Title: We shall mechanized the Donbas

This poster belongs to a vintage set of 32 Soviet poster reproductions published in 1973 in the Soviet Union (Leningrad)

This poster has a big contrast between dark and light colours, the diagonal texts and images give more feeling of movement.

Historical contextx: The growth of the soviet coal industry reflects the industry as a whole in the U.S.S.R. since 1928. The fuel needs of the country have increased in proportion with the development of new heavy industries, the building of power stations, and the expansion of the railway network. Among the fuels used, coal played an in- creasingly important part, replacing wood and even oil products.Consequently all pre-war five-year plans laid great stress on the development of the coal industry. Between 1928 and 1940 the coal output in the country increased nearly fivefold. Prior to that period the Donets Basin in the Ukraine accounted for nearly nine-tenths of the total coal production; during the 'thirties new and prolific fields were brought into operation in other parts of the Union, chiefly in Siberia. Geological prospecting added considerably to the knowledge of coal reserves in the country, and even the tra- ditional Donbas had its boundaries extended by the discovery of important new deposits on its eastern fringe. In 1937 the coal resources of the U.S.S.R. were estimated at 1,654,00o million tons. The war dealt a severe blow to the development of the industry. The German occupation of the Donets Basin and of the coalfields in the Moscow region deprived the Soviet Union, at one time, of over 60 per cent of itscoal. It was estimated that over 1,100 pits were more or less permanently put out of action and had to be rebuilt. The loss of output was partly compensated for, while the war was still on, by increased production from the eastern coal- fields. The Moscow Basin, too, was quickly restored to its full capacity. The rehabilitation of the Donets Basin (Donbas), how- ever, was to remain a major task of the post-war five-year plan.

Publisher: Aurora Publishers, Leningrad

Printed in 1973

Material: cardboard

Artist: A.Deyneka

Size: 29x39cm

Language: Russian

Made in Leningrad ,Soviet Union 

This is guaranteed 100% soviet period item manufactured in the USSR.

This is not a recent issue, replica or tourist souvenir.