Mineral and raw material resources of the European North of the RSFSR in the program of scientific study of the natural productive forces of the country in the early years of Soviet power.

Filippova Tatiana Petrovna PhD in History Scientific Associate, Komi Scientific Centre of Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 167000, Russia, Komi Republic, Syktyvkar, 24 Kommunisticheskaya str., office 311 tanya.tatiana-fil@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Modern Russia is in search of ways for the future development of the Far North and Arctic regions, and one of the key factors in paying close attention to these territories is their strategic importance in providing the country with valuable mineral resources ^{[1, 2]}. Under these conditions, questions about the history of the study of these areas have become noticeably relevant among the scientific community. Of great interest to modern scientists is the analysis of the mobilization model for the development of the North and the Arctic, implemented during the Soviet period of our country's history ^{[3, 4, 5]}. Under the influence of significant political changes and the economic crisis after 1917, the Soviet government initiated a large-scale process of studying and evaluating the productive forces of peripheral regions. The implementation of this program contributed to the development of the mineral resource base, and gave rise to the accelerated formation of the mining industry in remote parts of the country. In the context of the formation of modern projects for the development of the North and the Arctic zone, the assessment of historical experience, plans and projects of the past is becoming extremely relevant, which, combined with the latest scientific and technological achievements, can give a new impetus to understanding the problem of developing the mineral resource potential of these territories. One of the northern regions where the experience of forced development during the Soviet period was tested was the European North of Russia, which occupies a vast area on the map of our state – from the Kola Peninsula and Karelia in the west to the Northern Urals in the east. Administratively, it includes the Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Murmansk Regions, the Republics of Karelia and Komi, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Today, this region is of strategic importance for the development of the country, it is one of the main suppliers of mineral raw materials (oil, coal, ores, gas, etc.) to the central regions of Russia.

A significant number of published works are devoted to the history of knowledge of this territory ^{[6, 7, 8]}. The researchers focus on the history of expeditions, the activities of scientific institutions, and the creative role of individual scientists in the study of this territory. However, at present, aspects of the relationship between the results of scientific research and the further industrial development of the region remain little explored. The purpose of the article is to analyze the key tasks and areas of activity in the scientific study of the European North of the RSFSR–USSR in the context of the implementation of tasks to expand the mineral resource base of the country in the early period of the history of the Soviet state in the 1917-1920s.

The conducted research is based on the analysis of unpublished and published sources. It is based on a set of archival documents deposited in the collections of the Russian State Historical Archive, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, the Central State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation of St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the National Archive of the Komi Republic, which preserved documentary evidence about the history of the study of the North. In addition, a significant part of the source base consisted of published legislative acts characterizing the work of the Soviet government – resolutions, orders of state authorities on the development of economics and science. Among them, the State Plan for the Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) in 1920 and the materials of the First Five–year Plan for National Economic Construction of the USSR (1928-1932) were of paramount importance, the study of which made it possible to determine the tasks that the state set for the scientific community in the study of the European North. An equally important component of the research was the work with the works of scientists who recorded information about their opinions and scientific research.

Throughout history, the territory of the European North of Russia has been the focus of close attention of science and the state, however, harsh climatic conditions and remoteness from the center have long been obstacles to its exploration. The first steps in the scientific study of the European North of Russia were made at the end of the XVIII century, when the expeditions of academicians P. S. Pallas ^[9] and I. And Lepekhina ^[10] laid the foundation for the physico-geographical and geological study of the territory. During the 19th century, the research was continued by individual expeditions of the Imperial St. Petersburg Russian Geographical Society, the Corps of Mining Engineers, the Imperial St. Petersburg Mineralogical Society, and the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The needs of the development of the Russian economy, when industry needed mineral resources, determined the key directions in the study of the European North - the search for minerals and the expansion of knowledge about its geological structure. The research results of N. V. Shirokshin (1834) ^[11], A. I. Schrenk (1837) ^[12], K. M. Baer (1837-1840) ^[13], A. F. Miedendorf (1840) ^[14], A. A. Keyserling (1843) ^[15], E. K. Hoffmann (1847-1950) ^[16] and others. Scientists began studying the Timan Ridge, the Polar Urals, and the Khibiny mountain range. The presence of minerals such as coal, gold, pyrite, and oil–bearing rocks has been determined.

