When was the Soviet Union formed? Education of the USSR

Formally, the Soviet Union was a confederation. Let me explain. Confederation is a special form of government in which individual independent states are united into a single whole, while retaining a significant part of the powers and the right to secede from the confederation. Shortly before the formation of the united Soviet state, there were debates about the basis on which to unite the union republics: whether to grant them some kind of autonomy (I.V. Stalin) or to give them the opportunity to freely secede from the state (V.I. Lenin). The first idea was called autonomization, the second - federalization. The Leninist concept won, the right to secede from the USSR was clearly stated in the Constitution. Which republics were included at the time of its formation, that is, on November 12, 1922? The agreement was signed by the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR and ZSFSR on December 27 of the same year, and approved three days later. It is clear that the first three union republics are Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. What is hidden under the fourth abbreviation? TSFSR stands for Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Socialist Republic, which consisted of the following states: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia.

The Bolsheviks were internationalists; they took into account the national specificity of the regions of the former Russian Empire to take power and hold it. While A.I. Denikin, A.V. Kolchak and other White Guard leaders proclaimed the concept of “Unified and indivisible Russia”, that is, they did not even accept the existence of autonomous state entities within a united Russia; the Bolsheviks to a certain extent supported nationalism for reasons of political expediency. Example: in 1919, Anton Ivanovich Denikin led a large-scale attack on Moscow, the Bolsheviks were even preparing to go underground. An important reason for the failure of A.I. Denikin - refusal to recognize the sovereignty or at least the autonomy of the Ukrainian People's Republic led by Symon Petliura.

The communists took into account what largely destroyed the white movement, and listened to the identity of each individual people that makes up the single Soviet state. But we should not forget the main thing: the Bolsheviks are internationalists by nature, the goal of their activities is to build a classless communist society. The “dictatorship of the proletariat” (power relations in which the working class sets the vector of social movement) was a temporary measure; in the end, the state would die out, and the eternal era of communism would begin.

But the realities turned out to be somewhat different. The revolutionary fire did not break out in neighboring states. M.N. Tukhachevsky, who promised to “bring happiness and peace to working humanity at bayonets,” was unable to overcome the resistance of the Polish state. The Bavarian, Slovak, and Hungarian Soviet republics in Europe fell because the Red Army soldiers could not come to the aid of the Soviet governments. The Bolsheviks had to come to terms with the fact that the flames of the world revolution could not engulf the entire capitalist and imperialist world.

In 1924, the Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR became parts of the Soviet state. In 1929, the Tajik SSR was formed.

In 1936, the Soviet government made a reasonable decision to divide the TSFSR into three separate state entities: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. This action can be considered correct. Armenians and Georgians are Christians, and each state has its own Orthodox Church, while Azerbaijanis are Muslims. Also, the peoples are by no means ethnically united: Armenians are a distinctive and unique ethnic group, Georgians belong to the Kartvelian language family, and Azerbaijanis are Turks. We should not forget that conflicts have repeatedly occurred between these peoples, which, unfortunately, are still ongoing (Nagorno-Karabakh).

In the same year, the autonomous Kazakh and Kyrgyz republics acquired the status of union states. Subsequently, they were transformed into union republics from the RSFSR. Adding up the above figures, it turns out that by 1936 the USSR already included 11 states that de jure had the right to leave.

In 1939, the Winter War broke out between the Soviet Union and Finland. The Karelo-Finnish SSR was created in the occupied Finnish territories, which existed for 16 years (1940 - 1956).

The subsequent territorial expansion of the USSR was carried out on the eve of the Second World War. September 1, 1939 is the day that marked the beginning of the Second World War, the bloodiest action in human history, which claimed tens of millions of lives. The war would end almost 6 years later - on September 2, 1945.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed on August 23, 1939, divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence between the USSR and the Third Reich. Discussions about whether this agreement was to protect one's own interests or whether it was a “deal with the devil” are still ongoing. On the one hand, the USSR significantly secured its own western borders, and on the other hand, it nevertheless agreed to cooperate with the Nazis. With the pact, the USSR expanded the territory of Ukraine and Belarus to the west, and also created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940.

In the same year, the Soviet state expanded by three more union republics due to the annexation of three Baltic states: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In them, Soviet governments “came to power” through “democratic elections.” Perhaps the de facto forced annexation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union gave rise to the negativity that periodically manifests itself between modern independent Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia.

The maximum number of union republics that were part of a single Soviet state is 16. But in 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was disbanded, liquidated, and the “classical” number of Soviet republics was formed, equal to 15.

Upon coming to power, Mikhail Gorbachev announced a policy of glasnost. After many years of political vacuum, it became possible to express one's opinion. This and the worsening economic crisis led to the growth of separatist sentiments in the union republics. Centrifugal forces began to act intensely, and the process of disintegration could no longer be stopped. Perhaps the federalization proposed by V.I. Lenin back in the early 20s, was beneficial. The Soviet republics were able to become independent states without shedding much blood. Conflicts in the post-Soviet space are still ongoing, but who knows what scale they would have taken if the republics had to gain their independence from the center in their hands?

Lithuania gained its independence back in 1990; the remaining states left the Soviet Union later, in 1991. The Bialowieza Agreement finally formalized the end of the Soviet period in the history of many states. Let us recall which republics were part of the USSR:

• Azerbaijan SSR.
• Armenian SSR.
• Byelorussian SSR.
• Georgian SSR.
• Kazakh SSR.
• Kirghiz SSR.
• Latvian SSR.
• Lithuanian SSR.
• Moldavian SSR.
• RSFSR.
• Tajik SSR.
• Turkmen SSR.
• Uzbek SSR.
• Ukrainian SSR.
• Estonian SSR.

The years of existence of the USSR are 1922-1991. However, the history of the world's largest state began with the February Revolution, or more precisely, with the crisis of Tsarist Russia. Since the beginning of the 20th century, opposition sentiments have been fermenting in the country, which every now and then resulted in bloodshed.

The words spoken by Pushkin in the thirties of the 19th century were applicable in the past and do not lose their relevance today. The Russian revolt is always merciless. Especially when it leads to the overthrow of the old regime. Let's remember the most important and tragic events that took place during the years of the existence of the USSR.

Background

In 1916, the royal family was discredited by scandals surrounding an odious personality, the mystery of which has not yet been fully solved. We are talking about Grigory Rasputin. Nicholas II made several mistakes, the first in the year of his coronation. But we won’t talk about this today, but let’s remember the events that preceded the creation of the Soviet state.

So, the First World War is in full swing. There are rumors in St. Petersburg. Rumor has it that the empress is divorcing her husband, entering a monastery, and occasionally engaging in espionage. Opposition to the Russian Tsar is being formed. Its participants, among whom were the tsar’s closest relatives, demanded Rasputin’s removal from government.

While the princes were arguing with the tsar, a revolution was being prepared that was supposed to change the course of world history. Armed rallies continued for several days in February. Ended with a coup d'etat. A Provisional Government was formed, which did not last long.

Then there was the October Revolution, the Civil War. Historians divide the years of the existence of the USSR into several periods. During the first, which lasted until 1953, a former revolutionary, known in narrow circles under the nickname Koba, was in power.

Stalin years (1922-1941)

By the end of 1922, six political figures were in power: Stalin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, Rykov, Kamenev, Tomsky. But one person must rule the state. A struggle began between the former revolutionaries.

Neither Kamenev, nor Zinoviev, nor Tomsky had any sympathy for Trotsky. Stalin especially did not like the People's Commissar for Military Affairs. Dzhugashvili had a negative attitude towards him since the Civil War. They say that he did not like education, erudition, who used to read French classics in the original at political meetings. But that’s not the point, of course. In political struggle there is no place for simple human likes and dislikes. The fight between the revolutionaries ended in Stalin's victory. In subsequent years, he methodically eliminated his other comrades.

The Stalin years were marked by repressions. First there was forced collectivization, then arrests. How many people turned into camp dust during this terrible time, how many were shot? Hundreds of thousands of people. The peak of Stalin's repressions occurred in 1937-1938.

The Great Patriotic War

During the years of the existence of the USSR there were many tragic events. In 1941, the war began, which claimed about 25 million lives. These losses are incomparable. Before Yuri Levitan announced on the radio the attack of the German armed forces on no one believed that there was a ruler in the world who would not be afraid to direct his aggression towards the USSR.

Historians divide the Second World War into three periods. The first begins on June 22, 1941 and ends with the Battle of Moscow, in which the Germans were defeated. The second ends with the Battle of Stalingrad. The third period is the expulsion of enemy troops from the USSR, liberation from the occupation of European countries and the surrender of Germany.

Stalinism (1945-1953)

I was not ready for war. When it began, it turned out that many military leaders had been shot, and those who were alive were far away, in camps. They were immediately released, restored to normal condition and sent to the front. The war is over. Several years passed, and a new wave of repression began, now among the senior command staff.

Major military leaders close to Marshal Zhukov were arrested. Among them are Lieutenant General Telegin and Air Marshal Novikov. Zhukov himself was a little oppressed, but not particularly touched. His authority was too great. For the victims of the last wave of repressions, for those who survived in the camps, this was the happiest day of the year. The “leader” died, and with him the camps for political prisoners went down in history.

Thaw

In 1956, Khrushchev debunked Stalin's personality cult. At the top of the party he was supported. After all, for many years, even the most prominent political figure could at any moment find himself in disgrace, which means he could be shot or sent to a camp. During the existence of the USSR, the Thaw years were marked by a softening of the totalitarian regime. People went to bed and were not afraid that state security officers would wake them up in the middle of the night and take them to the Lubyanka, where they would have to confess to espionage, attempting to assassinate Stalin and other fictitious crimes. But denunciations and provocations still took place.

During the Thaw years, the word “chekist” had a pronounced negative connotation. In fact, distrust of the intelligence services arose much earlier, back in the thirties. But the term “chekist” lost official approval after a report made by Khrushchev in 1956.

The era of stagnation

This is not a historical term, but a propaganda and literary cliche. It appeared after Gorbachev’s speech, in which he noted the emergence of stagnation in the economy and social life. The era of stagnation conventionally begins with Brezhnev coming to power and ends with the beginning of perestroika. One of the main problems of this period was the increasing commodity shortage. In the world of culture, censorship rules. During the years of stagnation in the USSR, the first terrorist attacks occurred. During this period there were several high-profile cases of hijacking passenger aircraft.

Afghan war

In 1979, a war began that lasted ten years. Over these years, more than thirteen thousand Soviet soldiers died. But these data were made public only in 1989. The biggest losses occurred in 1984. Soviet dissidents actively opposed the Afghan war. Andrei Sakharov was sent into exile for his pacifist speeches. Burials of zinc coffins were a secret matter. At least until 1987. It was impossible to indicate on a soldier’s grave that he died in Afghanistan. The official end date of the war is February 15, 1989.

The last years of the USSR (1985-1991)

This period in the history of the Soviet Union is called perestroika. The last years of the existence of the USSR (1985-1991) can be briefly characterized as follows: a sharp change in ideology, political and economic life.

In May 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev, who by that time had held the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for just over two months, uttered a significant phrase: “It’s time for all of us, comrades, to rebuild.” Hence the term. The media actively started talking about perestroika, and a dangerous desire for change arose in the minds of ordinary citizens. Historians divide the last years of the existence of the USSR into four stages:

1. 1985-1987. The beginning of reform of the economic system.
2. 1987-1989. An attempt to rebuild the system in the spirit of socialism.
3. 1989-1991. Destabilization of the situation in the country.
4. September-December 1991. The end of perestroika, the collapse of the USSR.

The listing of events that took place from 1989 to 1991 will be a chronicle of the collapse of the USSR.

Accelerating socio-economic development

Gorbachev announced the need to reform the system at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in April 1985. This meant the active use of scientific and technological progress and a change in the planning procedure. There has not yet been any talk about democratization, openness and the socialist market. Although today the term “perestroika” is associated with freedom of speech, which was first discussed several years before the collapse of the USSR.

The years of Gorbachev's rule, especially at the first stage, were marked by the hopes of Soviet citizens for change, for long-awaited changes for the better. However, gradually the inhabitants of the huge country began to become disillusioned with the politician who was destined to become the last secretary general. The anti-alcohol campaign drew particular criticism.

No alcohol law

History shows that attempts to wean the citizens of our country from drinking alcohol do not bear any fruit. The first anti-alcohol campaign was carried out by the Bolsheviks back in 1917. A second attempt was made eight years later. They tried to fight drunkenness and alcoholism in the early seventies, and in a very unique way: they banned the production of alcoholic beverages, but expanded the production of wine.

The alcohol campaign of the eighties was called "Gorbachev's", although the initiators were Ligachev and Solomentsev. This time the authorities resolved the issue of drunkenness more radically. The production of alcoholic beverages was significantly reduced, a huge number of stores were closed, and vodka prices were raised more than once. But Soviet citizens did not give up so easily. Some purchased alcohol at an inflated price. Others were preparing drinks according to dubious recipes (V. Erofeev spoke about this method of fighting Prohibition in his book “Moscow - Petushki”), and still others used the simplest method, i.e. they drank cologne, which could be purchased at any department store

Meanwhile, Gorbachev's popularity was falling. Not only due to the ban on alcoholic beverages. He was verbose, but his speeches had little substance. He came to every official meeting with his wife, who caused particular irritation among the Soviet people. Finally, perestroika did not bring long-awaited changes to the lives of Soviet citizens.

Democratic socialism

By the end of 1986, Gorbachev and his assistants realized that the situation in the country could not be changed so easily. And they decided to reform the system in a different direction, namely in the spirit of democratic socialism. This decision was facilitated by a blow to the economy caused by many factors, including the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, in certain regions of the Soviet Union, separatist sentiments began to appear, and interethnic clashes broke out.

Destabilization in the country

In what year did the USSR end its existence? In 1991. At the final stage of “perestroika” there was a sharp destabilization of the situation. Economic difficulties have developed into a large-scale crisis. There was a catastrophic collapse in the living standards of Soviet citizens. They learned about what unemployment is. The shelves in the stores were empty, and if something suddenly appeared on them, endless queues immediately formed. Irritation and dissatisfaction with the authorities grew among the masses.

Collapse of the USSR

In what year the Soviet Union ceased to exist, we figured it out. The official date is December 26, 1991. On this day, Mikhail Gorbachev announced that he would cease his activities as president. With the collapse of the huge state, 15 former republics of the USSR gained independence. There are many reasons that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is an economic crisis, and the degradation of power elites, and national conflicts, and even an anti-alcohol campaign.

Let's summarize. Above are the main events that took place during the existence of the USSR. From what year to what year was this state present on the world map? From 1922 to 1991. The collapse of the USSR was perceived differently by the population. Some rejoiced at the abolition of censorship and the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activity. Some people were shocked by the events that happened in 1991. After all, it was a tragic collapse of the ideals on which more than one generation grew up.

The state unification of Soviet socialist republics played an important role in successful socialist construction. The voluntary unification of the sovereign Soviet republics into a single union multinational socialist state was dictated by the course of their political, economic and cultural development and was prepared practically as a result of the implementation of Lenin’s national policy. The joint struggle of the peoples of the Soviet republics against external and internal enemies showed that the contractual relations between them, established in the first years of Soviet power, were not enough to restore the economy and further socialist construction, in order to defend their state independence and independence. It was possible to successfully develop the national economy only if all Soviet republics were united into a single economic whole. It was also of great importance that an economic division of labor and interdependence had historically developed between different regions of the country. This led to mutual assistance and close economic ties. The threat of military intervention from the imperialist states demanded unity in foreign policy and strengthening the country's defense capability.

The union cooperation of the republics was especially important for those non-Russian peoples who had to go through the path from pre-capitalist forms of economy to socialism. The formation of the USSR resulted from the presence of a socialist structure in the national economy and from the very nature of Soviet power, international in its essence.

In 1922, a mass movement of workers for unification into a single union state began in all republics. In March 1922 it was proclaimed Transcaucasian Federation, which took shape in December 1922 Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR). The question of the forms of unification of the republics was developed and discussed in the Central Committee of the party. The idea of ​​autonomization, i.e., the entry of independent Soviet republics into the RSFSR on the rights of autonomy, put forward by I. V. Stalin (from April 1922 General Secretary of the Party Central Committee) and supported by some other party workers, was rejected by Lenin, then by the October Plenum (1922) of the Central Committee RCP (b).
Lenin developed a fundamentally different form of unification of independent republics. He proposed the creation of a new state entity - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, into which all Soviet republics would enter along with RSFSR on equal terms. The Congresses of Soviets of the Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, and ZSFSR, as well as the 10th All-Russian Congress of Soviets, held in December 1922, recognized the timely unification of the Soviet republics into a single union state. On December 30, 1922, the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR opened in Moscow, which approved the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR. It formulated the basic principles of the unification of the republics: equality and voluntariness of their entry into the USSR, the right to freely secede from the Union and access to the Union for new Soviet socialist republics. The Congress reviewed and approved the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. Initially, the USSR included: RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, ZSFSR. The formation of the USSR was a triumph of Lenin's national policy and had world-historical significance. It became possible thanks to the victory of the October Revolution, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the creation of a socialist structure in the economy. The 1st Congress of Soviets elected the supreme authority of the USSR - the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (chairmen: M. I. Kalinin, G. I. Petrovsky, N. N. Narimanov and A. G. Chervyakov). At the 2nd session of the Central Executive Committee, the government of the USSR was formed - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, headed by Lenin.

