Over the 69 years of the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, several people became the head of the country. The first ruler of the new state was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (real name Ulyanov), who led the Bolshevik Party during October revolution. Then the role of head of state actually began to be performed by a person who held the position of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (Central Committee of the Communist Party Soviet Union).
IN AND. Lenin
The first significant decision of the new Russian government was to refuse to participate in the bloody world war. Lenin managed to achieve it, despite the fact that some party members were against concluding peace on unfavorable terms (Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty). Having saved hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of lives, the Bolsheviks immediately put them at risk in another war - a civil one. The fight against interventionists, anarchists and White Guards, as well as other opponents of Soviet power, brought quite a few casualties.
In 1921, Lenin initiated the transition from the policy of war communism to the New Economic Policy (NEP), which contributed to the rapid restoration of the country's economy and national economy. Lenin also contributed to the establishment of one-party rule in the country and the formation of the Union of Socialist Republics. The USSR in the form in which it was created did not satisfy Lenin’s requirements, however, he did not have time to make significant changes.
In 1922, hard work and the consequences of the assassination attempt on him by Socialist-Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan in 1918 made themselves felt: Lenin became seriously ill. He took less and less part in governing the state and other people took the leading roles. Lenin himself spoke with alarm about his possible successor, Party General Secretary Stalin: “Comrade Stalin, having become General Secretary, concentrated immense power in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be able to use this power carefully enough.” On January 21, 1924, Lenin died, and Stalin, as expected, became his successor.
One of the main directions to which V.I. Lenin paid great attention to the development Russian economy. At the direction of the first leader of the country of the Soviets, many factories for the production of equipment were organized, and the completion of the AMO automobile plant (later ZIL) in Moscow began. Lenin paid great attention to the development of domestic energy and electronics. Perhaps, if fate had given the “leader of the world proletariat” (as Lenin was often called) more time, he would have raised the country to a high level.
I.V. Stalin
Lenin’s successor Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (real name Dzhugashvili), who in 1922 took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, pursued a more rigid policy. Now the name of Stalin is associated mainly with the so-called “Stalinist repressions” of the 30s, when several million residents of the USSR were deprived of property (the so-called “dekulakization”), were imprisoned or executed for political reasons (for condemning the current government).
Indeed, the years of Stalin's rule left a bloody mark on the history of Russia, but there were also positive features this period. During this time, from an agricultural country with a secondary economy, the Soviet Union turned into a world power with enormous industrial and military potential. The development of the economy and industry took its toll during the Great Patriotic War, which, although costly to the Soviet people, but were still won. Already during the hostilities, it was possible to establish good supplies for the army and create new types of weapons. After the war, many cities that had been destroyed almost to the ground were restored at an accelerated pace.
N.S. Khrushchev
Soon after Stalin's death (March 1953), Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (September 13, 1953). This leader of the CPSU became famous, perhaps, most of all for his extraordinary actions, many of which are still remembered. So, in 1960, at the UN General Assembly, Nikita Sergeevich took off his shoe and, threatening to show Kuzka’s mother, began banging on the podium with it in protest against the speech of the Filipino delegate. The period of Khrushchev's reign is associated with the development of the arms race between the USSR and the USA (the so-called “Cold War”). In 1962, the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba almost led to a military conflict with the United States.
Among the positive changes that occurred during the reign of Khrushchev, one can note the rehabilitation of victims Stalin's repressions(having taken the post of General Secretary, Khrushchev initiated the removal of Beria from his posts and his arrest), the development of agriculture through the development of unplowed lands (virgin lands), as well as the development of industry. It was during the reign of Khrushchev that the first launch of an artificial Earth satellite and the first human flight into space occurred. The period of Khrushchev's reign has an unofficial name - the “Khrushchev Thaw”.
L.I. Brezhnev
Khrushchev was replaced as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee by Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (October 14, 1964). For the first time, a change of party leader was made not after his death, but by removal from office. The era of Brezhnev's rule went down in history as “stagnation”. The fact is that the Secretary General was a staunch conservative and an opponent of any reforms. Continued " cold war", which was the reason that most of the resources went to the military industry to the detriment of other areas. Therefore, during this period, the country practically stopped in its technical development and began to lose to other leading powers in the world (excluding the military industry). In 1980, the XXII Summer Olympic Games were held in Moscow, which were boycotted by some countries (USA, Germany and others) in protest against the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan.
During Brezhnev's time, some attempts were made to defuse tensions in relations with the United States: American-Soviet treaties on the limitation of strategic offensive weapons were concluded. But these attempts were dashed by the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979. At the end of the 80s, Brezhnev was actually no longer capable of ruling the country and was only considered the leader of the party. On November 10, 1982, he died at his dacha.
Yu. V. Andropov
On November 12, Khrushchev’s place was taken by Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, who previously headed the State Security Committee (KGB). He achieved sufficient support among party leaders that, despite resistance former supporters Brezhnev, and was elected General Secretary and then Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Having taken the helm, Andropov proclaimed a course for socio-economic transformations. But all the reforms boiled down to administrative measures, strengthening discipline and exposing corruption in high circles. In foreign policy confrontation with the West only intensified. Andropov sought to strengthen personal power: in June 1983 he took the post of chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, while remaining general secretary. However, Andropov did not stay in power for long: he died on February 9, 1984 due to kidney disease, without having time to make significant changes in the life of the country.