The beginning of systematic research of this territory is connected with the activities of the first state geological survey of the country, the Geological Committee, organized in 1882 as part of the Mining Department. The studies of the Northern Urals, Timan, and the Kola Peninsula (E. S. Fedorov, F. N. Chernyshev, P. B. Rippas, and others) ^[17-19] provided new information about the geology of the European North of Russia. In the beginning. The most important area of the committee's research was the study of the Ukhta oil–bearing region and the assessment of its prospects for industry - P. I. Polevoy (1907) ^[20], A. N. Zamyatin, N. N. Yakovlev (1909-1910) ^[21].

The importance of the European North became clearly recognized by the government of the Russian Empire only at the beginning of the 20th century, when the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War set the country the task of developing the Northern Sea Route as the most important transport artery connecting the West and the East. This necessitated the development of areas adjacent to the waters of the northern seas. An important step in solving the issues of colonization and exploration of the European North was the construction of a seaport on the Kola Peninsula and the laying of the Murmansk Railway (1915-1916). An important role in updating attention to the North was played by the surveys of the Geological Committee conducted along the laying of the railway line on the Kola Peninsula and the territory of Karelia, conducted in 1916-1917 (A. A. Polkanov, N. G. Kassin, V. I. Sokolov, D. V. Sokolov, etc.) ^[22-23]. As a result, deposits of iron ores, building materials, pegmatite rocks, etc. were identified. Nevertheless, the surveys carried out covered only certain areas of the European North of Russia, most of this territory remained a "white spot" for science by the end of 1917.

1917 was an epoch-making year in the history of Russia, which marked the scrapping of the entire existing structure of the country. Under the influence of major political changes and the outbreak of the economic crisis, the issues of using the natural resources of remote regions have become relevant. The need to find new sources of mineral raw materials such as coal, oil, and non-ferrous metal ores led the government to pay close attention to the study of peripheral territories in the early years of Soviet rule.

The problem of the need to involve the country's raw materials in the economy was raised after the Bolsheviks came to power. In the 1918 work of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, V. I. Lenin, "The Next Tasks of the Soviet Government," which actually became a plan for future socialist construction, the need to provide the country's large industry with a material basis was emphasized. The main key to this was the "gigantic reserves" of minerals located in the bowels of Russia ^{[24, p. 188]}. The program of studying the country's natural productive forces, which was being formed in the RSFSR, was directly linked to the tasks of economic recovery, which urgently required the organization of a search for sources of mineral raw materials. In this regard, the work of the entire state Geological Survey, which acquired new organizational forms in the early years of Soviet power, was also subject to fundamental restructuring.

The government entrusted the management of geological prospecting to the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNH), formed in 1917 as the central governing body of the national economy. The organization of specialized committees responsible for issues related to mining and processing of minerals (the Main Peat Committee, the Main Petroleum Committee, and the Main Coal Committee) began in the Supreme Economic Council system ^{[25, pp. 462-463, 503]}. As part of the new priorities, the role of the Geological Committee was strengthened, and its work was also subject to restructuring. In 1918, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Economic Council, and its activities focused on the search for raw materials. In the new conditions, the committee became the organizational center of the complex of geological research in the country. Despite the events of the Civil War, by the summer of 1918, the relevant geological departments had begun work on the search and exploration of minerals in the central provinces, Orenburg Region, Astrakhan province, near Petrograd ^{[26, p. 85]}.