The pooling of material and labor resources in a single state was of great importance for successful socialist construction. Lenin, speaking in November 1922 at the plenum of the Moscow Soviet and summing up the five years of Soviet power, expressed confidence that “... from NEP Russia there will be a socialist Russia” (ibid., p. 309).

In the autumn of the same year, Lenin fell seriously ill. While ill, he wrote a number of important letters and articles: “Letter to the Congress”, “On giving legislative functions to the State Planning Committee”, “On the issue of nationalities or “autonomization””, “Pages from the diary”, “On cooperation”, “On our revolution”, “How can we reorganize the Rabkrin”, “Less is better”. In these works, Lenin summed up the development of Soviet society and indicated specific ways to build socialism: industrialization of the country, cooperation of peasant farms (collectivization), carrying out a cultural revolution, strengthening the socialist state and its armed forces. Lenin's instructions, made in his last articles and letters, formed the basis for the decisions of the 12th Party Congress (April 1923) and all subsequent policies of the party and government. Having summed up the results of the NEP for 2 years, the congress outlined ways to implement the new economic policy. The decisions of the congress on the national question contained a detailed program of struggle for the elimination of economic and cultural inequality between peoples inherited from the past.

Despite significant successes in restoring the national economy, in 1923 the country was still experiencing serious difficulties. There were about 1 million unemployed. In the hands of private capital there were up to 4 thousand small and medium-sized enterprises in the light and food industries, 3/4 of retail and about half of wholesale and retail trade. Nepmen in the city, kulaks in the countryside, remnants of the defeated Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik parties and other hostile forces fought against Soviet power. Economic difficulties were aggravated by the crisis in the sales of industrial goods, caused by differences in the pace of recovery of industry and agriculture, deficiencies in planning, and violations of price policies by industrial and trade bodies. Prices for industrial goods are high, and prices for agricultural products are extremely low. Discrepancies in prices (the so-called scissors) could lead to a narrowing of the base of industrial production, undermining industry, and weakening the alliance of the working class and the peasantry. Measures were taken to eliminate the difficulties that arose and eliminate the sales crisis: prices for industrial goods were reduced, and a monetary reform was successfully implemented (1922-24), which led to the establishment of a hard currency.

Taking advantage of the acute internal as well as the current international situation and Lenin’s illness, the Trotskyists launched new attacks on the party. They denigrated the work of the Party Central Committee, demanded freedom of factions and groupings, opposed lowering prices for goods, proposed increasing taxes on peasants, closing unprofitable enterprises (which were of great economic importance), and increasing the import of industrial products from abroad. The 13th Party Conference (January 1924), condemning the Trotskyists, stated that “... in the person of the current opposition we have before us not only an attempt to revise Bolshevism, not only a direct departure from Leninism, but also a clearly expressed petty-bourgeois deviation” (“CPSU in resolutions...", 8th ed., vol. 2, 1970, p. 511).

On January 31, 1924, the 2nd Congress of Soviets of the USSR approved the first Constitution of the USSR. It was based on the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR, adopted by the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviets in 1922. The Central Executive Committee had 2 equal chambers: the Union Council and the Council of Nationalities. A single union citizenship was established: a citizen of each republic is a citizen of the USSR. The Constitution provided the working people of the USSR with broad democratic rights and freedoms and active participation in government. But at that time, in an atmosphere of intense class struggle, the Soviet government was forced to deprive class-alien elements of voting rights: kulaks, merchants, ministers of religious cults, former police and gendarmerie employees, etc. The Constitution of the USSR had enormous international and domestic significance. In accordance with its text, the constitutions of the union republics were developed and approved.

Nation-state building continued. The process of state structure of the Russian Federation was completed (by 1925 it included, in addition to the provinces, 9 autonomous republics and 15 autonomous regions). In 1924, the BSSR transferred from the RSFSR a number of districts of the Smolensk, Vitebsk and Gomel provinces, populated mainly by Belarusians, as a result of which the territory of the BSSR more than doubled, and the population almost tripled. The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1924-25, the national-state delimitation of the Soviet republics of Central Asia was carried out, as a result of which the peoples of Central Asia received the opportunity to create sovereign national states. The Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR were formed from the regions of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Bukhara and Khorezm republics inhabited by Uzbeks and Turkmen. From the regions of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Bukhara Republic, inhabited by Tajiks, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, which became part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Areas inhabited by Kazakhs, previously part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, were reunited with the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. From the areas inhabited by the Kyrgyz, the Kyrgyz Autonomous Okrug was formed as part of the RSFSR.

The 3rd Congress of Soviets of the USSR (May 1925) admitted the newly formed union republics - the Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR - into the USSR.

Map: Education of the USSR. Development of the Union State (1922-1940). 15 republics gradually united into one powerful country, which had a very strong military and economic potential. On December 30, 1922, at the Congress of Soviets, union treaties and a declaration on the formation of the USSR were signed.

1. A month after the end of the civil war, on December 30, 1922, a new state was formed in most of the former Russian Empire - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The USSR included four republics:

• Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR);
• Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR);
• Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR);
• Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (TSFSR - federation of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan).

Officially, the USSR was formalized as a federation of equal republics. However, in reality the unification was of a formal nature:

• three republics - the Ukrainian SSR, the BSSR and the ZSFSR - were artificial state formations created by the RSFSR with the help of military force (the Red Army), and were satellites of the RSFSR;
• in all four states there was one party in power - the Bolshevik party, which created the appearance of national Bolshevik parties.

In fact, the created USSR was not a union of four states, but a new form of existence of the revived Russian Empire. The transformation of the Russian Empire into the USSR was the result of Lenin's national policy.

2. For the first time, the question of the structure of the future federation arose even before the creation of the USSR - during the preparation of the draft of the first Soviet Constitution in 1918. Two approaches were put forward, around which discussions were held:

• “autonomy” plan I.V. Stalin, according to which Russia should remain a single and indivisible state, but in which willing peoples would be allowed to create autonomies within Russia;
• federation plan V.I. Lenin, according to which all nations who wish should gain independence and statehood, and then unite with Russia in an equal federation, where Russia will be one of the equal union republics.

3. Initially, I.V.’s plan prevailed. Stalin. As a result, the RSFSR was built according to Stalin's plan, and the USSR - according to Lenin's plan.

After the adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 within Russia in accordance with the plan of I.V. Stalin, the first People's Commissar for Nationalities, began the creation of national autonomies:

• in 1918, the first autonomy was created - the Labor Commune of the Volga Germans;
• then in 1920 - the Bashkir ASSR (Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic);
• Tatar ASSR;
• Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic;
• Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (in 1925, Kyrgyzstan was renamed Kazakhstan, and another autonomy began to be called Kyrgyzstan)
• other autonomies (Yakutia, Buryatia, Mordovia, Udmurtia, etc.). The USSR was already built on a different principle - as a federation of equal union republics (states), where republics can secede from the USSR and have the same status with another republic - the RSFSR (according to V.I. Lenin's plan). However, since the first union republics (Ukrainian SSR, BSSR and ZSFSR) were under the complete control of the Bolshevik Party and the RSFSR, at that time these norms were a formality - it was a seemingly democratic and attractive legal shell for future members of an essentially centralized state. From the point of view of the expectation of a world revolution, this was the only correct form of unification. Future new members of the world socialist federation would hardly have joined Russia, while the form of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics already in its name implied the global supranational character of the new federation, which over time could unite the whole world.

4. The first Constitution of the USSR, adopted in January 1924, practically copied the structure of power in the RSFSR:

• The All-Union Congress of Soviets became the highest authority in the USSR;
• its working body between congresses is the All-Union Central Executive Committee (the All-Union Central Executive Committee - the Soviet “mini-parliament”) of the USSR;
• The supreme executive body became the Council of People's Commissars - the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the USSR;
• The USSR, just like the RSFSR earlier, was declared a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the poor peasantry.

This system of government bodies (Congress-VTsIK-Sovnarkom) was later copied in the constitutions of all union republics, which were adopted in 1925. Fundamental changes in the system of government power in the USSR occurred in 1936, when on December 5, 1936 it was adopted new, “Stalinist” Constitution of the USSR:

• such bodies of Lenin's era as the All-Union Congress of Soviets and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee were liquidated;
• instead of them, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was created, elected through direct and equal elections;
• Sovnarkom (Council of People's Commissars) remained as the highest executive body;
• all citizens of the USSR were endowed with equal rights (constitutional restrictions on the rights of the “exploiting classes” were excluded);
• the dictatorship of the proletariat and the power of the soviets were still proclaimed;
• Fundamental human rights and freedoms were declared. Major changes occurred in the composition of the federation - the USSR:
• the number of union republics began to increase;
• the previous division of the TSFSR into the Georgian SSR, the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijani USSR was constitutionally consolidated;
• the separation of Central Asia from the territory of the RSFSR, previously carried out by the will of the Union and Russian leadership in one person, was constitutionally enshrined;
• the creation in this territory of five Central Asian union republics is constitutionally enshrined - the Kazakh SSR, the Kirghiz SSR, the Uzbek SSR, the Tajik SSR, the Turkmen SSR (formerly former autonomies of the RSFSR);
• As a result, the number of union republics increased to 11.

In all 11 republics, both old and new, standard Constitutions were adopted in 1937, largely repeating the 1936 Constitution of the USSR. Autonomous republics, autonomous regions and autonomous (initially national) districts were created in the union republics. Almost all the peoples of the USSR formally received statehood at various levels (from a union republic (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, etc.) to an autonomous region (Chukchi, Koryaks, Evenks, etc. Formally, a Jewish autonomous region was artificially created in Siberia, although the bulk of Jews did not live in it). Despite the external democracy of the Constitution of 1936 (which the Soviet press called “the most democratic Constitution in the world”), many of its provisions were fictitious. Under the conditions of Stalin’s totalitarian dictatorship and repression, the observance of human rights was entirely in the hands of the state. The role of the Supreme Council and the “national elections” of 1937, held under the control of the party, was a formality; the sovereignty of the union republics was also nominal.

5. The following major changes in the composition of the Soviet federation occurred in 1939 - 1940:

• the lands of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, torn away from Poland in 1939, were included in the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR, respectively;
• in 1940, three new republics became part of the USSR - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia;
• in 1940, the Moldavian SSR was created on the territory of Bessarabia, separated from Romania and transferred to the USSR;
• in 1940, on a small territory of Finland, which passed to the USSR after the Soviet-Finnish war, and Karelia, an autonomy of the RSFSR, a union republic was also created - the Karelo-Finnish SSR.

In all the new republics, following the model of the USSR Constitution of 1936, new, “Soviet” constitutions were adopted, and government bodies were formed according to the Soviet model (formal Supreme Soviets and Councils of People's Commissars, subordinate to the center).

Thus, at the start of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, the USSR included 16 union republics (in 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was transformed into the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and included in the RSFSR, the union republics again became 15). When creating new union republics, many of which did not “join” the USSR, but “separated” from the territory of the RSFSR, borders were drawn artificially, without taking into account the national composition. Thus, Kazakhstan included significant (northern) territories populated by the ethnic Russian population; Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), populated predominantly by Armenians, was transferred to Azerbaijan; The Moldavian SSR included territories inhabited by Russian and Ukrainian populations (Transnistria), etc. 6. Last changes within the USSR occur during and after the end of the Great Patriotic War:

• On August 1, 1944, not without pressure from the USSR, the independent state of Tuva, a small Buddhist state located next to Mongolia, joined the USSR;
• contrary to general rule, the newly admitted Republic of Tuva did not acquire the status of a union - it was included not in the USSR (like the newly admitted states), but in the RSFSR as the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic;
• in 1945, the northern part of the former East Prussia, which became part of the USSR following the war, acquired the status of the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR; its capital Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad;
• the Transcarpathian region, which separated from Czechoslovakia, became part of the Ukrainian SSR, and the Chernivtsi region, which was torn away from Romania, also became part of the Ukrainian SSR;
• in the east, the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands passed to the USSR from Japan, which became the Sakhalin region of the RSFSR.

After this, the process of registering the territory of the USSR was completed. The territory of the USSR did not expand further, despite the existing opportunities.

The Soviet Union gave Port Arthur to China, which was returned to the USSR after the Second World War, and prevented Mongolia and Bulgaria from joining the USSR as two new union republics, which the leadership of these countries sought to achieve (1973).

In 1977, a new Constitution of the USSR was adopted:

• in fact, it was not a new document, an improved edition of the “Stalinist” Constitution of the USSR of 1936;
• The cardinal difference between this Constitution and the previous one was the rejection of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the proclamation of the USSR as a state of the entire people;
• the article on the leading role of the Communist Party was moved to the very beginning of the Constitution (Article 6);
• confirmed the previous system of government bodies - the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Presidium of the Supreme Council, the Council of Ministers of the USSR;
• confirmed the existing national-state structure of the USSR - 15 union republics, autonomous republics, regions, districts within the union republics, regions and territories;
• Also in the 1977 Constitution, the article on the right of a union republic to secede from the USSR was retained, although at that time this article was already a complete formality. The actual leader of the USSR was the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. In the regions, direct leadership (including all other bodies) was exercised by the first secretaries of the regional committees of the CPSU. Despite all the enormous power of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and the first secretaries of regional committees, these positions were not provided for in the Constitution. In the USSR, a situation arose where unconstitutional bodies were in charge of constitutional ones. Starting from the post-war period, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, the USSR pursued a policy of erasing national differences. All residents of the USSR in the West began to be perceived as “Russians”. L.I. Brezhnev and Soviet ideologists declared that a new community had emerged in the USSR - the “Soviet people.”

