I read the material by Svetlana Denisova about Amtorg and its role in strengthening the economy of our country in the 20-30s of the twentieth century and thought that it could well be supplemented with one more material concerning the war, too, but information war! Unfortunately, not everyone is aware of all the damage that those lost on this battlefield bear in themselves. Moreover, the damage is not only in the spiritual sphere, but also directly in monetary terms.
Soviet tractors near the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant.
Moreover, it happened very often in the history of the USSR that our press itself inflicted great damage on our country, acting at the same time … with the best intentions. The reason for this, first of all, is the lack of professionalism, or rather - its low level and frank idealism - of faith in brothers-workers. However, this faith was not created without her own participation. There are many, very many examples, it is enough to read at least the same Pravda newspaper. But in the case of Amtorg, they are especially revealing and eloquent.
To begin with, the Amtorg management publicly declared that this company was an American joint-stock company, although in fact it was actually a trade mission of the USSR. It represented in the States the interests of such "offices" as Gostorg, Zakgostorg, Ukrgostorg, Sevzapgostorg, Dalgostorg, Eksportkhleb, Sugar Department of the Supreme Council of National Economy and many other Soviet organizations, while the shareholders of the new company were the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade, Gostorg and other organizations. That is, it was just a sign, and the Americans who traded with it, of course, knew or guessed it, but were silent. Soviet gold and furs gagged them! But … public opinion was opposed to Soviet Russia. Dozens (!) Of White émigré newspapers were published in the USA, which called not to trade with the Soviets, but to stifle them with a blockade. And our printed editions would keep this "Punchinelle's secret" further, but … They sometimes acted completely unreasonable!
For example, in 1926, the plan for the import of tractor equipment was cut off in the USSR. The fact that the Americans do not know this could have been gambled by obtaining preferential loans from the Americans, but since Pravda and then Economic Life already reported this, Amtorg received loans on the old terms, that is I had to overpay for the tractors! And this despite the fact that the work of V. I. Lenin's "The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Power" - "Be the boss economically, do not steal, do not idle!" - was already published, and from the pages of Pravda there were constant calls to save the people's money!
However, the episode with the Caterpillar Motor Company, which took place in 1930, became the crown of the "subversive" activities of the Soviet press against Amtorg. The point was that the Soviet side wanted to involve Caterpillar in the design and construction of a large tractor plant in Chelyabinsk. The Americans agreed to this proposal, but they set very uncomfortable and tough conditions for our side, and besides, they also asked for a lot of money for their work. To overcome the resistance of uncompromising businessmen, a large-scale PR-action was undertaken in the USSR. The Supreme Council of the National Economy published a decree stating that the new Chelyabinsk plant would be designed by Soviet engineers on their own. This statement was confirmed in an interview with the chairman of the All-Union Autotractor Association Osinsky, published in the newspaper Pravda.
The chairman of the board of Amtorg even defiantly began negotiations with Allis Chalmers, that is, with all their might, the Americans had the impression that the Soviet side was completely disinterested in working with Caterpillar, and, on the contrary, demonstrated a desire to deal with its competitor. The move was very smart and subtle. Moreover, the crisis that had just begun promised the company only losses and did not allow it to “delay” and think for a long time, but here there was an obvious and quite real income for years to come. A little more and Caterpillar would have given up and brought the desired contract on a silver platter. And it was here that the Soviet press intervened.
And it would seem that nothing at all would have happened. It's just that the newspaper For Industrialization published a short note in which it was reported that a delegation had already left Moscow for America to hold talks with Caterpillar on the construction of a tractor plant in Chelyabinsk. It was chaired by a certain comrade Lovin, and … that was enough for Caterpillar's board of directors to immediately take heart and stop paying attention to Amtorg's negotiations with their competitor Allis Chalmers. Once in America, the delegation found that the position of the Americans had not changed one iota, and when Lovin tried to put pressure on them, he was shown a newspaper clipping with a date! Moreover, the directors told the members of the delegation that if they continue to try to lead them by the nose, then information about this ugly story will certainly get into the newspapers. There will be a terrible scandal that will very unfavorably affect the reputation of the young Soviet state (which is unlikely to please the “big people in Moscow”) and the reputation of Amtorg himself here in the States! And it is clear that after that we had to pay how much was asked!
