World War II
MMK played an important role in the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, being the largest steel enterprise in the Soviet Union, and located far away from combat on the Eastern Front. The strategic reasoning for developing such large modern iron and steel works deep inside the country stemmed from the fact that defending the nation would require huge amounts of steel, which would need to be produced in an area as safe as possible from foreign invasion and aerial bombing raids.[10]
The notion of protecting the USSR's industrial base from invasion and bombing by locating it deep in the interior was not pursued as completely during the 1930s as it might have been; what parts of it were not overrun and confiscated by the Germans were hastily moved eastward in 1941 and 1942. In 1942, the West knew that "at least one armament factory previously situated near Leningrad has arrived in Magnitogorsk lock, stock, and barrel, complete with personnel, and is already going into production using Magnitogorsk steel."[10] The extent of Western knowledge of the massive eastward shift was summed up as follows: "...Even before the outbreak of war, large electrical equipment plants were removed from White Belorussia on the German frontier and also from the Leningrad district to the Urals and Western Siberia. One such plant is reported to have been relocated to Sverdlovsk in 1940 and to have resumed normal production in March 1941. Any plant except the largest smelting, steelmaking, and chemical works can be moved by railroad fairly quickly and with little damage."[10] "...Thus, while no figures will be available for some time, it is my opinion that large portions of the industrial machinery formerly located in areas now occupied by the Germans, instead of being captured by them, are already in operation a thousand or more miles east of the present front, in Stalin's Ural Stronghold."[10]
Following the Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, MMK obtained its first order for the production of metal armor. Instructions were given to proceed to the production of blanks for live shells, and to explore the possibilities of creating specialist products for armored tanks, which would require a renovation of the production facility. The government provided some specialists to develop armored steel. The factory established an Armor Bureau, which was responsible for developing technology for the production of armored steel products. By 23 July 1941, the third hearth furnace at MMK had produced its first steel output for the military.[11]
Armor sheet production at MMK at the end of 1941 exceeded its pre-war production. Simultaneously, specialized areas and workshops for ammunition production were improved. Hand grenades, missile components, and other defense products were manufactured. Magnitogorsk was converted into the country's major military arsenal. The construction and commissioning of new production units continued. Attention was concentrated on blast furnaces No. 5 and No. 6, and the steel produced in these blast furnaces became the largest in the USSR.[12]
Several techniques that impacted the theory and practice of construction were developed on-site. Owing to the completion of such a large plant and its capability to fully cycle ore into the final product, the nation survived the loss of huge tracts of territory to the Germans.[13]
In 1941, though the factory was not yet completely built, child labour was already being employed at what was called the CL (Central Laboratory).[14] During the first years of the war, about 200,000 teenagers arrived to work at the factory. They worked 10–11 hours a day, and in extreme situations, they sometimes stayed in the factory for 10 days at a time. It is partly due to these children that Magnitogorsk was able to build the first tanks and aircraft, as they collected 57 million rubles to help the war front.[15]
By 1 February 1941, about 428,000 people were sent to the Chelyabinsk region to help and work at the factory and its surroundings, to raise necessary funds for the war effort. Due to a significant housing shortage, on 25 August, the factory leadership decided to initiate a project that included the development of barracks and huts. Educational institutions and health centers with hospitals were also planned as the factory grew.[16]
Before the first hostilities in 1940, MMK was producing tanks, but production was sluggish. It was thus decided to stop the production of tractors and other machine products in favour of the development and manufacturing of tanks. According to the direction of the State Defense Committee, it was decided to organize mass production of the T-34 medium tank. The fate of the front and the country largely depended on how soon the factory could begin to produce tanks.[17]