K.U. Chernenko
On February 13, 1984, the post of head of the Soviet state was taken by Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko, who was considered a contender for the post of General Secretary even after Brezhnev’s death. Chernenko held this important post at the age of 72, being seriously ill, so it was clear that this was only a temporary figure. During Chernenko's reign, a number of reforms were undertaken, which were never brought to their logical conclusion. On September 1, 1984, Knowledge Day was celebrated for the first time in the country. On March 10, 1985, Chernenko died. His place was taken by Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, who later became the first and last president of the USSR.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR on March 15, 1990 at the III Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.
December 25, 1991, in connection with the cessation of the existence of the USSR as public education, M.S. Gorbachev announced his resignation from the post of President and signed a Decree on the transfer of control to strategic nuclear weapons Russian President Yeltsin.
On December 25, after Gorbachev’s announcement of resignation, the red state flag of the USSR was lowered in the Kremlin and the flag of the RSFSR was raised. The first and last President of the USSR left the Kremlin forever.
The first president of Russia, then still the RSFSR, Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin was elected on June 12, 1991 by popular vote. B.N. Yeltsin won in the first round (57.3% of the votes).
In connection with the expiration of the term of office of the President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin and in accordance with the transitional provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, elections for the President of Russia were scheduled for June 16, 1996. This was the only presidential election in Russia where two rounds were required to determine the winner. The elections took place from June 16 to July 3 and were distinguished by intense competition between candidates. The main competitors were considered the current President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin and the leader of the Communist Party Russian Federation G. A. Zyuganov. According to the election results, B.N. Yeltsin received 40.2 million votes (53.82 percent), significantly ahead of G.A. Zyuganov, who received 30.1 million votes (40.31 percent). 3.6 million Russians (4.82%) voted against both candidates .
December 31, 1999 at 12:00 pm Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin voluntarily ceased to exercise the powers of the President of the Russian Federation and transferred the powers of the President to the Chairman of the Government Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. On April 5, 2000, the first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, was awarded pensioner and labor veteran certificates.
December 31, 1999 Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin became acting president of the Russian Federation.
In accordance with the Constitution, the Federation Council of the Russian Federation set March 26, 2000 as the date for holding early presidential elections.
On March 26, 2000, 68.74 percent of voters included in the voting lists, or 75,181,071 people, took part in the elections. Vladimir Putin received 39,740,434 votes, which amounted to 52.94 percent, that is, more than half of the votes. On April 5, 2000, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation decided to recognize the presidential elections of the Russian Federation as valid and valid, and to consider Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin elected to the post of President of Russia.
Russian history
Topic No. 20
USSR AFTER STALIN in the 1950s
LEADERSHIP OF THE COUNTRY AFTER THE DEATH OF STALIN (1953–1955)
At the end 1952 was arrested by MGB authorities large groupKremlin doctors, who were accused of deliberately killing the leaders of the party and state (in 1945 - 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee and Chairman of the Sovinformburo Alexander Sergeevich Shcherbakov, in 1948 - Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov). Most of those arrested were Jews by nationality, which gave rise to the statement about “the discovery of a Zionist terrorist group of murderous doctors” “associated with the international Jewish bourgeois-nationalist organization “Joint”.” A TASS report about this was published in Pravda on January 13, 1953. Doctor Lydia Timashuk “exposed the wreckers” and was awarded the Order of Lenin for this (in April 1953, after Stalin’s death, the award decree was canceled “as incorrect”). The arrest of the doctors was supposed to be the end of the anti-Semitic campaign in the USSR: after the public execution of the killer doctors, bring down mass repressions on all Jews, deport them to Siberia, etc. The arrest of the doctors was carried out with the sanction of Stalin, among those arrested was Stalin’s personal doctor, Professor V. N. Vinogradov, who, having discovered a disorder in the leader cerebral circulation and multiple minor cerebral hemorrhages, said that Stalin needed to retire from active work. Stalin regarded this as a desire to deprive him of power (in 1922, he did the same with Lenin, isolating him in Gorki).
Organizers "doctors' affairs" were L.P. Beria and the new Minister of State Security S.D. Ignatiev, the executor was the head of the investigative unit of the MGB, Major Ryumin. In this way, Stalin was deprived of the help of the most qualified doctors, and the first serious hemorrhage in the brain became fatal for him.
(A month after Stalin’s death, a message from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was published about the verification of this case, about the illegality of the arrests, about the use of unacceptable investigative methods prohibited by Soviet laws in the MGB. The doctors were released, Major Ryumin was arrested and executed in the summer of 1954, six months after Beria. )
March 2, 1953 Stalin was struck by a blow at his dacha in Kuntsevo near Moscow, and for about half a day he was not given any help. Stalin's condition was hopeless (“Cheyne-Stokes breathing”). Without regaining consciousness, Stalin died at 21.50 March 5, 1953. From March 1953 to October 1961, Stalin's body was in the Mausoleum next to Lenin's body. On the day of the funeral (March 9), a stampede broke out in Moscow, hundreds of people died or were maimed.
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR(Stalin's successor as head of government) became Georgiy Maximilianovich Malenkov. His first deputies were L. P. Beria, V. M. Molotov, N. A. Bulganin and L. M. Kaganovich.
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR(formally this was the position of the head of state) On March 15, at the session of the Supreme Council, it was approved Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov.
Ministry of Internal Affairs and MGB were merged within the framework of the new Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), the Minister of Internal Affairs again (after 1946) became Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria. In 1953, an amnesty was held, and many criminals were released (“Cold Summer of ’53”). The crime rate in the country increased sharply (a new surge after 1945–1947). Beria intended to use this situation to strengthen the powers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for his own purposes.
