The USSR after World War II: how we were treated then. Rebuilding the USSR after World War II Soviet Union after World War II in brief

abstract on the academic discipline "History of Russia"

on the topic: "The USSR after World War II 1946 - 1953."

Plan

1. Introduction.

2. Domestic policy. Economy, industry, agriculture.

3. Foreign policy of the USSR in 1946-1953. Cold War, economic and political differences of the world's leading countries. Korean conflict.

4. The cultural life of the country in the postwar years.

5. Conclusion.

6. References.

1. Introduction.

The victory over Nazi Germany cost the USSR colossal victims. The European part of the country was in ruins, twenty-five million people were homeless, factories were destroyed, railways were blown up, and mechanized agriculture was close to zero. The state lost about twenty-four million people out of one hundred and ninety-four million people who inhabited the country before the war. Every fourth citizen of the country was injured or killed. In such a situation, the issue of restoring the national economy was very acute. The situation was further complicated by the fact that the severe drought of 1946 and the famine that followed it was added to the post-war devastation. In that terrible year, about one million people died from hunger and disease in our country. Unlike Western Europe, which received at least eighteen billion dollars from the United States, the Soviet Union had to rely solely on its own resources.

The five-year plan, aimed at restoring and developing the country's economy for 1946-1950, included issues of accelerated economic growth and people's living standards, as well as strengthening defense. This side of state development was generally a priority. It is impossible not to mention the nuclear project, which stood out not only for its high cost, but also for the global nature of the goal - to win the primacy from the United States in the field of atomic weapons. So, in accordance with this program, already in 1948, the USSR launched a reactor for the production of plutonium and very successfully tested an atomic bomb, and five years later - a hydrogen bomb.

The restoration of the economy and the economy, the development of culture and science proceeded under very harsh conditions - both external and internal. The external conditions are characterized by various conflicts, the division of the world into two parts, the rivalry between the USA and the USSR and, as a consequence, the "cold war".

Internal conditions in the country date back to the period of the 30s. After some weakening of ideological control, the authorities again began to "tighten the screws", repressions, reduce the peasantry to a slave position, suppress individual freedom, establish a solid bureaucratic apparatus and dictate personal power.

All these signs indicate that the situation of the victorious people has not improved at all, and the authorities did not make it their priority to change this situation. The restoration of the economy, industry and the national economy took place within the rigid framework of the totalitarian system.

2. Domestic policy. Economy, industry, agriculture.

The main tendency of the USSR's domestic policy was the final strengthening of the system beyond centralization and the command-bureaucratic system. All spheres of life were managed by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee. Absolute power was formed in the country (by analogy with the 30s) in the person of Stalin and his apparatus, which was practically disbanded. Instead of the proven "old guard", young people were recruited who were easier to manage. The All-Union Communist Party (Bolshevik) was renamed the KPSS (1952). But all state issues were resolved by Stalin and a small group of his entourage, and this happened at the leader's dacha in Kuntsevo.

The reasons for such indisputable power were, firstly, the undeniable authority of the leader, which had grown during the war years. The post-war period was also not conducive to democratization, since the most important issues had to be resolved in a hurry. By expanding the composition of the central organs - the Central Committee and the Politburo, Stalin thus solved two problems: he eliminated the old leaders, who aroused his suspicion, and brought up new ones - a younger generation that could continue his work, preserve the system he created. This was the second reason for the over-centralization of power in the country. And the third reason should be called the lack of unity in the ranks of the party, which was at some point discovered by Stalin.

As a result of all the actions taken, a special social system was formed. The main features, which were: the absence of an alternative to development (non-coincidence of views with Stalinism was declared an enemy and was subjected to severe punishment); the dictatorship of personal power (no decision was made without Stalin), which relied on the forces of the state security and the army; general bureaucracy that extended to all spheres of life. The only correct opinion was that of the party. Such a system had a negative impact on the social and personal development of citizens - it gave rise to equalization, lack of independence of thinking; turned society into an easily manageable herd.

And even in such conditions, Stalin continued to tighten his internal political course. Repressive campaigns resumed (1946 - early 1953); ideological campaigns were actively carried out. These harsh measures were the result of an internal party struggle for power in the ranks of the CPSU. Since the years of the Great Patriotic War were a period of weakening of ideological control (especially with regard to the intelligentsia or former prisoners of war), after its end the authorities sought to resume control over the minds. The actions taken against the former prisoners of war (arrests, camps, exile) testified to the tightening of measures.

Those who resisted collectivization, as well as Sovietization (this applies to some regions of Moldova, Western Ukraine, the Baltic States) were also subjected to repression.

The difficult economic situation, deprivation and difficulties, failures in overcoming them required the search and punishment of the "guilty". Repressions were also undertaken against them, which once again emphasized the antihumanism and injustice of the totalitarian system.

However, the victory in the war led Stalin to the idea that the system he created was the only correct one, and therefore it should be preserved by any means, and one of these methods was repression.

By tightening the internal political system to the extreme, Stalin thus created an ideally organized state machine capable of solving any problems in all spheres of life. Against this background, the economy was recovering.

The return to the usual way of life presupposed, first of all, the restoration of the economy and its transition to a peaceful track. The USSR was forced to do without outside help in solving its pressing problems.

The restoration of the economy and its partial reorganization to a peaceful model began gradually to be carried out since the summer of 1943, i.e. when there was a large-scale expulsion of the fascist invaders. I.V. Stalin, pronounced on February 9, 1946 in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, included the main theses of the program for the restoration and subsequent development of the national economy.

The five-year plan primarily envisaged the establishment of heavy industry, which was implemented at an accelerated pace. Donbass, Dneproges, machine-building and metallurgical plants of Ukraine and Russia, those that were under occupation during the war, were restored in a very short time. In addition, new enterprises were built, which turned out to be industrial giants in the literal sense of the word: Ust-Kamenogorsk Lead and Zinc Combine, Kaluga Turbine Plant, Transcaucasian Metallurgical Plant, Baku Electric Machine Building Plant, Minsk Tractor Plant and many other facilities; gas lines have been laid.

The Ural became the center of the nuclear industry, where uranium and plutonium were produced. To bring this type of industry to the forefront, not only new enterprises were built, but also entire cities.

Global changes also took place in the economies of the Union republics: Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Western Ukraine. New industrial branches were born there, such as electrical engineering, metalworking, machine building, oil shale and chemical. Large industrial construction was carried out in the Central Asian region, Kazakhstan.

For 1946 - 1950 managed to restore and rebuild at least six thousand two hundred enterprises. Industrial production showed significant growth, which, according to I.I. Shirokorad, “was based on the high mobility of the directive economy, which remained in the conditions of extensive development due to new construction, involving additional sources of raw materials, fuel, and human resources in production” [Shirokorad; 396].

It can be assumed that the scenario developed according to the pre-war model: the greatest attention was paid to heavy industry, while light and food industries were financed on a residual basis, which made the population's needs in this area unmet.

However, some measures were taken. First, the authorities introduced an eight-hour working day; secondly, overtime work, which had previously been compulsory, was canceled. But at the same time, a completely natural shortage of labor made itself felt, in turn provoking turnover, since each of the country's working population was looking for the most favorable working conditions. The process of restoring the national economy took place in very difficult conditions of a rather sharp increase in the migration flow, which was caused by the demobilization of the army and navy and the repatriation of citizens from the USSR, as well as the return of refugees. Nevertheless, these processes allowed to solve the problem of lack of labor.

The post-war restoration of the national economy is one of the most heroic pages in the history of our country. People, in spite of any difficulties and difficulties, worked with even greater dedication than in the 30s, overcoming want, cold and hunger. Their work today is equal to a feat. The restoration of metallurgy in the South and the mines of Donbass can be called a feat.

Reparations in the amount of four billion dollars received from Germany, as well as free labor of prisoners (Soviet citizens) and prisoners of war (German and Japanese) were significant help. Thus, by the 50s. all objects of the national economy of the USSR were restored.

The restoration of agriculture turned out to be more difficult, since the gross production in 1945 was much lower than in the pre-war years. The drought of 1946 - 1947 exacerbated the already difficult situation. Thus, the policy of siphoning funds for the benefit of industry and the city from the villages continued. Collective farmers, as before, practically did not have the rights and privileges that city residents enjoyed. Most of the villagers were deprived of passports, sick leave payments, and pension accruals. They kept their savings not in banks, but at home, and therefore the monetary reform that broke out in 1947 hit them the hardest. The peasants were in distress, below the poverty line. The collective farms, meanwhile, continued to enlarge, and the collectivization policy did not stop.

