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Socialist camp, a term that, after the Second World War 1939-1945. in the USSR, states were designated that followed the path of building socialism. It included the USSR and the states of Eastern Europe, in which the Communists established themselves in power, China after the end of the civil war (1949), then North Korea and North Vietnam. The confrontation between the two camps (socialism and capitalism) was seen as the most important feature of world development. Socialist camp The term "socialist camp" gradually fell into disuse, especially after the deterioration of Soviet-Chinese and Soviet-Albanian relations. It was replaced by the terms "socialist commonwealth", "world socialist system". The socialist countries included Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, East Germany, Cuba, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia.

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As a result of World War II, Poland lost almost 40% of its national wealth and more than 6 million people. From the late 1940s to the late 1980s, the Polish economy was organized along the Soviet model, characterized by central planning and state ownership of the means of production. Economic growth in the first years after the Second World War, despite the significant depletion of resources, took place at an accelerated pace. The government limited individual consumption in order to maintain a high level of capital investment. Unlike the Soviet Union and other countries of Eastern Europe, there was no general collectivization in Poland. Agriculture was the main source of livelihood for 35% of the population. Gradually, the importance of the manufacturing and extractive industries increased, and in the late 1970s, these industries accounted for half of the country's national income and a third of all jobs. The position of Poland after World War II

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Political figures August Zaleski. He served as President of Poland from June 7, 1947 to April 7, 1972. He was proclaimed president-in-exile. When 7 years of rule came to an end, Zaleski extended his powers indefinitely. Because of this, many politicians in Poland stopped their contacts with him. Shortly before his death, Zalesky appointed Stanislav Ostrovsky as his successor. Stanislav Ostrovsky - President of Poland in exile. He served at the post from April 8, 1972 to April 8, 1979. After his term ended, he appointed Edward Rachinsky as his successor. Edward Rachinsky served as president for 7 years from April 8, 1972 to April 8, 1979.

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Crisis in Poland in the 1980s In the 1980s, the government loosened control over the activities of enterprises. At the same time, enterprises continued to insist on state subsidies and other forms of support. The authorities, unable to finance higher levels of spending through tax revenues, were forced to resort to emission. As a result, the government of T. Mazowiecki, which came to power in September 1989, faced a huge budget deficit and rapidly growing inflation. In the 80s of the 20th century, the countries of Eastern Europe, including Poland, experienced economic crisis. The Polish government began to take action Minister of Economy L. Balcerowicz developed a strategy for economic reforms, which consisted of two stages. During the first phase, implemented in the fall of 1989, the government took control of the budget and corrected some price imbalances, created an unemployment benefit system, and developed a legal framework for bankruptcy proceedings. The second phase began on January 1, 1990 and included a sharp reduction in the budget deficit

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Revolutions in Poland In 1980, the NDP was seized by a new, longest and most acute political crisis. In the summer, a wave of strikes swept the country, workers in port cities moved to create \"free \", trade unions. The Independent Trade Union \"Solidarity \", headed by an electrician, became the most massive LVA-Lance. Cells \"Solidarity \" began to form throughout the country. Already in the fall of 1980, the number of its members exceeded 9 million people. PUWP regime. Another change in the party leadership did not stabilize the situation in the country. The Soviet leadership, frightened by the prospect of coming to power in Poland democratic forces, threatened with military intervention in Polish affairs according to the Czechoslovak scenario of 1968. On December 13, 1981, martial law was introduced in Poland: the activities of all opposition organizations were banned

Topic 11 European countries and the USA in the second half of the twentieth century

11.1 World after World War II

At the international level, the ideals of the post-war world were declared in the documents of the Soviet Union, established in 1945. United Nations. Its founding conference was held in San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945. October 24, 1945 is considered the official date of the UN's formation, when its Charter was ratified. The preamble (introductory part) of the UN Charter says: "We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war"

From November 1945 to October 1946, the International Military Tribunal for German war criminals sat in the city of Nuremberg. The main defendants appeared before him, including G. Goering, I. Ribbentrop, V. Keitel and others. The memory of the deaths of millions of people during the war caused a desire to establish and protect human rights and freedoms as a special value. In December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

However, the implementation of the intended goals was not an easy task. The real events of the subsequent decades did not always develop in accordance with the predetermined ideals.

The liberation struggle of the peoples of Europe and Asia against the occupiers and their accomplices during the war years was not limited to the task of restoring the pre-war order. In the countries of Eastern Europe and a number of Asian countries, in the course of liberation, the governments of the National (Popular) Front came to power. At that time, they most often represented coalitions of anti-fascist, anti-militarist parties and organizations. Communists and social democrats already played an active role in them.

By the end of the 1940s, in most of these countries, the Communists were able to concentrate all power in their hands. In some cases, for example, in Yugoslavia, Romania, one-party systems were established, in others - in Poland, Czechoslovakia and other countries - the existence of other parties was allowed. Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, led by the Soviet Union, formed a special bloc. They were joined by several Asian states: Mongolia, North Vietnam, North Korea, China, and in the 1960s - Cuba. This community was first called "socialist camp", then - "socialist system" and, finally, "socialist commonwealth". The post-war world was divided into "Western" and "Eastern" blocs, or, as they were then called in Soviet socio-political literature, "capitalist" and "socialist" systems. This was bipolar(having two poles, personified by the USA and the USSR) world. How did relations develop between the states of the West and the East?

11.2 Economic development

Before all the states participating in the war, the tasks of demobilizing multimillion-strong armies, employing the demobilized, transferring industry to peacetime production, and restoring military destruction were acutely faced. The economies of the defeated countries, especially Germany and Japan, suffered the most. In most European countries, the card distribution system was maintained, and there was an acute shortage of food, housing, and industrial goods. Only in 1949 did the industrial and agricultural production of capitalist Europe restore its pre-war level.

Gradually, two approaches emerged. In France, England, Austria, a model of state regulation has developed, which implies direct state intervention in the economy. A number of industries and banks were nationalized here. So, in 1945, the Laborites carried out the nationalization of the English bank, a little later - the coal mining industry. The gas and electric power industries, transport, railways, and part of the airlines were also transferred to state ownership. A large public sector was formed as a result of nationalization in France. It included coal industry enterprises, Renault plants, five major banks, and major insurance companies. In 1947, a general plan for the modernization and reconstruction of industry was adopted, which laid the foundation for state planning for the development of the main sectors of the economy.

The problem of reconversion in the USA was solved differently. There, private property relations were much stronger, and therefore the emphasis was only on indirect methods of regulation through taxes and credit. Priority attention in the United States and Western Europe began to be given to labor relations, the basis of the entire social life of society. However, this problem was viewed differently everywhere. In the United States, the Taft-Hartley Act was passed, which introduced strict state control over the activities of trade unions. In resolving other issues, the state followed the path of expanding and strengthening the social infrastructure. The key in this regard was the “fair course” program of G. Truman, put forward in 1948, which provided for an increase in the minimum wage, the introduction of health insurance, the construction of cheap housing for low-income families, etc. Similar measures were carried out by the Labor government of C. Attlee in England, where since 1948 a system of free medical care has been introduced. Progress in the social sphere was also evident in other Western European countries. In most of them, the trade unions, which were then on the rise, were actively involved in the struggle to solve basic social problems. The result was an unprecedented increase in government spending on social insurance, science, education and training.

The United States was far ahead of all other capitalist countries in terms of the rate of development and volume of industrial output. In 1948, the volume of American industrial production was 78% higher than the pre-war level. The United States then produced more than 55% of the industrial output of the entire capitalist world and concentrated almost 75% of the world's gold reserves in its hands. The products of American industry penetrated into markets where the goods of Germany, Japan or the US allies England and France had previously dominated.

The United States was secured by a new system of international monetary and financial relations. In 1944, at the UN conference on monetary and financial issues in Bretton Woods (USA), it was decided to create the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which became intergovernmental institutions that regulate monetary and credit relations between their constituent capitalist states. The participants of the conference agreed to establish a fixed gold content of the dollar, on which the rates of other currencies were guided. The US-dominated International Bank for Reconstruction and Development provided IMF members with loans and credits to develop the economy and maintain balance of payments equilibrium.

An important measure to stabilize the economic life of post-war Europe was the "Marshall Plan" (named after the US Secretary of State) - US assistance to Western countries for economic recovery. For 1948–1952 this aid amounted to $13 billion. By the beginning of the 1950s. the countries of Western Europe and Japan largely overcame the consequences of the war. Their economic development accelerated. A rapid economic recovery began. They restored their economy and began to overtake rivals Germany and Japan. The rapid pace of their development began to be called an economic miracle.

The countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe (Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Albania), which in the post-war period began to be called simply Eastern Europe, went through dramatic tests. The liberation of Europe from fascism opened the way to the establishment of a democratic system and anti-fascist reforms. A greater or lesser degree of copying the experience of the USSR was typical for all countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. Although Yugoslavia chose a slightly different variant of socio-economic policy, in its main parameters it represented a variant of totalitarian socialism, but with a greater orientation towards the West.

11.3. The theory of the "welfare state": the essence, causes of the crisis

The concept of the "welfare state" flourished most in the late 1950s and early 1960s. According to this concept, in the Western countries such regulation of economic development was carried out, which led to the stabilization of social relations. As a result, a new society emerged in the Western countries, the features of which were the achievement of a high standard of living, determined by mass consumption and social security. In this society, much attention began to be paid to the development of education, health care, and the social sphere in general.

The theory of regulation of market relations was developed by the English economist D. M. Keynes back in the 1930s. (the theory of "effective demand"). But it wasn't until after World War II that Western and North American governments were able to apply Keynesian theory. The expansion of aggregate demand has created a mass consumer of durable goods. It was thanks to the structural changes in the “production-consumption” system that occurred in the 1950s-1960s that an opportunity was created for a relatively long period of economic recovery and high growth rates, reducing unemployment to the level of full employment in Western countries. The symbol of this economic recovery was the car, which became available for personal use of millions of Westerners. Refrigerators, televisions, radios, washing machines, and so on became widely available. From a long-term perspective, the market for durable goods was approaching the mid-1970s. to the edge of saturation.

Profound changes have taken place and in the agricultural sector countries of Western Europe. The powerful development of biotechnology and agricultural engineering made it possible to complete the mechanization and chemicalization of agriculture in the post-war decade. As a result, by the mid-1960s. Western Europe not only became fully self-sufficient in food, but also became a major food exporter. The intensification of agricultural production led to a reduction in employment. The service sector, which also includes education, health care and the social security system, has become an important area for absorbing the vacant labor force.

The peak of social reform in Western countries came in the 1960s. The major social transformations carried out at that time, although they significantly changed the face of Western society, at the same time marked the limits of the possibilities of liberal etatism. The rapid development of the scientific and technological revolution, which also occurred in the 1960s, inspired hope for a sustainable further economic growth. Scientific and technological revolution contributed to the growth of needs, led to a constant renewal of the range of products, which left an imprint on the entire sphere of production, dictated its own conditions. All these factors affected not only material production, but also the culture of society. 1960s were marked by a stormy surge of "mass culture", which influenced the whole style of life. Funds for ensuring stable economic growth were obtained mainly from taxes, government loans and money emission. This led to the formation of a budget deficit, but at that time they did not see any particular danger in it. Scarce public funding for numerous social programs was supposed to expand demand, which increased business activity and, as politicians and economists believed, guaranteed social stability. But there were flaws in these theoretical constructions. Deficit funding was inevitably accompanied by an increase in inflation. These negative moments began to affect later, in the 1970s, when a massive criticism of Keynesianism began. By the end of the 1960s. it became clear that economic growth in itself does not save society from shocks. By the turn of the 1960-1970s. it became obvious that the implementation of social reforms does not guarantee sustainable social progress. It turned out that they have a lot of vulnerabilities, and this in the 1970s. used by conservatives.

11.4. Economic crisis of 1974–1975 and its impact on development Western civilization

Among the post-war economic upheavals, a special place belongs to the crisis of 1974-75. It covered almost all developed countries of the West and Japan. The crisis led to the stagnation of the traditional sectors of the economy of these countries, to disruptions in the credit and financial sphere, and to a sharp drop in growth rates. The use of anti-crisis measures based on neo-Keynesian recipes, which included an increase in government spending, tax cuts, and cheaper loans, only increased inflation. The use of reverse measures (cutting government spending, tightening tax and credit policies) led to a deepening recession and rising unemployment. The peculiarity of the situation was that neither one nor the other system of anti-crisis measures led to overcoming the economic shock.

The new conditions required fresh conceptual solutions concerning the development of methods adequate to the needs of the day for regulating socio-economic processes. The former Keynesian method of solving these problems has ceased to suit the ruling elite of the leading Western countries. Criticism of Keynesianism in the mid-1970s became frontal. A new conservative concept of economic regulation was gradually taking shape, the most prominent representatives of which at the political level were Margaret Thatcher, who headed the British government in 1979, and Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980 to the post of US President. In the field of economic policy, the neoconservatives were inspired by the ideologists of the free market (M. Friedman) and supporters of the "supply theory" (A. Laffer). The most important difference between the new political economy recipes and Keynesianism was a different direction of government spending. The bet was made on reducing government spending on social policy. Tax cuts were also carried out in order to intensify the inflow of investments into production. If neo-Keysianism proceeded from the stimulation of demand as a prerequisite for the growth of production, then the neoconservatives, on the contrary, headed for stimulating the factors that ensure the growth of the supply of goods. Hence their formula: it is not demand that determines supply, but supply that determines demand. In the field of monetary policy, the neo-conservative course relied on the monetarist recipes for a tough policy of controlling money circulation in order to limit, above all, inflation.

Proponents of neoconservatism also defined the relationship between state regulation and the market mechanism in a different way. They gave priority to competition, the market, and private monopoly methods of regulation. "The state for the market" - that was the most important principle of the new conservatism. According to the recommendations of the ideologues of neoconservatism in the states of Western Europe and the USA, Canada carried out the same type of measures: reducing taxes on corporations with an increase in indirect taxes, reducing the contributions of entrepreneurs to social insurance funds, curtailing a number of social policy programs, denationalizing or privatizing state property. Economic turmoil in the 1970s took place against the backdrop of a growing scientific and technological revolution. The main content of the new phase of its development was the massive introduction of computers in the spheres of production and management. This gave impetus to the beginning of the process of structural restructuring of the economy and the gradual transition of Western civilization into a new phase, which began to be called the post-industrial, or information, society. The introduction of the latest technologies has contributed to a significant leap in productivity. And this began to pay off and led to a way out of the crisis and another economic recovery.

True, the main costs of structural restructuring of the economy fell on the bulk of the population of Western countries, but this did not lead to social cataclysms. The ruling elites managed to maintain control over the situation and give a new impetus to economic processes. Gradually, the "conservative wave" began to decline. But this did not mean a change of milestones in the development of Western civilization.

11.5. Political development

In the political sphere, the second half of the 1940s became a time of sharp struggle, primarily on issues of state structure. The situations in individual countries differed significantly. Great Britain has fully preserved the pre-war political system. France and a number of other countries had to overcome the consequences of the occupation and the activities of collaborationist governments. And in Germany, Italy, it was about the complete elimination of the remnants of Nazism and fascism and the creation of new democratic states.

Despite the differences, there were also common features in the political life of Western European countries in the first postwar years. One of them was the coming to power of the left forces - the social democratic and socialist parties. In a number of cases, communists also participated in the first post-war governments. This was the case in France and Italy, where by the end of the war the communist parties had become mass, enjoyed considerable prestige due to their active participation in the resistance movement. Cooperation with the socialists contributed to the strengthening of their positions.

The initial impetus to the "conservative wave", according to most scientists, was given by the economic crisis of 1974-1975. It coincided with a surge in inflation, which led to the collapse of the domestic price structure, making it difficult to obtain loans. Added to this was the energy crisis, which contributed to the disruption of traditional ties in the world market, complicated the normal course of export-import operations, and destabilized the sphere of financial and credit relations. The rapid rise in oil prices caused structural changes in the economy. The main branches of European industry (ferrous metallurgy, shipbuilding, chemical production) fell into decay. In turn, there is a rapid development of new energy-saving technologies. As a result of the violation of international currency exchange, the foundations of the financial system, introduced back in Brettonwoods in 1944, were shaken. Distrust of the dollar as the main means of payment began to grow in the Western community. In 1971 and in 1973 it has been devalued twice. In March 1973, the leading Western countries and Japan signed an agreement on the introduction of "floating" exchange rates, and in 1976 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) abolished the official price of gold. Economic troubles of the 70s. took place against the backdrop of an ever-increasing scope of scientific and technological revolution. Its main manifestation was the mass computerization of production, which contributed to the gradual transition of the entire Western civilization to the “post-industrial” stage of development. The processes of internationalization of economic life have noticeably accelerated. TNCs began to define the face of the Western economy. By the mid 80s. they already accounted for 60% of foreign trade and 80% of developments in the field of new technologies. The process of transformation of the economy, the impetus for which was the economic crisis, was accompanied by a number of social difficulties: an increase in unemployment, an increase in the cost of living. The traditional Keynesian prescriptions of increasing government spending, cutting taxes, and making credit cheaper led to permanent inflation and budget deficits. Criticism of Keynesianism in the mid-1970s. became frontal. A new conservative concept of economic regulation is gradually taking shape, the most prominent representatives of which in the political arena are M. Thatcher, who headed the government of England in 1979, and R. Reagan, who was elected in 1980 to the post of US President. In the field of economic policy, neoconservatives were guided by the ideas of "free market" and "supply theory". In the social sphere, stakes were placed on cutting government spending. The state retained under its control only the system of support for the disabled population. All able-bodied citizens had to provide for themselves. Related to this was a new policy in the field of taxation: a radical reduction in taxes on corporations was carried out, which was aimed at activating the inflow of investment into production. The second component of the economic course of the conservatives is the formula "the state for the market." This strategy is based on the concept of internal stability of capitalism, according to which this system is declared capable of self-regulation through competition with minimal state intervention in the reproduction process. Neoconservative recipes quickly gained wide popularity among the ruling elite of the leading countries of Western Europe and the United States. Hence the general set of measures in the sphere of economic policy: tax cuts on corporations along with an increase in indirect taxes, the curtailment of a number of social programs, a wide sale of state property (re-privatization) and the closure of unprofitable enterprises. Among those social strata that supported the neoconservatives, one can single out mainly entrepreneurs, highly skilled workers and young people. In the United States, a revision of socio-economic policy took place after Republican R. Reagan came to power. Already in the first year of his presidency, a law on economic recovery was adopted. Its central link was the tax reform. Instead of a progressive taxation system, a new scale was introduced, close to proportional taxation, which, of course, was beneficial to the wealthiest strata and the middle class. At the same time, the government has cut social spending. In 1982, Reagan came up with the concept of "new federalism", which included the redistribution of powers between the federal government and the state authorities in favor of the latter. In this regard, the republican administration proposed to cancel about 150 federal social programs, and transfer the rest to local authorities. Reagan managed in a short time to reduce the inflation rate: in 1981 it was 10.4%, and by the mid-1980s. dropped to 4%. For the first time since the 1960s. a rapid economic recovery began (in 1984, growth rates reached 6.4%), and spending on education increased.

