Post-war period 1945. USSR in the post-war period. List of used literature

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE USSR IN THE POST-WAR (1945-1953) YEARS. NATIONAL POLICY

The impact of the war on political sentiment. The war changed the socio-political atmosphere in Soviet society. The very extreme situation at the front and in the rear forced people to think creatively, act independently, and take responsibility at a decisive moment.

The war made a hole in the "Iron Curtain" by which the USSR had been isolated from other countries since the 1930s. The participants in the European campaign of the Red Army (and there were almost 10 million of them), the inhabitants of the regions of the USSR occupied by the Germans (up to 5.5 million) mobilized for work in Germany, saw with their own eyes and were able to appreciate that world, about "decomposition" and "close death" which they were told before the war. Attitudes towards the individual, the standard of living, the organization of work and life were so different from Soviet realities that many doubted the expediency of the path that the country had been following all these years. Doubts penetrated even into the ranks of the party-state nomenklatura.

The victory of the people in the war gave rise to many hopes and expectations. The peasants counted on the dissolution of collective farms, the intelligentsia - on the weakening of the political dictate, the population of the union and autonomous republics - on a change in national policy. These sentiments were expressed in letters to the party and state leadership, reports of the state security agencies. They also appeared during the "closed" discussion of the drafts of the country's new constitution, the Party's Program and Charter. Proposals were made only by senior officials of the Central Committee of the Party, the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union Republics, people's commissars, the leadership of the territories and regions. But they, too, were ready to liquidate special wartime courts, free the party from economic functions, limit the term of tenure in leading party and Soviet work, and hold elections on an alternative basis.

The authorities sought to ease the social tension that had arisen, on the one hand, through decorative, visible democratization, and on the other, by intensifying the fight against "free-thinking."

Changes in the political system. After the end of the war, in September 1945, the state of emergency was lifted and the State Defense Committee was abolished. In March 1946, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was transformed into the Council of Ministers.

Elections were held to local Soviets, the Supreme Soviets of the republics and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, as a result of which the deputy corps was renewed, which did not change during the war years. Sessions of the Soviets began to be convened more frequently. Elections of people's judges and assessors were held. However, despite the appearance of democratic changes, power still remained in the hands of the party apparatus. The activities of the Soviets were often formal.

In October 1952, 13 years after the previous one, the next, XIX party congress took place, which decided to rename the CPSU (b) into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Before that, congresses of trade unions and the Komsomol were held, which were not convened for almost three statutory terms. But these were only superficially positive democratic changes. The political regime in the country became noticeably tougher, and a new wave of political repressions was gaining momentum.

The tightening of the political regime. The main reasons for the tightening of the political regime were the "democratic impulse" of the war and the breakthrough of the "Iron Curtain".

The wind of change also touched the inner circle of the leader. As soon as he went on vacation in the autumn of 1945, the "four" (V. M. Molotov, L. P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov, A. I. Mikoyan) who remained behind him softened the censorship of materials from Western correspondents. Soon an article appeared in the English Daily Herald, where Stalin's long absence from Moscow was explained by his forthcoming resignation from the post of head of government. Molotov was named successor. The leader did not forgive the members of the Quartet for such "sedition": Molotov was removed from his duties as first deputy head of government, Beria was transferred from the post of People's Commissar of the NKVD, Malenkov was criticized and sent to work in Kazakhstan, Mikoyan was pointed out "serious shortcomings in his work."

At the same time, as a counterbalance to the "old guard", Stalin nominated relatively young workers - A. N. Kosygin, A. A. Zhdanov, N. A. Voznesensky, A. A. Kuznetsov - into the ranks of his inner circle. They worked in Leningrad for a long time. However, in 1948 the leaders of the Leningrad party organization began to be arrested. More than 2,000 people were arrested in the "Leningrad case" and accused of trying to "oppose Leningrad to Moscow." 200 people were put on trial and shot, including Politburo member and Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR N. A. Voznesensky, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party A. A. Kuznetsov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR M. I. Rodionov.

With the end of the war, the "population" of the Gulag was replenished with new "enemies of the people." Hundreds of thousands of former prisoners of war ended up in the camps of Siberia and the Komi ASSR. Former employees of the state apparatus, landowners, entrepreneurs, wealthy peasants from the Baltic states, Western Ukraine and Belarus also got here. Hundreds of thousands of German and Japanese prisoners of war ended up in the camps. Since the end of the 40s. many thousands of workers and peasants also began to arrive, who did not fulfill the output norms or encroached on "socialist property" in the form of several potatoes or ears of corn frozen into the ground after the harvesting campaign. According to various sources, the number of prisoners during these years ranged from 4.5 to 12 million people. But even this was not enough. At the end of 1952 - beginning of 1953, arrests were made in the "Mingrelian case" and the "case of doctors." Doctors were accused of improper treatment of the top leadership, which allegedly led to the death of A. A. Zhdanov, A. S. Shcherbakov and other prominent figures of the party. "Mingrelians" (Beria could easily be attributed to the representatives of this nationality) were accused of preparing an assassination attempt on Stalin. In a narrow circle, Stalin spoke more and more often about the need for a new round of repressions, naming Molotov, Mikoyan, Voroshilov among the "enemies of the people". He also spoke about the need to carry out public executions in city squares.

