Soviet Union: Industry vs. Environment

The Soviet Union in its heyday formed the largest nation in the world. In order to become such an industrial giant, it had to seriously revamp its manufacturing capacity. The Soviet Union can be described as a polarizing figure in terms of ecology. On one hand, it was responsible for some of the worst ecological tragedies in history, from Chernobyl to Lake Baikal to the Aral Sea. Yet in the 50’s and 60’s, they were the pioneers in ecological and climate change models. While the Soviets were destroying the earth, they were simultaneously saving it. The ecology of the Soviet union can be categorized into three(3) time periods: the first(1) was ‘early Soviet ecology in the early days of the USSR’s formation where there were numerous theories and programs; the second(2) was the Stalin period where the only focus was industrialization and surprisingly, reforestation; and the third(3) from the late 50’s onward to the USSR’s dissolution where they finally understood the devastation they created on the environment.

Surprisingly, Vladimir Lenin supported the environment; he truly
cared about conservation and even created the All-Russian Conservation Society in 1924 to raise awareness. He commissioned the creation of zapovedniki (заповедники), ecological reserves to protect nature and to conduct research. There were 33 of these zapovedniki with about 2.7 million hectares by 1933. Many works were published in that time that promoted conservation. While Lenin did want to industrialize, he did not want to create too much harm to nature. Russia had been agriculture-based for centuries, so it makes sense that he wanted to protect the motherland.

Tragically, Stalin did not care much for the environment. His only goal was to dramatically modernize the country through his five years plans and his purges. One thing that he did do was promote aggressive reforestation, but that was really only to provide lumber for the factories. Many scientists and important researchers were forced to create new techniques for agriculture, and these techniques had devastating effects. The scientists who protested were, you guessed it, purged and executed.

After Stalin, however, the tides changed. The Soviets realized that they were destroying their own land, and while legislation and programs were passed, they still carried out disastrous projects, like the draining of the Aral Sea. Well, at least they care about the environment somewhat. Despite international outcry, the Soviets still drained the Aral Sea. Now it is only 1/10 of its original size. Programs were put into place to conduct more research, and people were made more aware of detrimental effects on the environment, but even that was not enough.

Whether or not you believe in climate change, we can still agree that humans have caused great damage to the environment, and this is seen in the Soviet Union, which in its 80 years of existence, has changed the environment in so many ways, devastating land, yet also pioneering the Green Revolution.