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE USSR

February Revolution
“The decay of imperial Russia began a long time ago. By the time of the revolution, the old regime had completely disintegrated, was exhausted and exhausted. The war completed the process of decomposition. It cannot even be said that the February Revolution overthrew the monarchy in Russia, the monarchy itself fell, no one defended it... Bolshevism, long prepared by Lenin, turned out to be the only force that, on the one hand, could complete the decomposition of the old and, on the other hand, organize the new.” (Nikolai Berdyaev).
October Revolution
After the February Revolution of 1917, the new revolutionary Provisional Government was unable to restore order in the country, which led to increasing political chaos, as a result of which power in Russia was seized by the Bolshevik Party under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, in alliance with the left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists (October Revolution of 1917). The Councils of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies were proclaimed the supreme body of power. Executive power was exercised by the people's commissars. The reforms of the Soviet government consisted mainly of ending the war (Decree on Peace) and transferring landowners' lands to peasants (Decree on Land).
Civil War
Overclocking Constituent Assembly and the split in the revolutionary movement led to a civil war in which opponents of the Bolsheviks (the "Whites") fought against their supporters (the "Reds") during 1918-1922. Without receiving widespread support, the white movement lost the war. The political power of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was established in the country, gradually merging with the centralized state apparatus.
During the revolution and civil war, the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were conquered by Poland, which had restored its independence. Bessarabia was annexed by Romania. The Kars region was conquered by Turkey. Independent states (Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) were formed on the territories of the principalities of Finland, Kovno, Vilna, Suwalki, Livonia, Estland and Courland provinces that were previously part of Russia.
Education USSR
In the Bolshevik Party there were different points of view on the issue of the principles of building a single multinational state.
The Politburo Commission of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) put forward a unification plan prepared by J.V. Stalin. V.I. Lenin subjected the autonomization plan to sharp criticism. He believed that the Soviet republics should unite into a single state union on the basis of equality and preservation of their sovereign rights. Each republic must receive the right to freely secede from the union. The Central Committee of the RCP(b) approved the Leninist principles of the national state structure.
On December 30, 1922, the RSFSR, together with Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR), Belarus (BSSR) and the Transcaucasian republics (ZSFSR) formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Each of the republics was considered independent (formally).
The struggle for power in the party
All government bodies in the USSR were controlled by the Communist Party (until 1925 it was called the RCP (b), in 1925-1952 - the CPSU (b), from 1952 - the CPSU). The highest body of the party was the Central Committee (Central Committee). The permanent bodies of the Central Committee were the Politburo (since 1952 - the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee), the Organizing Bureau (existed until 1952) and the Secretariat. The most important of these was the Politburo. His decisions were perceived as binding on all party and government bodies.
In this regard, the question of power in the country was reduced to the question of control over the Politburo. All members of the Politburo were formally equal, but until 1924 the most authoritative of them was V.I. Lenin, who chaired Politburo meetings. However, from 1922 until his death in 1924, Lenin was seriously ill and, as a rule, could not take part in the work of the Politburo.
At the end of 1922, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), if you do not take into account the sick V.I. Lenin, consisted of 6 people - I.V. Stalin, L.D. Trotsky, G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Kamenev, A. I. Rykov and M. P. Tomsky. From 1922 to December 1925, meetings of the Politburo were usually chaired by L. B. Kamenev. From 1925 to 1929, control over the Politburo was gradually concentrated in the hands of I.V. Stalin, who from 1922 to 1934 was the General Secretary of the Party Central Committee.
Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev organized a “troika” based on opposition to Trotsky, whom they had a negative attitude towards since the Civil War (frictions between Trotsky and Stalin began over the defense of Tsaritsyn and between Trotsky and Zinoviev over the defense of Petrograd, Kamenev supported almost everything Zinoviev). Tomsky, being the leader of the trade unions, had a negative attitude towards Trotsky since the time of the so-called. "discussions about trade unions".
Trotsky began to resist. In October 1923, he sent a letter to the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission (Central Control Commission) demanding strengthening of democracy in the party. At the same time, his supporters sent the so-called Politburo. "Statement of the 46." The Troika then showed its power, mainly using the resources of the Central Committee apparatus, led by Stalin (the Central Committee apparatus could influence the selection of candidates for delegates to party congresses and conferences). At the XIII Conference of the RCP(b), Trotsky's supporters were condemned. Stalin's influence increased greatly.
On January 21, 1924, Lenin died. The Troika united with Bukharin, A.I. Rykov, Tomsky and V.V. Kuibyshev, forming the so-called Politburo (which included Rykov as a member and Kuibyshev as a candidate member). "seven". Later, at the August plenum of 1924, this “seven” even became an official body, albeit secret and extra-statutory.
The XIII Congress of the RCP (b) turned out to be difficult for Stalin. Before the start of the congress, Lenin's widow N.K. Krupskaya handed over a “Letter to the Congress.” It was announced at a meeting of the Council of Elders (a non-statutory body consisting of members of the Central Committee and leaders of local party organizations). Stalin announced his resignation for the first time at this meeting. Kamenev proposed to resolve the issue by voting. The majority was in favor of leaving Stalin as General Secretary; only Trotsky's supporters voted against. Then a proposal was voted on that the document should be read out at closed meetings of individual delegations, while no one had the right to take notes and the “Testament” could not be referenced at congress meetings. Thus, the “Letter to the Congress” was not even mentioned in the materials of the congress. It was first announced by N. S. Khrushchev at the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956. Later, this fact was used by the opposition to criticize Stalin and the party (it was argued that the Central Committee “hidden” Lenin’s “testament”). Stalin himself (in connection with this letter, who several times raised the question of his resignation before the plenum of the Central Committee) rejected these accusations. Just two weeks after the congress, where Stalin's future victims Zinoviev and Kamenev used all their influence to keep him in office, Stalin opened fire on his own allies. First, he took advantage of a typo (“NEPman” instead of “NEP” in Kamenev’s quotation from Lenin:
...read in the newspaper the report of one of the comrades at the XIII Congress (Kamenev, it seems), where it is written in black and white that the next slogan of our party is supposedly the transformation of “Nepman Russia” into socialist Russia. Moreover, what is even worse, this strange slogan is attributed to none other than Lenin himself.
In the same report, Stalin accused Zinoviev, without naming him, of the principle of “dictatorship of the party,” put forward at the XII Congress, and this thesis was recorded in the resolution of the congress and Stalin himself voted for it. Stalin’s main allies in the “seven” were Bukharin and Rykov.
A new split emerged in the Politburo in October 1925, when Zinoviev, Kamenev, G. Ya. Sokolnikov and Krupskaya presented a document that criticized the party line from a “left” point of view. (Zinoviev led the Leningrad communists, Kamenev led the Moscow ones, and among the working class of large cities, which lived worse than before the First World War, there was strong dissatisfaction with low wages and rising prices for agricultural products, which led to the demand for pressure on the peasantry and especially on the kulaks ). The Seven broke up. At that moment, Stalin began to unite with the “right” Bukharin-Rykov-Tomsky, who expressed the interests primarily of the peasantry. In the internal party struggle that began between the “right” and “left,” he provided them with the forces of the party apparatus, and they (namely Bukharin) acted as theorists. The “new opposition” of Zinoviev and Kamenev was condemned at the XIV Congress.
By that time, the theory of the victory of socialism in one country had emerged. This view was developed by Stalin in the brochure “On Questions of Leninism” (1926) and Bukharin. They divided the question of the victory of socialism into two parts - the question of the complete victory of socialism, that is, the possibility of building socialism and the complete impossibility of restoring capitalism by internal forces, and the question of the final victory, that is, the impossibility of restoration due to the intervention of Western powers, which would only be excluded by establishing a revolution in the West.
Trotsky, who did not believe in socialism in one country, joined Zinoviev and Kamenev. The so-called "United Opposition". It was finally defeated after a demonstration organized by Trotsky’s supporters on November 7, 1927 in Leningrad.
In 1929, Stalin also got rid of his new comrades: Bukharin, the chairman of the Comintern, Rykov, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, and Tomsky, the leader of the trade unions. Thus, Stalin excluded from the political struggle all those who, in his opinion, could challenge his leadership in the country, so we can talk about the onset of Stalin’s dictatorship during this period.
New Economic Policy
In 1922-1929, the state implemented the New Economic Policy (NEP), the economy became multi-structured. After Lenin's death, the internal political struggle intensified. Joseph Stalin comes to power, establishing his personal dictatorship and destroying all his political rivals.
With the transition to the NEP, impetus was given to the development of entrepreneurship. However, freedom of enterprise was allowed only to a certain extent. In industry, private entrepreneurs were mainly limited to the production of consumer goods, the extraction and processing of certain types of raw materials, and the manufacture of simple tools; in trade - mediation between small producers and the sale of private industry goods; in transport - organizing local transportation of small consignments.
In order to prevent the concentration of private capital, the state used such a tool as taxes. In the 1924/1925 business year, taxes absorbed from 35 to 52% of the total income of private owners. There were few medium and large private industrial enterprises in the early years of NEP. In 1923/1924, as part of the entire qualified industry (that is, industrial enterprises with the number of workers at least 16 with a mechanical engine and at least 30 without an engine), private enterprises provided only 4.3% of production.
The overwhelming majority of the country's population were peasants. They suffered from imbalances in the ratio of state-regulated prices for industrial and agricultural goods (“price scissors”). Peasants, despite the great need for industrial goods, could not purchase them because prices were too high. Thus, before the war, a peasant, in order to pay the cost of a plow, had to sell 6 pounds of wheat, and in 1923 - 24 pounds; the cost of a hay mower over the same period increased from 125 pounds of grain to 544. In 1923, due to a decrease in procurement prices for the most important grain crops and an excessive increase in selling prices for industrial goods, difficulties arose with the sale of industrial goods.
By February 1924, it became clear that the peasants refused to hand over grain to the state for sovznaks. On February 2, 1924, the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR decided to introduce into circulation a stable currency of the all-Union type. The decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated February 5, 1924 announced the release of state treasury notes of the USSR. On February 14, 1924, the printing of Sovznak ceased, and on March 25, their release into circulation.
Industrialization
The XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party at the end of 1925 proclaimed a course towards industrialization of the country. Since 1926, versions of the first five-year plan began to be developed in the USSR. People's Commissar of Finance of the USSR G. Ya. Sokolnikov and other specialists from his department (with whom economists N. D. Kondratyev and N. P. Makarov agreed) believed that the main task was to develop agriculture to the highest level. In their opinion, only on the basis of a strengthened and “prosperous” agriculture capable of sufficiently feeding the population, conditions for the expansion of industry can appear.
One of the plans, developed by specialists of the USSR State Planning Committee, provided for the development of all industries producing consumer goods and those means of production, the need for which was massive. Economists of this direction argued that everywhere in the world intensive industrial development began precisely with these industries.
Industrialization, which due to obvious need was started with the creation of basic branches of heavy industry, it could not yet provide the market with the goods necessary for the village. The supply of the city through normal trade was disrupted; the tax in kind was replaced by a cash tax in 1924. A vicious circle arose: to restore the balance it was necessary to accelerate industrialization, for this it was necessary to increase the influx of food, export products and labor from the countryside, and for this it was necessary to increase the production of bread, increase its marketability, create in the countryside a need for heavy industry products (machines ). The situation was complicated by the destruction during the revolution of the basis of commercial grain production in pre-revolutionary Russia - large landowner farms, and a project was needed to create something to replace them.
The industrialization policy continued by Stalin required large amounts of funds and equipment obtained from the export of wheat and other goods abroad. Large plans were established for collective farms to deliver agricultural products to the state. The sharp drop in the standard of living of peasants and the famine of 1932-33, according to historians, were the result of these grain procurement campaigns.
The cardinal issue is the choice of industrialization method. The discussion about this was difficult and long, and its outcome predetermined the character of the state and society. Not having, unlike Russia at the beginning of the century, foreign loans as an important source of funds, the USSR could industrialize only at the expense of internal resources. An influential group (Politburo member N.I. Bukharin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars A.I. Rykov and Chairman of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions M.P. Tomsky) defended the “sparing” option of gradual accumulation of funds through the continuation of the NEP. L. D. Trotsky - forced version. J.V. Stalin initially supported Bukharin’s point of view, but after Trotsky was expelled from the party’s Central Committee at the end of 1927, he changed his position to the diametrically opposite one. This led to a decisive victory for the supporters of forced industrialization.
For the years 1928-1940, according to CIA estimates, the average annual growth of the gross national product in the USSR was 6.1%, which was inferior to Japan, was comparable to the corresponding figure in Germany and was significantly higher than the growth in the most developed capitalist countries experiencing the “Great Depression” . As a result of industrialization, the USSR took first place in terms of industrial production in Europe and second in the world, overtaking England, Germany, France and second only to the United States. The USSR's share in world industrial production reached almost 10%. A particularly sharp leap was achieved in the development of metallurgy, energy, machine tool building, and the chemical industry. In fact, a whole series of new industries arose: aluminum, aviation, automobile industries, bearing production, tractor and tank construction. One of the most important results of industrialization was overcoming technical backwardness and establishing the economic independence of the USSR.
The question of how much these achievements contributed to victory in the Great Patriotic War remains a subject of debate [source not specified 669 days. During Soviet times, the view was accepted that industrialization and pre-war rearmament played a decisive role. Critics point out that by the beginning of the winter of 1941, the territory on which 42% of the population of the USSR lived before the war was occupied, 63% of coal was mined, 68% of cast iron was smelted, etc. As V. Lelchuk writes, “the victory was cannot be forged with the help of the powerful potential that was created during the years of accelerated industrialization.” However, the numbers speak for themselves. Despite the fact that in 1943 the USSR produced only 8.5 million tons of steel (compared to 18.3 million tons in 1940), while the German industry that year smelted more than 35 million tons (including those captured in Europe metallurgical plants), despite the colossal damage from the German invasion, the USSR industry was able to produce much more weapons than the German industry. in 1942, the USSR surpassed Germany in the production of tanks by 3.9 times, combat aircraft by 1.9 times, guns of all types by 3.1 times. At the same time, the organization and technology of production quickly improved: in 1944, the cost of all types of military products was halved compared to 1940. Record military production was achieved due to the fact that all new industry had a dual purpose. The industrial raw material base was prudently located beyond the Urals and Siberia, while the occupied territories were predominantly pre-revolutionary industry. The evacuation of industry to the Urals, Volga region, Siberia and Central Asia played a significant role. During the first three months of the war alone, 1,360 large (mostly military) enterprises were relocated.
Despite rapid urbanization starting in 1928, by the end of Stalin's life the majority of the population still lived in rural areas, far from large industrial centers. On the other hand, one of the results of industrialization was the formation of a party and labor elite. Taking these circumstances into account, the change in living standards during 1928-1952. characterized by the following features:
The average standard of living throughout the country underwent significant fluctuations (especially associated with the first Five-Year Plan and the war), but in 1938 and 1952 it was higher or almost the same as in 1928.
The greatest increase in living standards was among the party and labor elite.
According to various estimates, the standard of living of the vast majority of rural residents (and thus the majority of the country's population) has not improved or has deteriorated significantly.
Stalin's methods of industrialization, collectivization in the countryside, and the elimination of the private trading system led to a significant decrease in the consumption fund and, as a consequence, the standard of living throughout the country. The rapid growth of the urban population has led to a deterioration in the housing situation; a period of “densification” passed again; workers arriving from the villages were housed in barracks. By the end of 1929, the card system was extended to almost all food products, and then to industrial products. However, even with cards it was impossible to obtain the necessary rations, and in 1931 additional “warrants” were introduced. It was impossible to buy food without standing in huge lines.
According to data from the Smolensk party archive, in 1929 in Smolensk a worker received 600 g of bread per day, family members - 300, fat - from 200 g to a liter of vegetable oil per month, 1 kilogram of sugar per month; a worker received 30-36 meters of calico per year. Subsequently, the situation (until 1935) only worsened. The GPU noted acute discontent among the workers.
Collectivization
From the beginning of the 1930s, collectivization of agriculture was carried out - the unification of all peasant farms into centralized collective farms. To a large extent, the elimination of land ownership rights was a consequence of the solution to the “class issue”. In addition, according to the prevailing economic views of the time, large collective farms could operate more efficiently through the use of technology and the division of labor.
Collectivization was a disaster for agriculture: according to official data, gross grain harvests decreased from 733.3 million centners in 1928 to 696.7 million centners in 1931-32. Grain yield in 1932 was 5.7 c/ha compared to 8.2 c/ha in 1913. Gross agricultural production was 124% in 1928 compared to 1913, in 1929-121%, in 1930-117%, in 1931-114%, in 1932-107%, in 1933-101% Livestock production in 1933 was 65% of the 1913 level. But at the expense of the peasants, the collection of commercial grain, which the country so needed for industrialization, increased by 20%.
After the disruption of grain procurements in 1927, when it was necessary to take emergency measures (fixed prices, closing markets and even repression), and an even more catastrophic grain procurement campaign of 1928-1929. the issue had to be resolved urgently. Extraordinary measures during procurement in 1929, already perceived as something completely abnormal, caused about 1,300 riots. In 1929, bread cards were introduced in all cities (in 1928 - in some cities).
The path to creating farming through the stratification of the peasantry was incompatible with the Soviet project for ideological reasons. A course was set for collectivization. This also implied the liquidation of the kulaks “as a class.”
Cards for bread, cereals and pasta were abolished from January 1, 1935, and for other (including non-food) goods from January 1, 1936. This was accompanied by an increase in wages in the industrial sector and an even greater increase in state ration prices for all types of goods. Commenting on the abolition of cards, Stalin uttered what later became a catchphrase: “Life has become better, life has become more fun.”
Overall, per capita consumption increased by 22% between 1928 and 1938. However, this growth was greatest among the party and labor elite group and did not affect the vast majority of the rural population, or more than half of the country's population.
Terror and repression
In the 1920s, political repression continued against the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, who did not renounce their beliefs. Former nobles were also subjected to repression for real and false accusations.
After the start of forced collectivization of agriculture and accelerated industrialization in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the establishment, according to some historians, of Stalin's dictatorship and the completion of the creation of an authoritarian regime in the USSR during this period, political repressions became widespread.
The repressions that continued until Stalin’s death reached particular severity during the period of the “Great Terror” of 1937-1938, also called the “Yezhovshchina.” During this period, hundreds of thousands of people were shot and sent to Gulag camps on false charges of committing political crimes.
Foreign policy of the USSR in the 1930s
After Hitler came to power, Stalin sharply changed traditional Soviet policy: if previously it was aimed at an alliance with Germany against the Versailles system, and through the Comintern - at fighting the Social Democrats as the main enemy (the theory of “social fascism” is Stalin’s personal attitude ), now it consisted of creating a system of “collective security” within the USSR and the former Entente countries against Germany and an alliance of communists with all left forces against fascism (the “popular front” tactics). France and England were afraid of the USSR and hoped to “appease” Hitler, which was manifested in the history of the “Munich Agreement” and subsequently in the failure of negotiations between the USSR and England and France on military cooperation against Germany. Immediately after Munich, in the fall of 1938, Stalin made hints towards Germany about the desirability of improving mutual relations in terms of trade. On October 1, 1938, Poland, in an ultimatum, demanded that the Czech Republic transfer to it the Cieszyn region, the subject of territorial disputes between it and Czechoslovakia in 1918-1920. And in March 1939, Germany occupied the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. On March 10, 1939, Stalin made a report at the XVIII Party Congress, in which he formulated the goals of Soviet policy as follows:
"1. Continue to pursue a policy of peace and strengthening business ties with all countries.
2. ...Do not allow war provocateurs, who are accustomed to raking in the heat with the hands of others, to drag our country into conflicts.”
This was noted by the German embassy as a hint of Moscow's reluctance to act as allies of England and France. In May, Litvinov, a Jew and an ardent supporter of the “collective security” course, was removed from his post as head of the NKID and replaced by Molotov. The German leadership also regarded this as a favorable sign.
By that time, the international situation was sharply aggravating due to German claims against Poland; England and France this time showed their readiness to go to war with Germany, trying to attract the USSR to the alliance. In the summer of 1939, Stalin, while supporting negotiations on an alliance with England and France, simultaneously began negotiations with Germany. As historians note, Stalin's hints towards Germany intensified as relations between Germany and Poland deteriorated and strengthened between Britain, Poland and Japan. Hence the conclusion is drawn that Stalin’s policy was not so much pro-German as anti-British and anti-Polish in nature; Stalin was categorically not satisfied with the old status quo; in his own words, he did not believe in the possibility of a complete victory for Germany and the establishment of its hegemony in Europe.
On August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact was concluded between the USSR and Germany.
Foreign policy of the USSR in 1939-1940
Division of spheres of interest in Eastern Europe under the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union.
On the left is the supposed one, on the right is the actual one. Orange-brown colors depict the territories that were ceded and ceded to the USSR, blue - ceded to the Reich, purple - occupied by Germany (Government General of Warsaw and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia)
On the night of September 17, 1939, the USSR began the Polish campaign in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (including the Bialystok region), which were part of Poland, as well as the Vilna region, which, according to the secret additional protocol to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, were classified as sphere of interests of the USSR. On September 28, 1939, the USSR concluded a Treaty of Friendship and Borders with Germany, which fixed, approximately along the “Curzon Line,” “the border between mutual state interests on the territory of the former Polish state.” In October 1939, Western Ukraine became part of the Ukrainian SSR, Western Belarus became part of the BSSR, and the Vilna region was transferred to Lithuania.
At the end of September - beginning of October 1939, agreements were concluded with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which, according to the secret additional protocol to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, were included in the sphere of interests of the USSR, according to which Soviet military bases.
On October 5, 1939, the USSR also proposed to Finland, which also, according to the secret additional protocol to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, was classified in the sphere of interests of the USSR, to consider the possibility of concluding a mutual assistance pact with the USSR. Negotiations began on October 11, but Finland rejected Soviet proposals both for a pact and for the lease and exchange of territories. On November 30, 1939, the USSR began a war with Finland. This war ended on March 12, 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty, which recorded a number of territorial concessions on the part of Finland. However, the initially intended goal - the complete defeat of Finland - was not achieved, and the losses of the Soviet troops were too great in comparison with the plans, which envisaged an easy and quick victory with small forces. The prestige of the Red Army as a strong enemy was undermined. This made a strong impression on Germany in particular and pushed Hitler to the idea of ​​attacking the USSR.
In most states, as well as in the USSR before the war, they underestimated the Finnish army, and most importantly, the power of the fortifications of the “Mannerheim Line”, and believed that it could not provide serious resistance. Therefore, the “long fuss” with Finland was perceived as an indicator of the weakness and unpreparedness of the Red Army for war.
On June 14, 1940, the Soviet government presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, and on June 16 - to Latvia and Estonia. In basic terms, the meaning of the ultimatums was the same - these states were required to bring governments friendly to the USSR to power and allow additional contingents of troops into the territory of these countries. The terms were accepted. On June 15, Soviet troops entered Lithuania, and on June 17 - into Estonia and Latvia. The new governments lifted the ban on the activities of communist parties and called early parliamentary elections. The elections in all three states were won by the pro-communist Blocs (Unions) of the working people - the only electoral lists admitted to the elections. The newly elected parliaments already on July 21-22 proclaimed the creation of the Estonian SSR, Latvian SSR and Lithuanian SSR and adopted the Declaration of Entry into the USSR. On August 3-6, 1940, in accordance with the decisions, these republics were admitted to the Soviet Union.
After the start of German aggression against the USSR in the summer of 1941, the dissatisfaction of the Baltic residents with the Soviet regime became the reason for their armed attacks on Soviet troops, which contributed to the German advance towards Leningrad.
On June 26, 1940, the USSR demanded that Romania transfer Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to it. Romania agreed to this ultimatum and on June 28, 1940, Soviet troops were introduced into the territory of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. On August 2, 1940, at the VII session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Law on the formation of the union Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted. The Moldavian SSR included: the city of Chisinau, 6 of 9 districts of Bessarabia (Balti, Bendery, Kagul, Chisinau, Orhei, Soroca), as well as the city of Tiraspol and 6 of 14 districts of the former Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Grigoriopol, Dubossary, Kamensky, Rybnitsa, Slobodzeisky, Tiraspolsky). The remaining regions of the MASSR, as well as Akkerman, Izmail and Khotyn districts of Bessarabia, were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR. Northern Bukovina also became part of the Ukrainian SSR.
The Great Patriotic War
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, violating the provisions of the non-aggression treaty. The Great Patriotic War began. Initially, Germany and its allies were able to achieve great successes and capture vast territories, but were never able to capture Moscow, as a result of which the war became protracted. During the turning-point battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, Soviet troops went on the offensive and defeated the German army, victoriously ending the war in May 1945 with the capture of Berlin. In 1944, Tuva became part of the USSR, and in 1945, as a result of the war with Japan, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were annexed. During the hostilities and as a result of the occupation, the total demographic losses in the USSR amounted to 26.6 million people.
Post-war time
After the war, communist parties friendly to the USSR came to power in the countries of Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany). The US role in the world has strengthened. Relations between the USSR and the West sharply worsened. The NATO military bloc emerged, in opposition to which the Warsaw Pact organization was formed.
In 1945, under an agreement with Czechoslovakia, Transcarpathia was transferred to the USSR. Under the agreement with Poland, the Soviet-Polish border was changed and some territories (in particular, the Bialystok region) were transferred to Poland. An agreement was also concluded on the exchange of populations between Poland and the USSR: persons of Polish and Jewish nationality, former citizens pre-war Poland and those living in the USSR received the right to travel to Poland, and persons of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Ruthenian and Lithuanian nationalities living in Poland had to move to the USSR. As of October 31, 1946, about 518 thousand people moved from Poland to the USSR, and about 1,090 thousand people from the USSR to Poland. (according to other sources, 1,526 thousand people)
After the war and famine of 1946, the card system was abolished in 1947, although many goods remained in short supply, in particular, there was a famine again in 1947. In addition, on the eve of the abolition of cards, prices for ration goods were raised. This allowed in 1948-1953. repeatedly reduce prices. Price reductions somewhat improved the standard of living of Soviet people. In 1952, the cost of bread was 39% of the price at the end of 1947, milk - 72%, meat - 42%, sugar - 49%, butter - 37%. As noted at the 19th Congress of the CPSU, at the same time the price of bread increased by 28% in the USA, by 90% in England, and more than doubled in France; the cost of meat in the USA increased by 26%, in England - by 35%, in France - by 88%. If in 1948 real wages were on average 20% lower than the pre-war level, then in 1952 they already exceeded the pre-war level by 25% and almost reached the level of 1928. However, among the peasantry, real incomes even in 1952 remained at 40% below the 1928 level.
USSR in 1953-1991
In 1953, the “leader” of the USSR I.V. Stalin died. After three years of struggle for power among the leadership of the CPSU, there followed some liberalization of the country's policies and the rehabilitation of a number of victims of Stalin's terror. The Khrushchev Thaw has arrived.
Khrushchev's thaw
The starting point of the Thaw was the death of Stalin in 1953. At the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956, Nikita Khrushchev made a speech in which Stalin’s cult of personality and Stalin’s repressions were criticized. In general, Khrushchev’s course was supported at the top of the party and corresponded to its interests, since previously even the most prominent party functionaries, if they fell into disgrace, could fear for their lives. The foreign policy of the USSR proclaimed a course towards “peaceful coexistence” with the capitalist world. Khrushchev also began a rapprochement with Yugoslavia.
The era of stagnation
In 1964, N. S. Khrushchev was removed from power. Attempts at economic reform followed, but the so-called Age of Stagnation soon began. There were no more mass repressions in the USSR; thousands of those dissatisfied with the policies of the CPSU or the Soviet way of life were repressed (without applying the death penalty to them).
According to World Bank estimates, funding for education in the USSR in 1970 amounted to 7% of GDP.
Perestroika
In 1985, Gorbachev announced the beginning of perestroika. In 1989, elections of people's deputies of the USSR took place, in 1990 - elections of people's deputies of the RSFSR.
Collapse of the USSR
Attempts to reform the Soviet system led to a deepening crisis in the country. In the political arena, this crisis was expressed as a confrontation between USSR President Gorbachev and RSFSR President Yeltsin. Yeltsin actively promoted the slogan of the need for the sovereignty of the RSFSR.
The collapse of the USSR took place against the backdrop of the onset of a general economic, foreign policy and demographic crisis. In 1989, the beginning of the economic crisis in the USSR was officially announced for the first time (economic growth was replaced by decline).
A number of interethnic conflicts flare up on the territory of the USSR, the most acute of which is the Karabakh conflict; since 1988, mass pogroms of both Armenians and Azerbaijanis have occurred. In 1989, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR announced the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Azerbaijan SSR began a blockade. In April 1991, a war actually began between the two Soviet republics.
Completion of the collapse and liquidation of the power structures of the USSR
The authorities of the USSR as a subject of international law ceased to exist on December 25-26, 1991. Russia declared itself the continuator of the USSR's membership in international institutions, assumed the debts and assets of the USSR, and declared itself the owner of all property of the USSR abroad. According to data provided by the Russian Federation, at the end of 1991, the liabilities of the former Union were estimated at $93.7 billion, and assets at $110.1 billion. Vnesheconombank's deposits amounted to about $700 million. The so-called “zero option,” according to which the Russian Federation became the legal successor of the former Soviet Union in terms of external debt and assets, including foreign property, was not ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which claimed the right to dispose of the property of the USSR.
On December 25, USSR President M. S. Gorbachev announced the termination of his activities as President of the USSR “for reasons of principle,” signed a decree resigning from the powers of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces and transferred control of strategic nuclear weapons to Russian President B. Yeltsin.
On December 26, the session of the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which retained a quorum - the Council of Republics (formed by the USSR Law of September 5, 1991 N 2392-1), - from which at that time only representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were not recalled, adopted under the chairmanship of A. Alimzhanov, Declaration No. 142-N on the termination of the existence of the USSR, as well as a number of other documents (resolution on the dismissal of judges of the Supreme and Higher Arbitration Courts of the USSR and the collegium of the USSR Prosecutor's Office, resolutions on the dismissal of the Chairman of the State Bank V.V. Gerashchenko and his first deputy V.N. Kulikov. December 26, 1991 and is considered the day the USSR ceased to exist, although some institutions and organizations of the USSR (for example, the State Standard of the USSR, the State Committee for Public Education, the Committee for the Protection of the State Border) still continued to function during 1992. years, and the Committee for Constitutional Supervision of the USSR was not officially dissolved at all.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia and the “near abroad” constitute the so-called. post-Soviet space.