Minister of Foreign Affairs again (after 1949) became Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov(A. Ya. Vyshinsky, who held this position, was sent to the USA by the permanent representative of the USSR to the UN, where he died of a heart attack).
Minister of War remained (since 1947, replacing Stalin himself in this post). His first deputies were Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov and Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky.
Thus, after the death of Stalin, the period of disgrace for V. M. Molotov, K. E. Voroshilov and G. K. Zhukov ended.
Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev was the only one of the secretaries of the Central Committee who was part of the highest party leadership - the Bureau of the Presidium. It was decided to relieve him of his duties as 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee so that he could concentrate on his work in the Central Committee. In fact, Khrushchev became head the apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee, although he has not formally become First Secretary yet. G. M. Malenkov and L. P. Beria, actually leading the country after Stalin’s death, intended to concentrate power in the Council of Ministers - the government of the USSR. They needed the party apparatus to strictly implement government decisions. In Khrushchev they saw a simple performer who did not claim power. (They made the same mistake as Zinoviev and Kamenev, who in 1922 recommended Stalin for the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP(b).)
Beria and Malenkov understood the need for changes in the country, but while maintaining the essence of the regime. Beria took the initiative to normalize relations with Yugoslavia, Malenkov called for taking care of the material and cultural needs of the people. But the leadership of the party and state were afraid that Beria, relying on the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, would sooner or later want to take all power into his own hands and eliminate all his rivals. The initiator of the elimination of Beria was Khrushchev. Malenkov was the last to agree to eliminate his friend Beria.
IN June 1953 Beria was arrested at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee in the Kremlin. The arrest was made by 6 officers led by Marshals Zhukov and Moskalenko. Before this, all the security in the Kremlin was replaced by the military, and Zhukov brought the Tamanskaya and Kantemirovskaya tank divisions into Moscow to warn possible actions employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the release of Beria. The people were informed that the Plenum of the Central Committee, held on July 2–7, exposed “the agent of the British and Musavatist (bourgeois Azerbaijani) intelligence services, the enemy of the people Beria,” who “earned trust” in the leadership of the party and state, sought to “put the Ministry of Internal Affairs over the party” and establish their personal power in the country. Beria was removed from all posts, expelled from the party, convicted by a military tribunal (chaired by Marshal I.S. Konev) and in the end December 1953 shot.
IN September 1953 Khrushchev was elected 1st Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The term “cult of personality” began to be mentioned in the press for the first time. They began publishing verbatim reports of the Central Committee Plenums (glasnost). The people got the opportunity to visit the Kremlin museums. The process of rehabilitation of innocently convicted people has begun. Khrushchev's popularity grew, the military and the party apparatus were behind him. In fact, Khrushchev became the first person in the state.
In 1955 Malenkov announced his unwillingness to take up the post of head of government. New Chairman Council of Ministers became Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin, and Malenkov became Minister of Power Plants.
Even Malenkov, in his first speeches as head of government, spoke about the need to increase the production of consumer goods (group “B”) and about the priority of group “B” over group “A” (production of means of production), about changing attitudes towards agriculture. Khrushchev criticized the rapid pace of development of Group B, saying that without powerful heavy industry it would be impossible to ensure the country's defense capability and the rise of agriculture. In the economy, the main one was the agrarian problem: there was a shortage of grain in the country, although Malenkov stated at the 19th Congress of the CPSU in 1952 that “the grain problem in the USSR has been solved.”
Task No. 1. Was G. M. Malenkov right when he spoke about the priority of group “B” over group “A”?
September (1953) Plenum of the Central Committee decided: increase purchase price for agricultural products (for meat - 5.5 times, for milk and butter - 2 times, for vegetables - 2 times and for grain - 1.5 times), take off debt from collective farms, reduce taxes on personal farms of collective farmers, not to redistribute income between collective farms (equalization was condemned). Khrushchev stated that improving the lives of the people is impossible without improving agriculture and improving the lives of collective farmers. Were mandatory supplies reduced agricultural products to the state, reduced(later cancelled) homestead taxes. This led to greater interest among collective farmers in production, and the supply of cities improved. The number of poultry on peasant farms increased and cows appeared. By the spring of 1954, 100 thousand certified specialists were sent to collective and state farms.
Touching upon the grain problem, Khrushchev said that Malenkov’s statement at the 19th Party Congress about its solution was not true, and that the shortage of grain was hampering the growth of production of meat, milk and butter. Solving the grain problem was possible in two ways: first - increase in yield, which required fertilizers and improved farming standards and would not give immediate returns, the second - expansion of cultivated areas.
In order to immediately increase grain production, it was decided to develop virgin and fallow lands in Kazakhstan, Southern Siberia, the Volga region and the Southern Urals. People landed right in the steppes, in off-road conditions, without basic amenities, lived in tents in the winter steppe, and lacked equipment.
February-March (1954) Plenum of the Central Committee approved the decision on development of virgin lands . Already in the spring of 1954, 17 million hectares of land were raised and 124 grain state farms were created. The leaders of Kazakhstan, who insisted on preserving traditional sheep farming, were replaced: Panteleimon Kondratyevich became the 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan Ponomarenko, and the 2nd secretary is Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. In 1954–1955 350 thousand people went to work in 425 virgin state farms on Komsomol vouchers. In the record year of 1956, virgin lands produced 40% of the country's total grain. At the same time, grain production in the arid steppes required a high level of farming and was highly dependent on weather conditions. Subsequently, extensive (without the introduction of scientific achievements and new technologies) farming methods led to the depletion of the fertile soil layer and a drop in yields due to wind erosion of the soil.
