Soviet period of history 1917 1991. Political history of the USSR (1917-1991). Iron Curtain and Cold War

The end of the topic “Statehood of Russia in the Soviet period

(1917 - 1991)"

... V.I. Lenin did not consider the NEP as a retreat from the strategic line of the party, he saw in it the possibility of "using private capitalism and directing it into the mainstream of state capitalism" ...

The NEP methods proved to be effective in restoring the country's economy. The growth of industrial production was carried out at a high rate: in 1921 - 42.1%, in 1922 - 30.7%, in 1923 - 52.9%, in 1924 - 42.1%, in 1925 .- 66.1% . By the end of the 1920s, the economy had reached its pre-war level. The size of the sown area has increased, the procurement of grain and the number of livestock have increased. Transport was quickly restored. The material situation of the workers and peasants improved somewhat. However, the lack of internal and external investment, the administrative-market system of the economy did not provide opportunities for the construction of new production facilities, the renewal of the machine park, and the increase in production capacity.

The years of the NEP are characterized by some economic liberalization and, at the same time, increased ideological pressure on social thought. In 1922, more than 160 prominent representatives of Russian culture were sent abroad, among them N.A. Berdyaev, P.A. Sorokin, A.S. Izgoev, S.L. Frank, B.D. Brutskus, A.A. Kiesewetter. The remnants of the multi-party system were finally liquidated: in 1921 the Bund “self-dissolved”, in 1923 the Menshevik organizations in Georgia, in 1924 in Ukraine. In the summer of 1922 open trials were held in Moscow against the leaders of the Social Revolutionaries and other political groups. A number of codes regulating legal relations were developed and adopted (Civil, Land, Labor, Criminal, etc.), but at the same time (1924) the Cheka was transformed into the OGPU, giving it the functions of control over political security. Anti-religious propaganda and the struggle against church influence are intensifying. Measures are being taken to guide education, culture and science.

An essential moment in the life of the country was the formation of the USSR and the adoption of the new Constitution of 1924. The USSR was formed on December 30, 1922 at the Congress of Soviets. This was preceded by heated discussions in 1921-1922. The complexity of this problem was not in the formal unification of peoples with a common historical destinies, connected by a single economic system, transport network, postal and telegraph service, common domestic markets, but in the need to develop the main trends of national policy, the joint survival of the established political regimes. The “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People”, adopted in January 1918 and included in the first Constitution of the RSFSR, stated that “the Soviet Republic is established on the basis of a free union of free nations as a federation of Soviet free republics.” But there was no mechanism for implementing this constitutional norm.

The Constitution was approved by the II Congress of Soviets on January 31, 1924. The USSR was created as a federal state with the right for each republic to secede from it. Asserting the sovereignty and state independence of each republic, the Constitution introduces the obligation to "direct execution throughout the entire territory of the USSR" of all decrees, resolutions and orders issued by the Union Central Executive Committee. A single state budget, a single citizenship, a single monetary and credit system, etc. are being introduced. Thus, under the guise of federal slogans, a single economic organism was formed, and under the conditions of functioning of the same type of party regime, a unitary state with an authoritarian system of government was formed.

Summarizing the question of the impact of the NEP on the formation of Soviet statehood, it should be emphasized that during this period the trend of centralization of state administration and intervention in the economy and other spheres of the country's social and cultural life was continued and strengthened, ideological and repressive pressure on the spiritual life of society increased. The role of the party in the leadership of the soviets and in replacing their functions has increased, to which the large-scale purge of the party has contributed to a large extent. In 1920, accounting and distribution departments were formed in the Central Committee and provincial committees of the RCP (b) to promote and transfer responsible party workers. All appointments were approved by party bodies.

It should be added that it was during the NEP period (since 1923) that the struggle for leadership in the RCP (b) began, which intensified after the death of V.I. Secretary of the RCP(b) I.V. Stalin.