LEADERS OF THE USSR

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (real name Ulyanov; April 10 (22), 1870, Simbirsk - January 21, 1924, Gorki estate, Moscow province) - Russian and Soviet political and statesman, revolutionary, founder of the Bolshevik Party, one of the organizers and leaders of the October Revolution of 1917 year, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the RSFSR and the USSR. Philosopher, Marxist, publicist, founder of Marxism-Leninism, ideologist and creator of the Third (Communist) International, founder of the Soviet state. Scope of main scientific works- philosophy and economics.

Marxist theorist who creatively developed it in new historical conditions, organizer and leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the international communist movement, founder of the Soviet state.

Born April 10 (22), 1870 in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk). Father, Ilya Nikolaevich, worked his way up from a high school teacher to the director of public schools in the Samara province, and received the title of nobility (died in 1886). Mother, Maria Alexandrovna Blank, the daughter of a doctor, received only home education, but could speak several foreign languages, played the piano, and read a lot. Vladimir was the third of six children. There was a friendly atmosphere in the family; parents encouraged their children's curiosity and treated them with respect.

In subsequent years, he lived in Samara under police supervision, earned money by giving private lessons, and in 1891 managed to pass the state exams as an external student for a full course at the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg University. In 1892-1893 he worked as an assistant to a sworn attorney in Samara, where he simultaneously created a Marxist circle, translated the Manifesto of the Communist Party of Karl Marx and began to write himself, polemicizing with the populists

Having moved to St. Petersburg in August 1893, he worked as a lawyer and gradually became one of the leaders of St. Petersburg Marxists. Sent abroad, he met the recognized leader of Russian Marxists, Georgy Plekhanov. After returning to Russia, Ulyanov in 1895 united the St. Petersburg Marxist circles into a single “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.” In December of the same year, he was arrested by the police. He spent more than a year in prison and was exiled for three years to Eastern Siberia under open police supervision. There, in the village of Shushenskoye, in July 1898, he married Nadezhda Krupskaya, whom he knew from the St. Petersburg revolutionary underground.

While in exile, he continued his theoretical and organizational revolutionary activities. In 1897 he published the work The Development of Capitalism in Russia, where he tried to challenge the views of the populists on socio-economic relations in the country and thereby prove that a bourgeois revolution was brewing in Russia. He became acquainted with the works of the leading theorist of German Social Democracy, Karl Kautsky, and they made a great impression on him. From Kautsky he borrowed the idea of ​​organizing the Russian Marxist movement in the form of a centralized party of a “new type”, introducing consciousness into the “dark” and “immature” working masses. Polemics with those Social Democrats who, from his point of view, underestimated the role of the party, became a constant theme in Ulyanov’s articles. He also had a tough polemic with the “economists” - a movement that argued that the Social Democrats should place the main emphasis on economic rather than political struggle.

After the end of his exile, he went abroad in January 1900 (for the next five years he lived in Munich, London and Geneva). There, together with Plekhanov, his associates Vera Zasulich and Pavel Axelrod, as well as his friend Yuliy Martov, Ulyanov began publishing social media. democratic newspaper "Iskra". From 1901 he began to use the pseudonym "Lenin" and from then on was known in the party under this name. In 1902 he outlined his organizational views in the pamphlet What to Do? He proposed to rebuild the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), formed in 1898, according to the type of a besieged fortress, turning it into a rigid and centralized organization led by professional revolutionaries - leaders, whose decisions would be binding on ordinary members. This approach was opposed by a significant number of party activists, including Yuli Martov. At the second congress of the RSDLP in Brussels and London in 1903, the party split into two movements: the “Bolsheviks” (supporters of Lenin’s organizational principles) and the “Mensheviks” (their opponents). Lenin became the recognized leader of the Bolshevik faction of the party.

During the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, Lenin managed to return to Russia for some time. He oriented his supporters toward active participation in the bourgeois-democratic revolution in order to try to win hegemony in it and achieve the establishment of a “revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry.” On this issue, covered in detail in Lenin's work Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution, he sharply disagreed with most of the Mensheviks, who were oriented towards an alliance under the leadership of bourgeois-liberal circles.

The defeat of the revolution forced Lenin to emigrate again. From abroad, he continued to lead the activities of the Bolshevik movement, insisting on combining illegal activities with legal ones, participating in elections to the State Duma and in the work of this body. On this basis, Lenin broke with the group of Bolsheviks led by Alexander Bogdanov, which called for a boycott of the Duma. Against his new opponents, Lenin released the polemical work Materialism and Empirio-Criticism (1909), accusing them of revising Marxist philosophy. In the early 1910s, disagreements within the RSDLP became extremely acute. In contrast to the “otzovists” (supporters of the boycott of the Duma), the Mensheviks - “liquidators” (adherents of legal work) and Leon Trotsky’s group, which advocated maintaining the unity of the party ranks, Lenin forced the transformation of his movement in 1912 into an independent political party, the RSDLP (b), with its own printed organ - the newspaper "Pravda".

After the outbreak of World War I, Lenin was deported to Switzerland. He was extremely sensitive to the support of the war and the idea of ​​​​"defense of the fatherland" by the Social Democratic parties, especially the German one, which he used to consider exemplary. In the new conditions, Lenin entered into an alliance with the left, internationalist wing of the international socialist movement. As a result of two international conferences of socialists (in Zimmerwald and Kienthal), a bloc of leftist movements arose. Lenin called for an end to the war through revolutionary means, turning “the imperialist war into a civil war.” In the book Imperialism as the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916), he argued that capitalist society had entered its highest and final, “imperialist” phase and was on the verge of a socialist revolution.

Having learned about the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia, Lenin, who was in Switzerland, immediately spoke out in Letters from Afar against the Bolsheviks’ support for the Provisional Government. He sought to quickly return to revolutionary Russia, but the governments of the Entente countries refused to let him pass through their territory. At the same time, the German authorities were ready to exchange German prisoners of war for Russian political emigrants, hoping that the arrival of opponents of the continuation of the war would weaken the position of Entente supporters in Russia. On March 27 (April 9), 1917, 32 emigrants, including 19 Bolsheviks (including Lenin, Krupskaya, Grigory Zinoviev, Inessa Armand, etc.), left Switzerland for Russia.

On April 4, the day after arriving in Petrograd, Lenin spoke with the so-called April Theses. He demanded to fight against the Provisional Government, for the establishment of Soviet power and an immediate transition to the socialist revolution. Lenin’s radical position met with rejection not only among the Mensheviks, who accused him of “anarchism,” but also within the Bolshevik party itself, where such leaders as Lev Kamenev and Joseph Stalin were against the new course. But Lenin correctly calculated the balance of forces. He believed that the revolution was carried out by the masses themselves, who were much more radical than any political parties, and only those politicians who could use the revolutionary upsurge could succeed. Therefore, he oriented the Bolsheviks towards the use of popular left-radical slogans that were born among the people - demands for “Soviet power”, “workers’ control”, “socialization of the land”. What also gave the Bolsheviks enormous popularity was the fact that they without hesitation sought Russia’s exit from the already boring war.

As the masses became radicalized, the influence of the Bolsheviks grew. In June 1917, speaking at the first All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Lenin announced his party’s desire to come to power. But she did not yet have the strength to take advantage of one of the many crises experienced by the Provisional Government. Following a massive armed demonstration on July 4 in Petrograd organized by Bolsheviks and anarchists, authorities accused the Bolshevik leaders of treason and collaboration with Germany. Some party leaders were arrested, and Lenin and Zinoviev hid at the Razliv station near Petrograd, and then in Finland. In the underground, Lenin systematized his ideas about the state (State and Revolution) and the tasks of the Bolshevik Party after coming to power. On the one hand, he promoted the “withering away of the state” through the system of “Soviet power”; on the other, he called for the dictatorship of the party over the unconscious masses, which should lead the construction of socialism. For the immediate period after taking power, according to Lenin, it was necessary to limit ourselves to establishing state control over a number of key industries and banks, as well as carrying out land reform.

