The role of science in the development of mineral resources of the European North of the USSR in the context of industrialization

The article highlights the historical role of Russian science in the study of the northern and Arctic territories. The object of the study is the process of developing the mineral resource potential of the European North of the USSR in the context of the implementation of the tasks of industrialization in the 1920s and 1930s. This period is characterized by the intensification of research in these territories, when the Soviet government embarked on a course to intensify the industrial development of the Far North and the Arctic, with the aim of quickly involving their rich resource potential in the country's economy. The subject of the research is the historical role of science in the field of prospecting and studying the mineral resources of the European North of the USSR and the importance of the results obtained for scientific and technical support for the development of the mining industry in the region. Based on archival and published sources, the author analyzes the key research results of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the Leningrad Geological Exploration Trust, the All-Union Arctic Institute, the structures of the Main Directorate of Correctional Labor Camps in the territories of the Kola Peninsula, Karelia, the Pechora River basin, the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, and the Vaigach Island. The methodological basis of the work is based on the basic principles of modern historical science: historicism and scientific objectivity. The research is based on a systematic approach, which made it possible to create an objective historical reconstruction of events related to the discovery and exploration of the mineral resources of the European North during the designated time period.   It is determined that the solution of large-scale state tasks for the scientific and technological development of the country during the period of industrialization necessitated the widespread use of the rich mineral resources of this territory in the development of the USSR economy, which determined the increase in the pace of scientific research activities. As a result, scientists studied a significant part of the European North of the USSR, discovered and explored a large number of mineral deposits of industrial importance (pegmatites, apatite-nepheline ores, coal, oil, etc.). It was concluded that by the end of the 1930s. the identified deposits and detailed geological exploration provided a powerful raw material base for the development of mining industrial development in the territory of the European North of the USSR, which formed one of the foundations of the country's industrial development.

mineral resources, the European North of the USSR, scientific research, industrialization, Geological Committee, industrial development, national economic planning, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad Geological Exploration Trust, All-Union Arctic Institute