Socio-economic and political development of the USSR in 1945-1953.

In the socio-political life of the USSR in 1945-47. the influence of the democratic impulse of the war (a certain tendency towards the weakening of the Soviet totalitarian system) was very noticeable. The main reason for the democratic impulse was the relatively close acquaintance of the Soviet people with the Western way of life (during the liberation of Europe, in the process of communicating with the allies). An important role was played by the horrors of war endured by our people, which led to a revision of the system of values.

The response to the democratic impulse was twofold:

 Minimal steps were taken towards the "democratization" of society. In September 1945, the state of emergency was terminated and the unconstitutional authority, the GKO, was abolished. The congresses of public and political organizations of the USSR resumed. In 1946, the Council of People's Commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers, and the people's commissariats into ministries. In 1947, a monetary reform was carried out and the card system was abolished;

 there was a significant tightening of the totalitarian regime. A new wave of repressions began. The main blow, this time, was inflicted on repatriates - prisoners of war and forcibly displaced persons returning to their homeland. Cultural figures also suffered, who felt the influence of new trends more sharply than others (see the section "Cultural Life of the USSR in 1945-1953"), and the party-economic elite - "Leningrad Case" (1948), in which over 200 people were shot , the chairman of the State Planning Committee N.A. was shot. Voznesensky. The last act of repression was the "case of doctors" (January 1953), accused of attempting to poison the top leadership of the country.

characteristic feature The first post-war years began in 1943, the deportation of entire peoples of the USSR on charges of collaborating with the Nazis (Chechens, Ingush and Crimean Tatars). All these repressive measures allow historians to call 1945-1953 years. "Apogee of Stalinism". The main economic tasks of the post-war period were the demilitarization and restoration of the destroyed economy.

The sources of resources for recovery were:

 high mobilization abilities of the directive economy (due to new construction, additional sources of raw materials, fuel, etc.);

 reparations from Germany and its allies;

 free labor of Gulag prisoners and prisoners of war;

 redistribution of funds from light industry and the social sphere in favor of industrial sectors;

 transfer of funds from the agricultural sector of the economy to the industrial sector.

In March 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a plan for reconstruction, which outlined the main directions and indicators. The demilitarization of the economy was basically over by 1947, accompanied simultaneously by the modernization of the military-industrial complex, which played an increasingly prominent role in the conditions of the beginning of the Cold War. Another priority industry there was heavy industry, mainly engineering, metallurgy, and the fuel and energy complex. In general, during the years of the 4th five-year plan (1946-1950), industrial production in the country increased and in 1950 surpassed pre-war figures - the restoration of the country was generally completed.

Agriculture emerged from the war very weakened. However, despite the drought in 1946, the state began to reduce household plots and put into effect a number of decrees punishing infringement on state or collective farm property. Taxes were raised significantly. All this led to the fact that agriculture, which, in the early 50s. with difficulty reached the pre-war level of production, entered a period of stagnation (stagnation).

Thus, the post-war development of the economy continued along the path of industrialization. Alternative options, which provided for the predominant development of light industry and agriculture (the project of G.M. Malenkov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR), were rejected due to the difficult international situation.

Foreign policy of the USSR in 1945-1953. Beginning of the Cold War.

Signs of the Cold War:

 the existence of a relatively stable bipolar world - the presence in the world of two superpowers balancing each other's influence, to which other states gravitated to one degree or another;

 "Bloc policy" - the creation of opposing military-political blocs by superpowers. 1949 - the creation of NATO, 1955 - OVD (Warsaw Pact Organization);

 "Arms race" - the build-up of the USSR and the USA in the number of weapons in order to achieve qualitative superiority. The "arms race" ended by the early 1970s. in connection with the achievement of parity (balance, equality) in the number of weapons. From this moment begins the "policy of detente" - a policy aimed at eliminating the threat nuclear war and reducing the level of international tension. "Detente" ended after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan (1979);

 the formation of the "image of the enemy" in relation to the ideological enemy among their own population. In the USSR, this policy manifested itself in the creation of the "Iron Curtain" - a system of international self-isolation. In the United States, "McCarthyism" is carried out - the persecution of supporters of "left" ideas;

 Periodic armed conflicts that threaten to escalate the Cold War into a full-scale war.

Causes of the Cold War:

 Victory in World War II led to a sharp strengthening of the USSR and the USA.

 Imperial ambitions of Stalin, who sought to expand the zone of influence of the USSR in Turkey, Tripolitania (Libya) and Iran.

 US nuclear monopoly, attempts to dictate in relations with other countries.

 Ineradicable ideological contradictions between the two superpowers.

 Formation of a socialist camp controlled by the USSR in Eastern Europe.

March 1946 is considered to be the date of the beginning of the Cold War, when W. Churchill delivered a speech in Fulton (USA) in the presence of President G. Truman, in which he accused the USSR of "limitless spread of its power and its doctrines" in the world. Soon, President Truman proclaimed a program of measures to "save" Europe from Soviet expansion (the "Truman Doctrine"). He proposed to provide large-scale economic assistance to the countries of Europe ("Marshall Plan"); create a military-political union of Western countries under the auspices of the United States (NATO); deploy a network of US military bases along the borders of the USSR; support internal opposition in countries of Eastern Europe. All this was supposed not only to prevent further expansion of the sphere of influence of the USSR (the doctrine of containment of socialism), but also to force Soviet Union return to their former borders (the doctrine of the rejection of socialism).

By this time, communist governments existed only in Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria. However, from 1947 to 1949 Socialist systems are also taking shape in Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, and China. The USSR provides them with enormous material assistance.

In 1949, the economic foundations of the Soviet bloc were formalized. For this purpose, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was created. For military-political cooperation in 1955, the Warsaw Treaty Organization was formed. Within the framework of the Commonwealth, no “independence” was allowed. The relations of the USSR with Yugoslavia (Joseph Broz Tito), which was looking for its own path to socialism, were severed. In the late 1940s relations with China (Mao Zedong) deteriorated sharply.

The first serious clash between the USSR and the USA was the war in Korea (1950-53). The Soviet state supports the communist regime of North Korea (DPRK, Kim Il Sung), the USA supports the bourgeois government of South Korea. The Soviet Union supplied the DPRK with modern types military equipment(including MiG-15 jet aircraft), military specialists. As a result of the conflict, the Korean Peninsula was officially divided into two parts.

Thus, the international position of the USSR in the first post-war years was determined by the status of one of the two world superpowers won during the war years. The confrontation between the USSR and the USA and the outbreak of the Cold War marked the beginning of the division of the world into two warring military-political camps.

Cultural life of the USSR 1945-1953.

Despite the extremely tense situation in the economy, the Soviet government seeks funds for the development of science, public education, and cultural institutions. Universal primary education was restored, and since 1952 education in the amount of 7 classes has become compulsory; open evening schools for working youth. Television begins regular broadcasting. At the same time, control over the intelligentsia, weakened during the war, is being restored. In the summer of 1946, a campaign against "petty-bourgeois individualism" and cosmopolitanism began. It was managed by A.A. Zhdanov. On August 14, 1946, the resolutions of the Central Committee of the Party on the journals Leningrad and Zvezda were adopted, which were persecuted for publishing the works of A. Akhmatova and M. Zoshchenko. A.A. was appointed the first secretary of the board of the Writers' Union. Fadeev, who was instructed to restore order in this organization.

On September 4, 1946, the decision of the Central Committee of the party “On unprincipled films” was issued - a ban was imposed on the distribution of films “ big life"(Part 2), "Admiral Nakhimov" and the second series of "Ivan the Terrible" by Eisenstein.

Composers are the next object of persecution. In February 1948, the Central Committee adopted a resolution “On decadent tendencies in Soviet music”, condemning V.I. Muradeli, later a campaign against "formalist" composers - S.S. Prokofiev, A.I. Khachaturian, D.D. Shostakovich, N.Ya. Myaskovsky.

Ideological control covers all spheres of spiritual life. The party actively interferes in the research not only of historians and philosophers, but also of philologists, mathematicians, biologists, condemning some sciences as "bourgeois". Wave mechanics, cybernetics, psychoanalysis and genetics were severely defeated.

At the final stage of World War II, when the victory over Germany was beyond doubt, the Yalta conference(February 45) It was not her who decided the questions of the post-war structure of Europe. Germany was divided by allies into 4 occupation zones: British, American, Soviet and French. The USSR demand for German reparations in the amount of 10 billion dollars was recognized as legal. They had to come in the form of the export of goods and capital, the use of human power (this decision was not fully implemented. In addition, morally and physically obsolete equipment was imported into the USSR, which prevented the modernization of the Soviet economy). Based on decisions Yalta Conference The Soviet Union achieved the strengthening of its positions in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia. At the conference, the Soviet Union confirmed its promise to enter the war with Japan, for which it received the consent of the allies to join the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin. It was decided to establish the United Nations (UN). The USSR received three seats in it - for the RSFSR, Ukraine and Belarus, i.e. those republics that suffered the most in the war suffered the greatest economic losses and human casualties. By agreement, the USSR announced Japan war August 8, 1945 In the summer of 1945, the Soviet command created in the east a significant superiority in manpower and equipment over the Japanese Kwantung Army. And in fact, within a month, Japan suffered a crushing defeat. Soviet troops occupied Manchuria, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Northeast China and Korea. On September 2, 1945, the Act on unconditional surrender Japan.