In order to achieve its objectives of expanding the productive forces, the Soviet government needed to involve all scientific forces in cooperation and build a new system of interaction between government and science. In April 1918, V. I. Lenin recommended that the Supreme Economic Council instruct the Russian Academy of Sciences to organize the work of commissions to draw up a plan for the reorganization of industry and the economy to provide the country with the main types of raw materials (oil, coal, iron ores). The Commission for the Study of the Natural Productive Forces of Russia (CEPS) was involved in solving this problem. It has been functioning as part of the Academy of Sciences since 1915, collecting information about the natural productive forces of Russia. After 1917, the Commission's activities noticeably intensified, and its forces began searching for mineral raw materials on the Murmansk coast, in the Vologda province, as well as in the center of the country ^[27].

In 1918-1923, the staff of the Geological Committee and the KEPS published the collection "Minerals", which presented a summary of the country's subsoil ^{[28, 29]}. These publications highlighted the inextricable link between geological research and the assessment of mineral reserves and became the basis for expanding the mineral resource base.

During 1918, a new structure of the geological survey took shape in Soviet Russia, which made it possible, under state control, to launch intensive surveys in promising resource areas of the RSFSR. However, the external and internal conditions during this period were unfavorable. In the context of the Civil War and foreign intervention, when the country was cut off from the main suppliers of raw materials, the government brought to the fore the issues of finding new sources of valuable mineral resources. At that time, the study of the European North was designated at a high government level as an important strategic direction.

In 1918, the RSFSR was in the flames of a Civil War. Due to the British intervention in the south of the country, access to the oil fields of Grozny and Baku was blocked. Due to the fuel crisis that arose on July 13, 1918, the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars ordered the Supreme Economic Council to "submit assumptions for the survey of the oil and coal resources of the Pechora Region" ^{[30, l. 3]}. This task was assigned to the Geological Committee. In the summer of 1918 The Ukhta oil-bearing region was visited by the expedition of the head of the petroleum section of the committee, geologist K. P. Kalitsky. Its results confirmed the conclusions of previous expeditions about the presence of promising oil fields, but identified the problem of the unprofitability of industrial development of this territory, which required significant financial costs ^[31].

At that time, there was already a discussion in the scientific circles of Soviet Russia about the oil wealth of Ukhta. Undoubtedly, at that time, scientists were dominated by the government's plan to create new fuel and energy regions. On the one hand, there were scientists from the Geological Committee who were convinced that there was oil in Ukhta, but there wasn't much of it and it wasn't profitable to develop it at the moment. On the other hand, some geologists believed that the area should be explored immediately. One of the supporters of this opinion was the head of the Main Petroleum Committee of the Supreme Economic Council, geologist I. M. Gubkin, who was convinced of the great prospects of this territory ^[32].

In 1919, at the initiative of I. M. Gubkin, the Main Petroleum Committee of the RSFSR decided to allocate funds for further study of the Ukhta region. The future expedition was prepared by the joint efforts of the Main Petroleum Committee and the Geological Committee ^{[33, l. 20, 32]} and took place in the summer of 1919, but due to the unfolding events of the Civil War, it could not get beyond the middle reaches of the Vym River.

The formation of a "northern" direction in the activities of the Soviet government is evidenced by the creation of a special body. January 30, 1919 By a decree of the Board of the People's Commissariat of Trade and Industry, the Commission for the Study and Practical Use of the Russian North was established at the Petrograd Branch of the Scientific and Technical Department (NTO) of the Supreme Economic Council (Chairman – geologist I. P. Tolmachev). It included representatives of government agencies (the Supreme Economic Council, the People's Commissariat of Trade and Industry, etc.) and scientific institutions (the Geological Committee, commissions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, etc.). Her task was to study the natural productive forces of the European North with a view to their practical use. To fulfill and implement them, the Commission had to collect, process, and systematize the materials accumulated on the research of this territory, develop scientific plans, and carry out expeditions ^{[34, l. 6-7]}. Within the framework of its activities, special bureaus were created that were responsible for certain issues (the Salt Bureau – the development of salt production in the North, the Fishing Bureau – the survey of marine and animal fisheries).