True, by 1927 the situation on the United States market with regard to trade with the USSR began to take shape in our favor. Although the Soviet market accounted for only 1, 15% of the total supplies of American companies abroad, that is, in general, "minuscule", in the distribution "within" these percentages, the picture was completely different. So, in the USSR about 23% of American tractors, 23% of mining equipment, 16% of auto and aircraft equipment and from 10 to 15% of various machine tools were supplied. The numbers, as you can see, are quite impressive. For tractors, almost a quarter of their total production in the United States. And they understood that if this market collapses, there will be no good, the tractor industry will face a crisis! As a result, it was quite natural to form in the American business environment a rather powerful pro-Soviet (or rather, pro-Amtrade lobby), which was beyond the power of anti-Sovietists to fight. "We believe in God, and the rest is in cash!" - said the Americans at that time, and what could the "fighters with the red danger" say to them?
And the first to notice the changes taking place was again the press, only now the American one. Her tone towards the USSR warmed before our eyes, while American newspapers wrote worse and worse about tsarist Russia and "white" emigrants. It got to the point that already in 1925 (!) John Rockefeller himself, who was interested in deals with our Oil Syndicate, came out for the diplomatic recognition of the Bolsheviks. But this was the person to whom the phrase was attributed: "What's good for Standard Oil is good for America!" True, a variety of forces opposed cooperation with the USSR, starting with the Mormons and even … the American Federation of Labor, which believed that by its bans on strikes, the Soviet government infringed on the rights of workers! Furriers were very unhappy with the trade with Russia, complaining to the US government that the USSR through Amtorg filled the States with Russian furs, and that their fur farms were suffering huge losses. But … what is a fur compared to a single tractor?
All in all, in 1923-1933. in the heavy industry of the USSR, 170 agreements on technical assistance were signed: 73 with German companies, 59 with American companies, 11 with French ones, 9 with Swedish ones, and 18 with firms from other countries. Soviet engineers-trainees visited American factories, and in particular, at the Ford plant in River Rouge, were quite pleased with the reception. They were shown and explained everything that was interesting to them. But it also happened that some of the visitors violated production discipline, and the company's administration noted cases of absenteeism and disobedience to the craftsmen.
It would seem that there were more treaties with the Germans, but the treaties with the Americans were "more monetary" and larger. And so they just put a spoke in the wheels of the Soviet newspapers! Not once or twice they wrote that, for example, American tractors, purchased by the “Soviet company“Amtorg”, were arriving in Odessa, and it was impossible to write like that in all respects. It got to the point that Amtorg workers were forced to turn to the "relevant authorities" with a request … to moderate the ardor of Soviet journalists in covering their work ", because the losses from their veracity are expressed in dollars and publicity!
But Amtorg really was the most real forge of the Soviet defense industry. These are the Stalingrad, Chelyabinsk, and Kharkov Tractor Plants, but in fact the tank plants, designed by Albert Kann, and the negotiations went through Amtorg. We must also name the Perm Aviation Engine Plant, where the production of M-25 engines, a licensed copy of the American Wright-Cyclone R-1820F-3 engine, was launched. They - and almost 14 thousand of them were produced in the USSR - were used to equip the I-15, I-153 "Chaika", and I-16 fighters. Svetlana Denisova wrote about W. Christie's tank (which, by the way, were bought from him, not one, but two). But she did not write that, although it is not known whether the license for the Liberty engine was purchased along with the license for Christie's tanks, the USSR subsequently launched the production of this analogue of the American engine under the M-5 index, which was produced in thousands of copies! And here are the specific figures of Amtorg's work: in 1925 -1929: December 1925 - Ford Motor Company - purchase of 10,000 tractors. January 1927 - Ford Motor Company bought 3,000 more tractors. May 1929 - "Ford Motor Company" - a contract for the production in the USSR of capacities for the production of cars and the purchase of equipment - the contract value amounted to $ 30 million. July 1929 - "Caterpillar Motor Company" - 960 tractors were purchased. August 1929 - Cleveland Motor Company - purchase of tractors and spare parts - contract value $ 1.67 million. November 1929 - Frank D. Chase - technical and engineering assistance in the construction of a tractor plant. December 1929 - Ford Motor Company - Purchase of 1,000 tractors.
Most importantly, all this trade went to a country not officially recognized by the United States! So it is really difficult to overestimate the activity of Amtorg, but to assess the “truthfulness” of the “pioneers of the pen” (who spoke only the truth!) In ensuring his work can only be assessed as outright unprofessionalism!
