Center for Economic History of Russia of Chelyabinsk State University*
With the support of
Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences
online seminar
Blind Spots of Soviet Foreign Trade (1945-1991)
23 October 2020
14.00 (moscow time)
* Friendship of Convenience: the impetus and Justification of the Integration of the CMEA’s European member-countries” (Russian Science Foundation project 19-78-10023)
Дата проведения: 23 октября 2020 г.
Рабочий язык: русский, английский
Исследования советской внешней торговли в последние десятилетия далеко продвинули понимание ее устройства. Сегодня мы знаем, внешняя торговля СССР формировалась под влиянием сложного комплекса идеологических установок и представлений о выгоде в «марксистской» политэкономии. В условиях Холодной войны внешняя торговля была одной из главных сцен противостояния между двумя военно-политическими блоками, и в то же время — являлась полем для прагматичных экономических отношений между потенциальными противниками. Однако в истории советской внешней торговли второй половине XX века остается много белых пятен: Как формировались советские внешнеторговые планы? Как функционировала система расчетов во внешней торговле СССР? Насколько надежна внешнеторговая статистика социалистических стран? Какова доля реэкспорта в советской внешней торговле с социалистическими странами? Как отражались в официальной статистике военные поставки? Какова специфика источников данных по советской внешней торговле.
Данный семинар задуман как площадка для обсуждения проблем изучения внешней торговли СССР в условиях Холодной войны.
Studies of Soviet foreign trade in recent decades have greatly advanced the understanding of its structure. Today we know that the foreign trade of the USSR was formed under the influence of a complex set of ideological attitudes and ideas about the benefits in the «Marxist» political economy. During the Cold War, foreign trade was one of the main scenes of confrontation between the two military-political blocs, and at the same time, it was a field for pragmatic economic relations between potential adversaries.
Many blind spots remain in the history of Soviet foreign trade in the second half of the 20th century: How were Soviet foreign trade plans formed? How did the settlement system function in the USSR foreign trade? How reliable are the foreign trade statistics of the socialist countries? What is the share of re-exports in Soviet foreign trade with the socialist countries? How were military supplies reflected in the official statistics? What are the specifics of data sources on Soviet foreign trade?
This seminar was conceived as a platform for discussing the problems of studying the foreign trade of the USSR in the conditions of the Cold War.
Program
Oscar Sanchez-Sibony
Assistant professor, The University of Hong Kong
The Soviet Union and Italian Trade
The Cold War Maverick that Opened the Gates to the West
Italy, of all countries in the West, had a special economic relationship with the Soviet Union. For two decades Italian economic elites regularly broke US-imposed Cold War discipline, introducing new commercial practices and opening doors through which other West European countries could enter into a relationship with the Soviet Union that radically changed Europe in turn. Italy accommodated itself best to the Bretton Woods regime that ruled over the first quarter century of the postwar period; then Italian elites destabilized that world by initiating a new energy and financial relationship with the Soviet Union that presaged the neoliberal Europe-to-be. Only, after the Italians opened the door to this new world, they politely waited for everyone else to go through it before they did.
Pavel Szobi
Assistant professor, Charles University, Prague
Oil as an Instrument of the Soviet Foreign Policy in the Long 1970s
The potential of natural resources in the Soviet territory was widely explored in the 1940s and 1950s. The resulting coal, oil or nickel exploitation eventually became one of the pillars of the Soviet/Russian economy. Especially in the 1970s, oil trade on the world market secured high income in convertible currencies which ensured a continuing economic growth of the Soviet Union, as well as higher standards of living for its population. In the time of energetic crises, oil became a tool of Soviet foreign politics, both towards the capitalist West, as well as the Soviet COMECON allies. This paper will explore specific advantages and problems which came hand in hand with the dominant role of oil in Soviet foreign trade and Soviet global interests.
Nikita Pivovarov
Senior researcher, Institute of World History
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
How Soviet export-import plans were formed and approved
(second half of the 1950s - 1970s)
(in Russian)
The study analyzes the Soviet export-import plans, as a reflection of the foreign trade strategies of the USSR. What structures were involved in the development of draft plans and in their final approval? What internal and global factors determined foreign trade planning? The author will show what information was used by the USSR Ministry of Trade, State Planning Committee and the Central Committee of the CPSU when approving plans. The dynamics of foreign trade turnover shown in the plans will be analyzed. Finally, the question will be raised about the extent to which foreign trade plans were fulfilled, what prevented their implementation. The main sources for the speech were documents from the thematic files of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, dedicated to Soviet foreign trade.