In general terms, the results of "Reaganomics" can be reflected in the following formulation: "The rich have become richer, the poor have become poorer." But here it is necessary to make a number of reservations. The rise in living standards affected not only a group of rich and super-rich citizens, but also a fairly wide and constantly growing middle strata. Although Reaganomics did tangible damage to poor Americans, it created a conjuncture that offered job opportunities, while previous social policies contributed only to a general reduction in the number of poor people in the country. Therefore, despite rather tough measures in the social sphere, the US government did not have to face any serious public protest. In England, the decisive offensive of the neoconservatives is associated with the name of M. Thatcher. It declared its main goal to fight inflation. For three years, its level has decreased from 18% to 5%. Thatcher abolished price controls and lifted restrictions on the movement of capital. Subsidies to the public sector were sharply reduced, and since 1980 their sale began: enterprises in the oil and aerospace industries, air transport, as well as bus companies, a number of communications enterprises, and part of the property of the British Railways Authority were privatized. Privatization also affected the municipal housing stock. By 1990, 21 state-owned companies were privatized, 9 million British became shareholders, 2/3 of families - owners of houses or apartments. In the social sphere, Thatcher led a severe attack on the trade unions. In 1980 and 1982 she managed to pass through parliament two laws restricting their rights: solidarity strikes were banned, the rule on preferential hiring of trade union members was abolished. Representatives of trade unions were excluded from participation in the activities of advisory government commissions on problems of socio-economic policy. But Thatcher dealt the main blow to the unions during the famous miners' strike in 1984-85. The reason for its beginning was the plan developed by the government to close 40 unprofitable mines with the simultaneous dismissal of 20 thousand people. In March 1984, the miners' union went on strike. An open war broke out between the strikers' pickets and the police. The court at the end of 1984 declared the strike illegal and fined the union £200,000 and later stripped it of its right to manage its funds. No less difficult for the Thatcher government was the problem of Northern Ireland. The "Iron Lady", as M. Thatcher was called, was a supporter of the forceful version of her decision. The combination of these factors somewhat shook the position of the ruling party, and in the summer of 1987 the government called early elections. The Conservatives have won again. The success allowed Thatcher to carry out the program installations of the conservatives even more vigorously. Second half of the 80s. became one of the most favorable eras in English history of the 20th century: the economy was constantly on the rise, the standard of living was rising. Thatcher's departure from the political arena was predictable. She did not wait for the moment when the favorable trends for the country would subside and the Conservative Party would bear all the responsibility for the deterioration of the situation. Therefore, in the fall of 1990, Thatcher announced her retirement from big politics. Similar processes took place in the 1980s in most of the leading Western countries. Some exception to the general rule was France, where in the 80s. key positions belonged to the socialists led by F. Mitterrand. But they also had to reckon with the dominant tendencies of social development. The "conservative wave" had very specific tasks - to provide optimal conditions, from the point of view of the ruling elite, for the implementation of the overdue structural restructuring of the economy. Therefore, it is no coincidence that by the beginning of the 1990s, when the most difficult part of this restructuring had been completed, the "conservative wave" gradually began to decline. It happened in a very mild way. R. Reagan was replaced in 1989 by the moderate conservative George W. Bush, in 1992 B. Clinton occupied the White House, and in 2001 George W. Bush Jr. came to power. In England, Thatcher was replaced by a moderate conservative J. Major, who, in turn, - in 1997 - the leader of the Labor Party E. Blair. However, the change of ruling parties did not imply a change in the internal political course of England. Approximately the same events developed in other Western European countries. The last representative of the "neo-conservative wave", German Chancellor G. Kohl in September 1998 was forced to give up his post to the leader of the Social Democrats G. Schroeder. In general, the 90s. became a time of relative calm in the socio-political development of the leading Western countries in the 20th century. True, most experts believe that it will be short-lived. The entry of Western civilization into the stage of "post-industrial" development poses many new, previously unknown tasks for politicians.

North Kazakhstan State University

named after academician Manash Kozybaev

History department

Department of World History and Political Science

Graduation work

Japan in the second half of the twentieth century

Eligible for defense

" " ------------ 2004

Head Chair

Kanaeva T.M.

Chilikbaev Ondasyn

Saganbaevich

extramural

specialty history

gr. I - 02 V

Scientific adviser:

Ph.D. Zaitov V.I.

Petropavlovsk 2008

annotation

The theme of this graduation work is "Japan in the second half of the twentieth century." The work consists of an introduction, four chapters, a conclusion and an appendix.

The aim of the work is to analyze materials on Japan in the 20th century. Special attention is devoted to the history of the country after the Second World War. These sections of the work contain information on the main stages of the post-war period - the period of occupation; 50 - 70 years. XX century; 80 - 90s 20th century The history of modern Japan (development of industry, agriculture and political structure) is considered separately. At the end of the work there is an application - the development of a history lesson "Japan after the Second World War".

The theme of this work is Japan in secondary part of XX century. Work consists of the ending, four parts.

We analyzed material of Japan in XX century. Especially we saw on the history of the country after the Second World War. This part consists of information of the main after the war time- period of the occupation; 50-70 years of XX century; 80-90 years of XX century. We looked at the history of modern Japan (industry, agriculture and politic). The end of our work has unit of history "Japan after Second World War".

Introduction

1. Historical background

2. Japan in the first half of the twentieth century.

2.1 Japan in the 20s - 30s 20th century Beginning of the Fascization Process

2.2 Japan in World War II

3. Japan in the second half of the twentieth century.

3.1 First period of occupation

3.2 Second period of occupation

3.3 Economic development of the country in the second half of the twentieth century.

4. Modern Japan

4.1 Industrial production

4.2 Agriculture

Conclusion

Literature

Applications

Introduction

This work is devoted to the history of the Japanese people in the twentieth century. This period in the history of the country turned out to be unusually rich in various kinds of facts and events. In the first half of the century, Japan was a society dominated by the absolute power of the Japanese emperors. Almost the rest of the population was deprived of any rights and freedoms. The socio-economic base contradictorily combined the feudal agrarian sector and the modern capitalist urban production of a monopoly type. Japanese monopolies (zaibatsu) were closely associated with the government and the imperial house; had a huge impact not only on the economy, but also on domestic and foreign policy.

The search for new markets and sources of raw materials since the end of the 19th century. pushed the Japanese ruling circles to territorial seizures. In connection with these, the entire first half of the century passed in almost continuous wars with close and distant countries. This also prompted Japan to directly participate in the Second World War on the side of the Nazi bloc.

Participation in all these wars cost the Japanese people dearly. Throughout the post-war period, Japan has been a completely different society - now it is among the ten most developed countries in the modern world. Highly great importance post-war reforms during the occupation of the country played in these achievements. With the direct participation of the American military and civil administration, a very radical land reform was carried out, which put an end to feudal relations; liquidated and undermined the power of the zaibatsu - large financial and industrial companies that are the base of Japanese fascism; the absolute power of the Japanese emperors was abolished in the country and a system of democratic government was established; a whole system of measures is envisaged to prevent the revival of nationalist and pro-fascist organizations.

History of Japan in the 20th century. studied as part of the school course "recent history". One of the topics is devoted to the history of the country in the first half of the 20th century. The second topic is devoted to Japan in the 1940s and 1970s. 20th century The development of this topic is presented in the final part of this graduation work.

1. Historical background

Japan is an island country. The Japanese islands form a giant arc along the eastern part of the Asian continent, facing the Pacific Ocean, with a total length of about 3400 km. The territory of Japan (369.6 thousand sq. km) includes four large islands - Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, as well as more than 900 small islands washed from the north by the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, from the east and southeast by the Pacific Ocean, with west by the Sea of ​​Japan and the East China Sea.

The total length of the coastline of the Japanese Islands is about 27 thousand km. The shores are strongly indented and form many convenient bays and coves. The territory is predominantly mountainous. The islands rise above sea level up to 3 km and above. 16 peaks have a height of more than 3000 m.

Japan is an area of ​​very high seismic activity and frequent earthquakes. A significant part of the mountain peaks of Japan are volcanoes - there are about 150 volcanoes in total, of which 15 are active. About one and a half thousand earthquakes are recorded annually /Modern Japan, 1973, p. 1-2/.

The most important factor on which the climate of Japan depends is the periodically changing monsoons. Summer monsoons from the Pacific Ocean, carrying heat and moisture, are often accompanied by typhoons and showers. Winter monsoons from the Asian continent carry masses of cold air and are accompanied by snowfalls.

However, in general, the climate of Japan is milder than under the corresponding latitudes on the Asian mainland. This is due to the softening effect of the ocean and the warm currents that take place here. In the coldest month of years = January - the average temperature in Sapporo in Hokkaido is -6.2. In the south of Kyushu + 5.6. Thus, the vegetative period, even in the northernmost latitudes, lasts half a year, and in many more southern regions it lasts almost the entire year.

In Japan, with its predominantly mountainous terrain and abundant rainfall, there are many mountain flows and rivers. Most of the rivers are fast mountain streams, unsuitable for permanent navigation. River valleys are narrow, armholes are limited, basins are small. The regime of rivers is associated with seasonal rainfall and snowmelt in the mountains. Rivers are mainly used as an important source of hydropower. Most of the rivers are short and rarely exceed 300-350 km / ibid., p. 10-12/.

Due to special geographical conditions the soil cover is highly variegated, but mostly soils poor in nutrients predominate. Therefore, in order to preserve soil fertility, Japanese farmers have to systematically apply a large amount of mineral fertilizers.

Geographically, Japan belongs to the zone of mixed vegetation, where there are zones of temperate, tropical and subtropical climate, with a corresponding set of flora and fauna.

Japan is very poor in minerals. Only coal reserves are of some importance.

Population. Administratively, Japan is divided into 47 prefectures. The lower level of the administrative system is formed by cities ("si"), settlements ("mati") and rural communities - "mura". The capital of Tokyo is about 12 million. In terms of population (about 130 million), Japan occupies one of the leading places in the world after China, India, the USA, Indonesia and Brazil. Over the past hundred years, the country's population has tripled from 35 million in 1875 to 130 million now. Japan has almost the highest population density - 328.3 people. per 1 sq. km. / Japan, 1992, p. 22/.

The population of the country is distinguished by exceptional national homogeneity. Non-Japanese people make up less than 1% of the population there. One of these groups of non-Japanese population are the Ainu - the natives of the Japanese islands. Recently, there were no more than 20 thousand of them living compactly on the island of Hokkaido. More than ¾ of the population are city dwellers. Rural population since the 1930s 20th century (then it was about 80%) is constantly declining. An acute problem of modern Japan is the process of "aging" as a result of a decrease in the birth rate and an increase in life expectancy.

The way of life of the Japanese (in terms of service or production) is almost completely Europeanized. The same is observed on the street and in transport. But in domestic life, national traditions are much more preserved. This is especially true for the kitchen.

The Japanese diet, despite the increase in the consumption of meat, milk and dairy products, is significantly different from the cuisine of European countries and America. The basis of Japanese food continues to be rice, cooked without salt. It is served with various seasonings from vegetables, fish and meat. Rice is included as an ingredient in many dishes and confectionery. As before, a significant place in the diet is occupied by fish and seafood - octopuses, squids, cuttlefish, trepangs, crabs. A feature of Japanese cuisine is the widespread use of fresh raw fish. A lot of vegetables are also consumed / ibid., p. 27-28/.

The favorite drink of the population is green tea without sugar. National alcoholic drink is rice mash sake, which is drunk warm. Recently, beer has become very common.

Holidays. Holidays are an integral part of the life of the Japanese people. It is difficult to find a country so rich in holidays, where almost every day there are some holidays. One of the main and most popular is the New Year, or rather the New Year's holiday complex, which, like in other countries of Southeast Asia, is a holiday of holidays. In terms of time, it covers almost the entire winter season and includes many holidays that mark the beginning of a new life cycle.

A significant place among the calendar holidays is occupied by the holidays of the agricultural calendar with their ancient and rich rituals. And first of all, these are the holidays associated with the cultivation of rice ...

A large number of holidays in Japan are dedicated to children. For each age and gender there are special solemn days, which is associated with the specifically Japanese attitude of adults to children, as to the successors of the clan / ibid., p. 29-32/.

Religion. Modern Japan is a vivid example of a modern developed capitalist country, with a high level of economy and scientific and technological progress, with the preservation of religious traditions among the vast majority of the adult population. The religious situation in the country is characterized by extraordinary diversity, the presence of numerous trends and traditions. First of all, this is sint o and z m (shinto) - the national religion of the Japanese; traditional schools of b u d d i z m a, formed on Japanese soil in the early Middle Ages; Christianity, which first penetrated here in the 16th century; new religions.

In addition to these currents, outside the framework of organized religious groups, many folk beliefs dating back to ancient times are preserved. It is these beliefs and the superstitions and prejudices that go back to them that are most widespread among the mass of the Japanese people. The religious ideas of the Japanese were formed in the process of long-term interaction of local cults with Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. All this creates a special Japanese religious syncretism, when different religious traditions do not exist in isolation, but coexist peacefully in the religious practice of the same family.

Religious in origin, local holidays and individual cults practiced without the mediation of clergy are widespread. Most Japanese, including many of those who consider themselves non-believers, are connected with the external ritual side of religion, periodically resorting to the mediation of religious institutions, sometimes without realizing their religious nature. Typical examples of this are mass New Year's pilgrimages to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, in which up to 2/3 of the population takes part, obligatory Shinto rituals during construction work, opening enterprises, shops, etc. A significant part of the wedding ceremonies takes place with the participation of Shinto priests. The rites of the funeral cult are mainly performed in Buddhist temples / ibid., p. 34-36/.

Life and manners. Almost all Japanese cities have a very similar appearance. In the center there is a business part built up with modern high-rise buildings. The outlying parts are represented mainly by residential buildings (one- or more often two-story). In residential areas, the driveways are very narrow, without sidewalks. The houses, separated from the streets by a high fence, are mainly of the traditional type of wooden dwellings with iron or tiled roofs. Wealthy people usually have a garden at home, in the poor quarters there are almost no yards and houses are separated only by narrow passages / Modern Japan, 1973, p. 56/.

The floor of the living quarters is almost completely covered with thick straw mats (tatami). The surface of the tatami is kept completely clean. Part of the walls is made not solid, but sliding: along the edge of the dwelling in the floor and ceiling there are grooves along which they move with yo z and - sliding wall frames pasted over with translucent paper. Such engineering structures allow the owner to change the internal layout of the house at will, for example, turning it into one large hall without partitions for a day, and dividing it into several bedroom cells at night. The central part of the interior is a tokonoma - a niche in the end wall, where a few decorations are located - a painting scroll, a vase of flowers or photographs.

Recently, blocks of high-rise residential buildings of standard development have begun to grow in Japan. They are mainly inhabited by medium-paid employees and a part of skilled workers. The interior layout and furnishings of apartments in such houses are largely Europeanized. Nevertheless, in such apartments in some rooms, especially in the bedrooms, the floor is covered with tatami.

When entering the house, shoes are usually removed. There is little furniture in Japanese houses. The Japanese sit on the floor, placing special pillows under them. They dine at a very low table. In winter, Japanese houses are very cold, their light walls hardly keep heat. But in the stuffy and humid summer they are fresh and cool / ibid., p. 56-59/.

With the exception of the dwellings of the poorest strata, there is always a bath in the house. The Japanese bath is short and deep, they do not lie in it, but squat.

At work, the Japanese - both women and men - dress mostly in European style, but at home, on vacation, in a festive atmosphere, they prefer the national costume. It consists of a straight-cut right-handed kimono robe with bag-shaped sode sleeves. The kimono is tied with a wide upper belt, which is tied at the back. Women's kimonos are sewn from fabrics of light and bright patterned colors, men's from dark or one-color.

A kimono combined with an obi is a very comfortable garment that retains heat well and, if desired, provides good ventilation of the body in stuffy weather. The kimono is quite comfortable for working with hand tools, for example in the household. However, it is not adapted for modern clerical and machine work, it is not very convenient when using modern transport /Modern Japan, 1973, p.59-60/.

In the everyday life of the Japanese, many phenomena of the original national culture have been preserved to this day. A striking example of this kind is the well-known tea ceremony. The emergence of the tea ceremony dates back to the 15th century. and is closely connected with the ideology of the Buddhist sect Zen, which preached, in particular, the idea of ​​religious and aesthetic understanding of everyday reality. The tea ceremony was nothing more than a meaningful reception of guests (usually no more than five people) and treating them to tea. The ceremony was designed to evoke complex associations that help focus on self-deep contemplation and reflection.