Potsdam Conference(Berlin) took place in July-August 1945. The Soviet delegation was headed by Stalin, the American one by Truman, and the British one by Churchill. They drew up a plan to eradicate German militarism and Nazism. It included the liquidation of the German military industry, the prohibition of the German National Socialist Party and Nazi propaganda, and the punishment of war criminals. The conference considered territorial issues. The USSR was transferred to Koenigsberg. Poland expanded at the expense of the territory of Germany (the Polish-German border passed along the Oder-Neisse rivers). Peace treaties were prepared that took into account the geopolitical interests of the USSR, but Potsdam's decisions were partially implemented. B45-46 years. there were differences between the former allies. Since 46, an era began in international relations "cold war"- appeared “ iron curtain”, there was a confrontation between the capitalist and socialist socio-political systems. The Cold War lasted from 1946 until the early 1990s. The confrontation between the parties escalated in 47 after the Marshall Plan (US Secretary of State) put forward. The program provided for economic assistance to European countries that suffered during World War II. The USSR and the countries of people's democracy were invited to participate in the conference, but the Soviet Union regarded this step as anti-Soviet (simply this plan threatened the influence of the USSR on the countries of Eastern Europe and refused to participate, at his insistence, the countries of Eastern Europe also refused, because their participation will be regarded as a hostile action. (NATO), his education helped to strengthen the position of the United States in different regions peace. Opposed NATO, created in 45, the United Nations (UN). This international organization united 51 states. Its goal was to strengthen peace and security and develop cooperation between states. Soviet representatives came up with proposals for the reduction of armaments and the prohibition atomic weapons. On the withdrawal of foreign troops from the territory of foreign states. All these proposals were blocked by US representatives. The confrontation between the former allies reached its peak at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s. in connection with Korean War. In 1950, the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea made an attempt to unite the two Korean states under its control. In the opinion of the Soviet leaders, this association could strengthen the positions of the anti-imperialist camp. in this region of Asia.

During the preparation and course of hostilities, the USSR provided financial, military and technical assistance to North Korea. At Stalin's insistence, the leadership of the People's Republic of China (China) sent North Korea several military divisions to participate in hostilities. The war was ended in 53 after diplomatic negotiations. In 49, in order to expand economic cooperation and trade between countries, an intergovernmental economic organization was created - the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) centered in Moscow. One of the reasons for the organization of the CMEA was the boycott by Western countries of trade relations with the USSR and the states of Eastern Europe. The CMEA included: Albania (until 61), Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and from 49 - Germany. The cooperation of the USSR with the countries of Eastern Europe were contradictory and conflicting. The USSR sought to impose its own models of building socialism. Conflict with Yugoslavia occurred due to Yugoslavia's refusal to participate in a federation with Bulgaria, this path was offered by owls. leaders. In addition, Yugoslavia refused to comply with the terms of the agreement on mandatory consultations

with the USSR on issues of national foreign policy. In 1949 the USSR severed diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. During this period, the regime of Stalin's personal power became stronger, the command-administrative system became tougher, and the idea of ​​the need for changes in society was formed. The death of Stalin facilitated the search for a way out of this situation. In 1955, an agreement between the USSR and the countries of the “socialist camp on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance” was signed in Warsaw. The USSR, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, the GDR and Czechoslovakia became members of the Warsaw Pact Organization (WTO). The tasks of the ATS are to ensure the security of the ATS states and to maintain peace in Europe. The country's leadership, headed by Khrushchev, saw one of the means of easing international tension in expanding relations between the USSR and the countries of the world. By the end of the 50s, the USSR was bound by trade agreements with 70 world powers. Much attention was paid to the development of relations with the states of the "third world" (developing countries) - India, Indonesia, Burma, Afghanistan, etc. During Khrushchev's tenure as head of state, with the financial and technical assistance of the USSR, it was built in different countries there are about 6000 enterprises in the world. In the mid-1950s, conflicts appeared more often in the relations between states. One of the reasons for this was the retreat of the USSR from the principles of mutual cooperation proclaimed by it. There were attempts to dictate on the part of the USSR and open military intervention in the affairs of independent states. So, for example, in Hungary in October 56, Soviet troops took part in the suppression of anti-socialist uprisings in Hungary. The organizers of the performance demanded withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungarian territory. The uprising was suppressed by the united armed forces of the member states of the Warsaw Pact. At the end of the 50s, relations with People's Republic of China(PRC) The leadership of the People's Republic of China rejected the request of the USSR to place Soviet bases on its territory. In response, the Union refused to implement the agreement on cooperation between the two countries in the field of nuclear physics, signed earlier.

The development of a socialist society in the 1960s - 1980s. (stagnation)

In the early 60s. the political development of the country was contradictory. In order for communism to come, it is necessary to solve 3 tasks: 1) create the material base of communism, 2) create new social institutions 3) educate a new person. In practice, however, the position on the growing role of the CPSU was put into practice. The rest of the organizations (Komsomol, trade unions) were considered as the driving belts of the party. The principle of nomenclature was strictly guarded. Oct. 64 g, Khrushchev was removed from the post of 1st leader of the country. This did not cause disappointment in society, since the reforms carried out by Khrushchev caused discontent. Brezhnev was elected 1st secretary. Chairman of the Council of Ministers - Kosygin. In the spring of 1966, the 2nd Party Congress was held, which further strengthened the party elite and the nomenklatura. It was decided that the leadership could not be elected for more than 3 terms. The post has been renewed. Secretary General. In 1977, a new USSR Constitution. The new Constitution was based on the concept of "spilled socialism". The sovereignty of the people was proclaimed the main principle of state power. The political basis of the state is the Soviets of People's Deputies. But in practice the country was led Politburo. Article six of the Basic Law assigned to the CPSU the role of the leading and guiding force of society, determining the general perspective of its development, the line of domestic and foreign policy. confirmed the basis of the economic system is socialist ownership of the means of production in its two forms: state and cooperative-collective farm. The party consisted of 2 parts: ordinary communists and the party-state elite. From the middle of 70, the cult of Brezhnev began to develop. Greatness was combined with increasing decrepitude and the progression of insanity. Protectionism and nepotism were planted in the higher spheres. Bribes and corruption flourished in the higher spheres. The nomenklatura sought to privatize state property. All this led to an extreme decline in the prestige of the authorities, an increase in apathy => an increase in alcoholism and crime. The restoration of Stalinism and the crisis of the socio-economic system, as well as the fall of hopes for democracy, caused in the society trafficdissidents(dissenting). The most prominent representatives of e were the historian Roy Medvedev, the writer Solzhenitsyn, and the physicist Sakharov. In 1966, a group of libarel-minded intelligentsia (musicians, artists, writers) addressed an open letter to Brezhnev, which dealt with the danger of Stalin's rehabilitation and the inadmissibility of the revival of neo-Stalinism. In 68, a protest demonstration was organized in connection with the invasion of Soviet troops and the Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia. The uncensored press "Samizdat" appeared. The publication abroad of publications banned in the country has been adjusted. The actions of the dissidents were regarded by the country's leadership as “HARMFUL” AND “HOSTILE”. They were put in psychiatric hospitals, expelled from the country (Solzhenitsyn), imprisoned (General Grigorenko). By the beginning of 80, a powerful industrial potential, priority attention was given to the military-industrial and fuel and energy complexes. The low rates of agricultural development caused interruptions in the supply of food products to the population. To solve the difficulties, the Food Program of the USSR (82g) was created and provided for the comprehensive development of agriculture and the industries serving it - Agro-industrial complex. The demographic situation became more complicated - the birth rate decreased in the 60s (a consequence of the Second World War). This led to a reduction in the influx of labor resources (labor hands). Administrative-command methods, management from the center intensified the desire of the Baltic republics to secede from the USSR. An unfavorable economic situation has developed in the world market. The price of oil, the most important item of Soviet export, fell sharply. In parallel with the state appeared shadow economy(enterprises in the sphere of industry, trade, etc., not taken into account by statistics) The incomes of the population grew slowly. Capital investments in the social sphere were sharply reduced, it was financed according to the residual principle, and the rural population felt this more strongly (lack of medical, preschool children's institutions, public catering and consumer services). This caused the outflow of villagers to the cities. According to the census, the number of citizens increased to 62%. A new social stratum has emerged nomenclature(top and middle management). There was a special for them. services - clinics, hospitals, shops, food and industrial goods, sanatoriums. Strengthening social inequality, violations of the law by some senior officials, glorification of Brezhnev - caused discontent in the country. The authority of the Communist Party fell.

In the mid-1980s, a group of young, energetic workers came to power. MS Gorbachev (85) became General Secretary, and Ryzhkov became Chairman of the Council of Ministers. essence society renewal (political reform) Gorbachev saw in the union of socialism and democracy, in the formation of “better socialism”. In 85-86 years. the fight against violations of industrial discipline and corruption began. A commission was created for the repressed in the 30-50s. citizens. Many innocently convicted have been rehabilitated, Bukharin. Rykov (Stalin's opposition) - posthumously. The democratization of social and political life contributed to the introduction alternative elections party secretaries to party organizations. The political reform (the course towards political reform was adopted at the 19th All-Union Party Conference), carried out by Gorbachev, is aimed at creating a state of law. The essence of the reform was to transfer authorities to the Soviets from the CP. The country has introduced presidency(90 at the 3rd Congress of People's Deputies) - the first president of the USSR became Gorbachev. In March, Article 6 of the USSR Constitution on the leading role of the CPSU was abolished. There was a decline in economic reform. For economic development was proposed a broad development of market relations. This did not improve matters in the national economy. There were farms, private peasant households. In 89-90 years. the rate of growth of industrial production has sharply decreased. The size of the state budget deficit increased, unemployment grew. By 1990 there were about 6 million unemployed.

Bormann - in absentia).

The Council of Foreign Ministers of the USSR, the USA, England and France (CMFA), created in accordance with the agreements at the conference in Potsdam, developed the texts peace treaties with allied states Nazi Germany: Italy, Finland, Hungary and Romania. After their consideration by the Paris Peace Conference (July 29 - October 15, 1946) and the agreement of a number of articles at the Council of Ministers in New York (November 4 - December 11, 1946), these treaties were signed on February 10, 1947.

