ABSTRACT
At the end of the year 1919 the War-Revolutionary Committee was instructed by the Council of the People's Commissars to organize without delay four labour armies. The four labour armies almost simultaneously began operations in February 1920. The first step was the organization of labour for the Donetz mineral field, for without an adequate supply of fuel it was impossible to restore activity in the most vitally important railways and factories, especially in south Russia. Hitherto the civil administration had been so ineffective that one-third of the enterprises were idle; within four months, labour army had repaired 120 large and many small bridges which had been damaged or destroyed in the Civil War, and it had materially increased the output of coal. As soon as the Civil War was over, the Soviet Government encountered the problem of demobilization of the military forces and the immediate absorption of the Red Army in industrial employment.
