THE COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE OF THE USSR STATE PLANNING COMMITTEE AND INTENSIFICATION OF THE SOVIET MILITARY ECONOMY IN 1943–1945

The article examines the activities of the Council for Scientific and Technical Expertise (CSTE) of the USSR State Planning Committee, an expert-analytical structure of the Soviet Union planning body. It introduces into scientific circulation previously unexplored archival materials related to the search for areas for intensifying the production activities of military people’s commissariats of the machine-building industry based on technical planning during the studied period of the Great Patriotic War. The paper analyzes procedure for organizing and conducting expertise on topical issues of developing the country’s scientific and technological potential and aimed at strengthening the military-economic power of the USSR during the war. It is noted that there was constant organizational improvement of the Council’s expert work system, which was reflected in the creation of specialized technical sections of the CSTE. The paper studies the role and significance of the work of the Council in expert support of restoration work in the territories liberated from the Nazi invaders (in particular, work on the industrial revival of Donbass). The author gives examples of production rationalization developments, technological innovations and expert proposals for saving raw and other materials in war conditions, updated in departmental and regional aspects. The CSTE activities reveal the connection between the planned production agenda for rationalizing the activities of military machine-building people’s commissariats during the war with proposals for intensifying industrial production in its aftermath. It is pointed out that the Council’s expert and organizational activities made the important contribution to the continuation of promising work on the development of the industrial complex of the USSR in the post-war period.