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[FIRST DECADE OF KHARKIV UNDER SOVIET RULE] Kharkivshchyna v Tsyfrakh i Faktakh: do 10-kh Rokovyn Zhovtnevoi Revoliutsii [i.e. Kharkiv Region in Numbers and Facts: on the 10th Anniversary of the October Revolution] Vol I [and only]

Kharkiv: Drukarnia VUTSVK'u, 1927. Item #1944

83, [5] pp., ill. 22,5 x 15 cm. Original publisher’s wrapper. One of 3000 copies. In Ukrainian. Good condition. Light spots on the front cover, dirt spots on the back cover. Back cover corner bent. Trace of pencil mark on the reverse of the title page. Minor tear of the last pages around staples.

Cover design by S. Kirillov. The statistical data is presented using infographics in a style similar to the one adopted later by IZOSTAT. Images like growing piles of coins or a more muscular worker near a weaker one were easily remembered and served as effective propaganda tools. The book consists of 10 chapters - excluding a theme-setting preface. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the October revolution, it praises the Soviet regime in the language of numbers. The book is not a study: rather, a collection of essays confirming the saying on lies, damned lies, and statistics. In a direct and uncompromised manner the preface states that the “numbers and facts” present in the brochure should be used to refute the claims of “enemies” and critics. The book was issued during the still free-spirited era or the Ukrainian Renaissance and hinted at the future harsh twist in the regional politics of the USSR that followed in 1930’s.
Ukraine was fully conquered by the Bolsheviks by 1920. Kharkiv was the key city in the UkrSSr, serving as the capital from 1919 to 1934, gaining significance as the machinery production center. The new State, thrown back by years of hardships of the military conflict, showed rapid recovery, characteristic for any post-war peaceful periods, combined with the continuation of the ex-imperial program of mass industrialization and mechanisation, a plan that was started in the Russian Empire. Combined with an early Bolshevik stake on Ukrainization (indigenization), the book highlighted spheres that showed extensive development in recent years.

Anonymity and the lack of bibliographical apparatus indeed do raise questions on the credibility of the volume. The book focuses on political, economical and industrial changes in the region, “failing” to mention such simple but important facts as population - one that was fluctuating and was not experiencing any sustained growth worthy of praise. With some facts stated being checked using modern reliable resources, it is clear that authors are using partially correct, partially adjusted data. For example, the authors state that by 1913 there were only 853 schools, while reliable research notes there were 1799 schools by 1909 in the Kharkiv governorate - with 796 schools being sponsored by the Christian Church, an organisation that by late 1920s was stricken out from the history by the Bolsheviks (Karelin, M. Sotsial'no-ekonomichni umovy rozvytku narodnoi osvity u Kharkivs'koi Hubernii u druhii polovyni XIX – na pochatku XX stolittia.
Vydavnytstvo NPU im. M. P. Drahomanova, 2011). Yet, the data nevertheless provides a more or less balanced outlook on the real situation of the Kharkiv region during late 1920’ies, especially in terms of the new economic policy, the switch from personal to collective farming and rapid industrialization.
However, the anonymous collective author cherry-picks data to make the Soviet government look good, caring and effective. They show the cultural diversity, but mention only Russians and Ukrainians - while it is known that Jewish and Polish minorities still played an important role in the region and formed over 20% of Kharkiv population. In another chapter, specific statistics are compared to 1917, some - only to 1925/26 - all with a clear intention to show steady growth brought by the new government. Some of the omissions might be forgiven due to the government turmoil of the area during late 1910’s, some are surely caused by the chosen approach of forming the data tables. In describing agricultural development, specific years are deliberately not reported to hide the problems with collective farming compared to personal villager work. In reality, the growth was not as steady and of course was caused by a number of factors, including first years of peaceful life, relatively good weather and crops, technical development of the 20th century etc. - and not the “correct” government per se. Still, the Kharkiv region of the 1920's was a place of cultural and economic thriving. In just 5 years, due to ill weather and poor government management, Kharkiv will be stricken by Holodomor, a horrific famine that will result in over a million deaths in the region.
The numerical stamp on the back cover is not accompanied by any library stamps meaning the book was probably distributed according to some lists.

Rare. N Not in WorldCat, not in KVK. Not in the Russian State Library. Not in the National Library of Ukraine.

Status: On Hold