Taking into account one of the priorities in the knowledge of the European North – the study of the Ukhta oil fields, a special Ukhta bureau was established on April 30, 1919. It was designed to unite the work of organizations involved in surveys in the Ukhta oil-bearing region (the Geological Committee, the People's Commissariat of Railways, the Main Petroleum Committee, etc.) ^{[35, pp. 27-27 vol.]}. The bureau's work focused on studying the "Ukhto-Pechora problem", that is, on solving pressing issues related to the search for oil and coal in the basin of the Pechora River. The work of the expeditions sent to the area was discussed and coordinated at the meetings. The Bureau was engaged in the development of an industrial and economic survey plan for the Ukhta oil-bearing region.

In 1919, at the initiative of the Ukhta Bureau, with the support of the Supreme Economic Council, the issue of Ukhta oil, including the problem of transport links with this area, was considered by the Small and Large Council of People's Commissars. Such attention was dictated by the still difficult fuel crisis in the country. The discussion resulted in a Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated April 9, 1919, which provided for the creation of a special commission to solve the Ukhto-Pechora problem, the deployment of expeditionary surveys in the Ukhta region, and the construction of a railway that would connect the Ukhta region with the Moscow railway ^{[36, pp. 39-40]}. However, the events of the Civil War did not make it possible to implement this project.

The involvement of a significant part of the European North in the war arena, as well as insufficient funding for the activities of the Commission for the Study and Practical Use of the Russian North, were the reasons why the Ukhta Bureau's expeditionary activities were not widely developed. The only expedition was sent to the Pechora River basin in 1919, which was led by geologist N. A. Kulik. Its tasks included the economic and geological survey of the vast area of the Pechora River basin. One of the leading areas of research was supposed to be the study of the Ukhta region, however, due to military operations in the North, scientists were unable to reach the Ukhta River.

Russian Russian North In January 1920, by the decision of the Board of the NTO of the Supreme Economic Council, the Commission for the Study and Practical Use of the Russian North was joined to the Scientific Commission of the Petrograd Branch of the NTO of the Supreme Economic Council, its task remained the comprehensive study of the Russian North for industrial use ^{[6, pp. 21-22, 26]}.

The state tasks of integrating the productive forces of the European North into the general economic system of the state were outlined in the State Plan for the Development of the RSFSR Electric Power Industry, developed in 1920 by the government of the country. At its core, the document was supposed to become a unified state plan for the development of the national economy for the next decade. Electrification was declared the most important goal of the country. The plan of the State Plan for the Electrification of Russia (GOELRO), approved in December 1920 by the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets, for the first time officially documented the problem of industrialization of the North and the need to integrate its raw materials into the country's economy. The European North of the RSFSR was considered as the richest base of natural resources, and its potential was estimated on a par with the large industrial centers of the Urals and Donbass. The central importance was given to forest resources, fuel and energy raw materials (peat, coal, oil, oil shale), and ore minerals. Among the key areas around which scientific research of these territories was to focus was the study of the natural resources of the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and the Polar Urals ^[37].

According to the plan, a whole range of exploration work was planned in the European North, which was supposed to provide new knowledge about the geological structure of this territory and its subsoil. Despite the fact that this region was considered as the richest raw material base, surpassing other regions of the country in terms of natural resources, the developers of the plan emphasized that the task of exploring and industrial development of this territory is difficult and requires high costs for the economy. The key problems that hindered its industrial development were identified by the authors of GOELRO as a shortage of workers and poor development of transport and infrastructure ^[38]. A number of scientific institutions were involved in the implementation of these large-scale state tasks, the main tasks of which were the search and study of mineral deposits in the European North of the country.