Power and Church. In February 1945, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church elected Alexy I as the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. He continued the line of supporting the efforts of the state in defeating the enemy at the final stage of the war. And after its completion, he was actively involved in peacekeeping activities, which he carried out himself and through his representatives in various countries of the world.

The desire of believers to reopen their churches has noticeably increased. In 1944-1948. more than 23,000 parishes addressed the authorities with such a request. In most cases, the authorities went to meet the believers. This required a significant number of clergy. Patriarch Alexy transformed the Moscow Theological Institute and the Theological Courses into the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.

At the end of the war, some party leaders considered the church's mission accomplished and proposed to intensify the fight against it again. The secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, M. A. Suslov, also prepared a special resolution of the Central Committee on the tasks of atheistic propaganda in the new conditions. However, Stalin refused to accept it, deciding to maintain existing relations with the church. Soon even the very concept of "atheistic" work disappeared from the official party documents.

All this, however, did not at all mean an end to repressions against church leaders. Only for 1947-1948. about 2 thousand priests of various denominations were arrested (Orthodox - 679, sectarians - 1065, Muslims - 76, Buddhists - 16, Catholics and Lutherans - 118, followers of Judaism - 14). Every year, at least a hundred clergymen of various denominations were shot. But these were mainly those who fought against the official church authorities.

National Policy. The unity and friendship of the peoples of the USSR, which became one of the sources of victory in the war, were also fully manifested in the revival of the country's economy. Representatives of various peoples worked on the restoration of enterprises in the regions of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and the Baltic republics. During the reconstruction of the Ukrainian plant "Zaporizhstal" there were tents with inscriptions: "Riga", "Tashkent", "Baku", "Far East". Orders for the restoration of this giant of the industry were carried out by 200 factories from 70 cities of the country. More than 20 thousand people from different republics arrived to restore the Dneproges.

Based on the enterprises exported during the war, a powerful industrial base was formed in the east of the country. Metallurgical centers were created or significantly expanded in the Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Georgia. In 1949, for the first time in the world, Azerbaijani oilmen began offshore oil production in the Caspian Sea. A large oil field began to be developed in Tatarstan.

The war-interrupted process of industrialization of the Baltic republics, the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus, and Right-bank Moldavia continued. The enterprises created here were equipped with machine tools and equipment produced at factories in Moscow, Leningrad, Chelyabinsk, Kharkov, Tbilisi and other cities of the USSR. As a result, industrial production in these regions of the country increased 2-3 times during the years of the Fourth Five-Year Plan.

The "democratic impulse" of the war was fully manifested in the growth of national self-consciousness, the turning of the peoples of the country to their roots, the heroic pages of the historical past. Even during the war years, works of historians and writers appeared in Tataria, dedicated to their ancestral homeland - the Golden Horde, its rulers Batu, Edigei and others. They did not appear as enemies, but acted as the founders of the Tatar statehood.

In Bashkiria, "Essays on the History of Bashkiria", literary works about national heroes "Idukai and Muradym", "Epos about heroes" were published. In the play "Kakhym-Turya", dedicated to the heroic year 1812, along with the Russian soldiers, Bashkir heroes defending their homeland were shown. Similar works appeared among other peoples of the country. The authorities saw in them the "popularization of the khan-feudal" past and the opposition of peoples.

National movements after the war. The war led to the revival of national movements, which did not cease their activities even after its end. Detachments of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army continued to fight in Ukraine. In Belarus, only in the first post-war year, 900 rebel detachments were liquidated. The total number of deaths at the hands of nationalist underground party and Soviet activists in the Baltic states, according to incomplete data, amounted to more than 13 thousand people. Several hundred nationalists were active in the Moldovan underground. All of them protested against the annexation of their republics to the USSR and the continuous collectivization that had begun here. Resistance to the NKVD troops was so stubborn that it lasted until 1951. Only in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 2.5 thousand machine guns and about 50 thousand machine guns, rifles and pistols were seized.

