German “Technical Miracle” in the Soviet Testing Ground: German Machines in Agricultural Concessions in the USSR in the 1920s

The restoration of the economic mechanism in Soviet Russia after the end of the Civil War in its territory encountered significant difficulties, further complicated by the economic blockade by the Western powers. In addition to investments, the RSFSR Peopleʼs Commissariat of Foreign Affairs together with the Concession Committee under the Presidium of the Supreme Council of National Economy, set up in 1921, were seeking access to scientific and technical innovations, establishing relations with foreign companies. In the 1920s, civilian cooperation in the field of technology was carried out in the form of the concession enterprises. The standard concession agreement included a clause of mandatory modernization of production processes. To this end, considerable privileges were granted for importing equipment (machinery, cars, etc.) in the USSR. The most active participant in the Soviet concession program was German business, which had been under restrictions on the global market after World War I. German businessmen traditionally geared towards Russian consumers and raw materials. They regarded the concessions granted to them as an opportunity to import goods in the USSR duty-free, these goods being primarily agricultural and automotive equipment that could be purchased for next to nothing in Germany after the hyperinflation that hit its economy in 1923. German machines were often imported without production justification and without regard to their suitability for Russian conditions, and their testing sometimes resulted in premature wear, downtime, and losses. In this context American models appeared preferable, which determined the main direction of technical cooperation in the 1930s. The documents of the Main Concession Committee that formed the basis of the study reflect a broad range of problems and issues related to the evaluation of the results of using foreign equipment in the Soviet production facilities.