Ussr in the 20s of the xx century. USSR foreign policy on the eve of the war. The main activities of the NEP
The 20th century has become a period of global changes for Russia. By the beginning of 1921 Poland and Finland left its structure. Latvia, Estonia, Western Ukraine, Belarus and Bessarabia with a population of over 32 million. The population of Russia is 135 million; total losses since 1914 - 25 million people.
The level of industrial production decreased in comparison with 1913 by 7 times, steel production fell to the level of Peter the Great. The country lay in ruins, society degraded, its intellectual potential was falling.
A small but close-knit communist party emerged victorious in the power struggle. However, the victory turned out to be akin to defeat. The workers fled from the cities, the peasants took up arms, the popularity of the authorities fell.
Despite the failure of the policy of "war communism" and the monstrous results of the unleashed terror, Lenin stubbornly insisted on its continuation.
A terrible famine began in the country, as a result of which 5.4 million people died.
The restoration of the economy, destroyed during the First World War and the Civil War, raised the question of the further development of the country before the Bolsheviks. It was clear to everyone that the country needed modernization, which would bring it out of economic backwardness. The question was how to do this.
Industrialization
The goals of industrialization in the USSR:
1) ensuring the dominance of state forms of economy; 2) achieving economic independence; 3) the creation of a powerful military-industrial complex.
Thanks to labor heroism and moral upsurge that reigned in society, the task of industrialization was solved.
Collectivization - the process of uniting peasant farms into collective farms
But in the end, collectivization brought the country to a crisis.
15. NEP, Lenin.
Fatherland in the 20s.
1) in 1921, a crisis of the Bolshevik party became apparent, as the peasants openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the policy of war communism. By the spring, 200 thousand peasants are against the sovlast. The most famous detachment is the Antonov movement. Peak of discontent March21 - uprising in Kronstadt
2) the government quickly realized the danger and drew conclusions. Lenin's work "the lessons of Kronstadt" 2 lessons: "only an agreement with the peasants can save the revolution in Russia until the world revolution comes"; Lenin formulates the basic principles of the rejection of War Communism and the transition to NEP.
2nd lesson: "the need to fiercely fight all opposition forces"
Thus, the beginning of the 20s began with opposite lines of development of the country: in the areas of economics, the rejection of war communism and the transition to NEP; in politics, the preservation of the dictatorial nature of the Bolshevik rule.
3) 2nd lesson of Kronstadt: the Cheka is sharply increasing. From the 22nd GPU. It is an apparatus of violence that is developing and penetrating all state spheres. In the 1920s, the GPU budget was second only to the military department and the cost of public education. Salary: 1925 worker per month 55 rubles, Wed. the composition of the red army up to 140 rubles, an employee in the GPU 780 rubles. The authorities paid special attention to culture and education, trying to idealize this sphere ... 1922, at the initiative of Lenin, about 200 opposition-minded scientists and cultural figures are expelled from the country (philosophical steamer) in 22, the cleansing of books "harmful" to socialist education of the masses begins ...
Pros: 1919 decree on the elimination of the illiterate. A society of distant illiteracy, led by Kalinin. Bottom line - by the end of 20x 40% could read and write versus 27% in 13g
4) Internal party struggle. I widely practice dictatorial methods in relations with the population
From 1920 in the party discussion: Trotsky: predatokgos apparatus; 2nd point of view: transfer the function of managing the national economy to the trade unions; 3rd point: it is necessary to return harsh criticism in the ranks of the party and the party leadership with councils and all organizations should be expressed in the form of general decrees, not detailed regulations. Lenin condemned all 3 points of view. At his insistence, factional activity was prohibited, that is, the possibility of any collective expression of opinions on certain political platforms. Struggling with dissent in the party, Lenin tried to prevent its complete bureaucratization.
The new economic policy was aimed at the restoration of the national economy and the subsequent transition to socialism. The main content of the NEP is the replacement of surplus appropriation with a tax in kind in the countryside (up to 70% of grain was withdrawn during the surplus appropriation, about 30% with a tax in kind), the use of the market and various forms of ownership, the attraction of foreign capital in the form of concessions, the implementation of monetary reform (1922-1924), as a result of which the ruble became a convertible currency.
16.20-30 years
Russia in the 20-30s.
Stalin's fight against opponents:
Stage 1 - Stalin Kamenev against Trotsky
Stage 2 - Stalin Bukharin against Kamnev Zinoviev and Trotsky: Kamnev Zinoviev Trotsky accused the party leadership of the pro-peasant system. Defeated in the fight against Stalin
Stage 3 - Stalin against Bukharin: Stalin for the administrative command method of managing the peasants, Bukharin for certain market relations between town and country. Bukharin is defeated.
1929 - the year of a great turning point: the curtailment of NEP, the process of collectivization and the formation of the cult of Stalin.
The Bolsheviks were unable to establish a democratic process in their own party
Change in the qualitative composition of the party: in the 20s the composition of the party reached 2 million. The Leninist Guard (10 thousand) was diluted by an illiterate mass of peasants.
Formation of the USSR
Prerequisites: reunification of the country within the framework of the Russian Empire for the successful solution of economic and defensive tasks, economic and historical ties between peoples
Combining options: Stalin's autonomization and Lenin's federation
General: - unity;
Within the framework of the socialist Soviet state
Differences: - about the role of the center in the union state
On the rights of the union republics
Stalin on the entry of the republics into the RSFSR, Lenin - on the basis of equality and all "" independent "" Soviet republics and the observance of their sovereign rights
December 29, 1922 ... Union Treaty signed (RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Transcaucasian Federation: Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan)
December 30, 1922 I congress Soviets of the SSR adoption of the declaration and treaty on the formation of the USSR
1924 - completion of the process of creating a new union state of the USSR
January 31, 1924 ... - adoption of the Constitution of the USSR (at the II All-Union Congress of Soviets) - the possibility of each republic to secede from the USSR, the principle of the indivisibility of the territories of the republics
New authorities: two chambers of the CEC (of two chambers: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities), 10 people's commissariats, the OGPU, the State Planning Commission, etc.
Soviet foreign policy in the 20-30s
Early 20 Peace treaties with Finland Poland Lithuania Latvia Estonia
21g with Turkey Iran Afghanistan
Agreement on friendship with Mongolia where the owls were located.
At the conference in the genoa of the Soviets, the delegation declared the inevitability of peaceful coexistence of the two systems, expressed its readiness to recognize part of the debts of tsarist Russia in exchange for compensation for the damage caused by the intervention and the provision of loans to Russia. The West rejects the offer.
In the same year (22) in Rapallo, an agreement was signed with Germany on the waiver of mutual claims and diplomatic conditions were established
From the age of 24, the period of de facto recognition of the Soviet Union began: diplomatic relations were established with more than 20 countries, the USA did not recognize the USSR from the great powers.
Roosevelt had a hobby - collecting stamps
1928 The USSR joins the Briand-Kelok pact, which proclaimed the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.
Germany Italy Japan relations come to the fore in the middle of 30 years
In 1933, the USSR proposes to create a system of collective security
1934 - USSR joins the League of Nations
1935 agreement with France and Czechoslovakia on mutual military assistance in case of aggression. Began negotiations with fascist Germany, negotiations with the aim of pushing Germany to the west. The task of England and France is to push Germany eastward (towards the USSR); therefore, England and France pursued a policy of appeasing Germany.
1938 Munich. The governments of England and France agree with Germany to tear away the Suddets from the Czech Republic. In March, Germany captured all of Czechoslovakia. 1939 in Moscow, negotiations between the USSR between England and France: a single position was not worked out in relation to Germany. On August 23, Molotov and Ribentrop signed a non-aggression pact and a secret addendum to it on the division of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. September 1, 1939 Germany attacks Poland - World War II begins. In September 39, western Ukraine and Belarus join the USSR. The Baltic countries are included in the USSR. Likewise, devilishness and North Korea.
In November 1939, the USSR demands that Finland exchange territory. The Finns owe part of the territory in the Leningrad region, and we owe them in the north, in the Kola Peninsula. Finland refuses. The USSR NKVD provokes the outbreak of war and a war begins with the Finns. After that, the USSR withdraws part of the territories. USSR expelled from the League of Nations. In March 1940, Hitler occupied all countries of western Europe except England. The USSR stood in the way of Hitler's world domination. Stalin won this war game, preventing the creation of a single anti-German bloc
abstract on the academic discipline "History of Russia"
on the topic: "The USSR in the 20s of the 20th century"
Plan
1. Introduction.
2. NEP in the 20s. Death of Lenin. Stalin's coming to power.
3. Formation of the USSR.
4. Culture in the 20s of the XX century.
5. Conclusion.
6. References.
1. Introduction.
The New Economic Policy (NEP) refers to the difficult and contradictory periods of our history. The emergence of NEP was preceded by many dramatic events. The military communism adopted during the civil war was a necessary measure. His policy was distinguished by very tough methods of influence, was of the nature of an emergency. The economy was strictly centralized, and command methods from the authorities were used in all areas of life. But, in spite of everything, the scale of the devastation only increased. There was a stubborn reduction in the number of various enterprises, labor productivity of workers fell. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the workers were not in any way interested in the output: neither materially, nor professionally. The Bolsheviks did not express concern about this. In December 1920, the Eighth All-Russian Congress of Soviets was held, but the logically assumed issue concerning the problems of the economy and the ineffective policy pursued in this area was never raised. The government of the country was much more concerned with another question: to maintain its gains until revolutions take place in other countries, after which the whole world will begin to create one communist state. These illusions were not destined to come true.
Simultaneously with this expectation, the situation in the country became more and more tense, the authorities were not able to control the situation, and the result was not long in coming: at the junction of 1920 - 1921, a new severe crisis erupted, affecting both the economy and the social sphere.
There were several reasons for the crisis. First of all, this is the withering away of the financial and credit system, the depreciation of money, a tremendous increase in prices. The second reason is the armed peasant uprisings provoked by dissatisfaction with the surplus appropriation system and the established regime in general. S.I. Golotyk (in co-authorship) writes: “In three months, more than 10 thousand party, Soviet workers, security officers, policemen were killed in the territories engulfed in uprisings; the leaders of the rebels, as a rule, were the Socialist-Revolutionaries, and the ideology of the rebels denied the dictatorship of generals and Bolsheviks and advocated the “third way”, “the path of true rule of the people” [Golotyk; sixteen]. The third reason is the mobilization of the army, which by this period came to an almost extreme degree of moral degradation. The fourth reason should be called the aggravation of the criminal situation: an epidemic of thefts, murders and other crimes has gone through the country. There was also a fifth reason: a split was ripening in the Bolshevik Party itself, and its members themselves were waging a sharp struggle, which was covered up with the sign of "trade union discussion". In fact, it was a tough struggle between those supporters of the hardening of measures and, on the contrary, the weakening of the measures of war communism. Meanwhile, the dangerous situation was gaining more and more dimensions. Now, not only peasants, but also workers expressed dissatisfaction with the policy of the authorities. But it was precisely the dictatorship of the proletariat that was declared by the ruling party when it made its fatal coup. It came to the Kronstadt uprising (March 2, 1921), which was the basis of the state fleet. According to A.V. Zakharevich, “without a single shot fired here, power passed into the hands of the Military Revolutionary Committee, headed by the senior clerk of the battleship“ Petropavlovsk ”S.M. Petrichenko (1892 - 1947).
IN AND. Lenin (1870 - 1924) was categorically opposed to softening the surplus appropriation system, but after he saw the full depth and scale of the crisis that gripped the country, he came to understand important issues: the path to communism does not lie through war communism, and the salvation of the power of the Bolsheviks should be carried out only through concessions to the peasantry. Realizing this, V.I. Lenin overcomes the powerful resistance of his fellow party members and at the X Congress of the RCP (b) in March 1921 seeks a decision: instead of the surplus appropriation system, a food tax was introduced. This measure was proposed by the peasants themselves, since it was familiar to them. They planned to sell the rest of the harvest on the market, as it had been before. But their calculations did not coincide with the plans of the Bolsheviks. As S.I. Golotyk, the authorities intended to “preserve the state monopoly of domestic trade and other foundations of war communism; they were afraid to give the peasants freedom of trade throughout the country, considering it a return to capitalism ”[Golotyk; 23]. The remaining products were now supposed not to be sold, but to be exchanged for the necessary goods (the exchange was made at the points of the People's Commissariat for Food). If we talk about private trade, then now it did not go beyond the local markets.
V.I. Lenin was listened to, but, despite his arguments, the main element of NEP was the exchange of goods. However, soon everything changed, since the current situation itself directed the country's economic system in a certain direction. In 1921, a catastrophic drought occurred in the country, which seized at least thirty-five regions and resulted in widespread famine. The peasants at that moment were deprived of everything, because under the guise of the struggle against "surpluses" they were taken away from them over the years almost all of their reserves. Thus, a country on the brink of a global catastrophe required drastic measures.