The surge of national movements also caused a new wave of repression. She "covered" not only the members of the nationalist underground, but also innocent representatives of various peoples.

In May 1948, the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out the "Spring" operation to deport from Lithuania to Siberia "family members of Lithuanian bandits and gang accomplices from among the kulaks." In total, 400 thousand people were sent for the "spring call". Similar actions took place against Latvians (150,000 people were deported to the east) and Estonians (50,000). The most massive were the repressions against the population of the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus, where the total number of victims was more than 500 thousand people.

Persecution was carried out not only in the form of arrests, exiles, executions. National works were banned, book publishing in the native language was limited (with the exception of propaganda literature), and the number of national schools was reduced.

Together with representatives of all other peoples, the leaders of the Russian national movement were also serving sentences in the camps.

Such a national policy could not but cause in the future a new surge of national movements among the most diverse peoples that were part of the USSR.

SPIRITUAL LIFE OF SOVIET SOCIETY IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD (1945-1953)

The fight against "Western influence" in culture. The "democratic impulse" also manifested itself in the development of artistic culture. The cooperation with Western countries that emerged during the war years created opportunities for expanding cultural contacts with them. And this inevitably led to the penetration into Soviet reality of elements of liberalism, which was fundamentally opposed to the dominant communist ideology. The "Iron Curtain" was broken. In the conditions of the beginning of the Cold War, this could not but disturb Stalin. In 1946, a struggle was launched against "Western influence" and "servile worship of the West." This campaign was headed by a member of the Politburo and Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, A. A. Zhdanov, who was in charge of ideology.

This line was further strengthened in the course of the campaign against cosmopolitanism that began in 1948. The USSR again found itself in ideological and cultural isolation from the rest of the world.

Literature. The main theme of the literary works of the first post-war years was the feelings and experiences of the individual in the conditions of war and other social upheavals, the responsibility of each person for the fate of the country and the world. The theme of the memory of the past war, the heroism and courage of the defenders of the Motherland became central in the "Tale of a Real Man" by B.N. V. P. Nekrasov "In the trenches of Stalingrad".

The main literary hero of these years went through the war and revived peaceful life. The inner world of a Soviet person, the wealth of his soul was shown by the novels "Kruzhilikha" by V. F. Panova, "Days of Our Life" by V. K. Ketlinskaya, "First Joys" by K. A. Fedin. In the popular genre of family chronicles, G. M. Markov created a novel about Siberia "The Strogovs". L. M. Leonov wrote about the inseparable connection between man and nature in the novel "Russian Forest".

Vivid works were created by writers of the Union and Autonomous republics of the USSR. In the trilogy "Bread and Salt", "Human Blood is Not Water", "Great Relatives", Ukrainian writer M. A. Stelmakh showed the path of the Ukrainian peasantry from the revolution of 1905 to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The Belarusian poet Ya. Kolas wrote the poem "The Fisherman's Hut". A bright biography of outstanding national poets began: R. G. Gamzatov (Dagestan), K. Sh. Kuliev (Kabardino-Balkaria), M. Karim (Bashkiria), D. N. Kugultinov (Kalmykia), etc.

Party control over the content of literary creativity was strengthened. In 1946, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution "On the magazines" Zvezda "and" Leningrad ", in which M. M. Zoshchenko and A. A. Akhmatova, called "vulgar and scum of literature," were sharply criticized. Journal " Leningrad" was closed, and the leadership of the Zvezda magazine was replaced. The main result of the "struggle for the purity of literature" was the closure of a number of magazines, the prohibition of many works, repressions against their authors, and most importantly, stagnation in domestic literature.

Theater and cinema. The appeal to the historical traditions of the peoples of the USSR, which emerged during the war years, the feelings and experiences of people after its end, was criticized. In 1946, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution "On the repertoire of drama theaters and measures to improve it", which condemned the "idealization of the life of kings, khans, nobles", "the introduction into the repertoire of plays by bourgeois Western playwrights who openly preach bourgeois views and morality" and pandering to "philistine tastes and mores." The resolution stated: "Many drama theaters are not in fact hotbeds of culture, advanced Soviet ideology and morality. This state of affairs ... does not meet the interests of educating the working people and cannot be tolerated in the Soviet theater."

It was ordered to expand the number of plays "dedicated to the pathos of the struggle for communism." However, creating such pieces "to order" was not an easy task and there were not so many successes. One of the brightest performances of the post-war period was "Wedding with a Dowry" by N. M. Dyakonov (Moscow Theater of Satire). The productions about the just ended war had a special sound - "The Young Guard" (based on the novel by A. A. Fadeev), "For those who are at sea!" B. A. Lavreneva and others.

