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

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

Economic recovery.

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

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

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

The main features of post-war life.

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

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

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

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

power after the war.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Social sphere.

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

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

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

Foreign policy of the USSR in 1953-1964.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Development of science, technology and education.

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

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

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

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

Spiritual life and culture of "developed socialism".

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

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

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

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

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

Construction

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

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

Industry

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

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

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

Agriculture

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

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

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

Standard of living

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

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

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

Friendly states

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

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

criminal situation

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

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

Repression

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

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

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

culture

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

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

The science

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

Good afternoon, dear blog readers!

Today we are discussing the topic Post-war recovery and development of the USSR in 1945-1952.

Transition to peaceful construction.

At the end of the bloody battles, the state was faced with the task of creating favorable conditions for the subsequent development and formation of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War, under the slogan "Everything for the front, everything for victory!" most of the production was aimed at creating weapons and equipment to provide the Red Army with everything necessary for a successful fight against the enemy. But when fighting ended, many enterprises began to be transferred to "peaceful rails", the State Defense Committee (GKO) abolished and reorganized the military people's commissariats.

In addition, it was necessary to eliminate the enormous damage caused by the war. In record time, the work of the Donetsk coal basin was resumed, the Dneproges and Zaporizhstal were restored. In total, in the first five years after the war, thanks to the enthusiasm of the Soviet people, more than 6,000 industrial enterprises were restored. In addition, many new facilities were built: the Rybinsk and Sukhumi hydroelectric power stations, the lead-zinc plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk and others.

However, the attention of the state did not "switch" to the production of class "A" products, but was still paid mainly to heavy and military industries.

Difficulties in the development of agriculture.

Due to the war, a lot of sown areas were damaged, crop yields fell and land cultivation worsened. For many years after the war, new equipment was not supplied to the village and almost no measures were taken to improve agriculture. All these factors and the drought of 1946 contributed to the famine in the fertile lands of the Soviet Union: in Ukraine, Moldova, in the Lower Volga region, etc. (1947-1948).

Only at the beginning of 1947 did the authorities begin to promote the rise of agriculture, namely:

• increased the production of agricultural machinery
• electrified the village
• Enlarged collective farms by combining small farms into large

But all these measures did not significantly improve the condition of the village, since many of them were carried out by force, and those who did not want to obey were repressed. In general, grain harvests by 1950 did not exceed and did not even equal the pre-war period (32 million tons in 1950 against 36 million tons in 1940).

Socio-economic situation.

The trends in the development of the economy in the post-war period did not differ much from those during the war: the heavy and military industry still remained dominant, and the plan for the production of consumer products (clothes, shoes, etc.) was still not fulfilled and did not meet the needs of the population.

To improve the situation of the people, the government took the following measures:

• Cancellation of "cards" in 1947
• Carrying out monetary reform in order to extract counterfeit money from citizens
• Housing construction and restoration
• Publication of Stalin's work " Economic problems socialism in the USSR" in 1952, in which the head of the leadership explained the economic policy of the state

Socio-political life.

The end of a difficult bloody war, which at the beginning of hostilities seemed only a bright dream; The victory over a strong enemy, which was considered invincible, was perceived by all the peoples of the vast country as an unprecedented holiday and met the new era with great hopes that everything would finally work out. The bloodless and exhausted Soviet people are once again enthusiastically taking up the restoration and construction of their Motherland.

In 1946, Stalin ordered the development of a new Constitution of the USSR, which should introduce the democratic principles of society, allow peasants to have a small private economy while maintaining state property, decentralize economic management and expand the independence of enterprises. But all these proposals were rejected, and the development of the Constitution was curtailed in 1947. At the same time, the people's dreams of a new a better life.

Stalin's policy turned in the opposite direction to strengthen the administrative-command system. The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU gathered the reins of government in all spheres of society into its own hands. To ensure the production of labor force, decrees were created according to which people who did not work were deported to special working settlements (Kemerovo and Omsk region, Krasnoyarsk region). A minimum of workdays was introduced for collective farmers.

The policy of repression.

Probably, for many people, even those who did not particularly study history, the name of Stalin is associated with cruelty and repression. We will not go into details of how inhuman the mustachioed was in this matter. general secretary(if you wish, you can find the information yourself), but simply give the dates and content of the “cases” that may be caught on the exam.