Thus, Khrushchev’s attempt to solve the grain problem within the framework of the collective farm system failed, but grain production increased, which made it possible to eliminate grain queues and begin the free sale of flour. However, there was not enough grain for the needs of livestock farming (for fattening beef cattle).
Task No. 2. Was the development of virgin lands in the USSR justified?
XX CONGRESS OF THE CPSU. ITS SOLUTIONS AND IMPORTANCE
C February 14 to 25, 1956 The 20th Congress of the CPSU took place, which determined the final turn towards de-Stalinization Soviet society, liberalization domestic economic and political life, expansion of foreign policy relations and establishment friendly relations with a number of foreign countries
The report at the congress was made by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev. Basic provisions international part of the report:
a) it has been established that it has formed and exists world socialist system(“socialist camp”);
b) a desire is expressed cooperation with everyone social democratic movements and parties (under Stalin, social democracy was considered worst enemy labor movement, since it distracts workers from the revolutionary struggle with peaceful slogans);
c) it is stated that transition forms various countries to socialism can be diverse, including the possible way for communists and socialists to win a parliamentary majority based on the election results and carry out all the necessary socialist transformations through peaceful, parliamentary means (under Stalin, such statements would have resulted in accusations of opportunism);
d) the principle is emphasized peaceful coexistence two systems (socialist and capitalist), strengthening trust and cooperation; socialism does not need to be exported: the working people of capitalist countries will themselves establish socialism when they are convinced of its advantages;
d) danger of war remains, but her there is no more inevitability, since the forces of the world (socialist, labor movement, "third world" countries - developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America) are stronger than the forces of war.
The report provided an analysis of the internal economic situation of the USSR and tasks in the field of economics have been set:
A) electrify the entire national economy, accelerate the electrification of railways;
b) create a powerful energy, metallurgical and machine-building base in Siberia and on Far East;
c) in the VI Five-Year Plan (1956–1960) increase production industrial products by 65%, catch up with developed capitalist countries in terms of production per capita;
G) in agriculture to bring the annual grain harvest to 11 billion poods (1 pood = 16 kg), to fully provide the country with potatoes and vegetables in 2 years, to double meat production in five years, focusing on development pig farming;
e) sharply increase crops corn, primarily to provide livestock with feed (Khrushchev, working after the war as 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, saw that corn produces high yields; it was a mistake to spread corn crops in those areas where it had never been cultivated before and could not produce high harvests - in Belarus, the Baltic states, Tula, Leningrad regions, etc.); in 1953, there were 3.5 million hectares under corn, and in 1955 – already 17.9 million hectares.
Decisions of the XX Congress in the field of social policy:
a) transfer all workers and employees during the VI Five-Year Plan to a 7-hour working day with a 6-day working week; from 1957, begin transferring certain sectors of the economy to 5 days working week with an 8-hour working day;
b) increase the volume housing construction 2 times due to its transfer to an industrial footing (transition to large-panel housing construction, when house elements are produced at house-building plants and only assembled into a single whole at a construction site). Khrushchev called for the creation of a socialist architectural style - durable, economical, beautiful. This is how “Khrushchev” houses appeared with separate apartments of a small area, but they were also a great joy for those who moved there from communal apartments and post-war barracks;
c) Khrushchev called for an increase release household appliances and to expansion catering networks to liberate the Soviet woman;
d) from September 1, 1956 was canceled introduced in 1940 tuition fee in high schools, technical schools and universities;
d) it was decided raise the salary low-paid workers by 30% and increase the minimum wage pensions up to 350 rub. (from February 1, 1961 - 35 rubles); It was considered advisable for the salaries of enterprise managers to depend on the results achieved.
In the report of the Central Committee, the name of Stalin was mentioned with respect: the report was approved by the Bureau of the Presidium of the Central Committee, in which the majority was against exposing the cult of personality, primarily V. M. Molotov, G. M. Malenkov, K. E. Voroshilov, L. M. Kaganovich, themselves involved in mass repressions. Khrushchev believed that it was necessary to tell the truth and repent in order to restore the trust of ordinary communists and ordinary people in the party leadership. Despite the objections of Stalin's associates, Khrushchev in the evening last day the work of the congress (February 25) collected closed meeting, at which he made a report "On the cult of personality and its consequences", in which for the first time he openly linked “deviations from Leninist norms of party life” and what was happening in the country lawlessness and arbitrariness in the name of Stalin. Khrushchev’s speech was a courageous step, because he himself, unconditionally believing Stalin, signed sanctions for the destruction of “enemies of the people.”
The delegates to the congress learned for the first time about many things: about the characterization of Stalin given by Lenin in the addition to the “Letter to the Congress”; that most of the delegates to the 17th Party Congress (1934) were exterminated for “counter-revolutionary crimes”; that the confessions of many prominent figures of the party and state about their participation in sabotage and espionage were extracted from them under torture; about the falsification of Moscow trials in the 30s; about torture with the permission of the Party Central Committee (Stalin’s letter to the NKVD of 1937); that Stalin personally signed 383 “execution” lists; about violation of collective management norms; about Stalin’s gross miscalculations during the war, etc. By decision of the congress, a commission was formed to investigate the circumstances of the murder of Sergei Mironovich Kirov.