The treaties noted that the state of war was ending and that each of the countries with which the treaty was concluded would receive support for admission to the UN. The political articles of these treaties contained obligations to prevent the revival and activity of fascist organizations and to extradite war criminals. Peace treaties fixed territorial changes. Italy remained mainly within the borders on January 1, 1938. Its small territories were transferred to France, Yugoslavia (the eastern part of the Julian Krajina). The western part of the Julian Carniola with the city of Trieste was allocated to the free territory of Trieste. In 1954, with the approval of the UN, this territory was divided between Yugoslavia and Italy. The Soviet-Finnish border was maintained as of January 1, 1941. However, the Petsamo (Pechenga) region was returned to the USSR. Instead of the Hanko peninsula, Finland leased Porkkala-Udd to the USSR (the USSR refused to lease this region ahead of schedule in 1955). Northern Transylvania from Hungary was transferred to Romania. The border between Romania and the USSR passed along the line fixed by the agreements of these countries of June 28, 1940.

A number of articles provided for the limitation of the armed forces of the states that signed these treaties, and obliged them to partially compensate for the damage caused to the economies of the victorious countries. As for reparations from Hungary and Romania, they amounted to a symbolic amount - 1/25 of the damage caused to the Soviet Union by these countries.

The signing of peace treaties was an important step in the post-war settlement of international relations. However, this kind of cooperation was the last joint major action of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.

World War II brought about major geopolitical changes. The map of the world has changed, first of all, the map of Europe. A number of countries in Eastern (Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary), Central (part of Germany - the GDR) and Southern (Albania, Yugoslavia) Europe embarked on the path of democratic development, thereby eliminating the geographical isolation of the Soviet Union and making it impossible to implement the idea of ​​creating around the USSR called "cordon sanitaire". The economies and policies of the former allied powers underwent major changes. The strengthening of the USSR and the USA as two world leaders, the strengthening of the economic and political positions of forces interested in the development of military-industrial complexes in these countries, led to an aggravation of relations between them, to an imposed arms race and intensification of the struggle for spheres of influence.

Those who endured the hardships of the most destructive world war (until now the number of victims in this war has not been definitively established, in any case, it is far over 50 million) had the right to count on the establishment in the world of a new organization of international relations based on other democratic principles and international law. . Such a goal, in particular, was set before the United Nations (UN), created on June 25, 1945 at a conference in San Francisco (50 states were represented). October 24, the day the Charter of the United Nations came into force, became known as the Day of the United Nations.

As shown further developments, hopes for the UN did not materialize. Immediately after the creation of the UN, it becomes an arena for clashes on various issues, primarily between the USA and the USSR. It became obvious that the former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, each in their own way, forms the strategy and tactics of behavior in the international arena. The world was embarking on the path of the Cold War, which was accompanied by an arms race that had never been seen before and insane propaganda and counter-propaganda.

In public opinion, there is still a rather ambiguous explanation for the causes of the Cold War. The main blame for the unleashing of the "cold war" lies with the United States. The actions of the USSR are qualified only as a reaction to a provocation by the United States. It is believed that the "cold war" could not have been the choice of the USSR after the cruelest war and the enormous sacrifices made by the people on the altar of victory. Stalin perfectly understood the real correlation of forces and therefore behaved with the utmost caution.

According to another point of view, the main blame for the Cold War lies with Stalin. It points to the “mastery” of the USSR in Eastern Europe, the desire of the Soviet Union to strengthen its position in Iran (attempts to create joint Soviet-Iranian oil companies, support for the separatist movements of the Kurds and Azerbaijanis), provoking a war in Korea, tough ideological rhetoric, etc.

But there is a third point of view. Aspirations or even willingness to lead major war neither Stalin nor Truman had it. But there was something else - the desire to consolidate those spheres of its influence in the world that became the result of the Second World War.

The geopolitical situation developed in the following way: the USSR dominated Eastern Europe, the USA dominated Western Europe. But gradually it became clear: “dominance” turned out to be illusory. The development of the Eastern European countries was increasingly associated with the search for their own national paths to socialism. Since 1946, it was already clear that Eastern Europe could easily get out of the control of the USSR. The influence of the United States in Western Europe was also fading (the victory of the Communists in the elections in France and Italy; the dissatisfaction of the European peoples with the presence of American soldiers in their states, the desire for independence in economic policy, etc.). The development of the countries of Western Europe could not but disturb the Americans. The USA and the USSR became more and more not only opponents, but also builders of such a system of international relations that would discipline the allies and secure the status of "superpowers" for the USA and the USSR. A so-called block system of relations is being created. In 1949, the United States, under its leadership, created the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), in response to this, the USSR, since 1955, created the so-called Warsaw Pact with its political, economic and military principles.

Let us consider in some detail the line of this development. In the post-war development, the countries of Eastern Europe went through several stages:

1) the stage of people's democratic revolutions, which lasted 2-3 years, from 1944 to 1946-1947;

2) the transition from "people's democracy to socialism", more precisely, to the administrative-command, "Stalinist" model, the chronological framework of which covers the period from 1948 to the end of 1989;

3) finally, the stage of retreat from socialism and exit from the "commonwealth" system.

People's democratic revolutions grew out of a broad national liberation, anti-fascist movement that unfolded during the Second World War. In the conditions of the struggle against the Nazi invaders, collaborators, a consolidation of all anti-fascist national forces took place. These movements took shape in the form of popular (patriotic) fronts. The communist or workers' parties acted as leaders (they did not usurp this role, but won it by a long struggle against fascism).

The program of the popular fronts was as follows: the liberation of the country from fascism, the implementation of social changes, the transition to the path of democracy, the establishment of democratic power. Military operations against the occupiers unfolded from the very first days in Yugoslavia, a partisan war in Poland. Anti-fascist armed uprisings took place under the leadership of communist and workers' parties: in Romania on August 23, 1944; in Slovakia - August 29, 1944; in Bulgaria - September 9, 1944; in the Czech Republic - May 5, 1945

As a result of the victories of the people's democratic revolutions, the communists came to power. Let's see how the above processes developed in individual countries (on the example of Yugoslavia).

Even during the Second World War in Yugoslavia, important socio-economic transformations were carried out in the liberated territories - estates, factories and plants were confiscated from traitors, collaborators, democratic elections were held for new authorities - national liberation committees, whose activities were directed by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav people, led by the CPY, fought not only against the invaders, but also against national traitors who went over to the side of the enemy, for example, the Chetniks, commanded by Drazhe Mihailović.

November 11, 1945 in Yugoslavia held elections to the Assembly of the country. For the candidates of the Popular Front, which was led by the CPY, 90% of voters cast their votes. The Constitution of the country, adopted in 1946, became the legal basis for further transformations in the state. In 1945-47. Was held agrarian reform, carried out the nationalization of banks, industry, transport, communications. Thus, a public sector arose, uniting industrial enterprises, transport, communications; in agriculture it was represented by state estates and labor cooperatives (zadrugi).

There was a rallying of mass socio-political organizations. In August 1945, a congress of the Popular Front was held, which adopted its charter and program. Distinctive feature The Popular Front in Yugoslavia was that it never represented a coalition of political parties and was built on the basis of individual membership.

These changes in Yugoslavia took place in difficult international conditions. In the early post-war years, Western countries stepped up pressure on Yugoslavia. The US refused to return the gold reserves of the Yugoslav Bank. The Western occupation authorities detained the Yugoslav river flotilla in West Germany. In 1945, an American spy plane was shot down over the Soča River. It was very difficult to negotiate the borders of the FRRY, especially Trieste.

The Chetniks, Ustashe and other traitors who fled the country found refuge in the West, where they enjoyed the political and material support of their new masters (for example, for more than 30 years the United States of America refused to extradite Yugoslavia the executioner of the Yugoslav people, a sadist who killed women and children - Artukovich, named in the country "Croatian Himmler").

Thus, the real processes that took place in the post-war years in Eastern European countries are far from those “idyllic” pictures that individual historians and publicists now paint as conflict-free processes, pre-scheduled in the Kremlin, taking place without the slightest interference from Western countries, etc. .

But there is something else to be noted. People's democratic revolutions in the countries of Eastern Europe most directly depended on the general course of the war and, of course, the dominant influence in this region of the USSR.

Indeed, the victory of the Soviet Army over fascism and its liberation of the indicated countries contributed to the enormous growth of the prestige of the Soviet Union in these countries. Polish, Czechoslovak military units were formed on the territory of the USSR. They then became the core of the armed forces of Poland and Czechoslovakia. The presence of Soviet troops on the territory of the states of Eastern Europe in the post-war period played an important role in the development of events. Public opinion in Eastern European countries after Munich trusted the "Slavic big brother" more than Western democracies.

Finally, after the end of the Second World War, the USSR had an understandable and justified desire to ensure its security in terms of the criteria of that time. The fear of a third world war was too great, so the creation of a kind of "security belt" corresponded to the logic of the Soviet leadership of that time.

However, at the turn of 1947-1948. in the states of Eastern Europe, the nature of the revolutionary process has changed dramatically. People's democracy was abandoned in favor of the "dictatorship of the proletariat". From this moment begins the second stage in the development of the countries of the Eastern European region, which is characterized by the transition to a single unified model of the Soviet type.

The next phase of the formation of the "Soviet bloc" took place at the end of September 1947, when representatives of 6 communist parties of Eastern Europe and the two most influential Western European communist parties (France and Italy) gathered at the initiative of the USSR in the castle of Szklarska Poreba (Poland) to create an Information Bureau - a joint an information bureau designed to ensure the exchange of experience and, if necessary, the coordination of the activities of the Communist Parties on the basis of mutual agreement. In the West, the creation of the Cominform was perceived as the revival of the Comintern (dissolved in 1943).

In the eyes of Western politicians, the "Soviet bloc" looked like an impressive monolith, and the creation of the Information Bureau looked like a declaration of war on Western civilization. Incidentally, it was in this way that the statement published at the end of the meeting, which repeated the main theses of Zhdanov's report, presented the international situation (the "two camps" theory). According to him, two camps have formed in the world - imperialist and anti-imperialist. The main goal of the latter is to weaken imperialism.