After the defeat of the military mutiny of General Lavr Kornilov, Lenin decided in September 1917 that the moment for a coup had arrived. He appealed to the party leadership to “take power.” Some Bolshevik leaders initially resisted Lenin's demands, but he managed to contact supporters of the uprising. At the beginning of October, he moved to Petrograd and continued agitation for immediate action. In the end, the Bolshevik leaders heeded this call. Preparations began for an armed uprising, in which not only the Bolsheviks took part, but also other left forces - the Left Social Revolutionaries, maximalists and anarchists. On October 24-26, 1917, during the uprising in Petrograd, the power of the Provisional Government fell. The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets elected Lenin as chairman of the new government - the Council of People's Commissars (SNK).

An experienced tactician, Lenin was forced to take into account the demands of the revolutionary grassroots and agree to social transformations much more radical than his pre-revolutionary plans. The Council of People's Commissars recognized the peasant "socialization of the land", issued a decree on the introduction of workers' control in production, and recognized the expropriation of enterprises from entrepreneurs carried out by workers. But already in the first months of the revolution, Lenin took steps to subordinate the mass worker and peasant movement to Bolshevik power. The system of workers' control was subordinated to the state structure of the Supreme Council of the National Economy, and the workers' factory committees were subordinated to the trade unions controlled by the Bolsheviks.

In the winter and spring of 1918, Lenin took decisive steps to consolidate the power of the Bolshevik Party, the reason was the military situation of the country. Lenin insisted on concluding peace with Germany (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) and Austria-Hungary, despite the difficult conditions put forward by the German command. Not only the right-wing opposition, in support of the Entente, spoke out against it, but also left-wing forces - left Socialist Revolutionaries, maximalists, anarchists, and even a significant part of the Bolsheviks themselves. However, Lenin used all his organizational abilities and influence in the party to achieve an unpopular decision.

Under the pretext of strengthening the new government, the leader of the Bolsheviks demanded the introduction of unity of command in management, the most severe discipline in production, the abandonment of all elements of self-government, and the introduction of harsh punishments for violation of labor discipline (articles The immediate tasks of Soviet power, On leftist childishness and petty-bourgeoisism).

In the spring of 1918, Lenin's government began to fight against the opposition by closing anarchist and socialist workers' organizations. The confrontation intensified during the civil war, the Socialist Revolutionaries, Left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists, in turn, attacked the leaders of the Bolshevik regime; On August 30, 1918, an attempt was made on Lenin. On September 25, 1919, a group of “underground anarchists” and left Socialist Revolutionaries blew up the building of the Moscow Committee of the Bolshevik Party, but Lenin, contrary to their expectations, was not there. During the war years, Lenin made a direct bet on government terror, believing that without it he would not be able to defeat the political opponents of Bolshevism. Not only “class enemies” were arrested, but also workers who did not show sufficient zeal in their work or did not obey the orders of the authorities. In the villages, special “food detachments” confiscated food and grain in such quantities that the villagers could hardly feed themselves, and some simply starved.

At the cost of these unpopular measures, Lenin's government managed to defeat the white armies, but in 1921 it was faced with a gigantic wave of peasant discontent and an uprising of the sailors of Kronstadt. The participants in this “third revolution” advocated for Soviet power without the Bolsheviks. Lenin managed to suppress the uprising, but he was forced to change his political course. He abandoned "war communism" and introduced a "new economic policy", while the strategic goal of the Bolshevik leader remained the same: to transform Russia into a powerful industrial power. Without this, in his opinion, it was impossible to think about creating socialism in Russia. But now he proposed to rely not on state dictatorship in the economy, but on the widespread attraction of foreign and private capital while retaining key positions for the state. In the political field, Lenin believed, it was necessary, on the contrary, to strengthen the omnipotence of the Bolshevik Party and its leadership. To this end, at the 10th Party Congress, at Lenin’s insistence, a decision was made to ban internal factions.

Internationally, Lenin proclaimed a line for “world revolution.” To prepare for it, an international association of communist parties was created - the Communist International (1919). It arose and acted under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party. Lenin mercilessly broke with his former allies in the fight against the world war - the Dutch and German left-wing communists Anton Pannekoek, Hermann Gorter and others, writing a pamphlet against them, The Infantile Disease of Leftism in Communism (1920). He dictated to foreign communists the tactics of a “united front” with the Social Democrats, participation in elections and cooperation in mass reformist organizations in the hope of seizing leadership in them.

On May 25, 1922, Lenin suffered a stroke and partial paralysis; For several months he underwent treatment outside Moscow and was able to return to the capital only in October. However, in December 1922, after a new hemorrhage, he had to leave his office in the Kremlin.

During his last period in power, Lenin became increasingly concerned about the “bureaucratic degeneration” of the regime and the party. He felt that power would soon slip out of the hands of a narrow circle of professional revolutionaries - his comrades-in-arms and would pass to the party and state apparatus, which the Bolshevik leaders themselves created to implement their decisions. Recognizing the leader of these apparatus circles in the party general secretary Joseph Stalin, Lenin tried to strike a blow at the Stalin faction. At the end of 1922 - beginning of 1923, he dictated and sent out a series of letters and articles that went down in history as “Lenin’s political testament.” Accusing Stalin and his supporters of “great-power chauvinism”, the collapse of the work of state and party control inspectorates and “rude” methods of work, Lenin tried to remove Stalin from the post of General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party and neutralize the apparatchiks by introducing new, still “non-bureaucratic” people into the Central Committee. members from professional workers. In March 1922, Lenin led the work of the 11th Congress of the RCP (b) - the last party congress at which he spoke. In May 1922 he became seriously ill, but returned to work in early October. Leading German specialists in nervous diseases were called in for treatment. Lenin's chief physician from December 1922 until his death in 1924 was Otfried Förster. Lenin's last public speech took place on November 20, 1922 at the plenum of the Moscow Soviet. On December 16, 1922, his health condition again deteriorated sharply, and in May 1923, due to illness, he moved to the Gorki estate near Moscow. The last time Lenin was in Moscow was on October 18-19, 1923.

In January 1924, Lenin's health suddenly deteriorated; On January 21, 1924 at 18:50 he died.

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

Stalin (real name - Dzhugashvili) Joseph Vissarionovich, one of the leading figures of the Communist Party, the Soviet state, the international communist and labor movement, a prominent theorist and propagandist of Marxism-Leninism

Soviet statesman, political, party and military figure. People's Commissar for Nationalities of the RSFSR (1917-1923), People's Commissar of State Control of the RSFSR (1919-1920), People's Commissar of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate of the RSFSR (1920-1922); General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) (1922-1925), General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) (1925-1934), Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) (1934-1952), Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1952-1953); head of the Soviet government - Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1941-1946), Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1946-1953); Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR (1941-1947), Chairman of the State Defense Committee (1941-1945), People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR (1941-1946), People's Commissar of the Armed Forces of the USSR (1946-1947). Marshal of the Soviet Union (since 1943), Generalissimo of the Soviet Union (since 1945). Honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1939). Member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern (1925-1943). Hero of Socialist Labor (since 1939), Hero of the Soviet Union (since 1945).

The period during which Stalin was in power included: the accelerated industrialization of the USSR, victory in the Great Patriotic War, mass labor and front-line heroism, the transformation of the USSR into a superpower with significant scientific, military and industrial potential, strengthening the geopolitical influence of the Soviet Union in the world; as well as forced collectivization, famine in 1932-1933 in part of the USSR, the establishment of a dictatorial regime, mass repressions, deportations of peoples, numerous human losses (including as a result of wars and German occupation), the division of the world community into two warring camps, the establishment socialist system in Eastern Europe and East Asia, the beginning of the Cold War. Russian and world public opinion regarding Stalin's role in these events is extremely polarized.

Born into the family of a handicraft shoemaker. In 1894 he graduated from the Gori Theological School and entered the Tbilisi Orthodox Seminary. Under the influence of Russian Marxists who lived in Transcaucasia, he joined the revolutionary movement; in an illegal circle he studied the works of K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin, G. V. Plekhanov. Since 1898 member of the CPSU. While in the social democratic group “Mesame-Dasi”, he promoted Marxist ideas among the workers of the Tbilisi railways. workshops In 1899 he was expelled from the seminary for revolutionary activities, went underground, and became a professional revolutionary. He was a member of the Tbilisi, Caucasian Union and Baku Committees of the RSDLP, participated in the publication of the newspapers “Brdzola” (“Struggle”), “Proletariatis Brdzola” (“Struggle of the Proletariat”), “Baku Proletarian”, “Gudok”, “Baku Worker”, was an active participant in the Revolution of 1905-07 in Transcaucasia. Since the creation of the RSDLP, he supported Lenin’s ideas of strengthening the revolutionary Marxist party, defended the Bolshevik strategy and tactics of the class struggle of the proletariat, was a staunch supporter of Bolshevism, and exposed the opportunist line of the Mensheviks and anarchists in the revolution. Delegate to the 1st conference of the RSDLP in Tammerfors (1905), 4th (1906) and 5th (1907) congresses of the RSDLP.

During the period of underground revolutionary activity, he was repeatedly arrested and exiled. In January 1912, at a meeting of the Central Committee, elected by the 6th (Prague) All-Russian Conference of the RSDLP, he was co-opted in absentia into the Central Committee and introduced into the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee. In 1912-13, while working in St. Petersburg, he actively collaborated in the newspapers Zvezda and Pravda. Participant in the Krakow (1912) meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP with party workers. At this time, Stalin wrote the work “Marxism and the National Question,” in which he highlighted Lenin’s principles for solving the national question and criticized the opportunist program of “cultural-national autonomy.” The work received a positive assessment from V.I. Lenin (see Complete collection of works, 5th ed., vol. 24, p. 223). In February 1913, Stalin was again arrested and exiled to the Turukhansk region.

After the overthrow of the autocracy, Stalin returned to Petrograd on March 12 (25), 1917, was included in the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) and in the editorial office of Pravda, and took an active part in developing the work of the party in new conditions. Stalin supported Lenin's course of developing the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist one. At the 7th (April) All-Russian Conference of the RSDLP (b) he was elected a member of the Central Committee (from that time on he was elected a member of the party’s Central Committee at all congresses up to and including the 19th). At the 6th Congress of the RSDLP (b), on behalf of the Central Committee, he delivered a political report to the Central Committee and a report on the political situation.

As a member of the Central Committee, Stalin actively participated in the preparation and conduct of the Great October Socialist Revolution: he was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, the Military Revolutionary Center - the party body for leading the armed uprising, and in the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. At the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets on October 26 (November 8), 1917, he was elected to the first Soviet government as People's Commissar for Nationalities Affairs (1917-22); At the same time, in 1919-22, he headed the People's Commissariat of State Control, reorganized in 1920 into the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (RKI).

In 1922, Stalin participated in the creation of the USSR. Stalin did not consider it necessary to have a union of republics, but rather a unitary state with autonomous national associations. This plan was rejected by Lenin and his associates.

On December 30, 1922, at the First All-Union Congress of Soviets, a decision was made to unite the Soviet republics into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - the USSR. Speaking at the congress, Stalin said:

“In the history of Soviet power, today is a turning point. He puts milestones between the old, already passed period, when the Soviet republics, although they acted together, but walked apart, occupied primarily with the question of their existence, and a new, already opened period, when the separate existence of the Soviet republics comes to an end, when the republics unite into a single union state for a successful fight against economic devastation, when the Soviet government is no longer thinking only about existence, but also about developing into a serious international force that can influence the international situation, that can change it in the interests of the working people.”

The key issue around which heated debate unfolded was the possibility of building socialism in one single country. Trotsky, in the spirit of his concept of permanent revolution, argued that in “backward Russia” the construction of socialism is impossible and that only a revolution in the West can save the Russian revolution, which must be pushed with all our might.

Stalin very accurately defined the true nature of such views: contempt for the Russian people, “disbelief in the strength and abilities of the Russian proletariat - this is the substratum of the theory of permanent revolution.” The victorious Russian proletariat, he said, cannot “tread water”, cannot engage in “pushing water” in anticipation of victory and help from the proletariat of the West. Stalin gave the party and the people a clear and definite goal: “We are 50-100 years behind the advanced countries. We must cover this distance in ten years. Either we do this, or we will be crushed.”

Trotsky considered himself the main contender for leadership in the country after Lenin, and underestimated Stalin as a competitor. Soon other oppositionists, not only Trotskyists, sent a similar so-called to the Politburo. "Statement of the 46." The Troika then showed its power, mainly using the resources of the apparatus led by Stalin.

At the XIII Congress of the RCP (b) all oppositionists were convicted. Stalin's influence increased greatly. Stalin’s main allies in the “seven” were Bukharin and Rykov.

A new split emerged in the Politburo in October 1925, when Zinoviev, Kamenev, G. Ya. Sokolnikov and Krupskaya presented a document criticizing the party line from a “left” point of view (Zinoviev led the Leningrad communists, Kamenev led the Moscow communists, and among the working class of large cities, living worse than before the First World War, there was strong dissatisfaction with low wages and rising prices for agricultural products, which led to the demand for pressure on the peasantry and especially on the kulaks). The Seven broke up. At that moment, Stalin began to unite with the “right” Bukharin-Rykov-Tomsky, who expressed the interests primarily of the peasantry. In the internal party struggle that began between the “right” and “left,” he provided them with the forces of the party apparatus, and they (namely Bukharin) acted as theorists. The “new opposition” of Zinoviev and Kamenev was condemned at the XIV Congress

By that time, the “theory of the victory of socialism in one country” had emerged. This view was developed by Stalin in the brochure “On Questions of Leninism” (1926) and Bukharin. They divided the question of the victory of socialism into two parts - the question of the complete victory of socialism, that is, the possibility of building socialism and the complete impossibility of restoring capitalism by internal forces, and the question of the final victory, that is, the impossibility of restoration due to the intervention of Western powers, which would only be excluded by establishing a revolution in the West.

Trotsky, who did not believe in socialism in one country, joined Zinoviev and Kamenev. The so-called "United Opposition". Having established himself in the role of leader, Stalin in 1929 accused Bukharin and his allies of a “right deviation” and began to actually implement (in extreme forms) the program of the “left” to curtail the NEP and accelerated industrialization through the exploitation of the countryside. At the same time, the 50th anniversary of Stalin is widely celebrated (whose date of birth was changed at the same time, according to Stalin’s critics, in order to somewhat smooth out the “excesses” of collectivization with the celebration of the round anniversary and demonstrate in the USSR and abroad who is the true and beloved master of all the people countries).

Modern researchers believe that the most important economic decisions in the 20s were made after open, broad and heated public discussions, through open democratic voting at plenums of the Central Committee and congresses of the Communist Party

After the disruption of grain procurements in 1927, when it was necessary to take emergency measures (fixed prices, closing markets and even repression), and the disruption of the grain procurement campaign of 1928-1929, the issue had to be resolved urgently. The path to creating farming through the stratification of the peasantry was incompatible with the Soviet project for ideological reasons. A course was set for collectivization. This also implied the liquidation of the kulaks. On January 5, 1930, J.V. Stalin signed the main document for the collectivization of agriculture in the USSR - the Resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the pace of collectivization and measures of state assistance to collective farm construction.” In accordance with the resolution, in particular, it was envisaged to carry out collectivization in the North Caucasus, Lower and Middle Volga by the fall of 1930, and no later than the spring of 1931. The document also stated: “In accordance with the growing pace of collectivization, it is necessary to further intensify the work on the construction of factories producing tractors, combines and other tractor and trailed equipment, so that the deadlines given by the Supreme Economic Council for completing the construction of new factories are in no way case were not delayed.”

On February 13, 1930, Stalin was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner of Labor for “services on the front of socialist construction.”

On March 2, 1930, Pravda published an article by I. V. Stalin “Dizziness from success. On the issues of the collective farm movement,” in which he, in particular, accused “zealous socializers” of “decaying and discrediting” the collective farm movement and condemned their actions, which “give grist to the mill of our class enemies.” Until March 14, 1930, Stalin was working on the text of the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the fight against distortions of the party line in the collective farm movement,” which was published in the Pravda newspaper on March 15. This resolution allowed the dissolution of collective farms that were not organized on a voluntary basis. The result of the resolution was that by May 1930, cases of dissolution of collective farms affected more than half of all peasant farms.

An important issue of time was also the choice of method of industrialization. The discussion about this was difficult and long, and its outcome predetermined the character of the state and society. Not having, unlike Russia at the beginning of the century, foreign loans as an important source of funds, the USSR could industrialize only at the expense of internal resources.

An influential group (Politburo member N.I. Bukharin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars A.I. Rykov and Chairman of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions M.P. Tomsky) defended the “sparing” option of gradual accumulation of funds through the continuation of the NEP. L. D. Trotsky - forced version. J.V. Stalin initially supported Bukharin’s point of view, but after Trotsky was expelled from the party’s Central Committee at the end of 1927, he changed his position to the diametrically opposite one. This led to a decisive victory for the supporters of forced industrialization. And after the start of the global economic crisis in 1929, the foreign trade situation deteriorated sharply, which completely destroyed the possibility of survival of the NEP project.

For the years 1928-1940, according to CIA estimates, the average annual growth of the gross national product in the USSR was 6.1%, which was inferior to Japan, was comparable to the corresponding figure in Germany and was significantly higher than the growth in the most developed capitalist countries experiencing the “Great Depression” . As a result of industrialization, the USSR took first place in terms of industrial production in Europe and second in the world, overtaking England, Germany, France and second only to the United States. The USSR's share in world industrial production reached almost 10%. A particularly sharp leap was achieved in the development of metallurgy, energy, machine tool building, and the chemical industry. In fact, a whole series of new industries arose: aluminum, aviation, automobile industries, bearing production, tractor and tank construction. One of the most important results of industrialization was overcoming technical backwardness and establishing the economic independence of the USSR.