What we know today in every detail came as a shock to the delegates of the congress. Khrushchev's report was kept secret for Soviet people until 1989, although it was immediately published in the West. The text of the report was read to the communists at closed party meetings; notes were not allowed. After such meetings, people were taken away with heart attacks. Many lost faith in what they lived for (the suicide of the writer Alexander Fadeev in 1956 was caused, in particular, by this circumstance). The lack of clarity in the assessment of the Stalinist regime led to a pro-Stalin demonstration of Georgian youth in Tbilisi in October 1956, which was shot.
Based on the decision of the XX Congress June 30, 1956 a resolution of the Central Committee was adopted “On overcoming the cult of personality and its consequences”. There, Stalin’s “individual mistakes” were condemned, but the system he created was not questioned; neither the names of those guilty of lawlessness (except Beria) nor the facts of lawlessness themselves were named. It was stated that the cult of personality could not change the nature of our system. After this decision began mass rehabilitation illegally repressed. They were released without returning the confiscated property and were given compensation in the amount of 2 months' earnings before arrest. Executioners and informers, meanwhile, continued to work in their places, avoiding punishment.
Task No. 3. What decisions of the XX Congress of the CPSU could not in principle be adopted under Stalin and why?
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE USSR
From the mid-50s. an era has begun scientific and technological revolution(NTR). First of all, it was expressed in the use atomic energy for peaceful purposes, as well as in the development outer space. In 1954, the world's first Obninsk nuclear power plant was launched; in the late 50s. was put into operation nuclear icebreaker"Lenin". Scientific and technological revolution in the USSR developed within the framework military-industrial complex.
October 4, 1957 the first one was launched artificial satellite Earth. In the USSR, increasingly powerful ballistic missiles were developed and tested. After test flights of dogs Laika (without a lander), and then Belka and Strelki (returned to Earth) April 12, 1961 man flew into space for the first time - Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin(flew away as a senior lieutenant, after 108 minutes of flight - 1 orbit around the Earth - landed as a major).
The era of scientific and technological revolution was accompanied by qualitatively new disasters. In 1957, a radioactive release occurred at the Mayak plant in Chelyabinsk region, and the radioactive trace was not eliminated, and the consequences of the contamination are still felt. In 1960, it exploded at the start ballistic missile. Marshal M.I. Nedelin, several generals, hundreds of engineers, soldiers, and officers were burned alive.
The oil and gas industry developed rapidly, and oil and gas pipelines were built. Priority was given to the construction of ferrous metallurgy enterprises.
In the mid-50s. It became clear that over-centralized economic management, when any minor issues are resolved only at the ministry level, does not justify itself and slows down the development of production. In addition, the ministries duplicated each other's activities. Cross-transportation of the same goods was carried out through different ministries. In 1957, the economic council reform began . The entire territory of the USSR was divided into 105 economic regions, in each of which territorial economic management bodies were established - national economic councils (economic councils). Each economic council included one or more regions and developed as a single economic system, devoid of departmental contradictions. Economic councils received the right independent planning, could establish mutual direct economic ties. The need for the existence of large all-Union ministries disappeared, about 60 ministries were eliminated, their functions were transferred to economic councils; There were only 10 most important ones that could not be divided (Ministry of Defense, Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Communications, Communications, etc.).
In 1957–1958, when the ministries had already been abolished and the economic councils had not yet been formed, the national economy worked most efficiently, as it was out of the control and tutelage of the expanding bureaucratic apparatus. Dissatisfaction with the economic council reform was primarily expressed by officials who lost their positions. Gradually, workers from the abolished ministries became part of the apparatus of economic councils or sectoral departments of the State Planning Committee, and the size of the bureaucratic apparatus that managed the economy remained virtually unchanged.
Task No. 4. What are the positive and negative sides economic council reform in the USSR?
At enterprises in the 50s. appeared communist labor brigades, but the incentives were still only moral (a pennant for winning the competition), the salary was time-based - almost the same for both the leaders and the laggards.
In the field of agriculture, the reform consisted of 1958 all equipment of state machine and tractor stations (MTS) Was in mandatory sold to collective farms. Only large, wealthy farms benefited from this, as it was convenient and profitable for them to maintain their own equipment. Most of the rest did not have the funds to either buy equipment or maintain it, so when they were forced to buy equipment, they found themselves on the verge of ruin. In addition, machine operators did not want to move along with their equipment to collective farms and looked for another job in the city so as not to worsen their standard of living. The debts of bankrupt collective farms were written off and they were turned into state farms - state agricultural enterprises.
N. S. Khrushchev’s visit to the USA once again convinced him of the need to develop corn (after visiting the fields of farmer Garst, who grew hybrid corn). A new wave has begun corn campaign: corn was sown as far as Yakutia and the Arkhangelsk region. The blame for the fact that it did not grow there was shifted to the local leadership (“they let things take their course”). At the same time, American varieties of corn produced good yields in Ukraine, Kuban and other southern regions of the country.
At the end of the 50s. The 1st Secretary of the Ryazan Regional Party Committee Larionov announced that he would increase meat procurement in the region by 3 times in one year. As a result, all the collective farm dairy cattle in the region, cattle seized from the population, and cattle purchased in other regions with huge bank loans were put to slaughter. The following year there was a sharp drop in the level of agricultural production in Ryazan and neighboring regions. Larionov shot himself.
Khrushchev personally traveled around the country and supervised agriculture. WITH 1958 started again struggle with personal subsidiary farms. Collective farmers trading in markets were called speculators and parasites. Townspeople were prohibited from keeping livestock. In the mid-50s. personal farms provided 50% of the meat produced in the country, in 1959 - only 20%. Another campaign was the fight against waste on a state scale (“there is no need to create museums everywhere where Pushkin visited”).