2. NEP in the 20s. Death of Lenin. Stalin's coming to power.
The transition to NEP (which stands for the New Economic Policy) was proclaimed at the X Congress of the RCP (b), held in March 1921. Its essence can be characterized as the intention to use financial methods of managing the national economy as widely as possible. The most pressing problem at this stage was the devastation and exit from it, as well as the restoration of industry and the provision of the population with the necessary products. But this could only be done by establishing trade from village to city. For this reason, an urgent need arose to interest the peasantry in increasing production. Thus, the surplus appropriation was canceled and a unified state tax, carried out in kind, which was called the tax in kind, was introduced instead. It was supposed to charge it in the form of a direct exchange of products with the city, as was done back in the days of war communism. But this measure did not bring the desired result. The time-tested system of the market and commodity-money relations, in all likelihood, could not be replaced by anything. Therefore, their introduction was required.
As a result, in 1924, instead of the tax in kind, a unified agricultural tax was introduced, which this time was collected in cash. In addition, there was a need for a private economy, since the country found itself at the stage of transition to a market. There was even a question about state capitalism and its encouragement (in this respect, the form of concessions was meant), i.e. attracting foreign capital to create enterprises. The possibility of leasing enterprises to foreigners was also considered, but almost no one responded to this proposal. Therefore, foreign funds were invested in only a negligible percentage of enterprises.
The most important task at the moment has become, according to A.V. Zakharevich, "strengthening the socialist sector of large state industry" [Zakharevich; 580]. In order to adapt it to the NEP reality, an economic reform was implemented. From the total number of enterprises, those were selected that were distinguished by the greatest efficiency and had at their disposal raw materials and fuel. These enterprises were directly subordinate to the Supreme Council of the National Economy.
The rest of the enterprises were leased either to cooperatives or partnerships, and sometimes to private individuals. Those enterprises that were in the management of the Supreme Council of the National Economy created trusts that functioned on the principle of cost accounting, self-sufficiency and self-financing. If the enterprise turned out to be unprofitable, then it was closed, and promising ones expanded by adding qualified labor. To regulate the relationship between the trusts, as well as to provide them with everything necessary, to sell their products on the market, syndicates were created - an association of trusts that worked on the basis of an agreement.
Another important measure should be called the decentralization of the industrial management system. Thus, the authorities reduced the number of centers and central administrations of the Supreme Council of the National Economy, as well as the apparatus of the Supreme Council of National Economy. To regulate finances, the State Bank was established (1921), which had the right to issue money with firm collateral. The chervontsy became the most popular bank notes.
Financial policy of the 20s was tough, and its goal was to avoid budget deficits. The financial reform was completed in 1924, and the ruble was entrenched in both the Russian and world markets. Silver coins were also put into circulation.
Already the first measures taken in accordance with the NEP concept had a positive impact on the country's economy, but the result was practically annulled by the famine of 1921, which spread very widely: from the Volga region and the Don to the North Caucasus and Ukraine. Peasant farms were extremely weakened, and they did not have the resources to withstand cataclysms in the form of hunger, drought and outbreaks of epidemics of various diseases. As a result of these disasters, the number of the population of the RSFSR fell sharply. Powerful forces were thrown into the fight against hunger and its consequences, and after 1921 things started to improve, the country began to revive: fields were sown, grain purchases resumed. In 1921 - 1922. grain procurement amounted to thirty-eight million centners, and in 1925 - 19256. its number has exceeded eighty-five million. Starting from 1925, the level of sowing work approached the pre-war level. As for the number of cattle and small ruminants, this level was exceeded in this respect.
In 1923, the first record was achieved - the country's entry into the foreign market (for the first time after the revolution) with one hundred and thirty-six million poods of wheat. Thanks to the introduction of the New Economic Policy, the national income, which had undergone a critical decline, approached the indicators of the pre-war period. For the period from 1921 to 1924. gross production has doubled.
“But you shouldn't,” writes A.V. Zakharevich, - to imagine NEP as a kind of society of general prosperity, developing without problems and contradictions, and to think so means not to understand why the country subsequently abandoned NEP so easily and quickly, and it was only at Stalin's whim that NEP was thrown aside ”[Zakharevich ; 582].
In the fall of 1923, the first economic crisis was recorded, which was called the "sales crisis". Its distinguishing feature was the discrepancy in prices: agricultural products were valued 4 - 5 times less than industrial products. The state did not regulate prices, which was taken advantage of by the syndicates that inflated them in the market. Soon, the authorities managed to overcome this crisis by applying for these purposes accelerated purchases of grain intended for export and raising purchase prices for it, as well as lowering prices for industrial products.
Trade in the country progressed rapidly due to an increase in small trade enterprises and traders who were engaged in purchasing patents. In addition, they paid the so-called. progressive tax. The authorities also returned the stock exchanges, which had been abolished during the war communism. The New Economic Policy also contributed to the development of consumer cooperatives, which had close ties with the countryside.
Heavy industry also began to revive (1924). Many large factories were restored, but progress in this area was much slower, and heavy industry managed to reach the pre-war level only by the end of the 1920s.
In 1925 - 1926. a second crisis occurred, provoked by the illiterate actions of the trade authorities, which, moreover, were not coordinated with the actions of the authorities. As a result, prices had to be raised again and the program aimed at expanding industry had to be changed, and a shortage of goods arose. As a result, since 1926, Soviet society has been experiencing not only economic difficulties, but also ideological, social and political contradictions, the main of which was dissatisfaction with the NEP of most of the authorities, accustomed to aggressive revolutionary methods. The NEP measures did not satisfy the urban population either, since they caused unemployment. The peasantry was also not unanimous in its opinion on NEP, since a pronounced inequality of property was manifested in the countryside. They were dissatisfied with the NEP for another reason: as a result of the innovations, the rapid radical changes that the leaders of the revolution promised, infecting the masses with their ideas in 1917, did not take place. On this basis, political contradictions arose.
Having reached the pre-war level, the authorities found themselves at a crossroads, because they did not know how and where to move on. After restoring the economy, destroyed by revolutions, wars and cataclysms, they thereby exhausted almost all the resources of former Russia. It turned out that using the old, they did not bring anything new: neither modern equipment, nor skilled workers. Thus, the economic problems not only did not disappear, but, on the contrary, came to a stage of aggravation.
So, the main task of the second half of the twentieth years. the acceleration of industrialization becomes, which has assumed the status of the basic condition for building socialism. This is happening against the backdrop of increasingly flaring up contradictions within the party leadership, which was unable to competently establish the economic mechanism and at the same time exerted strong pressure on all economic levers. This circumstance was the main brake on the development of cooperatives and trusts and related commodity-money relations.
In 1927 - 1928. a “grain crisis” arises, provoked by the large-scale death of winter crops and the subsequent decline in grain purchases. I.V. Stalin considered this event a consequence of the intensified class struggle in the countryside. When this happened two years earlier, the authorities slowed down the development of industry and, thereby, saved the situation. But now Stalin did not want to hear anything about the slowdown in industrialization, and therefore issued a decree on emergency measures, the main of which was the confiscation of grain and the demand to "press on grain procurements", although there were no conditions for this. But since no one dared to argue with the leader, the impossible was accomplished, and bread began to flow to the population. Simultaneously with this, NEP ended its existence, its abolition took place in 1929. It can be said that the attempt to reconstruct the economy and society with the help of the introduction of NEP was unsuccessful.
3. Formation of the USSR.
The Russian Federal Republic was formed after the 1917 revolution, and those peoples who did not express a desire to remain in its composition (Poland, Finland, Ukraine, the Baltic countries, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia) seceded, using the proclaimed right to self-determination. The Bolsheviks, announcing this right, made another proposal, namely, "the idea of \u200b\u200bequality and brotherhood within the framework of the union (federal) state."
This idea of \u200b\u200bequality managed to extinguish the national conflicts and movements that arose on the outskirts of Russia and stop the process of disintegration. The promise to create federal states gave the peoples a guarantee of independence, both economically and politically.
An important role in the implementation of this concept was played by the Red Army, which during the Civil War liberated national regions from the interventionists and White Guards. Thus, the socialist republics were created - Belarusian, Ukrainian and others, between which numerous agreements were concluded concerning all aspects of state life.
However, in the fall of 1922, disagreements arose between the republics in the process of discussing these issues. They dealt with the problem of the organization of a new state. The republics that entered the union demanded a more lasting unification. However, I.V. Stalin, who at that time was the people's commissar for national issues, insisted on the autonomy of these republics, which meant that they did not have sovereign rights. IN AND. Lenin sharply criticized this idea as he looked a little further. Being an adherent of the concept of a unitary state (since it is much easier to govern such a state), he nevertheless insisted on a federal organization precisely in order to lull the vigilance of the republics and not scare them away from joining the union. At the same time, it was emphasized that the granting of such rights is given to the republics only "at first".
In 1922, Lenin won a complete victory over his opponents. With the help of a federal structure, he hoped to solve one of the most serious and painful problems - the national question. Thus, the national principle of building a new state appears. But this very principle, which seemed to him to be a salvation, turned out to be a "time bomb", since intensified the division of peoples on various grounds, many of which actually turned out to be far-fetched.
In 1924 V.I. Lenin died of a strange illness, and even today there are many versions about his death. Of course, immediately after these events, an internal party struggle arose for the vacated leader position, the main contenders were L.D. Trotsky and I.V. Stalin. Among his other opponents were G.E. Zinoviev (1883 - 1936) and L.B. Kamenev (1883 - 1936), who later became his victims. Stalin was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party in 1922, coming close to the heights of government, and from that moment on his power became unlimited, although he officially took over this post in 1924.
Today, there is no longer any doubt that the USSR from the very beginning of its creation was a unitary state, but Lenin, during his rule, managed to smooth out this contradiction. But in 1924, after his death, Stalin, who came to power, gradually began to deprive the republics of their rights. This circumstance was due to political reasons: an internal struggle between classes or threats from external enemies. By the end of the 30s. Stalin decided that those "first pores" were over, and now the time had come for the creation of a truly unitary state.
As a result of all negotiations, on December 27, 1922, an agreement was signed on the formation of the USSR, which included the RSFSR, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucasian Federation. And although before that Georgia made a proposal for separate entry into the newly formed state of the republics of Transcaucasia, it was rejected, and Transcaucasia entered the Union only in this form.
Further, on December 30, 1922, the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR was held in the building of the Bolshoi Theater, at which the declaration and the Treaty on the formation of the Soviet state were approved. The declaration stated that the USSR is an association of equal peoples, carried out on the principle of goodwill, and to which access is open to all Soviet republics, including those that are only planned. It was assumed that each republic has the right to secede from the Union, but at the same time the procedure for secession itself was not developed. The agreement determined only those mechanisms on the basis of which the republics carried out the unification. According to the declaration, federal laws were placed above republican laws. The document also stipulated the sequence of the creation of federal bodies and the methods of challenging their decisions.
These decisions formed the basis for the creation of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. The formed bodies included representatives of all union republics. They could change, supplement and approve the treaties of the Union only at the congresses of the Soviets of the USSR. At the Second Congress of Soviets, which took place in January 1924, the Constitution of the USSR was proclaimed.
The formation of the new state took place gradually. On October 27, 1924, two successive republics were formed, which entered the USSR: the Turkmen and the Uzbek. On December 5, 1929, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was previously part of the Uzbek SSR, was transformed into a separate union republic. Later, on December 5, but already in 1936, it was decided to abolish the Transcaucasian Federation, as a result of which Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, which had previously constituted it, became part of the Union in the most direct way. So, according to the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, there were already eleven union republics in the country.
4. Culture in the 20s of the XX century.
Like all branches of state life, the branch of culture has also undergone significant changes. The Bolsheviks conceived the so-called. "Cultural revolution", with the help of which they wanted to rebuild the culture of the past, which, in their opinion, was alien to the proletariat. As V.M. Solovyov, after the October Revolution, the question of the life and death of Russian culture was by no means rhetorical, because too much of the priceless heritage of the past was crossed out, irretrievably lost or ruthlessly destroyed.
Russia noble estates, merchant mansions, God's temples and bell ringing are a thing of the past. A total reassessment of values \u200b\u200bbegan. Having come to power, the communists at first abandoned the spiritual and cultural heritage of the past and tried in a directive manner to consign it to oblivion. But, although they managed to build the people in a line and offer them an antihuman ideology, they were powerless to wipe the indestructible and eternal from the face of the earth. Culture did not die and, “crucified by the Bolshevik vandals, resurrected even in the grip of the Stalinist regime” [Solovyov; 603]. The main fighter against the “past” is Proletkult, which has done a lot to make fine examples of noble and spiritual culture disappear. The large-scale emigration of the 1920s turned out to be a big damage to culture. the largest representatives of art, literature, science, clergy.
Along with the significant works of the Silver Age, many such works were created that did not leave a trace in art. Thanks to the call of the Bolsheviks for a cultural revolution, new trends appear, some of which, in their aspirations to remake the old, reached the point of absurdity. So, the avant-garde is becoming a very large trend, rejecting all the past achievements of art, including the recently appeared symbolism. The wave of the avant-garde swept over literature, painting, theater, cinema, music and stage. Its outstanding representatives are M.F. Larionov (1881 - 1964), N.S. Goncharov (1881 - 1962), V.V. Kandinsky (1866 - 1944), K.S. Malevich (1879 - 1935), I.M. Zdanevich (1894 - 1975), V.V. Kamensky (1884 - 1961), P.N. Filonov, (1883 - 1941), M.Z. Chagall (1887 - 1985) and others.