The Soviet Union provided material assistance to the countries of Eastern Europe (even with limited opportunities in the early post-war years). Until 1952, they were granted a loan for total amount 15 billion rubles During the first post-war decade, with the help of the USSR, 391 enterprises and over 90 separate workshops and facilities were built in these states.

In 1949, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was created - a special body that developed programs for interstate specialization and cooperative production. In May 1955, the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe signed the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Warsaw. A Joint Command of the Armed Forces of the States Parties to the Treaty was created. General issues of strengthening the armed forces and coordinating foreign policy were discussed by the Political Consultative Committee.

Since the end of the 40s. increased pressure from the Stalinist leadership on the countries of Eastern Europe, interference in their internal affairs. An example of this is the break in relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia, the CPSU (b) and the CPY in 1948. Even during the Second World War, Stalin tried to put pressure on the leaders of the national liberation struggle in Yugoslavia (for example, he objected to the fact that in Yugoslavia during the years war, along with the anti-fascist struggle, social transformations were also carried out, tried to influence the determination of the number of Yugoslav brigades, etc.). In 1947-48. Stalin proposed the creation of a Balkan federation uniting Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. Such a federation, according to his plan, was to become a counterbalance to the policy of the Western powers in relation to the Balkans. The CPY opposed this idea, emphasizing that the Balkan countries share many contradictions, as well as the level of socio-economic development, national traditions. The consequences of the dispute between Tito and Stalin were tragic. In March 1948, Soviet military and civilian specialists were withdrawn from Yugoslavia. This was followed by an exchange of letters between the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and the Central Committee of the CPY. The first contained gross accusations against the Yugoslav leadership. Stalin insisted that the Information Bureau become a forum for considering the conflict that had arisen. The refusal of the CPY to participate in the meeting was qualified as a "split and betrayal." In June 1948, the resolution of the Information Bureau "On the Situation in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia" was published. The Information Bureau accused the leadership of the CPY of pursuing a hostile policy towards the Soviet Union and the CPSU (b), and called on "healthy elements" in the party "to force their leadership to return to the right path or change it."

In Bucharest, at the second meeting of the Information Bureau during the discussion, Zhdanov said: "We have data that Tito is an imperialist spy." In November 1949, the third meeting of the Information Bureau took place in Budapest, at which the resolution "CPY in the hands of murderers and spies" was adopted. In particular, it stated that in "Yugoslavia the anti-communist police state regime is of the fascist type", that "Tito's clique has turned Belgrade into an American center of espionage and anti-communist propaganda."

In the same year, contacts between the CPSU (b) and the CPY completely ceased. Interstate relations were reduced to the formal preservation of diplomatic missions. Economic relations were curtailed unilaterally. The example of the USSR was followed by other countries of Eastern Europe. Normalization of relations between the SFRY and the USSR took place only in 1955-56. due to the efforts made by N.S. Khrushchev and I. Broz Tito.

From 1949 to 1952, two waves of "purges" took place in the people's democracies under the control or with the direct participation of Soviet "advisers". In Poland, Bierut replaced Gomułka as First Secretary of the Communist Party; were “cleaned out”: in Hungary - Rajk (executed and Kadar (imprisoned); in Bulgaria - Kostov (executed); in Slovakia - Clementis (executed); in Czechoslovakia - Slansky (executed with 13 accused), etc.

Now let's consider what processes took place in these years in Western countries. Significant democratization has taken place in the electoral laws of European states. Voting rights were granted to women in France (1945), Italy (1946), Belgium (1948). The age limit was reduced to 21-23 in Switzerland and the Netherlands (1945), and in Denmark (1952).

Social legislation and insurance developed widely (from industrial accidents - in France and England in 1946; old-age pensions - in Switzerland in 1946; unemployment benefits - in Belgium in 1944 and the Netherlands in 1949 and etc.).

In the post-war period, there was an increase in the number and influence of communists in Western countries. This was facilitated both by the authority of the Soviet Union, which won the war, in which the Communist Party had been in power all these years, and by the leading role of the Communist parties in many countries in the struggle for their liberation from fascism, in the resistance movement.

In a number of Western states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Finland, France), the Communists at the end of the war and in the first post-war years were part of the governments. Thus, during elections to parliaments, up to 1/4 of all voters voted for candidates of the communist parties of Italy, France, and Finland (M. Thorez and P. Togliatti were vice-premiers).

At the same time, in the post-war years, a gap in the level of economic development between individual Western states was clearly marked. The economy of Italy, Japan, West Germany was disorganized for a long time. Significantly weakened the position of France as a great power (in France, by the time of liberation, industrial production as a whole was only 41% of the 1938 level). The collapse of the British Empire accelerated. Industrial production in England for a long time was in a state of stagnation. It largely fell into economic dependence on the United States, which during the war years further strengthened its economic position in the Western world. The profits of the largest US companies for 5 war years amounted to 117.5 billion dollars, while for 5 prewar years they amounted to 17.5 billion dollars. Taking advantage of the weakening of competitors, the United States captured world markets and significantly expanded the export of its goods. Their share in Western exports rose from 12.6% in 1937 to 40.1% by the end of World War II. The United States dramatically increased its economic and military potential and became the de facto financial and political center of the Western world. By the end of World War II, the United States concentrated 3/4 of the gold reserves of Western countries.

Difficult tasks faced the people of the USSR after the end of World War II. They were caused primarily by the gigantic scale of the destruction of the national economy. On the occupied territory, the Nazis destroyed 1,710 cities and towns, burned more than 70,000 villages and hamlets, completely or partially destroyed 32,000 enterprises, and destroyed 65,000 km of railway lines. Huge damage was done to agriculture: 98 thousand collective farms, 1876 state farms, 2890 MTS were ruined. The country has lost 1/3 of its national wealth. But the main loss is the death of almost 27 million people (moreover, the most able-bodied part of the population): 76% of the total losses were men born in 1901-1931. No country in any war had such losses and destruction as the USSR.

The transfer of the entire national economy of the state to a peaceful track (a very complicated and painful process) was basically completed within one year. The fact that reconstruction in the liberated areas had begun during the course of the war also played an important role here. Already in 1942, the Moscow coal basin was the first to be restored. In total, by the end of the Great Patriotic War, 7.5 thousand industrial enterprises, 85 thousand collective farms, all state farms and MTS were restored in the liberated areas.

On March 18, 1946, the session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Law on the five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy (for 1946-1950). The main task of the Fourth Five-Year Plan was defined as follows: "To restore the affected areas of the country, to restore the pre-war level of industry and agriculture, and then to surpass this level on a significant scale." First of all, it was planned to restore and further develop heavy industry and transport; achieve an upsurge in agriculture and industry that produces consumer goods to ensure the material well-being of the people; ensure further technical progress in all branches of the national economy; ensure a further increase in the defense capability of the USSR and the equipping of its Armed Forces with the latest military equipment.

The total volume of capital investments was planned at 250.3 billion rubles, which exceeded the amount of capital investments in the first five-year plan by 5 times, and in the second - more than 2 times. Overall volume industrial production it was planned to increase over the five years by 48% compared with 1940.

The Soviet people, as in the war years, showed examples of unparalleled labor heroism. A particularly bright page was the restoration of coal mines in Donbass. Water was pumped out, the volume of which was a lake with an area of ​​​​70 square meters. km and a depth of up to 10 m. 2,500 km of littered mine workings were restored (this is a tunnel from Moscow to Paris!).

There was such a patriotic movement as patronage of the liberated areas. workers Irkutsk region proposed the creation of a "Fund for Fraternal Assistance to the Peoples of the USSR Affected by the Nazi Occupation". The initiative was supported by Far East, in the Urals, in Georgia, in other republics and regions of the USSR.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of the people, the restoration of the destroyed industry was basically completed in 1948.

Reparations supplies (from Germany, Finland, Romania, Hungary and Manchuria) played a significant role in the post-war reconstruction. According to the estimates of G. Khanin, in the fourth five-year plan they provided about 50% of the supply of equipment for capital construction projects in industry.

Thus, advanced technological lines and entire industries were exported from Germany, the development of which in the USSR before the war lagged behind the world level (optics, radio engineering, electrical engineering - Telefunken, Lorenz, Radio Mende, etc.).

However, they were sent mainly to factories associated with the military-industrial complex. Many unique technological lines were simply lost, fell into disrepair due to storage conditions - in a devastated country there were not enough basic storage facilities.

After the dismissal of the chairman of the State Planning Committee Voznesensky (who was shot without trial in 1949) and his staff, a revision of the relatively balanced plan of the fourth five-year plan was observed - priority, as in the 30s, was given to heavy industry, "large projects and industries" (a number of "anarchist" started new buildings and remained unfinished).

There was a large demand for labor in the country - as a result, the number of people working for industrial enterprises increased by 8.5 million people. (instead of 4.8 million according to the plan). The influx of unskilled labor (mainly from the countryside) created difficulties in organizing production. But it should also be noted that there was a huge thirst for knowledge - from 1947 to 1953, about 4 million people received higher and secondary specialized education.

Great difficulties had to be overcome in the restoration of agriculture. Here the war caused such damage that it practically undermined the technical base of the village. To this were added "natural disasters" - in 1946, agriculture was struck by a drought (in terms of the size of the affected territory, it surpassed the drought of 1921). In addition, the rural population decreased (about 8 million rural residents, mostly young people, moved to cities in 1946-1953).

Certain measures were taken during the war. Before the Great Patriotic War, there were three tractor plants in the USSR: Stalingrad, Chelyabinsk, Kharkov. During the war, three more were built: Altai, Vladimir, Lipetsk, and after the war - Minsk. The production of other agricultural machinery was restored (during the years of the five-year plan, agriculture received 93,000 grain combines, 8,884,000 tractor plows, seeders, cultivators, etc.). This made it possible to partially strengthen the material and technical base of the village.

