The Economy of the Kyrgyz in the USSR (1917-1991)

The situation in Kyrgyzstan by the end of the Civil War was very difficult. In 1922, industrial production was about two-thirds of that in 1913, sown areas decreased by 45%, and livestock numbers fell by 29% compared to 1916. The difficulties of the recovery period were exacerbated by the multi-structured economy, the dominance of patriarchal-feudal relations in the ails, the lack of large-scale industry, an extensive network of railways and highways, and a low level of culture. Kyrgyzstan lacked experienced Soviet and economic personnel. The largest socio-economic event was the land and water reform of 1921-1922, carried out in the northern regions of Kyrgyzstan and in the Jalal-Abad region in the south of the republic. It was mainly aimed at eliminating the consequences of the colonial policy of Tsarism. About 6,000 landless and smallholder farms received 199,000 desyatinas of irrigated and pasture land. In 1927-1928, the second stage of the reform took place. Its focus was against feudal elements, during this period another 17,000 poor and landless households received land. The middle class became the main figure in the ails. The activities of the union "Koshchi" ("Peasant") played a significant role in the struggle for the implementation of reforms. By 1928, the national economy of Kyrgyzstan had reached pre-war levels, but this was the level of a backward colonial periphery of pre-revolutionary Russia. The sown areas amounted to 674,000 hectares. The total livestock population barely exceeded pre-war levels (the level of 1913). Solving economic, national, and state tasks was complicated by the resistance of the bai and manap.

During the pre-war five-year plans, much was done for the industrialization of the country. Capital investments in the national economy of Kyrgyzstan from 1925 to early 1941 exceeded 280 million rubles. From 1928 to 1940, 140 industrial enterprises were built and put into operation, including power plants. Among them were the Kadamjai antimony plant, the Frunze and Kara-Suu repair and mechanical plants, the Changi-Tash oil field, meat processing plants, tobacco factories, sugar factories, and mines in Kok-Yangak, Tash-Kumyr, new mines in Suluktu, Kyzyl-Kiya, and the Alamedin hydroelectric power station. New industries were created: metalworking, oil, non-ferrous metallurgy, textiles, sugar, meat processing, and others. The gross industrial output in 1940 exceeded the level of 1913 by 9.9 times, and in large industry by 153 times. In 1928, electricity production was only 0.8 million kWh, while in 1940 it reached 51.6 million kWh. In 1940, Kyrgyzstan produced 88% of the coal mined in the Central Asian republics. In sugar production, it ranked fourth in the USSR after the Ukrainian SSR, RSFSR, and Kazakhstan.

The mass collectivization that began in 1929 led to transformations in the backward agriculture of Kyrgyzstan, which had about a thousand small livestock farms, two-thirds of which were nomadic and semi-nomadic. One of the most complex tasks was solved—the transition to sedentism, resulting in hundreds of new settlements emerging in Kyrgyzstan. By the beginning of 1941, 98.9% of peasant farms had been collectivized, and the bai were eliminated. By the end of 1940, 65 machine and tractor stations (MTS) were operating, with 6,200 tractors and 1,050 combines. The area of cultivated land increased by 1.7 times. The area of irrigated land doubled compared to 1914, and cotton sowing increased threefold. New technical crops were cultivated: sugar beets, kenaf, tobacco, and sunflowers. All this led to fundamental changes in the lives of the peasants. Over the years of the pre-war five-year plans, Kyrgyzstan transformed from a backward region into a progressive industrial-agrarian republic.

The working people of the industrial centers of the country—Moscow, Leningrad, Ivanovo, Kazan, Kharkov, and Kiev—helped in creating the foundations of Kyrgyzstan's economy. They sent qualified workers and engineering and technical personnel to construction sites, as well as machines and equipment. In 1932, the workers of Leningrad took patronage over Kyrgyzstan. National cadres for the national economy were trained in Kyrgyzstan and in the major industrial centers of the country, in the republics of the USSR. During the years of Soviet power, the republic supplied not only coal and agricultural raw materials to other regions of the country but also food and light industry products. The import of machinery, equipment, fertilizers, forestry materials, etc., into the republic increased. In 1936, 36,000 people were employed in industry, of which 17.9% were Kyrgyz.