But even in such conditions, the peasantry made every effort to bring agriculture to the previous level and achieved this by the beginning of the 50s. However, the power in the person of Stalin continued to tighten the screws in all spheres of life, including the economy. The leader substantiated his policy in his own work "Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR" (1952). This work of Stalin reflected his reasoning about the need for all the actions taken: a ban on the restoration of market relations, giving preference to heavy industry, a rapid transition of agriculture to state rails. In addition to these questions, the leader also touched upon the problem of deficit, the appearance of which he justified, and declared that the needs of the people will always exceed the possibilities of production.

Restoring the economy, the party resorted to the attitude of the people to pre-war methods, namely, to demand from them maximum efficiency and enthusiasm, declaring the achievement of communism as the goal of their action.

On October 5-14, 1952, the 19th party congress was held (it is interesting that the gap between it and the previous congress was thirteen years), at which the leader spoke for the last time. The Congress decided to return the principle of the sequence of convocations, and also renamed the name of the party, which from that time began to bear the name of the CPSU. This was done in view of the designation of the main task of the party: to move towards communism.

However, the main priority was not the improvement of people's lives, but the establishment of heavy industry, as well as, in connection with the onset of the critical period called the Cold War, the active development of the defense industry, the main task of which was the creation of atomic weapons. For the implementation of this task, huge funds were allocated, and to the detriment of all other areas: consumer, social, cultural, agro-industrial. To overcome the US atomic monopoly, the country made huge sacrifices; in the first place, the people suffered, both in terms of welfare and in a cultural sense.

The process of oil production has acquired particular importance for the country. From the end of 1949, it began to be mined at the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The extraordinary potential of the West Siberian Plain was discovered in relation to fossil resources - gas and oil. Searches for both were crowned with extraordinary success there.

Large-scale restoration work was carried out on the railways, which were combined with the reconstruction of transport. Considerable funds were allocated for this, since the authorities realized the importance of the role of railway transport for the functioning of the economy. Already in 1956, the country completely abandoned steam locomotives, setting up the production of diesel locomotives and electric locomotives. Road and transport construction developed no less intensively, the largest highways were built: Petropavlovsk - Chu; Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Sovetskaya Gavan; Pechora-Vorkuta.

Thus, it can be argued that by 1950, the industry of the USSR exceeded the pre-war indicators by more than 70%, thanks to the mobilization of forces; German reparations; export of high quality equipment from factories in Japan and Germany; free labor of GULAG prisoners and prisoners of war; redistribution of funds in favor of heavy industry at the expense of other industries; forced purchase of government bonds by the population. loan.

The restoration of agriculture was also completed by this period (1950), but here, as in light industry, there were many problems: lack of grain, raw materials; increasing disparities between the countryside and the city. All industries that depended on agriculture continued to be backward.

In general, industrial centers were revived or rebuilt not only in the RSFSR, but also in those union republics that were almost completely destroyed during the war: Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic countries, Karelia, etc.

Successes in the development of industry allowed the USSR to create the basis for the future of the country and its national economy. The industrial base itself changed its location: it shifted to the east, where a new industrial complex with defense enterprises was created. The USSR, having acquired the status of a great power and having entered into confrontation with the United States, now spent most of its funds on the military-industrial complex (MIC).

The economy of the USSR of this period is characterized not only by the dominance of heavy industry, which developed at the expense of other industries, but also by the centralization of power, and particular rigidity in relation to the national economy. The policy of “pumping” funds from the countryside to the city continued without any compensation to the peasantry.

The country's development model returned to that of the 1930s, which contributed to considerable economic shocks and a crisis in society in the early 1950s.

3. Foreign policy of the USSR in 1946-1953. Cold War, economic and political differences of the world's leading countries. Korean conflict.

In the country's foreign policy of the post-war decade, two tasks were clearly distinguished. The first concerned those countries in which, after liberation from fascism and capitalist dependence, people's democracy was established. In these countries, it was necessary to establish a socialist regime and unite them into a socialist camp. The second task was aimed at establishing a special, very firm and even tough position in the outbreak of the Cold War. This position was aimed at defending the world socialist platform.

In realizing the first task, the Soviet Union has achieved very significant success. As early as 1945, communist regimes were established in North Vietnam and Yugoslavia; in 1946, a similar regime was introduced in Albania. In Eastern Europe, whose countries had freed themselves from fascism, communist governments began to appear to replace provisional coalition governments. This process took place in 1944-1946.

In 1946, the communist regime was proclaimed in Bulgaria, and the government was headed by Georgy Dimitrov (1882 - 1949). Soon, a new Constitution was adopted in the country, which is a copy of the Soviet Constitution. In 1947 the communist Boleslav Bierut (1892 - 1956) came to power in Poland.

In the same summer of 1947, Soviet communist leaders, party secretaries G.M. Malenkov (1902 - 1988) and A.A. Zhdanov (1896 - 1948) came to the conclusion that in the countries of the future social. camps formed suitable conditions for the transition to the implementation of the communist regime. As a result, the process of ousting representatives of other parties from leading positions by the communists in the countries of Eastern Europe begins. Therefore, the coming to power of Matthias Rakosi (1892 - 1971) in Hungary (1947) and Gheorghe Georgiu-Deja (1901 - 1965) in Romania turns out to be a completely natural process. As a result, on December 30, 1947, the Romanian People's Republic was proclaimed.

The events that took place in Czechoslovakia during this period are complex and ambiguous. In 1948, a difficult struggle for power began there. The country was then led by the National Unity Party, led by Edward Benes (1884 - 1948). He was the president of Czechoslovakia before the German occupation (1938), and during the Second World War he collaborated with the communists, so his candidacy did not cause any protest from Stalin. But after the installation of Malenkov and Zhdanov, Clement Gottwald (1896 - 1953), the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, began to struggle to power. The communists began to actively organize workers' demonstrations, mass demonstrations, with the help of which Benes and his entourage were overthrown from the main posts in the government. Despite the appearance of a coalition of social forces, power in Czechoslovakia was seized by the communists. At the same time, E. Benes resisted for almost a month and refused to sign a document approving a new, socialist Constitution. Even when he resigned, he did not sign the Constitution. Clement Gottwald (1896 - 1953) became the country's president, who finally approved the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

The socialist trend began to spread in East Asia: in 1948 the communist system was established in North Korea, and in 1949 in China, where the government was headed by Mao Zedong (1893-1976). All these processes were facilitated by the foreign policy of the Soviet Union.

I.V. Stalin found support in military strength. He used the diktat method not only in his own country, but also in relations with the leaders of the listed states, showing them what domestic and foreign policy to pursue. They were forced to carry out all his instructions, since they received enormous material assistance from the USSR. In total, from 1945 to 1952, they received loans from our country in the amount of at least three billion dollars, and these loans were long-term and concessional. According to A.V. Zakharevich, the formalization of the economic unity of the socialist camp took place in 1949, when the CMEA - the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was organized, and the military community took shape after Stalin's death - in May 1955 - with the creation of the Warsaw Pact Organization [Zakharevich; 659].

This commonwealth was distinguished by a very strict framework, which did not allow the slightest deviation from the socialist model, of which the Soviet Union was an example. Indicative in this respect is the story of Yugoslavia, whose leader Josip Broz Tito (1892 - 1980) wanted to lead the country according to his own idea of \u200b\u200bsocialist development, proposing to create the so-called. the Balkan Federation. He began to implement this idea, using American assistance under the "Marshall Plan", but Stalin prevented this in the most decisive way. So, October 1949 is marked by the severance of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia, as a result of which this Balkan state is isolated from the rest of the social services. camp.

The Yugoslav case forces Stalin to tighten order in the countries of the socialist camp. So, for example, in Poland, according to Stalin's plan, a Beryut dictatorship is established. K.K. was sent to the country. Rokossovsky (1896 - 1968) as Minister of Defense and Marshal. At the same time, he did not obey the Polish leader, but carried out only Stalin's orders. The key posts of the Polish army were now also occupied by Soviet officers. Soon there was a wave of arrests of officers who were previously in the ranks of the Regional Army, then those who in the late 1930s. fought in Spain against fascism. Further, those who, for whatever reason, turned out to be objectionable to the authorities, fell under repression.

The repressions were carried out by L.P. Beria (1899 - 1953), i.e. MGB officers. Similar actions were carried out in other countries of the socialist camp. Even the outward features of Soviet socialism - the ideal model for all countries with this regime - were perceived and assimilated by the socialist states. This is evidenced by such attributes of the era as mausoleums for deceased leaders; active inculcation of slogans, etc.