For brewing, a tea leaf is used, crushed into powder, and varieties of only green Japanese tea. Before drinking, tea is whipped with a bamboo brush into foam / ibid., p. 63-64/.

Ikebana is a traditional art of arranging flowers and branches in vases that has existed since ancient times and is widespread in all segments of the population. In the 11th century Ikebana was formed as a special kind of art, having a certain aesthetic theory and subdivided into a number of schools. The most common forms in the new schools are moribana - flowers in low wide vases - and nageire - flowers in tall narrow vases. Recently, the art of ikebana has gone far beyond the Japanese islands and has many admirers and followers in many countries, including the European circle.

ethnic traits. Among the general ethnic features, modern experts distinguish the following - diligence, a highly developed aesthetic sense, adherence to traditions, a tendency to borrow and practicality. Diligence and the diligence connected with it in all spheres of labor activity is the most important feature of the Japanese national character. The Japanese give themselves to work selflessly, with pleasure. They express their sense of beauty primarily in the process of labor. If he cultivates the land, then this is not just loosening the earth, planting and caring for plants, but this is the aesthetics of labor, admiring labor, enjoying the labor process. Even on the smallest patch of land, the Japanese tries to set up a garden, ennoble it appearance. create a favorable impression in people about everything that surrounds him.

Love for beauty is characteristic of all peoples, but the Japanese have an increased craving for beauty - this is an integral part of the national tradition. Traditionalism has penetrated into the behavior, thoughts and aspirations of the Japanese people and has become an important feature of the national character. This feature of the national character helped the Japanese to withstand the cultural onslaught of the West and "save their face." Although the Japanese eagerly adopt everything that comes to them from outside, they pass innovations through the sieve of their traditions, thereby remaining themselves.

In everyday life and in the family, the Japanese are also characterized by politeness, accuracy, self-control, frugality and curiosity / Japan, 1992, p. 40/.

2. Japan in the first half of the twentieth century

By the beginning of the 20th century Japan came up as a rapidly developing state with a significant capitalist sector and lingering vestiges of feudal relations in agriculture.

According to Asian traditions, Japanese monopolies were closely associated with feudal landlords and the monarchy. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century. The bourgeoisie used numerous pre-capitalist forms of exploitation - enslaving hiring of women6 and children, a system of forced hostels of a semi-prison type, etc. The standard of living of workers was much lower than in other countries.

The global economic crisis of 1900 also affected the Japanese economy. It resulted in the ruin of small and medium-sized capitalist enterprises and their absorption by large ones, as a result of which numerous monopolies began to appear in Japan. The predominant form of monopoly associations of finance capital were trusts (dzaibatsu). At that time, such major monopolies as MITSUI, MITSUBISHI, SUMITOMO, YASUDA appeared in the country, which concentrated the lion's share of the national wealth.

The rapid development of capitalism at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. began to be constrained by some objective circumstances and in particular by the almost complete absence of its own raw material base ... At the same time, Japan began to acutely feel the need for markets for its goods and capital investment ...

Trying to go beyond its territory, Japan at the turn of the century begins to actively prepare for future military operations. As such objects, Japan began to consider relatively closely located countries and territories - Korea, China and then Russia. It took several years to prepare for these captures. There was an active militarization of the country, supported by significant financial injections from the state and private companies.

In the war of 1904 - 1905. Japan inflicted heavy defeats on Russia on land and at sea. Russia's further struggle was interrupted by internal revolutionary upheavals. But Japan itself turned out to be severely depleted and was unable to significantly expand and consolidate its victory. Under the Treaty of Portsmouth - 1905 - she received "exclusive rights" in Korea, received land leased by Russia on the Liaodong Peninsula, the South Manchurian Railway. and the southern part of Sakhalin Island.

The outcome of the war untied Japan's hands in Korea. In 1905, the Japanese protectorate treaty was imposed on the Korean government, and from 1910 Korea became a Japanese colony.

In 1909, Japanese troops landed in South Manchuria (Kwantung Province) and in fact forced the Qing court to agree to this annexation.

The Russo-Japanese War and the ongoing militarization of the country contributed to the even faster development of heavy industry, the concentration of capital, and the strengthening of the position of the monopolies. But the country itself still remained agrarian.

In 1901, the Japanese Social Democratic Party was established in Japan, which was banned on the same day. Practically the entire first half of the century was marked by constant actions of the workers. The government dealt with these phenomena and their leaders with extreme cruelty - repressions, numerous executions ...

In August 1914, Japan entered the war with Kaiser's Germany on the side of the Entente countries, but did not conduct military operations. Taking advantage of the situation, Japan began to seize German possessions in the Far East one by one and began to actively oust representatives of the Western capitalist world from the markets of Asia ... Japan's main efforts were directed at the expansion of China. In 1915, it seized the province of Shandong and issued an ultimatum to China with a number of demands that violated its sovereignty. But China was forced to accept them.

After the end of the First World War, Japan undertook large-scale actions to seize the Russian Primorye, Eastern Siberia and Northern Sakhalin. The intervention in the Russian Far East began, which was accompanied by a cruel attitude towards the civilian population ... However, the actions of the Red Army and the unfolding partisan movement led to the fact that the Japanese in 1922 were forced to withdraw their troops.

At the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919, Japan achieved the transfer to it, in addition to Chinese Shandong, of a mandate for the Caroline, Marshall and Mariana Islands, which had previously been the possession of Germany - the allies' payment for intervention in the Soviet Far East ...

2.1 Japan in the 20-30s 20th century Beginning of the Fascization Process

In 1927, the cabinet of General Tanaka comes to power - a supporter of an aggressive foreign policy and a reactionary domestic policy. Immediately after coming to power, the general formulated his vision of foreign policy, a document that later became known as the Tanaka Memorandum. This document outlined in detail the plans for the future conquests of Japan - the countries of Southeast Asia, India, the capture of Chinese territories (Manchuria and Mongolia), and then all of China. Then it was supposed to capture Russia, war with Europe and the USA ...

It should be noted that the coming to power of Tanaka and the reactionary circles supporting him in Japan was dictated by the deep economic crisis of the late 1920s and early 1920s. 30s A large number of ruined, and especially among the middle urban strata and the middle bourgeoisie.

The 1928 elections turned into a mass pressure on the voters. The elections were held in an atmosphere of corruption, outright bribery of deputies, and the most severe police pressure on democratic deputies. All leftist and trade union organizations were closed. An important factor in the activation of the entire left wing of the labor movement was the participation in the election campaign of legal proletarian parties. The election campaign of Ronoto, who is closely associated with the Japanese Communist Party, aroused the hatred of the ruling circles. The police dispersed rallies, carried out arrests and expulsions of agitators. And yet, despite the unprecedented terror and arbitrariness, the proletarian parties received about half a million votes in the elections. The only representative of the CPJ who entered the parliament was killed the day after his first speech ...

In March 1928, the deputies of the proletarian parties, in order to expose the policy of the government, created a joint action committee, which, in essence, was supposed to act as a parliamentary faction in the lower house of parliament. The success of the democratic forces in the elections showed the ruling camp that a force is growing in the country capable of fighting against its aggressive policy. At dawn on March 15, 1928, arrests were simultaneously carried out in major centers - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and then throughout the country. These police repressions were officially directed against the Communist Party of the Communist Party and other opposition organizations. In total, 1,600 workers and trade unionists were imprisoned / History of Japan, 1988, p. 234-235/.

The global economic crisis of 1929-1933, which began in October 1929 with the stock market crash in the United States, hit the Japanese economy especially hard due to the close ties between the Japanese and American markets. This was also aggravated by the general economic weakness of Japan in comparison with other countries, the instability of the economy, and the chronic crisis in industry and agriculture. Agriculture, which played a much greater role in Japan than in other capitalist countries, was among the first branches of the economy to be affected by the crisis. Especially difficult was the situation of sericulture, which in Japan employed about half of all peasant farms. Until 1930, raw silk, mainly exported to the United States, accounted for about 30% of Japanese exports. As a result of the crisis in the United States, the export of Japanese silk was sharply reduced, and as a result of this, a catastrophic drop in prices for it occurred.

The decline in prices for silk, rice and other products resulted in a 40% reduction in agricultural output. The volume of industrial production also decreased significantly, especially in the coal, metallurgical, and cotton industries. The narrowing of the domestic market, as well as the reduction in exports, led not only to a decrease in the level of production, but also to the accumulation of huge commodity stocks.

Faced with severe economic hardship, ruling classes Japan tried to shift the brunt of the crisis onto the working masses. There were mass layoffs and wage cuts. The number of unemployed increases during this period to 3 million. All this was accompanied by the massive ruin of small and medium-sized enterprises / History of Japan, 1988, p. 236/.

Fascization of Japan. The global economic crisis has led to a sharp deterioration in the situation of many segments of the population. The peasantry was especially dissatisfied. The middle bourgeoisie could not stand the competition either, and dissatisfaction with the "old concerns" Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Yasuda grew among these strata. Naturally, there were a lot of people who were dissatisfied with the policy of the government, which was most often formed from parties associated with the same concerns ...

"New concerns" - emerged relatively recently during the First World War and later. Especially quickly began to rise on the wave of military orders in the 20-30s. Most often, these are non-ferrous metallurgy industries, aircraft construction, military plants, etc. They were closely connected with the military circles, although they had a weak financial base, and therefore they waged a sharp struggle with the old financial oligarchy.

"Young officers" - junior and middle-level officer cadres, rapidly growing army and navy ... In their social composition they differed from the generals associated with the old aristocracy, the largest bureaucracy and the "old concerns". They mainly came from the environment of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and the rural elite - all these layers suffered particular difficulties during the years of the crisis ...

The union of "young officers" and "new concerns" became a Japanese variety of fascism. The broad social base of fascisization was represented by the petty-bourgeois strata - representatives of the small and medium urban and rural bourgeoisie. Their programs and slogans often contained ideas of protecting the emperor from the dominance of the bureaucracy and the financial oligarchy. They had many “democratic” appeals in their arsenal… Anti-capitalist and anti-American appeals were often encountered…

Emphasizing their devotion to the emperor, they demanded the restriction of the activities of the "old concerns", opposed the parliament, the bourgeois-landowner parties, staged conspiracies and terrorist acts ...

But it was the "new concerns", which did not have a sufficient financial base, were vitally interested in the speedy militarization and fascisization of the country, counting on state orders in the future ...

Putschs. The alliance of these "new" forces decided to rid Japan of the "partocrats" by their physical destruction. One of the first casualties was Prime Minister Hanaguchi, followed by President Seiyukai and Inaui's chief of staff.

In 1931, representatives of the "young officers" who were part of the Kwantung Army stationed in China provoked an incident in Manchuria and began military operations in Northeast China. Very soon, Manchuria was captured and the state of Manchukuo, "independent" from China, headed by Emperor Pu Yi, was created there. At the same time, these parts of the Japanese army occupied the so-called Inner Mongolia and intended, under the guise of "autonomy", also to separate it from China ...

The beginning of hostilities in Northeast China was preceded by a slanderous campaign against the USSR and China in the Japanese press, inspired mainly by militarist organizations and the reactionary bureaucracy. The operational plan for the war against the USSR, developed by the Japanese military in 1931, assumed the organization of provocations on the Soviet borders in order to create a pretext for future hostilities.

The capture of Northeast China made it possible for the Japanese militarists, together with the troops of Manchukuo and the White Guard gangs, to carry out provocations and attacks on the borders and in the border regions of the USSR and the MPR. The Chinese Eastern Railway became the object of unheard-of lawlessness of the Japanese authorities. The destruction of the track, the hijacking of rolling stock, shelling and raids on trains, the arrests of Soviet employees and workers made it urgent for the Soviet government to resolve the issue of the CER. In an effort to put an end to tension, stop the period of continuous conflicts in this region, and achieve the establishment of peaceful relations with Japan, the Soviet Union in March 1935 signed an agreement on the sale to the Manchukuo authorities of the CER.

These events sharply worsened Japan's relations with Western countries. The League of Nations condemned this aggression and in 1933 Japan withdrew from it, which in fact was regarded in the world as the emergence of a future hotbed of world war, which in fact will happen ...

In the parliamentary elections in 1936, the workers' parties achieved significant success. This served as a pretext for a new putsch organized by the "young officers" and fascist circles. It was attended by 1,500 people, led by General Araki. Premier Saito, Finance Minister Takahashi and some other prominent officials were killed. Several large administrative centers were captured. However, this putsch was not supported by the army and was soon suppressed.

In 1937, the Konoe cabinet came to power, which was closely associated with the military and financial old concerns and court circles. He was able to achieve the consolidation of the ruling circles on the basis of the implementation of a deep military program and a tough domestic policy. All political parties were dissolved, many leaders of the Communist Party and other democratic forces were imprisoned. At the same time, a wide company of worship to the emperor began ...

The cabinet concluded in 1937 the so-called "anti-Comintern pact" with Nazi Germany. First of all, it was directed against the USSR, as well as against the USA and England in the event of their opposition in the event of a Japanese attack on China.

1937 war with China. On July 7, 1937, the Japanese armed invasion of Northern China began. Then hostilities were extended to the entire territory of China. The country's economy was put at the service of the war, which absorbed huge amounts of money - military spending began to account for 70 - 80% of the budget. This caused serious financial difficulties. The active development of heavy, especially military industry, to the detriment of industries working for the domestic market, could not but lead to a deformation of the economy, to its ever greater adaptation to the needs of an aggressive war. The growth of the military industry, mobilization into the army, roared, however, to some reduction in the unemployed. The officially established working day lasting 12-14 hours, as a rule, was delayed until 14-16 hours.

The situation was also difficult in the Japanese countryside. The crisis, characteristic of agriculture, became even more aggravated in connection with the war. The mobilization of peasants into the army deprived the countryside of the most able-bodied stratum of the population, the cessation of the supply of industrial goods and chemical goods led to a sharp drop in productivity.

At the same time, having started a war in China, Konoe's cabinet stepped up the fight against anti-militarist and anti-war sentiments in the country. Officially it was called "the movement to mobilize the national spirit." All democratic organizations that, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese war, had taken anti-war positions, were crushed. On December 15, 1937, the police carried out mass arrests of communists, trade union leaders, and representatives of the progressive intelligentsia. The number of those arrested exceeded 10 thousand people / History of Japan, 1988, p. 257, 258/.

The United States and Great Britain, with their policy of non-intervention, actually encouraged Japan to further military actions, hoping that it would start a war against the USSR. In the summer of 1938, Japanese troops attempted to invade Soviet territory in the area of ​​Lake Khasan (near Vladivostok), but after fierce fighting they were driven back. In the spring and summer of 1939, a new conflict now took place on the territory of the MPR, with which the USSR had an agreement and the Soviet-Mongolian troops defeated the Japanese near the Khalkin-Gol River ...

2.2 Japan during World War II

After Germany occupied France and Holland in 1940, Japan took advantage of the favorable situation and seized their colonies - Indonesia and Indochina.

On September 27, 1940, Japan entered into a military alliance (Triple Pact) with Germany and Italy directed against the USSR. England and USA. At the same time, in April 1941, a neutrality treaty was concluded with the USSR.

After the German attack on the USSR in June 1941, the Japanese greatly increased their military potential on the border in this area - the Kwantung Army. However, the failure of the German blitzkrieg and the defeat near Moscow, as well as the fact that the Soviet Union constantly kept combat-ready divisions on the eastern borders, did not allow the Japanese leadership to start hostilities here. They were forced to direct their military efforts in other directions.

Having inflicted a defeat on the troops of England, the Japanese in a short time captured many territories and countries of Southeast Asia and approached the borders of India. December 7, 1941 The Japanese army suddenly attacked the US Navy base Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) without declaring war.

The surprise attack on US naval installations, located more than 6,000 km from the Japanese islands, caused enormous damage to the US armed forces. At the same time, Japanese troops invaded Thailand, began military operations to capture Burma, Malaya and the Philippines. The first stage of the war unfolded successfully for the Japanese militarists. After five months of war, they captured Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, the main and islands of Indonesia, Burma, Hong Kong, New Britain, the Solomon Islands. In a short time, Japan captured the territory of 7 million square meters. km with a population of about 500 million people. The combination of surprise and numerical superiority provided the Japanese armed forces with success and initiative in the early stages of the war.

Playing on the desire of these peoples to free themselves from colonial dependence and presenting themselves as such a "liberator", the Japanese leadership planted puppet governments in the occupied countries. However, these maneuvers by Japan, which mercilessly plundered the occupied countries, establishing police regimes there, could not deceive the broad masses of the people of these countries.

The main reasons that kept Japan from attacking the USSR were its military power - dozens of divisions in the Far East, the plight of the Japanese troops, hopelessly stuck in an exhausting war in China, whose people waged a heroic struggle against the invaders; victory of the Red Army in the war against Nazi Germany.

However, the situation soon began to change. The Japanese command underestimated the importance of using submarines and large aircraft carriers, and soon the American and British units began to inflict significant losses on them. In 1944, after the loss of the Philippines, massive bombardments of Japan itself by US aircraft began. Tokyo was almost completely destroyed. The same fate befell most large cities. However, even in 1945, Japan was not going to surrender and the troops resisted very fiercely. Therefore, the United States and Great Britain were forced to abandon plans to land their troops directly on the territory of Japan, and America carried out the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945.

The situation changed radically only after the USSR entered the war. The Soviet Union August 9, 1945 Started hostilities against the Kwantung Army. It was defeated in a short time and already on August 14, 1945, the Emperor was forced to announce his surrender. The act was signed on September 2, 1945. On board the American battleship "Missouri" ... / Modern history of Asia and Africa, part 1, 2003, p. 51-70/.

