Despite the fact that the USSR suffered very heavy losses during the war years, it entered the international arena not only not weakened, but became even stronger than before. In 1946-1948. in the states of Eastern Europe and Asia, communist governments came to power, heading for the construction of socialism on the Soviet model.

However, the leading Western powers pursued a power policy towards the USSR and the socialist states. One of the main deterrents was atomic weapon, which the United States enjoyed a monopoly on. Therefore, the creation of an atomic bomb became one of the main goals of the USSR. This work was headed by the physicist I. V. Kurchatov. The Institute of Atomic Energy and the Institute of Nuclear Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR were created. In 1948, the first atomic reactor was launched, and in 1949, the first atomic bomb was tested at the test site near Semipalatinsk. In the work on it, the USSR was secretly assisted by individual Western scientists. Thus, a second nuclear power appeared in the world, the US monopoly on nuclear weapons ended. Since that time, the confrontation between the US and the USSR has largely determined the international situation.

Economic recovery.

Material losses in the war were very high. The USSR lost a third of its national wealth in the war. Agriculture was in deep crisis. The majority of the population was in distress, its supply was carried out using a rationing system.

In 1946, the Law on the five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy was adopted. It was necessary to accelerate technological progress, to strengthen the country's defense power. Postwar five-year plan marked by large construction projects (hydroelectric power station, state district power station) and the development of road transport construction. The technical re-equipment of the industry of the Soviet Union was facilitated by the export of equipment from German and Japanese enterprises. The highest rates of development were achieved in such sectors as ferrous metallurgy, oil and coal mining, construction of machines and machine tools.

After the war, the countryside found itself in a more difficult position than the city. In the collective farms, tough measures were taken to procure bread. If earlier the collective farmers gave only part of the grain "to the common barn", now they were often forced to give all the grain. The discontent in the village grew. The sown area has been greatly reduced. Due to the depreciation of equipment and the lack of labor, field work was carried out late, which negatively affected the harvest.

The main features of post-war life.

A significant part of the housing stock was destroyed. The problem of labor resources was acute: immediately after the war, many demobilized people returned to the city, but the enterprises still lacked workers. We had to recruit workers in the countryside, among the students of vocational schools.

Even before the war, decrees were adopted, and after it continued to operate, according to which workers were forbidden, under pain of criminal punishment, to leave enterprises without permission.

For stabilization financial system in 1947, the Soviet government carried out a monetary reform. Old money was exchanged for new money at a ratio of 10:1. After the exchange, the amount of money the population had sharply decreased. At the same time, the government has reduced the prices of consumer products many times. The card system was abolished, food and industrial goods appeared on open sale at retail prices. In most cases, these prices were higher than rations, but significantly lower than commercial ones. The abolition of cards has improved the situation of the urban population.

One of the main features of post-war life was the legalization of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. In July 1948, the church celebrated the 500th anniversary of self-government, and in honor of this, a meeting of representatives of local Orthodox churches was held in Moscow.

power after the war.

With the transition to peaceful construction, structural changes took place in the government. In September 1945, the GKO was abolished. On March 15, 1946, the Council of People's Commissars and People's Commissariats were renamed into the Council of Ministers and ministries.

In March 1946, the Bureau of the Council of Ministers was created, the chairman of which was L. P. Beria . He was also instructed to supervise the work of the internal affairs and state security agencies. Pretty strong positions in the leadership held A.A. Zhdanov, who combined the duties of a member of the Politburo, Orgburo and party secretary, but in 1948 he died. At the same time, the positions G.M. Malenkova, who had previously held a very modest position in the governing bodies.

Changes in party structures were reflected in the program of the 19th Party Congress. At this congress, the party received a new na-sha and ne - instead of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), they began to call it Communist Party Council and Union (CPSU).

USSR in the 50s - early 60s. 20th century

Changes after the death of Stalin and the XX Congress of the CPSU.

Stalin died on March 5, 1953. The closest associates of the leader proclaimed a course towards the establishment of collective leadership, but in reality a struggle for leadership developed between them. Minister of the Interior Marshal L.P. Beria initiated an amnesty for prisoners whose term was no more than five years. He put his supporters at the head of several republics. Beria also proposed to soften the policy towards collective farms and advocated detente of international tension, improvement of relations with Western countries.

However, in the summer of 1953, other members of the top party leadership, with the support of the military, organized a conspiracy and overthrew Beria. He was shot. The fight didn't end there. Malenkov, Kaganovich and Molotov were gradually removed from power, G.K. Zhukov was removed from the post of Minister of Defense. Almost all of this was done on the initiative N.S. Khrushchev, who since 1958 began to combine party and state posts.

In February 1956, the XX Congress of the CPSU was held, on the agenda of which were an analysis of the international and domestic situation, summing up the results of the fifth five-year plan. At the congress, the question of exposing Stalin's personality cult was raised. The report "On the cult of personality and its consequences" was made by N.S. Khrushchev. He talked about Stalin's numerous violations of Lenin's policy, about "illegal methods of investigation" and purges that killed many innocent people. They talked about Stalin's mistakes as a statesman (for example, a miscalculation in determining the date of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War). Khrushchev's report after the congress was read throughout the country at party and Komsomol meetings. Its content shocked the Soviet people, many began to doubt the correctness of the path that the country had been following since October revolution .

The process of de-Stalinization of society took place gradually. At Khrushchev's initiative, cultural figures were given the opportunity to create their own works without total control of censorship and strict party dictates. This policy was called the "thaw" after the name of the then popular novel by the writer I. Ehrenburg.

During the "thaw" period, significant changes took place in culture. Works of literature and art have become more profound and sincere.

Reforms in the field of economy. The development of the national economy.

Reforms carried out in the 50s - early 60s. 20th century were controversial. At one time, Stalin outlined the economic frontiers that the country was to reach in the near future. Under Khrushchev, the USSR reached these milestones, but in the changed conditions, their achievement did not have such a significant effect.

The strengthening of the national economy of the USSR began with changes in the raw sector. It was decided to set acceptable prices for agricultural products, to change the tax policy so that the collective farmers were materially interested in selling their products. In the future, it was planned to increase the cash income of collective farms, pensions, and soften the passport regime.

In 1954, at the initiative of Khrushchev, development of virgin lands. Later, they began to reorganize the economic structure of the collective farmers. Khrushchev suggested building urban-type buildings for rural residents and taking other measures to improve their life. Ease in the passport regime opened the floodgates for migration rural population in town. Various programs were adopted to improve the efficiency of agriculture, and Khrushchev often saw a panacea in the cultivation of any one crop. The most famous was his attempt to turn corn into the “queen of the fields”. The desire to grow it, regardless of the climate, caused damage to agriculture, but among the people Khrushchev received the nickname "maize".

50s 20th century characterized by great success in the industry. The production of heavy industry has grown especially. Much attention was paid to those industries that ensured the development of technology. Of paramount importance was the program of continuous electrification of the country. New hydroelectric power plants and state district power plants were put into operation.

The impressive success of the economy aroused the confidence of the leadership headed by Khrushchev in the possibility of even greater acceleration of the pace of the country's development. The thesis was put forward about the complete and final construction of socialism in the USSR, and in the early 60s. 20th century headed for construction communism , that is, a society where every person can satisfy all his needs. According to the new party program adopted in 1962 by the XXII Congress of the CPSU, it was supposed to complete the construction of communism by 1980. However, the serious difficulties in the economy that began at the same time clearly demonstrated to the citizens of the USSR the utopianism and adventurism of Khrushchev’s ideas.

Difficulties in the development of industry were largely due to the ill-conceived reorganizations of the last years of Khrushchev's rule. Thus, most of the central industrial ministries were liquidated, and the leadership of the economy passed into the hands of economic councils, created in certain regions of the country. This innovation led to a rupture of ties between regions, which hindered the introduction of new technologies.

Social sphere.

The government has taken a number of measures to improve the welfare of the people. A law on state pensions was introduced. In secondary and higher educational institutions, tuition fees have been abolished. Heavy industry workers were transferred to a reduced working day without reducing wages. The population received various financial benefits. The material incomes of the working people have grown. Simultaneously with the increase in wages, prices were lowered for consumer goods: certain types of fabrics, clothes, goods for children, watches, medicines, etc.