In 1946, measures were taken "to eliminate violations of the Charter of the agricultural artel in collective farms" (Decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of Ministers of the USSR). These violations were defined in "the facts of plundering the public lands of collective farms, squandering collective farm property"; “violations of the democratic foundations for managing the affairs of the artel” were noted. From 1946 to 1949, more than 10 million hectares were confiscated (from institutions, enterprises, but mainly from private farms of collective farmers).

In 1950, the consolidation of collective farms began. It was believed that “small collective farms” (from 10 to 30 households, etc.) were weak, could not fully rationally use equipment and develop a diversified economy, and therefore it was necessary to unite small collective farms and create enlarged ones. Instead of 254,000 collective farms in 1956, 93,000 were left after the unification.

The year 1948 was remembered for the adoption of the State Plan for the Comprehensive Transformation of Nature (propaganda, in the fashion of those years, associated it with the name of Stalin). The Plan also included absurd "grand projects" to create an artificial sea in Western Siberia, dams in pacific ocean and others. But it also contained a scientifically based program for improving natural conditions over vast territories, a program for solving one of the main tasks in agriculture - raising land productivity, since an important role was assigned to field-protective afforestation (for snow retention, for protection against droughts, to prevent dust erosion of soils). Remember the words of S.M. Solovyov: "Nature is a mother for Western Europe and a stepmother for Russia." After Stalin's death, the plan was curtailed. But the experience after protective afforestation, no matter how complicated it may be, has long acquired world significance.

In general, the fourth five-year plan for agriculture was not fulfilled (for example, the gross grain harvest was planned to be increased to 127 million tons in 1950, but in reality it amounted to 81.2 million tons, etc.).

During the years of the fourth five-year plan, trends were outlined for improving the material situation of the people. At the end of 1947, the card system was abolished (the press noted that the USSR was the first country in Europe to abandon the card system). In 1947-1948. prices for consumer goods fell three times. Throughout the first post-war years, there was an increase in nominal wages in industry (1945-1950 - 8% per year; 1950-1953 - 2.3% per year). Slowly, but the level of consumption of the population increased (analysis shows that the level of consumption of the pre-war 1940 was reached in 1951).

The monetary reform of 1947 contributed to the stabilization of the financial situation in the USSR (despite its obvious costs).

From December 15, old money was exchanged for new money at a ratio of 10:1. Deposits in savings banks were subject to preferential exchange (up to three thousand rubles - in a ratio of 1: 1).

During the years of the five-year plan, 100 million square meters were built. meters of living space (instead of the planned 85 million). In the countryside, 2,700 thousand residential buildings were restored and built. But the acute shortage of living space, of course, could not be eliminated in five years. The “housing issue” remains one of the most acute until the beginning of the 21st century.

Of great importance for strengthening the security of the USSR was the creation and testing of nuclear (in 1949), and then hydrogen bomb(in 1953). Thus, the US monopoly on atomic weapons was eliminated.

What phenomena were observed in the political life of the USSR in the postwar years? The French researcher N. Werth draws attention to the following points:

Civil and military ranks abolished after October (at the level of symbols) were recreated. In 1946, the people's commissariats were transformed into ministries, the Council of People's Commissars - into the Council of Ministers of the USSR; The Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) was renamed the Soviet Armed Forces; The Bolshevik Party since 1952 became known as the CPSU.

In essence, Stalin abandoned the "Leninist concept of the party." This was noted on a theoretical level: in a speech delivered by Stalin on February 9, 1946, it was stated that the only difference between communists and non-party people is that the former are members of the party, while the latter are not. In practice, this was a complete disregard for the leading bodies of the party: congresses were not convened for 13 and a half years (from March 1939 to October 1952), plenums of the Central Committee were not convened for 5 and a half years (from February 1947 to October 1952). Even the Politburo of the Central Committee (10 people and 4 candidates) almost never met in full strength due to the practice of “small commissions” introduced by Stalin

Historians believe that it was in the post-war period that Stalin's "cult of personality" reached its climax.

With the return to civilian life, the authorities tried to restore "mind control". The treatment of prisoners of war repatriated to the USSR, already from the summer of 1945, testified to the tightening of the regime. Only 20% (out of 2 million 270 thousand) repatriated prisoners of war received permission to return home. The rest were sent to camps or sentenced to exile for at least 5 years; in some cases, they were sent to forced labor to rebuild war-torn areas.

On June 26, 1946, Izvestia published a decree on the expulsion of Chechens, Ingush and Crimean Tatars, the liquidation of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic and the transformation of the Crimean Autonomous Republic into the Crimean Region. In fact, the deportation of these and other peoples not named in the decree (Volga Germans, Kalmyks, Karachays, Balkars) was carried out back in the years of World War II.

M. Zoshchenko. The latter were expelled from the Union of Writers of the USSR.V. Shabalin, V. Muradeli, N. Popov as a "formalist trend in music". Composers were accused of "neglecting the traditions and experience of Russian classical music", "decreasing the high social role of music", etc. The result of the decision was the "cleansing" of the Union of Composers of the USSR.

The "anti-formalist" campaign was carried out throughout 1948: many famous figures of literature and art were condemned and excluded from creative associations. But, unlike in the 1930s, most of them were not arrested or sent to camps.

Ideological control was also extended to the sphere of science. A number of sciences (cybernetics, wave mechanics, psychoanalysis, etc.) were condemned as "bourgeois"; genetics, quantum physics, probability theory are prohibited.

Serious damage was done to science by pseudo-scientists, charlatans like T. Lysenko. His career began even before the Great Patriotic War, when he smashed "fists from science." Soon he was appointed president of VASKhNIL, achieved the expulsion of genetic scientists from there and the arrest of the world-famous botanist and geneticist N.I. Vavilov (died in prison in 1943). The persecution of geneticists and biologists resumed in 1947-48. (hundreds of researchers were expelled from the academy and from their faculties). Lysenko himself, relying on his pseudoscientific theory of heredity, promised the country's leadership to ensure an abundance of agricultural products in a short time. Currently, materials have been published that allow you to see how the "records" were set in the experimental farm of Lysenko.

The "doctors' cause" was curtailed after the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953. The Soviet people, who bore the brunt of the Second World War on their shoulders, had the right to count on a faster and more significant improvement in their living conditions, on the expansion of democratic freedoms. The highest leadership of the country, headed by Stalin, in its foreign and domestic policy proceeded from the old postulate of the intensification of the class struggle as socialist construction progressed. Inside the country, as well as inside the "socialist camp", all attempts at political dissent were stifled and persecuted. The confrontation of the people, bearing all the burdens post-war life, and the upper echelons of power continued.

Restoration of the national economy. Elected in 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the fourth five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy (1946-1950), according to which three years were allotted for restoring the pre-war level, and two years for surpassing it. In March 1946 the Council people's commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the USSR headed by Stalin. During the years of the 4th Five-Year Plan, industry surpassed the pre-war level by 70%, 6,200 enterprises, mainly heavy industry, were restored and built. intensified military-industrial complex. Light and food industry recovery plan failed.

In 1947, the card system was abolished, and a monetary reform was carried out (money was exchanged 10:1). In agriculture, there were not enough workers, there was no equipment, crops were sharply reduced, coercive measures were tightened, fees and taxes were increased. The drought of 1946 severely affected the provision of the country with food. Disproportions in the development of industry and agriculture increased. With some improvement in life in the city, the village was starving, in connection with this, the outflow of people to the city increased.

Ideological campaigns of the late 1940s In the post-war years, there was a process of strengthening the centralization of state administration, the numerical increase in the bureaucracy, and the increasing power of the Communist Party in the country. The soldiers who returned from Europe expected an improvement in life, an easing of the regime, and an expansion of democratic foundations. But instead of expanding democracy, Stalin returned to a policy of terror. A struggle began against cosmopolitanism (cosmopolitanism considers the inhabitants of the Earth regardless of citizenship): it was believed that some representatives of the intelligentsia had lost faith in the Soviet system and advocated the establishment of bourgeois orders. The campaign against the "rootless cosmopolitans" was led by A. A. Zhdanov, who accused cultural figures of "serving the West." In 1946, a resolution “On the magazines Zvezda and Leningrad” was adopted, accusations fell on A. A. Akhmatova, M. M. Zoshchenko and others. This was followed by resolutions on the repertoire of drama theaters, on the film “Big Life” , about the opera "The Great Friendship" by V. I. Muradeli, etc. At the same time, nationalism began to rampage.

Science was also subjected to ideological destruction. The Lysenkoism had a negative impact on the development of agriculture. The views of academician T. D. Lysenko were recognized as the only true in biology, which dealt a strong blow to the key science of modern natural science, genetics. It was declared "pseudo-science". Attacks have begun on quantum theory and the theory of relativity. The latter has been called "reactionary Einsteinianism". Cybernetics was also declared a reactionary pseudoscience. Soviet official philosophers argued that the US imperialists needed it to foment a third world war.

In the late 1940s the "Leningrad case" arose. An accusation was brought against the leaders of the party and the state of the intention to turn Leningrad into a support for the struggle against Stalin and his entourage. In 1950, the chairman of the State Planning Commission, N. A. Voznesensky, the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, M. I. Rodionov, one of the organizers of the defense of Leningrad during the blockade, A. A. Kuznetsov, and the secretary of the Leningrad regional party committee, P. S. Popkov, were shot. In general, about 2 thousand people were repressed.

The "doctors' case" was fabricated at the beginning of 1953. A group of doctors from the Kremlin hospital was arrested on charges that they were allegedly responsible for the death of Zhdanov in 1948 and tried to kill others statesmen. The persecution of medical workers began, and anti-Semitism intensified. With the death of Stalin, the "case" was terminated.

"Cold War" and its influence on the domestic and foreign policy of the USSR

After the war, the authority of the USSR was significantly strengthened. He began to play a prominent role in the United Nations (UN) created in 1945, being a permanent member of the UN Security Council. In 1945–1946 Soviet lawyers spoke at the trial of the main war criminals in Nuremberg. The USSR provided economic assistance to many countries, especially those that entered the "world socialist system" and the former colonial states.