On August 14, 1945, the government and military command unconditionally accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and capitulated to the allied states represented by China, the USA, England and the Soviet Union. It was a long and unjust war. It lasted 14 years from the moment the aggression began in Manchuria, 8 years from the time of the aggression in China, and 4 years from the start of hostilities against other peoples. During this war, millions of people were killed in China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Siam, Burma, Malaya and Indonesia.

In preparing for war, the ruling classes of Japan gradually deprived their people of their rights and, in the end, took away all freedom from them. Initially, before the incident in Manchuria, communists, advanced workers and peasants were subjected to illegal arrests, torture, imprisonment and executions. Then, after 1933, repression spread to liberals and democrats. Freedom of speech, assembly, unions was destroyed. People who until 1936-1937. they thought that only the “Reds” were being persecuted, that these repressions would not affect them, that the revival of the economy caused by the war was salutary, during the war they realized their mistake. Many of them were forced to change their profession and forcibly sent to work in military industry.

All economic life was regulated by the military, officials and big capitalists. The unemployed did not really become. But this happened because several million people were doomed to slave labor in military enterprises. More than 3.5 million young people, including students and 12-year-old schoolchildren (boys and girls), were mobilized into the military industry and agriculture. In short, 80 million Japanese were condemned to forced labor in a huge military prison / Inoue Kiyoshi et al., 1955, p. 257, 258/.

By the end of the war, the vast majority of Japanese territory was completely in ruins. The Allied bombardments practically destroyed the main urban centers, including many cities that had no military or strategic purpose. Even more tragic was the fate of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were virtually wiped off the face of the earth. During the years of hostilities, the Japanese army lost more than 2 million people / ibid., p. 259, 260/.

3. Japan in the second half of the twentieth century

3.1 Japan during the first period of occupation

The policy of the allied powers towards defeated Japan was formulated in the Potsdam Declaration of June 26, 1945. The Declaration contained demands for the eradication of militarism, the removal of all obstacles to the development of democratic tendencies, the establishment in the country of freedom of speech, religion and respect for fundamental human rights. The Declaration was the general program of the anti-fascist coalition of the allied powers. It reflects the goals that the democratic forces of the whole world set themselves in the Second World War. In some of its sections, in particular, the following was said.

"6. The power and influence of those who deceived and misled the people of Japan, forcing them to follow the path of world conquest, must be removed forever, for we firmly believe that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism will not be banished from the world.

7. Until such a new order is established, and until there is conclusive evidence that Japan's ability to wage war has been destroyed, - points on Japanese territory, which will be indicated by the Allies, will be occupied in order to ensure the implementation of the main goals that we set out here.

8. To the Japanese armed forces, after they are

disarmed, will be allowed to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead a peaceful and working life.

10. We do not want the Japanese to be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation, but all war crimes, including those that have committed atrocities against our prisoners, must be severely punished.

12. Allied occupying troops will be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these goals are achieved and as soon as a peaceful and responsible government is established in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people" / ibid., pp. 261-262 /.

There is no doubt that this Declaration was just and, above all, met the aspirations of the Japanese people themselves ...

Questions of the post-war device.

After the Soviet Union entered the war and defeated the Kwantung Army, the ruling elite of Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration on unconditional surrender. Following this, Japan was occupied by American troops acting on behalf of the Allied Powers.

Immediately after the capitulation of Japan, a struggle broke out on the issues of its post-war structure. On the one hand, the ruling circles of the United States spoke out, who feared the strengthening of the movement of the popular masses of Japan in defense of their rights, insisted on separate limited reforms that did not affect the foundations of the existing system. Opposite positions were taken by some international democratic forces, who demanded broad progressive reforms to ensure the transformation of Japan into a modern democratic state.

At the same time, from the very beginning of the occupation, the ruling circles of the United States sought to circumvent the principle of unanimity of the four great powers (USSR, USA, China and England) in resolving Japanese problems. In October 1945, the United States unilaterally set up a Far East Consultative Commission on Japan in Washington, which provoked strong protests from the Soviet Union and other countries. In the end, in December 1945, at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers, convened at the initiative of the USSR, after lengthy negotiations, the United States was forced to agree to the dissolution of the Far Eastern Commission and adopt a plan according to which a Far Eastern Commission was established in Washington from representatives of 11 countries. This commission was proclaimed to be the directing body that determined the basic principles of the occupation policy and, in theory, was placed over the commander-in-chief of the American occupation forces.

However, due to the aggravation of relations between the USSR and the USA, in practice the Far Eastern Commission did not play the role assigned to it ... / History of Japan, 1978, p. 11-13/.

The American occupation policy began in conditions of a sharp aggravation of the general crisis of capitalism, the collapse of the colonial system. At this time, the peoples of the whole world, including the American, as a result of victory in the war, which bore an anti-fascist, liberation character, experienced a democratic, revolutionary upsurge. Under these conditions, the United States could not but reckon with the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and were forced to proclaim a policy of democratization and demilitarization of Japan. At the same time, they pursued their own goals - to weaken their yesterday's competitor in the world market, to establish political, economic and military control over it.

However, in order to eliminate the danger of a revival of the Japanese threat to America, it was necessary, first of all, to undermine the positions of the absolutist monarchy, the military, the landowners, the bureaucracy, and to weaken the influence of monopoly capital. The United States understood that it was impossible to carry out such important tasks with the forces of an occupying army alone, and therefore tried to use the social and political forces within Japan itself - pacifists, representatives of the middle and petty bourgeoisie, workers and peasants, liberals, etc.

The first steps of the occupation authorities. Unlike the occupation of Germany, as a result of which its government was completely dissolved and the country was administered directly by the Allied Powers, who created the Allied Military Administration for Germany, in Japan the United States largely retained the old state apparatus headed by the Japanese emperor, only slightly rebuilt and updated in during the purge, and entrusted this apparatus with the implementation of American post-war reform directives.

At the same time, the United States appropriated a number of state functions. They completely took over the field of finance and foreign trade, put under their control all the organs of justice, the police power, the preparation of the state budget, and limited the legislative power of parliament. In the field of diplomacy, the Japanese government was deprived of the right to establish and maintain relations with foreign powers / ibid., p. 15, 16/.

Immediately after the surrender, the United States took a number of measures aimed at reviving in the country some of the democratic norms that were either absent in Japan altogether or were limited during the World War. It was officially announced the dissolution of ultra-nationalist societies, secret right-wing organizations that, through their activities, contributed to the restriction of the freedoms of the Japanese people.

Already in September 1945, in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration, the occupying authorities issued directives to disband the country's armed forces, to ban military production, and to arrest the main war criminals. On October 4, 1945, the secret police (Tokko), similar to the German Gestapo, was liquidated, and political prisoners were released at the same time.

In order to weaken the emperor's cult, on January 1, 1946, he publicly renounced the myth of his divine origin.

On January 4, the occupying authorities issued a decree on the purge of the state apparatus and political organizations of persons associated in the past with fascist and militaristic activities and on the dissolution of 27 chauvinist organizations. As a result of these purges, more than 200 thousand people were removed from public and political activities.

28 major war criminals were arrested and handed over to the International Military Tribunal, including former prime ministers Tojo, Koiso, Hirota, Hiranuma, generals Araki, Doihara, Itagaki, Kimura, Minami, Matsui, and some diplomats. Although the occupying authorities thus intended to get rid of persons objectionable to them, pursued only their own interests, nevertheless, a serious blow was dealt to the old bureaucratic system on which the imperial regime relied.

In December 1945, the Law on Trade Unions was promulgated, for the first time in the history of Japan, giving all workers, including employees of state-owned enterprises and institutions, the right to organize trade unions, to collective bargaining and strikes. The law also provided for the participation of trade unions in the discussion of personnel issues, hiring and dismissal, and the payment of wages to released professional workers.

On October 22, 1945, a memorandum was issued by the occupying authorities regarding public education. It provided for the prohibition of the cultivation of militaristic ideology and the teaching of military disciplines in ordinary schools. It was pointed out that the upbringing of children should be carried out taking into account the education in children of respect for the dignity of the individual, his rights, respect for the rights and interests of other peoples. The memorandum also provided for the rehabilitation of educators who had been dismissed in their time for liberal or anti-war views. At the same time, any discrimination against teachers, students and educators on the basis of race or religion or political opinion was prohibited. Until the release of new textbooks, teaching Japanese history in schools was prohibited / ibid., p. 16-18/.

Economic situation. The production and technical base of Japanese industry suffered relatively little from the hostilities. The largest reduction in production capacity occurred only in the light industry - food, textile - which satisfied the consumer demand of the population for essential goods.

As for the capacities of heavy industry, they have remained at a fairly high level. Destroying and setting fire to unprotected peaceful cities and villages, the Americans almost completely did not affect the main coal and metallurgical base of Japan on the island of Kyushu. In particular, the Yawata metallurgical plant, the largest in Japan, has been completely preserved. Nevertheless, production in Japan fell sharply. The import of raw materials, fuel and foodstuffs has essentially been stopped as a result of the prohibition to maintain trade relations with other states.

During the first two years of the occupation, Japan ranked last in the world in terms of industrial recovery. Nevertheless, the United States, in the initial period of the occupation, was forced to provide Japan with economic aid. This was done more for political than for economic reasons - in order to prevent acute social conflicts, as well as to achieve self-sufficiency of the Japanese economy.

As a result of the cessation of military production, the demobilization of the army and navy, the repatriation of the Japanese from former colonies and occupied territories (Korea, Manchuria, Taiwan, the islands South Seas) there was massive unemployment. About 10 million unemployed were left to fend for themselves.

In order to somewhat alleviate the impending financial crisis, the government took the path of mass issuing paper money to pay off its numerous obligations to monopolies, to pay benefits to army and navy officers, and to cover the state budget deficit. As a result of these measures, acute inflation has arisen and real wages have fallen sharply, already very low.

Education political parties. Immediately after the capitulation of Japan, old parties began to recover and new parties began to emerge.

On October 10, 1945, the communists, including the leaders of the party, who had been imprisoned for 18 years, were released from prison. For the first time, the Japanese Communist Party was able to legally exist and immediately launched its work among the masses. On December 1, 1945, the 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Japan opened its work - the first legal congress of Japanese communists. It adopted a program and charter. In their policy documents, the communists called for the implementation of deep democratic reforms in the country, the elimination of the imperial system and the formation of a democratic republic, the implementation of agrarian reform and the eradication of militarism.

On November 2, 1945, at the founding congress, the establishment of the Japanese Socialist Party (SPJ) was proclaimed. It included social democrats of all shades. The party program put forward the slogans of democracy, peace and socialism. Moreover, by socialism, the SPJ did not mean the destruction of capitalist relations, but the implementation of deep social reforms within the framework of the capitalist system.

On November 9, 1945, the Liberal Party (Jiyuto) was formed, the main core of which was made up of members of the pre-war bourgeois-landlord Seiyukai Party. This party will in the future reflect the interests of the big monopoly bourgeoisie.

On November 16, 1945, the Progressive Party (Simpoto) appeared. It reflected the interests of some part of the big bourgeoisie, the landlords and the top of the Japanese peasantry / ibid., p. 24-26/.

The dissolution of the Japanese monopolies - dzaibatsu. The economy of pre-war Japan was dominated by large monopolistic associations called zaibatsu. Usually they were closed or closed in nature and controlled by one family. Using the system of "personal union" and other means. The parent companies of the zaibatsu controlled dozens and hundreds of subsidiary joint-stock companies engaged in industry, trade, credit, transportation and other sectors of the economy. These subsidiaries, in turn, dominated various other companies, and so on. In this way, a relatively small number of powerful zaibatsu - Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Yasuda - with the support of the government apparatus supporting them, covered literally all sectors of the Japanese economy with their tentacles. In addition, the zaibatsu were the main inspirers and organizers of Japan's imperialist aggression, and during the war they further strengthened their role.

The question of the dissolution of these associations was put forward by the democratic forces as a priority task. The elimination of the omnipotence of the zaibatsu was seen by them as a necessary prerequisite for the genuine democratization and demilitarization of Japan. To some extent, the situation was alleviated by the fact that they had long since discredited themselves in the eyes of the public and hindered the restoration of the positions of the Japanese big bourgeoisie.

In the directive of the American government of September 6, 1945, transmitted to MacArthur, in addition to some economic problems, it was also indicated the need to "develop a program for the dissolution of large industrial and banking associations that control most of the industry and trade of Japan", and about replacing them with employers' organizations that can ensure "a wider distribution of income and ownership of the means of production and trade" /History of Japan, 1978, p. 40-41/.

In February 1946, 56 members of the families of zaibatsu leaders were restricted in their rights to occupy leadership positions in companies, which was supposed to help eliminate the dominance of the zaibatsu over other companies through a personal union.

In accordance with the instructions of the occupying authorities, the Japanese government developed a plan to dissolve the parent concerns "Mitsui", "Mitsubishi", "Sumitomo" and "Yasuda", and their assets were frozen.

True, the zaibatsu were fully compensated for the securities in the form of government bonds, which were due in 10 years. Subsequently, the parent companies of these large concerns announced their self-dissolution. Somewhat later, the occupation authorities and the Japanese government itself adopted several legislative acts that provided for a number of economic and legal measures that were supposed to prevent the revival of the zaibatsu in the future ...

agrarian reform. The agrarian question has long been one of the most acute social problems in Japan. Before the war, the Japanese countryside was dominated by feudal landownership, which was formed after the Meiji reforms in the 70s and 80s. Х1Х century More than half of the cultivated land belonged to the landlords, who leased it to the peasants on extortionate terms. The rent reached 60% of the harvest and was mainly collected only in kind.

The enslaving lease system led to the formation of agrarian overpopulation, which served as a reservoir of cheap labor. All this had a negative impact on the general standard of living, both in the city and in the countryside. The existing system of feudal land tenure hindered the development of productive forces in agriculture, hindered the increase in the production of food and agricultural raw materials. At the same time, the feudal image of the countryside had a negative effect on the development of capitalist relations in the system of urban production. The elimination of these relations, of course, could have a positive impact on the democratization of the entire political system of Japan / History of Japan 1978, p. 43/.

The capitulation of Japan opened a new page in the struggle of the peasants for their rights. The sharp upsurge of the peasant movement, its unification in the person of the All Japan Peasant Union, caused serious concern both among the occupation authorities and the ruling circles of the country. In an effort to prevent the democratic transformation of agriculture by the people themselves, the ruling circles of the United States and Japan were forced to carry out land reform from above, by legal, parliamentary means.

In November 1945, the Japanese government itself submitted a land law bill to parliament. This document was drawn up by the Japanese ruling circles and reflected only the interests of the landowners themselves.

In December 1945, in the midst of parliamentary debates, the headquarters of the occupying troops published the Memorandum on Land Reform. This law aroused sharp dissatisfaction among the Japanese democratic forces. The same criticism of the law was made by the CPJ and the All Japan Peasants' Union. The law on land reform was also subjected to harsh criticism from representatives of the Soviet authorities. The Soviet administration proposed its rather radical version of the law, which took into account the interests of the peasants more. Ultimately, the Japanese parliament approved the third version of the law proposed by England, which was less radical than the Soviet one, but more positive than the American one.

This land reform was based on the following general principles. Land, in excess of a certain norm, was redeemed by the state from the landowners and then sold to the peasants. When selling land, preference was given to those peasants who had previously cultivated this land as tenants.

After the reform (1949-1950), private peasant farming became the predominant form of farming. From that time on, rent payments could only be collected in cash and should not exceed 25% of the crop / ibid., p. 45/.

mountain forests and most of virgin lands still remained in the hands of the landowners. Forests that previously belonged to the imperial family were declared state property /Inoue Kiyoshi, 1955, p.327/.

Although the land reform led to a significant change in class relations in the countryside, it nevertheless did not completely solve the agrarian question. The small-peasant economy could not ensure a significant increase in the productive forces and technical progress in agriculture. The mere transformation of the tenants into independent landowners eventually made them dependent on the transformed capitalist economy. Many former landlords, who retained forests, pastures, meadows, exercised control over local governments, cooperatives and various societies, and largely retained economic and political positions in the countryside /History of Japan, 1978, 45-46/.

Education reform. In March 1947, the Law on School Education and the Basic Law on Education were issued. Using the recommendations of American experts, Japanese educators created a system of public education that basically meets the provisions of the new constitution. The period of compulsory and free education was increased from 6 to 9 years. Teaching methods and programs have undergone a significant change. Nationalist and chauvinist propaganda was eliminated from schooling. Similar transformations were carried out in the system of university education.

The decentralization of school management was carried out. Municipal and rural authorities were given greater autonomy in this area. The decentralization of educational management facilitated the creation of a wider network of specialized colleges and institutes, significantly accelerated the pace of training and the quality of new personnel.

Labor law. In April 1947, the Labor Standards Act was passed. It established an 8-hour working day, an hour lunch break, a 25% increase in wages for overtime work, paid holidays, employer responsibility for labor protection and sanitary conditions, payment of compensation for industrial injuries, on the labor protection of adolescents, etc.

And although after the release of this Law, some negative phenomena were preserved in production, this Law itself had a very great progressive significance.

Adoption of a new Constitution. A sharp struggle between democratic and reactionary forces unfolded around the draft of a new Japanese constitution. The American occupation authorities believed that the imperial system could be a convenient tool for implementing US policy. Such projects have drawn sharp criticism both abroad and within Japan. Several countries, including the Soviet Union, were inclined to eliminate the imperial system altogether and create a system of parliamentary bourgeois democracy in Japan. In the end, the headquarters of the occupying forces in February 1946 proposed a new compromise option, according to which the emperor was preserved, but only as a national symbol, following the example of England. MacArthur later admitted that he was forced to make concessions only because of the position of the Soviet Union. The democratic movement of the Japanese people itself had a great influence on the nature of the project / Kutakov, 1965, p. 190/.