In 1957 they were expanded budgetary rights of the union republics, the functions of the State Planning Committee were partially transferred to them. By the end of the 50s. began equalizing the pace of their development. Industrial development in Central Asia and Kazakhstan was provided with labor from the central regions of Russia, and unemployment appeared among the local population, traditionally employed in agriculture. Lands were redistributed between the republics of Central Asia without taking into account the national composition of the inhabitants and their wishes. All this became the basis for interethnic conflicts in the future. IN 1954 Crimea was transferred from the RSFSR into Ukraine to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. The decision of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee was not even supported by an official act of government bodies.
By the end of 1958, there were some disruptions in the implementation of the VI Five-Year Plan. IN January 1959 took place XXI (Extraordinary) Congress of the CPSU, who accepted seven year plan development of the national economy for 1959–1965. (last 2 years of the VI Five-Year Plan + VII Five-Year Plan) to establish a long-term perspective of economic planning. The seven-year plan provided for: an increase in industrial production by 80% (actual implementation - 84%), an increase in agricultural production by 70% (actual implementation - 15%). By the end of the seven-year plan, it was planned to catch up and surpass the United States in agricultural production per capita, and by 1970 - in industrial production.
Stalin's death on March 5, 1953 contributed to the beginning of a struggle for power within the CPSU party. This struggle continued until 1958.
The struggle for power after Stalin on initial stage was fought between Melenkov and Beria. Both of them spoke out in favor of the fact that the functions of power should be transferred from the hands of the CPSU to the state. The struggle for power after Stalin between these two people lasted only until June 1953, but it was during this short historical period that the first wave of criticism of Stalin’s personality cult occurred. For members of the CPSU, the coming to power of Beria or Malenkov meant a weakening of the party’s role in governing the country, since this point was actively promoted by both Beria and Malenkov. It was for this reason that Khrushchev, who at that time headed the Central Committee of the CPSU, began to look for ways to remove from power, first of all, Beria, who he saw as the most dangerous opponent. Members of the CPSU Central Committee supported Khrushchev in this decision. As a result, on June 26, Beria was arrested. This happened at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers. Soon Beria was declared an enemy of the people and an opponent of the Communist Party. The inevitable punishment followed - execution.
The struggle for power after Stalin continued into the second stage (summer 1953 - February 1955). Khrushchev, who had removed Beria from his path, now became Malenkov's main political rival. In September 1953, the Congress of the CPSU Central Committee approved Khrushchev as General Secretary of the party. The problem was that Khrushchev did not hold any government positions. At this stage of the struggle for power, Khrushchev secured the support of the majority in the party. As a result, Khrushchev’s position in the country became noticeably stronger, while Malenkov lost ground. This was largely due to the events of December 1954. At this time, Khrushchev organized a trial against the leaders of the MGB, who were accused of forging documents in the “Leningrad case”. Malenkov was severely compromised as a result of this process. As a result of this process, Bulganin removed Malenkov from the post he held (head of government).
The third stage, in which struggle for power after Stalin,began in February 1955 and continued until March 1958. At this stage, Malenkov united with Molotov and Kaganovich. The united “opposition” decided to take advantage of the fact that they had a majority in the party. At the next congress, which took place in the summer of 1957, the post of first secretary of the party was eliminated. Khrushchev was appointed Minister of Agriculture. As a result, Khrushchev demanded the convening of the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, since, according to the party charter, only this body could make such decisions. Khrushchev, taking advantage of the fact that he was the party secretary, personally selected the composition of the Plenum. The overwhelming majority of people who supported Khrushchev turned out to be there. As a result, Molotov, Kaganovich and Malenkov were dismissed. This decision was made by the Plenum of the Central Committee, arguing that all three were engaged in anti-party activities.
The struggle for power after Stalin was actually won by Khrushchev. The party secretary understood how important the post of chairman of the council of ministers was in the state. Khrushchev did everything to take this post, since Bulganin, who held this position, openly supported Malenkov in 1957. In March 1958, the formation of a new government began in the USSR. As a result, Khrushchev achieved his appointment to the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers. At the same time, he retained the position of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. In fact, this meant Khrushchev's victory. The struggle for power after Stalin was over.
Lessons from the USSR. Historically unresolved problems as factors in the emergence, development and decline of the USSR Nikanorov Spartak Petrovich
9. USSR after Stalin's death
9. USSR after Stalin's death
Characteristics of the stage
Learning from this historical period is particularly important. This stage is the rapid, in just 40 years, destruction of what was achieved by Stalin. Of course, the course of history at this stage consists not only of destruction; there are also remarkable achievements in many, including key areas. But a careful examination of them shows that they are all just repetitions of the line defined and pursued by Stalin. Many in the country, of course, not all, clearly were aware of their historical mission. For Stalin, the greatness of the country was more important than the happy life of the population. Stalin was a sovereign. Individuals or groups that openly or covertly undermined the USSR were destroyed. Not “everyone is busy with their own business,” but “everyone is doing one common thing.” After the death of Stalin, of the five General Secretaries, this idea was continued only by Brezhnev.