The growth of the influence of the USSR in the post-war world caused extreme concern of the leadership of the Western powers. Therefore, they began to pursue a power policy in relation to the USSR and the socialist states. The essence of this policy was expressed by former British Prime Minister W. Churchill in a speech delivered in American city Fulton. He spoke about the need to create a "strength ring" around the countries under the control of the USSR, urged "to show Russian strength, to rally against Eastern communism." The United States expanded the number of military bases, sharply reduced trade relations with the USSR and its supporters. The USSR began to pursue the policy of the "iron curtain" in relation to the West. The Cold War began (from 1946 to the end of the 1980s) - a hostile political course of confrontation (confrontation) between the two systems, based on an arms race, on relations from a position of strength, where nuclear weapons were considered the main factor of deterrence. The Cold War was characterized by hostile actions on both sides. This manifested itself in 1947, when the US proposed the Marshall Plan. This plan provided for the provision of economic assistance to European countries affected by the war, depending on their political orientation. The USSR "Marshall Plan" did not approve and refused to participate in the conference on this matter.

The leadership of the USSR regarded the new foreign policy course of the former military allies as a call to war, which immediately affected both the foreign and domestic policies of the Soviet state. In 1948, there was a conflict with Yugoslavia, whose leader I. Broz Tito tried to defend his independence from Stalin's dictate. The USSR and other socialist countries severed diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia, its isolation turned to a policy of non-alignment - the movement of non-participation of countries in military-political blocs, for the peace and security of peoples. After Stalin's death in 1953, diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia were restored.

The symbol of the split of the world into two opposing systems - the “systems of capitalism” and the “systems of socialism” - was the split of Germany into two states - the FRG (1948) and the GDR (1949). In 1949, a number of major foreign policy events took place:

- the North Atlantic military-political alliance (NATO) of European countries led by the United States was formed;

- the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was created - an organization that united the socialist countries;

- Under the leadership of Academician I. V. Kurchatov, Soviet nuclear weapons appeared, the US monopoly on nuclear weapons was eliminated and a temporary military balance was established.

Each of the superpowers - the USA and the USSR - included the whole world in the sphere of its strategic interests. The bipolarity of the world community for many years determined the political and economic development of the vast majority of countries and their gravitation (often involuntarily) to a particular social system. Local military conflicts became a manifestation of this confrontation. So, in 1950-1953. During the Korean War, there was a direct military clash between the USSR and the USA. As a result, Korea was divided into pro-American South Korea and the pro-Soviet Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Later, Vietnam shared this fate.

USSR in the mid-1950s - mid-1960s.

On March 5, 1953, I. V. Stalin died. The leadership of the state began to be of a collective nature: N. S. Khrushchev headed the party, G. M. Malenkov became the head of the government, K. E. Voroshilov was elected head of state, N. A. Bulganin was elected minister of defense, and minister of the united Ministry of Internal Affairs ( which included the Ministry of State Security) - L.P. Beria. The leading role began to be played by Malenkov, who was the first to speak out against Stalin's "ugly personality cult," and Beria, who stopped the "doctors' cause." Malenkov advocated stimulating peasant labor, bringing agriculture out of the crisis, and he was also one of the first to recognize the need for political rehabilitation. Beria insisted on depriving the Central Committee of the party of the right to manage the country's economy, limiting it only to political activities. However, in the summer of 1953, members of the top party leadership, with the support of the military, organized a conspiracy and overthrew Beria. He was accused of espionage and shot. The struggle for power did not end there.

XX Congress of the CPSU

The 20th Congress of the CPSU was held in February 1956. Its agenda included issues of foreign and domestic policy, summing up the results of the fifth five-year plan, the path of building communism. The congress made theoretical conclusions about the events in the world. The most important regulator of the world is the peaceful coexistence of countries with different social order expressed in the form of competition between the systems of socialism and capitalism. In a revolutionary struggle there can be no "export" of the revolution; its victory depends not on the existence of a world socialist system, but on the internal conditions in each country. Various forms of countries' transition to socialism are possible, both by armed and peaceful, parliamentary means. At the same time, "the export of counter-revolution" is unacceptable, when the capitalist countries, by their military intervention, suppress the revolutionary movement in each country. In the modern world, there is an opportunity to prevent a new world war. It is necessary to strengthen the defense, resist aggression, expand the struggle for peace.

The 20th Congress went down in history thanks to the report "On the cult of personality and its consequences" made by Khrushchev at the last closed meeting, which was not on the agenda. The report exposed the criminality of Stalin's personality cult and showed the enormous harm inflicted on the state and the party. But the report did not disclose the objective reasons for what happened, everything came down to the subjective qualities of Stalin. This report, classified from the people for 33 years (it was published in the USSR in 1989), marked the beginning of the cleansing of the party and society from the ideology and practice of state terror. On the other hand, it led to a major split in the international communist movement. A number of parties have declared it revisionist. The report was developed in the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On overcoming the cult of personality and its consequences" (June 1956). It did not contain terrible facts, but there was an attempt to understand the causes of the cult and its consequences. The process of rehabilitation (withdrawal of charges) of those repressed in the 1930s - early 1950s began, it affected millions of ordinary citizens of the USSR and even entire nations - Kalmyks, Chechens, Ingush, Karachays, Balkars, Volga Germans, Crimean Tatars. In the late 1960s the rehabilitation process was curtailed.

The changes that took place in the life of the country after the death of Stalin, according to the story of Ilya Ehrenburg, were called the “thaw”.

Socio-political life of the country

After the 20th Congress, Khrushchev's authority grew significantly. On his initiative, in 1957, at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Malenkov, Kaganovich and Molotov were dismissed from leading positions, and later Zhukov was removed from the post of Minister of Defense. Since 1958, Khrushchev began to combine the post of first secretary of the Central Committee with the post of chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers. Gradually, a regime of his personal power began to take shape.

In 1956, the Twentieth Party Congress instructed the Central Committee of the CPSU to develop a draft of a new party program. In October 1961, at the XXII Congress of the CPSU, a new, third party program was adopted. Proceeding from the fact that socialism in the Soviet Union won "completely and completely" and the country entered the stage of "full-scale construction of communism", the congress considered the program as a philosophical, economic and political justification for building communism in the USSR. The slogan was proclaimed: "Catch up and overtake America!" The historical scope of the program was basically limited to twenty years.

Reforms in the socio-economic sphere

The reforms carried out in the 1950s and 1960s were controversial. The strengthening of the national economy began with changes in the agricultural sector. In 1954, a course was taken to raise virgin and fallow lands in order to solve the acute grain problem. Tens of thousands of enthusiasts went to the virgin lands. To strengthen the leading cadres of collective farms, more than 30 thousand party workers (“thirty thousand people”) were sent to work in them. In 1958, the reorganization of MTS (machine and tractor stations) into RTS (repair and tractor stations) began. Equipment was sold to collective farms and state farms. It was supposed that this measure would strengthen the material base of the village, but this did not happen. Purchase prices for agricultural products were also raised (but they still did not cover all production costs), debts of previous years were written off, government spending on the needs of the countryside was increased several times, pensions for collective farmers were introduced, and passports were issued to collective farmers. However, since the late 1950s economic incentives as a lever of development were supplanted by the usual administrative coercion, which led to a deterioration in the situation of the countryside and a new aggravation of the food problem. After visiting the United States in 1959, N. S. Khrushchev called for replacing the traditional domestic manufacturer agriculture with corn, which went down in history under the name "corn epic". The seven-year plan for the development of the national economy (1959-1965) in terms of the development of agricultural production was a failure. Instead of the planned 70% growth was only 15%.

In the field of industry, things were much better. Heavy industry enterprises (Group A) developed predominantly, especially the production of building materials, mechanical engineering, metalworking, chemistry, petrochemistry, and the electric power industry. Railways, powerful factories, canals were built, block housing construction (“Khrushchevs”) was mastered. During the seven-year period, the industrial potential of the USSR almost doubled. Achievements were introduced into production scientific and technological progress. In 1954, the Obninsk nuclear power plant was put into operation, in 1959, the Lenin nuclear-powered icebreaker was created. However, Group B enterprises (first of all, light, food, woodworking, pulp and paper industries) developed much more slowly. The Group B enterprises did not fulfill the seven-year plan.

At the direction of N. S. Khrushchev, a number of reforms were carried out in the management of the national economy. Party, Soviet, trade union, Komsomol bodies were divided into industrial and rural, which significantly increased the size of the bureaucracy. Many branch ministries were liquidated (which was motivated by the need to move from excessive centralization to the territorial principle of management) and instead of them, national economic councils (sovnarkhozes) were created in the territories and regions. However, these reforms hit the unified technical policy, gave rise to localism, violated the unified planned economy of the country.

In 1961, a monetary reform was carried out. Old money was exchanged for new money at a ratio of 10:1. Historians recognize this reform as one of the most humane monetary reforms in the history of our country.

Foreign policy of the USSR in the mid-1950s - mid-1960s.

Foreign policy was based on the conclusions of the 20th Congress of the CPSU on changing the alignment of forces in the world in favor of socialism. The possibility of both peaceful (through parliament) and armed victory was asserted socialist revolution, which depended on the internal conditions of each country. The peaceful coexistence of the two systems was proclaimed the only way to regulate relations between states. The cold war was temporarily weakened. The USSR unilaterally reduced the size of the army, suspended nuclear tests, improved relations with China, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iran, Japan and other countries. In 1963, an agreement was signed between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain on a test ban nuclear weapons in three spheres: in water, atmosphere, space. In 1964, the USSR announced measures to ease the arms race.

However, the policy of forceful pressure continued. In 1955, a military-political union of the socialist countries of Europe (except Yugoslavia) was created, called the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD). The first major action of this organization was the suppression of the anti-Soviet and anti-socialist uprising in Hungary (1956). In 1961, at the request of the USSR, a wall was built in Berlin, dividing East and West Berlin.

