Historiography of industry and the working class in the Ukrainian SSR during the post-war period (1946–1965) (based on Theses research of the 1950s – first half of the 1960s)

This article examines the specific features of Ukrainian Soviet theses research conducted in the 1950s and the first half of the 1960s on the historiography of industry and the working class in the Ukrainian SSR during the post-war period (1946–1965). The study reveals the profound influence of ideological constraints and the high degree of politicization that characterized scholarly work during the first two post-war decades. It is natural that the first theses devoted to the post-war reconstruction of industry emerged approximately a decade after the end of World War II, in the mid-1950s, as their preparation was time-consuming and involved meticulous research in central and regional archives, the collection of primary sources directly from industrial enterprises, and the analysis of statistical data. The post-war Stalin-era assault on historical science in the second half of the 1940s had a markedly detrimental effect on both the archival base and theoretical-methodological approaches employed in the first theses. N. Khrushchev’s ascent to power and the partial liberalization of socio-political life merely altered the set of propagandistic cliches and redirected researchers toward justifying the reforms initiated by the future “voluntarist”. Concurrently, scholars concluded that despite the aforementioned facts Ukrainian Soviet historians of the first two post-war decades carried out substantial work, introduced a vast array of statistical data into academic circulation and identified a wide range of unresolved issues which served as a guide and set of tasks for the next generation of Ukrainian Soviet scholars. The article states that analysing the historical experience of industrial reconstruction in Ukraine from the late 1940s to the early 1960s can provide valuable insights into the trajectories of industrial recovery and the subsequent development of this key sector of Ukraine’s economy.