• Since 1946 - the case of "saboteurs" of aviation, associated with disruptions in the production of aviation
• Since 1949 - "Leningrad case", associated with the leaders of the Leningrad party organization
• “Mingrelian case”, connected with suspicions of the oppositional mood of the Mingrelian organization in Georgia
• In 1952 - the "case of doctors", due to the fact that Stalin suspected major physicians of deteriorating his health

Foreign policy.

The victory in the Great Patriotic War undoubtedly increased the international prestige of the USSR.

In order to avoid the outbreak of a new war in 1945, the United Nations was created, which included 51 states.

The Soviet Union after the war established friendly relations with many countries: with the German Democratic Republic, the Chinese and Korean People's Republics. In 1947, the Cominformburo was formed, which consisted of representatives of 9 communist parties of Eastern Europe.

No sooner had one misfortune passed the world than another threat arose. Not everyone liked such a rapid and successful spread of Soviet influence in the international arena, and some countries began to prepare for confrontation with the Soviet Union.

In order to better represent the events of the Cold War and make it easier to remember them in connection, we offer you the following table.

At Great Victory There was also a Great Price. The war claimed 27 million human lives. The economy of the country, especially in the territory subjected to occupation, was thoroughly undermined: 1,710 cities and towns, more than 70,000 villages and villages, about 32,000 industrial enterprises, 65,000 km of railway lines were completely or partially destroyed, 75 million people lost their homes. The concentration of efforts on military production, necessary to achieve victory, led to a significant impoverishment of the resources of the population and to a decrease in the production of consumer goods. During the war, the previously insignificant housing construction was sharply reduced, while the country's housing stock was partially destroyed. Later, unfavorable economic and social factors came into play: low wages, an acute housing crisis, the involvement of all more women in production and so on.

After the war, the birth rate began to decline. In the 1950s it was 25 (per 1,000), and before the war it was 31. In 1971-1972, there were half as many children born per 1,000 women aged 15-49 in a year than in 1938-1939. . In the first post-war years, the working-age population of the USSR was also significantly lower than the pre-war one. There is information at the beginning of 1950 in the USSR there were 178.5 million people, that is, 15.6 million less than it was in 1930 - 194.1 million people. In the 1960s, there was an even greater decline.

The fall in the birth rate in the first post-war years was associated with the death of entire age groups of men. The death of a significant part of the country's male population during the war created a difficult, often catastrophic situation for millions of families. A large category of widow families and single mothers has emerged. The woman fell on double responsibilities: material support for the family and care for the family itself and the upbringing of children. Although the state took over, especially in large industrial centers, part of the care of children, creating a network of nurseries and kindergartens, but they were not enough. Saved to some extent by the institution of "grandmothers".

The difficulties of the first post-war years were exacerbated by the enormous damage suffered by agriculture during the war. The occupiers ruined 98,000 collective farms and 1,876 state farms, took away and slaughtered many millions of heads of livestock, and almost completely deprived the rural areas of the occupied regions of draft power. In agrarian areas, the number of able-bodied people decreased by almost one third. The depletion of human resources in the countryside was also the result of the natural process of urban growth. The village lost an average of up to 2 million people per year. The difficult living conditions in the villages forced young people to leave for the cities. Part of the demobilized soldiers settled after the war in the cities and did not want to return to agriculture.

During the war, in many regions of the country, significant areas of land belonging to collective farms were transferred to enterprises and cities, or illegally seized by them. In other areas, the land has become the subject of sale. Back in 1939, the Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party of the Central Committee (6) and the Council of People's Commissars issued a resolution on measures to combat the squandering of collective farm lands. By the beginning of 1947, more than 2,255 thousand cases of appropriation or use of land were discovered, in total 4.7 million hectares. Between 1947 and May 1949, the use of 5.9 million hectares of collective farm land was additionally discovered. The higher authorities, starting from the local and ending with the republican, brazenly robbed the collective farms, charging them, under various pretexts, in fact dues in kind.

By September 1946, the debt of various organizations to collective farms amounted to 383 million rubles.

In the Akmola region of the Kazakh SGR, the authorities in 1949 took from the collective farms 1,500 head of cattle, 3,000 centners of grain and products worth about 2 million rubles. The robbers, among whom were leading party and Soviet workers, were not held accountable.