The common feature of the entire post-Stalin era of the USSR (March 1953 - December 1991) is in the loss of perspective and focus, clarity and rigidity of the work of the state apparatus, which is incompatible with the principles of Soviet socialism. The centralized planning system was ineffective in conditions of rapid scientific and technological development due to the fact that local initiatives required numerous approvals. Weakening of goal setting and goal achievement, a sluggish response to the necessary ongoing changes, the nominal nature of planning and reports on the implementation of the plan, the postponement of deadlines, the decline of the culture and discipline of leadership, the war in Afghanistan, which only led to great casualties. Growing lag in scientific and technological development. Hence the desire of high management to shift their functions to lower levels, constant delays in the formation of the annual budget, and the subsequent reorganization of the state apparatus. Control over the activities of organizations has weakened. The distrust of organizations that arose in government agencies led to the desire to “squeeze” the organization into plans “descended from above.” As a result, there are various imitative tricks of organizations in implementing the decisions of the Center. Under Stalin, all this was impossible. In the language of management theory, the reason was the negative feedback that had developed in government management.
However, the strictly centralized system government controlled continued to maintain its advantages over the market West. In some areas, the impact of Soviet science and technology was many times greater than that of the West. The USSR surpassed the United States in arms exports. In mass production of consumer goods and in the quality of services, the USSR was inferior, in limited production it was equal or ahead. The development of production in the USSR was limited by the fact that the world market did not accept its products. But this restriction was partially lifted by the CMEA countries. Therefore, the excess production capacity available in the USSR and in the CMEA countries controlled by it (possible only under socialism) could not be fully used. In terms of the share of production, the USSR did not lag behind, and in conditions of severe isolation it developed on the principles of self-sufficiency, producing everything it needed for itself. But the share of consumption was small compared to the share of mechanical engineering. The independence of the activities of engineering industries and organizations led to low unification of parts and types of materials, which market economy impossible. The planned economy was not focused on ensuring its technical and economic efficiency. Nevertheless, the USSR developed faster than anyone, including the United States, and provided significant savings in resources.
Stalin was in power for 31 years. From the moment of his death on March 2, 1953, when he was 74 years old, until the liquidation of the USSR in 1992, 39 years passed. During this time, five General Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee replaced each other. An average of eight years each. Between their lines, in addition to an acute hidden war for the power of one or another party clan, there was a struggle to change or preserve political ideology, domestic and foreign policy, and the social and state form of the USSR.
The first to take power in 1953 N.S. Khrushchev(1894–1971). He was 59 years old. From the age of 32 N.S. Khrushchev at party work in the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine. In 1944–1947 – Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine, then – 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine. During the Great Patriotic War he was a member of a number of Front Councils. Since 1949 - Secretary of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and 1st Secretary of the Moscow Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). In 1953 (it’s clear why) he becomes 1st (and not General) Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Member of the CPSU Central Committee N.S. Khrushchev was from 1934 to 1966, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee from 1939 to 1964. Some authors claim that Khrushchev could neither read nor write. Probably thought well...
N.S. Khrushchev at the end of the 30s was one of the largest organizers of repressions in Moscow and Ukraine. It is known that the organizers of the repressions, in order to curry favor with Stalin, increased the number of repressed people beyond what was really necessary. The decision to carry out the punishments provided for in the list of repressed persons could only be made by Stalin personally. When such a list was brought to him for approval, Stalin pointed out those who needed to be excluded. To which they sometimes told him: “You were busy, the sentences have already been carried out.” Well, Khrushchev managed to become a support for Stalin in order to kill and curse him?
In the second half of the 40s, he was one of the organizers of the fight against cosmopolitanism (worship of “foreignness”). But this did not stop him from initiating a “thaw” in domestic and foreign policy, which is supposedly better than strict discipline. In 1956, at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, he exposed Stalin’s “cult of personality.”
The regime established by Mao Zedong was harsher than Stalin's. However, in China, the cult of worship of Mao as the great founder of the PRC and the leader of the nation continues even after his death, and no one thinks of “taking Mao out of the mausoleum.”
The policy pursued by N.S. Khrushchev, was inconsistent and anti-Stalinist. He transferred the management of the national economy from a sectoral principle to a territorial one. This led to the collapse of the centralized form of management and the inefficiency of the sectoral one. As a result, this will lead to huge losses in the national economy and a delay in its development. This transformation was canceled under L.I. Brezhnev, and the sectoral principle was restored.
But N.S. Khrushchev limited the privileges of the party and state apparatus (to eliminate the “Stalinists” from it?). He improved the living conditions of the population, organized the massive construction of residential buildings (“Khrushchevka”), and made society more open. In 1954, two rings were introduced air defense around Moscow and the world's first nuclear power plant. In 1957, the first satellite was launched, in 1961 - Gagarin's space flight. Strived to expand international relations.
At the same time, N.S. Khrushchev suppressed “dissidents”, sent troops into Hungary in 1956, shot a workers’ demonstration in Novo-Cherkassk in 1962, escalated the confrontation with the West (the Berlin crisis, 1961, created the Caribbean crisis , 1962). He set unattainable goals for the country: “to catch up and overtake America,” “to build communism by 1980.” He threatened with the shoe he had taken off his foot from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly. After a visit to the United States at the invitation of Eisenhower, he becomes a liberal communist. By decision of N.S. Khrushchev, A.N. Kosygin was preparing to transfer part of the national property of the national economy to private property. Although in 1952 in the book “ Economic problems socialism in the USSR" Stalin argued that the transfer of private property to the state is best shape nationalization, but already at the end of 1952 he spoke out against the state monopoly in the economy. Stalin outlined these reforms six months before his death for approval at a meeting of the CPSU Central Committee.