By the end of the 1920s, the myth of the world revolution was finally dispelled, the level of the NEP was determined, but the country's political ideology was still preserved, the international position of the USSR was vulnerable. The country faced a dilemma: either the continuation of the NEP course with a low rate of economic growth, or the accelerated development of the industry, primarily of importance for increasing the military-economic potential. The decision was made by the XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (December 1925), which agreed with the concept of I.V. Stalin on the possibility of building socialism in one single country. The resolution of the congress states: “To carry out economic construction from such an angle that the USSR will be transformed from a country that imports machinery and equipment into a country that produces machinery and equipment ...”.

The years of collectivization and industrialization of the country left a huge imprint on the development of Soviet statehood. Speaking at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in July 1928, Stalin emphasized the development of industry through internal accumulation, the source of which is “firstly, the working class, which creates values ​​and moves industry forward; secondly, the peasantry. The consequence of this was a sharp reduction in real wages, an increase in the daily rate of output, forced labor, and most importantly, the principle of “proclaiming the worker the master of the means of production” and at the same time removing him from them was preserved for many years. The combination of violence with enthusiasm, the use of youth romanticism, the use of various forms of moral stimulation (awarding orders and medals, presentation of letters, placement of photographs on the Board of Honor, then Stakhanov and other movements and, finally, the title of "Shock Worker of Socialist Labor" (later - "Drummer of Communist Labor"), "Drummer of the Five-Year Plan".

Industrialization was carried out in the context of a reduction in social spending, with a shortage of production, housing, and consumer goods. Even more rigid was the policy towards the peasantry. JV Stalin declared the need for "tribute", "excess tax" on the peasantry in order to maintain high rates of industrial development. Collectivization was accompanied by violence, restrictions on the movement of peasants (prohibition of passportization), which was tantamount to their enslavement, “dispossession”, expulsion of the dispossessed with the complete confiscation of their property. Within a few years, the vast majority of peasant farms were socialized. The number of “dispossessed” people amounted to 15 million people, more than 400 million rubles worth of property was confiscated.

The causes of the February Revolution were the same as those of the First Russian Revolution. However, over the past decade the size of the working class has increased, and the stratification of the peasants in the countryside has intensified. The Stolypin reform accelerated the development of capitalism. The World War caused economic devastation in the country and exacerbated social contradictions.

The main feature of the revolution is that it ended in dual power. It is generally accepted that before the execution of the Petrograd demonstration at the beginning of July 1917, there was a peaceful development of two democracies (bourgeois - in the person of the Provisional Government and socialist - in the person of the Petrograd Soviet).

Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin, returning from exile in early April 1917, delivered a report in Petrograd "On the Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution" (April theses). It was a concrete program for the implementation of the socialist revolution by the Bolsheviks. However, one of the leaders of the Mensheviks, G.V. Plekhanov believed that the conditions for the transition to socialism did not yet exist in Russia.

Programs of political parties, crises of the Provisional Government, changes in its composition.

The supporters of socialist reorganization had a different approach to socialism. Following M. Bakunin, Russian anarchists understood socialism as a free association of workers and peasant communities. Anarchist P. Kropotkin and legal Marxist M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky considered cooperation as a way to socialism. Many Mensheviks saw the path to socialism in the all-round development of self-government by the working people. From the point of view of G.V. Plekhanov, the socialist revolution in Russia is possible only when the proletariat constitutes the majority of the population. Objecting to him, V.I. Lenin believed that "it is enough for the proletariat to seize state power" and the transition to building socialism would be ensured. Socialism, in his opinion, should be based on public property and direct product exchange, all citizens should become workers and employees of the state syndicate, and the revolutionary vanguard of the workers in the person of the Bolshevik Party will lead this process.

The question of whether there was an alternative to the October armed uprising of the Bolsheviks remains open in historical science. Many scientists believe that there was no such alternative, because. The provisional government continued the war, postponed the elections to the Constituent Assembly, and economic ruin was growing in the country. The Bolsheviks, who were not part of the Provisional Government, supported the demands of the masses, were active in suppressing the speech of Kornilov, who was trying to establish a military dictatorship. They achieved a preponderance in the capital Soviets from 11% (in the spring of 1917) to 31% (by the autumn of 1917). Other socialist parties experienced splits.

Composition of the II Congress of Soviets, its decisions. At the II Congress of Soviets, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) was elected, in which the two-party system was maintained until July 1918 (until the uprising of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries), and in the Council of People's Commissars the block of Bolsheviks with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries remained until March 3, 1918 (the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries left from the Council of People's Commissars in protest against the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany).

The elections to the Constituent Assembly in January 1918 brought the Bolsheviks only 24% of the seats. This showed that the Bolsheviks had little popular support. The defeat of the Constituent Assembly is considered by some historians as a step towards the elimination of the multi-party system. Gradually the dictatorship was strengthened.

As a result of the economic policy of the Bolsheviks, conditions were created for the formation in the future of an economy of a non-market, directive type, with the absence of private ownership of the means of production, with the creation of economic ties not on the basis of commodity-money relations, but on the principle of distributing products from a single administrative center. The Bolsheviks relied on the idea of ​​the poor strata of the population about the need for equal distribution. This policy further contributed to the formation of the totalitarian system of the state.

In the spring of 1918, V.I. Lenin wrote the work “The Immediate Tasks of Soviet Power”, in which he called for organizing “nationwide accounting and control over the production and distribution of products, strengthening labor discipline, raising the cultural and technical level of workers”, and achieving higher labor productivity compared to capitalism.

Discussion in the Soviet leadership and the party on the conclusion of the Brest peace. The point of view of N.N. Bukharin (leader of the "Left Communists"), L.D. Trotsky (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, who headed the Soviet delegation in Brest). The position of V.I. Lenin on the Brest peace. German demands during negotiations.

The civil war is the greatest tragedy of our people. This struggle gave rise to mutual cruelty, terror. The Bolsheviks believed that they were defending the ideas of socialism. Many Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries were in favor of Soviet Russia, but without the Bolsheviks.

The white camp was heterogeneous, as it was made up of monarchists, liberal republicans, supporters of the Constituent Assembly and supporters of the military dictatorship. White movement program. Military intervention intensified the civil war.

The position of the peasantry depended on the policies of the Reds and Whites. The Reds gave land to the peasants, but then introduced a surplus appropriation for bread, which caused discontent among the peasants. Anarchists (Nestor Makhno) advocated the creation of cooperatives and factory committees independent of the state. At the beginning of 1919, Makhno's detachments provided great support to the Red Army, but in early 1920 Makhno began to fight against the Bolsheviks, as they transferred to the collective farms and state farms part of the land confiscated from the landowners.

It is customary to distinguish four stages of civil war and military intervention.

The first stage - spring-autumn 1918. A mutiny of Czech prisoners of war broke out. The first foreign military landings appeared in Murmansk and the Far East. In the Volga region, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks (former members of the Constituent Assembly) created the Committee of the Constituent Assembly. Twice Krasnov's army made campaigns against Tsaritsyn.

In the summer of 1918, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks raised uprisings in Moscow, Yaroslavl, and Rybinsk. An attempt was made on Lenin, Uritsky was killed. Mutual terror intensified. In September 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree proclaiming the Soviet Republic a single military camp. The Red Terror was proclaimed in response to the White Terror. In November 1918, the Council of Workers 'and Peasants' Defense was created, headed by V.I. Lenin. The Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic was headed by L.D. Trotsky.

The second stage of the civil war covers the period from the autumn of 1918 to the spring of 1919. In the autumn of 1918, World War I ended, and a revolution began in Germany. The Soviet leadership annulled the terms of the Brest Treaty, but on the other hand, foreign states got the opportunity to intensify their intervention.

At the third stage (spring 1919-spring 1920), the armies of white generals began to act as the main force. These were the campaigns of A.V. Kolchak (spring-summer 1919), A.I. Denikin (summer 1919 - March 1920). At the same time, the Red Army repulsed two campaigns of General N.N. Yudenich to Petrograd.

The fourth stage lasted from April to November 1920. It was the Soviet-Polish war and the fight against Wrangel.

The policy of "war communism" was carried out during the civil war. Its goal was to mobilize all forces for the victory of the Red Army, but then V.I. Lenin acknowledged that this policy "manifested utopian ideas about the possibility of the rapid introduction of socialism." Therefore, it is important to take into account both the objective foundations of war communism and the need to abandon it in peacetime conditions.

The policy of war communism assumed:

1) the introduction of a food dictatorship (in May 1918);

2) accelerating the pace of nationalization of industry;

3) transition to food distribution for bread (in accordance with the decree adopted in January 1919);

4) introduction of universal labor service;

5) the establishment of an emergency tax for the bourgeoisie;

6) egalitarian distribution of products among workers;

7) strengthening the centralized management of the economy through the Supreme Economic Council.

Foreign policy of the Soviet state in the early 1920s. The beginning of the breakthrough of the economic blockade of the Soviet state was the signing of trade agreements with the leading capitalist countries in 1921-1922.

Chronological framework of the NEP. The internal situation in the country after the end of the civil war. The first step towards the NEP is the replacement of the food appropriation with a food tax.

The Bolsheviks, in their first party program in 1903, recognized the right of nations to self-determination. The national policy of the Soviet government played a big role in a country where Russians made up less than half of the population. In 1917 V.I. Lenin formulated the principle of a federation of free republics. Then, in January 1918, this principle was enshrined in the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People", which spoke of the right of peoples to independently decide questions about joining the federation. In December 1917, the Soviet leadership recognized the independence of Finland, and in August 1918, Poland.

IN AND. Lenin criticized Stalin's "autonomization project". According to the Constitution of 1924, the USSR was represented by a union of equal sovereign republics, which had the right to freely secede from the federation. In the Constitution, the Soviets were the highest body of state power, but in fact power was concentrated in the hands of the Communist Party. The USSR acquired the character of a unitary state.

Reasons and goals of industrialization. Party struggle on the development of the USSR in the mid-20s, decisions of the XIV Congress of the CPSU (b), which at the end of 1925 took a course towards industrialization. Fulfillment of tasks I and II of the five-year plans, the struggle to increase labor productivity, forms of socialist competition. In the first five-year plan, 1,500 large industrial enterprises were built, and in the second five-year plan, 4,500. The "industrial leap" was carried out at a great cost, there was a "mass transfer of funds from the countryside to the city." By the end of the Second Five-Year Plan, the Soviet leadership proclaimed the transformation of the USSR into an industrial power. Now historians believe that this was a premature conclusion, because. The rural population significantly outnumbered the urban population.

In the course of collectivization in the USSR, in a short period of time (1929-1937), large collective farms were created, which were entrusted with the task of solving the food problem in the country and restoring the export of agricultural products.

Proposals of agricultural economists A.V. Chayanova, N.D. Kondratiev and others who proposed to develop different types of cooperations. In 1927, a grain procurement crisis arose, as the peasants did not hand over grain to the state at low prices. Collectivization was accompanied by "dispossession". Collective farms were state-owned, mandatory grain deliveries to the state were introduced.

In the 20s. A struggle for power unfolded in the Bolshevik Party and the state apparatus. As a result, the winner in the fight with L.D. Trotsky, L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev came out I.V. Stalin. In the 30s. in the USSR, a rigid vertical of power was established, which forced people to talk about the administrative-command system of government and the totalitarian state, as well as about the personality cult of I.V. Stalin. Show trials were held in the country over people who had different points of view on its development from the leadership of the state. There was a practice of mass repressions. The Gulag was created - a system of concentration camps.

In the field of culture in the 20-30s. an active campaign against illiteracy was carried out. In 1919, a decree was adopted on the elimination of illiteracy, and in 1923, the society "Down with illiteracy!" In the early 30s. universal primary education was introduced. In the 20s. the construction of a Soviet higher school began. To prepare young people for universities, workers' faculties were created. The Russian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the All-Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, creative unions and organizations of workers of art and literature arose. The achievements of Russian culture before 1917 were completely rejected. Many cultural figures were subjected to unjustified repressions.

In the second half of the 20s. a new confrontation was outlined between the USSR and the leading capitalist countries. The Soviet leadership sent military specialists to China (at the request of the Chinese government). The leaders of the USSR hoped for a world revolution, led the activities of the Comintern. In the early 1930s, Western countries successfully overcame the economic crisis and proved that capitalism has a sufficient margin of safety. Zinoviev and Kamenev were expelled from the Comintern for calling for a world revolution.

After Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, a dangerous hotbed of tension arose in Europe. The USSR pursued a policy aimed at creating a system of collective security in order to stop the aggressor with a united front. The USSR proposed to conclude agreements on mutual assistance in case of war. Japan became another military center, which attacked Soviet territory in the Far East near Lake Khasan in 1938 and attacked Mongolia, an ally of the USSR, in the area of ​​the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939.

On the eve of the war, a rather significant military and economic potential was created in the USSR, but its capabilities were not effectively used, which was one of the most important reasons for the retreat of the Red Army at the beginning of the war.

Features of the development of the USSR in the 3rd five-year plan. On the eve of the war, new models of military equipment were successfully tested, but their mass production was not organized and the rearmament of the Red Army was not completed by the beginning of the war.

Periodization of World War II.

The beginning of the Second World War is the period from September 1, 1939 to June 22, 1941. The war began with the German attack on Poland. Treaties between the USSR and Germany in 1939. The defeat of Poland and a temporary alliance with Stalin provided Hitler with the opportunity to carry out a blitzkrieg on the Western European front.

The second period of the World War (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942). The beginning of the Patriotic War of the Soviet people. Nazi Germany, on the basis of the Barbarossa plan, attacked the USSR, violating the non-aggression pact. It was a defensive stage, which included the battle for Moscow, the Luban operation, the first defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad.

The third period of the Second World War (November 19, 1942 - December 1943) is characterized by a radical turning point in the war as a result of the defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad and on the Kursk Bulge. The result was the liberation of the left-bank Ukraine and the forcing of the Dnieper.

The fourth period of the Second World War (beginning of 1944 - May 1945). Liberation of the territory of the USSR and European countries. Victory over fascism and Europe.

Fifth period (May 9, 1945 - September 2, 1945) - the defeat of Japan. (Entry of the USSR into the war against Japan on August 8, 1945).

The restructuring of the economy on a war footing was basically completed in the middle of 1942. New wartime buildings in the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, the production of the first military equipment. During the war years, a movement of women and adolescents for mastering male specialties, a movement of high-speed workers for the introduction of in-line methods into production, and a movement of front-line brigades unfolded. Overtime work was introduced, holidays were canceled, the working day was extended to 11 hours.

The creation of the anti-Hitler coalition played a huge role in the defeat of Germany. Joint agreements of the USSR with Great Britain, the USA, France. An increase in the composition of the anti-Hitler coalition (in January 1942 - 26 states, in 1943 - 35 states).

During the winter-spring of 1944, Soviet troops carried out operations to lift the Leningrad blockade, liberate the right-bank Ukraine, Crimea, and from the summer of 1944 launched operations to liberate the northern territories. As a result, in 1944 the entire territory of the USSR was liberated from occupation. The Soviet Army began military operations on the territory of the allies of fascist Germany and the countries occupied by it.

In the post-war seven years, the country focused on restoring the destroyed economy in the western regions. The victory in the war convinced I.V. Stalin that the economic and socio-political model chosen back in the 1930s does not require its replacement or modernization. This led to the continuation of reliance on the development of heavy industry, and in agriculture - on the growth of the collective-farm-state farm system.

In the political sphere in the late 40s. repressions resumed, which primarily affected young wartime nominees. Freethinking was not encouraged in culture, much attention was paid to the rise of national self-consciousness, which at times grew into nationalism. In the field of foreign policy, the main line has become a confrontation with the West and, above all, with the United States. The world has entered a period of cold war.

Mid 50's - first half of 60's. it is customary to call it a “thaw”, because democratization processes have begun; processes of "restoration of socialist legality". There was a rehabilitation of victims of repressions.

In agriculture, grain problems were solved; in 1954, the development of virgin and fallow lands began. It was the period of economic reforms by N.S. Khrushchev. The Soviet leadership determined the main tasks for strengthening the material and technical base of socialism.

It should be noted that in the mid-1960s The Soviet leadership recognized the need for fundamental changes in the planning of the country's economy, in material incentives for commodity producers. Decisions of the March and September (1965) Plenums of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the further improvement of methods of managing and managing the country's economy. Reasons for the inefficiency of reforms negative phenomena in the life of Soviet society in the 70s - the first half of the 80s, called the "period of stagnation".

A radical restructuring of the country's economic and political life in the second half of the 1980s. 20th century The restraining role of the administrative-command control system in the development of the country's productive forces. The beginning of economic and political reform. The problem of the democratization of Soviet society. Repeal of Art. 6 of the Constitution of the USSR on the leading role of the CPSU, the creation of a multi-party system.

Political history of the USSR (1917–1991)

In the Soviet socialist state, as in the pre-revolutionary monarchical state, much depended on first person, in whose hands huge official and unofficial power was concentrated. Leader the only political party that was called RSDLP(b), RCP(b), VKP(b), CPSU(since 1952), was also the real leader of the country.

Around each leader there was an environment of associates, like-minded people, trusted people, through whom the leader led various spheres of the country's life. A change in leader led to a change in the “team”: V. I. Lenin(1917–1924) – L. D. Trotsky, G. E. Zinoviev, L. B. Kamenev, N. I. Bukharin, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, I. V. Stalin and etc.; I. V. Stalin(1924–1953) – V. M. Molotov, K. E. Voroshilov, L. M. Kaganovich, A. I. Mikoyan, M. I. Kalinin, S. M. Kirov, L. P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov, N. S. Khrushchev; N. S. Khrushchev(1953–1964) – M. A. Suslov, L. I. Brezhnev; L. I. Brezhnev(1964–1982) – M. A. Suslov, N. V. Podgorny, A. N. Kosygin, A. A. Gromyko, D. F. Ustinov; M. S. Gorbachev(1985–1991) – N. I. Ryzhkov, A. I. Lukyanov, E. K. Ligachev, B. N. Yeltsin. The leader and members of the "team" betrayed each other from time to time, which was common in Soviet political history. G. M. Malenkov(1953–1955), Yu. V. Andropov(1982–1984), K. U. Chernenko(1984-1985) were at the head of the country for a short time.

In the conditions of formal Soviet democracy, the political line of the country was determined not at party congresses, not in the highest official bodies of state power, but in a narrow circle of members. Political Bureau Central Committee of the Communist Party. Some decisions were made by the leaders themselves or in a narrow circle.

In the political sphere, since the mid-1920s, a monopoly the Communist Party, which led advice, Soviet, state and public institutions, all organizations, no matter how they were called at different stages of the Soviet era ( All-Russian Congress of Soviets, All-Russian Central Executive Committee, SNK; Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Council of Ministers of the USSR). The power structures (police, army, security service - VChK, OGPU, NKVD, KGB). Was overclocked constituent Assembly, the royal family was shot (1918). Period uprisings were suppressed civil war, "Antonovshchina", Kronstadt rebellion (1921), resistance to the Russian Orthodox Church, peasant demonstrations of the period of collectivization, performances in the Gulag in the 1950s and in Novocherkassk (1962), movement dissidents, entire peoples were evicted (Volga Germans, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ingush, etc.). Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the courts, the prosecutor's office worked: the "cases" of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Patriarch Tikhon, the "Shakhtinsk", Moscow trials of the 30s, the "Leningrad case".

It was explained to the population that for the sake of building socialism and communism you can be patient and make any sacrifices. The party and Soviet leadership of the country, right up to perestroika, suppressed critics of its policy without hesitation.