Coal deposits in the area were first discovered in 1721. Iron smelting began there as early as 1697 and coal was discovered in 1721, although it was not systematically mined until 1851. The late 19th century industrialisation of Russia prompted a rapid growth in the area's industries, which was further boosted by the completion of the
Trans-Siberian Railway. Under
Joseph Stalin's
first five-year plan, the Ural-Kuznetsk industrial combine was formed in the early 1930s. It became a centre for the production of
iron and
steel,
zinc,
aluminium, machinery and chemicals, with raw materials and finished products being shipped to and from sites in the Kuzbas and
Urals.
A series of coal miners' strikes in the late 1980s took place in the region. The strike resulted in the formation of the Kuzbass Soviet of Workers' Committees and the Kuzbass Workers' Union. The Union issued a manifesto which criticised the party bureaucracy, but also declared that they were still committed to socialism and rejected private property. The miners at first expelled members of the Democratic Union Party who supported capitalist reforms, though by 1990 the strength of pro-Communist factions in the strike had weakened and this categorical opposition to capitalism was no longer present. Yeltsin chose to support the Kuzbass Soviet and pledged to address their economic concerns if they supported him and his economic reforms, however at no point under Yelstin's presidency did he meet any of the promises made to the Kuzbass soviet. Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the
planned economy, the region's industries faced a further crisis. Since then, however, its significance has grown. The Kuzbass now extracts ca. 60 percent of Russia's total coal production and is the main fuel and energy base for eastern Russia. Administratively, the Kuznetsk Basin lies in
Kemerovo Oblast with its capital in the city of
Kemerovo. Other major cities in the area include
Anzhero-Sudzhensk,
Leninsk-Kuznetsky,
Kiselyovsk, and
Prokopyevsk. == Pollution ==