By 1962, the party and state apparatuses were convinced of the ostentatious activities and the inability of N. S. Khrushchev to lead the socialist state. By decision of the CPSU Central Committee in October 1964, N.S. Khrushchev was removed from his duties as 1st Secretary and member of the Politburo of the Central Committee, but remained a member of the Central Committee for another 2 years. N.S. Khrushchev was in power for 11 years. He resigned from his post when he was 70 years old.
The 58-year-old was elected to the post of 1st Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in October 1964 at the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee L.I. Brezhnev (1906–1982), who organized the removal of N.S. Khrushchev. In 1966, this post again began to be called " Secretary General" L.I. Brezhnev held this post for 18 years until his death, which occurred when he was 76 years old. IN last years during his life he was seriously ill. He was not a destroyer of the line pursued by Stalin, like Khrushchev, but he was unable to deeply understand it and correctly implement it in completely new conditions. The consequence was his superficial, outward imitation of Stalin.
When did the Great Patriotic War, L.I. Brezhnev was 36 years old. During the war and after it, until the end of his life, he was in party work: 1st Secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova. In 1953 – Head of the Political Department Soviet army and the Navy. Then - 2nd and 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. From 1952 to 1964 (with interruptions) - Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the USSR Defense Council. As under Stalin, the authoritarian regime remained under Brezhnev.
Since 1965, measures have been taken to improve the functioning of the national economy. The next congress of the CPSU pointed out the need to create associations, use “economic methods” in management, higher rates of growth in labor productivity and profitability of production, strengthen economic accounting, accurately record the deadlines for completing tasks, select options that will give the fastest return, encourage time saving and strict monitoring its waste, eliminating unnecessary links in bureaucratic procedures, ensuring prompt decision-making. Provided constant development all sectors of the economy, creating conditions for the use of the abilities of all members of society, bringing science and technology closer together, accelerating the development and implementation of new effective technology. The reform of 1965 began the practical use of commodity-money “levers” in the body of socialist production relations. These decisions had great political economic significance.
It was assumed that these measures would create a “mature socialist society”, “developed socialism”.
In fact, during the reign of L. I. Brezhnev, negative phenomena gradually increased in the economy, in the social and spiritual life of society. The economy became increasingly extensive and consumerist. For example, the mechanical engineering industry of the USSR began to produce mainly equipment for the production of consumer products. The reason was the extreme conservatism of social forms. The country began to live off the sale of oil and gas. At the beginning of L. I. Brezhnev’s reign, a policy was pursued to ease international tension, and then he began to carry out increased militarization of the country, thereby supporting the arms race provoked by the United States. L.I. Brezhnev, having listened enough to his assistants, insisted in public speeches on the use of system analysis. The Defense Department of the CPSU Central Committee supported the development of the target planning system used by the United States (the then famous PERT). But the conservative system of centralized planning of the entire country was unable to master either system analysis or target planning. It is possible that the United States understood the subversive nature of these attempts.
In 1965, the Chief Engineer of one of the defense design bureaus, Anatoly Vasilyevich Pivovarov, told me: “Not a single Government Resolution is being implemented.” Under Stalin this was absolutely impossible.
At the same time, the 2nd Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee, Yuri Vladimirovich Torsuev, invited two then famous explorers P. G. Kuznetsov and S. P. Nikanorov and invited them to answer one question:
“Komsomol with the party or with the party?”
A month later, he was presented with a voluminous report, which substantiated the need for the Komsomol to be independent youth organization, which takes into account the policies pursued by the party. Torsuev, having briefly read the report, said: “Do you want me to be arrested?” Soon the Komsomol Central Committee relieved him of his post as 2nd Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee.
In 1966, a group of specialists, of which I was a member, was invited by the head of the Technical Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Machine Tool Industry. She asked us one question: “Why did almost the entire world abandon metal cutting and switch to physical processing methods, while we continue to cut?” Under " by physical methods“was understood, for example, to produce precise, fully finished metal products (such as a car body) from a sheet of metal of the required thickness by means of a single hydraulic shock on the sheet lying above the mold, with a water pressure of thousands of atmospheres. Our answer was unequivocal: because the centralized planning system in the form used by the USSR suppressed initiative. It was believed that only the top understand everything correctly, and only they look forward, all the rest - the favorite word in the USSR - are performers.
In 1969, an international meeting was held “Tasks of the struggle against imperialism in modern stage and unity of action of the communist and workers' parties and all anti-imperialist forces."
In 1973, brigade cost accounting was introduced in construction, in 1976 - brigade contracting, 1977 - end-to-end brigade contracting. In 1977, all house-building plants were transferred to self-financing, which resulted in an improvement in their economic indicators.
During this period, changes were made in capitalist countries that brought them closer to the forms used by the USSR. State stimulation of production carried out by monopolies was introduced by providing them with an increasingly larger share of national income. The government is financing industrial development programs and scientific research. Programs for the country's economic development are being drawn up.
In 1974, “ Guidelines to the development of state plans for the development of the national economy."
In the mid-late 70s and early 80s, under the impression of the economic difficulties of the USSR, the use of socialism was abandoned around the world. Worldwide disappointment in the results of direct state management. In England, the state’s refusal to participate in economic activity: “it is necessary to look for more flexible forms of public control.” Massive denationalization took place in Africa. Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Czechoslovakia abandoned socialism. Deng Xiaoping said when introducing socialist capitalism in China: “It doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white. It’s important that she catches mice.” Gandhi in India declared that "socialism is depleting the people's wealth." There was an anti-state and anti-socialist revolt of the world economy.
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