In 1959, Khrushchev visited the United States, and in 1960 he spoke at the UN. In many ways, Khrushchev's policy was unpredictable not only in internal but also in external matters. In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis arose. Soviet missiles and military units were sent there to protect socialist Cuba. The United States declared a military blockade of Cuba. Through negotiations and the withdrawal of Soviet equipment from Cuba, the crisis was overcome. Soviet aid grew developing countries which required a huge amount of money. In the early 1960s relations with China and Albania deteriorated, which had a negative impact on the world socialist system and the communist movement.

USSR in the mid-1960s - mid-1980s.

In October 1964, N. S. Khrushchev was dismissed from all posts for "subjectivism" and "voluntarism" - the imposition of one's will, when what is desired is presented as valid without taking into account real possibilities. L. I. Brezhnev came to the leadership, who in the period 1960-1964. served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. After October 1964, Brezhnev headed the Central Committee of the party, A. N. Kosygin became the head of government.

From the end of 1964, the country's leadership again, as in 1953, decided to encourage material interest as an incentive for social production, starting stabilization from the countryside and agriculture. This course was approved at two plenums of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1965 and was called the "economic reform of 1965" or "Kosygin's reform." The division of bodies according to sectoral principle has been abolished, economic councils have been abolished and ministries have been restored, the planning system has been changed while expanding the rights of enterprises, and many Khrushchev's "innovations" have been cancelled. The economic reform was based on the stimulation of labor, the introduction of economic methods of management. There was a transition to self-financing, local initiative was taken into account. On the basis of the economic reform of 1965, a plan for the 8th Five-Year Plan (1966–1970) was prepared, over the years of its existence Soviet power which gave the best indicators of the development of the country.

However, the reform did not affect the political structures, everything had to be coordinated with the Central Committee of the CPSU. The bureaucratic apparatus, supported by Brezhnev, opposed the reform. By the mid 1970s. the reform was abandoned. The country exported more and more oil, gas, electricity, turned into a raw material appendage of the world economy. The import of grain, products, consumer goods began, and a “shadow economy” arose. Enormous funds were invested in foreign loans of many countries. The backwardness of the economy was covered up by the slogans of introducing the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution, intensifying production, and fighting for quality and economy. The only sector of the economy that actively used the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution was the military-industrial complex (MIC). The country was degrading, and only the necessary resources were invested in the military-industrial complex.

Agriculture lagged behind more and more, productivity decreased. There were huge losses during harvesting, storage and transportation of agricultural products. In 1982, the "Food Program" was adopted, calculated until 1990. But all the decisions made remained on paper, the word was at odds with the deed. The level and life expectancy were sharply reduced. As they said in the late 1980s, a “braking mechanism” was taking shape, the country was heading for stagnation, when production indicators tend to zero and a crisis sets in.

The ideological basis of the activities of the Brezhnev leadership was the concept of "developed socialism", developed in the 1960s. and promulgated at the 24th Congress of the CPSU in 1971. It was stated that in the USSR a nation-wide state with high economic potential and complete domination of state property, the unity of the Soviet people, the increased role of the party, which turned into a "party of the whole people" has developed. All these installations covered up the freezing of the growth of the standard of living, the decline in morals, eyewash, the policy of awards and praises. The political demagoguery was intensified, which was carried out by the ideological leader of the party M. A. Suslov. Since the second half of the 1960s. criticism of Stalin's personality cult and exposure of the practice of state terror during the Stalinist period ("re-Stalinization") were muted and then banned. The process of rehabilitation of the repressed in previous decades was curtailed. New ministries and departments were created. As a result, the size of the bureaucratic apparatus, which absorbed about half of the state budget, constantly increased. Corruption developed. However, outwardly, the life of society became measured and calm.

In 1977, the concept of "developed socialism" was legally enshrined in the new Constitution of the USSR. The constitution fixed the creation of a "nationwide state", noted the expansion of democracy. As in the Constitution of 1936, emphasis was placed on the proclamation of the social rights of citizens, the list of which became wider: the right to work, free education, medical care, recreation, as well as pensions and housing. The real political power remained with the party. Article 6 of the Constitution secured the leading role of the party as the core of the political system. Party bodies replaced state bodies: lists of candidates for deputies were corrected by party bodies, laws prepared "from above" were adopted unanimously. The constitution turned out to be a fictitious document, it had a declarative character.

18 years of Brezhnev's leadership led the state to a state of collapse. The totalitarian society has entered a period of deep crisis. The political life of the country in the first half of the 1980s. feverish frequent change of top management. In January 1982, the main ideologist of the party M. A. Suslov died, in November of the same year - L. I. Brezhnev. Yu. V. Andropov, the former chairman of the State Security Committee (KGB), became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and six months later, Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. He carried out personnel changes in party structures, removed from work the leaders involved in corruption. But in February 1984 he passed away. K. U. Chernenko ended up in the highest posts, whose state of health was no better than that of his predecessors. Society lived from funeral to funeral, during which public life almost froze. In March 1985, a new funeral and a new redistribution of power took place. 20 years (1964-1984) became a period of missed opportunities for the USSR, when the country finally lagged behind the advanced states of the world.

Foreign policy in 1964–1984

Foreign policy during this period was characterized by duality: on the one hand, the struggle for peace, and on the other, the desire to subordinate the socialist countries to its political principles, military intervention in the affairs of sovereign states, and the continuation of the arms race. In August 1968, the armed forces of the Warsaw Pact states, led by the USSR, crushed the popular uprising in Czechoslovakia in favor of an independent path of development. The concept of permissibility of interference in the internal affairs of the socialist countries and the limitation of their sovereignty was called the Brezhnev Doctrine. This course also assumed control over the economies of the CMEA countries under the guise of "integration of labor." In 1980, popular unrest took place in Poland under the leadership of the Solidarity trade union, but a second military invasion was avoided thanks to the actions of the Polish head of state, General W. Jaruzelski.

Differences between the USSR and China intensified. Armed clashes took place on the Soviet-Chinese border, the largest of which was the conflict in the spring of 1969 on about. Damansky. Relations between the two countries normalized only after the death of Mao Zedong and Brezhnev.

In 1971, the Soviet leadership put forward the "Peace Program", which proposed to reduce military spending, ensure European security by concluding agreements on the prohibition of nuclear, chemical, and bacteriological weapons. In 1975 the USSR took part in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in Helsinki. On August 1 of this year, 33 participating countries, including the USSR, as well as the USA and Canada, signed the Final Act. This document was an important result of the détente of international tension and contained the principles of mutual respect in foreign policy and observance of human rights. These principles were included in the Constitution of the USSR in 1977 as principles of the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems. Subsequent meetings of the participants in the Helsinki Conference became known as the Helsinki Process, or the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) movement.

In 1972, the USSR and the USA signed the SALT-1 treaty (limitation of anti-missile systems and a temporary agreement on the limitation of strategic offensive weapons). In the same year, an anti-missile defense (ABM) treaty was signed. In 1973, the Paris Agreement was signed to end the war in Vietnam unleashed by the United States. In 1974 and 1976 signed two treaties relating to nuclear testing - the Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Tests of Nuclear Weapons and the Treaty on Underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes. In 1979, the SALT-2 treaty was signed on the limitation of strategic offensive arms. Military-strategic parity (equality) between the USSR and the USA was established.

In the early 1980s The USSR came up with a number of peace initiatives, but the proposals diverged from the actions. In the USSR, appropriations for defense increased, and interference in the affairs of other countries continued. During this period, Soviet troops were in Europe, Syria, Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. In December 1979, the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan began under the slogan of "international assistance" and the protection of democratic forces. Over 10 years, the war in Afghanistan claimed 17 thousand lives Soviet soldiers and officers. The international prestige of the USSR was significantly undermined.

USSR in the second half of the 1980s.

In March 1985, after the death of Chernenko, MS Gorbachev was elected leader of the party. The chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, that is, the head of state, was the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR A. A. Gromyko. N. I. Ryzhkov was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in the autumn of 1985. In 1988, M. S. Gorbachev became both the leader of the party and the state. The period when Gorbachev was at the head of the state was called "perestroika".

At the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU in April 1985, large-scale reforms were announced in the country in order to change society. Reforms were planned to be carried out in a number of areas, including the economy. This course was embodied in the plan of the 12th five-year plan (1986-1990) and was called the "course to accelerate socio-economic development." Acceleration was understood as an increase in the rate of economic growth based on scientific and technological progress by increasing labor productivity and intensive development.

The first perestroika laws were the decree "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism" and the law "On state acceptance". But the anti-alcohol campaign failed, and the introduction of state acceptance led to another growth of the bureaucracy. On April 26, 1986, an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which became a gloomy symbol of the catastrophe that is approaching society and the state.

The idea of ​​transferring a rigid centralized, state-planned economy to a market, commodity-money basis (within the framework of socialism) became the core of the concept of perestroika. The first step towards a market economy was the 1987 Law “On the State Enterprise (Association)”, which granted significant rights to enterprises and labor collectives. But the central administrative apparatus did not want to cede its rights. At that time, the state included most of the manufactured products in the state order (state order), withdrew it from free sale, and deprived enterprises of the freedom of self-financing. In 1988, two more laws were adopted aimed at the development of collective and private entrepreneurship: the law on cooperation and the law on individual labor activity (ITA). Then, from the end of 1989 to 1991, more than a hundred laws, resolutions, etc. on economic issues were adopted, but most of them did not work. The measures taken could not raise the economy, as they were based on the old principles of socialism. Real incomes of the population began to fall. An acute shortage of all goods began in the country. Their prices began to rise. Thanks to glasnost, the course for which was proclaimed in 1987, the population became aware of their alienation from the results of their own labor. The workers took to the streets with slogans of protest. A wave of strikes swept across the country, started by the miners, who declared at their congress that they did not consider the CPSU to be the party of the working class.