Portrait from the report “On the shortcomings of party work and measures to eliminate Trotskyists and other double-dealers,” 1937

Stalin was one of the main initiators of the implementation of the General Plan for the Reconstruction of Moscow, which resulted in massive construction in the center and on the outskirts of Moscow. In the second half of the 1930s, construction of many significant objects was also carried out throughout the USSR. Stalin was interested in everything in the country, including construction. His former bodyguard Rybin recalls: I. Stalin personally inspected the necessary streets, going into the courtyards, where mostly rickety huts were breathing their last, and there were many mossy sheds on chicken legs huddled. The first time he did this was during the day. A crowd immediately gathered, did not allow us to move at all, and then ran after the car. We had to reschedule the examinations for the night. But even then, passers-by recognized the leader and escorted him with his long tail.

As a result of lengthy preparation, the master plan for the reconstruction of Moscow was approved. This is how Gorky Street, Bolshaya Kaluzhskaya, Kutuzovsky Prospekt and other beautiful thoroughfares appeared. During another trip along Mokhovaya, Stalin said to the driver Mitryukhin:

It is necessary to build a new university named after Lomonosov, so that students study in one place, and not wander all over the city.

Among the construction projects begun under Stalin was the Moscow Metro. It was under Stalin that the first metro in the USSR was built. During the construction process, by personal order of Stalin, the Sovetskaya metro station was adapted for the underground control center of the Moscow Civil Defense Headquarters. In addition to the civilian metro, complex secret complexes were built, including the so-called Metro-2, which Stalin himself used. In November 1941, a solemn meeting on the occasion of the anniversary of the October Revolution was held in the metro at the Mayakovskaya station. Stalin arrived by train along with his guards, and he did not leave the Supreme High Command building on Myasnitskaya, but went down from the basement into a special tunnel that led to the metro.

Cards for bread, cereals and pasta were abolished from January 1, 1935, and for other (including non-food) goods from January 1, 1936. This was accompanied by an increase in wages in the industrial sector and an even greater increase in state ration prices for all types of goods. Commenting on the abolition of cards, Stalin uttered what later became a catchphrase: “Life has become better, life has become more fun.”

Overall, per capita consumption increased by 22% between 1928 and 1938. Cards were reintroduced in July 1941. After the war and famine (drought) of 1946, they were abolished in 1947, although many goods remained shortages, in particular, in 1947 there was famine again. In addition, on the eve of the abolition of cards, prices for ration goods were raised. The restoration of the economy allowed in 1948-1953. repeatedly reduce prices. Price reductions significantly increased the standard of living of Soviet people. In 1952, the cost of bread was 39% of the price at the end of 1947, milk - 72%, meat - 42%, sugar - 49%, butter - 37%. As noted at the 19th Congress of the CPSU, at the same time the price of bread increased by 28% in the USA, by 90% in England, and more than doubled in France; the cost of meat in the USA increased by 26%, in England - by 35%, in France - by 88%. If in 1948 real wages were on average 20% lower than the pre-war level, then in 1952 they were already 25% higher than the pre-war level.

Since 1941, Stalin has been chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. During the Great Patriotic War, Stalin held the positions of Chairman of the State Defense Committee, People's Commissar of Defense and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the USSR.

During the Battle of Moscow in 1941, after Moscow was declared under a state of siege, Stalin remained in the capital. On November 6, 1941, Stalin spoke at a ceremonial meeting held at the Mayakovskaya metro station, which was dedicated to the 24th anniversary of the October Revolution. The next day, November 7, 1941, at the direction of Stalin, a traditional military parade was held on Red Square.

A number of historians blame Stalin personally for the unpreparedness of the Soviet Union for war and the huge losses, especially in the initial period of the war. Other historians take the opposite point of view.

On March 1, 1953, Stalin lying on the floor in the small dining room of the Near Dacha (one of Stalin’s residences) was discovered by security officer P.V. Lozgachev. On the morning of March 2, doctors arrived at Nizhnyaya Dacha and diagnosed paralysis on the right side of the body. On March 5 at 21:50, Stalin died. Stalin's death was announced on March 5, 1953. According to the medical report, death was caused by a cerebral hemorrhage.

There are numerous conspiracy theories suggesting the unnaturalness of death and the involvement of Stalin's entourage in it. According to one of them (the version of the Russian historian E. S. Radzinsky), L. P. Beria, N. S. Khrushchev and G. M. Malenkov contributed to his death without providing assistance. According to another, Stalin was poisoned by his closest associate Beria.

Stalin became the only Soviet leader for whom a memorial service was performed by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov

Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (December 26, 1901 (January 8, 1902) - January 14, 1988) - Soviet statesman and party leader, comrade-in-arms of Stalin. Member of the CPSU Central Committee (1939-1957), candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1941-1946), member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1946-1957), member of the Organizing Bureau of the CPSU (b) Central Committee (1939-1952), secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1939- 1946, 1948-1953), deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st-4th convocations. He oversaw a number of the most important branches of the defense industry, including the creation of the hydrogen bomb and the first nuclear power plant in the world. The actual leader of the Soviet state in 1953-1955.

Born into the family of a nobleman, a descendant of immigrants from Macedonia, Maximilian Malenkov, and a bourgeois woman, the daughter of a blacksmith, Anastasia Shemyakina.

In 1919 he graduated from a classical gymnasium and was drafted into the Red Army; after joining the RCP (b) in April 1920, he was a political worker in a squadron, regiment, brigade, Eastern and Turkestan fronts. Studied electrical engineering at Moscow Higher Technical University named after. N. Bauman. In the 1920s, students were carried away by the ideas of Trotskyism, but Malenkov opposed Trotskyism from the very beginning and in 1925, as a student, he headed a commission to verify students - repressions were carried out against Trotskyist students.

Since 1930 L.M. Kaganovich took him in and appointed him head. mass propaganda department of the Moscow Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). He led the purge of the opposition in the Moscow party organization. In 1934-39 head. department of the leading party bodies of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Heading this most important department of the Central Committee, Malenkov was only an executor of direct instructions from I.V. Stalin. In 1936 he conducted a massive campaign to check party documents. With his sanction, in 1937-39, almost all the old communist cadres were repressed; he was (along with N.I. Yezhov) one of the main leaders of the repressions; personally traveled to the regions to intensify the fight against “enemies of the people”, was present at interrogations, etc. In 1937, together with Yezhov, he traveled to Belarus, in the fall of 1937 - together with A.I. Mikoyan to Armenia, where almost the entire party apparatus was arrested. In 1937-58, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in January. 1938 - Oct. 1946 member of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. In 1938, when Stalin proposed a deputy to Yezhov, he asked that Malenkov be appointed since 1939, a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. From 22.3.1939 beginning. Personnel Administration and Secretary of the Central Committee, from March 1939 to October. 1952 member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee.

During the Great Patriotic War he was a member of the State Defense Committee (June 1941 - September 1945). 21.2.1941 Malenkov became a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee. He often traveled to those sections of the front where a critical situation was created. But his main task was to equip the Red Army with aircraft. In 1943-45 before. Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR for the restoration of economy in liberated areas. Since May 15, 1944, simultaneously deputy. prev SNK of the USSR.

In the fall of 1944, at a meeting in the Kremlin, where the “Jewish problem” was discussed, he advocated “increasing vigilance,” after which the appointment of Jews to high positions became extremely difficult. Since March 18, 1946, member of the Politburo (since 1952 - Presidium) of the Central Committee. During the new purge of party and military personnel undertaken by Stalin after the war, Malenkov was removed from his post as deputy on March 19, 1946. prev SNK, and on May 6, 1946 he was removed from the posts of secretary and chief personnel officer for the fact that “as the chief of the aviation industry and the acceptance of aircraft over the Air Force, he is morally responsible for the outrages that were revealed in the work of departments (the production and acceptance of substandard aircraft), that he, knowing about these outrages, did not signal them to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks),” and was transferred to the position of head. Committee on Special Equipment under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. However, Malenkov did not lose Stalin's trust. In addition, L.P. Beria launched an active struggle to return Malenkov, and on July 1, 1946 he again became Secretary of the Central Committee, and on August 2, 1946 he regained his post as deputy. prev Council of Ministers. In fact, he was the second person in the party, because on Stalin’s instructions he was responsible for the work of party organizations, which transferred millions of party functionaries to his subordination. In 1948, after the death of A.A. Zhdanov, the leadership of the entire “ideological policy” of the Central Committee also passed to Malenkov. At the same time, Malenkov was entrusted with overseeing agriculture.

In 1949-50, on behalf of the leader, he led the work on organizing the so-called. "Leningrad case". Later, the Party Control Committee, after studying it, concluded: “In order to obtain fictitious testimony about the existence of an anti-party group in Leningrad, Malenkova personally supervised the investigation and took direct part in the interrogations. Illegal investigative methods, painful torture, beatings and torture were used against all those arrested.” He actively participated in the “promotion” of the case of the “Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee”.

Already since 1942, Malenkov was considered the second person in the party and the most likely heir to Stalin, and at the 19th Party Congress, the leader entrusted him with making the Report. A. Avtorkhanov wrote in his book “Technology of Power”: “The current CPSU is the brainchild of two people: Stalin and Malenkov. If Stalin is the chief designer, then Malenkov is its talented architect.” After the congress, at the suggestion of Stalin, a “leading five” was created within the Presidium, which included Malenkov.

After Stalin's death, Malenkov became one of the main contenders for the inheritance and on March 5, 1953, having agreed with N.S. Khrushchev, Beria and others, took the most important post in the USSR - pred. The Council of Ministers, which was occupied by Stalin before him, however, on March 14, 1953, he was forced to resign from the post of Secretary of the Central Committee. In September 1953 he transferred control over the party apparatus to Khrushchev. He supported the others in the fight against Beria, and then did not prevent the beginning of the process of de-Stalinization of society. But he could not contain the growth of Khrushchev’s influence; he was forced to write a letter admitting his mistakes and responsibility for the state of agriculture; on 9.2.1955 he lost his post to his predecessor. Council of Ministers and became just a deputy. At the same time, he was given the post of Minister of Power Plants of the USSR. Similar actions prompted Malenkov to team up with L.M. Kaganovich and V.M. Molotov to launch a campaign against Khrushchev. At a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, they opposed Khrushchev and received the support of the majority of members of the highest party body. They were joined by K.E. Voroshilov, N.A. Bulganin, M.G. Perrukhin, M.Z. Saburov, D.T. Shepilov. However, Khrushchev’s supporters managed to quickly convene a Plenum of the Central Committee, at which the “anti-party group” was defeated.

06/29/1957 Malenkov was removed from his job, removed from the Presidium of the Central Committee and from the Central Committee of the CPSU for belonging to an “anti-party group.” Since 1957, director of the hydroelectric power station in the Ust-Kamena River, then the thermal power plant in Ekibastuz. He retired in 1961, and in the same year the bureau of the Ekibastuz city committee of the CPSU expelled him from the party. Since May 1920 he was married to Valentina Alekseevna Golubtsova, an employee of the apparatus of the Central Committee of the party.

Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev - First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee from 1953 to 1964, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR from 1958 to 1964. Hero of the Soviet Union, three times Hero of Socialist Labor.

Born on April 5 (17), 1894 in the village of Kalinovka, Kursk province, into a mining family. Received elementary education at the parochial school. From 1908 he worked as a mechanic, boiler cleaner, was a member of trade unions, and participated in workers’ strikes. During the Civil War he fought on the side of the Bolsheviks. In 1918 he joined the Communist Party.

In the early 1920s, he worked in the mines and studied at the workers' department of the Donetsk Industrial Institute. Later he was engaged in economic and party work in Donbass and Kyiv. In the 1920s, the leader of the Communist Party in Ukraine was L.M. Kaganovich, and apparently Khrushchev made a favorable impression on him. Soon after Kaganovich left for Moscow, Khrushchev was sent to study at the Industrial Academy. From January 1931 he was at party work in Moscow; in 1935-1938 he was the first secretary of the Moscow regional and city party committees - MK and MGK VKP(b). In January 1938 he was appointed first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. In the same year he became a candidate, and in 1939 - a member of the Politburo.

During the Great Patriotic War N.S. Khrushchev is a member of the military councils of the South-Western direction, South-Western, Stalingrad, Southern, Voronezh, 1st Ukrainian fronts. February 12, 1943 to N.S. Khrushchev awarded the military rank of lieutenant general.

In 1944-47 - Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (since 1946 - Council of Ministers) of the Ukrainian SSR. Since 1947 - 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Since 1949 - Secretary of the Central Committee and 1st Secretary of the Moscow Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

Khrushchev’s ascent to the pinnacle of power after the death of I.V. Stalin was accompanied by a request from him and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR G.M. Malenkov to the commander of the Moscow region (renamed the district) air defense forces, Colonel General Moskalenko K.S. select a group of military personnel, including Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. and Colonel General Batitsky P.F. The latter, on June 26, 1953, participated in the arrest at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union L.P. Beria, who would later be accused of “anti-party and anti-state activities aimed at undermining the Soviet state.” , will be deprived of all awards and titles and sentenced to death on December 23, 1953, and the sentence will be carried out on the same day.

Later, holding the post of 1st Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, N.S. Khrushchev was also Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1958-64.

The most striking event in Khrushchev's career was the 20th Congress of the CPSU, held in 1956. In a report at the congress, he put forward the thesis that war between capitalism and communism is not “fatally inevitable.” At a closed meeting, Khrushchev condemned Stalin, accusing him of mass extermination of people and erroneous policies that almost ended with the liquidation of the USSR in the war with Nazi Germany. The result of this report was unrest in the Eastern bloc countries - Poland (October 1956) and Hungary (October and November 1956). These events undermined Khrushchev's position, especially after it became clear in December 1956 that the implementation of the five-year plan was being disrupted due to insufficient capital investment. However, at the beginning of 1957, Khrushchev managed to convince the Central Committee to accept a plan for reorganizing industrial management at the regional level.

In June 1957, the Presidium (formerly Politburo) of the CPSU Central Committee organized a conspiracy to remove Khrushchev from the post of first secretary of the party. After his return from Finland, he was invited to a meeting of the Presidium, which, by seven votes to four, demanded his resignation. Khrushchev convened a Plenum of the Central Committee, which overturned the decision of the Presidium and dismissed the “anti-party group” of Molotov, Malenkov and Kaganovich. (At the end of 1957, Khrushchev dismissed Marshal G.K. Zhukov, who supported him in difficult times.) He strengthened the Presidium with his supporters, and in March 1958 he took the post of chairman of the Council of Ministers, taking into his own hands all the main levers of power.

In 1957, after successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile and the launch of the first satellites into orbit, Khrushchev issued a statement demanding that Western countries “end the Cold War.” His demands for a separate peace treaty with East Germany in November 1958, which would have included a renewed blockade of West Berlin, led to an international crisis. In September 1959, President D. Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to visit the United States. After traveling around the country, Khrushchev negotiated with Eisenhower at Camp David. The international situation warmed up noticeably after Khrushchev agreed to push back the deadline for resolving the Berlin issue, and Eisenhower agreed to convene a high-level conference that would consider this issue. The summit meeting was scheduled for May 16, 1960. However, on May 1, 1960, a US U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down in the airspace over Sverdlovsk, and the meeting was disrupted.

The “soft” policy towards the United States involved Khrushchev in a hidden, albeit harsh, ideological discussion with the Chinese communists, who condemned the negotiations with Eisenhower and did not recognize the version of “Leninism” proposed by Khrushchev. In June 1960, Khrushchev made a statement about the need for “further development” of Marxism-Leninism and taking into account changed historical conditions in the theory. In November 1960, after a three-week discussion, the congress of representatives of the communist and workers' parties adopted a compromise decision that allowed Khrushchev to conduct diplomatic negotiations on issues of disarmament and peaceful coexistence, while calling for an intensification of the fight against capitalism by all means except military.

In September 1960, Khrushchev visited the United States for the second time as head of the Soviet delegation to the UN General Assembly. During the assembly, he managed to hold large-scale negotiations with the heads of government of a number of countries. His report to the Assembly called for general disarmament, the immediate elimination of colonialism and the admission of China to the UN. In June 1961, Khrushchev met with US President John Kennedy and again expressed his demands regarding Berlin. During the summer of 1961, Soviet foreign policy became increasingly harsh, and in September the USSR ended a three-year moratorium on nuclear weapons testing with a series of explosions.

In the fall of 1961, at the 22nd Congress of the CPSU, Khrushchev attacked the communist leaders of Albania (who were not at the congress) for continuing to support the philosophy of “Stalinism.” By this he also meant the leaders of communist China. On October 14, 1964, by the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Khrushchev was relieved of his duties as 1st Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. He was replaced by L.I. Brezhnev, who became the first secretary of the Communist Party, and A.N. Kosygin, who became chairman of the Council of Ministers.

After 1964, Khrushchev, while retaining his seat on the Central Committee, was essentially in retirement. He formally dissociated himself from the two-volume work Memoirs published in the USA under his name (1971, 1974). Khrushchev died in Moscow on September 11, 1971.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (December 19, 1906 (January 1, 1907) - November 10, 1982) - Soviet statesman and party leader. First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee since 1964 (General Secretary since 1966) and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1960-1964 and since 1977. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1976). Hero of Socialist Labor (1961) and four times Hero of the Soviet Union (1966, 1976, 1978, 1981). Laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Among Nations” (1973) and the Lenin Prize for Literature (1979). Under the name of L. I. Brezhnev, a trilogy was published: “Small Earth”, “Renaissance” and “Virgin Land”.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906 into the family of a metallurgist in the village of Kamenskoye (now Dneprodzerzhinsk). He began his working life at the age of fifteen. After graduating from the Kursk Land Management and Reclamation College in 1927, he worked as a land surveyor in the Kokhanovsky district of the Orsha district of the Belarusian USSR. He joined the Komsomol in 1923, and became a member of the CPSU in 1931. In 1935 he graduated from the Metallurgical Institute in Dneprodzerzhinsk, where he also worked as an engineer at a metallurgical plant.