The key event for raising the issue of studying the mineral resources of the European North was the organization on March 4, 1920, by Order of the Supreme Economic Council of the RSFSR, of the Northern Scientific and Commercial Expedition (hereinafter referred to as the Sevexpedition) (since 1925, the Scientific Research Institute for the Study of the North) (Chairman of the Presidium – R. L. Samoilovich). The organization includes representatives of leading scientific institutions: the Geological Committee, the Russian Geographical Society, the Polar Commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences, etc. The main task of the Sevexpedition was to conduct scientific research on the natural productive forces of the Russian North for their practical use, as well as to direct and coordinate scientific and practical work. Her activities included research on St. John's wort fisheries, reindeer husbandry, and the study of soil, botanical, and economic conditions. One of the general lines was geological surveys and prospecting for minerals, the development of a plan for their extraction and rational use for the needs of industry ^{[39, l. 1-3]}.

After the withdrawal of the white troops from the territory of the European North in 1920, the Sevexpedition units undertook a number of geological expeditions. On the Kola Peninsula, Academician A. E. Fersman's Khibiny detachment surveyed the central part of the peninsula. The scientists managed to collect unique information about the geology of the Khibiny massif and a rich collection of rare minerals (enigmatite, eudialyte, eucolite, astrophyllite, etc.). The team led by Professor P. V. Wittenburg worked in the northern part of the peninsula, the most important result was the confirmation of the presence of iron ore deposits in the area. The first results of the work of the Sevexpedition attracted the attention of the government. At the interdepartmental meetings convened by the NTO of the Supreme Economic Council on December 10 and 13, 1920, the results of the institution's work were positively assessed, and its activities were recognized as "of national importance" ^{[40, l. 25]}.

The end of hostilities in the European North of the country allowed the activities of scientific institutions to expand on a large geographical scale.

During the Civil War, the main coal regions (Kuzbass, Eastern Siberia, the Urals, etc.) were cut off from the center. One of the sources of valuable raw materials could be the territory of the Pechora River basin, where signs of coal-bearing activity were detected in the 19th century. The research of the Northern Expedition in this area was focused on this main task. Since 1921, the research teams led by geologists A. A. Chernov, D. D. Rudnev, V. A. Varsanovyeva, T. N. Dobrolyubova, E. D. Soshkina have covered the areas of the basins of the PP. Kosyu, Moustache, Pechory, Ilych, Podcherem, Shchugor ^[41]. The conducted surveys indicated significant reserves of coal in the north of the country. The data obtained allowed Professor A. A. Chernov to substantiate the idea of the boundaries of the Pechora coal basin by 1924, which became a key conclusion about the industrial prospects of this area ^{[42, pp. 7-8]}.

Since 1924, due to the beginning of the process of reorganizing the Northern Expedition, the Geological Committee joined the research of potential coal production in the Pechora River basin. During the period 1924-1928, under the auspices of the geological survey, teams of geologists V. A. Varsanofieva, T. A. Dobrolyubova, A. A. Chernov, N. A. Kulik, and B. K. Likharev studied the basins of the PP. Kozhim and Kosyu, where the manifestations of coal and oil were identified, as well as work on compiling a ten-verst map of the Timan, Northern Urals, and Bolshezemelskaya tundra ^{[43, 44]}.

By the mid-1920s, the Geological Committee had returned to discussing the Ukhta problem. In 1925, based on the available information, geologist D.V. Nalivkin proposed a new scheme of stratigraphy of the Ukhta region, justifying its prospects for oil and gas ^[45]. Another important factor for the actualization of this area was the need to search for deposits of radioactive elements. In 1926-1927, expeditions of the committee's staff, chemists A. A. Cherepennikov and L. N. Bogoyavlensky, worked in the Ukhta oil-bearing region. The results of the research caused a sensation – a high content of a rare metal, radium, was found in the waters of the Ukhta region ^[46].