During the Great Patriotic War, all sectors of Kyrgyzstan's economy reorganized their work in accordance with wartime conditions. From July to November 1941, more than 30 large factories, plants, and workshops were evacuated from the western and central regions of the USSR to Kyrgyzstan: the Nikitinsky mercury plant from Donbas, the agricultural machinery plant from Berdyansk, the Kharkov pharmaceutical plant, shoe factories from Rostov, sugar factories, and others. New enterprises in non-ferrous metallurgy, light and local industry, and sugar factories were under construction. In total, during the war years, 38 new industrial facilities of union and republican significance were put into operation in Kyrgyzstan.

During the war, there was also mobilization of human resources for the national economy: 13,950 people were directed to work in industry, and 4,443 people to construction and transport. More than 36,000 Kyrgyz collective farmers were mobilized to work in the factories, mines, and railways of the Urals, Kuzbass, and Karaganda. Women and teenagers also joined agricultural production. As a result, the total volume of gross output increased by 22.2% compared to the pre-war five-year plan. Agricultural production also increased: bread by 4.5 million poods, meat by 2.8 million poods, and wool by 372,000 poods. The number of cattle increased by 21,100 heads from 1941 to 1945.

The placement of evacuated populations in the republic proved to be a complex task. In the summer and autumn of 1941, 139,000 people arrived from occupied and frontline areas, as well as from Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities. There were temporarily 20,000 resettlers—citizens of Poland—in Kyrgyzstan. From November 1941 to September 1942, 40 orphanages and kindergartens with 3,438 orphaned children arrived in the republic.

The residents of the republic provided comprehensive assistance to the front, not only by dedicating their labor to the common cause but also by sending gifts to the soldiers at their own expense—food and warm clothing. Many donated money from their savings for the construction of tanks and airplanes. Thus, the Kyrgyz SSR made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism.

In the post-war period, the economy of the republic was again switched to peaceful production. In the following years, the pace of economic development in the republic outpaced the average across the USSR. For example, from 1965 to 1979, the gross product in the USSR increased by 2.3 times, while in Kyrgyzstan it increased by 2.5 times. In 1979, industry accounted for 70% of the total output of the national economy. In the post-war decade, more than 50 large enterprises were put into operation. These included new coal mines, the "Kyrgyzavtomash" plant, the Osh electromechanical plant, the Jalal-Abad cotton cleaning plant, and others. A special economic upturn was observed in the 1960s and 70s, which were called the "years of thaw." During this period, another 165 enterprises were commissioned, including the largest Toktogul hydroelectric power station (part of the GOELRO plan, construction of which was declared a nationwide Komsomol construction project), the Uchkurghan hydroelectric power station, three thermal power plants, an automobile assembly plant, a reinforced concrete products plant, and housing construction combines, textile and sewing factories. New industries were created—machine tool construction, non-ferrous metallurgy, and instrument engineering. Overall, industrial output in 1979 increased 32 times compared to 1940. The leading industries became machine engineering and metalworking. The electronic and electrical engineering industries developed rapidly. Other notable sectors included light, food, construction materials, and fuel industries. In the 1970s, 4.5 million tons of coal were extracted from ten mines and two quarries. The energy sector developed rapidly: before the revolution, there were five small power plants with a total capacity of 265 kWh; by 1980, the capacity of just the Toktogul hydroelectric power station reached 1,200,000 kWh. In the 1970s, the construction of 22 hydroelectric power stations on the Naryn River with a total capacity of 7 million kWh was planned. In 1976, the republic produced 4.4 billion kWh of electricity.