Many public funds were also created, which paid various preferential benefits. Due to these funds, many were able to study at school or university. The working day was reduced to 6-7 hours, and on pre-holiday and public holidays the working day lasted even less. The working week has become shorter by 2 hours. On October 1, 1962, all taxes on the wages of workers and employees were abolished. From the end of the 50s. 20th century began selling durable goods on credit.

Undoubted successes in the social sphere in the early 60s. 20th century were accompanied by negative phenomena, especially painful for the population: essential products, including bread, disappeared from store shelves. There were several demonstrations of workers, the most famous of which was a demonstration in Novocherkassk, during the suppression of which the troops used weapons, which led to many casualties.

Foreign policy of the USSR in 1953-1964.

Foreign policy was characterized by the struggle to strengthen the position of the USSR and international security.

Important international importance had a settlement of the Austrian question. In 1955, at the initiative of the USSR, the State Treaty with Austria was signed in Vienna. Diplomatic relations were also established with Germany and Japan.

Soviet diplomacy actively sought to establish the most diverse ties with all states. The Hungarian uprising of 1956, which was crushed by Soviet troops, became a severe test. Almost simultaneously with the Hungarian events in 1956, arose Suez Crisis .

On August 5, 1963, an agreement between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain on the ban on nuclear tests on land, in air and water was signed in Moscow.

Relations with most of the socialist countries had long been streamlined - they clearly obeyed the instructions of Moscow. In May 1953, the USSR restored relations with Yugoslavia. A Soviet-Yugoslav declaration was signed, which proclaimed the principle of the indivisibility of the world, non-interference in internal affairs, and so on.

The main foreign policy theses of the CPSU were criticized by the Chinese Communists. They also challenged the political assessment of Stalin's activities. In 1963-1965. The PRC laid claim to a number of border territories of the USSR, and an open struggle broke out between the two powers.

The USSR actively cooperated with the countries of Asia and Africa, which won independence. Moscow helped developing countries create national economies. In February 1955, a Soviet-Indian agreement was signed on the construction of a metallurgical plant in India with the help of the USSR. The USSR provided assistance to the United Arab Republic, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Syria and other countries of Asia and Africa.

USSR in the second half of the 60s - early 80s. 20th century

The overthrow of N. S. Khrushchev and the search for a political course.

Development of science, technology and education.

The number of scientific institutions and scientists increased in the USSR. Each union republic had its own Academy of Sciences, which was subordinate to a whole system of scientific institutions. Significant progress has been made in the development of science. On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was launched, then the spacecraft reached the Moon. On April 12, 1961, the first manned flight into space took place. The first ascent of the space CSM became Yu.L. Gagarin.

New and more powerful power plants were built. Aircraft construction, nuclear physics, astrophysics and other sciences were successfully developed. Many cities created scientific centers. For example, in 1957 Akademgorodok was built near Novosibirsk.

After the war, the number of schools dropped dramatically, one of the tasks of the government was to create new secondary schools. educational institutions. The increase in the number of high school graduates has led to an increase in the number of university students.

In 1954, co-education of boys and girls was restored in schools. The tuition fees for high school students and students were also abolished. Students began to pay scholarships. In 1958, compulsory eight-year education was introduced, and the ten-year school was transferred to 11-year education. Soon, work in production was included in the curricula of schools.

Spiritual life and culture of "developed socialism".

The ideologists of the CPSU sought to quickly forget Khrushchev's idea of ​​building communism by 1980. This idea was replaced by the slogan of "developed socialism". It was believed that under "developed socialism" nations and nationalities were drawing closer together, a single community had formed - the Soviet people. They talked about the rapid development of the country's productive forces, about blurring the lines between town and countryside, about the distribution of wealth on the principles of "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his work." Finally, the transformation of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a nationwide state of workers, peasants and the people's intelligentsia was proclaimed, between which the lines are also continuously blurred.

In the 60-70s. 20th century culture has ceased to be synonymous with ideology, its uniformity has been lost. The ideological component of culture receded into the background, giving way to simplicity and sincerity. Works created in the provinces - in Irkutsk, Kursk, Voronezh, Omsk, etc., gained popularity. Culture was given a special status.

Nevertheless, ideological tendencies in culture were still very strong. Militant atheism played a negative role. The persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church intensified. Temples were closed in the country, priests were deposed and defrocked. Militant atheists created special organizations for preaching atheism.

Finished victorious. The victory created a special spiritual atmosphere in society - pride, self-respect, hope. The faith was growing stronger that all the worst was over, that a new life lay ahead, abundant, fair, kind, free from violence, fear, dictate. But the government chose a different course, returning to the path it led society and the country in the 1930s. The most complex problems that confronted the USSR after the war were solved by methods tested in the pre-war decade. In 1946-1953. the totalitarian system reached its peak.

The damage caused by the war was enormous. About 27 million people died, at least one third of the national wealth of the USSR was destroyed. Restoration of the destroyed economy, its transfer from military to peaceful rails - these are the main tasks facing the country. The first steps were the demobilization of the army, its sharp reduction (almost 4 times by 1948); redistribution of expenses in favor of peaceful branches of industry and reorientation of production to peaceful needs; the abolition of the State Defense Committee and the transfer of its functions to the Council of People's Commissars (since March 1946 - the Council of Ministers); restoration of the 8-hour working day, annual holidays, the abolition of mandatory overtime work.

The Fourth Five-Year Plan (1946-1950) set the task of restoring and surpassing the pre-war level of the national economy. At the same time, the primary goal was formulated unambiguously - the restoration and development of heavy industry. The restoration of agriculture, light industry, the abolition of the rationing system, the revival of destroyed cities and villages were considered important, but subordinate main goal tasks. In practice, this meant that light industry was still financed according to the "leftover principle", agriculture was again given the role of the main source of savings for restoring the country's industrial base.

Heavy industry, according to official figures, reached pre-war levels in 1948; in 1950 it surpassed it by 73%. The volumes of production of oil, coal, metal, electricity have grown. New industrial enterprises were built. It was an undoubted success, achieved due to the colossal exertion of all forces, the labor heroism of the people (the movement of "high-speed workers", the mass overfulfillment of norms, etc.). Reparation deliveries of industrial equipment from Germany had a certain significance. As in the 1930s, the free labor of Gulag prisoners (nearly 9 million prisoners and 2 million German and Japanese prisoners of war) was widely used.

Agriculture reached pre-war levels by the beginning of the 1950s. However, it failed to reach a level that would ensure an uninterrupted supply of food to the country. The drought of 1946 had extremely grave consequences in this sense, but the main reasons for the actual degradation of the collective-farm village were not in it. The transfer of funds from agriculture to industry has taken on a truly horrendous scale (purchase prices, in particular, compensated for no more than 5-10% of the costs of producing grain, meat, and industrial crops). Mandatory state deliveries increased, taxes grew, personal plots were reduced.

In 1947, the distribution card system was abolished and a monetary reform was carried out.

The national economy was generally restored by the beginning of the 1950s. It was an achievement of great historical importance, the result of the selflessness and labor feat of the people. But the extraordinary difficulties of the post-war years were overcome by those tested back in the 30s. means: over-centralization of the economy, harsh dictatorship, transfer of funds in favor of heavy industry, conservation of the low standard of living of the population. The restoration of the national economy was thus accompanied by a tightening of the command economy, the basis of a totalitarian society.

In the post-war years, the authorities did everything possible not only to preserve, but also to strengthen the totalitarian system in the country. Holding elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, congresses of the party (the 19th congress was held in 1952, at which the CPSU (b) was renamed the CPSU), Komsomol, trade unions, people's judges, transforming people's commissariats into ministries, the country's leadership made consistent efforts to to nullify the democratic momentum of victory.

Repressions began again: first, against Soviet prisoners of war who found themselves in German captivity (out of 5.5 million people, almost 2 million ended up in places of detention), and residents of the occupied regions. This was followed by new waves of deportations of the population from the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Baltic States, Western Ukraine and Belarus. The population of the Gulag grew.