During these years, G. S. Ulanova danced brilliantly on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and the outstanding ballerina M. M. Plisetskaya began to perform.

The films of S. A. Gerasimov "The Young Guard" (in which I. V. Makarova, N. V. Mordyukova and others made their debut), "The Feat of the Scout" by B. V. Barnet (with the bright role of P. P. Kadochnikova), "The Tale of a Real Man" by A. B. Stolper. The comedies "Spring" by G. V. Aleksandrov and "The Legend of the Siberian Land" by I. A. Pyryev were popular. An idyllic, far from real life picture of post-war rural life appeared in the film "Kuban Cossacks" (directed by I. A. Pyryev).

Like other works of culture, many films and their authors were accused of being “unprincipled”: “Big Life” (2nd series) by L. D. Lukov, who spoke about the difficulties of restoring Donbass after the war (was criticized for “false portrayal of party workers "), "Admiral Nakhimov" by V. I. Pudovkin, "Ivan the Terrible" (2nd series) by S. M. Eisenstein and others.

Music. In a short time, the pre-war network of musical theaters and concert institutions was restored and expanded. Since 1950, decades of national art have resumed in Moscow. A new generation of talented artists has formed: conductors G. N. Rozhdestvensky, E. F. Svetlanov, pianist S. T. Richter, violinist L. B. Kogan, singers I. K. Arkhipova, G. K. Ots, I. I. Petrov and others.

Major musical works were created: the operas "The Great Friendship" by V. I. Muradeli, the ballets "Stone Flower" by S. S. Prokofiev, "The Bronze Horseman" by R. M. Glier, "Seven Beauties" by K. A. Karaev, etc.

But even here there were persecutions of those composers whose works were criticized for their "formalistic", "anti-folk" orientation, "neglect of folk musical traditions". In 1948, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution "On decadent tendencies in Soviet music", where the fire of criticism was focused on Muradeli, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khachaturian. Their works ceased to be performed, conservatories and theaters refused their services. This impoverished Russian music, isolated it from the best achievements of world culture.

Education. One of the most important tasks was the revival of the education system destroyed by the war. It began with the construction of schools. Only in 1946-1950. 18538 school buildings were erected. In the 1950-1951 academic year, about 35 million children studied in 222,000 general education schools in the country. State spending on science and education has steadily grown. Already in 1946, they increased in comparison with the previous one by more than 2.5 times. The implementation of the 7-year universal education program interrupted by the war was launched.

The tasks of restoration required new detachments of highly qualified specialists. Already in 1946-1948. the number of higher educational institutions of the country exceeded the pre-war level, and in terms of the number of students this indicator was blocked in 1947.

People who survived the war showed an amazing craving for knowledge. A whole army of young people who had not had time to get an education before the war were now studying on the job.

By the end of the fourth five-year plan, 652,000 engineers, teachers, doctors, agronomists, and other specialists had been trained in universities, while 1,278,000 people had graduated from secondary specialized educational institutions during this time.

Scientific "discussions". After the war, lively creative discussions unfolded among historians, philosophers, biologists, physicists, cybernetics, and economists. However, these discussions were used by the party leadership to "strengthen the party orientation of science," and by some of its representatives to settle scores with scientific opponents.

The most typical of these "discussions" was the discussion of the problems of biological science at the session of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences. V. I. Lenin (VASKhNIL) in August 1948. T. D. Lysenko, having made a dizzying career in the 30s. on criticism of "fists from science", even before the war he achieved the arrest of Academician N. I. Vavilov. Now he criticized other major genetic scientists as "misanthropic fly-lovers." As a result, several hundred people were expelled from the Academy and deprived of the opportunity to engage in scientific activities.

In historical science, Ivan the Terrible and his guardsmen were declared progressive figures, who fought the boyar opposition with Stalin's methods.

Leaders of national movements (in particular, Shamil) were branded as agents of foreign intelligence services. On the other hand, the Jacobin terror seemed completely justified and inevitable. The largest historical figures of tsarist Russia were presented in a grotesque way. Many names of the greatest figures of the Soviet era turned out to be "forgotten" for a long time.

During the discussions of philosophers and economists, any Western experience was rejected as initially hostile and incorrect.

CHANGES IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM. EVOLUTION OF NATIONAL POLICY (1953-1964)

Struggle for power after Stalin's death. With the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953, an entire era in the life of the USSR ended. The absence of legislatively fixed mechanisms for the transfer of supreme power caused its protracted crisis.

