(To mark the 50th anniversary of the GOELRO plan) P. S. Neporozhny, Minister of Energy and Electrification of the USSR This year-Leninsky, jubilee. In April, the Soviet people and all progressive humanity solemnly celebrated the centenary of the founder of our party and state, the leader and teacher of all working people. In the same year, another date is celebrated, inextricably linked with the name of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: at the end of December, 50 years will be celebrated since the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets approved the State Plan for Electrification of the country. V. I. Lenin, as well as before him K. Marx and F. Engels was keenly interested in all the latest achievements in science and technology, including the use of electric energy for practical purposes in various industries and agriculture. In his earliest writings, he wrote about the great progressive and revolutionary significance of electricity. The victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the establishment of Soviet power created real opportunities for the planned electrification of the country. As early as April 1918, in his Outline of the Plan of Scientific and Technical Works, V. I. Lenin pointed out the need to pay special attention "to the electrification of industry and transport and the application of electricity to agriculture." 1But the outbreak of the civil war and the intervention of the imperialist states prevented the Soviet people from healing the wounds inflicted by the war, from restoring and developing their national economy. Only in late 1919 and early 1920 was the country able to begin peaceful construction. January 23, 1920 Vladimir Ilyich writes a letter to G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, in which he specifically raises the question of the need to draft a state plan on how to make the whole of Russia electric. In this short letter, V. I. Lenin's main thoughts on electrification of the country are outlined, and the basic principles of drawing up a plan are given. Thi ... Read more