The following blows were inflicted on the military (arrest of Air Marshal A. A. Novikov, associates of Marshal G. K. Zhukov and others), the party elite (“Leningrad case”, the execution of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N. A. Voznesensky, the former head of the Leningrad Party organizations A.A. Kuznetsov and others), artists (decree on the magazines Zvezda and Leningrad, public defamation of A.A. Akhmatova and M. M. Zoshchenko, outrageous criticism of the music of D. D. Shostakovich, V. I. Muradeli, S. S. Prokofiev, the ban on the second series of S. Eisenstein’s film “Ivan the Terrible”, etc.), scientists (condemnation of genetics, cybernetics, discussions on problems of linguistics, philosophy, political economy, etc.), representatives of the Jewish intelligentsia ( the murder of S. Mikhoels, the campaign against the “rootless cosmopolitans”). In 1952 a “case of doctors” arose, accused of deliberately improper treatment of the leaders of the party and state. There is reason to believe that I. V. Stalin was preparing arrests in his inner circle. Whether this is so is not exactly known: on March 5, 1953, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Thus, all the elements of the totalitarian system - the absolute domination of a single ruling party, the cult of the leader, a single dominant ideology, a well-functioning repressive apparatus - were strengthened and strengthened in the post-war period. Nuts were screwed to the limit. Further tightening of the regime was impossible. Stalin's heirs were clearly aware of this.

The victory in the Great Patriotic War, the decisive role in World War II significantly strengthened the prestige of the USSR and its influence in the international arena. The USSR became one of the founders of the United Nations, a permanent member of the Security Council. The clash of foreign policy interests of the USSR, on the one hand, and its partners in anti-Hitler coalition(USA, UK) - on the other hand, in essence, it was inevitable. The Soviet leadership sought to use the victory with maximum benefit to create its own sphere of influence in the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, which were liberated by the Red Army (Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Albania, etc.).

The United States and Great Britain regarded these actions as a threat to their national interests, an attempt to impose a communist model on these countries. In 1947 US President G. Truman proposed the formation of a military-political alliance of Western countries, the creation of a network of military bases on the borders of the USSR, and the deployment of an economic assistance program European countries affected by Nazi Germany ("Truman Doctrine"). The reaction of the USSR was quite predictable. The severance of relations between the former allies became a reality already in 1947. The era of the Cold War began.

In 1946-1949. with the direct participation of the USSR in Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania. Communist governments came to power in China. The Soviet leadership made no secret of its intention to direct the domestic and foreign policy of these countries. The refusal of the Yugoslav leader I. Broz Tito to submit to the plans of the USSR to unite Yugoslavia and Bulgaria into a Balkan federation led to a break in Soviet-Yugoslav relations. Moreover, in the communist parties of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and others, campaigns were carried out to expose the "Yugoslav spies". Needless to say, the rejection of the Soviet model for the leadership of the countries of the socialist camp was simply impossible. The USSR forced them to reject financial assistance offered by the US under the Marshall Plan, and in 1949 succeeded in establishing the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, which coordinated economic relations within the socialist bloc. Within the framework of the CMEA, the USSR throughout all subsequent years provided very substantial economic assistance to the allied countries.

In the same year, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formalized, and the USSR announced the successful testing of nuclear weapons. Fearing a global conflict, the USSR and the USA measured their strength in local clashes. The most acute was their rivalry in Korea (1950-1953), which ended with the split of this country, and in Germany, where in May 1949 the FRG was proclaimed, created on the basis of the British, American and French zones of occupation, and in October the GDR, which entered into the sphere of Soviet influence.

"Cold War" in 1947-1953. more than once brought the world to the threshold of a real ("hot") war. Both sides showed stubbornness, refused serious compromises, developed military mobilization plans in the event of a global conflict, including the possibility of inflicting a nuclear strike on the enemy first.

The Great Patriotic War ended with a victory, which Soviet people took four years. Men fought on the fronts, women worked on collective farms, at military factories - in a word, they provided rear. However, the euphoria caused by the long-awaited victory was replaced by a sense of hopelessness. Continuous hard work, hunger, Stalinist repressions, renewed with renewed vigor - these phenomena overshadowed the post-war years.

In the history of the USSR, the term " cold war". Used in relation to the period of military, ideological and economic confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. It begins in 1946, that is, in the post-war years. The USSR emerged victorious from World War II, but, unlike the United States, it had a long recovery path.

Construction

According to the plan of the fourth five-year plan, the implementation of which began in the USSR in the postwar years, it was necessary, first of all, to restore the cities destroyed by the fascist troops. More than 1.5 thousand settlements were affected in four years. Young people quickly received various construction specialties. However, there was not enough manpower - the war claimed the lives of more than 25 million Soviet citizens.

To restore normal working hours, overtime work was canceled. Annual paid holidays were introduced. The working day now lasted eight hours. Peaceful construction in the USSR in the postwar years was headed by the Council of Ministers.

Industry

Plants and factories destroyed during the Second World War were actively restored in the post-war years. In the USSR, by the end of the forties, old enterprises began to work. New ones were also built. The post-war period in the USSR is 1945-1953, that is, it begins after the end of the Second World War. Ends with the death of Stalin.

The recovery of industry after the war proceeded rapidly, partly due to the high working capacity of the Soviet people. The citizens of the USSR were convinced that they had a great life, much better than the Americans living in the conditions of decaying capitalism. This was facilitated by the Iron Curtain, which isolated the country culturally and ideologically from the whole world for forty years.

They worked hard, but their life did not get easier. In the USSR in 1945-1953 there was a rapid development of three industries: rocket, radar, nuclear. Most of the resources were spent on the construction of enterprises that belonged to these areas.

Agriculture

The first post-war years were terrible for the inhabitants. In 1946, the country was gripped by famine caused by destruction and drought. Especially plight was observed in Ukraine, in Moldova, in the right-bank regions of the lower Volga region and in the North Caucasus. New collective farms were created throughout the country.

In order to strengthen the spirit of Soviet citizens, directors, commissioned by officials, shot a huge number of films telling about the happy life of collective farmers. These films enjoyed wide popularity, they were watched with admiration even by those who knew what a collective farm really was.

In the villages, people worked from dawn to dawn, while living in poverty. That is why later, in the fifties, young people left the villages, went to the cities, where life was at least a little easier.

Standard of living

In the post-war years, people suffered from hunger. In 1947, but most of the goods remained in short supply. The hunger has returned. The prices of rations were raised. Nevertheless, over the course of five years, starting in 1948, products gradually became cheaper. This somewhat improved the standard of living of Soviet citizens. In 1952, the price of bread was 39% lower than in 1947, and that of milk was 70%.

The availability of basic commodities did not make life much easier for ordinary people, but, being under the Iron Curtain, most of them easily believed in the illusory idea of ​​the best country in the world.

Until 1955, Soviet citizens were convinced that they owed Stalin their victory in the Great Patriotic War. But this situation was not observed throughout. In those regions that were annexed to the Soviet Union after the war, far fewer conscious citizens lived, for example, in the Baltic states and in Western Ukraine, where anti-Soviet organizations appeared in the 40s.

Friendly states

After the end of the war in countries such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, the GDR, the communists came to power. The USSR developed diplomatic relations with these states. At the same time, the conflict with the West escalated.

According to the 1945 treaty, Transcarpathia was transferred to the USSR. The Soviet-Polish border has changed. Many former citizens of other states, such as Poland, lived on the territory after the end of the war. The Soviet Union concluded an agreement on the exchange of population with this country. Poles living in the USSR now had the opportunity to return to their homeland. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians could leave Poland. It is noteworthy that in the late forties only about 500 thousand people returned to the USSR. In Poland - twice as much.

criminal situation

In the postwar years in the USSR with banditry law enforcement started a serious fight. 1946 saw the peak of crime. About 30,000 armed robberies were recorded this year.

To combat rampant crime, new employees, as a rule, former front-line soldiers, were accepted into the ranks of the police. It was not so easy to restore peace to Soviet citizens, especially in Ukraine and the Baltic states, where the criminal situation was the most depressing. In the Stalin years, a fierce struggle was waged not only against "enemies of the people", but also against ordinary robbers. From January 1945 to December 1946, more than three and a half thousand bandit organizations were liquidated.

Repression

Back in the early twenties, many representatives of the intelligentsia left the country. They knew about the fate of those who did not have time to escape from Soviet Russia. Nevertheless, at the end of the forties, some accepted the offer to return to their homeland. Russian nobles were returning home. But to another country. Many were sent immediately upon their return to the Stalinist camps.

