«Catching up and overtake America»: perceptions of American achievements in the USSR in the 1920s-1930s

The paper deals with the attitude of the Soviet leadership and the Soviet academic and technical intelligentsia to borrowing technical achievements as well as labor and production management from the USA. The author comes to the conclusion that since the Bolsheviks came to power, they recognized the need to learn from the capitalists. In the 1920s-1930s the country was undergoing the process of "Americanization" that presupposed the creation of advanced efficient production based on the rational use of labor and the latest technical equipment. To overcome backwardness, it was considered necessary, first of all, to borrow American technology. At the same time, the conviction in the ultimate superiority of socialism over capitalism was voiced.