At the first of them (March - June 1953), key positions in the leadership were occupied by the new chairman of the Council of Ministers G. M. Malenkov and the appointed head of the united Ministry of Internal Affairs (which now also took over the functions of the MGB) L. P. Beria. The first steps of the new leadership were encouraging. Stalin's "personality cult" began to be condemned; real power turned out to be concentrated in the hands of state (Council of Ministers) bodies, not party (Central Committee of the CPSU) bodies; a broad amnesty was announced (covering 1.2 million people); the first reorganization of the punitive bodies took place (torture was banned, the camp administration was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Justice, construction departments from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to sectoral ministries).

Attempts to limit the functions of the party apparatus had grave consequences for Malenkov and Beria. N. S. Khrushchev, who did not have government posts, acted as a defender of the interests of the party apparatus. Having joined the Bolshevik Party in 1918, he soon advanced to high positions in it. In the 1930s, Khrushchev worked first as the first secretary of the Moscow city committee and the regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, and then as the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, and was a member of the Politburo. During the war years, he was a member of the Military Councils of a number of fronts, and after its completion he was recalled from Ukraine to Moscow, where he was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Khrushchev organized and led a conspiracy against the all-powerful Beria. On June 26, 1953, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was arrested right at a meeting of the government presidium, and in December he was shot as an "English spy", "an enemy of the party and the Soviet people." The main point of the accusation was "criminal encroachment" on the party leadership of society.

From the summer of 1953 to February 1955 the struggle for power entered its second stage. Now it turned between Malenkov, who was losing his positions every day, and Khrushchev, who was gaining strength. In September 1953, Khrushchev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

After the formation of the State Security Committee (KGB), Khrushchev managed to put General I. A. Serov, who was close to him, at the head of this key department. Documents that compromised Khrushchev as one of the organizers of mass repressions were destroyed. In December 1954, a trial took place over the former heads of the state security agencies (headed by ex-minister of the MGB V. S. Abakumov), who fabricated the "Leningrad case". One of the main goals of the process was to discredit Malenkov as one of the organizers of this "case". This was an important pretext for removing Malenkov from power. In January 1955, he was sharply criticized at the next plenum of the Central Committee and was forced to resign. N. A. Bulganin became the new head of government.

The third stage (February 1955 - March 1958) was the time of confrontation between Khrushchev and the "old guard" of the Presidium of the Central Committee - Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich, Bulganin and others. At a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, by a majority of votes (9 against 2), they decided to abolish the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee and appoint Khrushchev as Minister of Agriculture. However, relying on the support of the army and the KGB, as well as party functionaries at the local level, Khrushchev convened a plenum of the Central Committee, at which most of the members of the Presidium were declared an "anti-party group" and deprived of their posts. Khrushchev's supporters further strengthened their positions. In March 1958, this stage of the struggle for power ended with the removal of Bulganin from the post of head of government and the appointment of Khrushchev, who retained the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee. This meant not only his complete victory, but also a return to the Stalinist practice of one-man management.

XX Congress of the CPSU. Rehabilitation. By March 1953, there were up to 10 million prisoners in prisons and camps. The amnesty on March 27, 1953 released 1.2 million prisoners, but did not return them to their honorable name. Only in 1954 did the process of rehabilitation of the victims of Stalin's repressions begin to gain momentum. But he walked with difficulty. By the time of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, which was held in February 1956, only 7,679 people had been rehabilitated by the military collegium of the Supreme Court. This work was based not only on the personal courage of the post-Stalinist leadership, but also on a sober political calculation. "These issues are ripe," Khrushchev later wrote, "and they needed to be raised. If I hadn't raised them, others would have raised them. And that would have been doom for the leadership, which did not listen to the dictates of the times."

His main task was to provide a theoretical basis for the emerging adjustments to Stalin's domestic and foreign policy. The top leadership of the CPSU showed that there were two main approaches to the future party congress. Part of the members of the Presidium of the Central Committee (its informal leader was Molotov) advocated the conservation of the Stalinist version of development and the condemnation of the innovations undertaken by Beria and Malenkov (and partly by Khrushchev). Another (and more numerous) led by Khrushchev himself was literally doomed to consolidate new approaches to party policy. The Presidium of the Central Committee decided to hear a report on Stalin's personality cult at a closed session of the congress after the election of a new Central Committee, not to ask questions, not to open debate.

The report that Khrushchev was instructed to deliver gave many examples of the lawlessness of the Stalinist regime. However, only communists of the Stalinist orientation were considered as victims of Stalinism. Moreover, the report (under the influence of the Molotov group) included the traditional provisions about "enemies of the people", about the justice of the struggle against them by the Stalinist leadership of the CPSU (b). It was also said that Stalinism "did not change the nature of socialism." All this testified that only Stalin was condemned at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, but not Stalinism, the essence of which, probably, was not understood, and could not be understood by the leader's comrades-in-arms and heirs.