In the post-war years, it reached its apogee. Wreckers, dissidents and other "enemies of the people" were placed in the camps. Sad was the fate of the soldiers and officers who found themselves surrounded during the war years. At best, they spent several years in the camps, until which they debunked the cult of Stalin. But many were shot. In addition, the conditions in the camps were such that only the young and healthy could endure them.

In the post-war years, Marshal Georgy Zhukov became one of the most respected people in the country. His popularity annoyed Stalin. However, he did not dare to put the national hero behind bars. Zhukov was known not only in the USSR, but also abroad. The leader knew how to create uncomfortable conditions in other ways. In 1946, the "Aviator Case" was fabricated. Zhukov was removed from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces and sent to Odessa. Several generals close to the marshal were arrested.

culture

In 1946, the fight against Western influence began. It was expressed in the popularization of domestic culture and the ban on everything foreign. Soviet writers, artists, directors were persecuted.

In the forties, as already mentioned, a huge number of war films were shot. These films were heavily censored. The characters were created according to a template, the plot was built according to a clear scheme. The music was also under strict control. Only compositions praising Stalin and a happy Soviet life sounded. This did not have the best effect on the development of national culture.

The science

The development of genetics began in the thirties. In the postwar period, this science was in exile. Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet biologist and agronomist, became the main participant in the attack on geneticists. In August 1948, academicians who made a significant contribution to the development of domestic science lost the opportunity to engage in research activities.

With the end of the Great Patriotic War, the country returned to peaceful creative work. The main tasks of the recovery period were before the state, all the Soviet people - to consolidate the victory, to restore the national economy in the shortest possible time, to achieve a powerful rise in the economy and culture, to ensure the well-being and a decent standard of living for the Soviet people. These tasks were to be solved by the fourth five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy of the USSR for 1946-1950. It was planned to further strengthen socialism in the USSR and in the Eastern European countries.

Transition to peaceful construction.

The restoration and development of the national economy of the USSR in the post-war years took place in difficult conditions. The country, especially its European part, was in complete ruin - industry and agriculture practically had to be restored anew. The country has lost about 30% of national wealth. The situation was aggravated by the lack of financial and human reserves. About 28 million people died on the fronts of the war, in fascist captivity, died of starvation and disease. The consequences of the war were hundreds of thousands of orphans, widows, old people, whose children and close relatives died in battles with the Nazi invaders.

In the first year after the war, the country's leadership took a number of measures to switch to peaceful construction. So, in May 1945 State Committee Defense transferred part of the defense enterprises to the production of consumer goods. In September 1945, this Committee was abolished due to the end of its wartime functions. Peaceful construction was headed by the Council of People's Commissars, which in 1946 was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the USSR. On the basis of the military people's commissariats, new ones were created - the people's commissariat for mechanical engineering and instrument making, the people's commissariat for tractor building, etc.

In order to normalize the working regime, overtime work was canceled, the 8-hour working day and annual paid holidays were restored.

The strategic task of the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1946-1950) was, first of all, to restore the areas of the country that were under occupation, to achieve the pre-war level of development of industry and agriculture, and then to surpass them (by 48 and 23%, respectively). The plan provided for the priority development of heavy and defense industries. Due to the reduction of appropriations for military needs, significant funds, material and human resources were directed here. The development of new coal regions, the expansion of the metallurgical base in Kazakhstan, the Urals, Siberia, etc. were planned. The Soviet people as a whole fulfilled the strategic task of restoring and developing the national economy of the USSR in the postwar period.

Recovery and development of industry.

The solution of these problems was associated with great difficulties. The Nazis did a lot of damage national economy. Fascist invaders 1.5 million square meters were occupied km of our country. Six Soviet republics were completely occupied and two partially. Before the war, it was the most industrialized and most populated part of the country. 88 million people lived here - 45% of the total population of the Soviet Union, produced 71% of the all-Union production of cast iron, 58% - steel, 57% - rolled ferrous metals, 63% - coal. This territory accounted for 47% of all sown areas of the country, 45% of livestock.

During the war, 1710 cities, more than 70 thousand villages and villages, about 32 thousand industrial enterprises were destroyed, 98 thousand collective farms, 1876 state farms and 2890 MTS were ruined. Only the direct damage caused to our country amounted to 2 trillion. 569 billion rubles The United States was in a different position. In the war, they lost 250 thousand people, i.e. only 1% of the adult male population. In the country, not a single city, not a single house was damaged by the war.

The first post-war five-year plan as a whole was carried out thanks to the heroic efforts of the entire Soviet people. The mines of Donbass, Zaporizhstal, Dneproges and many others were restored. The level of industrial production in 1950 exceeded the pre-war level by 73%, the production of means of production doubled. The fixed assets of industry during the years of the five-year plan grew by 34% in comparison with 1940, labor productivity by 37%.

Within five years, more than 6.2 thousand large enterprises were restored, built anew and put into operation. The production of the most important types of equipment, machines and mechanisms increased significantly compared to the pre-war level: metallurgical equipment - 4.7 times; oil equipment - in 3; coal combines - in 6; gas turbines - 2.6; electrical equipment - 3 times, etc. In a number of branches of industry, especially in mechanical engineering, the range of manufactured industries has been substantially updated. Enterprises were equipped new technology. The mechanization of labor-intensive processes in ferrous metallurgy and the coal industry has increased. The electrification of production continued, which by the end of the five-year plan had exceeded the level of 1940 by 1.5 times.

Work on the restoration of industry was basically completed in 1948 thanks to the mass heroism of the Soviet people. They actively participated in numerous labor communes (the introduction of high-speed methods of work, the movement for saving metal and high quality products, the movement of multi-machine operators, etc.), which contributed to the fulfillment of overloaded planned targets.

Restoration of agriculture.

One of the most difficult tasks of the post-war five-year plan was the restoration and further development of agriculture. It was complicated by the fact that in 1946 the country was struck by the most severe drought that engulfed Ukraine, Moldova, the right-bank regions Lower Volga, North Caucasus, central black earth regions. The outbreak of famine caused a massive outflow of the rural population to the cities.

For the purpose of organizational and economic strengthening of agricultural structures, the Council for Collective Farm Affairs was created under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The February (1947) Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks outlined a detailed system of measures to improve agriculture in the post-war period. The main ways of its rise were determined: providing the village with tractors, agricultural machines and fertilizers, improving the culture of agriculture. An important stage in the development of agriculture was the enlargement of agricultural artels. On the basis of 254,000 small collective farms, 94,000 enlarged collective farms were created, which made it possible to use agricultural machinery more efficiently, strengthen production ties and bring town and country closer together.

New collective farms were created in the western regions of Belarus and Ukraine, in the Baltic republics, in Right-bank Moldavia. Collectivization was carried out by violent methods, accompanied by repressions and deportations of the population. Only from Lithuania were evicted in May-July 1948 over 19.3 thousand peasant families with a total number of 70 thousand people.

By the end of the five-year plan, the production of grain, cotton, flax, sugar beets, oilseeds and fodder crops increased, and positive changes were noted in the development of animal husbandry. However, the agriculture of the USSR still seriously lagged behind the pace of the country's general economic development.

The social status of the population.

The successful fulfillment of the economic tasks of the first post-war five-year plan made it possible to improve the well-being of the people. At the end of 1947, a monetary reform was carried out in the USSR. Old money held by the population was exchanged at a ratio of 10:1. It pursued the goal of eliminating the consequences of the Second World War in the field of monetary circulation, and restoring a full-fledged Soviet ruble. The monetary reform was not carried out at the expense of the people, it was not accompanied by an increase in prices for consumer goods, a decrease in real wages. On the contrary, during the Fourth Five-Year Plan, prices for consumer goods fell several times.

Simultaneously with the monetary reform, the card system for supplying the population was abolished, and a transition was made to expanded trade at uniform state prices. At the same time, prices for some food products (bread, cereals) were set 10-12% lower than the previously existing so-called ration prices, and several times lower than commercial prices.

The streamlining of monetary circulation, the growth in the production of consumer goods and retail trade ensured an increase in the real wages of workers and employees, and the incomes of collective farmers.

