Moscow, Nauka Publishing House. 1975. 304 pp. The print run is 1,650. Price 1 rub. 23 kopecks.

The development of industrial relations between the working class of the U.S.S.R. and the workers of foreign countries is one of the most interesting pages in its history and in the history of the international labor movement. This topical multi-faceted topic constantly attracts the attention of Soviet researchers and is reflected in the works of our foreign colleagues. But it cannot be said that it has been sufficiently studied, especially in relation to the period of mature socialist society, when the forms and methods of international cooperation of the working class are becoming more diverse. The main international industrial relations of the working class of the USSR are the direct participation of its representatives in the work of industrial enterprises of other countries, in the construction of production and other facilities, fulfilling orders from foreign countries for the extraction and supply of raw materials, fuel and materials, training foreign workers in industrial labor, socialist competition and exchange of production experience. These aspects of the topic are the subject of research in the monograph of the researcher of the Institute of History of the USSR of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Candidate of Historical Sciences N. K. Petrova.

The author has set herself the task of analyzing the international industrial relations of the Soviet working class during the seven-year and eighth five-year periods. N. K. Petrova has studied a wide range of sources: verbatim reports of congresses and resolutions of plenums of the Central Committee of the CPSU, documents and materials of congresses and plenums of fraternal Communist and Workers ' parties, materials of their international Meetings of 1957, 1960 and 1969, documents of the ECSPC, the State Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Council of Ministers of the USSR for Vocational and Technical Education, the Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship with the Peoples of Foreign Countries, and a number of other departments and institutions. Special literature, notes and memoirs of specialists who participated in rendering assistance to fraternal peoples, as well as domestic and foreign periodicals are also taken into account. Such a solid source base allowed the author to deeply explore the topic and highlight a set of issues that characterize the implementation of international industrial relations by the Soviet working class at the first stage of mature socialism.

Speaking about the reasons for the firmly established and increasingly developing international industrial relations, N. K. Petrova emphasizes the internationalism of the Soviet working class. It convincingly shows that the experience gained by the working class of the U.S.S.R. in solving the national question, in creating and developing the socialist economy of our country, is becoming the property of the working class of other countries, of all working people who have industrial contacts with the Soviet working class. The undoubted advantage of the book is that the topic is covered in detail, with coverage of the main forms of cooperation between the workers of friendly states. In relation to the socialist countries, such forms of cooperation as fulfilling orders in accordance with COMECON plans for the manufacture and supply of machinery and equipment, mining, production and supply of raw materials and energy are considered. Another form of international industrial relations is the direct participation of Soviet specialists, workers, and engineers in the construction of industrial enterprises and in the creation and development of the industrial potential of the socialist countries. The author cites generalizing data and individual facts that clearly and convincingly testify to the great assistance that the Soviet Union, its working class, and the intelligentsia provide to the working people of fraternal countries. This aspect is covered in the book both for each socialist country separately, and for the world system of socialism as a whole.

N. K. Petrova correctly draws attention to the fact that economic relations between the USSR and other socialist countries are based on the principles of mutual support. By providing all-round economic and technical assistance to the fraternal countries, the Soviet Union does not seek any advantages for itself. The assistance of the Soviet Union, which has the most powerful industrial potential and the richest natural resources, and the mutual cooperation of the socialist countries find the warm approval of the working people.

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A large part of the book is devoted to the characterization of the exchange of industrial experience between the working class of the USSR and the workers of socialist countries. Industrial relations between the teams of related enterprises (mines, metallurgical plants, etc.) have become constant and very fruitful: the exchange of delegations, correspondence, sending literature, studying production achievements, using best practices and introducing new equipment, the latest technologies that contribute to increasing labor productivity. Socialist competition plays an important role in expanding international relations, enhancing the exchange of industrial experience, and increasing labor productivity. The monograph highlights the great help of the Soviet working class to the workers of fraternal countries in organizing it, examines its various forms that were developed by our friends abroad in the 60s, including the highest form of competition-the movement for socialist labor, which arose under the influence of the movement for a communist attitude to labor in the USSR. The greatly increased exchange of advanced experience, the improvement of socialist competition, and the comradely mutual assistance of the workers in solving the most important economic problems all bear witness to the steady expansion of the industrial ties of the Soviet working class with the workers of other socialist countries.

The book reflects with sufficient completeness the realization of industrial relations between the Soviet working class and the workers of developing countries. Turning to the history of economic relations of the USSR with the countries of Asia and Africa, the author shows that it goes back more than one decade. While remaining true to the principles of proletarian internationalism, the Soviet Union materially and morally supported these countries in their struggle against imperialism and in the development of their economies. The relations of the Soviet working class with the workers of developing countries are traced in the book in three main directions: the direct participation of Soviet workers and technical specialists in the creation of industry and the formation of the working class in these countries, the training of qualified personnel for them in the Soviet Union, and proletarian solidarity.

Unfortunately, the book is not free from flaws. This applies primarily to its structure. The first chapter shows the cooperation of the working class of the U.S.S.R. and other countries of the world socialist system, and the second shows the industrial relations of the Soviet working class with the workers of developing countries in 1959-1965. In the third chapter, both parts of the topic are combined and covered over the period of the eighth five-year plan (1966-1970). As a result, the two principles of presentation - thematic and chronological - are mixed. But the main drawback is that the author has lost sight of the industrial relations of the Soviet working class with the workers of the developed capitalist countries. Meanwhile, such connections are taking place. History knows vivid examples of international industrial relations in this area: the participation of Soviet specialists in the construction of nuclear power plants in Finland, the cooperation of Soviet and Italian workers in the creation of an automobile plant in the USSR, Soviet and Japanese workers in the development of the natural resources of Siberia and the Far East, the constant great work of the workers of the USSR in the production and supply of machinery and equipment, raw materials and supplies in accordance with the trade agreements between the U.S.S.R. and the capitalist countries.

In general, the monograph recreates a historically reliable picture of the international industrial relations of the working class of the USSR in the conditions of developed socialism.

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