In the early days of the USSR, Odessa had a hard time. The trading port could not develop in a closed country. In addition, Odessa, as a border city, remote from coal and ore basins, was not linked to the country's industrialization plans. But the "bourgeois architecture" and the enterprising people did not arouse the sympathy of Comrade Stalin.
In a planned economy, stagnation began in our city. Odessa became one of the few cities in the USSR where the population practically did not grow from 1913 to 1940. If 560 thousand people lived in Odessa before 1917, then by the beginning of World War II the population of the city had replenished by only 40 thousand people. During this time, the population of Kiev grew by 1.5 times, and Kharkov and the Dnieper (Dnepropetrovsk) - by 2.5 times. True, in parallel, Odessa took shape in the resort city and the cinematic capital.
The conditions for growth were formed only after the war, when Odessa, due to its location, became an important strategic military center. New production capacities pulled in from the rear here, and in 1947 the famous whaling flotilla “Glory” came out on the first voyage. But the former significance of Odessa had faded by then. If in 1913 our city was the third or fourth in the Russian Empire, then in 1956 it was already the 13th in the USSR.
In a planned economy, stagnation began in our city. Odessa became one of the few cities in the USSR where the population practically did not grow from 1913 to 1940. If 560 thousand people lived in Odessa before 1917, then by the beginning of World War II the population of the city had replenished by only 40 thousand people. During this time, the population of Kiev grew by 1.5 times, and Kharkov and the Dnieper (Dnepropetrovsk) - by 2.5 times. True, in parallel, Odessa took shape in the resort city and the cinematic capital.
The conditions for growth were formed only after the war, when Odessa, due to its location, became an important strategic military center. New production capacities pulled in from the rear here, and in 1947 the famous whaling flotilla “Glory” came out on the first voyage. But the former significance of Odessa had faded by then. If in 1913 our city was the third or fourth in the Russian Empire, then in 1956 it was already the 13th in the USSR.