Despite the extreme tension of the state budget, a significant part of which was spent on financing military programs, funds were found for the development of science, public education, and cultural institutions. During the 4th five-year plan, the Academy of Arts of the USSR, the Academies of Sciences in Kazakhstan, Latvia and Estonia were created, the number of research institutes increased by almost a third. New universities are being opened (in Chisinau, Uzhgorod, Ashkhabad, Stalinabad), postgraduate studies are being established at universities. In a short time, the system of universal primary education, and since 1952, education in the amount of 7 classes has become mandatory, evening schools for working youth are opened. Soviet television begins regular broadcasting.

Ideology, policy of repression.

At the same time, the Stalinist administration is tightening the fight against freethinking, strengthening total control over the spiritual life of society. In August 1946, at the initiative of Stalin, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution “On the journals Zvezda and Leningrad.” It was intended to “restrain” the intelligentsia, to squeeze its work into the Procrustean bed of “party spirit” and “socialist realism.” After defeat of the Leningrad writers, the Stalinist regime took up theaters, cinema, music... The resolutions of the Central Committee of the party "On the repertoire of drama theaters and measures to improve it", "On the film" Big Life "," On Muradeli's opera "Great Friendship", etc. were adopted accordingly. The resolutions of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on cultural issues were a vivid example of gross administrative interference in culture, an example of command leadership in this area, total suppression of individual rights.On the other hand, it was a powerful lever for the regime's self-preservation.

Similar goals were pursued by the pogrom "discussions" that began in 1947 on philosophy, biology, linguistics, and political economy. The ideological leadership of the party was also planted in the natural sciences - genetics was crushed, the development of cybernetics was artificially hampered.

At the end of the 1940s, a new campaign began - to combat "cosmopolitanism" and "cowboyery before the West." First of all, this was due to the fact that Stalin tried to "witch hunt" to restore the image of the "internal enemy" that had been shaken during the war. And this Stalinist version was intended to ideologically ensure the second (after the mid-1930s) wave of social terror. Since 1948, mass repressions have resumed. "Vest cases" were fabricated, allegedly engaged in sabotage in the production of aviation equipment ("The Case of Shakhurin, Novikov and others."), in the automotive industry ("On hostile elements on the ZIS"), in the Moscow healthcare system ("On the situation in the MGB and on sabotage in the medical business"). In 1949, the leaders of the Leningrad party organization were accused of creating an anti-party group and carrying out wrecking work (the "Leningrad case"). The accused were party leaders, Soviet and government officials: A. A. Kuznetsov - Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, M. N. Rodionov - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, P. S. Popkov - First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee and City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks , Ya. F. Kapustin - the second secretary of the Leningrad city party committee, etc. At the same time, an accusation was fabricated against A. A. Voznesensky - chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR, a prominent scientist-economist, academician. He was accused of unsatisfactory leadership of the State Planning Commission, of anti-state and anti-party actions. The organizers of the non-existent anti-party group were sentenced to death, several people - to long terms of imprisonment. In 1952, the so-called "doctors' case" was fabricated. A group of prominent medical specialists who served prominent statesmen, was accused of involvement in a spy organization and the intention to commit terrorist acts against the leaders of the country.

All this testifies to the fact that in the post-war years in the Soviet society a course was taken for the actual strengthening of repressions, which was a shock for many millions of Soviet people who survived the worst war in the history of mankind and were convinced that the nightmarish 1936-1937 years with its behind the victory. These were illusions and self-deception. The repressive machine of Stalinism took only a short break and began to work with renewed vigor.

The difficulties of returning to peaceful life were complicated not only by the presence of huge human and material losses that the war brought to our country, but also by the difficult tasks of restoring the economy. After all, 1,710 cities and urban-type settlements were destroyed, 7,000 villages and villages were destroyed, 31,850 plants and factories, 1,135 mines, 65,000 km were blown up and put out of action. railway tracks. The sown areas decreased by 36.8 million hectares. The country has lost about a third of its wealth.

The war claimed almost 27 million human lives, and this is its most tragic outcome. 2.6 million people became disabled. The population decreased by 34.4 million people and amounted to 162.4 million people by the end of 1945. The reduction of the labor force, the lack of proper nutrition and housing led to a decrease in the level of labor productivity compared to the pre-war period.

The country began to restore the economy during the war years. In 1943, a special party and government resolution was adopted "On urgent measures to restore farms in areas liberated from German occupation." By the colossal efforts of the Soviet people, by the end of the war, it was possible to restore industrial production to a third of the level of 1940. However, after the end of the war, the central task of restoring the country arose.

Economic discussions began in 1945-1946.

The government instructed Gosplan to prepare a draft of the fourth five-year plan. Proposals were made for some softening of the pressure in economic management, for the reorganization of collective farms. A draft of a new Constitution was prepared. He allowed the existence of small private farms of peasants and handicraftsmen based on personal labor and excluding the exploitation of other people's labor. During the discussion of this project, ideas were voiced about the need to provide more rights to the regions and people's commissariats.

"From below" calls for the liquidation of collective farms were heard more and more often. They talked about their inefficiency, reminded that the relative weakening of state pressure on manufacturers during the war years had a positive result. They drew direct analogies with the new economic policy introduced after the civil war, when the revival of the economy began with the revival of the private sector, the decentralization of management and the development of light industry.

However, these discussions were won by the point of view of Stalin, who at the beginning of 1946 announced the continuation of the course taken before the war to complete the construction of socialism and build communism. It was about returning to the pre-war model of super-centralization in planning and managing the economy, and at the same time to those contradictions between sectors of the economy that had developed in the 1930s.

The struggle of the people for the revival of the economy became a heroic page in the post-war history of our country. Western experts believed that the restoration of the destroyed economic base would take at least 25 years. However, the recovery period in the industry was less than 5 years.

The revival of industry took place in very difficult conditions. In the first post-war years, the work of Soviet people differed little from work in wartime. The constant shortage of food, the most difficult working and living conditions, the high incidence of mortality, were explained to the population by the fact that the long-awaited peace had just come and life was about to get better.

Some wartime restrictions were lifted: the 8-hour working day and annual leave were reintroduced, and forced overtime was abolished. In 1947, a monetary reform was carried out and the card system was abolished, and uniform prices were established for food products and industrial goods. They were higher than before the war. As before the war, from one to one and a half monthly salaries per year was spent on the purchase of obligatory loan bonds. Many working-class families still lived in dugouts and barracks, and sometimes worked in the open air or in unheated premises, on old equipment.

The restoration took place in the conditions of a sharp increase in the movement of the population caused by the demobilization of the army, the repatriation of Soviet citizens, and the return of refugees from the eastern regions. Considerable funds were spent on supporting the allied states.

Huge losses in the war caused a labor shortage. Staff turnover increased: people were looking for better working conditions.

As before, acute problems had to be solved by increasing the transfer of funds from the countryside to the city and by developing the labor activity of workers. One of the most famous initiatives of those years was the movement of “speed workers”, initiated by the Leningrad turner G.S. Bortkevich, who completed a 13-day production rate on a lathe in February 1948 in one shift. The movement became massive. At some enterprises, attempts were made to introduce self-financing. But no material measures were taken to consolidate these new phenomena; on the contrary, when labor productivity increased, prices went down.

There has been a trend towards a wider use of scientific and technical developments in production. However, it manifested itself mainly at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex (MIC), where the process of developing nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, missile systems, and new types of tank and aircraft equipment was going on.

In addition to the military-industrial complex, preference was also given to machine building, metallurgy, and the fuel and energy industry, the development of which accounted for 88% of all capital investments in industry. As before, the light and food industries did not satisfy the minimum needs of the population.

In total, during the years of the 4th five-year plan (1946-1950), 6,200 large enterprises were restored and rebuilt. In 1950, industrial production exceeded pre-war figures by 73% (and in the new union republics - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova - 2-3 times). True, reparations and products of joint Soviet-German enterprises were also included here.

The main creator of these successes was the people. With his incredible efforts and sacrifices, seemingly impossible economic results were achieved. At the same time, the possibilities of a super-centralized economic model, the traditional policy of redistributing funds from the light and food industries, agriculture and the social sphere in favor of heavy industry played their role. Reparations received from Germany (4.3 billion dollars) also provided significant assistance, providing up to half of the volume of industrial equipment installed in these years. The labor of almost 9 million Soviet prisoners and about 2 million German and Japanese prisoners of war also contributed to the post-war reconstruction.