Nevertheless, Khrushchev's report at the 20th Congress of the CPSU was of truly historic significance. It was a breakthrough in understanding the phenomenon of Stalinism, condemning its crimes. The congress was also important in the matter of continuing the rehabilitation of the victims of Stalin's arbitrariness. For the period 1956-1961. almost 700 thousand people were rehabilitated (that is, a hundred times more than in 1953-1955).

Third Program of the CPSU. At the 21st Congress of the CPSU in 1959, the conclusion was drawn about the "complete and final victory of socialism in the USSR" and the transition to full-scale communist construction. A special commission was created to develop a new party program. At the next, XXII Congress in 1961, the new Program of the CPSU was adopted. It proclaimed the "triune task" of building a new society. It was supposed to create the material and technical base of communism, move on to communist self-government, form a fundamentally new, comprehensively developed personality. It was planned to solve all these problems by 1980.

A new party charter was also adopted, which introduced fundamental changes: internal party discussions were allowed; ensured the renewal of party cadres in the Center and in the localities; the rights of local party organs were expanded; it was noted that it is unacceptable to replace state bodies and public organizations with party structures; it was pointed out that "the apparatus of party organs should be reduced, and the ranks of party activists should be increased."

These were, of course, democratic steps, which, if implemented, would help make the ruling party more democratic and authoritative in society. However, they did not affect the very foundations of its existence.

The concept of the "nationwide state". Draft Constitution of the USSR. One of the cornerstone provisions of the new program was the conclusion that the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat would develop into a state of the whole people. This meant, on the one hand, the cessation of widespread repressive practices, and, on the other hand, the development of democratic forms of government. However, not everyone agreed with this approach.

The ideas of the "state of the whole people" formed the basis of the draft constitution of the country, developed under the leadership of Khrushchev by the summer of 1964. The initial drafts of this document contained many new conclusions. For the first time, the intelligentsia was named one of the classes of socialist society; the democratization of society became the main task of the authorities; new socio-political institutions were introduced (nationwide discussion of the most important bills, accountability of statesmen to the population, sectoral meetings of workers, people's control bodies, etc.); the rotation of the deputy corps was supposed; articles were included on the personal property of citizens and the personal subsidiary farming of collective farmers, on small private farming.

However, these provisions were not included in the final document. The events that unfolded in October 1964 postponed consideration of the draft constitution for several years.

The evolution of national politics. The policy of de-Stalinization brought to life a revival of national movements. The most massive of them in the 50s - early 60s. began the struggle of the peoples who were deported during the war years, for the return to their historical homeland. In November 1956, the authorities decided to restore the national autonomy of the Kalmyk, Karachai, Balkar, Chechen and Ingush peoples. It was decided to start a gradual resettlement to the places of their traditional residence. In the spring of 1957, trains with settlers reached the North Caucasus. Sometimes people brought with them only a small part of the acquired property, and someone - only the bones of their ancestors who died in exile. In total, by 1964, 524,000 Chechens and Ingush returned to the North Caucasus, as well as many thousands of Karachays, Kabardians, and Balkars.

The expansion of the rights and powers of the Union and Autonomous Republics in many matters of economy and culture, carried out after the XX Congress of the CPSU, and the "indigenization" of their leading cadres soon led to the fact that the ruling nomenklatura on the ground was represented only by indigenous people. At the same time, indigenous peoples in a number of union and autonomous republics were often a minority of the population. Thus, the number of Bashkirs in the Bashkir ASSR was 23%, Buryats in the Buryat ASSR - 20%, and Karelians in the Karelian ASSR - only 11%. Having received significant power and independence, representatives of the national elite continued to verbally assure the Center of their devotion. In fact, they pursued an increasingly independent economic and social policy that took into account, first of all, the interests of the indigenous population. This became especially noticeable after the introduction of economic councils and the abolition of the allied sectoral ministries.

The central authorities watched with alarm these processes, new to them, in the republics and, as far as they could, hindered them. Now having no opportunity to carry out mass repressions, they set a course for the wider dissemination of the Russian language as a means of interethnic communication. On this basis, in the future it was supposed to achieve the national unity of the country.

In the new party program, the task was set: in the course of building communism, to achieve "complete unity of the nations of the USSR", and the Soviet people was called "a new historical community of people of various nationalities." But the focus on the Russification of the education system led to a reduction in the number of national schools in the autonomous republics of the Volga region, in Belarus, Moldova, and the Baltic republics. This, in turn, gave rise to new knots of contradictions in relations between the Center and the republics.