Initially, the society accepted the reforms with enthusiasm, the majority of the population supported the demand for change. There was a rejuvenation of the leadership of the party and the state, N. I. Ryzhkov (Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR), E. A. Shevardnadze (Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR), A. N. Yakovlev, B. N. Yeltsin, A. V. Sobchak and others The commission under the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, headed by A. N. Yakovlev, resumed work on the rehabilitation of the repressed. Increasingly, along with the word "perestroika", the word "democratization" began to be used. With the beginning of the democratization of society and the policy of "glasnost", a rethinking of the history of Soviet society took place. The mass media began to play a big role, everyone, without exception, was given the right to openly express their thoughts. The result of the unfolding course towards glasnost was the spiritual and ideological emancipation of society. The activities of the church were no longer subject to state restrictions.

In the summer of 1988, the 19th party conference took place. It unfolded a sharp struggle of opinions about perestroika. There was a split in the ranks of the CPSU. At the suggestion of M. S. Gorbachev, a new authority was established - the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. From among its participants, the Supreme Council was elected, which turned into the current parliament. The same state structures were formed in the Union republics. In May - June 1989, the first Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was held, then the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was elected, headed by M. S. Gorbachev. B. N. Yeltsin became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR in May 1990.

In the spring of 1990, a new goal of the reform was defined - the transition to the rule of law, since only it is able to ensure the transition to a market and a democratic society. Among the primary tasks of reforming the political system were the creation of a presidential system of power in the USSR and the transition to a multi-party system. III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (March 1990) elected M. S. Gorbachev President of the USSR. Article 6 of the USSR Constitution on the CPSU as the leading and guiding force of society and the core of the political system was repealed.

Foreign policy: "new political thinking"

The new leadership of the USSR, headed by Gorbachev, sharply intensified foreign policy in order to wrest the Soviet Union out of international isolation. The XXVII Congress of the CPSU (1986) formulated the foundations of a general system of international security, which were based on Gorbachev's statement of January 15, 1986. It was proposed to ban and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, reduce the level of military potentials to reasonable limits, dissolve military alliances, and reduce military spending. A call was put forward for respect for the rights of every people, its sovereignty, for the non-use of force in contentious issues, for cooperation between socialist and capitalist countries in the development of the economy and culture, and for mutual assistance in the development of states. The totality of the proposed principles of foreign policy was called "new political thinking". "New political thinking" was an attempt to implement the ideas of perestroika in foreign policy.

In the second half of the 1980s. The USSR took major practical steps to normalize interstate relations, ease tensions in the world, and strengthen the international prestige of the Soviet Union. In August 1985, on the fortieth anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, the USSR imposed a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, inviting other nuclear powers to support its initiative. As a response, the US leadership only invited representatives of the USSR to attend their nuclear tests. In April 1987 the moratorium was lifted.

However, relations with the United States improved significantly, and several meetings between MS Gorbachev and US Presidents R. Reagan and George W. Bush took place. In 1987, an agreement was signed in Washington on the elimination of intermediate and shorter-range missiles (INF), in the summer of 1991 - on a significant reduction and limitation of strategic offensive weapons (START-1). Relations were established with many countries, including China. Waiver military force, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan (February 1989) contributed to the normalization of the international situation.

In May 1987, the Political Consultative Committee of the Warsaw Pact countries, at the initiative of the Soviet leadership, adopted the "Berlin Declaration" on the simultaneous dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and NATO, and primarily their military organizations. After 1989, there was an increase in anti-Soviet and anti-socialist sentiments in the socialist countries, which developed into a series of revolutions in the Eastern European states. In 1990, the GDR ceased to exist, becoming part of the FRG. During the revolutions, the communist parties were removed from power. The national-democratic forces of the states of Eastern Europe that came to power set a course for rapprochement with NATO and the Common Market Organization (the future European Union), demanding to expedite the withdrawal of Soviet troops from their territories. In the spring of 1991, the dissolution of the CMEA and the Warsaw Pact was formalized. The borders of the countries of Eastern Europe turned out to be open to the massive penetration of Western European goods and capital.

New initiatives in the foreign policy of the USSR had both positive and negative consequences. By the beginning of the 1990s. The Cold War ended better side the situation in the world has changed, the "Iron Curtain" has finally collapsed, and international relations have expanded. At the same time, in exchange for grandiose unilateral concessions, Gorbachev's administration counted on the "goodwill" of Western countries, political and financial support. However, serious financial assistance was not forthcoming. Former allies of the USSR in the socialist camp showed hostility to the USSR and rushed to NATO.

Events of 1991 The collapse of the USSR

In the mid 1980s. administrative structures in the union republics began to struggle to strengthen their own power. Friction began between the natives and the Russian-speaking population. The myth of "friendship of the peoples of the USSR" collapsed. In 1986 there were performances in Kazakhstan. In 1988, unrest began between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1989, bloody clashes took place in Fergana, in 1990 between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the Osh region. Georgia's relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia have heated up. Troops were used to suppress conflicts, which aggravated the situation in the Union republics. Power shifted more and more from federal center in the republics, a “parade of sovereignties” and a “war of laws” began, which actually meant disobeying the center and striving for independence. In order to preserve in some form a single state, Gorbachev conceived the idea of ​​signing a new union treaty. In May 1991, a special project was approved in the Novo-Ogarevo residence near Moscow, which stated that each republic was a member of the international community and could exist independently. The signing of the project was scheduled for August 20, 1991.

However, the project was not destined to be realized.

Test on the history of the Soviet Union in the first post-war decades, 1945-1964 for 11th grade students with answers. The test contains 10 tasks.

1. The restoration of the economy of the USSR after the Great Patriotic War, it was decided to start

1) with heavy industry
2) from agriculture
3) with light industry
4) from the defense industry

2. Which three events from the following are related to 1945-1953?

1) the introduction into circulation of the "golden gold piece"
2) card cancellation
3) creation of a military bloc from the states of Central and South-Eastern Europe
4) monetary reform to reduce the money supply
5) H-bomb test
6) creation of economic councils

3. Which of the following was characteristic of the economic development of the USSR in 1953-1964?

1) development of virgin lands
2) export of industrial equipment from Germany
3) the use of the labor of political prisoners in the construction of industrial facilities
4) repression in the People's Commissariat of Agriculture

4. Establish a correspondence between works, scientific discoveries and figures of science and art. For each position of the first column, select the corresponding position of the second and write down the selected numbers under the corresponding letters.

Works, scientific discoveries

A) building the atomic bomb
B) the story "The fate of man"
C) feature film "War and Peace"
D) the story "Thaw"

Figures of science and art

1) S. Bondarchuk
2) I. Kurchatov
3) I. Ehrenburg
4) M. Sholokhov
5) A. Fadeev

5. Read an excerpt from the report at the party congress and indicate the year in which it was made.

“... It turned out that many party, Soviet, economic workers, who were declared “enemies” in 1937-1938, were never really enemies, spies, pests, etc. they didn’t appear .., but they were slandered, and sometimes, unable to withstand the brutal tortures, they slandered themselves (under the dictation of forgery investigators) all sorts of grave and incredible accusations ...
This happened as a result of the abuse of power by Stalin, who began to use mass terror against the party cadres. ... By this time, Stalin had risen so much above the party and above the people that he no longer considered at all either the Central Committee or the party. If before the 17th Congress he still recognized the opinion of the collective, then after the complete political defeat of the Trotskyists, Zinovievites, Bukharinites, when as a result of this struggle and the victories of socialism the party was united, the people were united, Stalin more and more ceased to reckon with the members of the Central Committee of the party and even with members of the Politburo.

6. Which of the following was one of the results economic policy I.S. Khrushchev?

1) the exodus of peasants from the countryside to the city
2) increase in the supply of grain abroad
3) increase in sown areas for corn
4) introduction of school fees

7. Establish a correspondence between terms, names and their definitions. For each position of the first column, select the corresponding position of the second and write down the selected numbers under the corresponding letters.

Terms, names

A) demobilization
B) conversion
B) repatriation
D) underground

Definitions

1) the transfer of the military industry to the production of peaceful products - consumer goods
2) return of prisoners of war
3) a number of artistic directions in contemporary art opposing themselves to mass culture
4) reduction in the number of army personnel
5) underground political organizations

8. Match dates and events. For each position of the first column, select the corresponding position of the second and write down the selected numbers under the corresponding letters.

A) 1949
B) 1956
B) 1959
D) 1963

1) the first trip of the Soviet leader (I.S. Khrushchev) to the USA
2) the first flight of a woman into space
3) creation of NATO
4) the first circumnavigation of the Soviet submarine
5) debunking the personality cult of I.V. Stalin

9. Which of the following is one of the consequences of the de-Stalinization process?

1) deterioration of relations between the USSR and China
2) increasing the authority of the USSR in the international arena
3) ending the cold war
4) an increase in the number of countries in Europe that have embarked on the path of socialist construction

10. What are the main tasks that were solved in the domestic policy of the USSR in the second half of the 40s - early 50s? 20th century (list at least two tasks). Give examples of actions taken by the country's leadership to solve these problems (at least three examples).

Answers to the test on the history of the Soviet Union in the first post-war decades, 1945-1964
1-1
2-245
3-1
4-2413
5-1956
6-3
7-4123
8-3512
9-1
10.
tasks of Russia's domestic policy in the second half of the 40s - early 50s. 20th century
- strengthening the power of I.V. Stalin
- restoration of the economy, destroyed by the war of 1941-1945. increase in labor productivity in agriculture and industry
— an increase in the pace of housing construction
— improving the standard of living of the population
examples of actions of the country's leadership
— preparation and implementation of new political processes("Leningrad case", campaign against cosmopolitans, "doctors' case")
- approval of the fourth five-year plan for the development of the economy, the implementation of monetary reform (1947)
- cancellation of card supply (1947)