State trade in Bashkiria in the post-war years (1945 to 1947)

The article considers the process of recovery in the state trade in Bashkiria from 1945 till 1947. Much attention is paid to developing the goods turnover and changes in the trading network throughout the use of rationing. Whereas consumer cooperation was focused on trade in rural areas, the state sector catered for city consumers. The hard economic conditions forced People’s Commissariat for Trade to make great efforts to achieve some growth in the trading network in Ufa and other cities of Bashkiria. The archive documents used in this study support the conclusion that, despite the austerity policy, scarcity of centralized goods funds, and the poor harvest of 1946, state-owned city trading organizations attained prominent success in promoting the goods turnover through decentralized purchases and their farms. Analyzing the statistical data and the records of People’s Commissariat for Trade in the Republic shows that the further development of the state trading sector could be possible only after rescinding the rationing system. The transition towards open trade, in turn, required changing its underlying principles and working methods both of People’s Commissariat for Trade and its local branches. On the other hand, the study shows that the development of state trade faced considerable organizational difficulties.