"October Revolution". Even Khrushchev's timid, often inconsistent steps caused anxiety and fear among those whose interests were affected by the reforms. Khrushchev was actively opposed by the party apparatus, striving for the stability of its position and no longer fearing the stopped repressive machine. The system of renewal of party cadres introduced by the new charter and the transfer of large areas of party work to public principles did not meet his interests in any way. Part of the state apparatus, whose influence was significantly weakened with the abolition of branch ministries, also joined the dissatisfied Khrushchev party workers. Serious dissatisfaction with the significant reduction in the army was expressed by the military. The disappointment of the intelligentsia, which did not accept "dosed democracy", grew.

The weariness of the noisy political campaigns was felt by the working people both in the city and in the countryside. Their life in the early 60s. after some improvement, it began to worsen again.

All this led to the fact that in the summer of 1964 a conspiracy was drawn up against Khrushchev by the highest ranks of the party and state leadership. In October of the same year, he was accused of "voluntarism" and "subjectivism" and retired. L. I. Brezhnev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee (since 1966 - General Secretary), and A. N. Kosygin became Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

What you need to know about this topic:

Socio-economic and political development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Nicholas II.

Domestic policy of tsarism. Nicholas II. Strengthening repression. "Police socialism".

Russo-Japanese War. Reasons, course, results.

Revolution of 1905 - 1907 The nature, driving forces and features of the Russian revolution of 1905-1907. stages of the revolution. The reasons for the defeat and the significance of the revolution.

Elections to the State Duma. I State Duma. The agrarian question in the Duma. Dispersal of the Duma. II State Duma. Coup d'état June 3, 1907

Third June political system. Electoral law June 3, 1907 III State Duma. The alignment of political forces in the Duma. Duma activities. government terror. The decline of the labor movement in 1907-1910

Stolypin agrarian reform.

IV State Duma. Party composition and Duma factions. Duma activities.

The political crisis in Russia on the eve of the war. The labor movement in the summer of 1914 Crisis of the top.

The international position of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

Beginning of the First World War. Origin and nature of war. Russia's entry into the war. Attitude towards the war of parties and classes.

The course of military operations. Strategic forces and plans of the parties. Results of the war. The role of the Eastern Front in the First World War.

The Russian economy during the First World War.

Workers' and peasants' movement in 1915-1916. Revolutionary movement in the army and navy. Growing anti-war sentiment. Formation of the bourgeois opposition.

Russian culture of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Aggravation of socio-political contradictions in the country in January-February 1917. The beginning, prerequisites and nature of the revolution. Uprising in Petrograd. Formation of the Petrograd Soviet. Provisional Committee of the State Duma. Order N I. Formation of the Provisional Government. Abdication of Nicholas II. Causes of dual power and its essence. February coup in Moscow, at the front, in the provinces.

From February to October. The policy of the Provisional Government regarding war and peace, on agrarian, national, labor issues. Relations between the Provisional Government and the Soviets. The arrival of V.I. Lenin in Petrograd.

Political parties (Kadets, Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks): political programs, influence among the masses.

Crises of the Provisional Government. An attempted military coup in the country. Growth of revolutionary sentiment among the masses. Bolshevization of the capital Soviets.

Preparation and conduct of an armed uprising in Petrograd.

II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Decisions about power, peace, land. Formation of public authorities and management. Composition of the first Soviet government.

The victory of the armed uprising in Moscow. Government agreement with the Left SRs. Elections to the Constituent Assembly, its convocation and dissolution.

The first socio-economic transformations in the field of industry, agriculture, finance, labor and women's issues. Church and State.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, its terms and significance.

Economic tasks of the Soviet government in the spring of 1918. Aggravation of the food issue. The introduction of food dictatorship. Working squads. Comedy.

The revolt of the left SRs and the collapse of the two-party system in Russia.

First Soviet Constitution.

Causes of intervention and civil war. The course of military operations. Human and material losses of the period of the civil war and military intervention.

The internal policy of the Soviet leadership during the war. "War Communism". GOELRO plan.

The policy of the new government in relation to culture.

Foreign policy. Treaties with border countries. Participation of Russia in the Genoa, Hague, Moscow and Lausanne conferences. Diplomatic recognition of the USSR by the main capitalist countries.

Domestic policy. Socio-economic and political crisis of the early 20s. Famine of 1921-1922 Transition to a new economic policy. The essence of the NEP. NEP in the field of agriculture, trade, industry. financial reform. Economic recovery. Crises during the NEP and its curtailment.

Projects for the creation of the USSR. I Congress of Soviets of the USSR. The first government and the Constitution of the USSR.

Illness and death of V.I. Lenin. Intraparty struggle. The beginning of the formation of Stalin's regime of power.