The squandering of collective-farm lands and goods belonging to the collective farms aroused great indignation among the collective farmers. For example, at general meetings of collective farmers in Tyumen region(Siberia), dedicated to the decree of September 19, 1946, 90 thousand collective farmers participated, and the activity was unusual: 11 thousand collective farmers spoke. AT Kemerovo region 367 chairmen of collective farms, 2,250 members of the board and 502 chairmen of the audit commissions of the former composition were nominated at meetings for the election of new boards. However, the new composition of the boards could not achieve any significant change: the state policy remained the same. Therefore, there was no way out of the impasse.

After the end of the war, the production of tractors, agricultural machinery and implements quickly improved. But, despite the improvement in the supply of agriculture with machines and tractors, the strengthening of the material and technical base of state farms and MTS, the situation in agriculture remained catastrophic. The state continued to invest extremely insignificant funds in agriculture - in the post-war five-year plan, only 16% of all appropriations for the national economy.

In 1946, only 76% of the sown area was sown compared to 1940. Due to drought and other turmoil, the 1946 harvest was lower even compared to the paramilitary 1945. “In fact, in terms of grain production, the country for a long period was at the level that pre-revolutionary Russia had,” admitted N. S. Khrushchev. In 1910-1914, the gross grain harvest was 4,380 million poods, in 1949-1953, 4,942 million poods. Grain yields were lower than in 1913, despite mechanization, fertilizers, and so on.

Grain yield

1913 -- 8.2 centners per hectare

1925-1926 -- 8.5 centners per hectare

1926-1932 -- 7.5 centners per hectare

1933-1937 -- 7.1 centners per hectare

1949-1953 -- 7.7 centners per hectare

Accordingly, there were fewer agricultural products per capita. Taking the pre-collectivization period of 1928-1929 as 100, production in 1913 was 90.3, in 1930-1932 - 86.8, in 1938-1940 - 90.0, in 1950-1953 - 94.0. As can be seen from the table, the grain problem worsened, despite the decline in grain exports (from 1913 to 1938 by 4.5 times), the reduction in the number of livestock and, consequently, the consumption of grain. The number of horses decreased from 1928 to 1935 by 25 million heads, which saved more than 10 million tons of grain, 10-15% of the gross grain harvest of that time.

In 1916, there were 58.38 million cattle on the territory of Russia, on January 1, 1941, its number decreased to 54.51 million, and in 1951 there were 57.09 million heads, that is, it was still below the level 1916. The number of cows exceeded the level of 1916 only in 1955. In general, according to official data, from 1940 to 1952 the gross agricultural output increased (in comparable prices) by only 10%!

The Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in February 1947 demanded even greater centralization of agricultural production, effectively depriving the collective farms of the right to decide not only how much, but what to sow. Political departments were restored in the machine and tractor stations - propaganda was supposed to replace food for the completely starving and impoverished collective farmers. Collective farms were obliged, in addition to fulfilling state deliveries, to fill up seed funds, set aside part of the crop in an indivisible fund, and only after that give money to collective farmers for workdays. State deliveries were still planned from the center, harvest prospects were determined by eye, and the actual harvest was often much lower than planned. The first commandment of the collective farmers "first give to the state" had to be fulfilled in any way. Local party and Soviet organizations often forced more successful collective farms to pay with grain and other products for their impoverished neighbors, which ultimately led to the impoverishment of both. Collective farmers lived mainly on the products grown on their dwarf household plots. But in order to take their products to the market, they needed a special certificate certifying that they had paid off the obligatory state deliveries. Otherwise, they were considered deserters and speculators, subjected to fines and even imprisonment. Increased taxes on personal household plots of collective farmers. Collective farmers were required in the form of natural deliveries of products that they often did not produce. Therefore, they were forced to purchase these products at the market price and hand them over to the state free of charge. The Russian village did not know such a terrible state even during the time of the Tatar yoke.

