The defense industry of the Ulyanovsk region in the post-war years (1945-1955) (based on the materials of the Ulyanovsk cartridge plant)

In the paper, using the example of the Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plant, the oldest enterprise in the Ulyanovsk region, the features of the restructuring of the defense industry on a peaceful footing after the end of the Great Patriotic War are analyzed. The presented materials make it possible to comprehend the most difficult time after the end of the war, the arduous social situation of workers and engineering and technical personnel, the heroic efforts of the employees of the enterprise, its workforce as a whole to solve the most complex issues related to the conversion of military production. The role of the plant science in the restructuring of military production on peaceful lines, including the development and introduction of new products and technological improvements into the production process that made it possible to significantly increase labor productivity, is emphasized. The authors also touched upon the processes of peaceful restructuring of enterprises affiliated with the Ulyanovsk Cartridge Plant. Based on the study of archival materials, it is shown how an efficiently organized production and educational process made it possible to organize a new labor upsurge among the employees of the enterprise in peacetime. The most difficult task set before the staff of the enterprise, its management, which they successfully coped with, was the psychological restructuring of the team from wartime to peacetime. The article also shows the contribution of the enterprise to the post-war revival of the urban infrastructure and industrial potential of Ulyanovsk, its role in the creation of the “Mars” Industrial Association, and its assistance in the formation of the Ulyanovsk Small Engine Plant.