnel project was stopped - many were waiting for them to resume.
3. Kerch bridge
The construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait was thought of back in pre-revolutionary times - Emperor Nicholas II planned to build a similar crossing. However, the implementation of such a large-scale project in life was prevented by the hostilities of the First World War. But in Soviet times, they returned to this idea, and the first who brought it to life was... Hitler.
Visualization of one of the projects of the bridge over the Kerch Strait during the Soviet period. / Photo: livejournal.com
During the occupation of part of the territory of the Soviet Union, including the Crimea, it was on the initiative of the Fuhrer that a pontoon crossing was erected across the strait. And after the liberation of the peninsula in 1944, a railway bridge was built on Stalin's orders. But he did not stand for long - less than a year. The reason was nature: seasonal ice drift destroyed the pillars of the bridge, and in the end it was simply dismantled.
4. The main Turkmen canal
Even the post-war devastation did not prevent the Soviet leadership from planning and implementing large-scale projects. One of these was the construction of the Main Turkmen Canal, as the apotheosis of the implementation of the idea of the "Stalinsky nature transformation plan "to transform the deserts of Central Asia into a fertile territory with gardens and vegetable gardens.
So, it was planned to build a canal from the Amu Darya River to the Caspian Sea along the dry channel of the Uzboy - this is would allow both to start shipping, and to get the opportunity to fully master the very Turkmen desert. A fairly large part of the project was actually built: the Karakum Canal was successfully completed and continues to function to this day. However, the ambitious idea ended on it, because after Stalin's death, construction was stopped, and the project was abandoned by the government forever.
5. Transpolar highway
Another no less ambitious idea that they tried to implement during the reign of Joseph Stalin was the so-called Transpolar highway. The essence of the project was the construction of a railway line from Arkhangelsk to Chukotka along the line of the Arctic Circle. Initially, they did not even think about such an idea seriously, but the end of the Great Patriotic War seemed to give the Soviet government unreasonable enthusiasm.
Construction began immediately, with the involvement of prisoners. Moreover, the party's enthusiasm for the Transpolar Mainline turned out to be so great that when in 1947 the laying of a railway line from Pechora to the Yenisei, the latter were even recalled from other construction projects, including those where bridges were erected that carried an important transport infrastructure value.
But the fuse lasted only for more than five years: after Stalin's death, there was a massive amnesty for prisoners, and there was simply no one to work at the facilities. The construction was abandoned, part of the already laid rails were given to the needs of the Norilsk Combine, and the remaining section in the Western Siberia region was gradually destroyed under the influence of external factors.
6. Communism by 1980
The next general secretary after Stalin, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, never skimped on loud statements and bold promises. Perhaps, many people know about the "corn epic", and the "Ryazan experiment" and the plowing of virgin lands. And yet, Khrushchev's most ambitious promise was expressed in the slogan: "Let's build communism by 1980!"
According to the loud statements of Nikita Sergeevich, by that time every citizen of the USSR will have his own an apartment, in it - a TV, also he will not need food, clothing and other benefits, but will work less. One of the most unusual theses from the same series was the promise to show on TV the last priest who remained in the Soviet Union.
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However, as history has shown, the plans turned out to be too daring: Khrushchev, as a result of the collusion of a number of party leaders, was removed from office. Moreover, one of the reasons was the failure to fulfill the promises made to them: the indicators of the well-being of the citizens of the USSR did not want to approach the American ones. And after Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev took over as General Secretary, the timing of the onset of communism moved to 2000. But they were not destined to come true either.
7. The turn of the Siberian rivers
The turning of the Siberian rivers as a project was considered back in the Russian Empire, but they tried to implement it only under the Soviet Union. It is interesting that this time it was not Joseph Stalin who initiated the development of this large-scale idea - he just, for some reason, did not show the slightest interest in this idea.
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The project began to be physically implemented in the 1960s, and by 1974, as part of the development of methods for transferring Siberian rivers to the territory of Central Asia, the construction of the first stage was completed - it became a canal Irtysh-Karaganda. But in fact, the project stopped at this, and in 1985, with the beginning of the perestroika era, it, like many other "great Soviet construction projects", was recognized as inexpedient for further creation.
Want to know more about Khrushchev's communist paradise? Then read: A utopia to believe in: what the party promised when communism came by 1980
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/130520/54498/