In 1947, a significant part of the European territory of the country suffered a famine. It arose after a severe drought that engulfed the main agricultural granaries of the European part of the USSR: a significant part of Ukraine, Moldova, the Lower Volga region, the central regions of Russia, and the Crimea. In previous years, the state took the harvest cleanly at the expense of state deliveries, sometimes not even leaving the seed fund. The crop failure occurred in a number of areas affected by German occupation, that is, many times robbed by both strangers and their own. As a result, there were no food supplies to get through the hard times. The Soviet state, on the other hand, demanded more and more millions of poods of grain from the completely robbed peasants. For example, in 1946, a year of severe drought, Ukrainian collective farmers owed the state 400 million poods (7.2 million tons) of grain. This figure, and most of the other planned tasks, was arbitrarily set and did not correlate with the actual possibilities of Ukrainian agriculture.

Desperate peasants sent letters to the Ukrainian government in Kyiv and to the allied government in Moscow, begging them to come to their aid and save them from starvation. Khrushchev, who at that time was the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CP (b) U, after long and painful hesitation (he was afraid of being accused of sabotage and losing his place), nevertheless sent a letter to Stalin, in which he asked for permission to temporarily introduce a rationing system and save food for supply for the agricultural population. Stalin, in a reply telegram, rudely rejected the request of the Ukrainian government. Now the Ukrainian peasants faced starvation and death. People began to die by the thousands. There were cases of cannibalism. Khrushchev cites in his memoirs a letter to him from the secretary of the Odessa Regional Party Committee A.I. Kirichenko, who visited one of the collective farms in the winter of 1946-1947. Here is what he reported: "I saw a terrible scene. A woman put the corpse of her own child on the table and cut it into pieces. She spoke insanely when she did this:" We have already eaten Manechka. Now we will pickle Vanichka. This will support us for a while ". Can you imagine it? A woman went mad because of hunger and cut her own children to pieces! Famine raged in Ukraine.

However, Stalin and his closest aides did not want to reckon with the facts. The merciless Kaganovich was sent to Ukraine as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine, and Khrushchev temporarily fell out of favor, was moved to the post of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine. But no movement could save the situation: the famine continued, and it claimed about a million human lives.

In 1952, state prices for supplies of grain, meat and pork were lower than in 1940. The prices paid for potatoes were lower than the cost of transportation. Collective farms were paid an average of 8 rubles 63 kopecks per centner of grain. State farms received 29 rubles 70 kopecks for a centner.

In order to buy a kilogram of butter, the collective farmer had to work ... 60 workdays, and in order to purchase a very modest suit, an annual salary was needed.

Most of the country's collective and state farms in the early 1950s had extremely low yields. Even in such fertile regions of Russia as the Central Black Earth region, the Volga region and Kazakhstan, the harvests remained extremely low, because the center endlessly ordered them what to sow and how to sow. The point, however, was not only stupid orders from above and insufficient material and technical base. For many years, the love for their work, for the land, was beaten out of the peasants. Once upon a time, the land rewarded for the labor expended, for their devotion to their peasant cause, sometimes generously, sometimes poorly. Now this incentive, which has received the official name "incentive of material interest" has disappeared. Work on the land turned into free or low-income forced labor.

Many collective farmers were starving, others were systematically malnourished. Saved homesteads. The situation was especially difficult in the European part of the USSR. Things were much better in Central Asia, where there were high procurement prices for cotton - the main crop, and in the south, which specialized in vegetable growing, fruit production and winemaking.

In 1950, the consolidation of collective farms began. Their number decreased from 237 thousand to 93 thousand in 1953. Consolidation of collective farms could contribute to their economic strengthening. However, insufficient capital investment, mandatory supplies and low procurement prices, the lack of a sufficient number of trained specialists and machine operators, and, finally, the restrictions imposed by the state on the personal household plots of collective farmers deprived them of an incentive to work, destroyed their hopes of breaking out of the clutches of need. The 33 million collective farmers who fed the 200 million population of the country with their hard work remained, after the convicts, the poorest, most offended stratum of Soviet society.

Let us now see what was the position of the working class and other urban strata of the population at that time.

As you know, one of the first acts of the Provisional Government after the February Revolution was the introduction of an 8-hour working day. Prior to this, the workers of Russia worked 10 and sometimes 12 hours a day. As for the collective farmers, their working day, as in the pre-revolutionary years, remained irregular. In 1940 they returned to the 8 o'clock.

