76 
RIVER TRANSPORT 
About two thirds of the total number of rivers in Europe and 
Asia flow through the territory of the Soviet Union. They became 
natural transportation arteries around which the economic develop- 
ment of Russia, particularly European Russia, was to a large degree 
centered. Moreover, the vastness of the territory and the poorly 
developed land transportation system made rivers indispensible for 
the transportation of goods, raw materials, and people. In many areas, 
particularly in Siberia, river transport has been the only practical 
means of transportation in extensive use. During the 18th and 19th 
centuries, a number of artificial waterways (canals), were built. Use 
of the steam engine on the Russian rivers dates as far back as the 
early 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century, the mass 
transportation of oil was being conducted on the Volga River on 
a regular basis. It may therefore be said that prerevolutionary Russia 
had a fairly well developed inland water transport system. 
The river transport system was badly damaged by World War I, 
the Revolution and particularly the civil war. Nevertheless, a con- 
siderable number of river steamers survived and were put in extensive 
use by the Soviet Government, which nationalized all means of water 
transportation soon after the Revolution. 
The first 5 Year Plan (1928-32) provided the beginning of what 
was termed the “reconstruction of river transport on the basis of 
wide introduction of new technology.” Although not much new 
technology was introduced, particularly as far as ships were concerned, 
there were some improvements in the waterway system—the major 
such improvement being the construction of a large dam on the Dniepr 
River in 1932. A year later the Belomor (White Sea-Baltic) Canal 
was built. 
The second 5 Year Plan (1933-37) demanded a considerable in- 
crease in the cargo transported by the river fleets, from 26 billion 
ton-kilometers at the beginning of the period to 63 billion ton-kilome- 
ters, a figure never achieved prior to World War II.** In 1913 (last 
year prior to World War I) 28.5 billion ton-kilometers of cargo was 
transported by the Russian river fleets, but the figure for 1940 was 
only 36.1 billion ton-kilometers, i.e., there was little growth over a 
period of nearly 20 years. An extensive program for the construction 
of canals was planned for the second 5-year period. During the 1930’s, 
_Tiver passenger service was considerably expanded. 
The war not only interrupted the development of Soviet river trans- 
port, but inflicted considerable losses on it. More than 4,300 various 
vessels were lost, and hundreds of river ports and docks, 300 dams, 
and more than 60 locks were destroyed.*? River fleets actively par- 
ticipated in the war, making a noteworthy contribution to the efforts 
of the overall Soviet transportation system. 
A decree of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. of September 
1, 1947, approved a special program for the accelerated development 
of river transport, which played an important role. The program en- 
** Rechnoy Transport (River Transport) No. 4,1970. 
*9Rechnoy Transport, No. 4, 1970. 