Weakened out of the war, the country's agriculture, whose production in 1945 did not exceed 60% of the pre-war level.

A difficult situation developed not only in the cities, in industry, but also in the countryside, in agriculture. The collective farm village, in addition to material deprivation, experienced an acute shortage of people. A real disaster for the countryside was the drought of 1946, which engulfed most of the European territory of Russia. The surplus appraisal confiscated almost everything from the collective farmers. The villagers were doomed to starvation. In the famine-stricken regions of the RSFSR, Ukraine, and Moldavia, due to flight to other places and an increase in mortality, the population decreased by 5-6 million people. Alarming signals about hunger, dystrophy, and mortality came from the RSFSR, Ukraine, and Moldova. Collective farmers demanded to dissolve the collective farms. They motivated this question by the fact that “there is no strength to live like this anymore.” In his letter to P. M. Malenkov, for example, N. M. Menshikov, a student of the Smolensk Military-Political School, wrote: “... indeed, life on collective farms (in the Bryansk and Smolensk regions) is unbearably bad. So, almost half of the collective farmers on the Novaya Zhizn collective farm (Bryansk region) have not had bread for 2-3 months, and some do not even have potatoes. The situation is not the best in half of the other collective farms in the region ... "

The state, buying agricultural products at fixed prices, compensated the collective farms for only a fifth of the costs of milk production, a 10th for grain, and a 20th for meat. Collective farmers received practically nothing. Saved their subsidiary farm. But the state also dealt a blow to it: in favor of the collective farms in 1946-1949. cut 10.6 million hectares of land from peasant household plots, and taxes were significantly increased on income from sales in the market. Moreover, only peasants were allowed to trade on the market, whose collective farms fulfilled state deliveries. Each peasant farm is obliged to hand over to the state meat, milk, eggs, wool as a tax for a land plot. In 1948, collective farmers were “recommended” to sell small livestock to the state (which was allowed to be kept by the charter), which caused a mass slaughter of pigs, sheep, and goats throughout the country (up to 2 million heads).

The currency reform of 1947 hit hardest on the peasantry, who kept their savings at home.

The Roma of the pre-war period remained, restricting the freedom of movement of collective farmers: they were actually deprived of their passports, they were not paid for the days when they did not work due to illness, they did not pay old-age pensions.

By the end of the 4th five-year plan, the disastrous economic situation of the collective farms required their reform. However, the authorities saw its essence not in material incentives, but in another structural restructuring. It was recommended to develop a team form of work instead of a link. This caused the discontent of the peasants and the disorganization of agricultural work. The ensuing enlargement of the collective farms led to a further reduction in peasant allotments.

Nevertheless, with the help of coercive measures and at the cost of the enormous efforts of the peasantry in the early 50s. succeeded in bringing the country's agriculture to the pre-war level of production. However, the deprivation of the peasants of the still remaining incentives to work brought the country's agriculture to a crisis and forced the government to take emergency measures to supply the cities and the army with food. A course was taken to "tighten the screws" in the economy. This step was theoretically substantiated in Stalin's "Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR" (1952). In it, he defended the ideas of the predominant development of heavy industry, the acceleration of the full nationalization of property and forms of labor organization in agriculture, and opposed any attempts to revive market relations.

“It is necessary ... through gradual transitions ... to raise collective-farm property to the level of public property, and commodity production ... to be replaced by a system of product exchange so that the central government ... can cover all the products of social production in the interests of society ... It is impossible to achieve either an abundance of products that can cover all the needs of society, nor transition to the formula "to each according to his needs", leaving in force such economic factors as collective-farm group ownership, commodity circulation, etc."

It was said in Stalin's article that under socialism the growing needs of the population will always overtake the possibilities of production. This provision explained to the population the dominance of a scarce economy and justified its existence.

Outstanding achievements in industry, science and technology have become a reality thanks to the tireless work and dedication of millions of Soviet people. However, the return of the USSR to the pre-war model of economic development caused a deterioration in a number of economic indicators in the post-war period.

The war changed the socio-political atmosphere that prevailed in the USSR in the 1930s; broke through the "iron curtain" by which the country was fenced off from the rest of the "hostile" world. Participants in the European campaign of the Red Army (and there were almost 10 million of them), numerous repatriates (up to 5.5 million) saw with their own eyes the world that they knew about only from propaganda materials that exposed its vices. The differences were so great that they could not but sow many doubts about the correctness of the usual assessments. The victory in the war gave rise to hopes among the peasants for the dissolution of collective farms, among the intelligentsia - for the weakening of the policy of diktat, among the population of the Union republics (especially in the Baltic states, Western Ukraine and Belarus) - for a change in national policy. Even in the sphere of the nomenklatura, which had been renewed during the war years, an understanding of the inevitable and necessary changes was ripening.

What was our society like after the end of the war, which had to solve the very difficult tasks of restoring the national economy and completing the construction of socialism?

Post-war Soviet society was predominantly female. This created serious problems, not only demographic, but also psychological, developing into the problem of personal disorder, female loneliness. Post-war "fatherlessness" and the child homelessness and crime it generates come from the same source. And yet, despite all the losses and hardships, it was thanks to the feminine principle that the post-war society turned out to be surprisingly viable.

A society emerging from war differs from a society in a "normal" state not only in its demographic structure, but also in its social composition. Its appearance is determined not by the traditional categories of the population (urban and rural residents, factory workers and employees, youth and pensioners, etc.), but by the societies born of wartime.

The face of the post-war period was, first of all, "a man in a tunic." In total, 8.5 million people were demobilized from the army. The problem of the transition from war to peace most concerned the front-line soldiers. Demobilization, which was so dreamed of at the front, the joy of returning home, and at home they were waiting for disorder, material deprivation, additional psychological difficulties associated with switching to new tasks of a peaceful society. And although the war united all generations, it was especially difficult, first of all, for the youngest (born in 1924-1927), i.e. those who went to the front from school, not having time to get a profession, to gain a stable life status. Their only business was war, their only skill was the ability to hold weapons and fight.

Often, especially in journalism, front-line soldiers were called "neo-Decembrists", referring to the potential for freedom that the victors carried in themselves. But in the first years after the war, not all of them were able to realize themselves as an active force of social change. This largely depended on the specific conditions of the post-war years.

First, the very nature of the war of national liberation, just presupposes the unity of society and power. In solving the common national task - confronting the enemy. But in peaceful life a complex of "deluded hopes" is formed.

Secondly, it is necessary to take into account the factor of psychological overstrain of people who have spent four years in the trenches and need psychological relief. People, tired of war, naturally strove for creation, for peace.

After the war, a period of “healing of wounds” inevitably sets in - both physical and mental, a difficult, painful period of returning to civilian life, in which even ordinary everyday problems (home, family, lost during the war for many) sometimes become insoluble.

Here is how one of the front-line soldiers V. Kondratiev spoke about the painful situation: “Everyone somehow wanted to improve their lives. After all, you had to live. Someone got married. Someone joined the party. I had to adapt to this life. We didn't know any other options."

Thirdly, the perception of the surrounding order as a given, forming a generally loyal attitude towards the regime, in itself did not mean that all front-line soldiers, without exception, considered this order as ideal or, in any case, fair.

“We did not accept many things in the system, but we could not even imagine any other,” such an unexpected confession could be heard from the front-line soldiers. It reflects the characteristic contradiction of the post-war years, splitting the minds of people with a sense of the injustice of what is happening and the hopelessness of attempts to change this order.

Such sentiments were typical not only for front-line soldiers (primarily for repatriates). Aspirations to isolate the repatriated, despite the official statements of the authorities, took place.

Among the population evacuated to the eastern regions of the country, the process of re-evacuation began in wartime. With the end of the war, this desire became widespread, however, not always feasible. Violent measures to ban the exit caused discontent.

“The workers gave all their strength to defeat the enemy and wanted to return to their native lands,” one of the letters said, “and now it turned out that they deceived us, took us out of Leningrad, and want to leave us in Siberia. If it only works out that way, then we, all the workers, must say that our government has betrayed us and our work!”

So after the war, desires collided with reality.