According to official Soviet statistics, the average wage of a Soviet worker increased more than 11 times between the start of industrialization (1928) and the end of the Stalin era (1954). But this does not give an idea of ​​real wages. Soviet sources give fantastic calculations that have nothing to do with reality. Western researchers have calculated that during this period the cost of living, according to the most conservative estimates, increased in the period 1928-1954 by 9-10 times. However, the worker in the Soviet Union has, in addition to the official wages received in his hands, additional, in the form of social services rendered to him by the state. It returns to workers in the form of free medical care, education and other things part of the earnings alienated by the state.

According to the calculations of the largest American specialist in the Soviet economy, Janet Chapman, additional increases in the wages of workers and employees, taking into account the changes in prices that have occurred, after 1927 amounted to: in 1928 - 15% in 1937 - 22.1%; in 194O - 20.7%; in 1948 - 29.6%; in 1952 - 22.2%; 1954 - 21.5%. The cost of living in the same years grew as follows, taking 1928 as 100:

This table shows that the growth in the wages of Soviet workers and employees was lower than the growth in the cost of living. For example, by 1948 wages in monetary terms had doubled compared to 1937, but the cost of living had more than tripled. The fall in real wages was also associated with an increase in loan subscriptions and taxation. The significant increase in real wages by 1952 was still below the level of 1928, although it exceeded the level of real wages of the pre-war 1937 and 1940s.

In order to form a correct idea of ​​the position of the Soviet worker in comparison with his counterparts abroad, let us compare how many products could be bought for 1 hour of work expended. Taking the initial data of the hourly wage of a Soviet worker as 100, we get the following comparative table:

The picture is striking: in the same time spent, an English worker could purchase in 1952 more than 3.5 times more food, and an American worker 5.6 times more food than a Soviet worker.

The Soviet people, especially the older generations, have an ingrained opinion that, they say, under Stalin, prices were reduced every year, and under Khrushchev and after him, prices were constantly growing. Hence, there is even some nostalgia for Stalin's times.

The secret to lowering prices is extremely simple - it is based, firstly, on a huge rise in prices after the start of collectivization. Indeed, if we take the prices of 1937 as 100, then it turns out that the yen for baked rye bread increased 10.5 times from 1928 to 1937, and by 1952 almost 19 times. Prices for beef of the 1st grade increased from 1928 to 1937 by 15.7 times, and by 1952 by 17 times: for pork, respectively, by 10.5 and 20.5 times. The price of herring rose by 1952 by almost 15 times. The cost of sugar rose by 1937 by 6 times, and by 1952 by 15 times. The price of sunflower oil rose from 1928 to 1937 by a factor of 28, and from 1928 to 1952 by a factor of 34. Egg prices increased from 1928 to 1937 by 11.3 times, and by 1952 by 19.3 times. And finally, the price of potatoes rose from 1928 to 1937 by 5 times, and in 1952 they were 11 times higher than the price of 1928

All these data are taken from Soviet price tags for different years.

Having once raised prices by 1500-2500 percent, then it was already quite easy to pull off the trick of lowering prices every year. Secondly, the price reduction was due to the robbery of collective farmers, that is, extremely low state delivery and purchase prices. Back in 1953, procurement prices for potatoes in Moscow and Leningrad regions were equal to ... 2.5 - 3 kopecks per kilogram. Finally, the majority of the population did not feel the difference in prices at all, since the state supply was very poor, in many areas meat, fats and other products were not brought to stores for years.

This is the "secret" of the annual decline in prices in Stalin's time.

A worker in the USSR, 25 years after the revolution, continued to eat worse than a Western worker.

The housing crisis worsened. Compared to pre-revolutionary times, when the problem of housing in densely populated cities was not easy (1913 - 7 square meters per 1 person), in the post-revolutionary years, especially during the period of collectivization, the housing problem became unusually aggravated. Masses of rural residents poured into the cities, seeking salvation from hunger or in search of work. Civil housing construction in Stalin's time was unusually limited. Apartments in the cities were received by senior officials of the party and state apparatus. In Moscow, for example, in the early 1930s, a huge residential complex was built on Bersenevskaya Embankment - the Government House with large comfortable apartments. A few hundred meters from the Government House there is another residential complex - a former almshouse, converted into communal apartments, where for 20-30 people there was one kitchen and I-2 toilets.

