Donetsk was founded in 1869 when the Welsh businessman John Hughes built a steel plant and several coal mines in the southern part of the Russian Empire at Aleksandrovka (Ukrainian: ?????????????). The town initially was given the name Hughesovka (Yuzovka; Russian: ??????; Ukrainian: ??????). By the beginning of the 20th century, Yuzovka had approximately 50,000 inhabitants, and had attained the status of a city in 1917. The main district of "Hughezovka" named English Colony. The British origin of the city reflected in its layout and architecture.
In 1924, under the Soviet rule, the city's name was changed to Stalin. In that year, the city's population totaled 63,708, and in the next year � 80,085. In 1929-31 the city's name was changed to Stalino. The city did not have a drinking water system until 1931, when a 55.3 km system was laid underground. In July 1933, the city became the administrative center of the Donetsk Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1933, the first 12 km sewer system was installed, and next year the first exploitation of gas was conducted within the city. In addition, some sources state that the city was briefly called Trotsk�after Leon Trotsky�for a few months in 1923.
In the beginning of World War II, the population of Stalino consisted of 507,000, and after the war - only 175,000. The Nazi invasion during World War II almost completely destroyed the city, which was mostly rebuilt on a large scale at the war's end. It was occupied by Nazi Germany between 16 October 1941 and 5 September 1943.
The territory of Donetsk at the time of the Nazi German occupation consisted mainly of a Jewish ghetto, in which 3,000 Jews died, and a concentration camp in which 92,000 people were killed. During the war, a collective responsibility system was enforced. For every killed German soldier, 100 inhabitants were killed, and one for every killed policeman.
In 1945 many forced labourers, young men and women aged 17 to 35, were interned