“In the spring of forty-five, people are not without reason. – considered themselves giants,” the writer E. Kazakevich shared his impressions. With this mood, the front-line soldiers entered civilian life, leaving, as it then seemed to them, beyond the threshold of war, the most terrible and difficult. However, the reality turned out to be more complicated, not at all the same as it was seen from the trench.

“In the army, we often talked about what would happen after the war,” recalled journalist B. Galin, “how we would live the next day after the victory, and the closer the end of the war was, the more we thought about it, and a lot of it painted in rainbow colors. We did not always imagine the size of the destruction, the scale of the work that would have to be carried out in order to heal the wounds inflicted by the Germans. “Life after the war seemed like a holiday, for the beginning of which only one thing is needed - the last shot,” K. Simonov continued this thought, as it were.

"Normal life", where you can "just live" without being exposed to every minute danger, was seen in wartime as a gift of fate.

“Life is a holiday”, life is a fairy tale,” the front-line soldiers entered a peaceful life, leaving, as it then seemed to them, the most terrible and difficult beyond the threshold of war. long. did not mean, - with the help of this image, a special concept of post-war life was also modeled in the mass consciousness - without contradictions, without tension. There was hope. And such a life existed, but only in movies and books.

Hope for the best and the optimism it nourished set the pace for the beginning of post-war life. They did not lose heart, the war was over. There was the joy of work, victory, the spirit of competition in striving for the best. Despite the fact that they often had to put up with difficult material and living conditions, they worked selflessly, restoring the destruction of the economy. So, after the end of the war, not only the front-line soldiers who returned home, but also the Soviet people who survived all the difficulties of the past war in the rear, lived in the hope that the socio-political atmosphere would change for the better. The special conditions of the war forced people to think creatively, to act independently, to take responsibility. But hopes for changes in the socio-political situation were very far from reality.

In 1946, several notable events took place that in one way or another disturbed the public atmosphere. Contrary to the fairly common belief that at that time public opinion was exceptionally silent, the actual evidence suggests that this statement is far from being entirely true.

At the end of 1945 - beginning of 1946, a company was held for elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which took place in February 1946. As expected, at official meetings, people mostly spoke “For” the elections, supporting the policy of the party and its leaders. On the ballots one could meet toasts in honor of Stalin and other members of the government. But along with this, there were opinions that were completely opposite.

People said: “It won’t be our way anyway, they will vote for whatever they write”; “the essence is reduced to a simple “formality - the registration of a pre-planned candidate” ... etc. It was a "stick democracy", it was impossible to evade elections. The impossibility of expressing one's point of view openly without fear of sanctions from the authorities gave rise to apathy, and at the same time subjective alienation from the authorities. People expressed doubts about the expediency and timeliness of holding elections, which cost a lot of money, while thousands of people were on the verge of starvation.

A strong catalyst for the growth of discontent was the destabilization of the general economic situation. The scale of grain speculation increased. In the lines for bread there were more frank conversations: “Now you need to steal more, otherwise you won’t live,” “Husbands and sons were killed, and instead of easing our prices they raised prices”; “Now it has become more difficult to live than during the war years.”

Attention is drawn to the modesty of the desires of people who require only the establishment of a living wage. The dreams of the war years that after the war "there will be a lot of everything", a happy life will come, began to devalue rather quickly. All the difficulties of the post-war years were explained by the consequences of the war. People were already beginning to think that the end of peaceful life had come, war was approaching again. In the minds of people, the war will be perceived for a long time as the cause of all post-war hardships. People saw the rise in prices in the autumn of 1946 as the approach of a new war.

However, despite the presence of very decisive moods, they did not become predominant at that time: the craving for a peaceful life turned out to be too strong, too serious fatigue from the struggle, in any form. In addition, most people continued to trust the leadership of the country, to believe that it was acting in the name of the people's good. It can be said that the policy of the leaders of the first post-war years was built solely on the credit of trust from the people.

In 1946, the commission for the preparation of the draft of the new Constitution of the USSR completed its work. In accordance with the new Constitution, direct and secret elections of people's judges and assessors were held for the first time. But all power remained in the hands of the party leadership. In October 1952, the 19th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks took place, which decided to rename the party into the CPSU. At the same time, the political regime became tougher, and a new wave of repressions grew.

The Gulag system reached its apogee precisely in the post-war years. To the prisoners of the mid-30s. Millions of new "enemies of the people" have been added. One of the first blows fell on prisoners of war, many of whom, after being released from fascist captivity, were sent to camps. “Foreign elements” from the Baltic republics, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were also exiled there.

In 1948, special regime camps were set up for those convicted of "anti-Soviet activities" and "counter-revolutionary acts", in which particularly sophisticated methods of influencing prisoners were used. Unwilling to put up with their situation, political prisoners in a number of camps raised uprisings; sometimes under political slogans.

The possibilities of transforming the regime in the direction of any kind of liberalization were very limited due to the extreme conservatism of ideological principles, due to the stability of which the defensive line had unconditional priority. Theoretical basis A “hard” course in the sphere of ideology can be considered the resolution of the Central Administration of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted in August 1946 “On the magazines Zvezda and Leningrad”, which, although it concerned the field of artistic creativity, was actually directed against public dissent as such. However, the matter was not limited to one "theory". In March 1947, at the suggestion of A. A. Zhdanov, a resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was adopted “On the courts of honor in the ministries of the USSR and central departments”, according to which special elected bodies were created” to combat misconduct, dropping the honor and dignity of the Soviet worker ". One of the most high-profile cases that went through the "court of honor" was the case of professors Klyucheva N. G. and Roskin G. I. (June 1947), authors of the scientific work "Ways of Cancer Biotherapy", who were accused of anti-patriotism and cooperation with foreign firms. For such a "sin" in 1947. they still issued a public reprimand, but already in this preventive campaign the main approaches of the future struggle against cosmopolitanism were guessed.

However, all these measures at that time had not yet had time to take shape in the next campaign against the "enemies of the people." The leadership "wavered" supporters of the most extreme measures, "hawks", as a rule, did not receive support.

Since the path of progressive political change was blocked, the most constructive post-war ideas were not about politics, but about the economy.

D. Volkogonov in his work “I. V. Stalin. A political portrait writes about the last years of I. V. Stalin:

“The whole life of Stalin is shrouded in an almost impenetrable veil, similar to a shroud. He constantly watched all his associates. It was impossible to be wrong either in word or deed: “The comrades-in-arms of the “leader” were well aware of this.

Beria regularly reported on the results of observations of the environment of the dictator. Stalin, in turn, followed Beria, but this information was not complete. The content of the reports was oral, and therefore secret.

In the arsenal of Stalin and Beria, there was always a version of a possible "conspiracy", "assassination", "act of terrorism" at the ready.

The closed society begins with leadership. “Only the smallest fraction of his personal life was indulged in the light of publicity. In the country there were thousands, millions, portraits, busts of a mysterious man whom the people idolized, adored, but did not know at all. Stalin knew how to keep secret the strength of his power and his personality, betraying to the public only that which was intended for rejoicing and admiration. Everything else was covered by an invisible shroud.”

Thousands of “miners” (convicts) worked at hundreds, thousands of enterprises in the country under the protection of a convoy. Stalin believed that all those unworthy of the title of "new man" had to undergo a long re-education in the camps. As is clear from the documents, it was Stalin who initiated the transformation of prisoners into a constant source of disenfranchised and cheap labor. This is confirmed by official documents.

On February 21, 1948, when “a new round of repressions” had already begun to “unwind”, the “Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR” was published, in which “orders of the authorities were sounded:

"one. To oblige the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR to all spies, saboteurs, terrorists, Trotskyists, rightists, leftists, Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, anarchists, nationalists, white émigrés and other persons serving a sentence in special camps and prisons, after the expiration of to send the terms of punishment according to the appointment of the Ministry of State Security to exile in settlements under the supervision of the bodies of the Ministry of State Security in the regions of Kolyma in the Far East, in the regions of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Novosibirsk Region, located 50 kilometers north of the Trans-Siberian Railway, in the Kazakh SSR ... "

The draft Constitution, which was sustained by and large within the framework of the pre-war political doctrine, at the same time contained a number of positive provisions: there were ideas about the need to decentralize economic life, to provide greater economic rights locally and directly to people's commissariats. There were suggestions about the elimination of special wartime courts (primarily the so-called "line courts" in transport), as well as military tribunals. And although such proposals were classified by the editorial committee as inappropriate (reason: excessive detailing of the project), their nomination can be considered quite symptomatic.