Many bright names also appeared in the literature: I. Severyanin (1887 - 1941, the pioneer of futurism), V.V. Mayakovsky (1893 - 1930), M.I. Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941), A.A. Akhmatova (1889 - 1966), M.A. Bulgakov (1891 - 1940), M.M. Zoshchenko (1894 - 1958). This list can be continued for a very long time. The Silver Age was distinguished by an amazing inflorescence of various talents, most of which met a tragic fate. Some were shot, others were sent into exile, and others were hounded in print. Part of the Russian intelligentsia managed to go abroad (MI Tsvetaeva, IA Bunin, BK Zaitsev and many others).
Among the largest areas of the 20s. should be called abstractionism, symbolism, futurism, acmeism, cubism, supermatism. These movements gave rise to many magnificent examples of painting and literature.
At the same time, the emergence of completely new works in all spheres of art, reflecting Soviet reality, was observed. Their authors directly responded to the transformations that have taken place. In literature, this is the legacy of M. Gorky (1868 - 1936), E.G. Bagritsky (1895 - 1934), D.A. Furmanov (1891 - 1926), A.S. Serafimovich (1863 - 1948), I.E. Babel (1894 - 1940), V.P. Kataeva (1897 - 1986), A. Neverova (1896 - 1923), B.A. Lavrenev (1891 - 1959), A.N. Tolstoy (1882 - 1945), Vs. A. Kochetova (1912 - 1973), I. Ilf (1897 - 1937) and E.P. Petrov (1902 - 1942) and many others. dr.
In painting and architecture, there is a tendency towards monumentalism, formed under the direct influence of V.I. Lenin's monumental propaganda. As in literature, representatives of a new trend appear in the visual arts, which subsequently supplanted all the others for many years - socialist realism. Soviet painting is marked by the names of I.I. Brodsky (1883 - 1939), A.M. Gerasimov (1881 - 1936), M.B. Grekov (1882 - 1934), B.V. Johanson (1893 - 1973), E.A. Katsman (1890 - 1976), G.G. Ryazhsky (1895 - 1952).
According to S.G. Kazantseva, in the 20s. “The Soviet government was quite tolerant of the existing variety of literary and artistic trends, adhering to the principle of neutrality, and by the beginning of the 30s. almost nothing remained of the artistic diversity, all independent trends, associations and groups were disbanded ”[Kazantseva; 39].
The second period in terms of scale and significance can be defined as a cultural revolution carried out in the era of totalitarianism, which limits any manifestation of dissent in art. The ban “turned out to be the creativity of representatives of the Russian avant-garde. Literary works that did not meet the requirements of socialist realism were not published, did not reach the reader ”(MA Bulgakov“ The Master and Margarita ”, works by A. Platonov, BL Pasternak, AA Akhmatova, works by V. Meyerhold , S. Eisenstein) [Kazantseva; 39].
Science has made a big leap forward. The Academy of Sciences was created, within the walls of which outstanding scientists V.I. Vernadsky (1863 - 1945), S.F. Oldenburg (1863 - 1934), I.P. Pavlov (1849 - 1936), N.N. Pavlovsky (1894 - 1937), N.I. Vavilov (1887 - 1934) and many others. Science, like culture and literature, was subjected to harsh ideological pressure. Great attention was paid to the education of children and youth, the eradication of illiteracy.
A.I. Kravchenko writes: “The new cultural policy aimed to make“ accessible to the working people all the treasures of the arts created on the basis of the exploitation of their labor ”[Kravchenko; 456]. The most important "achievement" in the field of culture is the massive ideological re-education of the people with the help of all existing arts and propaganda. I.V. Stalin managed to achieve common thinking among the majority of the people.
5. Conclusion.
Based on the foregoing, we can say that the 20s. The twentieth century turned out to be one of the most difficult periods in the life of the country. The country was in ruin and chaos, all the best that had been created earlier turned out to be destroyed. It was necessary to take urgent measures, and such a step to overcome the crisis was the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which lasted for a year from 1921 to 1922. NEP proved to undermine the communist ideology, since it returned private property to the country's economic system, against which the new authorities fought. The NEP included a number of measures, among which should be called free trade, the introduction of a new type of tax for peasants (progressive), the introduction of leasing of enterprises, the admission of labor force, the opening of the State Bank and the issue of Soviet money, the transition to a planning system, the restoration of pre-war industrial enterprises, etc. etc. The short-term improvements associated with the implementation of the NEP failed to bring the country out of the crisis, and in 1922 the authorities abandoned it.
A very important event was the formation of the USSR (1922), which was declared a federal union of free republics, but in fact - a unitary state.
The powerful social upheaval had a negative impact on the culture of the country. In the previous period of the Silver Age, Russian culture reached the highest point of development, but after 1917 it went down sharply, which was facilitated by the systematic destruction and destruction of the centuries-old heritage. A special body, Proletkult, was created to fight the achievements of the past.
In the period after the revolution and the Civil War, three directions clearly emerged in art and literature: the intelligentsia, which did not accept the coup and continued its activities abroad; artists who accepted the revolution and began to create in the style of socialist realism; the intelligentsia, who did not accept the turning point, but returned from emigration, because they did not see the opportunity to create far from their homeland.
Subsequently, culture and science found themselves under strict ideological diktat and control, serving as an instrument of propaganda, and society for the most part turned into a controlled mass for which dissent was unacceptable.
6. References.
1. Golotic S.I., Danilin A.B., Evseeva E.N., Karpenko S.V. Soviet Russia in the 1920s: NEP, the power of the Bolsheviks and
Society / S.I. Golotik, A.B. Danilin, E.N. Evseeva, S.V. Karpenko // Scientific historical bulletin, 2002. - №2. - 384 p.
2. Zakharevich A.V. History of the Fatherland / A.V. Zakharevich. - M .: ITK .: Dashkov and K˚, 2005 .-- 756 p.
3. Kazantseva S.G. Sociodynamics of Russian culture / S.G. Kazantsev. - Samara, 2003 .-- 44 p.
4. Kravchenko A.N. Culturology / A.N. Kravchenko. - M .: Academic Project; Tricksta, 2003 .-- 496 p.
5. Munchaev Sh.M., Ustinov V.M. History of Russia / Sh.M. Munchaev, V.M. Ustinov. - M .: Norma, 2008 .-- 784 p.
6. Soloviev V.M. History of Russia / V.M. Soloviev. - M .: Bely Gorod, 2012 .-- 415 p.
Economic policy:
In the second half of the 1920s, the most important task of economic development was the transformation of the country from an agrarian into an industrial one, ensuring its economic independence and strengthening its defense capability. An urgent need was the modernization of the economy, the main condition of which was the technical improvement (re-equipment) of the entire national economy.
Industrialization policy. The course towards industrialization was proclaimed in December 1925 by the XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (renamed after the formation of the USSR). The congress discussed the need to transform the USSR from a country that imports machinery and equipment into a country that produces them. His documents substantiated the need for the maximum development of the production of means of production (group "A") to ensure the country's economic independence. The importance of creating a socialist industry on the basis of increasing all technical equipment was emphasized. The beginning of the industrialization policy was legislatively enshrined in April 1927 by the IV Congress of Soviets of the USSR. In the early years, the main focus was on the reconstruction of old industrial enterprises. At the same time, more than 500 new factories were built, including the Saratov and Rostov agricultural engineering, Karsaknay copper smelting, and others. The construction of the Turkestan-Siberian railway (Turksib) and the Dnieper hydroelectric power station (Dneproges) began. The development and expansion of industrial production by almost 40% was carried out at the expense of the resources of the enterprises themselves, in addition to intra-industrial accumulation, the source of financing was the redistribution in favor of the industry of the national income.
Implementation of the industrialization policy required changes in the industrial management system. A transition to a sectoral management system was outlined, unity of command and centralization in the distribution of raw materials, labor and manufactured products was strengthened. On the basis of the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the USSR, the people's commissariats of the heavy, light and timber industries were formed. The forms and methods of industrial management that took shape in the 1920s and 1930s became part of the economic mechanism that had been preserved for a long time. It was characterized by excessive centralization, directive command and suppression of initiative from the ground. The functions of economic and party bodies, which interfered in all aspects of the activities of industrial enterprises, were not clearly delineated.
Industry development. First five-year plan. At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, the country's leadership adopted a course for all-round acceleration, "whipping up" industrial development, for the accelerated creation of socialist industry. This policy was most fully embodied in the five-year plans for the development of the national economy. The first five-year plan (1928 / 29-1932 / 33) came into effect on October 1, 1928. By this time, the tasks of the five-year plan had not yet been approved, and the development of some sections (in particular, on industry) continued. The five-year plan was developed with the participation of leading experts. A.N.Bach, a well-known scientist-biochemist and public figure, were involved in its compilation, I.G. Aleksandrov and A.V. Winter were leading energy scientists, D.N. Pryanishnikov, the founder of the scientific school of agrochemistry, and others.
The section of the five-year plan in terms of industrial development was created by employees of the Supreme Council of the National Economy under the leadership of its chairman V.V. Kuibyshev. It provided for an average annual growth of industrial production in the amount of 19-20%. Ensuring such a high rate of development required maximum effort, which was well understood by many leaders of the party and state. NI Bukharin in his article "Notes of an Economist" (1929) supported the need for high rates of industrialization. In his opinion, the implementation of such rates could be facilitated by increasing efficiency and reducing production costs, saving resources and reducing unproductive costs, increasing the role of science and the fight against bureaucracy. At the same time, the author of the article warned against "communist" hobbies and called for a more complete account of objective economic laws.
The plan was approved at the V All-Union Congress of Soviets in May 1929. The main task of the five-year plan was to transform the country from an agrarian-industrial into an industrial one. In accordance with this, the construction of metallurgical, tractor, automobile and aircraft construction enterprises began (in Stalingrad, Magnitogorsk, Kuznetsk, Rostov-on-Don. Kerch, Moscow and other cities). The construction of Dneproges and Turksib was in full swing.
However, very soon the revision of the planned targets of the industry towards their increase began. The tasks for the production of building materials, for the smelting of iron and steel, and for the production of agricultural machinery were "corrected". The plenum of the Party Central Committee, held in November 1929, approved new control figures for the development of industry in the direction of their sharp increase. According to I.V. Stalin and his closest associates, it was possible by the end of the five-year plan to smelt pig iron instead of the planned 10 million tons - 17 million, to produce 170 thousand tractors instead of 55 thousand, to produce 200 thousand cars instead of 100 thousand and etc. The new target figures were not thought out and had no real basis.
The country's leadership has put forward a slogan - in the shortest possible time to catch up and overtake the advanced capitalist countries in technical and economic terms. Behind him was the desire to eliminate the lag in the country's development and build a new society as soon as possible at any cost. Industrial backwardness and the international isolation of the USSR stimulated the choice of a plan for the accelerated development of heavy industry.
In the first two years of the five-year plan, until the reserves of NEP were exhausted, industry developed in accordance with the planned targets and even exceeded them. At the beginning of the 30s, its growth rates dropped significantly: in 1933 they amounted to 5% against 23.7% in 1928-1929. The accelerated pace of industrialization required an increase in capital investment. Subsidizing industry was carried out mainly due to intraindustrial accumulation and redistribution of national income through the state budget in its favor. The most important source of its financing was the "transfer" of funds from the agricultural sector to the industrial one. In addition, in order to obtain additional funds, the government began issuing loans and issuing money, which caused a sharp increase in inflation. And although it was announced the completion of the five-year plan in 4 years and 3 months, the "adjusted" targets of the plan for the production of most types of products could not be fulfilled.
Second five-year plan. The second five-year plan (1933-1937), approved by the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks at the beginning of 1934, kept the trend towards the priority development of heavy industry to the detriment of light industry. Its main economic task was to complete the reconstruction of the national economy on the basis of the latest technology for all its branches. The planned targets in the field of industry were more moderate compared to the previous five-year period and seemed realistic to fulfill. During the years of the second five-year plan, 4.5 thousand large industrial enterprises were built. The Ural Machine-Building and Chelyabinsk Tractor, Novo-Tula Metallurgical and other plants, dozens of blast-furnace and open-hearth furnaces, mines and power plants were commissioned. The first metro line was laid in Moscow. The industry of the Union republics developed at an accelerated pace. Machine-building enterprises were erected in Ukraine, and metal processing plants in Uzbekistan.
Completion of the second five-year plan was announced ahead of schedule - again in 4 years and 3 months. Some industries have indeed achieved very good results. Steel smelting increased 3 times, electricity production increased 2.5 times. Powerful industrial centers and new branches of industry emerged: chemical, machine-tool, tractor and aircraft construction. At the same time, due attention was not paid to the development of light industry producing consumer goods. Limited financial and material resources were channeled here, so the results of the implementation of the second five-year plan in group “B” were significantly lower than planned (from 40 to 80% in various industries).
The scale of industrial construction infected many Soviet people with enthusiasm. To the call of XV! conference of the CPSU (b) to organize socialist competition, thousands of workers of factories responded.
The Stakhanov movement developed widely among workers in various industries. Its initiator, miner Alexei Stakhanov, set an outstanding record in September 1935, having fulfilled 14 labor standards per shift. A. Stakhanov's followers showed examples of an unprecedented rise in labor productivity. At many enterprises, counter plans of production development were put forward that were higher than those established. The labor enthusiasm of the working class was of great importance for solving the problems of industrialization. At the same time, workers often succumbed to unrealistic appeals, such as calls to fulfill the five-year plan in four years or to catch up and overtake the capitalist countries. The desire to set records also had a downside. Insufficient preparedness of the newly appointed economic managers and the inability of the majority of workers to master the new technology sometimes led to its deterioration and to the disorganization of production.
Agrarian policy. The industrial breakthrough had a heavy impact on the position of peasant farms. Excessive taxation of taxes aroused the discontent of the rural population. The prices of manufactured goods increased enormously. At the same time, state purchase prices for bread were artificially lowered. As a result, grain supplies to the state were sharply reduced. This caused complications with grain procurements and a deep grain crisis at the end of 1927. It worsened the economic situation in the country and threatened the implementation of the industrialization plan. Some economists and business executives saw the cause of the crisis in the erroneous course of the party. To find a way out of this situation, it was proposed to change the relationship between town and country, to achieve their greater balance. But to combat the grain procurement crisis, a different path was chosen.
To activate grain procurements, the country's leadership resorted to emergency measures reminiscent of the policy of the period of "war communism". Free market trade in grain was prohibited. If they refused to sell grain at fixed prices, the peasants were subject to criminal liability, and local Soviets could confiscate part of their property. Special "operatives" and "workers' detachments" seized not only the surplus, but also the bread necessary for the peasant family. These actions led to an aggravation of relations between the state and the rural population, which in 1929 reduced the area under crops.
The transition to collectivization. Crisis of the procurement campaign 1927/28 and the tendency of a part of the staff of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) to centralized, administrative command leadership of all sectors of the economy accelerated the transition to universal collectivization. Held in December. 1927 The 15th Congress of the CPSU (b) adopted a special resolution on the issue of work in the countryside. It dealt with the development of all forms of cooperation in the countryside, which by this time united almost a third of peasant farms. A gradual transition to collective cultivation of the land was planned as a promising task. But already in March 1928, the Party Central Committee, in a circular letter to local Party organizations, demanded the strengthening of the existing and the creation of new collective and state farms.
The practical implementation of the course towards collectivization was expressed in the widespread creation of new collective farms. Significant sums were allocated from the state budget to finance collective farms. They were provided with privileges in the field of credit, taxation, supply of agricultural machinery. Measures were taken to limit the possibilities for the development of kulak farms (limiting the lease of land, etc.). The direct management of collective farm construction was carried out by VM Molotov, secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) for work in the village. The collective farm center of the USSR was created, headed by G.N.Kaminsky.
In January 1930, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) adopted a resolution "On the rate of collectivization and measures of state assistance to collective farm construction." It outlined tough terms for its implementation. In the main grain regions of the country (the Middle and Lower Volga regions, the North Caucasus), it was supposed to be completed by the spring of 1931, in the Central Chernozem region, in the Ukraine, the Urals, in Siberia and Kazakhstan - by the spring of 1932. By the end of the first five-year plan, collectivization was planned to carry out nationwide.
Despite the decision, both the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the grassroots party organizations intended to carry out collectivization into more compressed juices. The "competition" of local authorities for the record-breaking rapid creation of "areas of total collectivization" began. In March 1930, the Model Charter of an Agricultural Artel was adopted. It proclaimed the principle of voluntariness of joining a collective farm, determined the procedure for unification and the amount of socialized means of production. However, in practice, these provisions were violated everywhere, which caused the resistance of the peasants. Therefore, many of the first collective farms, created in the spring of 1930, quickly disintegrated. It took the sending of detachments of "class-conscious" party workers ("twenty-five thousand men") to the village. Together with the workers of local party organizations and the OGPU, moving from persuasion to threats, they persuaded the peasants to join the collective farms. For the maintenance of the newly emerging peasant production cooperatives in rural areas, machine and tractor stations (MTS) were organized.
In the course of mass collectivization, the liquidation of kulak farms was carried out [i]. (In previous years, a policy of restricting their development was carried out.) In accordance with the decrees of the late 1920s and early 1930s, lending was stopped and the taxation of private farms was increased, and laws on land lease and hiring labor were abolished. It was forbidden to accept kulaks in collective farms. All these measures provoked their protests and terrorist actions against collective farm activists. In February 1930, a law was adopted that determined the procedure for the liquidation of kulak farms. In accordance with it, the layers of the kulaks were divided into three categories. The first included organizers of anti-Soviet and anti-collective farm protests. They were arrested and tried. The largest kulaks, assigned to the second category, were to be relocated to other areas. The rest of the kulak farms were subject to partial confiscation, and their owners were subject to eviction to new territories from the regions of their former residence. In the process of dispossession of kulaks, 1-1.1 million farms were liquidated (up to 15% of peasant households).
The results of collectivization. The breakdown of the forms of farming that have developed in the countryside is caused by serious difficulties in the development of the agrarian sector. Average annual grain production in 1933-1937 decreased to the level of 1909-1913, the number of livestock decreased by 40-50%. This was a direct consequence of the forcible creation of collective farms and the inept leadership of the chairmen sent to them. At the same time, plans for food procurement were growing. Following the harvest of 1930, the grain regions of Ukraine, the Lower Volga and Western Siberia were affected by a crop failure. To fulfill the grain procurement plans, emergency measures were again introduced. The collective farms confiscated 70% of the harvest, up to the seed fund. In the winter of 1932-1933. many newly collectivized farms were seized by hunger, from which, according to various sources, from 3 million to 5 million people died (the exact figure is unknown, information about the famine was carefully hidden),
The economic costs of collectivization did not stop its implementation. By the end of the second five-year plan, over 243,000 collective farms had been organized. They comprised over 93% of the total number of peasant households. In 1933, a system of obligatory deliveries of agricultural products to the state was introduced. The state prices set for it were several times lower than market prices. The plans for collective farm crops were drawn up by the leadership of the MTS, approved by the executive committees of the district councils, and then communicated to agricultural enterprises. Payment in kind (grain and agricultural products) was introduced for the labor of machine operators at MTS; its size was determined not by collective farms, but by higher authorities. The passport regime introduced in 1932 limited the rights of peasants to move. The administrative and command system for managing collective farms, high levels of government supplies, low procurement prices for agricultural products hampered the economic development of farms.
By the mid-1930s, the bureaucratization of economic management increased. Deformations in the development of the national economy deepened: light industry lagged more and more behind heavy industry. Agriculture, railroad and river transport experienced serious difficulties.
Fighting dissent. In parallel with the formation of the regime of personal power of I.V .: Stalin, the struggle against dissent developed. The scale of repressions against "class-hostile" persons increased. The punitive measures affected almost all segments of the population. Following the dispossession of kulaks, repressive measures were carried out against the urban population. Many senior officials from the State Planning Commission, the Supreme Economic Council, and the people's commissariats fell into the category of "enemies of the people". Business executives and engineers, primarily representatives of old (bourgeois) specialists, were declared to be the culprits of the disruption of industrial plans. At the end of 1930, a group of scientific and technical intelligentsia headed by the director of the Scientific Research Thermal Engineering Institute LK Ramzin was brought to trial and convicted in the Industrial Party case. Prominent agricultural scientists ND Kondratyev, AV Chayanov and others were accused of belonging to the Labor Peasant Party. The scientists were guilty of the fact that their views on the ongoing collectivization differed from the official views. In particular, they considered the existence of a market a necessary condition for the development of rural cooperation. A group of former leaders of the Menshevik Party, as well as former Tsarist generals and officers who served in the Red Army, were arrested.
The expansion of the scale of repression was accompanied by the violation of the rule of law. The Central Executive Committee of the USSR adopted several resolutions that became the basis for the ongoing lawlessness. A special meeting was created - an extrajudicial body in the state security system. The decision by him on the basis and measures of repression was not subject to control. Other extrajudicial unconstitutional bodies - "troikas" and "deuces" of the NKVD based their work on the same principle. A new procedure was established for the conduct of cases of terrorist acts. Their consideration was carried out within ten days without the participation of the defense and prosecution. One of the theorists of law, who brought the "scientific basis" to the arbitrariness of the 1930s, was the Prosecutor General of the USSR A. Ya. Vyshinsky.
The administrative-command methods of managing the socio-political and cultural life of the country were strengthened. Many public organizations were liquidated. The reasons for their abolition were different. In some cases, small numbers or financial turmoil. In others - being a part of societies of "enemies of the people". The All-Union Association of Engineers and the Russian Society of Radio Engineers were liquidated. Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, Society of Russian History and Antiquities. The Society of Old Bolsheviks and the Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers ceased to exist, uniting, in addition to the Bolsheviks, former anarchists, Mensheviks, Bundists, Socialist-Revolutionaries, etc., continued to operate mainly those associations that could be used in the interests of the state (Osoaviakhim, Red Cross Society and the Red Crescent, the International Organization for Assistance to the Fighters of the Revolution - MOPR, etc.). Professional associations of the creative intelligentsia were placed under the control of party and state officials.
The Constitution of the USSR of 1936 The transformation of the economy and the strengthening of centralization in the management system led to the formation of a new model of society, to the almost complete "stateization" of the national economy. The changes that have taken place in the economic, socio-political and national-state development of the Soviet Union since the mid-20s demanded a change in the Basic Law. Prominent government and party officials took part in the development of the draft of the new Constitution, including MI Kalinin, NI Bukharin, AS Bubnov, GK Ordzhonikidze, as well as a large group of specialists in the field of law.
On December 5, 1936, the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets approved the new Constitution of the USSR. She recorded the characteristic features of the administrative-command system formed in the country. However, in that period (and in the subsequent years of the existence of the Soviet state) it was believed that the Constitution legislatively enshrined the construction of a socialist society in the USSR.
The Basic Law reflected the changes in the national state structure of the USSR, the emergence of new union and autonomous republics and regions. In connection with the liquidation of the TSFSR, independent republics arose: the Armenian, Azerbaijan and Georgian SSR. The Kazakh ASSR and the Kirghiz ASSR were transformed into union republics. The total number of union republics that are directly part of the USSR increased to 11. The voluntariness of the state unification of the Soviet socialist republics was confirmed.
The political basis of the country was formed by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. The structure of state power changed: the Supreme Soviet, which consisted of two chambers (the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities), became its supreme legislative body. Among his tasks was the approval of the composition of the government of the USSR. The duties of the All-Union People's Commissariats were expanded in the field of legislation, national economic development, and strengthening the country's defense capability. At the same time, the rights of some republican authorities, in particular, in the legislative sphere, were unjustifiably narrowed.
The social basis of the state was declared as an alliance of workers and peasants while maintaining the dictatorship of the proletariat. (In practice, this was expressed in the dictatorship of the CPSU (b) and its apparatus.) The socialist economic system and the socialist ownership of instruments and means of production were declared the economic basis of the USSR. This property existed in two forms: state (mines, factories in industry, state farms and MTS in the countryside) and collective-farm cooperative.
In connection with the elimination of the former exploiting classes and private property, changes were made to the electoral system. The restrictions on electoral rights for the rural population were abolished. The system of multi-stage elections to state authorities and open voting were abolished. The Constitution legislatively fixed general, secret, equal and direct elections to the Soviets at all levels.
Citizens of the USSR were guaranteed the rights to work, rest, education, material security in old age. Labor was declared the duty of every citizen capable of it, according to the principle: "He who does not work, he does not eat." Freedom of worship was proclaimed. At the same time, freedom of anti-religious propaganda was introduced.
In the book “History of the Communist Party of the Bolsheviks. Short Course ", prepared with the direct participation of IV Stalin and published in 1938, the new Basic Law was called the Constitution" the victory of socialism and workers 'and peasants' democracy. " History has shown the illusory nature of this conclusion of the head of state. However, the provision on the victory of socialism in the USSR, on the completion in the mid-1930s of the transition period from capitalism to socialism for many decades was strengthened in Soviet historical literature.
Political processes of the 30s. The political course of JV Stalin, the concentration of unlimited power in his hands aroused opposition sentiments among many leading party workers and rank-and-file members of the CPSU (b). JV Stalin was called the "evil genius of the Russian revolution" by opponents of repression, who sought to resist them. A group of Moscow party workers ("Union for the Defense of Leninism") headed by MN Ryutin addressed a manifesto "To all members of the EKGT (b)". It proposed removing JV Stalin from the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee and making adjustments to the system of managing the national economy. In 1932, the members of the group were arrested, charged with an attempt to restore capitalism, and shot. The imposition of methods of arbitrariness and lawlessness created an atmosphere of fear, suspicion, and mutual mistrust in the country.
In the mid-30s, repressions began against the old party members who did not agree with the established methods of governing the country. The reason for the mass repressions was the murder on December 1, 1934, of S. M. Kirov, the first secretary of the Leningrad City Committee and the Regional Party Committee, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). JV Stalin directed the investigation into the circumstances of this terrorist act. According to the official version, the murder was committed on behalf of the underground Trotskyite-Zinovist group in order to disorganize the country's leadership. Several party and government workers were sentenced to capital punishment, although their participation in the assassination attempt on S. M. Kirov was not proven.
In 1937, in the case of the so-called parallel anti-Soviet Trotskyist center, a group of responsible workers of the people's commissariats of the heavy and timber industries was brought to trial. Among them were Yu. L. Pyatakov (formerly one of the participants in the opposition to I. V. Stalin) and G. Ya. Sokolnikov. They were accused, among other things, of attempts to undermine the economic might of the USSR, of sabotage, of organizing accidents at enterprises, of deliberate disruption of state plans. Thirteen defendants were sentenced to death and four to prison terms. An attempt to prevent the lawlessness was made by the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry GK Ordzhonikidze. Together with the employees of the People's Commissariat, he checked the affairs of a group of "enemies of the people" employed in the construction of heavy industry enterprises, and proved their innocence.
In 1936, former leaders of the party G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Comintern. A repressive policy was carried out against entire nations. In 1937, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) decided to immediately evict the Korean population living there from the Far Eastern Territory. The need for this act was motivated by the possible dispatch of Chinese and Korean spies to the Far East by the Japanese special services. Subsequently, over 36 thousand Korean families (more than 170 thousand people) were deported to the regions of Central Asia.
The repressions affected the commanding personnel of the Red Army (M.N. Tukhachevsky, I.E. Yakir, I.P. Uborevich, A.I. Egorov, V.K.Blyukher). In 1938, another political trial was fabricated in the case of the “anti-Soviet bloc of Right Trotskyites” (NI Bukharin, AI Rykov, and others). The defendants were accused of intending to liquidate the social and state system existing in the USSR, and to restore capitalism. They supposedly intended to achieve this goal by means of espionage and. sabotage activities by undermining the country's economy. All these actions were carried out in violation of the norms of justice and ended with the execution of the convicts.
Tens of thousands of innocent people were arrested on false denunciations and accusations of "counter-revolutionary" activities. They were sentenced to imprisonment and forced labor in the system of the State Administration of Camps (GULAG). Prisoners' labor was used in logging, construction of new factories and railways. By the end of the 1930s, the GULAG system included more than 50 camps, over 420 correctional colonies, and 50 juvenile colonies. The number of persons imprisoned in them increased from 179 thousand in 1930 to 839.4 thousand at the end of 1935 and to 996.4 thousand at the end of 1937 (official data). However, the total number of victims of the repression was significantly higher. One of the indirect indicators of the scale of repression is the data on the dynamics of the population in the USSR. From January 1, 1929 to January 1, 1933, the number of residents increased by 11 million. From January 1, 1933 to December 1937, the population decreased by almost 2 million.
The attitude of the state to religion. In the late 1920s, state regulation of the activities of religious associations increased. By this time, almost all religious organizations declared their loyalty to the new order. The development of a union law on religious cults began. Discussion of his project was held in the departments carrying out "church policy": the NKVD, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. During the discussion, a discussion arose about the prospects of religion in Soviet society, about the nature of the activities of religious organizations, and about forms of anti-religious propaganda. It was argued that the work of many church communities had acquired an anti-Soviet character. It was proposed to intensify the fight against them as a counter-revolutionary force. It was decided to keep the legislation existing in the republics in relation to religion.
In the spring of 1930, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR adopted a resolution "On Religious Associations." A ban was introduced on economic (creation of cooperatives) and charitable work of communities. The teaching of religious beliefs in educational institutions - state, public, private - was prohibited. For communication with religious organizations, a commission on religious issues was created under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The staff included representatives of the people's commissariats of justice, internal affairs, education, the OGPU. Later, the commission was transformed into an all-union commission under the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (P.L. Krasikov became its chairman).
The propaganda campaign was intensified to explain to the population the "bankruptcy" of religious beliefs. The center of atheistic propaganda was the Union of Militant Atheists, headed by a publicist and author of many anti-religious books Km. Yaroslavsky. The Union published newspapers and magazines in thousands of copies ("Militant Atheism", "The Atheist at the Bench", "Anti-Religious", "Young Atheists", etc.). Anti-religious museums and exhibitions were created, courses were organized to train propagandists of atheism. The Second Congress of the Union of Atheists (1929) proclaimed atheistic work the most important sector of the class struggle. The fight against religion was declared a fight for socialism.
In February 1930, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution "On the fight against counter-revolutionary elements in the governing bodies of religious associations." Local authorities were advised to strengthen control over the composition of community leaders. It was proposed to exclude persons "hostile" to the Soviet system from the actives of religious associations. Purposeful repressions against the clergy have become more frequent. The taxation of clergymen was increased. In case of non-payment of taxes, their property was confiscated, and they themselves were moved to other parts of the country. The procedure for closing churches was simplified: the solution of this issue was transferred to the regional executive committees and regional executive committees of the Soviets. In the mid-30s, the number of operating religious buildings (temples, churches, mosques, synagogues, etc.) was 28.5% of those in pre-revolutionary Russia. In this regard, the CEC considered it necessary to abolish the previously created commission on religious issues. The new Constitution of the USSR did not include a provision on freedom of religious propaganda.
By the mid-30s, the formation of the administrative command system was completed in the USSR. Its most important features were: centralization of the system of economic management, fusion of political management with economic, strengthening of authoritarian principles in the management of social and political life. The narrowing of democratic freedoms and the rights of citizens and public institutions was accompanied by the growth and strengthening of the personality cult of JV Stalin. Many domestic and foreign historians consider it possible to say that in the 1930s a totalitarian society was formed in the USSR.
USSR in 1938 - early 1941:
The internal political and economic development of the USSR remained complex and contradictory. This was due to the strengthening of the personality cult of JV Stalin, the omnipotence of the party leadership, the further strengthening of bureaucratization and centralization of management. At the same time, the belief of the majority of the people in socialist ideals, labor enthusiasm and high citizenship grew.
The personality cult of IV Stalin was caused by various factors; lack of democratic traditions in the country; largely preserved monarchist psychology of the masses, giving rise to the illusion of wisdom and infallibility of the leader, an atmosphere of fear amid repression and political processes. The true and imaginary (propagandized) successes of socialist construction also contributed to the strengthening of the people's faith in JV Stalin. The cult of I. V. Stalin was implanted by his closest entourage, who made a fast political career on this: K. E. Voroshilov, L. M. Kaganovich, V. M. Molotov, G. M. Malenkov, N. S. Khrushchev, L. P. Beria and others. Throughout the country, the cult of JV Stalin was introduced into the minds of the people by numerous party workers and civil servants.
In the field of economics, the system of state socialism continued to develop - strict planning, distribution and control in all spheres of economic activity. The powers of the State Planning Commission were expanded, the People's Commissariat for State Control was created. Command and control methods of management were strengthened, which, despite their shortcomings, played a positive role in mobilizing economic and human resources to repel fascist aggression. The Soviet government carried out a series of economic, military, socio-political and ideological measures to strengthen the country's defense capability.
Economic policy. The development of the USSR was determined by the tasks of the third five-year plan (1938-1942), approved by the XVIII Congress of the CPSU (b) in March 1939. A political slogan was put forward - to catch up and surpass the developed capitalist countries in terms of production per capita. This attitude was demagogic. She proceeded from falsified and overestimated indicators of the results of the implementation of the second five-year plan. Despite the undoubted successes (in 1937 the USSR took the second place in the world in terms of production after the USA), the industrial (and especially technical) lag behind the West was not overcome. The distortions in the economy were clearly manifested. The advanced positions achieved in the metallurgical, chemical, and some branches of the machine-building industry were combined with a noticeable lag in the development of new technologies, and especially in the production of consumer goods.In light industry, plans were fulfilled by 40-60% and did not meet the level of population needs. A difficult situation was also observed in agriculture, where production by 1938 dropped sharply compared to the end of the 1920s.
The main efforts in the third five-year plan were aimed at the development of industries that provide defense capability from the edge. Their growth rates significantly exceeded the growth rates of industry as a whole. By 1941, these industries accounted for up to 43% of total investment.
Persons: L. B. Kamenev, G. E. Zinoviev, A. I. Rykov, N. I. Bukharin. S. M. Kirov, K. B. Radek, M. N. Tukhachevsky, V. K. Blucher.
Dates:
1921 - X Congress of the Party, resolution "On the unity of the Party",
1921 - the beginning of the NEP,
1925 - XVI Party Congress,
1929 - the year of the "great turning point", the beginning of collectivization and industrialization,
1932-1933 - famine, 1934 - XVII Congress of the Party ("Congress of the Winners"),
1933 - recognition of the USSR by the USA,
1934 - the inclusion of the USSR in the League of Nations,
1936 - Constitution of the USSR, 1938 - collision fromJapan by Lake Hassan
may 1939 - clash with Japan at the Khalkhin-Gol river.
Struggle for power after the death of V. I. Lenin. Formation of the USSR. New economic policy. Foreign policy of the USSR in the 1920s Collectivization. Hunger. Industrialization. Constitution of 1936. Politics of Great Terror. Foreign policy in the 1930s
After the end of the Civil War (1921) and the death of V.I. Lenin (January 21, 1924g.), a fierce struggle for power began among the party elite. Already in March 1921 on X Congressthe party adopted a resolution "On the unity of the party",according to which it was forbidden to form groups within party factions. The decision of the Central Committee was recognized as decisive. In the course of continuous confrontation, Stalin, with the active assistance G. E. Zinovievaand L.B. Kameneva,managed to deprive the main enemy of L.D. Trotsky of all levers of power (in 1926 g.Trotsky was expelled from the Politburo). Zinoviev and Kamenev soon overtook the same fate, whom Stalin, now with the support of N.I.Bukharin and A.I. Rykov (1926g) also removed from the Politburo. IN 1929 g. was expelled from the country, and then killed by order of I.V. Stalin L. D. Trotsky. Thus, Stalin eliminated the main rivals in the struggle for sole power. This made it possible to create a vertical assignment scheme for all significant posts.
In subsequent years, Stalin's personal power continued to strengthen, who purposefully continued the policy of destroying his possible competitors and those who could represent at least some kind of opposition. XVIIcongress VKP (b),held in 1934 mr., actually put an end to the struggle for political power in the country. Any alternative to the regime of personal power of JV Stalin was abolished. The functions of the Politburo, which previously could influence the course of political life, were reduced to nothing.
After the collapse of the Russian Empire, a mass of state or semi-state formations formed on its territory. For the reunification of the territory, it was decided to create a special commission, which considered various options for unification. As a result, the decisive word was taken by Lenin, who proposed the principle of unification with Russia while maintaining his representation in the highest authorities. Signed December 29, 1922 Union Treatybecame the basis for the subsequent unification. By 1924, the process of creating a new state entity, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was completed.
At the same time (January 31, 1924)the Constitution of the USSR was adopted, which specifically stipulated the possibility of each republic to secede from the Union, and the principle of the indivisibility of the territories of the republics was fixed. The main institutions of power and their functions were also identified: two chambers of the CEC, 10 drug-mongers, the OGPU, the State Planning Commission and others. Due to the deteriorating economic situation in the country, 1921 the state was forced to make some indulgences in the economic sphere. New economic policy(NEP) was intended to revive the economy of the country, which by this time was threatened by mass famine.
Specific measures for the introduction of the new economic policy were as follows:
1) to replace the surplus appropriation system, which caused mass discontent and sabotage of the peasants, a tax in kind was introduced, which meant for the peasants the opportunity to sell the products remaining after the tax was paid,
2) a convertible currency was introduced and a monetary reform was carried out,
3) some industrial enterprises ended up in private hands. At the same time, numerous trade unions began to form, which managed to defend their interests, at least their role has increased significantly compared to the previous period.
At the first stage, these measures led to a rapid growth of the country's economy, however, the state policy continued to rely on the principle of command-and-control methods of management, including in the economic sphere. As a result, there was an acute shortage of both food and industrial goods, in connection with which ration cards were introduced, then the state returned in fact to the previous policy of confiscating food from the peasants. 1929 the year is considered the final end of the NEP and the beginning of mass collectivization.
The implementation of the new economic policy has led to some improvement in the standard of living, both in the city and in the countryside. The working day at industrial enterprises became fixed, the workers received some social guarantees (sick leave, etc.). The food situation in the village has significantly improved, which is confirmed by the statistics of those years. However, both in the village and in the city there continued to be an acute shortage of jobs; in the city, the majority of the population did not have their own homes and lived in communal apartments or barracks.
(In historiography, there is a debate: was the NEP a temporary retreat of the Soviet regime, or was it really, in the words of V. I. Lenin, introduced “all-serious and for a long time.” The domestic researcher of economic history V. May believes, that the intermediate nature of the reforms carried out within the framework of the NEP made the command-administrative reaction to them inevitable.)
Foreign policy.
In 1920-1921. despite the problems of external debts and the refusal of the Soviet government to repay them, as well as the support of the communist parties in a number of Western European countries, the process of recognition of Soviet Russia began. The first on this path were the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), as well as Finland and Poland.
The Genoa Conference (spring 1921), headed by GV Chicherin, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR, was unable to resolve all the problems associated with the foreign debt of Tsarist Russia, which the new government once again refused to recognize. Claims for the return of the nationalized property to the former owners were also rejected. Thus, Soviet Russia, in conditions of virtually complete isolation, was forced to agree to an agreement with Germany, which was concluded in Rapallo April 16, 1922d. Under this agreement, diplomatic relations were resumed and both sides renounced mutual claims to each other, that is, Soviet Russia refused reparations, which Germany was supposed to pay after the end of the First World War, and Germany did not claim on the nationalized property of their citizens on the territory of the former Russian Empire.
The next conference in The Hague (summer 1922) was also called upon to settle issues related to debts and nationalized property. Some of the concessions proposed by the Soviet delegation turned out to be insufficient, and again there was no real progress on this issue. Participation of Soviet Russia in a number of other conferences (Moscow, Lausanne)was of a purely formal nature: all the proposals put forward (on disarmament, on the status of the Black Sea straits, etc.) were rejected, that is, the opinion of the Soviet delegation was not taken into account.
Nevertheless, in 1924 the USSR was recognized by a number of states, which was due to the arrival of new governments in these countries, more focused on contacts with Soviet Russia. Diplomatic relations were established with Great Britain, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Norway, France. However, already in 1927, diplomatic relations with England were severed, as the Conservatives came to power to replace the Laborites. At the same time, diplomatic relations are established with the eastern neighbors: Japan (According to the terms of the treaty, Japan could defend its commercial interests on the territory of the USSR, and for this it would withdraw its troops from Northern Sa-khalin).
Collectivization (1928-1935).
In fact, collectivization (i.e. the union of all private peasant farms into collective and state farms) began in 1929 year, when to solve the problem of acute food shortages (the peasants refused to sell food, primarily grain, at prices dictated by the state) taxes on private owners were increased and the government announced a policy of preferential taxation for newly created collective farms. Thus, collectivization meant the curtailment of the new economic policy.
Collectivization was based on the idea of \u200b\u200bdestroying the prosperous class of peasants, kulaks, who since 1929 found themselves in a virtually hopeless situation: they were not accepted into collective farms and they could not sell their property and leave for the city. The very next year, a program was adopted according to which all the property of the kulaks was confiscated, and the kulaks themselves were subject to mass eviction. At the same time, there was a process of creating collective farms, which were to completely replace individual farms in the very near future (the process was to take no more than 1-2 years).
This policy caused massive discontent among the peasants, which was expressed in uprisings that broke out throughout the country and were suppressed with particular brutality by special units of the OGPU. However, it was impossible not to take into account the mood of the peasants, and it was decided to keep small household plots, which was supposed to soften the ongoing policy of forced confiscation and transfer of peasants to collective farms.
The outbreak of famine 1932-1933 only aggravated the situation of the peasants, who had their passports taken away, and in the presence of a strict passport system, travel around the country was impossible. IN 1935 took place II All-Union Congress of Kolkhoznikov,where the collective farms were finally proclaimed the only possible form of peasant farming in the country. Collective farms, as well as industrial enterprises throughout the country, had production plans that had to be strictly followed. However, unlike urban enterprises, collective farmers had practically no rights, such as social security, etc., since collective farms did not have the status of state enterprises, but were considered a form of cooperative economy.
Industrialization.
After the civil war, the country's industry was in a very poor situation, and to solve this problem, the state needed to find funds for the construction of new enterprises and the modernization of old ones. Since foreign loans were no longer possible due to the refusal to pay the tsarist debts, the party announced a course towards industrialization (XVI Congress, December 1925).From now on, all the country's financial and human resources were to be devoted to restoring the country's industrial potential.
In accordance with the developed industrialization program, a certain plan was established for each five-year plan, the implementation of which was strictly controlled. As a result, by the end of the 30s, it was possible to approach the leading Western European countries in terms of industrial indicators. This was achieved to a large extent by attracting peasants to the construction of new enterprises and using the forces of prisoners. Enterprises such as Dneproges, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Belomoro-Baltic Canalother.
The 1936 Constitution finally established the structure of the political apparatus of the state. Supreme Soviet of the USSR,which was divided into two chambers - Union Counciland Council of Nationalities,- was proclaimed by the supreme authority. The number of republics that were part of the USSR reached 12. The rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens proclaimed in the new constitution did not turn out to be only a declaration, which was confirmed by the unfolding political processes of the 30s, the victims of which were both political opponents of Stalin and -shy people, caught by the machine of state terror.
After the assassination of S.M. Kirov (1st secretary of the Leningrad regional committee of the CPSU (b)) in 1934, Stalin had an excuse to begin mass repressions against party leaders he did not like. Already in 1936, Kamenev and Zinoviev were shot. K.B. Radek was arrested on charges of Trotskyism , N.I.Bukharin, A.I. Rykov. At the same time, Stalin began to purge the army, as a result of which the highest was almost completely destroyed (incl. M. N. Tukhachevsky, V. K. Blucher, I. P. Uborevich, I. E. Yakir)and the middle army command. Subsequently, this played an extremely negative role, when it turned out that by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War there were practically no qualified personnel left in the army, which led to colossal losses at the initial stage of the war.
The repressions affected both the closest circle of Stalin and ordinary people who were drawn into the running machine of mass terror. The closest relatives of the repressed did not escape repression and persecution. The exact number of victims during the repression cannot be accurately calculated. Researchers cite numbers from hundreds of thousands to several million people. (In historiography, a controversial issue is the problem of the motivation of the “great terror”.
The famous historian O. V. Khlevnyukgives a number of versions on this score. First, terror was supposed to contribute to the development of fear in society, which in turn would contribute to the consolidation of Soviet citizens. Secondly, in the conditions of anticipation of an imminent war, terror was supposed to bring society into a state of total mobilization, a sense of the enemy's proximity. Third, by the beginning of the 30s. Soviet society had not yet fully developed: society remained too complex - it had to be simplified. Fourth, each member of the Politburo had a significant environment with which he could influence political decision-making. Accordingly, repression against one politician caused a whole string of persecutions.)
Foreign policy in the second half of the 20s -30s
Already in the early 30s, it was possible to achieve the cancellation of part of the tsar's debts, which greatly facilitated communication with Western European countries. Recognition of Soviet Russia by the United States in 1933 city, as well as the adoption of the USSR in 1934. mr. in the League of Nations meant the final way out of international isolation. Hitler's coming to power in Germany radically changed the situation in the foreign policy arena. The annexation of Austria to Germany (Anschluss, 1938), and then the occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 showed the final balance of power. Even before that, the Soviet Union helped Spain in the war between the Republicans and the Francoists (1936-1938), acting on the side of the Republicans, however, despite military support, the supporters of General Franco won. Simultaneously with the USSR, Italy and Germany also intervened in the war in Spain, which openly supported the forces of the Francoists.
If in the previous period the countries of Western Europe pursued a policy of "appeasement", then in 1939 Britain and France pledged to provide military assistance to the countries of Eastern Europe in the event of an attack by Germany. Simultaneously, Britain and France began negotiations with the USSR on the possible alignment of forces in the event of a war. The main idea of \u200b\u200bthe Western European countries was to oppose the Soviet Union to Germany, and thus avoid a war in their territory and the territory of their closest neighbors. However, the USSR pursued its own policy, and just a few days after the termination of trilateral negotiations with France and England, August 23, 1939g. concluded a non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), hoping in this way to protect himself from the growing appetites of the German military machine. In accordance with this agreement, the parties pledged not to attack each other for 10 years and not to enter into coalitions with countries that entered a military conflict with one of the parties to the agreement. In addition, in the secret part of the treaty, the parties shared spheres of influence in Eastern and Central Europe. For Germany remained a significant part of Poland, for the USSR - the Baltic states, Bessarabia, Finland, etc.
In parallel with the aggravation of the political situation on the western borders, the Soviet Union was forced to resolve territorial and economic differences with its eastern neighbors. And in this direction, the Soviet Union did not achieve much success: it did not succeed in regaining control of the Sino-Eastern Railroad (the armed conflict of 1929 did not lead to a long-term consolidation in this territory, and in 1935 control over the Chinese Eastern Railway was completely withdrawn to the Japanese). With Japan itself, by the end of the 30s, the situation also escalated (which was due to the help that the USSR provided to China in the Japanese-Chinese military conflict). Summer 1938 years in the lake area Hasana border conflict flared up between Japan and Russia. After fierce military clashes, the parties managed to agree on a peaceful solution to the problem, in May 1939 Soviet troops managed to knock the Japanese out of the river Khalkhin-Gol,which was the territory of Mongolia, friendly to the USSR. However, in April 1941, a non-aggression pact was signed between the USSR and Japan.
After the end of the civil war, an acute socio-political crisis began in Soviet Russia, caused by the discontent of the peasants with the policy of "war communism". Peasant protests against the surplus appropriation system in the winter of 1920/21. acquired the character of armed uprisings against the Bolsheviks in the Tambov and Voronezh provinces and Western Siberia, for the suppression of which the Bolsheviks used regular troops. From February 28 to March 18, 1921, the seamen of the Baltic Fleet and the Kronstadt garrison spoke out against the Bolshevik policy. They demanded the re-election of the Soviets, freedom of speech and the press, the release of political prisoners, etc. These sentiments of wide circles of the population could not but affect the situation in the ruling party itself, within which a split was planned.
A way out of the crisis was found at the X Congress of the RCP (b), which was held in March 1921. His decisions on the hiring of labor, on the authorization of private property on a huge scale, on the replacement of surplus taxation with a tax in kind and free trade were aimed at satisfying the most pressing demands of the peasantry and parts of the working class. They laid the foundation for the implementation of a new economic policy, which had the main goals of restoring the Russian economy destroyed during the world and civil wars and the establishment of normal economic relations between the working class and the peasantry. The congress also adopted a resolution "On Party Unity," aimed at defusing tensions between its various leaders. At the same time, a decision was made to liquidate the existence of other political parties in Russia.
In connection with the decisions taken, the Soviet government, which allowed private property, reorganized the punitive bodies of state power and the legislative basis for their activities. On February 8, 1922, the VTsIK decree was published on the liquidation of the Cheka and the transfer of its functions to the NKVD. This was due to the end of the civil war and the need to abandon the emergency authorities. As part of the NKVD, the State Political Administration (GPU) was created, which had its own local bodies. Thus, political affairs were separated into a special production.
In 1922 V.I. Lenin instructed the bodies of justice to develop and adopt a criminal code that would meet the new realities. Soon the new Soviet legislation came into effect. In June-July 1922, the first political trial in Soviet Russia took place over 47 leaders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, which ended with the sentencing of 14 defendants to death. However, under pressure from the world community, the sentence was commuted by the expulsion of the defendants abroad. The Socialist-Revolutionary Party itself was disbanded. At the same time, the Menshevik Party was "disbanded". At the end of August 1922, a "philosophical steamer" sailed from Soviet Russia, which took away about 160 outstanding representatives of Russian culture in emigration. The expulsion of political opponents of the Bolsheviks continued afterwards.
The adoption by the 10th Congress of the resolution "On Party Unity" did not mean that the leaders of the RCP (Bolsheviks) strictly followed it. The fact is that the recognized leader of the party, V.I. Lenin, for health reasons already in the fall of 1922 was forced to retire and hand them over to his associates. In April 1922, I.V. was appointed to the post of General Secretary of the Party Central Committee. Stalin. A.I. was appointed Lenin's deputy as chairman of the government. Rykov.
Gradually, disagreements arose between Lenin and Stalin on fundamental issues, the depth of which increased as Lenin departed from the practical leadership of the party and the state. This concerned the issues of introducing a monopoly of foreign trade, the creation of the USSR, etc.
IN AND. Lenin understood the failure of the choice of Stalin's candidacy for the post of head of the ruling party. In those written or dictated by him at the turn of 1922-1923. articles and letters, the totality of which was called "political testament", he proposed "to undertake a number of changes in our political system." A special place of V.I. Lenin assigned the role of the party in the process of building a new society, on whose unity, in his opinion, depended the future of the Russian revolution. It was precisely at strengthening the role of the political factor in Soviet society that his ideas were directed, such as defining his possible successor as head of the party and state, increasing the role of the Central Committee as a collective leadership body, ensuring proper control over the activities of individual leaders, attracting workers from the machine to the governing bodies. etc. Data of V.I. Lenin's unflattering characteristics to many party leaders forced them to make remarkable efforts to get into power.
L. D. Trotsky, I.V. Stalin, L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev believed that each of them is capable of replacing V.I. Lenin and the main task is to remove the most capable opponent. They all together hid the opinion of V.I. Lenin on the personal qualities of contenders for power, and then three of them, I.V. Stalin, L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev, having created a kind of "triumvirate", criticized L.D. Trotsky, who made many mistakes in the struggle for power and gave many trump cards in the hands of his rivals. Accused of Trotskyism, who resigned from his posts in the army in 1925, L.D. Trotsky found himself isolated and could no longer influence the party's policy.
The defeat of Trotsky also predetermined the fate of the "triumvirate." First, there was a split between the center and the Leningrad party organization headed by G.E. Zinoviev. At the 14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in December 1925, he came out with a special platform defending Leninism not against Trotskyism, but against Stalinism, in particular against the concept of I.V. Stalin on the possibility of building socialism in one country. In addition, G.E. Zinoviev accused Stalin of "leaderism", which, according to him, contradicted the "precepts" of V.I. Lenin.
I.V. Stalin emerged victorious in this struggle, taking N.I. Bukharin and having strengthened the Central Committee with his proteges V.M. Molotov, K.E. Voroshilov, M.I. Kalinin and others G.E. Zinoviev was removed from his posts and in his place S.M. Kirov, and N.I. was put at the head of the Executive Committee of the Comintern. Bukharin.
In 1926, an attempt was made to unite all oppositionists who were dissatisfied with I.V. Stalin. However, this association included too different people who had fundamental disagreements with each other. The opposition tried to win over the party masses and create illegal party structures. However, there was no unity between the oppositionists and I.V. Stalin succeeded, relying on the party apparatus obedient to him, to exclude the most prominent oppositionists from the party, and his main rival L.D. Trotsky in 1928 to expel from Moscow.
I.V. In his struggle for power, Stalin openly applied the resolution "On Party Unity," prohibiting factionalism and forcing the minority to accept the will of the majority. In the fight against political opponents I.V. Stalin increasingly began to rely on the organs of the OGPU, which began to move from spying on the opposition to open interference in the internal party struggle, giving trump cards to one side in the struggle against the other. The evidence obtained by the Chekists was increasingly used in political struggle and became the basis for organizing new political processes.
At the end of the 1920s, active legislative activity began, aimed at creating favorable conditions for the work of punitive bodies. The 3rd session of the III convocation of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on February 25, 1927 put into effect the first chapter of Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR "State Crimes". Work on the preparation of such processes began immediately.
In 1928, the Shakhty case was fabricated, in which the so-called bourgeois specialists were accused of industrial sabotage. Already at this trial, a very popular accusation was voiced afterwards in connection with the convicts with Western circles. At the end of 1928, the final chord of the reprisal against L.D. Trotsky and his supporters. L.D. himself Trotsky in January 1929 was expelled from the USSR, and his supporters were exiled to the periphery.
On the outskirts of the disintegrated empire, local communists, led by the Central Committee of the RCP (b), formed sovereign Soviet republics that formally converged outside Moscow's control: the Ukrainian SSR (December 1917). Byelorussian SSR (January 1919). Azerbaijan SSR (April 1920). Armenian SSR (November 1920), Georgian SSR (February 1921). The last three entered the Transcaucasian Federation in March 1922. The Soviet power, which was established in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, could not hold out there, burnt out in the flames of civil war and intervention.
From the moment of their emergence, the sovereign republics immediately found themselves within the framework of a general political union - already due to the uniformity of the Soviet state system and the concentration of power in the hands of a single Bolshevik party (republican communist parties were originally part of the RCP (b) as regional organizations).
During the years of the civil war, a new step was taken towards the rapprochement of the then Soviet republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia. By the decision of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of June 1, 1919, which followed soon after, their armed forces, economic councils, railway transport, and the people's commissariats of labor and finance were united. State ties were consolidated in 1920-1921. a series of bilateral agreements between the RSFSR and the republics, which expanded the general coordination functions of the Russian people's commissariats in the economic sphere. In the period of preparation for the international conference in Genoa, a diplomatic alliance of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian republics was formed (February 1922).
On December 30, 1922, the congress of plenipotentiaries of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Federation (I Congress of Soviets of the USSR) adopted the Declaration and Treaty on the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected the Central Executive Committee (CEC). In January 1924, the Second All-Union Congress of Soviets approved the Constitution of the USSR. The supreme body of power, she announced the All-Union Congress of Soviets, and between the congresses - the Central Executive Committee, which consisted of two equal chambers: the Union Council and the Council of Nationalities (the first was elected by the congress from representatives of the union republics in proportion to their population; the second included five representatives from each union and autonomous republic and one at a time from the autonomous regions). The highest executive body was the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. He was in charge of foreign affairs, the country's defense, foreign trade, communications, finances, etc. The Union republics were in charge of internal affairs, agriculture, education, justice, social security and health care.
In 1924, new union republics were created (with the abolition of the Khorezm and Bukhara People's Soviet Republics) - the Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR, in 1929 - the Tajik SSR, in 1936 - the Kazakh SSR and the Kirghiz SSR, in Azerbaijan, Armenia, After the dissolution of the Transcaucasian Federation, Georgia directly became part of the USSR. In parallel, new autonomous formations were established in the union republics themselves.
By the beginning of the 20s. the country faced not only a socio-political, but also a severe economic crisis. Industry, transport, the financial system of Russia were undermined as a result of the world and civil wars.
The new economic policy, launched at the X Congress of the RCP (b), was a whole system of measures to revive the Russian economy. The main efforts were directed against the growing food crisis, which could only be eliminated by raising agriculture. It was decided to liberate the producer, to give him incentives for the development of the economy. At first, this was supposed to be achieved by replacing the surplus appropriation with a tax in kind. The size of the tax was significantly less than the appropriation, it was progressive in nature, that is, it decreased if the peasant cared about increasing production, and allowed the peasant to freely dispose of the surplus products that he had left after the tax was passed.
Since the peasantry learned about the change in economic policy late, in the midst of the sowing campaign, they did not dare to go for a sharp increase in sown areas. In addition, the situation in agriculture was aggravated by the drought that hit the main grain regions of Russia and caused severe crop failure and hunger. The number of hungry in 1921, according to various estimates, ranged from 10 to 22 million people. A large number of hungry people began to leave the disaster areas and rushed to more prosperous areas. The state had to allocate huge funds to help the starving, the aid received from international organizations was used.
In 1922, reforms in agriculture were continued. The tax in kind was cut by another 10% over the previous year, and it was announced that the peasant was becoming free to choose the forms of land use. He was allowed to hire labor and lease land. This allowed the peasant to realize the benefits of the new economic policy and he began to increase grain production and harvest a large harvest. After the tax was passed to the state, the peasant had surpluses that he could dispose of freely and sell them on the market.
The government decided to create conditions for the free sale of surplus agricultural products. This was facilitated by the commercial and financial aspects of the New Economic Policy. The freedom to trade in grain was announced simultaneously with the transition from appropriation to the tax in kind. But at first it was understood as a direct product exchange between town and country. The priority was given to exchange through cooperatives rather than through the market. The peasantry found such an exchange unprofitable and V.I. In the fall of 1921, Lenin admitted that the exchange of goods between town and country had broken down and resulted in buying and selling at "black market" prices. I had to go to the removal of restrictions on free trade, encourage retail trade and put the private owner on an equal footing in trade with the state and cooperatives
Allowing trade required putting things in order in the financial system, which in the early 20s. existed only nominally. The state budget was formally drawn up, estimates of enterprises and institutions were also formally approved. All expenses were covered by printing unsecured paper money, so inflation was out of control.
Already in 1921 the state took a number of steps aimed at restoring financial policy. The status of the State Bank was approved, which switched to the principles of self-financing and was interested in receiving income from lending to industry, agriculture and trade. It was allowed to create commercial and private banks. Individuals and organizations could keep any amount of money in savings banks and banks and use deposits without restrictions. The government stopped uncontrolled financing of industrial enterprises that had to pay taxes to the budget and generate income for the state.
Then, measures were taken to stabilize the Russian currency, which were carried out during 1922-1924. As a result of the reform in the USSR, a unified monetary system was created, chervonets were issued, which became hard currency, as well as treasury notes, silver and copper coins.
The most difficult thing was the revival of industry. The industrial policy consisted in the denationalization of a large part of enterprises; the transfer of small and medium-sized enterprises into the hands of private and equity capital; reorientation of a part of large enterprises for the production of consumer goods and agricultural products; the transfer of large-scale industry to self-financing with the expansion of the independence and initiative of each enterprise, the creation of trusts and syndicates, etc. However, the industry did not respond well to reform and the measures taken led to the shutdown of a large part of industrial enterprises.
In the mid-20s. the development of the Soviet economy was contradictory. On the one hand, the successes of the New Economic Policy in reviving the country's economy were obvious. Agriculture practically restored the level of pre-war production, Russian grain again began to be sold on the world market, and funds for the development of industry began to accumulate in the countryside. The financial system of the state was strengthened, the government pursued a strict credit and tax policy. On the other hand, the situation in industry, especially in the difficult one, did not look very good. Industrial production by the mid-20s. still far behind the pre-war level, the slow pace of its development caused huge unemployment, which in 1923-1924. exceeded 1 million people.
The new economic policy went through a series of severe economic crises. In 1923, the disproportion between the increasing rates of development of agriculture and the practically stalled industry caused a "price crisis", or "price scissors". As a result, prices for agricultural products dropped sharply, while prices for manufactured goods continued to remain high. On these "scissors" the village lost half of its effective demand. The discussion of the "price crisis" turned into an open party discussion, and a way out was found in the use of economic methods. Prices for manufactured goods were reduced, and a good harvest in agriculture allowed the industry to find a wide and capacious market for selling its goods.
In 1925, a new crisis began, provoked by private traders of agricultural products. Their speculation led to the fact that prices for agricultural products rose sharply and the bulk of the profits went into the hands of the wealthiest peasants. Discussion about the "price crisis" flared up again among the Bolsheviks. The advocates of continuing to encourage the development of the agricultural sector and further concessions to the peasantry won again. However, hasty measures were taken to restrict the private owner on the market, which led to his disorganization.
The new crisis in economic policy was associated with the grain procurement difficulties of the winter of 1927-28, which went down in history as the “grain strike”. The peasants decided not to hand over their grain to the state, deciding to hold it until spring, when prices for it would rise. As a result, in large cities of the country there were disruptions in the supply of food to the population and the government was forced to introduce a rationing system for the distribution of food. During a trip to Siberia in January 1928, I.V. Stalin proposed to apply extraordinary measures of pressure on the peasants when carrying out grain procurements, including the use of the criminal code for grain harvesters, the forcible seizure of grain from peasants, the use of barrage detachments, etc. As soon as grain procurement difficulties were repeated again in the winter of 1928-29, the advocates of using economic methods to resolve the grain procurement crisis were removed from their posts, and the new economic policy was abandoned.
There are many reasons that led to the cancellation of the new economic policy. One of them was associated with the disproportionate development of the main sectors of the country's national economy. The successes in the restoration of agricultural production and the obvious lag in the rate of revival of industry led the NEP through a period of economic crises, which were extremely difficult to resolve by purely economic methods. Another contradiction developed between the economy, which was of a multi-structured nature, and the one-party political system, designed to use administrative-command methods of management. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the influence of the complex international situation on the USSR, which became especially aggravated by the end of the 1920s.
In order to be recognized by the capitalist states, the Soviet government tried to use the inter-imperialist contradictions, which intensified after the First World War.
First of all, the Soviet government settled relations with its closest neighbors, and already in the early 1920s. interstate relations were signed with Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Poland, Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Turkey. When concluding treaties with its western neighbors, the Soviet side often made large territorial concessions. This was explained both by the desire to protect oneself from possible aggression from the outside, and by the lingering hopes for an early world revolution. With its southern neighbors, Russia entered into more equal treaties of friendship and assistance.
The Soviet government was interested in establishing normal relations with the developed countries of the West, both political and economic. At the same time, based on the real situation, when the governments of England and France took an uncompromising position on the issue of returning the debts of the tsarist and Provisional governments and compensation for losses of foreign companies as a result of the nationalization of their property, the Soviet side could not count on the restoration of relations between Russia and the Entente countries. in full.
The collapse of the anti-Soviet bloc forced the Entente countries to reconsider their attitude towards Soviet power. Already in March 1921, an Anglo-Soviet trade agreement was concluded. The beginning of Russia's entry into the world community was evidenced by the participation of its official representatives at the Genoese (April-May 1922) and Lausan (November-December 1922) conferences, which discussed important international issues. During these conferences, it became clear that there was no unity between the Western countries regarding Russia and Soviet diplomacy was able to play on the existing contradictions.
The result was the conclusion of a number of treaties between Soviet Russia and Germany, which paid huge contributions to the Entente. In the context of the world isolation of these two countries, Soviet-German relations began in the 1920s. priority for them. These relations have outgrown purely political and economic frameworks and extended to the military field. The arrival in 1924 in England and France to the leadership of the left forces led to the establishment of diplomatic relations with these states. After that, the Soviet government was recognized by the majority of European states, as well as by China, Japan, and other states.
The development of international cooperation with the participation of the USSR was hampered by the fact that the Bolsheviks in the 1920s. did not give up hopes for a world revolution and continued to push it through the Comintern, which was aimed at organizing communist parties in various states of the world, orienting them towards destabilizing the situation in their countries. The events of 1923 in Bulgaria and Germany, which exacerbated relations between the USSR and the governments of these states, were examples of such a policy. In 1924, the right-wing circles of Great Britain used the so-called letter from Zinoviev, allegedly sent on behalf of the Comintern to the British communists, in order to deprive the Labor Party of power and aggravate Soviet-British relations. In 1926, the USSR was accused of supporting the British miners' strike, which led to a new aggravation of Soviet-British relations and even to their temporary break in 1927.
In the 20s. in Soviet Russia, cultural life was on the rise. In art and science, it was mainly representatives of the pre-revolutionary intelligentsia who worked. Naturalists V.I. Vernadsky, N.I. Vavilov, A.L. Chizhevsky, A.A. Friedman, K.E. Tsiolkovsky, N.E. Zhukovsky, philosophers N.A. Berdyaev, V.S. Soloviev, P.A. Florensky, economists A.V. Chayanov, N. D. Kondratyev, historian S.F. Platonov; into art - the artists V.V. Kandinsky, K.S. Malevich, A.M. Rodchenko, V.E. Tatlin, I.I. Brodsky, B.V. Ioganson, A.A. Deineka, K.S. Petrov-Vodkin, writers A.M. Gorky, E. Zamyatin, B. Pilnyak, A. Platonov and others. Listing these names in one line does not mean that their fate was the same.
The fate of a figure in science and art in the Soviet state depended on the policy that it pursued in the field of culture. The introduction of the new economic policy was accompanied by the revival of "bourgeois ideology", the expression of which was the "Smenovekhov movement". In the fight against him, the government used tough measures, creating censorship bodies such as Glavlit and the Glavrepetkom, as well as expelling dissidents outside the country. At the same time, in the 20s. scientific and creative discussions were allowed, there was a coexistence of such different trends in art as Proletkult, associations of avant-gardeists, futurists, "Serapion brothers", imagists, constructivists, "Left Front". The presence of pluralism in the cultural life of the country should be considered an achievement of this time.
Serious steps were taken to eliminate the illiteracy of the adult population, create the material base of public education, and form a network of cultural and educational institutions. However, in the absence of sufficient material resources, the Soviet state did not make any radical changes in raising the level of culture of broad strata of the population.
Significant changes took place in the 1920s. in the life of the population of Russia. Everyday life, as a way of everyday life, is different for different strata of the population. The living conditions of the upper strata of Russian society worsened, occupying the best apartments before the revolution, consuming high-quality food products, using the achievements of education and healthcare. A strictly class principle of distribution of material and spiritual values \u200b\u200bwas introduced and representatives of the upper strata were deprived of their privileges. At the same time, the Soviet government supported the representatives of the old intelligentsia that it needed through a system of rations, a commission to improve the life of scientists, etc.
During the NEP years, new strata arose that lived prosperously. These are the so-called Nepmen or the new bourgeoisie, whose way of life was determined by the thickness of their wallet. The party and state nomenklatura existed quite well, the position of which was directly dependent on how it performed its duties.
The way of life of the working class has changed dramatically. From the Soviet regime, he received the right to free education and medical care, the state provided him with social insurance and pension benefits, and through workers' schools supported his desire to obtain higher education. However, the weak development of industrial production during the NEP years, mass unemployment affected primarily the workers, whose standard of living directly depended on the size of wages.
Life of the peasantry in the 20s. changed slightly. Patriarchal relations in the family, common work in the field from dawn to dawn, the desire to increase their wealth characterized the way of life of the bulk of the Russian population. The peasantry for the most part became more prosperous, they developed a sense of the owner. The low-powered peasantry united in communes and collective farms, and set up collective labor. The peasantry was very worried about the position of the church in the Soviet state, for it linked its existence with religion.
The policy of the Soviet state in relation to the church in the 20s. was not permanent. At the beginning of the 20s. repressions fell on the church, church values \u200b\u200bwere seized under the pretext of the need to fight hunger. The state carried out an active anti-religious propaganda, created an extensive network of societies and periodicals of an anti-religious persuasion, introduced socialist holidays into the everyday life of Soviet people as opposed to religious ones, even decided to change the working week so that the days off did not coincide with Sundays and religious holidays.
As a result of this policy, a split occurred in the Orthodox Church, a group of priests formed a “living church”, abolished the patriarchate and advocated for the renewal of the church. Under Metropolitan Sergius, the church began to actively cooperate with the Soviet government. The state encouraged the emergence of new phenomena in the life of the church, directing repression against supporters of the preservation of the old order in the church
THEORY OF STUDY
From the rules of multi-theoretical study
1. Comprehension of objective historical facts is subjective.
2. Subjectively, three theories of study are distinguished: religious, world-historical (directions: materialistic, liberal, technological), local-historical.
3. The theory is determined by the subject of study and reflects the worldview of a person (group of people).
4. Each theory of study has its own literature, its own periodization, its own conceptual apparatus, its own explanations of historical facts.
literature of various theories
Vernadsky G.V. Russian history: Textbook. M., 1997. (local). Vert N. History of the Soviet state. 1900-1991. M., 1992; Ostrovsky V.P., Utkin A.I. Russian history. XX century. 11th grade: Textbook. for general education. study. institutions. M., 1995. (liberal). History of the USSR. The era of socialism. (1917-1957). Study guide / Under. ed. M.P. Kim. M., 1957; History of the USSR. The era of socialism. Study guide / Under. ed. Yu.S. Kukushkina. M., 1985; Munchaev Sh. M., Ustinov V. V. History of Russia. M., 2000; Markova A. N., Skvortsova E. M., Andreeva I. A. History of Russia. M., 2001 (materialistic).
1. Monographs: Choosing a Path. History of Russia 1861-1938 / Ed. O. A. Vaskovsky, A.T. Tertyshny. Yekaterinburg, 1995. (liberal). A. V. Kartashov History of the Russian Church: In 2 volumes. M., 1992-1993. (religious). Latsis O.R. The Turning Point: Experience in Reading Unclassified Documents. M; 1990. (liberal). Mau V. Reforms and dogmas. 1914-1929. M., 1993 (liberal). NEP: gains and losses. M., 1994 (liberal). Plimak E. Political testament of V.I. Lenin: Origins, essence, implementation. M., 1989 (materialistic). Trukan G.A. The path to totalitarianism. 1917-1929. M., 1994 (liberal). Pospelovsky D.V. Russian Orthodox Church in the XX century. M., 1995. (religious). Modernization: foreign experience and Russia / Otv. ed. Krasil'shchikov V.A.M., 1994 (technological).
2. Articles: Bondarev V.V. Stalin and Lenin // Motherland, 1995. №1. (liberal). Gorinov M.M., Tsakunov S.V. 20s: the formation and development of a new economic policy // History of the Fatherland: people, ideas, solutions. Essays on the history of the Soviet state. M; 1991. (liberal).
Concepts of various theories
Materialistic direction
Dictatorship of the proletariat
The power of the working class, established as a result of the socialist revolution and has the goal of building socialism and the transition of society to the building of communism.
Socialism
The first or lowest phase of communism. A state system in which social ownership of the means of production prevails, power belongs to the entire people, and there are no exploiting classes.
EXPLANATION of historical facts
In various theories of the historical process
Each theory chooses its facts from a variety of historical facts, builds its own causal relationship, has its own explanations in literature, historiography, studies its historical experience, makes its own conclusions and forecasts for the future.
REASONS FOR A NEW ECONOMIC POLICY
World history theory studies global development, human progress. (Worldview - obtaining maximum material wealth.)
The materialistic direction of world-historical theory, studying the progress of mankind, gives priority to the development of society, social relations associated with forms of property. It is based on revolutionary changes, class struggle, leading to the destruction of private property and the creation of public property. At the head of the study is collectivism, the future construction of a new society. (Worldview is the happiness of a creative society and a person in it).
Materialist historians (MP Kim, Yu. S. Kukushkin, and others) believe that NEP is the policy and practice of the Communist Party, calculated for the transition from capitalism to socialism. This period combines the features of capitalism and socialism in the economy. At the same time, finding political leadership in the hands of the Communist Party and maintaining the dictatorship of the proletariat are prerequisites. The essence of the NEP is the displacement of capitalist elements and a change in the psychology of the people (from private property (partition) to public property (everything in common). The NEP is historically logical for all countries of the world during the transition from capitalism to socialism. In the USSR, the NEP was carried out in 1921-1937. The emergence of interest of historians of the Soviet era in the study of the new economic policy was observed during the period of economic reforms carried out by NS Khrushchev, AN Kosygin and MS Gorbachev.This often led to the idealization of economic transformations of the 1920s and attempts to uncritically transferring them to a new historical era.
In the liberal direction of world-historical theory, priority in the study is given to the individual, its rights, granted by nature, and, above all, the right of private property. Based on evolutionary change, class collaboration and the inviolability of private property. At the head of the study is individualism, the present, the reality of the individual. (Worldview is the personal happiness of a person living in society).
Liberal historians (N. Werth, V. P. Ostrovsky, A. I. Utkin and others) cover the events of the Soviet period with reservations "on the one hand, on the other hand." On the one hand, they are impressed by the private property reforms, which the Bolsheviks undertook under the pressure of circumstances. In this regard, liberal historians described in sufficient detail the market mechanisms that were used in the Soviet economy during the NEP period, but emphasized the limitations of their application. The author emphasizes the one-sidedness of modernization development and disproportions in various industries.
On the other hand, attention is drawn to the fact that the experiment on admitting private property elements into the economy was carried out under conditions of the preservation of the Bolshevik dictatorship, which determined its short-lived nature. Rejecting the socialist idea as a whole, supporters of the liberal interpretation criticized all the practical activities of the Bolsheviks and defined the content of the NEP as a kind of system of subordinating the economy to the political goals of the Bolshevik Party, when the hopelessness of private property was originally intended.
All liberal historians agree that NEP is a purely Russian phenomenon caused by the crisis of the Civil War and the military-communist delusions of the Bolsheviks. In the conditions of the political monopoly of the Bolsheviks, private property was initially doomed, since the ruling party used the orthodox ideas of commodity-free socialism. They define the chronological framework of the NEP in the USSR in 1921-1928.
The technological direction of world-historical theory, studying the progress of mankind, gives priority in it to technological development and the accompanying changes in society. (Worldview is human happiness due to the progress of technology).
Supporters of the technological direction (V. A. Krasil'shchikov, S. A. Nefedov, etc.) believe that the revolution of 1917 - 1921. opens the second cycle in the history of domestic modernization - socialist. Socialist modernization was of a domineering, top-down character, as in the first cycle of Russian modernization. The NEP period is considered as a stage at which the possibility of socialist modernization was decided, which depended on which development trend would prevail: a return to the patriarchal order or the desire to accelerate the country's socio-economic development along the path of its industrialization.
The NEP period was characterized by hesitation among the leaders of the RCP (b) on the issue of their attitude to the forms of industrial and agricultural entrepreneurship borrowed from the West. Ultimately, the compromise option was rejected. Russia has embarked on the path of creating a state economy.
Comparative theoretical schemes
subject + historical fact \u003d theoretical interpretation
No. 1. Reasons for the New Economic Policy (NEP)
|
Name |
Thing studying (algorithm) |
|
| World Historical: Materialistic direction |
NEP is the policy and practice of the Communist Party, calculated on the transition from capitalism to socialism. This period combines the features of capitalism and socialism in the economy. Political leadership from the Communist Party is imperative. The political system is the dictatorship of the proletariat. Aimed at ousting the capitalist elements and changing the psychology of the people (from private property (division) to public property (everything in common). NEP is historically natural for all countries of the world during the transition from capitalism to socialism. The period of NEP in the USSR 1921-1937 |
|
| World Historical: Liberal direction |
NEP is a purely Russian phenomenon caused by the crisis of the Civil War and the military-communist delusions of the Bolsheviks. In the conditions of the political monopoly of the Bolsheviks, private property was initially doomed, since the ruling party used the orthodox ideas of commodity-free socialism. The period of the NEP in the USSR 1921-1928 |
|
| World Historical: Technological direction |
Technological progress. Modernization development. Scientific discoveries |
The period was characterized by hesitation among the leaders of the RCP (b) on the issue of their attitude to the forms of industrial and agricultural entrepreneurship borrowed from the West. Ultimately, the compromise option was rejected. Russia embarked on the path of creating a state economy |
№ 2. Assessment of the state of culture at the turn of the 20s. XX century
|
Name |
Thing studying (algorithm) |
Interpretations of a fact in various theories |
| World Historical: Materialistic direction |
Society progress. Formation development. Class struggle leading to the destruction of private property |
The traditions, habits, and spiritual values \u200b\u200bof the exploiting classes are being destroyed. A culture based on collectivism, mutual assistance and equality of all people is being established. A cultural revolution is being carried out with the aim of eliminating illiteracy (82% of the illiterate in Russia) and educating people of a new communist morality (man is a friend to man). |
| World Historical: Liberal direction |
Personality progress. Modernization development. Class cooperation based on private property |
Elimination of culture, both world and domestic. Physical destruction of the bearers of culture - the intelligentsia. Fitting by the totalitarian state of the creative, gifted personality-intellect to the average-national intellect. A liberated, creatively gifted person (writer, artist, composer, scientist), is in opposition to the regime that “averages” all people. Culture is subordinated to the interests of the ruling regime |