Industrialization and collectivization. Development and implementation of the first five-year plans. Socialist competition - purpose, forms, leaders.

Formation and strengthening of the state system of economic management.

The course towards complete collectivization. Dispossession.

Results of industrialization and collectivization.

Political, national-state development in the 30s. Intraparty struggle. political repression. Formation of the nomenklatura as a layer of managers. Stalinist regime and the constitution of the USSR in 1936

Soviet culture in the 20-30s.

Foreign policy of the second half of the 20s - mid-30s.

Domestic policy. The growth of military production. Extraordinary measures in the field of labor legislation. Measures to solve the grain problem. Armed forces. Growth of the Red Army. military reform. Repressions against the command personnel of the Red Army and the Red Army.

Foreign policy. Non-aggression pact and treaty of friendship and borders between the USSR and Germany. The entry of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus into the USSR. Soviet-Finnish war. The inclusion of the Baltic republics and other territories in the USSR.

Periodization of the Great Patriotic War. The initial stage of the war. Turning the country into a military camp. Military defeats 1941-1942 and their reasons. Major military events Capitulation of Nazi Germany. Participation of the USSR in the war with Japan.

Soviet rear during the war.

Deportation of peoples.

Partisan struggle.

Human and material losses during the war.

Creation of the anti-Hitler coalition. Declaration of the United Nations. The problem of the second front. Conferences of the "Big Three". Problems of post-war peace settlement and all-round cooperation. USSR and UN.

Beginning of the Cold War. The contribution of the USSR to the creation of the "socialist camp". CMEA formation.

Domestic policy of the USSR in the mid-1940s - early 1950s. Restoration of the national economy.

Socio-political life. Politics in the field of science and culture. Continued repression. "Leningrad business". Campaign against cosmopolitanism. "Doctors' Case".

Socio-economic development of Soviet society in the mid-50s - the first half of the 60s.

Socio-political development: XX Congress of the CPSU and the condemnation of Stalin's personality cult. Rehabilitation of victims of repressions and deportations. Intra-party struggle in the second half of the 1950s.

Foreign policy: the creation of the ATS. The entry of Soviet troops into Hungary. Exacerbation of Soviet-Chinese relations. The split of the "socialist camp". Soviet-American Relations and the Caribbean Crisis. USSR and third world countries. Reducing the strength of the armed forces of the USSR. Moscow Treaty on the Limitation of Nuclear Tests.

USSR in the mid-60s - the first half of the 80s.

Socio-economic development: economic reform 1965

Growing difficulties of economic development. Decline in the rate of socio-economic growth.

USSR Constitution 1977

Socio-political life of the USSR in the 1970s - early 1980s.

Foreign Policy: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Consolidation of post-war borders in Europe. Moscow treaty with Germany. Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Soviet-American treaties of the 70s. Soviet-Chinese relations. The entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan. Exacerbation of international tension and the USSR. Strengthening of the Soviet-American confrontation in the early 80s.

USSR in 1985-1991

Domestic policy: an attempt to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. An attempt to reform the political system of Soviet society. Congresses of People's Deputies. Election of the President of the USSR. Multi-party system. Exacerbation of the political crisis.

Exacerbation of the national question. Attempts to reform the national-state structure of the USSR. Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR. "Novogarevsky process". The collapse of the USSR.

Foreign policy: Soviet-American relations and the problem of disarmament. Treaties with leading capitalist countries. The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Changing relations with the countries of the socialist community. The collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact.

Russian Federation in 1992-2000

Domestic policy: "Shock therapy" in the economy: price liberalization, stages of privatization of commercial and industrial enterprises. Fall in production. Increased social tension. Growth and slowdown in financial inflation. The aggravation of the struggle between the executive and legislative branches. The dissolution of the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies. October events of 1993. Abolition of local bodies of Soviet power. Elections to the Federal Assembly. The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 Formation of the presidential republic. Aggravation and overcoming of national conflicts in the North Caucasus.

Parliamentary elections 1995 Presidential elections 1996 Power and opposition. An attempt to return to the course of liberal reforms (spring 1997) and its failure. The financial crisis of August 1998: causes, economic and political consequences. "Second Chechen War". Parliamentary elections in 1999 and early presidential elections in 2000 Foreign policy: Russia in the CIS. The participation of Russian troops in the "hot spots" of the near abroad: Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan. Russia's relations with foreign countries. The withdrawal of Russian troops from Europe and neighboring countries. Russian-American agreements. Russia and NATO. Russia and the Council of Europe. Yugoslav crises (1999-2000) and Russia's position.

Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. History of the state and peoples of Russia. XX century.