Before the revolution, most of the workers lived near factories in barracks; after the revolution, the barracks were called dormitories. Large enterprises built new dormitories for their workers, apartments for the engineering, technical and administrative apparatus, but it was still impossible to solve the housing problem, since the lion's share of appropriations was spent on the development of industry, the military industry, and the energy system.

Housing conditions for the vast majority of the urban population worsened every year during the years of Stalin's rule: the population growth rate significantly exceeded the rate of civil housing construction.

In 1928, the living area per 1 city dweller was 5.8 sq. meters, in 1932 4.9 sq. meters, in 1937 - 4.6 square meters. meters.

The plan of the 1st five-year plan provided for the construction of new 62.5 million square meters. meters of living space, but only 23.5 million square meters were built. meters. According to the 2nd five-year plan, it was planned to build 72.5 million square meters. meters, was built 2.8 times less than 26.8 million square meters. meters.

In 1940, the living area per city dweller was 4.5 sq. meters.

Two years after Stalin's death, when mass housing construction began, there were 5.1 sq. meters. In order to realize how crowded people lived, it should be mentioned that even the official Soviet housing standard is 9 square meters. meters per person (in Czechoslovakia - 17 sq. meters). Many families huddled in an area of ​​​​6 square meters. meters. They lived not in families, but in clans - two or three generations in one room.

The family of a cleaner of a large Moscow enterprise in the 13th century A-voi lived in a hostel in a room of 20 square meters. meters. The cleaner herself was the widow of the commandant of the border outpost who died at the beginning of the German-Soviet war. There were only seven fixed beds in the room. The remaining six people - adults and children were laid out on the floor for the night. Sexual relations took place almost in plain sight, they got used to it and did not pay attention. For 15 years, the three families who lived in the room unsuccessfully sought resettlement. Only in the early 60s they were resettled.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of inhabitants of the Soviet Union lived in such conditions in the post-war period. Such was the legacy of the Stalin era.

The victory in the Second World War promised the USSR significant changes. Citizens were also waiting for these changes, many of whom, during the liberation of Europe, saw bourgeois life, from which they had previously been fenced off by the iron curtain. After the Great Patriotic War, the inhabitants of the USSR expected that the changes would affect the economy, agriculture, national politics, and much more. At the same time, the overwhelming majority were loyal to the authorities, since the victory in the war was considered the merit of Stalin.

In September 1945, the state of emergency was lifted in the USSR, and the Defense Committee was also announced to be disbanded.

In the post-war years, mass repressions began in the USSR. First of all, they touched those who had been in German captivity. In addition, repressions were directed against the peoples of the Baltic states, western Ukraine and Belarus, whose population most actively opposed the Soviet regime. In such a cruel way, order was restored in the country.

As in the pre-war years, the repressions of the Soviet government affected the military. This time it was due to the fact that Stalin was afraid of the popularity of the high military command, which enjoyed popular love. By order of Stalin, the following were arrested: A.A. Novikov (Aviation Marshal of the USSR), Generals N.K. Kristallov and P.N. Monday. In addition, some officers who served under the command of Marshal G.K. were arrested. Zhukov.

In general, the repressions of the post-war years affected almost every class of the country. In total, during the period from 1948 to 1953, approximately 6.5 million people were arrested and shot in the country.

In October 1952, the 19th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks took place, at which it was decided to rename the party into the CPSU.

The USSR after the Great Patriotic War radically changed its foreign policy. The victory of the USSR in the Second World War led to the aggravation of relations between the USSR and the USA. As a result of this aggravation, the Cold War began. Soviet authority, in the post-war years, increased its influence on the world stage. Many countries of the world, especially those that were liberated by the Red Army from fascism, began to be controlled by the communists.

The United States and Britain were seriously worried that the growth of the influence of the USSR could lead to a decrease in their influence on world politics. As a result, it was decided to create a military bloc, the function of which would be to counteract the USSR. This bloc was called "NATO" and was formed in 1949. The Americans could no longer delay the creation of NATO, since in the same year the Soviet Union successfully tested the first atomic bomb. As a result, both sides were nuclear powers. The Cold War continued until Stalin's death on March 5, 1953. The main result of the post-war years was the understanding by the parties that issues must be resolved peacefully, since the Cold War, with the stubbornness of the parties, can develop into an armed one.