For the Soviet government, Gubyshev was a model city. Its name had only been officially changed in January of that year by the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union, in commemoration of the renowned Soviet statesman Valerian Vladimirovich Kuybyshev, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the National Economy and Chairman of the National Planning Committee.
Gubyshev City had originally been called Samara, a name that dated back to a frontier fortress of the Tsarist era.
Of course, even in the Tsarist era, Gubyshev—then known as Samara—had been a relatively fast-developing city. By the end of the nineteenth century, its population and economy had already placed it among the Empire's ten largest cities, roughly ninth.
However, Tsarist Russia's overall industrial level had been weak. Thus, even Gubyshev, one of its top ten cities, was only impressive within Tsarist Russia itself.
In Gubyshev, or rather Samara, at that time, agriculture held the dominant position, because Gubyshev and its surrounding regions were one of Tsarist Russia's important "granaries."
Possessing one of the world's most fertile black-soil belts, the region's agriculture was extremely developed, especially wheat cultivation. Samara City, later Gubyshev, became one of Russia's largest grain-trading hubs. Its vast grain market drew merchants from across the country and even the world. Grain traded here was transported north along the Volga River to places such as Saint Petersburg, and then exported to Europe.
During the Soviet era, Gubyshev experienced leapfrog development. During the First Five-Year Plan, the Kuybyshev Aircraft Plant was established in the city. By now, the Kuybyshev Aircraft Plant had become one of the Soviet Union's largest and most important aircraft manufacturers, while Gubyshev itself had become a major center of the Soviet aviation industry.
Then came the development of energy and metallurgy. Gubyshev built modern refineries and became an important