Germany turned out to be a more difficult problem. In 1948, the first Berlin crisis happened there - at the time of the blocking of the western parts of the German capital by Soviet troops. The allies at the head of the United States were forced to create the so-called. "Air bridge" to supply West Berlin. In May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was formed, while the German Democratic Republic was created in the Soviet zone. The emergence of two different states on the territory of one, previously integral, led to an outburst of provocations, conflict situations on the border between them. In order to avoid such clashes in the future, a concrete wall was erected in Berlin, on the border of the FRG and the GDR, which divided the German people into two parts for half a century. The Berlin Wall did not resolve the contradictions, but, on the contrary, exacerbated them, and in the future, Stalin's heirs were forced to adjust the previous course.

Thus, the first task of the USSR's foreign policy - the introduction and establishment of the Soviet model of the socialist regime in the socialist countries - was fully implemented.

The second challenge, the special position in the Cold War, was more difficult to achieve. The term "cold war" is used to refer to the confrontation in all spheres of political and public life between the USSR and the United States and their allies. The Cold War lasted for quite a long time - from 1946 to 1989.

The Cold War began with a speech by W. Churchill (1874-1965) in 1946 at Fulton. The main topic of this speech was the "communist threat". Stalin saw this speech as a call for war between the two powers. In the next year, 1947, G. Truman (1884 - 1972) developed a program to rescue Europe from Soviet expansion. The United States had two main tasks in relation to the USSR: to prevent further expansion of the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, the spread of communist ideology, and to force the USSR to leave that part of Europe where it managed to build a socialist camp.

Thus, the post-war confrontation between the United States and the USSR reflected strong ideological prejudices on both sides. The West actively disliked the spread of communist influence in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Europe and Asia. And the USSR also showed open hostility to the capitalist world. In 1945, neither the USSR nor the Western countries yet knew the final boundaries that would be established in Europe, divided into West and East. The borders were clearly delineated only in Germany.

Germany was inundated with numerous Soviet divisions that outnumbered British and American forces. The borders of the zones where the troops were stationed quickly turned into the borders of an armed confrontation. This situation did not correspond to the Potsdam Agreements of 1945; in political and economic terms, Germany had to be considered as a single whole. Mutual suspicion grew; East and West accumulated mutual grievances.

After the defeat of Germany, the European problems seemed to America not so much military as economic and political. Implementing the Potsdam agreements proved to be quite difficult - the USSR was a very uncomfortable ally. As tensions escalated further, America felt safe with a nuclear monopoly. In such circumstances, neither the Americans nor the Russians were willing to share their military secrets with each other. But a few years later - sooner than anyone expected, the Soviet Union created its own nuclear bomb. Then other countries followed. The United States tried to use its temporary advantage in order to prevent a nuclear arms race.

In June 1946, the Americans proposed the Baruch plan, according to which the UN International Commission on Nuclear Energy was supposed to exercise control over all stages of the production of nuclear weapons - from the production of raw materials to nuclear plants. But at the same time, the Americans wanted to keep their nuclear bombs until all stages of control and supervision were finally developed. Thus, the Soviet Union would have to reveal its nuclear secrets, while the United States would continue to have a monopoly on the nuclear weapon. Naturally, the USSR could not allow such a thing, and therefore put forward another plan - a plan to ban the production of nuclear weapons and the destruction of existing ones (that is, American) - and vetoed the American proposals.

Since the USA and the USSR lacked mutual trust, no plan was implemented. The Soviet Union tried to catch up with the Americans, and they were not going to give up the already achieved advantage. At the same time, it was imperative for Washington to sort out Stalin's intentions. Everyone agreed that the USSR was very concerned about its security, since Stalin isolated the country from the rest of the world for a long time, building up its industrial and military potential at the expense of people's living standards.

It is obvious that the war aggravated the situation on the world stage and changed the balance of forces. The United States claimed to be the world leader. The USSR, which managed to recover after a bloody war and huge losses, had a powerful army for this period of time and wanted to use the deployment of its own armed forces at its discretion. The interests of the USA and the USSR were clearly at odds. But it was these states that turned out to be the main actors in the political arena. Other states no longer had the potential for serious play. Great Britain and France lost their former power, and their interests focused on the colonies. Japan, Italy and Germany also no longer had political influence and military power. Their territories were occupied, and the economy was in need of restoration. These conditions contributed to the appearance on the main stage of the USSR and the USA.

At the center of the confrontation between the two powers was the nuclear issue. The allies in the anti-Hitler coalition became enemies. The United States cherished plans to destroy the USSR with nuclear weapons. In all likelihood, they did not expect the Soviet Union to acquire its own nuclear weapons.

Therefore, the United States had to apply other measures, such as providing economic assistance to Europe, the formation of a military-political bloc (NATO), the deployment of American military bases near the Soviet borders, and support for oppositions within the socialist countries. The United States still uses these methods today.

Thus, there are several reasons for the Cold War:

1. Stalin and his entourage believed that the capitalist system was doomed to extinction, and the socialist system was the only way for the future development of the world community. The opposite opinion was held by the capitalist countries. Each of the ideological opponents set world domination as their goal.

2. The invasion of the USSR during World War II through Poland, Romania, Finland and Hungary (countries hostile to the USSR) forced Stalin to change the regime in these countries (except Finland) in order to secure the borders and prevent similar invasions in the future.

3. The growth of the influence of communism in Europe in the post-war period, due to the fact that it was the communists who were the most active anti-fascists. This circumstance was particularly disliked by the United States.

4. The US monopoly on nuclear weapons provoked them to pursue ambitions of world domination. Stalin, on the contrary, saw the way out in the destruction of nuclear weapons.

The year 1947 turned out to be a period when the confrontation between the parties was especially evident. This was largely due to the program of General J. Marshall (1880 - 1959), which involved providing assistance to countries affected by the Second World War. The USSR was also invited to the conference on this matter, but Stalin regarded this proposal as a threat from the United States, since the implementation of the program would mean the loss of control over the European social services. camp. At Stalin's insistence, the countries of Eastern Europe also refused to participate in the program.

The Cold War provoked the creation of various military and political blocs. This is how the Alliance (NATO, 1949) appeared, which included the USA, Canada and some countries of Western Europe; military-political alliance of Australia, the USA and New Zealand (ANZUS, 1951). Later, after Stalin's death, other similar associations emerged.

The USSR, in retaliation, formed the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in 1949, aimed at supporting the socialist countries and, first of all, in economic terms.

This confrontation led to the emergence of very complex crisis situations in the world: the Berlin crisis, the Soviet-Yugoslav conflict, the Korean conflict.

The Korean conflict can be called the most acute conflict of the early 50s. We are talking about the war between South and North Korea (1950 - 1953). This conflict has demonstrated to the whole world that there are very shaky borders between the "cold" and "hot" war, and the former can easily turn into the latter. Stalin felt that it was necessary to intervene in the situation. He instructed the DPRK army to cross the border of its neighbors and deploy military operations on their territory. Stalin's goal was to reunite the country in order to force South Korea to follow the socialist path of development.

Participants in the conflict were the US army, which arrived in time to help South Korea with the permission of the UN. Thanks to this intervention, South Korean and American troops managed to stop the moving army of North Korea (this happened near Seoul itself) and launch a counteroffensive. Such a reversal of the scenario contributed to the fact that Soviet volunteers entered the conflict, among whom the pilots, who were able to take a priority position in the Korean sky and suppress the aircraft of the warring side, stood out. Volunteers and advisers came from other branches of the military, as well as the Chinese allies. Thus, the US-Korean counteroffensive was stopped. In light of the current circumstances, the United States began to think about the use of nuclear weapons in North Korea, and only similar actions on the part of the USSR (an order given by Stalin) prevented them from making this fatal mistake.

As a result, in the summer of 1951, the conflict entered a phase of stabilization and froze at the stage of trench warfare. There were no changes on either side. The problem could only be solved by negotiations, which were soon started by the opponents. On July 27, 1953, the parties signed a peace treaty, under the terms of which everything returned to its previous position. The agreement was signed after Stalin's death. If this had not happened, then the further development of the situation is difficult to predict.

So, the "cold war" was another test for the whole world. It contributed to the growth of tension, created a very unstable situation, and reduced the possibilities for the settlement of various conflicts. Financial aid to the socialist countries had a negative impact on the USSR economy.