Ideas similar in direction were also expressed during the discussion of the draft Party Program, work on which was completed in 1947. These ideas were concentrated in proposals for expanding intra-party democracy, freeing the party from the functions of economic management, developing principles for the rotation of personnel, etc. Since neither the draft Constitution, neither the draft program of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was published and they were discussed in a relatively narrow circle of responsible workers, the appearance in this environment of ideas that were quite liberal for that time testifies to the new moods of some of the Soviet leaders. In many ways, these were really new people who came to their posts before the war, during the war, or a year or two after the victory.

The situation was exacerbated by open armed resistance to the “crackdown”, Soviet power in the Baltic republics annexed on the eve of the war and the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus. The anti-government partisan movement drew into its orbit tens of thousands of fighters, both convinced nationalists who relied on the support of Western intelligence services, and ordinary people who suffered a lot from the new regime, lost their homes, property, and relatives. The rebellion in these areas was put an end to only in the early 50s.

Stalin's policy in the second half of the 1940s, starting from 1948, was based on the elimination of symptoms of political instability and growing social tension. The Stalinist leadership took action in two directions. One of them included measures that, to one degree or another, adequately met the expectations of the people and were aimed at activating the socio-political life in the country, developing science and culture.

In September 1945, the state of emergency was lifted and the State Defense Committee was abolished. In March 1946, the Council of Ministers. Stalin declared that victory in the war means, in essence, the completion of the transitional state, and therefore it is time to put an end to the concepts of “people's commissar” and “commissariat. At the same time, the number of ministries and departments grew, and the number of their apparatus grew. In 1946, elections were held to local councils, the Supreme Soviets of the Republics, and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, as a result of which the deputies corps was renewed, which did not change during the war years. In the early 1950s, sessions of the Soviets began to be convened, and the number of standing committees increased. In accordance with the Constitution, direct and secret elections of people's judges and assessors were held for the first time. But all power remained in the hands of the party leadership. Stalin thought, as D. A. Volkogonov writes about this: “The people live in poverty. Here the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs report that in a number of areas, especially in the east, people are still starving, their clothes are bad.” But according to Stalin's deep conviction, as Volkogonov claims, “the security of people above a certain minimum only corrupts them. Yes, and there is no way to give more; it is necessary to strengthen the defense, to develop heavy industry. The country must be strong. And for this, you will have to tighten your belt in the future.”

People did not see that, in conditions of severe shortages of goods, the policy of price reduction played a very limited role in increasing welfare at extremely low wages. By the beginning of the 1950s, the standard of living, real wages, barely exceeded the level of 1913.

“Long experiments, coolly “mixed up” in a terrible war, did little to give the people from the point of view of a real rise in living standards.”

But, despite the skepticism of some people, the majority continued to trust the leadership of the country. Therefore, difficulties, even the food crisis of 1946, were most often perceived as inevitable and someday surmountable. It can be definitely stated that the policy of the leaders of the first post-war years was based on the credibility of the people, which after the war was quite high. But if the use of this loan allowed the leadership to stabilize the post-war situation over time and, on the whole, to ensure the transition of the country from a state of war to a state of peace, then, on the other hand, the trust of the people in the top leadership made it possible for Stalin and his leadership to delay the decision of vital reforms, and subsequently actually block the trend of democratic renewal of society.

The possibilities of transforming the regime in the direction of any kind of liberalization were very limited due to the extreme conservatism of ideological principles, due to the stability of which the defensive line had unconditional priority. The theoretical basis of the “cruel” course in the field of ideology can be considered the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted in August 1946 “On the journals Zvezda and Leningrad”, which, although it concerned the region, was directed against public dissent as such. "Theory" is not limited. In March 1947, at the suggestion of A. A. Zhdanov, a resolution was adopted by the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On courts of honor in the ministries of the USSR and central departments,” which was discussed earlier. These were already the prerequisites for the approaching mass repressions of 1948.

As you know, the beginning of the repressions fell primarily on those who were serving their sentences for the "crime" of the war and the first post-war years.

By this time the path of progressive political changes had already been blocked, having narrowed down to possible amendments to liberalization. The most constructive ideas that appeared in the first post-war years concerned the sphere of economy. The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks received more than one letter with interesting, sometimes innovative thoughts on this subject. Among them there is a noteworthy document of 1946 - the manuscript "Post-war domestic economy" by S. D. Alexander (non-partisan, who worked as an accountant at one of the enterprises of the Moscow region. The essence of his proposals was reduced to the basics of a new economic model built on the principles of the market and partial denationalization of the economy The ideas of SD Alexander had to share the fate of other radical projects: they were classified as “harmful” and written off to the “archive.” The Center remained firmly committed to the previous course.

Ideas about some kind of “dark forces” that “deceive Stalin” created a special psychological background, which, having arisen from the contradictions of the Stalinist regime, in essence its denial, at the same time was used to strengthen this regime, to stabilize it. Taking Stalin out of criticism saved not only the name of the leader, but also the regime itself, animated by this name. Such was the reality: for millions of contemporaries, Stalin acted as the last hope, the most reliable support. It seemed that if there were no Stalin, life would collapse. And the more difficult the situation inside the country became, the more the special role of the Leader became stronger. It is noteworthy that among the questions asked by people at lectures during 1948-1950, in one of the first places are those related to concern for the health of “Comrade Stalin” (in 1949 he turned 70 years).

1948 put an end to the leadership's post-war hesitation about choosing a "soft" or "hard" course. The political regime became tougher. And a new round of repression began.

The Gulag system reached its apogee precisely in the post-war years. In 1948, special regime camps were set up for those convicted of "anti-Soviet activities" and "counter-revolutionary acts." Along with the political prisoners, many other people ended up in the camps after the war. Thus, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 2, 1948, local authorities were granted the right to evict to remote areas persons who “maliciously evade labor activity in agriculture.” Fearing the increased popularity of the military during the war, Stalin authorized the arrest of A. A. Novikov, Air Marshal, Generals P. N. Ponedelin, N. K. Kirillov, a number of colleagues of Marshal G. K. Zhukov. The commander himself was charged with putting together a group of disgruntled generals and officers, ingratitude and disrespect for Stalin.

The repressions also affected some of the party functionaries, especially those who aspired to independence and greater independence from the central government. Many party and state leaders were arrested, nominated by the Politburo member and Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A. A. Zhdanov, who died in 1948, from among the leading workers of Leningrad. The total number of those arrested in the "Leningrad case" amounted to about 2 thousand people. After some time, 200 of them were put on trial and shot, including Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Russia M. Rodionov, member of the Politburo and Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR N. A. Voznesensky, Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A. A. Kuznetsov.

The "Leningrad case", reflecting the struggle within the top leadership, was to become a stern warning to everyone who thought at least in some way other than the "leader of the peoples."

The last of the trials being prepared was the "case of doctors" (1953), accused of improper treatment of top management, which resulted in the death of the poison of prominent figures. Total victims of repression in 1948-1953. 6.5 million people became.

So, I. V. Stalin became General Secretary under Lenin. During the period of 20-30-40s, he strove to achieve complete autocracy, and thanks to a number of circumstances within the socio-political life of the USSR, he achieved success. But the domination of Stalinism, i.e. the omnipotence of one person - Stalin I.V. was not inevitable. The deep mutual intertwining of objective and subjective factors in the activities of the CPSU led to the emergence, establishment and most harmful manifestations of the omnipotence and crimes of Stalinism. Objective reality refers to the multiformity of pre-revolutionary Russia, the enclave nature of its development, the bizarre interweaving of remnants of feudalism and capitalism, the weakness and fragility of democratic traditions, and the unbeaten paths towards socialism.

Subjective moments are connected not only with the personality of Stalin himself, but also with the factor of the social composition of the ruling party, which included in the early 1920s the so-called thin layer of the old Bolshevik guard, largely exterminated by Stalin, the remaining part of it, for the most part moved to Stalinism. Undoubtedly, Stalin's entourage, whose members became accomplices in his actions, also belongs to the subjective factor.