Another important area of research of the scientific community was the study of the territory of the Kola Peninsula. During the first half of the 1920s, the research teams of the Northern Expedition led by A. E. Fersman did a lot of work on the study of the central part of the Kola Peninsula. The scientists conducted mineralogical and petrographic surveys of the Khibiny and Lovozero tundras. During this period, about 90 deposits of rare metals were discovered, and deposits of unique minerals were discovered. The most important conclusions were the presence of apatite-nepheline rocks on the peninsula. The first finds of apatite, in which a high content of phosphorus and potassium was determined, allowed A.E. Fersman to suggest the widespread use of raw materials for the production of fertilizers. The problem of artificial fertilizers was very acute for the USSR during this period, most of them for the agricultural complex were imported from abroad. The expedition studies of the staff of the Scientific Research Institute for the Study of the North, geologists A. N. Labuntsov and V. I. Vlodavets, conducted in 1925-1928 in the Khibiny tundra, confirmed the conclusions of previous expeditions. Indigenous apatite-nepheline deposits were discovered on the Rasvumchorr plateau, along the slopes of the Kukisvumchorra and Yuksporra mountains ^[47].

The Geological Committee has launched systematic research in the north of the Kola Peninsula. From 1923-1927, under the leadership of A. A. Polkanov, route surveys were conducted in order to compile a ten-verst geological map of the European part of the Union. As a result of the research, the scientist for the first time gave a description of the diverse rocks of this part of the peninsula. Information about deposits obtained by A. A. Polkanov – ore minerals (gold, molybdenum, iron and nickel ores, etc.) and non-metallic minerals (pyrite, titanium raw materials, barite, feldspar and mica, clays, etc.) became a significant contribution to the formation of a consolidated picture of the geological bowels of the Kola Peninsula ^[48].

The scientists' conclusions about the colossal mineral reserves of the Kola Peninsula determined its further history as a powerful mining center of the USSR.

Karelia became one of the regions of the European North, where intensive searches for mineral raw materials necessary for the country's economy began in the 1920s. Even during the revolutionary events and the Civil War, the Geological Committee developed a research program for the Olonets province (until 1917, the territory of Karelia was part of three provinces – Arkhangelsk, Vyborg, and most of Olonets) ^{[49, pp. 12, 51]}. In accordance with it, it was supposed to begin the implementation of a ten-mile survey of the area, the study of the geological structure, and the search for minerals. Despite the military events, geologist V. M. Timofeev began conducting research in Karelia in 1919, continuing them in the 1920s. The result of the research was the scientist's conclusion about the high importance of stone rocks (granites, quartzites, sandstones, marbles, etc.) for the industrial development of Karelia. Due to the increasing needs of the country for building materials, this area of research was particularly relevant and in demand at that time ^[50].

The peculiarity of the geological structure of Karelia, which is rich in natural geological formations, led to the formation in the 1920s of another relevant area in its study – the search for deposits of pegmatites, a rock whose components are rare minerals – feldspar, quartz and mica. This raw material was in high demand by the glass, cement, porcelain and electrical industries of the USSR, but the country imported a significant part of it from abroad. In 1921, a Northern Expedition team led by mining engineer E. A. Kupfer identified extensive deposits of pegmatite in the area of the Kandalaksha Bay ^{[41, pp. 29-34]}. In 1924-1925, the research was continued by Professor P. A. Borisov, an employee of the Scientific Research Institute for the Study of the North. He surveyed the area of the Karelian coast of the White Sea, identifying a significant distribution of pegmatite formations. By the mid-1920s, Karelian pegmatite deposits were the main sources of lumpy monomineral feldspar (microcline) and lumpy quartz for industry ^{[51, p. 10]}. Systematic studies of North Karelian pegmatites were conducted in 1925-1929 by A. N. Labuntsov. During this period, scientists have studied about 200 pegmatite veins and collected a large mineralogical collection. In his opinion, pegmatites deserved the closest attention from science and the state, as one of the important directions in the study of the North of the country ^{[52, pp. 224-227]}.