4. The cultural life of the country in the postwar years.

Like all spheres of public life, the country's culture after the end of the war also required restoration. A lot of money and effort were thrown into this. New educational institutions were opened, monuments of culture and art were restored, new works of literature and painting were written, films were shot.

I.V. Stalin wanted Soviet culture to be easily recognizable, to make it clear anywhere in the world: this film, book, picture, music was created in the USSR. Socialist realism became such a special sign - a particular method of creativity, with the help of which it was planned to ideologically re-educate the working people in the spirit of socialism. Behind this was the adaptation of literature and art to the urgent needs of communist propaganda and current practical tasks. The social benefit of the work was recognized as much more important and significant than its artistic merit.

According to V.M. Solovyov, in those days there was a common joke that socialist realism is “a reliable and grateful way of praising the authorities in the forms accessible to the creator” [Soloviev; 638].

Under the auspices of socialist realism in literature and art, works multiplied that painted rainbow pictures of life in the country, but they were not of artistic value. But even in this difficult time for culture, highly artistic poetry and prose, painting and graphics, music, theater and cinema were born, despite the strict control of the party and the state. And, of course, the great heritage of Russian culture was a fertile breeding ground for artists.

The originality of the Stalinist era was also manifested in architecture. One of the hallmarks of Russian culture was a wooden mausoleum, in which the body of the deceased Lenin was placed (1924). Later, a stone tomb was erected (such cult towers, ziggurats, in several tiers connected by stairs and ramps, were built in Ancient Mesopotamia), during the construction of which the famous monument to Minin and Pozharsky was moved to the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed.

The three-stage pyramid with a sarcophagus inside became not only the last refuge of the leader of the revolution, but also "the main tribune of the country, where during the holidays, military parades, demonstrations and other solemn occasions, the leaders of the party and government stood, welcoming the people" [Solovyov; 672]. The author of this project was the architect A.V. Shchusev (1873 - 1949).

The Soviet leadership also had another architectural idea for a long time - the construction of the Palace of Soviets, which was supposed to become the largest building in the world, on top of which it was supposed to erect a giant figure of Lenin, eighty meters in size. The authors of the project were B.M. Iofan (1891 - 1976), V.A. Shchuko (1878 - 1939) and V.G. Gelfreich (18895 - 1967). By 1940, eleven floors were erected, after which the process was stopped due to erroneous calculations, and the constructed building was not able to hold the gigantic statue of the leader of the revolution.

In order to erect the Palace of Soviets, the authorities blew up a priceless Russian shrine - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It was calculated to make the Palace a symbol of worship of the people, which, in addition, would become the main axis, the vertical of the capital, around which the famous Stalinist skyscrapers would form.

Each of them was built on the site of the demolished bell towers. All these seven grandiose structures: the Foreign Ministry tower on Smolenskaya Square, buildings on Kotelnicheskaya embankment and on Kudrinskaya square, hotels "Ukraine" and "Leningradskaya", a skyscraper at the Red Gate, the Moscow State University pyramid on Vorobyovy cities - all of them, despite their controversy, are magnificent fit into the space, since Soviet architects followed exactly in the footsteps of ancient Russian architects. V.M. Solovyov writes: “The destroyed belfries were at one time placed in the most advantageous points of the city for viewing, and therefore the monumental seven, by the will of the leader and through the efforts of the court architects, ousted the magnificent Old Moscow architectural ensemble that once adorned the Mother See” [Solovyov; 643].

Thus, ideology becomes the main core of culture, which is expressed both externally and internally. Art and literature were supposed to develop according to the laws of the party, i.e. following the Marxist-Leninist teaching, despite the fact that the ideas of both K. Marx and V.I. Lenin by that time were already outdated, because reality had gone far ahead of them. Nevertheless, the authorities strictly monitored the ideological purity of culture, public and even private life of citizens.

In the second half of the 40s. special party decrees were issued, covering the requirements for representations of culture and art. The loudest was the resolution of 1946, which appeared in the magazines Leningrad and Zvezda, directed against the prominent representatives of Soviet literature - M.M. Zoshchenko, A.A. Akhmatova and others. After this action, neither Zoshchenko nor Akhmatova could be published anywhere; lost all their livelihood. Both were expelled from the Writers' Union.

A.A. Zhdanov, who was the author of the unjust and offensive decision, soon expanded the range of his accusations and switched to cinema, theater and music. He demanded to protect Soviet art from Western influence. Such cultural figures as S.I. Yutkevich (1904 - 1985), A.P. Dovzhenko (1894 - 1956), L.D. Lukov (1909 - 1963), S.A. Gerasimov (1906 - 1985), S. Eisenstein (1898 - 1948) and the second part of his film "Ivan the Terrible". However, the artists continued to create. They found a way out in addressing the themes of sports, history, art, film adaptations of literary works. These are the films of V.I. Pudovkin (1893 - 1953), A.M. Zguridi (1904 - 1988), M.I. Zharova (1899 - 1981), A.M. Rooma (1894 - 1977), A.G. Zarchi (1908 - 1997), J.E. Kheifits (1905 - 1995), L.O. Arnshtam (1905 - 1979), A.L. Ptushko (1900 - 1973), A.B. Stolper (1907 - 1979), A.V. Frolov (1909 - 1967) and many other cinematographers.The next decree of the authorities concerning the opera hit the outstanding composers of the era: S.S. Prokofiev (1891 - 1953), D.D. Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), A.I. Khachaturian (1903 - 1978), V.I. Muradeli (1908 - 1970).

However, despite such circumstances: control, framework and prohibitions, Soviet culture in the post-war decade achieved outstanding success in almost all spheres: literature, painting, cinema. In literature, these are poetic geniuses: A.A. Akhmatova, M.I. Tsvetaeva, O.F. Bergholz. (1910 - 1975), the most talented poets A.T. Tvardovsky (1910 - 1971), K.M. Simonov (1915 - 1979), N.A. Zabolotsky (1903 - 1958), as well as major achievements in prose: M.A. Sholokhov (1905 - 1984), B.L. Pasternak (1890 - 1960) and his novel Doctor Zhivago, which was begun in 1946 and finished in 1955; A.I. Solzhenitsyn (1918 - 2008), who, although he was in the camps during the reign of Stalin, was actively involved in creativity. Names such as A.N. Tolstoy (1883 - 1945), V.P. Kataev (1897 - 1986), V.F. Panov (1905 - 1973), K.G. Paustovsky (1892 - 1986), L.M. Leonov (1899 - 1984), V.A. Kaverin (1902 - 1989), B.N. Polevoy (1908 - 1981) and other writers.

In general, the literature of this period was of a custom-made, opportunistic character, at times reaching the point of absurdity. The main purpose of such literature was to praise the Soviet regime and the leader, socialist achievements, etc. Literature of this type was a distortion of reality.

If we talk about painting, then here it is necessary to note the desire of artists to capture the heroic pages of the Great Patriotic War. In this context, the names of such painters as A.I. Laktionov (1910 - 1972), V.N. Kostetsky (1905 - 1968), S.V. Gerasimov (1885 - 1964), Yu.M. Neprintsev (1909 - 1996), F.P. Reshetnikov (1906 - 1988).

The theme of labor was perfectly embodied in the works of A.A. Plastov (1893 - 1972) - the creator of such canvases as "Dinner of Tractor Drivers" (1951), "Spring" (1945), "Collective Farm Current" (1949). The outstanding artist P.D. Corinne (1892 - 1967). In the landscape, S.V. Gerasimov is the author of the paintings "Early Spring" and "Early April".

Monumental painting and sculpture became widespread. This circumstance is due to the peculiarities of ideology, and the active construction of the subway, the opening of new stations, which were decorated with monumental frescoes, mosaic canvases and stained glass windows. In this context, the works of P.D. Korina, whose mosaics can be seen at the Komsomolskaya-Koltsevaya station (1951).

Monumental sculpture developed in connection with the great need of society to erect monuments to the heroes of the last war, both ordinary soldiers and military leaders.

A difficult situation has developed in science. A big blow to biology and agriculture was dealt by a monopoly group of administrative scientists led by T.D. Lysenko (1898 - 1976), who were strongly opposed to the development of classical genetics. The only correct views were the simplified views on the hereditary abilities of the organism of Lysenko himself. This state of affairs was explained by the fact that Lysenko, having managed to understand the current trend, promised the country's leadership in a short time to raise agriculture on the basis of his method. For a while, he managed to create the illusion of a good result. But in the future, Lysenko was removed from the leadership, however, not only the country's economy, but also many really talented scientists who were really able to correct the situation suffered from his activities.

A breakthrough was made in the development of nuclear physics. Physicists such as I.V. Kurchatov (1903 - 1960), P.L. Kapitsa (1894 - 1984), A.F. Joffe (1880 - 1960), V.G. Khlopin (1890 - 1950). A specially created committee for work on the atomic bomb was personally headed by L.P. Beria (1899 - 1953). Soviet scientists managed to create their own version of the atomic bomb without copying the American atomic bomb. However, this did not save them from a repressive attack. Soon a war began against cybernetics and quantum theory, and only the intervention of I.V. Kurchatov, who managed to convey to Stalin the idea of \u200b\u200bthe inevitable disruption of the atomic bomb project, saved nuclear physicists from reprisals.

So, on the basis of all of the above, we can conclude that the entire cultural and scientific life of the country was under the close control of the state, within a rigid ideological framework. But, despite this, in art, literature, and science, one should note the flight of thought, new discoveries and achievements. However, both science and culture served the state and were aimed at strengthening it.

5. Conclusion.

The period of post-war Stalinist rule (1946 - 1953) belongs to the most difficult periods in the history of the country. The economy and the national economy destroyed after the war demanded restoration. Applying the "tightening the nuts" mode, I.V. Stalin was able to achieve considerable achievements in the heavy and defense industries at the expense of other sectors of the economy. The situation with agriculture was especially difficult. The peasantry, which was in a powerless position, worked for free on the collective farms. All this happened against the backdrop of continuing collectivization and the transfer of funds from the countryside to the city.

The country's domestic policy was distinguished by extreme centralization and the dictatorship of personal power by I.V. Stalin, ideological control, massive repressive measures against unwanted people, a well-established bureaucratic apparatus. All this made it possible to form an obedient and like-minded society.

Culture also fulfilled the task of forming such a society. Works of literature, painting, cinema, theater and music were supposed to affirm the role of the party and the leader in the life of the people, to praise socialist achievements. Everything that went beyond these limits was persecuted.

Foreign policy I.V. Stalin is characterized by no less rigid authoritarianism. It was he who managed to create an extensive socialist camp on the territory of Eastern Europe and part of Asia, i.e. the second part of the post-war world, split into two parts - capitalist and socialist.

This was one of the main external tasks of the leader of the USSR, which he managed to accomplish. The second task is to win the struggle for world domination against the strongest nuclear power - the United States. The creation of the Soviet nuclear bomb allowed the USSR to occupy no less strong positions than America, but this did not strengthen the position in the world.

On the contrary, it was shaken in connection with the unfolding "cold war" - an acute confrontation between the capitalist and socialist worlds. The Cold War went through several stages of development: from the organization of various military blocs and disagreements between them to the split of the world community into the allies of the USSR and the United States to its culmination: the creation of NATO and the Korean and Berlin conflicts.

6. References.

1. Grenville J. History of the twentieth century. People. Events. Facts / J. Grenville. - M .: Aquarium, 1999 .-- 896 p.

A. V. Zakharevich History of the Fatherland / A.V. Zakharevich. - M .: ITK .: Dashkov and K˚, 2005 .-- 756 p.

2. History of Russia / Edited by I.I. Shirokorad. - M .: PER SE, 2004 .-- 496 p.

3. Konov A.A. USSR in 1946 - 1953 / A.A. Konov. - Yekaterinburg, 2006 .-- 31 p.

Kravchenko A.N. Culturology / A.N. Kravchenko. - M .: Academic Project; Tricksta, 2003 .-- 496 p.

4. Kudrin OV, Bolotskaya R. Great film directors of the world. One hundred stories about people who changed cinema / O.V. Kudrin, R. Bolotskaya. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2012 .-- 479 p.

5. Culturology. The history of Russian culture. A team of authors. - SPb., 2005 .-- 220 p.

6. Mikhailov N.A. Pavel Korin / N.A. Mikhailov. - Moscow: Fine Arts, 1982 .-- 104 p.

7. Nikulin V.V., Slezin A.A. Post-war Soviet Union (1946 - 1991) / V.V. Nikulin, A.A. Slezin. - Tambov: Publishing house of TSTU, 2005 .-- 156 p.

8. Kissyev V.A. History of Russia of the XX century. - M .: VLADOS, 1997 .-- 512 p.

9. Solovyov V.M. Russian culture. From ancient times to the present day / V.M. Soloviev. - M .: Bely Gorod, 2004 .-- 736 p.

10. 50 years of Soviet art. Painting. - M .: Soviet artist, 1967 .-- 474 p.

The Allies did not celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany for long. Soon after the end of the war, the Iron Curtain separated them. The democratic and "progressive" West saw a new threat in the face of the "totalitarian" communist regime of the USSR.
Waiting for change

Following the results of World War II, the USSR finally entered the number of superpowers. Our country had a high international status, which was emphasized by membership in the UN Security Council and the right of veto. The only competitor of the Soviet Union in the international political arena was another superpower - the United States of America. Unsolvable ideological contradictions between the two world leaders made it impossible to hope for a stable relationship.

For many political elites in the West, the radical changes that have taken place in Eastern Europe and some countries in the Asian region have come as a real shock. The world was divided into two camps: democratic and socialist. The leaders of the two ideological systems of the USA and the USSR in the first post-war years did not yet understand the limits of each other's tolerance, and therefore took a wait-and-see attitude.

Harry Truman, who succeeded Franklin Roosevelt as US President, advocated a tough opposition to the USSR and the communist forces. Practically from the first days of his presidency, the new head of the White House began to revise allied relations with the USSR - one of the fundamental elements of Roosevelt's policy. For Truman, intervention in the post-war organization of the countries of Eastern Europe without taking into account the interests of the USSR was of principle, and if necessary, then from a position of strength.

West acts

The first to break the lull was British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who instructed the chiefs of staff to assess the prospects for a military invasion of the USSR. The plan for Operation Unthinkable, scheduled for July 1, 1945, provided for a lightning-fast attack on the USSR with the aim of overthrowing the communist government. However, the British military considered such an operation impossible.

Very soon the West acquired a more effective means of pressure on the USSR. On July 24, 1945, during a meeting at the Potsdam Conference, Truman hinted to Stalin about the creation of an atomic bomb by the Americans. “I naturally remarked to Stalin that we have a new weapon of extraordinary destructive power,” Truman recalled. The American president felt that Stalin showed little interest in this message. However, the Soviet leader understood everything and soon gave an order to Kurchatov to reproach the development of his own nuclear weapons.

In April 1948, a plan developed by US Secretary of State George Marshall came into force, which, under certain conditions, assumed the restoration of the economies of European countries. However, in addition to assistance, the "Marshall Plan" provided for the gradual ousting of the communists from the power structures of Europe. Former US Vice President Henry Wallace condemned the Marshall Plan, calling it a Cold War tool against Russia.

Communist threat

Immediately after the war in Eastern Europe, with the active assistance of the Soviet Union, a new politicized bloc of the socialist commonwealth countries began to form: left forces came to power in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Moreover, the communist movement gained popularity in a number of Western European countries - Italy, France, Germany, Sweden.

In France, as never before, there was a high probability that the communists would come to power. This caused discontent even in the ranks of European politicians who sympathized with the USSR. During the war, the leader of the French Resistance, General de Gaulle, directly called the communists "separatists", and the general secretary of the French section of the Workers' International, Guy Mollet, told the communist deputies in the National Assembly: "You are not from the left or from the right, you are from the East."

The British and US governments openly accused Stalin of attempting a communist coup in Greece and Turkey. Under the pretext of eliminating the communist threat from the USSR, 400 million dollars were allocated to provide assistance to Greece and Turkey.

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The countries of the Western bloc and the socialist camp embarked on the path of ideological war. The stumbling block continued to be Germany, which the former allies, despite the objection of the USSR, offered to divide. Then the Soviet Union was unexpectedly supported by French President Vincent Oriol. “I find this idea absurd and dangerous to divide Germany in two and use it as a weapon against the Soviets,” he said. However, this did not save from the division of Germany in 1949 into the socialist GDR and the capitalist FRG.

Cold war

Churchill's speech, which he delivered in March 1946 in the American Fulton in the presence of Truman, can be called the starting point of the Cold War. Despite the flattering words addressed to Stalin a few months ago, the British prime minister accused the USSR of creating an iron curtain, “tyranny” and “expansionist tendencies,” and called the communist parties of the capitalist countries the “fifth column” of the Soviet Union.

Disagreements between the USSR and the West were increasingly drawing the opposing camps into a protracted ideological confrontation, which at any moment threatened to turn into a real war. The creation in 1949 of the military-political NATO bloc brought the likelihood of an open clash closer.

On September 8, 1953, the new President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, wrote to Secretary of State Dulles about the Soviet problem: "In the present circumstances, we should consider whether it is not our duty to future generations to start a war at an opportune moment of our choice."

Nevertheless, it was during the Eisenhower presidency that the United States somewhat softened its attitude towards the USSR. The American leader has more than once initiated joint negotiations, the parties have become substantially closer in their positions on the German problem, and have agreed to reduce nuclear weapons. However, after an American spy plane was shot down over Sverdlovsk in May 1960, all contacts ceased.

The cult of personality

In February 1956, Khrushchev spoke at the XX Congress of the CPSU condemning the personality cult of Stalin. This event, unexpectedly for the Soviet government, hit the reputation of the Communist Party. Criticism against the USSR rained down from all sides. Thus, the Swedish Communist Party accused the USSR of concealing information from foreign communists, the CPSU Central Committee "generously shares it with bourgeois journalists."

In many communist parties of the world, groupings were created depending on the attitude towards Khrushchev's report. Most often it was negative. Some said that the historical truth was distorted, others considered the report premature, and still others were completely disappointed in communist ideas. At the end of June 1956, a demonstration took place in Poznan, the participants of which carried the slogans: "Freedom!", "Bread!", "God!", "Down with communism!"

On June 5, 1956, the American newspaper The New York Times reacted to the high-profile event by publishing the full text of Khrushchev's report. Historians believe that the material of the speech of the head of the USSR came to the West through the Polish communists.

Lecture plan:

Foreign policy of the USSR in the postwar years. "Cold War" as a form of interstate confrontation.

Reconstruction of the national economy after the Great Patriotic War.

Social and political life in the country during the period of late Stalinism.

1. World War II dramatically changed the balance of power on the world stage. On the one hand, during the war years, the United States, which concentrated the overwhelming part of world industrial production and foreign exchange reserves, has become the leader of the Western world. On the other hand, the military and political influence of the USSR increased significantly, which not only emerged from international isolation, but became a recognized great power. He was recognized as the right to a part of East Prussia, South Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands. In the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the recognition of the interests of the USSR in Eastern Europe was recorded.

After the defeat of the common enemy - fascism - the world again split into hostile blocs, the world war was replaced by the "cold war", which was characterized by the division of the world into two opposing, opposing socio-economic and military systems of states, formed around two nuclear superpowers, accompanied by confrontation in the socio-economic, political, ideological and military fields.

The question of who is to blame for the outbreak of the Cold War has no clear answer, with both sides blaming each other. It would be more correct to say that both the USA and the USSR are to blame.

The West was frightened by the growing influence of the USSR in the countries of Eastern Europe, the growing popularity of the communist parties in a number of Western countries (France, Italy, etc.). In a speech by W. Churchill in Fulton (USA) in March 1946, in a message to the Congress of the President of the United States G. Trumen (February 1947), two goals were defined in relation to the USSR. First: to prevent further expansion of the sphere of influence of the USSR (the doctrine of "containment of communism"). Second: to push the socialist system back to the pre-war borders, and then to liquidate it in Russia itself (the doctrine of "rolling back communism").

In turn, the USSR sought to strengthen its influence in countries that had embarked on the path of socialism, in new regions of the world. The Soviet leadership refused to participate in the "Marshall Plan" and insisted on the adoption of similar decisions by the governments of the countries included in its sphere of influence.

The stumbling block in relations between the USSR and the Western countries was the German question. Instead of creating a single all-German state, the governments of the United States, Britain and France created the FRG on their zones of occupation on May 23, 1949. In response to this, the GDR was created in the Soviet zone. Thus, the German people were split for several decades.

Another manifestation of the "cold war" was the creation of military-political blocs, and again the USA has the palm. In 1949, the North Atlantic bloc (NATO) was created from the United States, Canada and 10 European countries, in 1954 - the Southeast Asia Organization (SEATO). In response, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was created, and in 1955 - the Warsaw Military-Political Pact (ATS).

Thus, the results of the foreign policy of the USSR were contradictory. On the one hand, its position in the international arena strengthened, and, on the other hand, the policy of confrontation between East and West contributed to the growth of tension in the world.

As noted above, the USSR came out of the war with huge losses and destruction. In the field of economics, three interrelated tasks were solved: the restructuring of industry in a peaceful manner, the restoration of what was destroyed during the war, and new construction. In March 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the planning targets for the fourth five-year plan (1946-1950), which went down in history as the five-year recovery plan. A return to the pre-war model of economic development took place. As before, the main emphasis was placed on the development of heavy industry to the detriment of light industry and agriculture. The plan provided for an increase in industrial output by 48% compared to the pre-war level, and agricultural output by 23%.

The demilitarization of the economy was completed by 1947, although it was partial, since under the conditions of the Cold War huge funds were invested in the modernization of the military-industrial complex, in the development of new types of weapons. In 1949, the USSR successfully tested an atomic bomb, and in 1953, for the first time in the world, a hydrogen bomb. Direct military expenditures then absorbed about 25% of the annual budget - only two times less than in 1944.

Heavy industry was another area of \u200b\u200bpreferential investment. In a short time, the Dnieper hydroelectric power station, the mines of Donbass, metallurgical and machine-building plants of Ukraine and Russia were restored. The territories annexed before the war - the Baltic republics, Moldova, the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus - turned from agrarian to industrial. Positive shifts have also taken place in the light industry: for the first time, mass production of complex consumer goods was launched - the Pobeda and Moskvich cars, motorcycles, radios, televisions, etc. Vacations and an 8-hour workday were restored.

In general, over the years of the fourth five-year plan, 6,200 large enterprises were restored and re-built. Industrial production exceeded pre-war figures by 73%. Let's name the reasons for this growth:

high mobilization capabilities of a directive economy;

labor enthusiasm of the Soviet people, the development of socialist competition;

reparations from Germany (in the amount of $ 4.3 billion), which provided up to half of the equipment installed in industry;

free labor of Gulag prisoners and prisoners of war (1.5 million Germans and 0.5 million Japanese);

redistribution of funds from light industry and the social sphere in favor of heavy industry;

the confiscatory monetary reform of 1947 (10 old rubles were replaced by 1 new one) and compulsory government loans, the purchase of bonds of which took an average of 1-1.5 months' wages of workers and employees annually (in total for 1946-1956 11 loans were placed );

traditional transfer of funds from agriculture to industry.

A few words about agriculture, which came out of the war extremely weakened. In 1945, its gross output was 60% of the pre-war level. There was not enough equipment - in many villages the peasants plowed on cows or even harnessed themselves to the plows. The severe drought of 1946 led to the death of about 1 million people from hunger and disease, although the famine was not officially recognized.

The authorities continued to view the village primarily as a source of savings for the restoration of industry. Collective farms' expenditures for milk production were reimbursed through government purchases only by 20%, grain - by 10%, meat - by 5%. There was an offensive on the subsidiary farming, due to which the collective farmers survived - in 1947 they were "strongly recommended" to sell small livestock to the state. As a result, about 2 million head of livestock were secretly slaughtered. Taxes were raised on income from sales in the markets. In addition, it was possible to trade on the market only if there was a certificate that the collective farm had fully fulfilled its obligations to the state.

Such an agrarian policy made it difficult to supply the population with food, and light industry with raw materials. The government's anti-peasant policy, suppressing any initiative from below, doomed the village to chronic unprofitability. The peasants tried with all their might to move to the city (in 1946 - 1953, up to 8 million villagers moved to the cities).

The situation of the people was quite difficult, in the cities the standard of living of 1928 was reached only by 1954. Nevertheless, compulsory primary education was restored and a course was taken towards universal compulsory incomplete secondary. The number of universities increased by 112 units. In 1946 - 1953 was restored and built to 103 million square meters. m of housing.

The return to the economic model of the 1930s caused serious tension in society, to which was added the tightening of political and ideological measures. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the restructuring of the country's administration began, a return from military methods to peaceful ones. But still continued to practice the forms of leadership, rooted in the war years and became customary. If during the war years control in the ideological and political sphere was somewhat weakened, now the authorities again tried to restore control over the minds.

Mass repressions began in the second half of the 40s. They affected former prisoners of war, many of whom were sent to concentration camps or sentenced to exile. Citizens who collaborated with the occupiers in one way or another were punished. The most serious was the "Leningrad affair" of 1948, when the chairman of the State Planning Committee N. Voznesensky, the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU A. Kuznetsov, the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR M. Rodionov, the head of the Leningrad party organization Popkov and others were accused of creating an anti-party group and carrying out sabotage work. In total, about 200 people were prosecuted. A number of them were shot.

From the end of 1948 a campaign against cosmopolitanism, against "worship of foreignism" began. Ideological control was extended to all spheres of spiritual life, the party acted as a legislator in linguistics, biology, mathematics, condemning some sciences as bourgeois. Such a fate befell wave mechanics, cybernetics, psychoanalysis, genetics, causing Soviet science to lag behind in many areas of knowledge. Prominent philosophers, economists, historians were sharply criticized, who, in particular, were instructed to consider the oprichnina terror of Ivan the Terrible, as well as the terror of the Jacobins during the Great French Revolution, as extremely progressive and justified.

A number of "ideological resolutions" of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks were adopted "On the magazines" Zvezda "and" Leningrad "," On the repertoire of drama theaters and measures to improve it "," On the movie "Big Life", ”And others. They gave a signal for public persecution of such cultural figures as A. Akhmatova, M. Zoshchenko, E. Kazakevich, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich, G. Kozintsev, V. Pudovkin and others. The campaign aimed to limit creativity the framework of "partisanship" and "socialist realism".

On October 5, 1952, the 19th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) opened, at which changes took place in the higher party structures. The Politburo was replaced by a more cumbersome Presidium, which consisted of 36 people. The number of the secretariat was increased to 10 people, and the composition of the Central Committee reached 232 people. In addition, a narrower body was created - the Bureau of the Presidium, nine members of which Stalin personally appointed. But in fact, all issues were resolved in a close circle, consisting of Stalin, Malenkov, Khrushchev, Beria and Bulganin.

Difficulties in the economic sphere, ideologization of social and political life, increased international tension - these were the results of the development of society in the first post-war years. During this period, the regime of personal power of J.V. Stalin strengthened even more, and the command-administrative system became tougher. During these years, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe need for changes in society was more and more clearly formed in the public consciousness. The death of Stalin (March 1953) made it easier to find a way out of the contradictions that entangled all spheres of public life.

Logic exercises

What were the differences between the main socio-political processes that took place after the war in the West and in the USSR? Were there any similarities between them?

What were the main goals of USSR foreign policy and the stages of its development after the war?

Why were the hopes of normalizing relations with Western countries in the postwar period not justified? Who is to blame for the outbreak of the Cold War? What impact did the aggravation of the international situation have on the internal political processes in the country?

What were the tasks of economic policy after the war? How were the successes in industrial development achieved?

What are the reasons for the deployment of a new round of repression in the post-war period?

List of references

Werth N. History of the Soviet state. 1900-1991. - M., 1992.

Story Russia. XX century. / A.N.Bokhanov, M.M. Gorinov, V.P. Dmitrenko and others - M., 1996.

Zubkova E.Yu. Society and reforms. 1945 - 1964 .-- M., 1993.

R.A. Medvedev They surrounded Stalin. - M., 1990.

Chuev F. One hundred and forty conversations with Molotov. - M., 1991.

MAIN PLANS FOR RESTORING THE ECONOMY OF THE USSR: A. A. Zhdanov (secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), first secretary of the Leningrad regional party committee), N. A. Voznesensky (Chairman of the State Planning Committee), P. I. Doronin (first secretary of the Kursk regional party committee), N. N. Rodionov (Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR): a return to peace will lead to a deep economic and political crisis in the capitalist states, as well as to a conflict between powers due to the redistribution of colonial empires. In a relatively favorable international climate, there is no need to continue the policy of accelerated development of heavy industry. Therefore, it is necessary to develop light industry and agriculture.

GM Malenkov, LP Beria, ES Varga (economist), heads of heavy industry and the military-industrial complex: capitalism has a remarkable ability to adapt to difficult political and economic conditions. Therefore, the international situation (hostile capitalist encirclement) is alarming, especially since the possession of the atomic bomb gave the imperialist powers a clear advantage over the USSR. Consequently, the absolute priority in the post-war reconstruction of the country should be given to the restoration of heavy industry and the military-industrial complex.

Despite the great losses and destructions, the USSR managed to exceed the pre-war level of industry by 73% in the first postwar five-year period. Resources for the restoration of the country's economy: redistribution of funds from the agricultural sector to industry, where priority was given to the development of heavy industry and the conversion of military production; cuts in social spending, free labor of GULAG prisoners and prisoners of war, the 1947 monetary reform, government loans; labor enthusiasm of the Soviet people.

APOGEE OF STALINISM a new wave of political repression (an attempt to repeat 1937); The largest trials were the "Leningradskoe Delo" (in 1948 members of the Leningrad Party organization were secretly arrested and shot; they were accused of striving to create a new Communist Party of the RSFSR and oppose it to the VKP (b), move the capital to Leningrad) and the "Case of Doctors - Pests" (1953; Kremlin doctors allegedly set themselves the goal of reducing the lives of active leaders of the Soviet state by means of harmful treatment);

THE APOGEE OF STALINISM a crusade against the intelligentsia - "Zhdanovism" (party and ideological control openly and rigidly determined the direction and "framework" of creativity, development of literature and art; the ideological criterion was the main and only one): a significant blow was inflicted on scientific (biologists, genetics, cybernetics, social scientists, historians, philosophers) and creative (writers, musicians, directors) intelligentsia; the Jewish intelligentsia also suffered during the period of struggle against "cosmopolitanism and idolatry before the West";

THE APOGEE OF STALINISM exaltation of the personality cult of IV Stalin, expressed in his ranks, positions (general secretary, marshal, generalissimo, "leader of the peoples"); a conflict with the army, the purpose of which was to fight the authority of G.K. Zhukov (the result of the conflict was the disgrace of famous commanders, the history of the war began to be depersonalized: an unknown soldier won the victory under the sensitive and correct leadership of the party and its leader).

WESTERN COUNTRIES: A CAPITALIST MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT. The United States emerged from the war as the most powerful economically and militarily country in the capitalist world. More than half of all industrial production in the capitalist world was produced here. The American army was stationed in Germany, Japan, Italy and several other countries. More than five hundred US military bases were equipped in different parts of the world. The American Navy sailed the oceans and seas. The United States had a monopoly on atomic weapons. US President Harry Truman, who took office on April 12, 1945, in connection with the death of F. Roosevelt, said that the United States is taking on "global responsibility." With "neutrality" and even more so with the isolationism of the 30s. it was over. From now on, the United States has become the center of world politics.

WESTERN COUNTRIES: A CAPITALIST MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT. By the beginning of the 50s. European countries have mainly restored the pre-war level of production. In the following, 50s and 60s. economic development in most Western countries was characterized by high growth rates. Even then, terms appeared that reflected the unusual situation: "Italian miracle", "West German miracle", "Japanese miracle". Average annual rates of economic growth for 1948 -1963 were very high: France - 4, 6%, the Federal Republic of Germany - 7, 6%, Italy - 6%, Holland - 4, 7%, etc. Great Britain lagged somewhat (2.5%). A number of reasons for such an unprecedented rate of development can be attributed to the peculiarities of government policy in a particular country, but there were international conditions that facilitated the relatively rapid recovery and modernization of the economies of Western countries.

WESTERN COUNTRIES: A CAPITALIST MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT. In 1944 in Breton Woods (USA) at a conference of the United Nations representatives of 44 countries created the so-called Breton Woods monetary system. The conference participants agreed to establish a fixed gold content of the dollar, which was the basis for the rates of other currencies. The International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development were also created, which provided loans to the member countries of the banks. Another important measure is the "Marshall Plan" (named after the US Secretary of State) - the United States' assistance to Western countries for economic recovery. For 1948 -1952 this aid amounted to $ 13 billion. The stabilization of exchange rates was an important prerequisite for the economic recovery.

WESTERN COUNTRIES: A CAPITALIST MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT. In the 50s and 60s. in the Western countries, a new society has developed, the features of which are the achievement of a high standard of living, determined by massive consumption and social protection. An important indicator of the new standard of living was the change in the structure of consumer spending. Thus, in 1970 the French spent 25.6% of their personal income on food, and 35.3% on services (including the maintenance of transport). The British in 1960 spent 25.4% on food, in 1970 - 20.7%, in 1985 - 14% of personal income. Expenditures on the service sector, on the contrary, increased: from 20.7% in 1960 to 39% in 1985. Another indicator of the "welfare state" was the development of the system of state and public social assistance, the development of education, health care, numerous benefits for poverty, unemployment, large families, retirement benefits and scholarships.

MODELS OF SOCIALISM. Soviet - the elimination of the exploiting classes; the establishment of public ownership of the means of production; social policy in the interests of the working people; legal equality of all nations and nationalities; democratization and flourishing of spiritual culture. Eastern European - a model of self-governing socialism. It assumed in general terms the following: economic freedom of labor collectives within enterprises, their activity on the basis of cost accounting with an indicative type of state planning; rejection of compulsory cooperation in agriculture, fairly widespread use of commodity-money relations, etc., but subject to the preservation of the monopoly of the Communist Party in certain areas of political and public life. Asian - the policy of the "Great Leap Forward", an attempt to create socialism without market relations on the basis of people's communes, enthusiasm and faith in the infallibility of the leader.

COLONIAL SYSTEM CRASH. At a UN meeting in 1945, it was decided that the UN trusteeship system should lead the Trust Territories towards "self-government and independence." Over the next ten years, more than 1.2 billion people were freed from colonial and semi-colonial dependence. 15 sovereign states appeared on the world map (India (1947) and Ceylon (1948), Syria and Lebanon (1943, withdrawal of troops - 1946), Vietnam (1945 -1954), etc. 1960 went down in history as the "year of Africa" Then the independence of 17 countries of the central and western part of the continent was proclaimed.In general, the process of liberation of Africa was completed by 1975.

THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES. Least developed countries: The least developed countries include a number of states in Tropical Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Chad, Togo, Tanzania, Somalia, Western Sahara), Asia (Kampuchea, Laos), Latin America (Tahiti, Guatemala, Guiana, Honduras and etc.). These countries are characterized by low or even negative growth rates. In the structure of the economy of these countries, the agricultural sector prevails (up to 80 -90%), although it is not able to meet the domestic needs for food and raw materials.

THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES. Countries with an average level of development: Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, the Philippines, Indonesia, Peru, Colombia, etc. The structure of the economy of these countries is characterized by a large share of industry compared with the agricultural sector, more developed internal and external trade. This group of countries has great potential for development due to the presence of internal sources of accumulation. Poverty and hunger are not so acute for these countries. Their place in the world economy is determined by a significant technological gap with developed countries and large external debt.

THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES. Oil-producing countries: Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, etc., which previously had the characteristic features of lagging states. The world's largest oil reserves, actively exploited in these countries, allowed them to quickly become one of the richest (in terms of annual per capita income) countries in the world. However, the structure of the economy as a whole is characterized by extreme one-sidedness and imbalance.

THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES. Newly industrialized countries: South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India and others. The state policy of these countries includes an orientation towards attracting private (domestic and foreign) capital, reducing the public sector by expanding the private sector. National measures include raising the level of education of the population, spreading computer literacy. They are characterized by the intensive development of industry, including high-tech, export-oriented industries.

COLD WAR is a global geopolitical, economic and ideological confrontation between the Soviet Union and its allies, on the one hand, and the United States and its allies, on the other, which lasted from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s. The USA and the USSR created their spheres of influence, consolidating them with military-political blocs - NATO and the Internal Affairs Directorate. Although the United States and the USSR never entered into direct military confrontation, their rivalry for influence often led to outbreaks of local armed conflicts around the world. The Cold War was accompanied by a race of conventional and nuclear arms that threatened to lead to a third world war.

THE COLD WAR STARTS. In April 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the preparation of a war plan against the USSR for the following reasons: first, the USSR became a mortal threat to America and Europe; secondly, immediately create a new front against its rapid advance; thirdly, this front in Europe should go as far east as possible; fourthly, the main and real goal of the Anglo-American armies is Berlin; fifth, the liberation of Czechoslovakia and the entry of American troops into Prague is of the utmost importance; sixth, Vienna, essentially all of Austria should be governed by the Western powers, at least on an equal footing with the Russian Soviets ... The formal beginning of the Cold War is often considered March 5, 1946, when Winston Churchill (who at that time was no longer Prime Minister Great Britain) made his famous speech in Fulton (USA, Missouri), in which he put forward the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a military alliance of Anglo-Saxon countries in order to fight world communism

After the end of the war against Hitlerite Germany, the Soviet people were given the opportunity to begin peaceful creative work. The victory aroused in him a natural pride for himself, for the state, hope for a speedy restoration of the national economy, housing, for a better future. Although not for everyone in the Union, the war ended in May 1945, the Soviet people took part in the August-September war against Japan. In Western Ukraine, the armed struggle of the soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army against the Soviet regime will continue for many years to come, and in the Baltic States the "forest brothers" will fight against it. The restoration of the national economy took place in difficult conditions. During the war, the country lost 27 million people, 30% of the national wealth.

The transition to peaceful construction was marked by the transfer, immediately after the end of the war, of some defense enterprises to the production of goods for the population, and later by the adoption of a law on the demobilization of a significant part of the army. In March 1946, a plan for the restoration and development of the national economy for 1946-1950 was adopted, which provided for the restoration of the national economy, achieving and then exceeding the pre-war level in industry by 48% and in agriculture by 23%. And although in 1945, the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) planned to restore and build new houses, schools, hospitals, factories, power plants, mines and factories (in this exact sequence), in reality everything was the other way around. The trouble was not that the social sphere in post-war plans was inferior to the first place in the production sphere, but that from the very beginning it was doomed to financing on a leftover basis.

In connection with the Cold War, the militaristic moods of Stalin and his entourage, the Council of Ministers loaded the national economy with a multi-billion dollar order for the development of atomic weapons. As a result, it was necessary to revise the already approved social programs. Less and less funds were spent on housing construction and production of consumer goods. At the same time, the Soviet leadership was able to concentrate huge funds on the revival of railway transport, the fuel and energy complex, metallurgy and mechanical engineering. New industrial giants arose in the Urals, Siberia, the republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It was officially reported that work to restore the industry was basically completed in 1948, and at some enterprises continued even in the early 50s.

Where did the Soviet government get funds for the restoration of industry and the creation of a nuclear complex in the country, which resulted in the test in 1949 of atomic weapons?

Take the agricultural situation. Of course, agriculture suffered heavy losses during the war, especially in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, and some regions of Russia. The number of the able-bodied population has decreased by a third, agriculture has lost a significant part of its machinery, and the sown area has decreased. Added to this was the severe drought of 1946. Many peasants, especially those who went through the war through Europe, hoped for the dissolution of collective farms. The peasants were particularly displeased with another state defense loan. If the workers' funds for the loan were automatically deducted from the paid ones, the peasant had to sell scarce supplies on the market in order to pay off the loan. Often, valuable things were taken from the peasants under the loan. The exorbitant monetary tax, the surrender of agricultural products to the state, and so on, were no less oppressed.

By violent methods, which were accompanied by repression and deportations, new collective farms were created in the western regions of Belarus and Ukraine, Right-Bank Moldova, and the Baltic republics.

Deportation (from Lat. YeroNaSh - expulsion) is a forced eviction by a court or administrative procedure of a person recognized as socially dangerous from his place of permanent residence and his settlement in a new place with restriction of freedom of movement.

All production activities of collective and state farms were under the strict control of party and state bodies. This is not a complete list of what testified to the state of affairs in the countryside. This situation of the peasants, plus a severe drought, led to hunger and significant casualties. However, it was precisely thanks to such a system of frontal stripping of resources from agriculture, supplemented by austerity in spending on social needs, that the Soviet command-administrative system was able to concentrate significant funds on the restoration and development of industry, on defense. At the same time, restoration and development took place on the old, pre-war technical and technological basis, which programmed a further lag of the USSR in mastering the results of scientific and technological progress from the United States and Western Europe, as well as Japan. Of course, this affected the efficiency of the national economy of the USSR.

Note that some social measures, in particular the abolition of the 1947 rationing system, the exchange of old money for new ones, and repeated price reductions, did not significantly affect the increase in the well-being of the population. In practice, the monetary reform led to the withdrawal of money from citizens. The abolition of the card system was accompanied by a monetary reform, during which 10 old rubles were exchanged for 1 new one. And the new prices in state and cooperative retail trade were set at a level close to the previous commercial ones. All this contributed to a decrease in consumer pressure on the market for goods and services, and in the future - to lower prices. The first of these took place in April next year. The food demand of hungry people was met more or less in Moscow and Leningrad.

Difficulties in the economic sphere, the ideologization of social and political life, the increase in international tension - these were the main results of the development of Soviet society in the postwar years.