Several very important articles and corrections were made to the draft that was already ready before this. In particular, an article was added on the rejection of war as a method of conflict resolution. Japan was forbidden to have its own armed forces. The emperor's prerogatives were limited to representative functions as a symbol of Japan. The Chamber of Peers was abolished / ibid., p. 190/.

Democratic tendencies were also contained in the section "Rights and Duties of the People", which solemnly declared "that the people freely enjoy all fundamental human rights, that the right of people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should be the highest concern in the field of legislation and other state affairs " / History of Japan, 11978, p. 47/.

The constitution proclaimed the equality of all citizens before the law and the abolition of the privileged aristocratic class in connection with this. In addition, "the inalienable right of citizens to elect public officials and remove them from office"; "freedom of thought and conscience, freedom of assembly, speech and press"; "freedom of scientific activity"; "the right of workers to create their own organizations and collective agreements" / ibid., p. 48/.

International Military Tribunal. An important link in the post-war arrangement of Japan was played by issues related to the problem of the Japanese army, the police, officer cadres, and issues of putting the country's political and military figures on trial. Already on the eve of the surrender, the Japanese ruling circles, foreseeing future consequences, tried to maintain control over the situation and not bring it to an undesirable outcome. On August 17, 1945, the Higashikuni government rapidly demobilized the Japanese army. The armed forces at that time amounted to 7 million people, of which 4 million were in Japan proper.

On August 28, 1945, many mobilization documents and lists of officers were destroyed or hidden. The Guards Division was reorganized into the administration of the imperial police, keeping its backbone in case of restoration. The main leading and most experienced cadres of the army and navy were distributed according to government agencies and military industrial companies. All this was done in order to save the officer cadres and get them out of the possible negative consequences in the event of the defeat of Japan / Kutakov, 1965, p. 181/.

However, these plans and actions of the last Japanese government did not materialize. In accordance with the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, as well as at the insistence of the international community and the peoples of Asian countries, the International Military Tribunal was established, which met in Tokyo. It included representatives of 11 countries - the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, China, France, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, India and the Philippines. He attracted the close attention of millions of honest people around the world, who saw in him a manifestation of the struggle for peace and the eradication of fascism.

28 representatives of the ruling elites of Japan, among whom were former prime ministers, top military leaders, diplomats, ideologues of Japanese imperialism, economic and financial figures, were brought before the International Tribunal. In November 1948, the International Tribunal in Tokyo, after trials that lasted more than 2.5 years, delivered its verdict in the case of 25 major war criminals. The Tribunal sentenced eight to death. 16 defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment. The verdict of the tribunal was met with great approval by the world democratic community.

In addition, the Tribunal condemned Japanese aggression as an international crime and established that imperialist Japan, in close alliance with Hitler's Germany, sought to conquer entire countries and enslave their peoples. It was also proved that Japan had been preparing aggression against the USSR for many years and in 1938-1939. carried out armed attacks on the USSR. In the section "Japan's Policy towards the USSR", in particular, it said: "The Tribunal considers that the aggressive war against the USSR was envisaged and planned by Japan during the period under review, that it was one of the main elements of the Japanese national policy and that its goal was to seize the territories of the USSR in the Far East" /ibid., pp. 48-49/.

The verdict listed the specific types of assistance that Japan provided to Germany in its war against the Soviet Union in violation of its obligations under the Neutrality Pact. In particular, it was pointed out that Japan supplied Germany with military intelligence data about the Soviet Army, its reserves, about the transfer Soviet troops, on the industrial potential of the USSR.

3.2 Second period of occupation

Impact of the Korean War. On June 26, 1950, the day after South Korea's sudden attack on the DPRK, prepared and provoked by American imperialism, the UN Security Council, convened at the request of the United States, in the absence of a Soviet representative, adopted an illegal resolution on the provision of armed assistance to South Korea. Later, on July 7, 1050, the Security Council made another decision - to create a UN army in Korea, led by General MacArthur. Thus, hiding behind the UN flag, the United States and its South Korean allies began an aggressive war against the Korean people.

Japan became the main military base from which the transfer of American troops to Korea was carried out. MacArthur's headquarters were also located here.

The great demand for armaments, military materials, food and other goods, for military transportation and services, which was caused by the war, created a military-inflationary boom in the Japanese economy. Japan not only repaired tanks, aircraft and other military equipment, shot down in Korea, but also supplied American troops with ammunition, armored vehicles, trucks and other military equipment. The Japanese fleet participated in the transfer of American troops and military equipment to the Korean front / History of Japan, 1978. p. 76/.

Large dollar receipts from special orders allowed Japan to cover its foreign trade deficit and achieve an increase in the foreign exchange fund and increase the import of industrial raw materials. The resumption of military production required the lifting of previously established restrictions on Japan's foreign trade.

After the United States unleashed the war in Korea, the role of Japan in the strategic plans of the American command increased especially. Japan began to serve as a very important rear base and staging post for American troops operating in Korea under the UN flag. Two weeks after the start of the won, MacArthur, in a letter to Prime Minister Yoshida, demanded the creation of a Reserve Police Corps of 75,000. Man and increase the staff of the maritime police to 8 thousand people. The reserve police corps was formally created with the aim of strengthening the police forces inside the country in connection with the transfer of a significant part of the American occupation troops from Japan to the Korean front. However, in terms of its construction and technical equipment, it was a real military formation, the embryo of the future Japanese army. Most of the command posts in it were occupied former officers imperial army. Representatives of the USSR in the Allied Council for Japan and the Far Eastern Commission strongly protested against the revival of the Japanese armed forces / ibid., p. 78/.

San Francisco Peace Treaty. On September 4, 1951, a conference was scheduled in San Francisco to sign a peace treaty with Japan. The United States itself unilaterally determined the composition of the participants in this conference. Several countries were not invited to the conference, which were very interested in this - China, the DPRK, the DRV. Such large Asian states as India and Burma, which were victims of Japanese aggression, refused to participate in the conference. Yugoslavia also refused to participate. But all Latin American states were represented - Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador and others. Luxembourg, Greece and many other countries (52 in total) were invited, which were not at war with Japan and had no specific interests in concluding a treaty.

Contrary to the calculations of American politicians, the Soviet government accepted the invitation. It considered it expedient to use the rostrum of the conference in order to show the world community the position of the Soviet state on this issue, showing the way to the conclusion of a genuine democratic, comprehensive peace treaty, and also to expose the true goals of American policy in the Far East. The Soviet delegation, first of all, raised the question of inviting the PRC to the conference, since China was the first victim of Japanese aggression and is deeply interested in preparing a peace treaty with Japan. But the Soviet proposals were rejected by the majority of states / Kutakov, 1965, p. 212/.

The head of the Soviet delegation, A.A. Gromyko. In his speech, the principles of building a peace treaty were outlined - the creation of guarantees against the revival of militarism and the democratization of the political and public life of Japan, which was exactly what was not in the American project. The Soviet representative pointed out that the presented project violated the historical rights of China and the USSR in the territories taken away as a result of Japanese aggression (Taiwan, the Pescador Islands, the Kuril Islands, South Sakhalin, etc.). The draft contained only a mention of Japan's renunciation of these territories, but was silent about the fact that these territories should respectively belong to the PRC and the USSR.

The Soviet delegation put forward clear constructive proposals in the form of amendments and additions to the American-British draft. These amendments included the following proposals - the recognition by Japan of the sovereignty of the PRC over Manchuria, Taiwan, the Peskadorsky and Pratas islands, etc. and the recognition of the sovereignty of the USSR over the southern part of Sakhalin. And the Kuril Islands and Japan's renunciation of all rights and claims to these territories.

The Soviet delegation proposed to withdraw the armed forces of the Allied Powers no later than 90 days from the date the treaty came into force. The Soviet delegation proposed the inclusion of eight more new articles, which were supposed to impose on Japan the obligation to provide the Japanese people with basic freedoms - speech, press and publication, religious worship, political opinion and public assembly. As well as obligations to prevent the revival of fascist and militaristic organizations on the territory of Japan. In addition, the Soviet proposals provided for the strict limitation of the Japanese armed forces, which were to serve exclusively for the purposes of self-defense.

The proposals of the USSR attracted wide attention of the public in America, Japan and other countries. They were animatedly discussed on the sidelines of the conference and in journalistic circles. However, the Americans chairing the conference refused to discuss the amendments and proposals of the Soviet delegation.

On September 8, 1951, a peace treaty with Japan was signed. Representatives of the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia were not present at this ceremony. As a result, most of the countries that signed the treaty did not take a direct part in the war against Japan.

As a result, the Peace Treaty did not stop the state of war between Japan, on the one hand, and the Soviet Union, China, India, Burma and other states, on the other hand. The treaty did not solve the reparation issue at all. A few hours after the signing of the treaty, a Japanese-American "security treaty" was signed, according to which the United States received the right to station its armed forces on Japanese territory /ibid., 212-214/.

3.3 Japan's economic development in the second half of the 20th century

Coming out of the Second World War with an extremely backward and largely destroyed production apparatus of industry, ruined agriculture and practically without any significant raw materials (with the exception of coal), Japan by the end of the 60s. was able to take second place in the capitalist world in terms of industrial production, and in the early 70s. and in terms of gross national product (GNP). During 1950 - 1973. The growth rate of the Japanese economy was the highest among the developed capitalist countries and amounted to about 11% per year.

Among the main reasons for such a rapid development of the Japanese economy until the mid-1970s, one should first of all name those that contributed to the forced accumulation of capital in industry. Enormous savings on the development of their own R&D, which became possible due to the free acquisition of American and Western European patents and licenses, lower prices on the world markets for raw materials and fuel, the relative cheapness of Japanese labor, the absence of significant military spending - all this allowed Japanese companies to save money and direct huge additional funds for the development of industry.

An extremely important role in the economic success of Japan was played by the "human factor", namely, the high quality of the Japanese labor force (high general educational and vocational training) and a carefully designed management system that helps maintain high labor motivation of Japanese workers. It should also be noted such a factor as the rather high efficiency of state regulation of economic development in Japan.

In the mid 70s. The dynamic development of the Japanese economy was interrupted for almost 2 years by a deep crisis, the impetus for which was a sharp increase in energy prices. Crises have hit the Japanese economy periodically before, although due to their shallow depth and duration, they were more likely to be short-term downturns in business activity. The crisis of 1973-1975 in terms of its scale, depth and duration, it turned out to be the most difficult for the entire period of the post-war history of the country. A fourfold increase in the price of oil on world markets during 1974 brought many companies engaged in energy- and material-intensive industries – energy, transport, etc. – to the brink of economic collapse. Companies' profits have fallen, mass layoffs have begun ...

The depth and scale of economic upheavals in the mid-1970s. forced the Japanese government and business circles to take urgent measures to overcome the high energy and raw material vulnerability of the country's economy and to strengthen its shaken positions within the world capitalist economy. In the complex of these measures, a decisive role was assigned to the deep restructuring of the Japanese economy in the direction of creating a science-intensive structure with low energy and material intensity / Japan: reference book, 1992, p. 108-109/.

In the years that have passed since the crisis, on the path of profound structural transformations, Japan has made significant progress in its economic development and has noticeably strengthened its positions in the world capitalist economy. Thus, Japan's share in the total industrial output of the developed capitalist countries increased from 13.2% in 1975 to 17.9% in 1989. Japan now accounts for more than half of the US GNP. In terms of GNP per capita, it even overtook the United States - 23.4 thousand dollars.

The changes that have taken place over the years in the Japanese economy are so significant that in assessing its economic power and place in the world capitalist economy, it is not enough to focus only on quantitative indicators; it is necessary to keep in mind the sharply increased qualitative parameters of the Japanese economy, such as the level of the material and technical base of production, transport, communications, the degree of scientific and technological development of the country, the sectoral structure of production, the range and quality characteristics of products, the types of services provided, the structure of personal consumption, etc.

So, if we compare only the growth rates of GNP, then the economic development of Japan in the second half of the 70s - 80s. compared with the period of rapid growth (the second half of the 50s - early 70s) looks very sluggish (if in 1955 - 1973 the volume of GNP increased 12 times, then in 1975 - 1988 - less than 3 times). But if we take into account the above qualitative growth fillers, it becomes obvious that in the last decade Japan has made a huge leap in its economic development, which the growth rate of GNP can no longer adequately reflect.

If we briefly formulate the content of this leap in economic development that Japan has made over the past 10-12 years, then it consists in the fact that, on the basis of profound transformations, the country made the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial system of productive forces based on a sharp expansion of the use of achievements of scientific and technological progress (STP).

From a quantitative point of view, this transition was expressed in fundamental shifts in the resource base for the development of the Japanese economy, in the transition to the use of predominantly intensive growth factors. The main factor in the development of the Japanese economy was scientific and technological progress in ensuring economic growth, which in the late 60s. on average 40-50%, in the second half of the 70s. - has already increased to 70%, and in some years of the last decade it rose to 80-90%.

Behind all these figures is the enormous transformative impact that the scientific and technological progress had on the development of all areas of the Japanese economy. It was on the basis of the intensive implementation of the achievements of scientific and technical progress that amazing successes were achieved in the field of intensifying the use of raw materials and energy, a significant increase in the technical level of production in many industries was ensured, and the production of a huge number of qualitatively new products and services was mastered; Scientific and technological progress stimulated major shifts in the sectoral structure of production and employment and led to the emergence of new industries and industries, transformed the structure of industrial and personal consumption / ibid., p. 109-110/.

Speaking about the sharp increase in the influence of scientific and technical progress on the development of the Japanese economy, it should be emphasized that since the second half of the 70s. it is increasingly ensured by its own scientific and technical developments with a relative decrease in the role of borrowing foreign equipment and technologies, although Japan still remains the largest buyer of licenses among the developed capitalist countries, spending for these purposes amounts 2-3 times higher than similar expenses of other countries. countries.

At the same time, it should be noted that, until recently, Japan's scientific and technological potential has been built up mainly by efforts in the field of experimental design, the relative lag in the sphere of fundamental and applied research, which also led to a significant lag behind Japan from most developed capitalist countries in a number of important areas of fundamental research. science. However, the experimental design developments carried out in Japan are distinguished by a very high quality level, which is ensured by careful consideration of the latest achievements of world science and technology, the use of new scientific principles in the process of creating technology, an excellent experimental base, high professional level Japanese experts.

The intensive use of the achievements of scientific and technical progress in the field of electronization in order to modernize and upgrade equipment has led to a significant increase in the technical level of the industrial production apparatus. Many types of industrial equipment were equipped with automatic control and program control systems. In terms of the use of such most progressive types of industrial equipment as machine tools with numerical control (CNC), robots, flexible production systems, Japan is well ahead of the US. Japan has become a kind of "proving ground" for testing many modern types of industrial production.

Fundamental changes have also taken place in the sectoral structure of Japanese industry. A number of new knowledge-intensive high-tech industries have emerged and are rapidly developing, and at the same time, production is being curtailed and equipment is being dismantled in strange industries, which were already in the 70s. formed the basis of Japanese industry / ibid., p. 111-112/.

Under the influence of scientific and technological progress, and above all of its direction as electronization, the appearance of other areas of the Japanese economy has noticeably changed. Yes, since the late 1970s. electronics began to find more and more use in agriculture - equipment equipped with microprocessors appeared, computers used to regulate the atmosphere in greenhouses, analyze feed and optimal norms livestock feeding, soil analysis and the degree of need for fertilization.

Along with progress in the field of information and computer technology, it is of great importance for the development various industries Japanese economy had the emergence of such fundamentally new types of communication as cable TV, videotex, teletext, satellite communications based on the transmission of information using electronic devices.

In the sphere of retail and wholesale trade, on the basis of these new means of communication, automated inventory management systems, real-time sales management systems were created; in the service sector - automated systems for booking hotel rooms and air tickets; in transport - automated control systems for the delivery of goods, etc.

In the banking sector, operations for placing and withdrawing deposits were automated, a system of automatic settlements with the population through credit cards was introduced, an interbank electronic network for mutual settlements and the exchange of financial information was created.

The growth of Japan's economic power and the strengthening of its positions within the framework of the world capitalist economy are also reflected in a number of its indicators. So, by the end of the 80s. Japan came out on top in the capitalist world in terms of its gold and foreign exchange reserves. In the same years, it took 1st place in the world in terms of capital exports, becoming the world's largest creditor. The position of the Japanese yen has noticeably strengthened. At present, more than half of Japan's export settlements are made in yen.

The directions of Japan's international specialization have also changed markedly. If a few years ago they were mainly represented by industries of medium-level science intensity - automotive, consumer electronics, shipbuilding, steel production. Today, these are primarily science-intensive high-tech industries, such as the production of ultra-large-scale integrated circuits and microprocessors, CNC machines and industrial robots, facsimile equipment, etc.

The restructuring of Japanese industry was accompanied by a continuous increase in the scale of foreign entrepreneurship of Japanese firms. Moreover, along with the removal abroad of environmentally hazardous, energy- and material-intensive industries (by building enterprises of the corresponding profile in developing countries), some machine-building industries were also relocated to these countries. It was about those industries that were becoming less profitable in Japan. The decisive criterion for making decisions about such a relocation was (along with the high saturation of the domestic market) the limited possibilities for further improvement of the technology of these industries, when it does not promise a corresponding expansion of the market and becomes less profitable than the transition to the production of new goods.

The transfer of these industries to developing countries gives their development a new impetus, thanks to tangible savings in labor costs. So, small cars produced under licenses of Japanese firms in South Korea are currently 1.5 thousand dollars cheaper than similar cars manufactured in Japan. South Korean consumer electronics products are on average 30 - 40% cheaper than Japanese ones ... / Japan: reference book, 1992, p. 118./.

4. Modern Japan

4.1 Industrial production

Having entered the post-war period with a destroyed and disorganized economy, having experienced a protracted and lengthy recovery, Japan in the 50-60s. demonstrated unusually rapid growth, which made it possible already in the early 70s to talk about the "Japanese economic miracle" ... In 1968, Japan came in 2nd place in the world in terms of GNP.

Japan is now one of the most highly developed countries in the modern world. Having 2.5% of the population and 0.3% of the land area, with the almost complete absence of any raw materials and especially energy resources, it, nevertheless, has by now firmly established itself in second place after the United States in terms of its economic potential. In the national economy of the country - 2.5 trillion. dollars In 1987 Exceeds 11% of world GNP. In terms of GNP per capita, Japan overtook the United States. The country ranks first in the production of ships, cars, tractors, metalworking equipment, household electronic engineering, robots.

During the 50s - 60s. 20th century Japan's economy developed quite intensively, although yielding to many countries in the Western world. The main sectors of the economy were primarily labor-intensive industries (light industry, etc.), and then material-intensive industries - metallurgy, petrochemistry, shipbuilding, automotive construction ...

In the mid 70s. Japan's economy entered a period of protracted crisis. There were several reasons for this… Including during these years, completely new competitors appeared in these industries such as Korea, Taiwan, China, India, which began to actively push Japan in the international financial and commodity markets. Gradually, Japanese economists and businessmen came to the conclusion that the further continuation of this competitive struggle (increasing labor productivity, reducing wages, reducing production costs, searching for new markets, etc.) would not give the desired results and would not lead to qualitative changes in the country's economy...

Gradually, Japanese business generally began to abandon the former areas of capital investment and began to concentrate its efforts in a completely new direction - the development of high-intensive industries (electronics, biotechnology, new materials, the information industry, the service sector, etc.) ...

The formation of this new model has proved very painful for traditional energy and material-intensive industries. So in the mid 70's. ferrous metallurgy could smelt 150 million tons of steel and employed 450 thousand people ... Nevertheless, by the mid-80s, the share of these branches of material production decreased from 51.7% to 41.4%, and . decreased another 36%...

The aggravation of competition, including with the "Asian tigers" made us look for new forms and methods to reduce the costs of the production process. One of the main directions in this was the all-round development of automation and computerization, which made it possible to minimize human labor as a cost factor ...

A characteristic feature of this new period was the all-round (this is indeed a general vector of development) internationalization of Japanese corporations. production base", or directly to those countries to which they then sell these products. A kind of phenomenon was the introduction of Japanese corporations into the US steel industry, where the share of Japanese capital far exceeds 25% ...

Economic growth rates by the mid-80s. - Japan - 3.7. USA - 1.9. Great Britain - o.8 France - 2.2 Germany - 1.7. Italy - 1.2 Canada - 2.6

For a long time, especially in the post-war years, Japan's scientific and technological policy was based on borrowing scientific and technological achievements, often in the form of buying licenses, creating mixed companies, etc. At present, Japan has not only reached the world technical level, but also managed to create powerful groundwork in the international market for future technologies ...

The "oil shock" of 1979 created a demand in the USA for small cars, which the American industry did not produce at that time. These events served as a "trump card" for Japanese exporters and the beginning of an unprecedented Japanese boom. Back in 1980, Japan's trade balance was negative. And from 1981 to 1986. the value of Japanese exports to the United States has more than doubled from $38 billion to $80 billion. In recent years, there has been a persistent debate in America about the destructive nature of the penetration of various Japanese goods into the American market ...

The change in the economic growth model has led to a profound restructuring of the foreign economic sphere. The main factor was the change in the ratio between the export of goods and the export of capital due to the rapid growth of the latter indicator. This was especially evident in relations with the newly industrialized countries. One by one, Japan transfers to these countries the "lower floors" of its industrial structure (mainly raw materials-intensive industries), developing more and more complex industries on its territory. Every year, deliveries from these countries to Japan of various goods are growing - textiles, metal products, chemical fertilizers, some types of electronics - the production of which in Japan is rapidly declining. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in the import of raw materials and energy resources for the production of these goods ...

Like most modern post-industrial countries, Japan itself is increasingly developing activities to provide various kinds of services - managerial, informational, financial, medical, educational, insurance, trade and after-sales services ... In other words, Japan enters the 3rd millennium with a gross a product consisting of more than two-thirds of goods that have neither mass nor linear dimensions, have neither taste nor smell ...

In the 90s. in the world market, Japanese goods were - 89%

tape recorders, 88 copiers, 87 hours, 86 cash registers, 79 microwave ovens, 77 electronic calculators… 90% of video equipment. Its gross national product surpassed the GNP of England and France combined. It continues to lead the way in terms of growth...

However, this situation persisted only until the end of the 1990s. 20th century The financial crisis of 1997, which began in the countries of Southeast Asia, very quickly spread to other regions of the modern world. He did not bypass Japan either. True, it should be noted that stagnation here began to manifest itself long before the current crisis. - at the end of the 80s. 20th century In 1990-1996 the average annual growth was only 1%. The contrast compared to the 80s is very striking. Then the average annual rate was 4%, and in the 70s. higher.

The development of the industry then went so rapidly that it still boggles the imagination. In the machine tool industry, for example, it took Japan only ten years to start almost from scratch and become a leader. Or another example, in 1965 only 100 thousand cars were exported from Japan. In 1975, this figure jumped to the mark of 1.8 million, and in 1985 it exceeded the level of four million /Satubaldin, 2000, p. 425/.

Taking on the role of an intermediary between the West and the developing world, Japan successfully played it, flooding the markets of Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa with its goods. Then, having gained a foothold in the markets of Europe and the USA, it finally turned its economy into an export-oriented one. Without any exaggeration, we can say that the boom of the Japanese economy in the 70-80s. 20th century determined world economic development. According to modern economists, in the mid-80s. eight of the ten largest banks in the world were Japanese.

However, over time, natural limits to the effectiveness of this approach have been discovered. It turned out that it was impossible to turn all of Japan into a technopolis of the 21st century by dumping traditional industries into other countries. First, the entire capacity of the global high-tech market will not be enough to support the high growth rates of its economy. Second, the high-tech market, unlike the market for consumer goods, is highly politicized and linked to the strategic security interests of the leading countries. In such a market, free competition is unthinkable.

Many modern experts believe that Japan has no choice but to re-develop traditional export-oriented industries. However, many niches are now inaccessible. In the 80s. on average, about a third of the country's real GDP growth was provided by exports. However, having lost the opportunity to trade at low prices due to rising wages, Japan began to lose its leadership in exports. First, the textile market was almost completely lost, captured by the "Asian tigers" and then by China. The same thing happened with steel and rolled products, ships, cars, consumer electronics, computers and air conditioners. And the severity of competition does not subside, as evidenced by the fact that in early 2002, South Korea, having surpassed Japan in terms of shipbuilding, became the sole leader of the industry / ibid., p. 426/. In response to the new realities of the world market, the state and corporations were forced to engage in restructuring of industry, curtailing traditional industries, partially transferring them to countries with cheap labor and concentrating industries with a high share of value added in Japan itself / ibid., p. 426/.

4.2 Agriculture

At the beginning of the 90s. In Japan, there were 4.2 million rural households, the population of which was almost 19 million people, or 15.5% of the total population of the country. The number of people employed in this industry is constantly decreasing.

In 1989, the share of agriculture in the national income was 2%, in exports - 0.4%, in imports - 12.6%. Cultivated land occupied 5.3 million hectares - 14.3% of the total area of ​​the country. As one of the leading trends of recent times, there is an oblique reduction in sown and cultivated areas.

Despite this, Japan almost completely provides its population with food. Japanese agriculture fully satisfies the demand for rice, for chicken eggs - by 99%; for vegetables - by 94%; for fruits - by 75%; for dairy products - by 78%; poultry meat - 99%; pork - by 80%; beef - by 64%.

The main production unit in the industry is the farm of a peasant owner who received land during the land reform in the late 1940s. Therefore, in general, Japan is characterized by small-scale land use. In order to prevent the revival of landownership, the land reform law of 1946 limited the size of a piece of land that was transferred into possession or use. Over time, these restrictions have been relaxed, and are now practically removed, but the concentration of land is very slow, primarily due to high land prices. In 1989, 68% of households had at their disposal no more than 1 hectare of land each. The share of farms of 3 hectares or more is about 4%. The concentration of production occurs only in the livestock industries, which do not require large areas of land.

Another characteristic feature of Japan's agrarian structure is that the majority of households (more than 72%) receive their main income from non-agricultural activities /Japan: reference book, 1992, p. 122/.

Hired labor in Japan's agriculture is very limited. The number of permanent agricultural workers in the 90s. was only about 40 thousand people. They were hired only in 2.4% of households.

The vast majority of farms are small-scale. In 1985, the share of farms with annual sales exceeding 5 million yen ($22,000) was 7%. The largest farms are concentrated in the livestock industries.

The level of income from agricultural production is relatively low. Only a very few peasant households (about 5% of the total) have a net agricultural income per family member that equals or exceeds the average income of a city worker. These farms produce approximately 30% of gross agricultural output.

Agriculture in Japan has a pronounced food orientation. In the post-war period, there was a transition to a new diet, which is associated with some reduction in rice consumption and an increase in demand for animal products.

Japanese agriculture is characterized by a relatively high level of crop yields and high animal productivity, which is ensured by the use of breeding livestock and poultry, reclamation work, and the use of advanced production technologies. Japan firmly occupies the first place in many indicators of animal husbandry.

In terms of labor productivity in agriculture, Japan still lags far behind the developed countries of Europe and America. Here, the level of production costs per unit of output is much higher, which makes it uncompetitive in the world market. The growth of labor productivity and the reduction of production costs are hampered by the presence in the Japanese countryside of a mass of small unprofitable farms, which is largely due to state regulation of agriculture and, above all, the system of control over the food problem / ibid., p. 122-124/.

4.3 Political system of contemporary Japan

State device. Japan - a constitutional monarchy. The modern forms of government are determined by the constitution of 1947, which replaced the constitutions of 1889. The current constitution was adopted after the capitulation of Japan in the context of an upsurge of the democratic movement unprecedented in the history of the country. In drafting the constitution, the American occupation authorities and the Japanese ruling circles had to reckon with the will of the Japanese people and the world democratic community, which demanded a fundamental democratization of the political system.

In the preamble and Art. 1 of the constitution, the people are proclaimed the bearer of sovereign power. Amendments to the constitution can only be made with the approval of two-thirds of the full composition of parliament, followed by a popular referendum.

The constitution proclaims the equality of all citizens before the law and the abolition of the former aristocratic class with all its privileges, the separation of church and state, the equality of legal rights of spouses in the family, the prohibition of exploitation child labor, the right of the people to work, to education and to maintain a minimum standard of healthy and cultural life

The constitution proclaims universal suffrage and democratic freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association.

The only precedent in the practice of bourgeois state law is Art. 9, declaring Japan's unconditional renunciation of wars in resolving international disputes and prohibiting the creation of any armed forces in the country, whether it be ground forces, navy or military aviation. In fact, contrary to the constitution, an army called "self-defense forces" has been recreated in the country.

The Constitution protects and legislates the basis of capitalist society - private ownership of the means of production / Modern Japan, 1973, p. 421-422/.

Emperor. The Emperor of Japan has no sovereign power. It is only "a symbol of the state and the unity of the people." Its status is determined by the will of the whole people, which owns the sovereign power. The imperial throne is inherited by members of the imperial family. In emergency cases, issues of succession to the throne are decided by the council of the imperial court, consisting of 10 people.

The functions of the emperor include - the appointment of the Prime Minister on the proposal of Parliament and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the proposal of the Cabinet of Ministers. Convocation of Parliament, dissolution of the House of Representatives, announcement of general parliamentary elections. The emperor is entrusted with the promulgation of amendments to the constitution, government decrees and treaties. He grants awards, accepts ratified documents and is in charge of the diplomatic part. However, all actions related to state affairs, the emperor is reported to carry out on the advice and approval of the cabinet of ministers, which bears the main responsibility for them / ibid., p. 423/.

At the same time, in practice, the role of the imperial power and the imperial family in the political life of Japan is not limited to the framework of the constitution. Based on the remnants of the former monarchical ideas and the special attitude of the Japanese population towards the imperial family, the ruling circles of the country throughout the entire post-war period are trying to strengthen the powers of the emperor /details. see: Power-Novitskaya, 1990/.

Parliament. Parliament is the highest body state power and the sole legislature of the state. It consists of two chambers - the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors. Both chambers are elected on the basis of the Electoral Law.

An important role in the day-to-day activities of Parliament is played by permanent parliamentary commissions, modeled on the committees of the American Congress. Each chamber has 16 standing committees. The constitution gives parliament the exclusive right to manage public finances. Parliament approves the state budget of Japan. The constitution places the parliament in a certain dependence on the executive and judiciary. The first, represented by the Cabinet of Ministers, decides on the convocation and dissolution of the lower house of parliament. The second, represented by the Supreme Court, has the right to judge whether a particular law complies with the constitution, and to invalidate it if it is found to be inconsistent /Modern Japan, 1973, p. 425-428/.

Cabinet of Ministers. The powers and procedure for the work of the Cabinet of Ministers - the highest executive body of power - are established by the constitution. The Cabinet of Ministers operates as part of the head of the cabinet - the Prime Minister and 18 ministers. The office of the Prime Minister is directly subordinate to the head of the cabinet.

The cabinet of ministers does not include the official positions of the minister of the interior, as well as the military and naval ministers. These posts were abolished as a result of the post-war reforms of the state apparatus as a "guarantee" against the resurgence of police arbitrariness and militarism.

According to the practice established in Japan, the post of head of the cabinet is held by the leader of the parliamentary majority party. The constitution empowers the prime minister to appoint and remove at his discretion all other cabinet ministers. Speaking in parliament on behalf of the cabinet, the prime minister submits draft budgets, bills and other documents to parliament for approval by the country's supreme legislative body. If the post of prime minister becomes vacant, then the cabinet, according to the constitution, must resign in its entirety. The rights granted to him make this post the highest in the state apparatus of the country /ibid., 428-431/.

Supreme Court. The highest judicial institution in Japan is the Supreme Court, which, according to the Constitution, has full judicial power. The Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice of 14 Justices. The chief judge is appointed by the emperor by decision of the cabinet of ministers, the rest of the judges are appointed by the cabinet. The appointment of judges of the Supreme Court is approved by a popular referendum during the next elections to the House of Representatives.

The functions of the Supreme Court include - the exclusive right to interpret the constitution and judge the conformity of the constitution of certain laws and regulations; the right to review and reverse the decisions of all other judicial bodies; establishing rules for the work of the judiciary and the prosecutor's office.

Armed forces. Shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War, in July 1950, a directive from the headquarters of the US occupying forces allowed the government of Japan to create a "reserve police corps" of 75 thousand people.

The creation of a "reserve police corps", which was staffed mainly by former military personnel of the army and navy, marked the beginning of the restoration of the Japanese armed forces. In August 1952, after the entry into force of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, the "reserve police corps" was renamed the "security corps", its strength was increased to 110 thousand people. On July 1, 1954, the Japanese parliament passed a law on the transformation of the "security corps" into the "self-defense forces" of the country "in the land, air and naval forces with a total strength of 130 thousand people.

According to the constitution, there is no conscription in Japan. The troops are recruited by young people aged 18-25 / ibid., p. 452-454/.

Conclusion

History of Japan in the twentieth century. very full of different kinds of events. Especially rapid changes took place there in the middle and second half of the twentieth century. Japan was an active participant in the Second World War and was defeated in it. The entire subsequent history of Japan is a variety of reforms and transformations in the economic, social and public spheres.

Japan of this period attracts close attention of specialists. Currently, there is a fairly extensive literature on the history of Japan in the twentieth century. Especially many different works began to appear in recent decades. This is undoubtedly due to the significant changes in Japanese society that have been taking place recently. This can explain the attention to the history of this country.

Literature

1. Agaev S.A. "Meiji-shin": revolution or reform? // Peoples of Asia and Africa, No. 2, 1978, p. 67-80.

2. Dunaev V. Japan at the "frontiers". M., 1983.

3. History of Japan (1945 - 1978). M., 1978.

4. Japan's historical experience: what are the specifics? // Asia and Africa today, No. 10, 1990, p. 29-34.

5. Kirichenko A. Do not forget the lessons of the past. // Asia and Africa today, No. 9, 1990, p. 11-14.

6. Kiyoshi Inoue, Shinzaburo Okonogi, Shoshi Suzuki (translated from Japanese). History of modern Japan. M., 1955.

7. Konrad N.I. Centenary of the Japanese Revolution.// Peoples of Asia and Africa, No. 3, 1968, p. 59-71.

8. Kuznetsov Yu.D., Pavlitskaya G.B., Syritsyn I.M. History of Japan. M., 1988.

9. Recent history of Asian and African countries: XX century: Textbook for universities, M., 2003.

10. Norman G. Formation of capitalist Japan. M., 1952.

11. Kutakov L.N. Essays on the recent history of Japan (1918 - 1963). M., 1965.

12. Makarenko V.V. "Meiji Isin": stage features of the genesis of capitalism in Japan.// Peoples of Asia and Africa, No. 5, 1983.

13. Sapozhnikov B.G. Japan between 1945 and 80s// Peoples of Asia and Africa, No. 5, 1980, p. 29-40.

14. Satubaldin S. Asian crisis: causes and lessons. Almaty, 2000.

15. Modern Japan. M., 1973.

16. Honey Goro. History of the Japanese people. M., 1957.

17. Eidus H.T. History of Japan from ancient times to the present day. M., 1968.

18. Japan: reference book, part 2. M., 1992.

19. Japanese militarism. M., 1972.

20. Japan: the state and the accumulation of fixed capital. M., 1976.

Attachment 1

Annex 2

for the graduate work of a student of the Faculty of History

correspondence department of NKSU gr. I - 02 In the specialty

"History" CHILIKBAEV ONDASYN SAGANBAEVICH

on the topic "Japan in the second half of the twentieth century."

Interest in the history of Japan in the second half of the twentieth century is currently growing more and more. This interest is due to several factors. In the second half of the 20th century, after the collapse of the colonial system, many liberated countries in Asia and Africa began to carry out bourgeois transformations. However, the end results of these transformations were not the same everywhere. The vast majority of the countries of the modern Afro-Asian world, although they have long since become capitalist, on the whole have not been able to press the positions of the old capitalist countries of the "first echelon".

In this regard, the example of Japan is a very rare exception. Having started the modernization of its socio-economic structure since 1945, already by the 60s - 70s. In the 20th century, in many respects, it began to take first place, displacing many countries of Western Europe and even the United States in some respects. That is why this example of Japan is of genuine interest on the part of modern economists, political scientists, government leaders of various countries of the modern world. At the same time, it is not only the final results of reforms and transformations that are absolutely striking, but their depth and extraordinary speed. Another very important fact is that modern Japan not only achieved significant results in various economic areas; modern Japan is a very rare example for the countries of the Afro-Asian world, in which democratic norms of social order prevail.

On the whole, the author of this graduate work succeeded in showing the main stages and directions of this modernization of the post-war period using specific historical material. The paper reveals the main milestones of this process. In particular, the author managed to attract some new materials and the latest research on this issue.

The last section of the work is devoted to the development of a school lesson on the history of "recent times" - "Japan in the 50s - 70s of the XX century."

In general, Chilikbaeva O.S. corresponds to the level and requirements for this kind of research and deserves a high positive assessment.

Annex 3

scientific adviser

candidate of historical

Sciences Zaitov V.I.

Review

for the final work of a student of the correspondence department

NKSU Faculty of History Group and 02 B

specialty "history" on the topic

"Japan in the second half of the twentieth century"

Chilikbaev Ondasyn Saganbaevich

Graduation work Chilikbaeva O.S. dedicated to the history of Japan in the second half of the twentieth century. The topic is quite rare, although these questions are contained in both the university and school curricula on modern history.

The work begins with a historical background, which contains very interesting little-known facts about the geography, culture, customs and some ethnic features of Japanese society. Chapter two is devoted to the history of Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. And although this question goes beyond the stated topic, it does not fall out of the general context of the work, but, on the contrary, successfully complements it.

Chapter three - Japan in the second half of the twentieth century - in fact, is the main one. It contains fairly complete material on the period of post-war history of Japan: the period of occupation; the first reforms of the new government; the formation of a new state system authorities; economic reforms in industry and agriculture. The fourth chapter ("modern Japan") gives an idea of ​​the modern political structure of the country and its economic development. The application contains the development of a history lesson on the topic "Japan 50 - 70 years of the XX century."

True, some questions of the post-war history of Japan remained either generally unenlightened or touched upon in the work somewhat superficially. In particular, this concerns questions of Japan's foreign policy after World War II; internal political situation and inter-party struggle; labor and democratic movement.

Nevertheless, in general, it was performed at a fairly high level and deserves a high rating.

PhD Historical

Sciences, Associate Professor Kozorezova L.A.

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Section III History of the Middle Ages Topic 3. Christian Europe and the Islamic World in the Middle Ages § 13. The Great Migration of Peoples and the Formation of Barbarian Kingdoms in Europe

§ 14. The emergence of Islam. Arab conquests

§fifteen. Features of the development of the Byzantine Empire

§ 16. Empire of Charlemagne and its collapse. Feudal fragmentation in Europe.

§ 17. The main features of Western European feudalism

§ 18. Medieval city

§ 19. The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. Crusades The split of the church.

§ 20. The birth of nation-states

21. Medieval culture. Beginning of the Renaissance

Theme 4 from ancient Russia to the Muscovite state

§ 22. Formation of the Old Russian state

§ 23. Baptism of Russia and its meaning

§ 24. Society of Ancient Russia

§ 25. Fragmentation in Russia

§ 26. Old Russian culture

§ 27. Mongol conquest and its consequences

§ 28. The beginning of the rise of Moscow

29.Formation of a unified Russian state

§ 30. The culture of Russia in the late XIII - early XVI century.

Topic 5 India and the Far East in the Middle Ages

§ 31. India in the Middle Ages

§ 32. China and Japan in the Middle Ages

Section IV history of modern times

Theme 6 the beginning of a new time

§ 33. Economic development and changes in society

34. Great geographical discoveries. Formation of colonial empires

Topic 7 countries of Europe and North America in the XVI-XVIII centuries.

§ 35. Renaissance and humanism

§ 36. Reformation and counter-reformation

§ 37. The formation of absolutism in European countries

§ 38. English revolution of the 17th century.

Section 39, Revolutionary War and the Formation of the United States

§ 40. The French Revolution of the late XVIII century.

§ 41. Development of culture and science in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Age of Enlightenment

Topic 8 Russia in the XVI-XVIII centuries.

§ 42. Russia in the reign of Ivan the Terrible

§ 43. Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century.

§ 44. Economic and social development of Russia in the XVII century. Popular movements

§ 45. Formation of absolutism in Russia. Foreign policy

§ 46. Russia in the era of Peter's reforms

§ 47. Economic and social development in the XVIII century. Popular movements

§ 48. Domestic and foreign policy of Russia in the middle-second half of the XVIII century.

§ 49. Russian culture of the XVI-XVIII centuries.

Theme 9 Eastern countries in the XVI-XVIII centuries.

§ 50. Ottoman Empire. China

§ 51. The countries of the East and the colonial expansion of Europeans

Topic 10 countries of Europe and America in the XlX century.

§ 52. Industrial revolution and its consequences

§ 53. Political development of the countries of Europe and America in the XIX century.

§ 54. The development of Western European culture in the XIX century.

Topic 11 Russia in the 19th century

§ 55. Domestic and foreign policy of Russia at the beginning of the XIX century.

§ 56. Movement of the Decembrists

§ 57. Internal policy of Nicholas I

§ 58. Social movement in the second quarter of the XIX century.

§ 59. Foreign policy of Russia in the second quarter of the XIX century.

§ 60. The abolition of serfdom and the reforms of the 70s. 19th century Counter-reforms

§ 61. Social movement in the second half of the XIX century.

§ 62. Economic development in the second half of the XIX century.

§ 63. Foreign policy of Russia in the second half of the XIX century.

§ 64. Russian culture of the XIX century.

Theme 12 countries of the east in the period of colonialism

§ 65. Colonial expansion of European countries. India in the 19th century

§ 66: China and Japan in the 19th century

Topic 13 international relations in modern times

§ 67. International relations in the XVII-XVIII centuries.

§ 68. International relations in the XIX century.

Questions and tasks

Section V history of the 20th - early 21st century.

Topic 14 World in 1900-1914

§ 69. The world at the beginning of the twentieth century.

§ 70. Awakening of Asia

§ 71. International relations in 1900-1914

Topic 15 Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

§ 72. Russia at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.

§ 73. Revolution of 1905-1907

§ 74. Russia during the Stolypin reforms

§ 75. Silver age of Russian culture

Topic 16 World War I

§ 76. Military operations in 1914-1918

§ 77. War and society

Topic 17 Russia in 1917

§ 78. February revolution. February to October

§ 79. The October Revolution and its consequences

Topic 18 countries of Western Europe and the USA in 1918-1939.

§ 80. Europe after the First World War

§ 81. Western democracies in the 20-30s. XX c.

§ 82. Totalitarian and authoritarian regimes

§ 83. International relations between the First and Second World Wars

§ 84. Culture in a changing world

Topic 19 Russia in 1918-1941

§ 85. Causes and course of the Civil War

§ 86. Results of the Civil War

§ 87. New economic policy. USSR education

§ 88. Industrialization and collectivization in the USSR

§ 89. The Soviet state and society in the 20-30s. XX c.

§ 90. The development of Soviet culture in the 20-30s. XX c.

Topic 20 Asian countries in 1918-1939.

§ 91. Turkey, China, India, Japan in the 20-30s. XX c.

Topic 21 World War II. Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people

§ 92. On the eve of the world war

§ 93. The first period of the Second World War (1939-1940)

§ 94. The second period of the Second World War (1942-1945)

Topic 22 World in the second half of the 20th - early 21st century.

§ 95. Post-war structure of the world. Beginning of the Cold War

§ 96. Leading capitalist countries in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 97. The USSR in the post-war years

§ 98. The USSR in the 50s and early 60s. XX c.

§ 99. The USSR in the second half of the 60s and early 80s. XX c.

§ 100. Development of Soviet culture

§ 101. The USSR during the years of perestroika.

§ 102. Countries of Eastern Europe in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 103. The collapse of the colonial system

§ 104. India and China in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 105. Countries of Latin America in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 106. International relations in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 107. Modern Russia

§ 108. Culture of the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 106. International relationships in the second half of the twentieth century.

Berlin and Caribbean crises.

The appearance of the Soviet Union at the turn of the 60s of the twentieth century. intercontinental missiles contributed to the intensification of its foreign policy. The confrontation between the USSR and the USA then swept the whole world. The USSR actively supported the national liberation movements of various peoples and other anti-American forces. The United States continued to actively build up its armed forces, expand its network of military bases everywhere, and provide economic and military assistance to pro-Western forces around the world on a large scale. The desire of the two blocs to expand spheres of influence twice in the late 50s - early 60s of the twentieth century. brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

The international crisis began in 1958 around West Berlin, after the West rejected the demand of the Soviet leadership to turn it into a free demilitarized city. A new aggravation of events occurred on August 13, 1961. At the initiative of the leadership of the GDR, a wall of concrete slabs was erected around West Berlin. This measure enabled the government of the GDR to prevent the flight of citizens to the FRG and strengthen the position of their state. The construction of the wall caused outrage in the West. NATO and ATS troops were put on alert.

In the spring of 1962, the leaders of the USSR and Cuba decided

place medium-range nuclear missiles on this island. The USSR hoped to make the United States as vulnerable to a nuclear strike as the Soviet Union was after the deployment of American missiles in Turkey. Receiving confirmation of the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba caused a panic in the United States. The confrontation reached its peak on October 27-28, 1962. The world was on the brink of war, but prudence prevailed: the USSR removed nuclear missiles from the island in response to US President D. Kennedy's promises not to invade Cuba and remove missiles from Turkey.

The Berlin and Caribbean crises showed both sides the danger of brinkmanship. In 1963, an extremely important agreement was signed: the USA, the USSR and Great Britain stopped all nuclear tests, except for underground ones.

The second period of the COLD WAR began in 1963. It is characterized by the transfer of the center of gravity of international conflicts to areas of the Third World, to the periphery of world politics. At the same time, relations between the US and the USSR were transformed from confrontation to detente, to negotiations and agreements, in particular, on the reduction of nuclear and conventional weapons and on the peaceful settlement of international disputes. The largest conflicts were the US war in Vietnam and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

War in Vietnam.

After the war (1946-1954) France was forced to recognize the independence of Vietnam and withdraw its troops

Military-political blocs.

The desire of Western countries and the USSR to strengthen their positions on the world stage led to the creation of a network of military-political blocs in different regions. The largest number of them were created on the initiative and under the leadership of the United States. In 1949, the NATO bloc emerged. In 1951, the ANZUS bloc (Australia, New Zealand, USA) was formed. In 1954, the NATO bloc was formed (USA, Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines). In 1955, the Baghdad Pact was concluded (Great Britain, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran), after the withdrawal of Iraq, it was called CENTO.

In 1955, the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD) was formed. It included the USSR, Albania (withdrew in 1968), Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.

The main obligations of the participants in the blocs consisted in mutual assistance to each other in the event of an attack on one of the allied states. The main military confrontation unfolded between NATO and the Department of Internal Affairs. Practical activity within the blocs was expressed primarily in military-technical cooperation, as well as in the creation of military bases by the USA and the USSR and the deployment of their troops on the territory allied states on the line of opposition of blocks. Particularly significant forces of the parties were concentrated in the FRG and the GDR. A large number of American and Soviet atomic weapons were also placed here.

The Cold War triggered an accelerated arms race, which was the most important area of ​​confrontation and potential conflict between the two great powers and their allies.

Periods"cold war"Andinternational crises.

There are two periods in the Cold War. The period 1946-1963 was characterized by growing tensions between the two great powers, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s. xx c. This is the period of the creation of military-political blocs and conflicts in the zones of contact between the two socio-economic systems. Significant events were the French war in Vietnam (1946-1954), the suppression of the uprising in Hungary in 1956 by the USSR, the Suez crisis of 1956, the Berlin crisis of 1961 and the Caribbean crisis of 1962. The decisive event of the war took place near the town of Dien Bien Phu, where the Vietnamese The People's Army in March 1954 forced the main forces of the French Expeditionary Force to capitulate. In the north of Vietnam, a government headed by the communist Ho Chi Minh (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) was established, and in the south - pro-American forces.

The United States provided assistance to South Vietnam, but its regime was in danger of collapse, since soon a guerrilla movement was launched there, supported by the DRV, China and the USSR. In 1964, the United States began bombing North Vietnam, and in 1965 they landed their troops in South Vietnam. Soon these troops were drawn into fierce fighting with the partisans. The United States used the tactics of "scorched earth", carried out massacres of civilians, but the resistance movement expanded. The Americans and their local henchmen suffered more and more losses. American troops were equally unsuccessful in Laos and Cambodia. Protests against the war around the world, including in the United States, along with military failures, forced the United States to enter into peace negotiations. In 1973, American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. In 1975, the partisans took his capital Saigon. A new state has emerged Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

War in Afghanistan.

In April 1978, a revolution took place in Afghanistan. The new leadership of the country concluded an agreement with the Soviet Union and repeatedly asked him for military assistance. The USSR supplied Afghanistan with weapons and military equipment. The civil war between supporters and opponents of the new regime in Afghanistan flared up more and more. In December 1979, the USSR decided to send a limited contingent of troops to Afghanistan. The presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan was regarded by the Western powers as aggression, although the USSR acted within the framework of an agreement with the leadership of Afghanistan and sent troops at its request. Later, Soviet troops became embroiled in a civil war in Afghanistan. This negatively affected the prestige of the USSR on the world stage.

Middle East conflict.

A special place in international relations is occupied by the conflict in the Middle East between the State of Israel and its Arab neighbors.

International Jewish (Zionist) organizations have chosen the territory of Palestine as a center for the Jews of the whole world. In November 1947, the UN decided to create two states on the territory of Palestine: Arab and Jewish. Jerusalem stood out as an independent unit. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed, and on May 15, the Arab Legion, which was in Jordan, opposed the Israelis. The first Arab-Israeli war began. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iraq brought troops into Palestine. The war ended in 1949. Israel occupied more than half of the territory intended for the Arab state and the western part of Jerusalem. Jordan received its eastern part and the western bank of the Jordan River, Egypt got the Gaza Strip. The total number of Arab refugees exceeded 900 thousand people.

Since then, the confrontation between the Jewish and Arab peoples in Palestine has remained one of the most acute problems. Armed conflicts arose repeatedly. Zionists invited Jews from all over the world to Israel, to their historical homeland. To accommodate them, the attack on Arab territories continued. The most extremist groups dreamed of creating a "Greater Israel" from the Nile to the Euphrates. The United States and other Western countries became Israel's ally, the USSR supported the Arabs.

In 1956 announced by the President of Egypt G. Nasser the nationalization of the Suez Canal hit the interests of England and France, who decided to restore their rights. This action was called the triple Anglo-French-Israeli aggression against Egypt. On October 30, 1956, the Israeli army suddenly crossed the Egyptian border. English and French troops landed in the canal zone. The forces were unequal. The invaders were preparing for an attack on Cairo. Only after the threat of the USSR to use atomic weapons in November 1956, hostilities were stopped, and the troops of the interventionists left Egypt.

On June 5, 1967, Israel launched military operations against the Arab states in response to the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Ya. Arafat, created in 1964 with the aim of fighting for the formation of an Arab state in Palestine and the liquidation of Israel. Israeli troops quickly advanced deep into Egypt, Syria, Jordan. All over the world there were protests and demands for an immediate end to the aggression. Hostilities stopped by the evening of 10 June. For 6 days, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the western bank of the Jordan River and the eastern part of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights in Syrian territory.

In 1973 a new war began. Arab troops acted more successfully, Egypt managed to liberate part of the Sinai Peninsula. In 1970 and 1982 Israeli troops invaded Lebanese territory.

All attempts by the UN and the great powers to achieve an end to the conflict were unsuccessful for a long time. Only in 1979, with the mediation of the United States, was it possible to sign a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Israel withdrew troops from the Sinai Peninsula, but the Palestinian problem was not solved. Since 1987, in the occupied territories of Palestine began "intifada" Arab uprising. In 1988, the creation of the State was announced

Palestine. An attempt to resolve the conflict was an agreement between the leaders of Israel and the PLO in the mid-1990s. about the creation Palestinian Authority in parts of the occupied territories.

Discharge.

Since the mid 50s. xx c. The USSR came up with initiatives for general and complete disarmament. A major step was the treaty banning nuclear tests in three environments. However critical steps to soften the international situation were made in the 70s. 20th century Both in the USA and in the USSR there was a growing understanding that a further arms race was becoming pointless and that military spending could undermine the economy. The improvement in relations between the USSR and the West was called "detente" or "détente".

An essential milestone on the path of détente was the normalization of relations between the USSR and France and the FRG. An important point of the agreement between the USSR and the FRG was the recognition of the western borders of Poland and the border between the GDR and the FRG. During a visit to the USSR in May 1972 by US President R. Nixon, agreements were signed on the limitation of anti-missile defense systems (ABM) and the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Arms (SALT-l). In November 1974, the USSR and the USA agreed to prepare a new agreement on the limitation of strategic arms (SALT-2), which was signed in 1979. The agreements provided for the mutual reduction of ballistic missiles.

In August 1975, the Conference on Security and Cooperation of the Heads of 33 European countries, the USA and Canada was held in Helsinki. Its outcome was the Final Act of the Conference, which fixed the principles of the inviolability of borders in Europe, respect for the independence and sovereignty, territorial integrity of states, the renunciation of the use of force and the threat of its use.

At the end of the 70s. xx c. reduced tension in Asia. The SEATO and CENTO blocs ceased to exist. However, the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, conflicts in other parts of the world in the early 80s of the twentieth century. again led to an intensification of the arms race and increased tension.

International relationsATendXX early XXIAT.

Perestroika, which began in the USSR in 1985, very soon began to exert an increasingly significant influence on the development of international relations. Aggravation of tension in relations between East and West at the turn of the 70s - 80s. 20th century replaced by their normalization. In the mid 80s. 20th century the head of the Soviet Union MS Gorbachev put forward the idea of ​​a new political thinking in international relations. He stated that the main problem is the problem of the survival of mankind, the solution of which should be subordinated to all foreign policy activity. The decisive role was played by meetings and negotiations at the highest level between MS Gorbachev and US Presidents R. Reagan, and then George W. Bush. They led to the signing of bilateral treaties on the elimination of intermediate and shorter range missiles (1987) and on the limitation and reduction of strategic offensive arms (START-l) in 1991.

The completion of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989 favorably said the Axis on the normalization of international relations.

After the collapse of the USSR, Russia continued the policy of maintaining normal relations with the United States and other leading Western states. A number of important treaties were concluded on further disarmament and cooperation (for example, START-2). The threat of a new war with the use of weapons of mass destruction has sharply decreased. However, by the end of the 90s of the twentieth century. only one superpower remains - the United States, which claims a special role in the world.

Serious changes took place at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. 20th century In Europe. In 1991, the CMEA and the Department of Internal Affairs were liquidated. In September 1990, representatives of the GDR, the FRG, Great Britain, the USSR, the USA and France signed an agreement to settle the German issue and unify Germany. The USSR withdrew its troops from Germany and agreed to the entry of the united German state into NATO. In 1999, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO. In 2004 Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined NATO.

In the early 90s. xx c. changed the political map of Europe.

A united Germany emerged. Yugoslavia broke up into six states, independent Czech Republic and Slovakia appeared. The USSR collapsed.

With the threat of global war reduced, local conflicts in Europe and the post-Soviet space intensified. Armed conflicts broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in Transnistria, Tajikistan, Georgia, the North Caucasus, and Yugoslavia. Especially bloody were the events in the former Yugoslavia. Wars, mass ethnic cleansing, and refugee flows accompanied the formation of independent states in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. NATO actively intervened in the affairs of these states on the side of the anti-Serb forces. In Bosnia. And in Herzegovina, and then in Kosovo (an autonomous province within Serbia), they provided these forces with military and diplomatic support. In 1999, NATO, led by the United States, without UN sanction, committed open aggression against Yugoslavia, starting the bombing of this country. As a result, despite military victories, the Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo were forced to agree to a settlement on the enemy's terms.

In the second half of the twentieth century. integration processes have been developed in various regions of the world. Concluding regional trade and economic agreements, the states took a course to eliminate restrictions on the movement of goods, services, capital, human resources, to create supranational mechanisms for managing economic interaction, and to harmonize national legislation. However, according to researchers, in most cases, regional cooperation in Latin America, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East is still at a standstill. early stages and has no significant effect. At the same time, some integration associations, such as the European Union, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), APEC (Forum "Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation") managed to achieve real progress in the implementation of their goals. In particular, the European states have consistently formed a customs union, a single internal market, an economic and monetary union, and also supplemented the economic dimension of integration with cooperation in the field of ensuring internal and external security.
In Western Europe, there were significant prerequisites for the development of integration processes. “Here, earlier than in other parts of the world, a fairly developed market economy developed, there was a comparative proximity of the economic, socio-political, legal and cultural environment, and the relatively small size of the territories of states emphasized the narrowness of national borders and the internal market, pushing countries to mutually beneficial pooling of efforts.” Various authors, starting from the Middle Ages, developed projects for the unification of European states. The practical implementation of the "European idea" in the second half of the twentieth century was represented by several models.
First, the Western European states formulated common goals and created organizations for intergovernmental cooperation in certain areas. Thus, in 1948 the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) and the Council of Europe were formed. The OEEC was designed to solve the problem of European economic recovery under the Marshall Plan; The Council of Europe is to ensure the effective protection of human rights. After the main tasks of the OEEC were completed, it was replaced by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It was established in December 1960 to promote economic growth and improve living standards in the member states, to develop a coherent economic policy towards third countries, to develop world trade on a multilateral and non-discriminatory basis. This organization does not distribute funds and does not have a developed decision-making mechanism. According to the former Secretary General of the OECD J.K. Payet, “The OECD is not a supranational organization, but a place where policy makers can meet and discuss their problems, where governments can compare their points of view and their experiences” [cit. according to: 2, p. 132].
Secondly, France and Germany put forward an initiative to create the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which proposed to subordinate the entire steel and coal mining industry of the member states to a supranational body. The Paris Treaty establishing the ECSC was signed in 1951 by six European states (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands). The central place in the system of institutions of the ECSC was given to the Supreme Governing Body. It was endowed with the right to make decisions binding, and in all its parts, for the member states. In 1957, these same states created two new integration associations - the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). In 1992, on the basis of the European Communities, supplemented by new "policies and forms of cooperation", the European Union was created.
Thirdly, at the stage of the creation of the EEC, the basis of which was to be a customs union, disagreements between European states on the issue of a more preferable model of trade liberalization intensified. In 1956, England came up with a proposal to confine itself to the creation of a free trade zone, which was supposed to cover all member countries of the OEEC. However, as mentioned above, in 1957 the treaties on the establishment of the EEC and Euratom were signed, and in December 1958 the British project
a "large" free trade area was not adopted at the session of the OEEC Council. Then seven of the states remaining outside the EEC (Austria, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Sweden) signed in 1960 the Stockholm Convention on the Establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Unlike the customs union, this model avoided significant restrictions on national sovereignty in the foreign trade sphere, giving member states freedom of action in the field of trade with third countries. Accordingly, interaction within the framework of EFTA was carried out on an interstate basis, without the creation of strong supranational institutions. This organization continues to exist at the present time, but now it consists of only four states - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Fourth, in 1949, at the initiative of the USSR, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was created, whose members became the states of Central and Eastern Europe, and then a number of non-European states (Mongolia, Cuba, Vietnam). Researchers characterize this association in different ways. Some see him
"an example of an integration grouping not of a market, but of a planning-distributive, command-administrative type". Others believe that "in the CMEA there was a system of quasi-integration international relations, outwardly very similar to real integration, but in essence it was not" .
Fifth, sub-regional integration associations arose in Europe, which sometimes even outstripped the pan-European trends. Thus, in 1921, the Belgian-Luxembourg Economic Union was created as a customs and monetary union. In 1943, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed a monetary agreement, and in 1944 a customs convention, which entered into force in January 1948. The Benelux Customs Union lasted until November 1960. February 3, 1958 Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg concluded in The Hague an agreement on the establishment of the Benelux Economic Union, which entered into force on November 1, 1960, after its ratification by the parliaments of the three countries. The agreement provided for the creation of a single market for its participants, free movement persons, goods, capital and services between the three countries, the coordination of their economic, financial and social policies, the performance of the participating countries as a single whole in the field of foreign economic relations. The Benelux states paid attention to the development of tools collective security. In addition, already in 1960 they signed an agreement "On the transfer of personal checks to the outer borders of the Benelux area", which was more than twenty years ahead of the Schengen agreements. An example of the development of integration processes at the subregional level can also serve as the experience of the Nordic countries in the creation of the Northern Passport Union in the 1950s, as well as in the field of harmonization of social legislation, environmental protection, development of transport networks, etc.
In the 1990s, after the collapse socialist system, the so-called "Visegrad Group" was formed. In February 1991, in the Hungarian city of Visegrad, a Declaration was signed on cooperation between Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary with the aim of subsequent integration into the structures of the European Communities / European Union. In December 1992 in Krakow, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic signed the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), which entered into force
March 1, 1993 In this case, sub-regional integration was considered as an intermediate stage preceding accession to the EU and allowing the candidate states to prepare the necessary economic, legislative, institutional basis for the adoption of appropriate obligations.
The circle of participants in almost all associations considered within the framework of the five models expanded at certain stages. But in the long term, the integration model of the European Communities / European Union turned out to be the most effective and chosen by the majority of European states. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark (1973), Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), Austria, Sweden and Finland (1995) joined the original homogeneous "core", consisting of six founding states. The latest expansion of the European Union was the most ambitious - in 2004, ten states became new members of the organization at once. This trend could not but have an impact on the nature of European integration. Differences in the levels of economic development of the member states and the degree of stability of democracy, the peculiarities of political culture and the specifics of social legislation, the divergence of views on the permissible degree of restriction of national sovereignty - these and other manifestations of the growing internal heterogeneity of the European Union led to the emergence of the phenomenon of differentiated integration. As the researchers rightly point out, "not only the process itself is differentiated, but also its designation - in the modern political and scientific lexicon of Western Europe, you can find more than a dozen of its most diverse names" . The question is to what extent each of these terms (“Europe of different speeds”, “Europe a la carte”, “closer cooperation”, “concentric circles”,
"variable configuration", etc.) reflects the idea of ​​differentiated integration, is debatable.
Differential integration, in our opinion, implies the existence of special regimes, which are exceptions to the uniform rules established by the sources of European communal law for the participating states. The need for such exceptions arises in the following cases: 1) when the state does not meet the criteria for supranational regulation; 2) when the state is not interested in expanding the competencies of supranational institutions;
3) when a group of states, on the contrary, is ready to take a step forward and delegate additional powers to supranational institutions without waiting for the consent of all participating states. Let's consider the corresponding examples.
In the first case, the classical illustration can be
"transitional periods" established for the new Member States, during which they are obliged to create in themselves the necessary conditions for the application of the whole set of European Union law (the so-called "acquis communautaire"), until these conditions are created, the implementation of the relevant obligations associated with membership in the European Community / European Union is permissible to a limited extent. For example, there have been cases of gradual inclusion in the common market of such industries as energy, telecommunications and agriculture. Special conditions governing access to the single labor market are provided for in the framework of the latest enlargement of the European Union. It should be emphasized that the accession agreements strictly fix the terms of the "transitional periods". Accordingly, exceptions are temporary and do not pose a threat to the stability of the integration association.
We can also recall the experience of creating the Economic and Monetary Union. The right to participate in its third stage, during which a single currency, the euro, was introduced, was given only to those states that met the so-called "convergence criteria". These criteria, listed in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 (in Article 104 of the Treaty on the European Community and Protocols No. 5, 6), established acceptable limits for the state budget deficit, total public debt, exchange rate fluctuations, inflation and long-term interest rates. Greece, which took longer to complete this complex task, joined the "euro area" on January 1, 2001, two years behind the other members.
Both examples testify to the possibility of achieving common goals at different rates, and the term “different-speed integration” can also be applied to them.
In the case when opposition of one or several states to the expansion of the competencies of supranational institutions is detected, many more questions and problems arise. The most cautious policy, for a number of reasons, is being pursued by Great Britain. In particular, she took a special position on issues of internal security, the introduction of a single currency, and the development of social policy (the Conservative government did not support the provisions regulating relations between trade unions and entrepreneurs, as well as working conditions in the early 1990s). Denmark's position has also become an obstacle to the development of the integration process. If the Danish Parliament in May 1992 approved the Maastricht Treaty, in accordance with which the European Union was created, then in a referendum in June 1992 a negative answer was given. 50.7% of its participants spoke out against the expansion of the competences of EU institutions, especially in the field of immigration, citizenship, common defense policy, and the introduction of a single currency.
The need to overcome such contradictions endowed European integration in the 1980s and 1990s. next characteristic features.
First, the different rates of its development in the economic and political fields have become a feature of European integration. This trend has repeatedly manifested itself in the 1950s. (one can recall the unrealized projects for the creation of the European Defense Community and the European Political Community), and then embodied in the construction of the three "pillars" of the EU. The Maastricht Treaty for the first time included cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs (the so-called third "pillar" of the European Union) and in the foreign policy sphere (the so-called second "pillar" of the European Union) within the competence of the European Union. At the same time, a special regime of legal regulation was established here. Its characteristic features were the presence of its own system of acts, which were not subject to jurisdictional control by the Court of Justice of the European Communities, and the priority of instruments of interstate cooperation in the decision-making process.
Secondly, closer cooperation has been developed by a group of EU member states outside the framework of the founding treaties. An example is the Schengen Agreements (Agreement on the Gradual Abolition of Checks at Common Borders of 14 June
1985 and the Convention of June 19, 1990 on the application of the 1985 Agreement). Their main content was as follows: firstly, all types of border controls were canceled within the Schengen area; secondly, a single visa regime was established on its external borders; thirdly, increased interaction law enforcement member states (in particular, in 1995 the Schengen information system began to function). The Schengen Executive Committee, which was not an institution of the European Communities, was called upon to carry out norm-setting activities in the field of Schengen law.
Schengen agreements 1985 and 1990 were originally signed by France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In 1990, Italy joined the Schengen Agreements, in
1991 - Spain and Portugal, in 1992 - Greece, in 1995 - Austria, in 1996 - Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway (the last two states are not members of the EU). The implementation of the provisions of the Schengen Agreements in practice required considerable technical and legal training. Therefore, we can talk about the actual existence of the Schengen area starting from 1995, and about the real participation in it of all fifteen states that have assumed the relevant obligations - from 2001. In December 2007, the Schengen area expanded at the expense of Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic and Estonia; in December 2008 - at the expense of Switzerland (which, like Iceland and Norway, is not part of the EU). Thus, at present, the Schengen area of ​​the EU countries does not include the UK, Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus, but includes three states that are not members of the EU - Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
It should be noted that in this case, the consistent expansion of the circle of participants in the Schengen Agreements allowed for certain stage include them in the EU legal order on the basis of an appropriate protocol. This happened with the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997, which entered into force in 1999. The powers of the Schengen Executive Committee were transferred to the Council of the European Union. New sources of Schengen law are now published in standard forms, which are provided for by the founding documents of the EU (regulation, directive, etc.).
Thirdly, some member states were given the opportunity to participate in not all components of the integration process.
Thus, Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden retained their national currencies and did not enter the "euro zone". Denmark, in accordance with the Edinburgh Declaration of 1992, also received the right not to participate in a common defense policy and to retain for itself an interstate basis for cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs. Union citizenship will supplement, but not replace, Danish national citizenship (a principle that became valid for all Member States with the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam).
The features mentioned above, and the very fact of the refusal of one or more member states to participate in the new stages of the integration process, puts on the agenda the question of the danger that the so-called “Europe a la carte” contains (in the literal translation “ Europe by choice" or "Europe by order"). This term is used by researchers to denote, in contrast to “multi-speed integration”, cooperation in the absence of common goals that all member states should strive to achieve. Each state itself chooses those goals that correspond to its interests, and, accordingly, looks for like-minded people or avoids participation in undesirable areas of cooperation. Thus, describing the British policy in the social sphere, E. Raeder emphasizes that "decisions in the field of one of the policies of the European Union are not taken by all member states, and it seems that the position of a state that remains on the sidelines is not subject to revision." This, according to the researcher, is a classic example of "a la carte Europe", which "threatens the common acquis communautaire and the future of the integration of the entire Union, since it denies the generally recognized principles of uniform integration" .
However, there are also positive changes. With regard to the position of Great Britain, they can be traced both in the field of general social policy (after the Labor Party came to power, the provisions of the Agreement on social policy were included in 1997 in the text of the Treaty on the European Community), and in the field of Schengen cooperation. Since 2000, Great Britain and Ireland have assumed a number of obligations in the field of combating the spread of drugs, participation in the Schengen information system, etc. . As mentioned above, the mechanism of regulation of the Schengen cooperation itself has also changed, the central place in which is now occupied by EU institutions. Answering a question from a Euronews correspondent in December 2007, is it possible to say that people believe more in the European idea now, after a number of difficult years, President of the European Commission J.M. Barroso noted that "now the situation is better than in all the previous 8 years, and on a number of issues even 15 years, if we take Denmark".
An interesting trend of the last decade is the development within the EU of the legal foundations of the so-called “advanced cooperation”, i.e. the inclusion in the founding agreements of provisions that provide groups of member states with the opportunity to confer additional competence on the bodies of the European Union [see, for example, section VII Treaty on the European Union]. To date, the implementation of this model requires a corresponding interest on the part of at least eight states (regardless of the total number of member states and the further expansion of the European Union). Thus, it is possible that in the future opposition from some states will become a less significant obstacle to deepening European integration.
Thus, European integration processes in the second half of the twentieth century. developed under different models. The integration model of the European Communities / European Union turned out to be the most effective and chosen by the majority of European states. The combination of various forms of differentiated integration is one of the features of the development of the European Union at the present stage. It is naturally associated with the consistent expansion of the circle of member states of this organization and allows you to maintain a single direction of the integration process in the face of increasing internal heterogeneity of the EU.

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