The close attention of the Soviet government to the study of the northern territories led to the strengthening of this area within the framework of the work of the Russian Academy of Sciences (since 1925 – the Academy of Sciences of the USSR). The Polar Commission, which had been working in its composition since 1914, took an active part in organizing the activities and expeditions of the Commission for the Study and Practical Use of the Russian North, then the Sevexpedition. At the meetings, where representatives of scientific institutions dealing with the problems of studying the North were invited, issues of the development of the northern territories (transport, infrastructure, etc.) were considered, projects and results of expeditionary research were discussed. During 1922-1923, it included the Novaya Zemlya Subcommission, which for the first time began coordinating the work of scientific institutions studying the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Under the chairmanship of Academician A. P. Karpinsky, it included experienced researchers of the northern and polar territories, representatives of leading scientific organizations: the Main Hydrographic Department, the Russian Hydrological Institute, the Northern Expedition, the Geological Committee, the Main Physical Observatory, the State Botanical Garden, etc. ^{[53, L. 13]}. Its members managed to develop the first scientific research program for Novaya Zemlya, one of the key directions of which was the study of the geology of the archipelago and its subsoil ^[54].

During the 1920s, scientific institutions of the country organized a number of scientific expeditions to study the mineral resource potential of Novaya Zemlya. In 1921, the expedition teams of the Geological Committee (B.K. Likharev) and the Northern Expedition (R. L. Samoilovich) searched for coal deposits in the archipelago. This urgent task was prompted by the successful experience of developing the nearby Svalbard archipelago, where coal mining had been carried out since 1915. Systematic research of Novaya Zemlya in 1921-1927 was conducted under the leadership of R. L. Samoilovich. As a result, a number of "white spots" on the map of the Arctic islands have been eliminated and extensive geological material has been collected ^[55]. Industrial mineral deposits on Novaya Zemlya in the 1920s could not be identified.

The conclusions about the resource potential of the European North, obtained by scientists in the 1920s, became decisive factors for the inclusion of this territory in the first five-year national economic plan of the USSR (1928-1932). During the first five-year plan, further progressive "conquest" of the European North of the country was planned. Industrial infrastructure facilities were supposed to be built in the areas of explored mineral resources, including factories and plants for the exploitation and processing of raw materials (the Khibiny apatite mines, the Pegmatite Plant, the Mica Factory near Petrozavodsk, the Celestine Plant on the Ust-Pinega River, etc.). The priorities for the industrialization of the USSR were further intensive geological exploration and development of deposits, primarily of apatite-nepheline ores, coal, oil and pegmatites ^[56].

After 1917, the European North of the RSFSR-USSR was in the zone of special priorities of the Soviet government. The solution of state tasks to expand the mineral resource base to overcome the country's crisis has necessitated the widespread use of mineral resources in the development of the economy of this territory. On the one hand, the new leadership inherited from the previous government of the Russian Empire the understanding that this territory is resource-significant, on the other, it has formed new ideas about it. The most important state tasks in the study of the productive forces of the European North were outlined in the GOERLOH plan adopted in 1920, according to which the mineral resource base of the territory was subject to study and industrial exploitation. The country's leading scientific forces were involved in the implementation of these large-scale state tasks, which began to study the resource potential of the European North and assess the possibility of its industrial application. Expeditionary research in the 1920s yielded a huge amount of new scientific data, the most important of which was information about the presence of minerals of industrial importance - apatite–nepheline ores, pegmatites, coal, etc. The results showed the importance and validity of the research of this region, which served as the basis for its inclusion in the first five-year national economic plan of the USSR (1928-1932). Thus, in the period 1917-1920, the problem of the development of the European North became of national importance, which gave a powerful message to its systematic study and further industrial development. The study of the rich history of knowledge of the northern territories, combined with modern scientific achievements, can give a new impetus to understanding the problems of developing the mineral resource potential of the European North of Russia.

The article was prepared as part of the state assignment on research and development No. 1022041400015-8-6.1.1 "Science in the North of Russia as the basis for sustainable development of the regions of the European North and the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation".