Soviet State and Industrial Cooperation in Second Half of 1945–1947: From “Manual Management” to Market Agreement

This study explores the management methods of cooperative industry in the context of its transition to the production of civilian goods during the years 1945–1947. It examines the perspectives of leading domestic and international researchers on the topic. The sources include both published and archival documents. For the first time, data from the Chelyabinsk region concerning the structure, personnel numbers, and production volumes of cooperatives within the regional industrial system are introduced into scholarly discourse. The research addresses the challenges faced by small non-state enterprises, such as the inadequacies in pricing procedures, rising production costs due to equipment wear and tear, reduced supplies from centralized raw material funds, unsatisfactory product quality and range, acute shortages of working capital, and the resulting outflow of qualified personnel. A review of post-war government decrees from 1945 to 1947 and the practical activities of local party and Soviet bodies in implementing these policies indicates a shift in political strategy regarding the cooperative sector of the economy. The authors conclude that these initiatives marked a transition from a mobilization model of “manual” management to a “market agreement,” characterized by increased state support alongside an expansion of monetary incentives and autonomously made decisions.