The history of the society “Technique for the masses” in the context of popularization of technology in the USSR at the turn of the 1920s-1930s

The research is devoted to the issues of technical training and propaganda in the USSR of the 1920s-1930s through the history of the Society “Technique for the masses” (1927-1931). Its aim was a mass education of a wide range of industrial and agricultural workers and collective farmers with the technical knowledge necessary for the full development of new technology. The history of the Society allows us to get an idea of the views of the Soviet government on the prospects and forms of development of science and on the practices of building and working out mechanisms for the introduction of technology into society. To achieve these goals, a whole range of methods was used by the Society: educational work, various methods of popularization through leisure practices (exhibitions, movies, radio, etc.), support for initiatives from below, organizing circles, etc. Such a combination of types of work was typical for other large-scale propaganda campaigns of the 1920s and 1930s. The problems that became critical for the Society were also not unique: competition with other societies, insufficient financial support, organizational failures, and lack of proper support from third-party organizations.