From the History of Technology
Gas producer automobiles in the Komi ASSR in the 1940 s – 1950 s
Matsuk A.M.
Since the beginning of mass production of trucks (in the USSR, since the 1930s), there was a competition between two types of automobiles, those using mineral fuel (petrochemical products and natural gas: gasoline-, diesel-, and compressed-gas vehicles) and biological fuel (wood gas automobiles, in particular), both in the Soviet and in the global automotive industry. In the Soviet Union, gas producer automobiles held a dominant position in the logging industry since the 1930s. Both the trucks and the tractors of this type were produced. During the Great Patriotic War, due to objective factors, a significant amount of trucks employed not only in the logging industry but in other industries too were converted fr om gasoline to biofuel. In the post-war period, gas producer automobiles began to be retired. The only exception was again the logging industry wh ere these automobiles continued to be employed till the end of the 1950s when they were replaced with diesel-powered heavier-duty trucks. Based on the archive materials, this paper explores for the first time the history of the use of gas producer automobiles in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Komi ASSR), a major logging region in the north of European Russia
Key words: gas producer automobiles, Great Patriotic War, Komi ASSR, logging industry, post-war recovery of the country, Soviet Union
eLIBRARY.RU: http://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=27517379
REFERENCES →
Avtomobili na drovakh [Gas Producer Automobiles] (1931), Za rulem, no. 20, p. 26.
Avtomobili na drovakh [Gas Producer Automobiles] (1933), Za Rulem, no. 16, pp. 20–21.
Direktivy KPSS i Sovetskogo Pravitel’stva po khoziaistvennym voprosam [The Directives of the CPSU and the Soviet Government on Economic Issues] (1958), Moskva: Politizdat, vol. 4.
Fomin, F. and Sergeev, D. (1939) Sovetskie gazogeneratornye avtomobili rabotaiut nadezhno [Soviet Gas Producer Automobiles Work Reliably], Za rulem, no. 1. pp. 15–17.
Istoriia SSSR s drevneishikh vremen do nashikh dnei [The History of the USSR from Ancient Times to the Present Day] (1971). Moskva: Nauka, vol. 9.
Istoriia SSSR s drevneishikh vremen do nashikh dnei [The History of the USSR from Ancient Times to the Present Day] (1973). Moskva: Nauka, vol. 10.
KPSS v rezoliutsiiakh i resheniiakh s”ezdov, konferentsii i plenumov TsK [The CPSU in the Resolutions and Decisions of the Congresses, Conferences, and Central Committee’s Plenums] (1986). Moskva: Politizdat, vol. 9.
KPSS v rezoliutsiiakh i resheniiakh s”ezdov, konferentsii i plenumov TsK 1898–1954. 9 izd. [The CPSU in the Resolutions and Decisions of Congresses, Conferences, and Central Committee’s Plenums in 1898–1954. 9th ed.] (1985). Moskva: Politizdat, vol. 7.
Makurov, V. G. (1982) Trudiashchiesia evropeiskogo Severa SSSR v bor’be za pod”em lesnoi promyshlennosti (1946–1958) [Workers of the European North of the USSR in the Struggle for Boosting the Timber Industry (1946–1958)]. Petrozavodsk: Kareliia.
Matsuk, A. M. (2012) Istoriografiia protsessa avtomobilizatsii Komi ASSR. Raboty uchenykh-istorikov [The Historiography of Motorization of the Komi ASSR. The Works of Historians], Voprosy istorii i kul’tury severnykh stran i territorii, no. 2 (18), pp. 15–28.
Matsuk, A. M. (2012) Mobilizatsiia avtomobilei v Krasnuiu Armiiu v nachal’nyi period Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny: problemy i ikh reshenie (na primere Komi ASSR) [Vehicle Mobilization in the Red Army During the Early Period of the Great Patriotic War: Problems and Solutions (as Exemplified by the Komi ASSR)], Voprosy istorii i kul’tury severnykh stran i territorii, no. 3 (19), pp. 78–84.
Matsuk, A. M. (2012) Sovetskaia modernizatsiia Evropeiskogo Severa. Avtomobilizatsiia. Osnovnye momenty [The Soviet Modernization of the European North. Motorization. The Main Points.]. Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing.
Novyi chetyrekhosnyi gazogeneratornyi avtobus [The New Four-Axle Gas Producer Bus] (1935), Za rulem, no. 2, pp. 18.
Novyi gazogenerator dlia avtomobilia GAZ-AA [New Gas Producer for GAZ-AA Automobile] (1935), Za rulem, no. 14, pp. 16–17.
Pervyi avtodorovskii gazogenerator [The Avtodor’s First Gas Producer] (1935), Za rulem, no. 3, pp. 21–23.
Probeg gazogeneratornykh avtomashin [The Gas Producer Automobiles Rally] (1935), Za rulem, no. 1, pp. 10–13.
Resheniia partii i pravitel’stva po khoziaistvennym voprosam [The Decisions of the Party and the Government on Economic Issues] (1968). Moskva: Politizdat, vol. 3.
Recommended bibliographic description
Matsuk A.M., Gas producer automobiles in the Komi ASSR in the 1940 s – 1950 s,
Voprosy Istorii Estestvoznaniia i Tekhniki [Studies in History of Science and Technology],
2016, vol. 37, no. 4, p. 536-550
© Studies in the History of Science and Technology: Quarterly scientific journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2015)
ISSN 0205-9606. Индекс 70143