In 1928 he got married. In March of the same year, he was transferred to the Urals, where he worked as a land surveyor, head of the district land department, deputy chairman of the Bisersky district executive committee of the Sverdlovsk region (1929-1930), deputy head of the Ural district land department. In September 1930 he left and entered the Moscow Institute of Mechanical Engineering. Kalinin, and in the spring of 1931 he transferred as a student to the evening faculty of the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute, and at the same time while studying he worked as a fireman-fitter at the plant. Member of the CPSU(b) since October 24, 1931. In 1935-1936 he served in the army: cadet and political instructor of a tank company in the Far East. In 1936-1937, director of the metallurgical technical school in Dneprodzerzhinsk. Since 1937, he was an engineer at the Dnieper Metallurgical Plant named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky. Since May 1937, deputy chairman of the Dneprodzerzhinsk City Executive Committee. Since 1937 he worked in party bodies.

Since 1938, head of the department of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, since 1939, secretary of the regional committee. According to some reports, engineer Brezhnev was appointed to the regional committee due to a personnel shortage that followed the repression of the regional party leadership.

Brigadier Commissar Brezhnev (far right) in 1942

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he took part in the mobilization of the population into the Red Army, was involved in the evacuation of industry, then in political positions in the active army: deputy head of the political department of the Southern Front. Being a brigade commissar, when the institution of military commissars was abolished in October 1942, instead of the expected rank of general, he was certified as a colonel.
He avoids rough work. Military knowledge is very weak. He solves many issues as a business executive, and not as a political worker. People are not treated equally. Tends to have favorites.

From the characteristics in the personal file (1942)

From 1943 - head of the political department of the 18th Army. Major General (1943).
The head of the political department of the 18th Army, Colonel Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, sailed to Malaya Zemlya forty times, and this was dangerous, since some ships were blown up by mines along the way and died from direct shells and aircraft bombs. One day, the seiner on which Brezhnev was sailing ran into a mine, the colonel was thrown into the sea... he was picked up by sailors...

S. A. Borzenko in the article “225 days of courage and bravery” (Pravda, 1943),

“The head of the political department of the 18th Army, Colonel Comrade, took an active part in repelling the German offensive. Brezhnev. The crew of one heavy machine gun (private Kadyrov, Abdurzakov, from the replenishment) became confused and did not open fire in a timely manner. Before the German platoon took advantage of this, they approached our positions to throw a grenade. Comrade Brezhnev physically influenced the machine gunners and forced them into battle. Having suffered significant losses, the Germans retreated, leaving several wounded on the battlefield. By order of Comrade Brezhnev’s crew fired aimed fire at them until they were destroyed.”

Since June 1945, the head of the political department of the 4th Ukrainian Front, then the Political Department of the Carpathian Military District, participated in the suppression of “Banderaism”.

Road to Power

After the war, Brezhnev owed his promotion to Khrushchev, which he carefully keeps silent about in his memoirs.

After working in Zaporozhye, Brezhnev, also on the recommendation of Khrushchev, was nominated to the post of first secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk regional party committee, and in 1950 to the post of first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (6) of Moldova. At the 19th Party Congress in the fall of 1952, Brezhnev, as the leader of the Moldovan communists, was elected to the CPSU Central Committee. For a short time, he even became a member of the Presidium (as a candidate) and the Secretariat of the Central Committee, which were significantly expanded at Stalin’s proposal. During the congress, Stalin saw Brezhnev for the first time. The old and sick dictator drew attention to the large and well-dressed 46-year-old Brezhnev. Stalin was told that this was the party leader of the Moldavian SSR. “What a handsome Moldovan,” said Stalin. On November 7, 1952, Brezhnev stood on the podium of the Mausoleum for the first time. Until March 1953, Brezhnev, like other members of the Presidium, was in Moscow and waited for them to gather for a meeting and distribute responsibilities. In Moldova he was already released from work. But Stalin never collected them.

After Stalin's death, the composition of the Presidium and Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee was immediately reduced. Brezhnev was also removed from the squad, but he did not return to Moldova, but was appointed head of the Political Directorate of the USSR Navy. He received the rank of lieutenant general and had to put on his military uniform again. In the Central Committee, Brezhnev invariably supported Khrushchev.

At the beginning of 1954, Khrushchev sent him to Kazakhstan to supervise the development of virgin lands. He returned to Moscow only in 1956 and after the 20th Congress of the CPSU he again became one of the secretaries of the Central Committee and a candidate member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Brezhnev was supposed to control the development of heavy industry, later defense and aerospace, but all major issues were decided personally by Khrushchev, and Brezhnev acted as a calm and devoted assistant. After the June Plenum of the Central Committee in 1957, Brezhnev became a member of the Presidium. Khrushchev appreciated his loyalty, but did not consider him a strong enough worker.

After the retirement of K. E. Voroshilov, Brezhnev became his successor as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In some Western biographies, this appointment is assessed almost as Brezhnev’s defeat in the struggle for power. But in reality, Brezhnev was not an active participant in this struggle and was very pleased with the new appointment. He did not then aspire to the post of head of the party or government. He was quite satisfied with the role of the “third” man in leadership. Back in 1956-1957. he managed to transfer to Moscow some people with whom he had worked in Moldova and Ukraine. Among the first were Trapeznikov and Chernenko, who began working in Brezhnev’s personal secretariat. In the Presidium of the Supreme Council, it was Chernenko who became the head of Brezhnev’s office. In 1963, when F. Kozlov lost not only Khrushchev’s favor, but was also struck down by a stroke, Khrushchev hesitated for a long time in choosing his new favorite. Ultimately, his choice fell on Brezhnev, who was elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Khrushchev was in very good health and expected to remain in power for a long time. Meanwhile, Brezhnev himself was dissatisfied with this decision of Khrushchev, although the move to the Secretariat increased his real power and influence. He was not eager to plunge into the extremely difficult and troublesome work of the secretary of the Central Committee. Brezhnev was not the organizer of Khrushchev’s removal, although he knew about the impending action. Among its main organizers there was no agreement on many issues. In order not to deepen differences that could derail the whole matter, they agreed to the election of Brezhnev, assuming that this would be a temporary solution. Leonid Ilyich gave his consent.

BREZHNEV'S VANITY

Even under Brezhnev's predecessor, Khrushchev, the tradition of presenting the highest awards of the Soviet Union to party leaders in connection with anniversaries or holidays began. Khrushchev, was awarded three gold medals Hammer and Sickle of the Hero of Socialist Labor and one gold star of the Hero of the USSR. Brezhnev continued the established tradition. As a political worker, Brezhnev did not take part in the largest and most decisive battles of the Patriotic War. One of the most important episodes in the combat biography of the 18th Army was the capture and retention of a bridgehead south of Novorossiysk for 225 days in 1943, called “Malaya Zemlya.”

Among the people, Brezhnev's love for titles and decorations and awards caused many jokes and anecdotes.

Governing body

Brezhnev was a consistent supporter of the policy of detente - in 1972 in Moscow he signed important agreements with US President Richard Nixon; the following year he visited the USA; in 1975 he was the main initiator of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the signing of the Helsinki Agreements. In the USSR, his 18 years in power turned out to be the calmest and most stable in social terms, housing construction was actively developing (almost 50 percent of the housing stock of the USSR was built), the population received free apartments, a system of free medical care was developing, all types of education were free, aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and military industries. On the other hand, Brezhnev did not hesitate to suppress dissent both in the USSR and in other countries of the “socialist camp” - in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the GDR. In the 1970s, the defense capability of the USSR reached such a level that the Soviet armed forces could single-handedly withstand the combined armies of the entire NATO bloc. The authority of the Soviet Union at that time was unusually high in the countries of the “third world”, which, thanks to the military power of the USSR, which balanced the policies of the Western powers, could not fear NATO. However, having become involved in the arms race in the 1980s, especially in the fight against the Star Wars program, the Soviet Union began to spend prohibitively large amounts of money for non-military purposes, to the detriment of the civilian sectors of the economy. The country began to experience an acute shortage of consumer goods and food products; “food trains” from the provinces arrived in the capital, on which residents of remote areas exported food from Moscow.

By the beginning of the 1970s. the party apparatus believed in Brezhnev, viewing him as its protege and defender of the system. The party nomenklatura rejected any reforms and sought to maintain a regime that provided it with power, stability and broad privileges. It was during the Brezhnev period that the party apparatus completely subjugated the state apparatus. Ministries and executive committees became simple executors of decisions of party bodies. Non-party leaders have practically disappeared.

On January 22, 1969, during a ceremonial meeting of the crews of the Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 spacecraft, an unsuccessful attempt was made on L. I. Brezhnev. Junior lieutenant of the Soviet army Viktor Ilyin, dressed in someone else's police uniform, entered the Borovitsky Gate under the guise of a security guard and opened fire with two pistols on the car in which, as he assumed, the general secretary was supposed to be traveling. In fact, cosmonauts Leonov, Nikolaev, Tereshkova and Beregovoy were in this car. Driver Ilya Zharkov was killed by shots and several people were wounded before the accompanying motorcyclist knocked the shooter down. Brezhnev himself was driving in a different car (and according to some sources, even on a different route) and was not injured.

Since the late 1970s, large-scale corruption began at all levels of government. Brezhny’s serious foreign policy mistake was the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1980, during which significant economic and military resources were diverted to support the Afghan government, and the USSR became involved in the internal political struggle of various clans of Afghan society. Around the same time, Brezhnev’s health condition deteriorated sharply; he raised the question of his resignation several times, but his Politburo comrades, primarily M.A. Suslov, driven by personal interests and the desire to remain in power, persuaded him not to retire. By the end of the 1980s, the country had already observed a personality cult of Brezhnev, comparable to a similar cult of Khrushchev. Surrounded by the praise of his aging colleagues, Brezhnev remained in power until his death. The system of “praising the leader” was preserved even after the death of Brezhnev - under Andropov, Chernenko and Gorbachev.

During the reign of M.S. Gorbachev, the Brezhnev era was called the “years of stagnation.” However, Gorbachev's "leadership" of the country turned out to be much more disastrous for it and ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Even at the age of 50 and even 60, Brezhnev lived without worrying too much about his health. He did not give up all the pleasures that life can give and which do not always contribute to longevity.

Brezhnev's first serious health problems appeared, apparently, in 1969-1970. Doctors began to be constantly on duty next to him, and medical offices were equipped in the places where he lived. At the beginning of 1976, Brezhnev experienced what is commonly called clinical death. However, he was brought back to life, although for two months he could not work, because his thinking and speech were impaired. Since then, a group of resuscitation doctors, armed with the necessary equipment, has always been next to Brezhnev. Although the health of our leaders is one of the closely guarded state secrets, Brezhnev's progressive infirmity was obvious to all who could see him on their television screens. American journalist Simon Head wrote: “Every time this corpulent figure ventures beyond the Kremlin walls, the outside world closely looks for signs of deteriorating health. With the death of M. Suslov, another pillar of the Soviet regime, this eerie scrutiny can only intensify. During the November (1981) meetings with Helmut Schmidt, when Brezhnev almost fell while walking, he at times looked as if he could not last a day."

In essence, he was slowly dying in front of the whole world. He had several heart attacks and strokes in the last six years, and resuscitators brought him back from clinical death several times. The last time this happened was in April 1982 after an accident in Tashkent.

Even on the afternoon of November 7, 1982, during the parade and demonstration, Brezhnev stood for several hours in a row, despite bad weather, on the podium of the Mausoleum, and foreign newspapers wrote that he looked even better than usual. The end came, however, after just three days. In the morning during breakfast, Brezhnev went into his office to get something and did not return for a long time. The concerned wife followed him from the dining room and saw him lying on the carpet near the desk. The doctors' efforts were unsuccessful this time, and four hours after Brezhnev's heart stopped, they announced his death. The next day, the CPSU Central Committee and the Soviet government officially notified the world of the death of L. I. Brezhnev.

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (June 2 (15), 1914 - February 9, 1984) - Soviet statesman and political figure, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1982-1984), Chairman of the KGB of the USSR (1967-1982), Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1983-1984) ).

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was born on June 15, 1914 in the town of Nagutskoye in the family of a railway caretaker. Before entering a technical school, and later at Petrozavodsk University, Andropov worked in many professions: he was a telegraph operator, turned a film projector in cinemas, and even was a boatman in Rybinsk (this Volga city was later renamed Andropov, but in the 1990s years it was returned to its original name). After graduating from the University, Yuri Andropov was sent to Yaroslavl, where he headed the local Komsomol organization. In 1939 he joined the CPSU. The active work that the young worker developed along the party line was noted by senior “comrades-in-arms” in the party and was appreciated: already in 1940, Andropov was appointed head of the Komsomol in the newly created Karelo-Finnish Autonomous Republic.

Young Andropov becomes an active participant in the Komsomol movement. In 1936, he became the released secretary of the Komsomol organization of the water transport technical school in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region. Then he was promoted to the position of Komsomol organizer of the Rybinsk Shipyard. Volodarsky.

Appointed head of the department of the city committee of the Komsomol of Rybinsk, then head of the department of the regional committee of the Komsomol of the Yaroslavl region. Already in 1937, he was elected first secretary of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the Komsomol. Lived in Yaroslavl in a nomenklatura house on Sovetskaya Street, building 4.

In 1939 he joined the CPSU(b). In 1938-1940 he headed the regional Komsomol organization in Yaroslavl.

In June 1940, Yuri Andropov was sent as the leader of the Komsomol to the newly formed Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic. According to the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, part of the territory of Finland was transferred to the USSR. Komsomol organizing bureaus were created in all newly organized regions.

At the first organizational plenum of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of the KFSSR, held on June 3, 1940, he was elected first secretary of the Central Committee. At the first congress of the Komsomol of the KFSSR, held in June 1940 in Petrozavodsk, Andropov made a report “On the tasks of the Komsomol in new conditions.”

Then, in 1940, in Petrozavodsk, Andropov met Tatyana Filippovna Lebedeva. He decides to divorce Engalycheva, after which he marries Lebedeva.

After the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1941-1944, the Central Committee of the Komsomol of the Republic, headed by Andropov, decided to form a partisan detachment “Komsomolets of Karelia” from Komsomol members.

N. Tikhonov, a Komsomol instructor under the commissar of the 1st Partisan Brigade, recalls:

In September 1942, the fifth plenum of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of the Republic was held, in which partisans of the Karelian Front, representatives of military units of the Soviet Army and border troops took part. I was instructed to speak at this plenum and report on the military actions of Komsomol members and youth... In the speech, a proposal was made to create a Komsomol youth partisan detachment... After the plenum, a proposal to create a partisan detachment called "Komsomol member of Karelia" on behalf of the Komsomol Central Committee Yuri Andropov submitted it to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Republic, where it was supported.

P. Nezhelskaya, secretary of the Kalevalsky district committee of the Komsomol, wrote in her memoirs:

Yuri Vladimirovich demanded that we, the workers of the Komsomol Republic Committee, accurately take into account and know which of the Komsomol members did not have time to evacuate and ended up in villages occupied by the enemy, and whether it is possible to contact them. He gave the task to select a group of Komsomol members who speak Finnish, are literate, and are morally and physically strong. We picked it. Most of them were girls. As it later became known, those selected underwent special training for service in the army, in partisan detachments.

Andropov himself compiled all the tasks for Komsomol workers going to the rear. Having sent underground members on a mission, he received radiograms and responded to them, signing the underground nickname “Mohican.”

In 1944 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

In 1944, Yu. V. Andropov switched to party work: from that time he began to hold the post of second secretary of the Petrozavodsk city party committee.

After the Great Patriotic War, Andropov worked as the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Karelo-Finnish SSR (1947-1951).

During this period, he studied at Petrozavodsk State University, and later at the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee.

Path to power

The starting point of Andropov's brilliant government career was his transfer to Moscow in 1951, where he was recommended to the Secretariat of the Communist Party. In those years, the Secretariat was a training ground for future major party workers. Then he was noticed by the main party ideologist, the “gray cardinal” Mikhail Suslov. From July 1954 to March 1957, Andropov was the USSR Ambassador to Hungary and played one of the key roles during the establishment of the pro-Soviet regime and the deployment of Soviet troops in this country.

Upon returning from Hungary, Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov began to very successfully and dynamically move up the party hierarchy and already in 1967 he was appointed head of the KGB (State Security Committee). Andropov's policy as head of the KGB was, naturally, in tune with the political regime of that time. In particular, it was Andropov’s department that carried out the persecution of dissidents, among whom were such famous personalities as Brodsky, Solzhenitsyn, Vishnevskaya, Rostropovich and others. They were deprived of Soviet citizenship and expelled from the country. But in addition to political persecution, the KGB during Andropov’s leadership also dealt with its direct responsibilities - it did a good job of ensuring the state security of the USSR.

Governing body

In May 1982, Andropov was again elected secretary of the Central Committee (from May 24 to November 12, 1982) and left the leadership of the KGB. Even then, many perceived this as the appointment of a successor to the decrepit Brezhnev. On November 12, 1982, Andropov was elected by the Plenum of the Central Committee as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Andropov strengthened his position by becoming Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 16, 1983.

Those who knew Andropov testify that intellectually he stood out against the general gray background of the Politburo during the stagnant years, and was a creative person, not without self-irony. In a circle of trusted people he could allow himself relatively liberal reasoning. Unlike Brezhnev, he was indifferent to flattery and luxury, and did not tolerate bribery and embezzlement. It is clear, however, that in matters of principle the “KGB intellectual” adhered to a rigid conservative position.

In the first months of his reign, he proclaimed a course aimed at socio-economic transformations. However, all the changes largely boiled down to administrative measures, strengthening discipline among party officials and in the workplace, and exposing corruption in the inner circle of the ruling elite. In some cities of the USSR, law enforcement agencies began to use measures, the severity of which seemed unusual to the population in the 1980s.

Under Andropov, mass production of licensed gramophone records by popular Western performers of those genres (rock, disco, synth-pop) that had previously been considered ideologically unacceptable began - this was supposed to undermine the economic basis of speculation in gramophone records and magnetic recordings.

Among some citizens, the short “era of Andropov” evoked support. In many ways he seemed better than Brezhnev. For the first time after many years of victorious reports, the new Secretary General spoke openly about the difficulties experienced by the country. In one of his first speeches, Andropov stated: “I have no ready-made recipes.” Andropov appeared in public with the only Gold Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor. Compared to Brezhnev, who was decorated with awards, this seemed like great modesty. Andropov spoke competently and clearly about what he won compared to his tongue-tied predecessor

The political and economic system remained unchanged. And ideological control and repression against dissidents have become more stringent. In foreign policy, confrontation with the West has intensified. Since June 1983, Andropov has combined the position of General Secretary of the party with the post of head of state - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. But he remained in the top post for just over a year. In the last months of his life, Andropov was forced to rule the country from the hospital ward of a Kremlin clinic.

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, as head of state, intended to carry out a number of reforms, but poor health did not allow him to put his plans into practice. Already in the fall of 1983, he was transported to the hospital, where he remained constantly until his death on February 9, 1984.

Andropov was formally in power for 15 months. He really wanted to reform the Soviet Union, albeit with rather harsh measures, but he didn’t have time - he died. And the population remembers Andropov’s reign for the tightening of disciplinary liability in the workplace and mass checks of documents during the day to find out why a person was in work time is not at work, but walking along the street.

Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko

Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko (September 11 (24), 1911 - March 10, 1985) - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee from February 13, 1984, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from April 11, 1984 (deputy - since 1966). Member of the CPSU since 1931, member of the CPSU Central Committee since 1971 (candidate since 1966), member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee since 1978 (candidate since 1977).

Born on September 11 (24), 1911 in a family of Russian peasants in Siberia. He joined the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in 1931 while serving in the Red Army.

In the early 30s, Konstantin Chernenko served in Kazakhstan (49th border detachment of the Khorgos border post, Taldy-Kurgan region), where he commanded a border detachment and participated in the liquidation of Bekmuratov’s gang. While serving in the border troops, he joined the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and was elected secretary of the party organization of the border detachment. In Kazakhstan, as the writer N. Fetisov wrote, the “baptism of fire” of the future secretary general took place. The writer began preparing a book about the service of a young warrior at the Khorgos and Narynkol outposts - “Six Heroic Days”.

Fetisov kept trying to clarify details about Chernenko’s specific participation in the liquidation of Bekmuratov’s gang, about the battle in the Chebortal gorge, and the life of the border detachment. He even wrote a letter about this to the Secretary General, asking Konstantin Ustinovich: “An interesting entertainment for the border guards at the Narynkol outpost was to admire the play of the border guards’ favorites - a goat, a dog and a cat. Do you remember this?

In 1933-1941 he headed the propaganda and agitation department at the Novoselkovsky and Uyarsky district party committees of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

In 1943-1945, Konstantin Chernenko studied in Moscow at the Higher School of Party Organizers. I didn’t ask to go to the front. His activities during the war were only awarded with the medal “For Valiant Labor.” For the next three years, Chernenko worked as secretary of the regional committee for ideology in the Penza region, then until 1956 he headed the department of propaganda and agitation in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova. It was here in the early 1950s that Chernenko met Brezhnev, then first secretary. Business communication grew into a friendship that lasted until the end of life. With the help of Brezhnev, Chernenko made a unique party career, going from the base to the top of the pyramid of power, without possessing any noticeable qualities of a leader.

In 1941-1943. Chernenko served as secretary of the Krasnoyarsk regional party committee, but then left this post to receive an education at the Higher School of Party Organizers under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in Moscow (1943-1945). Upon graduation, he was sent to Penza as secretary of the local regional committee (1945-1948). Chernenko continued his career in Moldova, becoming the head of the propaganda and agitation department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova (1948-1956). At this time, he met L.I. Brezhnev, who later (1956) transferred Chernenko to Moscow as head of the mass agitation sector under the Department of Propaganda and Agitation of the CPSU Central Committee. Since 1950, Chernenko's career has been inextricably linked with Brezhnev's career.

From May 1960 to July 1965, Chernenko was the head of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, whose chairman in 1960-1964 was Brezhnev.

Personal life.

Chernenko's first wife's name was Faina Vasilievna. She was born in the Novoselovsky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The marriage did not work out with her, but during this period a son, Albert, was born. Albert Chernenko was the secretary of the Tomsk city committee of the CPSU for ideological work, the rector of the Novosibirsk Higher Party School. He defended his doctoral dissertation “Problems of Historical Causality” while working in the party. In the last years of his life, he was deputy dean of the law faculty of Tomsk State University located in Novosibirsk. Lived in Novosibirsk. He believed that the theory of convergence - the combination of opposites, in particular capitalism and socialism - was closest to him. Albert Konstantinovich Chernenko has two sons: Vladimir and Dmitry.

The second wife, Anna Dmitrievna (nee Lyubimova), was born on September 3, 1913 in the Rostov region.

Graduated from the Saratov Institute of Agricultural Engineering. She was a Komsomol organizer for the course, a member of the faculty bureau, and secretary of the Komsomol committee. In 1944 she married K.U. Chernenko. She protected her sick husband from going hunting with Brezhnev. Anna Dmitrievna was short, with a shy smile. Children were born from her marriage: Vladimir, Vera and Elena

The path to power and short formal rule.

In 1956, Brezhnev was the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chernenko was the assistant to the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and then the head. sector in the propaganda department.

In 1960-1964, Brezhnev was Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, from 1964 - First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (and from 1966 - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee), Chernenko - a candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee.

Since 1977, Brezhnev became Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Chernenko - a candidate member of the Politburo, and since 1978 - a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. While rewarding himself, Brezhnev did not forget about his comrade-in-arms: in 1976, Brezhnev was awarded the third, and Chernenko - the first Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor; in 1981, Brezhnev got a fifth star on his chest, and Chernenko got a second one.

During the reign of Brezhnev, Chernenko was the head of the general department of the CPSU Central Committee, a large number of documents and entire dossiers to the top of the party passed through him; By his very nature, he was inclined to inconspicuous hardware work, but at the same time he was very knowledgeable.

Konstantin Ustinovich was an “organizer” of the highest class. All regional leaders sought to get an appointment with him. Because they knew: if they turned to Chernenko, the issue would be resolved, and the necessary documentation would quickly pass through all authorities. - Fedor Morgun

He regularly shared information with Brezhnev and thus had the reputation of "Brezhnev's secretary." For years, Chernenko spent colossal energy, diligence and modest knowledge on an unparalleled bureaucratic career. In clerical work he found his calling. He was in charge of mail addressed to the Secretary General; wrote down preliminary answers. He prepared questions and selected materials for Politburo meetings. Chernenko was aware of everything that was happening in the highest echelon of the party. He could promptly tell Brezhnev about someone’s upcoming anniversary or about the next award.

While for Brezhnev the daily routine work with numerous documents was more than burdensome, for Chernenko it was a pleasure. Often decisions came from Konstantin Ustinovich, but were announced on behalf of the Secretary General. Over the years of working together, he never let Brezhnev down, did not cause his displeasure, much less irritation for any reason. I never objected to him.

But it was not only Chernenko’s diligence and punctuality that impressed Brezhnev. Konstantin Ustinovich skillfully flattered him and always found a reason for admiration and praise. Over time, he became indispensable for Brezhnev.

Twice Konstantin Ustinovich accompanied Brezhnev on trips abroad: in 1975 - to Helsinki, where the International Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe took place, and in 1979 - to negotiations in Vienna on disarmament issues.

Chernenko became Brezhnev's shadow, his closest adviser. Since the late 1970s, Chernenko began to be considered one of Brezhnev's possible successors, associated with conservative forces in his circle. By the time of Brezhnev’s death in 1982, he was considered (by both Western political scientists and high-ranking party members) one of two, along with Andropov, contenders for full power; Andropov won. After the death of Brezhnev, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee recommended Chernenko to propose to the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee the candidacy of Andropov for the post of General Secretary. He did this on November 12, 1982 at the end of his speech at the Plenum (most of which was devoted to characterizing Brezhnev), emphasizing, at the same time, the need for collective leadership; After this, Andropov was unanimously elected Secretary General.

In February 1982, the Politburo approved the awarding of the Lenin and State Prizes for “The History of Foreign Policy of the USSR, 1917-1980.” in two volumes, as well as for a multi-volume volume on international conferences during the Second World War. Among the laureates awarded the Lenin Prize was Chernenko, who did not participate in any way in the creation of these scientific works. But the Lenin laureate was considered very prestigious, and Konstantin Ustinovich received it, as well as the third title of Hero, on his seventy-third birthday.

The sudden illness and death of Andropov and difficulties regarding the outcome of further internal party struggle made Chernenko, almost inevitably, the new head of the party and state.

Andropov's reforms, aimed at combating corruption and reducing privileges in the highest spheres of the party apparatus, caused a negative reaction from party officials. In an attempt to revive the Brezhnev era, the aging Politburo, seven of whose members had died of old age between 1982 and 1984, favored Chernenko, who was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee on February 13, 1984, after Andropov's death. April 11, 1984.

When 73-year-old Chernenko received the highest position in the Soviet state, he no longer had either the physical or spiritual strength to lead the country.

His rapidly deteriorating health prevented him from truly governing the country. His frequent absences due to illness led to the conclusion that his election to senior party and government positions was only a temporary measure. Died on March 10, 1985 in Moscow.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

(March 2, 1931, Privolnoye, North Caucasus Territory) - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (March 11, 1985 - August 23, 1991), the first and last President of the USSR (March 15, 1990 - December 25, 1991). Head of the Gorbachev Foundation. Since 1993, co-founder of CJSC Novaya Ezhednevnaya Gazeta (see Novaya Gazeta). He has a number of awards and honorary titles, the most famous of which is the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. Head of the Soviet state from March 11, 1985 to December 25, 1991. Gorbachev's activities as head of the CPSU and state are associated with a large-scale attempt at reform in the USSR - Perestroika, which ended with the collapse of the world socialist system and the collapse of the USSR, as well as the end of the Cold War. Russian public opinion regarding Gorbachev's role in these events is extremely polarized.

Born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky district, Stavropol Territory, into a peasant family. At the age of 16 (1947) he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for high-threshing grain on a combine harvester. In 1950, after graduating from school with a silver medal, he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov. He actively participated in the activities of the Komsomol organization of the university, and in 1952 he joined the CPSU.

After graduating from university in 1955, he was sent to Stavropol to the regional prosecutor's office. He worked as deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department of the Stavropol regional committee of the Komsomol, first secretary of the Stavropol city Komsomol committee, then second and first secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol (1955-1962).

In 1962, Gorbachev went to work in party bodies. Khrushchev's reforms were underway in the country at that time. The party leadership bodies were divided into industrial and rural. New management structures have emerged - territorial production departments. The party career of M.S. Gorbachev began with the position of party organizer of the Stavropol territorial production agricultural administration (three rural districts). In 1967 he graduated (in absentia) from the Stavropol Agricultural Institute.

In December 1962, Gorbachev was approved as head of the department of organizational and party work of the Stavropol rural regional committee of the CPSU. Since September 1966, Gorbachev has been the first secretary of the Stavropol city party committee; in August 1968 he was elected second, and in April 1970 - first secretary of the Stavropol regional committee of the CPSU. In 1971 M.S. Gorbachev became a member of the CPSU Central Committee.

In November 1978, Gorbachev became Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on issues of the agro-industrial complex, in 1979 - a candidate member, and in 1980 - a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In March 1985, Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party.

In 1971-1992 he was a member of the CPSU Central Committee. In November 1978, he was elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. From 1979 to 1980 - candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In the early 80s. made a number of foreign visits, during which he met Margaret Thatcher and became friends with Alexander Yakovlev, who then headed the Soviet embassy in Canada. Participated in the work of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee to resolve important government issues. From October 1980 to June 1992 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, from December 1989 to June 1990 - Chairman of the Russian Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee, from March 1985 to August 1991 - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

Governing body

Being at the pinnacle of power, Gorbachev carried out numerous reforms and campaigns, which later led to a market economy, the destruction of the monopoly power of the CPSU and the collapse of the USSR. The assessment of Gorbachev's activities is contradictory.

Conservative politicians criticized him for the economic devastation, the collapse of the Union and other consequences of perestroika.

Radical politicians criticized him for the inconsistency of reforms and his attempt to preserve the old administrative-command system and socialism.

Many Soviet, post-Soviet and foreign politicians and journalists welcomed Gorbachev's reforms, democracy and glasnost, the end of the Cold War, and the unification of Germany.

In 1986-1987, hoping to awaken the initiative of the “masses,” Gorbachev and his supporters set a course for the development of glasnost and “democratization” of all aspects of public life. Glasnost in the Bolshevik Party was traditionally understood not as freedom of speech, but as freedom of “constructive” (loyal) criticism and self-criticism. However, during the years of perestroika, the idea of ​​glasnost, through the efforts of progressive journalists and radical supporters of reforms, in particular, the secretary and member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee A.N. Yakovlev, was developed precisely in freedom of speech. The XIX Party Conference of the CPSU (June 1988) adopted the resolution “On Glasnost”. In March 1990, the “Press Law” was adopted, achieving a certain level of independence of the media from party control.

In March 1989, the first relatively free elections of people's deputies in the history of the USSR took place, the results of which caused a shock in the party apparatus. In many regions, secretaries of party committees failed in the elections. Many intellectuals came to the deputy corps, critically assessing the role of the CPSU in society. The Congress of People's Deputies in May of the same year demonstrated a fierce confrontation between various currents both in society and among the parliamentarians. At this congress, Gorbachev was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Gorbachev's actions caused a wave of growing criticism. Some criticized him for being slow and inconsistent in carrying out reforms, others for haste; everyone noted the contradictory nature of his policies. Thus, laws were adopted on the development of cooperation and almost immediately on the fight against “speculation”; laws on democratizing enterprise management and at the same time strengthening central planning; reform laws political system and free elections, and immediately - about “strengthening the role of the party”, etc.

Attempts at reform were resisted by the party-Soviet system itself - the Lenin-Stalin model of socialism. The power of the General Secretary was not absolute and largely depended on the “alignment” of forces in the Politburo of the Central Committee. Gorbachev's powers were least limited in international affairs. With the support of E.A. Shevardnadze (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and A.N. Yakovlev, Gorbachev acted assertively and effectively. Since 1985 (after a 6 and a half year break), the leader of the USSR held annual meetings with US Presidents R. Reagan, and then G. Bush, presidents and prime ministers of other countries. In 1989, on Gorbachev’s initiative, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany occurred. The signing by Gorbachev in 1990 in Paris, together with the heads of state and government of other European countries, as well as the United States and Canada, of the Charter for a New Europe, put an end to the Cold War period of the late 1940s - late 1990s.

However, in domestic politics, especially in the economy, signs of a serious crisis appeared. The shortage of food and everyday goods has increased. Since 1989, the process of disintegration of the political system of the Soviet Union was in full swing. Attempts to stop this process by force (in Tbilisi, Baku, Vilnius, Riga) led to directly opposite results, strengthening centrifugal tendencies. The democratic leaders of the Interregional Deputy Group (B.N. Yeltsin, A.D. Sakharov, etc.) organized rallies of thousands in their support. In the first half of 1990, almost all union republics declared their state sovereignty (RSFSR - June 12, 1990).

Under Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's external debt reached a record high. Gorbachev took out debts at high interest rates - more than 8% per annum - from different countries. Russia was able to pay off the debts incurred by Gorbachev only 15 years after his resignation. At the same time, the gold reserves of the USSR decreased tenfold: from more than 2,000 tons to 200. It was officially stated that all these huge funds were spent on the purchase of consumer goods. Approximate data are as follows: 1985, external debt - $31.3 billion; 1991, external debt - $70.3 billion (for comparison, the total amount of Russian external debt as of October 1, 2008 - $540.5 billion, including public external debt in foreign currency - about $40 billion, or 8 % of GDP - for more details, see the article External Debt of Russia). The peak of Russian government debt occurred in 1998 (146.4% of GDP).

After the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords (overcoming Gorbachev’s objections), and the actual denunciation of the union treaty, on December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head of state. From January 1992 to the present - President of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (Gorbachev Foundation). At the same time, from March 1993 to 1996, he was president, and since 1996, chairman of the board of the International Green Cross.