LECTURE 73. Cult of personality. Repressions of the 1930s. years.
At the turn of the 1920-1930s. Stalin finally became the sole leader of the party. Important issues were resolved by Stalin alone or at a meeting with a narrow circle of his closest associates: Molotov, Kaganovich, Voroshilov. Since the beginning of the 30s. A cult of Stalin’s personality began to take shape, expressed in excessive praise of his wisdom. The following expressions have come into regular use: “the party of Lenin-Stalin”, “Stalin is Lenin today.”
Reasons for the formation of a personality cult:
Low level of culture, education, mass psychology (belief in the greatness of the leader)
The need for ideological support of the totalitarian system
Level of political culture of the country's leadership
Personal qualities of Stalin.
In the 1930s mass repressions begin (punitive measures, punishments)
Reasons for mass repression:
v repressions were a tool for maintaining the regime of Stalin’s personal power
v repression was a form of non-economic coercion to work
v repression was a condition for the unity of society (“enemies are all around”)
Stages of repression
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First stage (1928-1934) |
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The failures of economic construction were explained by the sabotage activities of engineers and technicians... 1928-Shakhtinsky trial(in the city of Shakhty, a trial of a large group of engineers and technicians accused of sabotage) 1930-case of the Industrial Party(those who worked in economic bodies were accused of sabotage and espionage) 1930-1931 - accusations of unreliability of “military experts”(former officers of the tsarist army who transferred to serve in the Red Army - 3 thousand were repressed) The existence of concentration camps (Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp - ELEPHANT) 1930-1931 - creation of the Main Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps (GULAG). The use of prison labor at construction sites of the first five-year plans. 1934 - creation of the NKVD(The NKVD united state security agencies, police, internal troops (leaders: Yagoda, Yezhov, Beria)-organizers of mass repressions |
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Second stage (1935-1938): apogee of repression (“Great Terror”) |
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1934 - the reason for mass repressions - the murder of the leader of the Leningrad communists - Kirov. Tightening of legislation – introduction of a simplified procedure for considering cases Grounds for accusation - personal confession Allowing torture The case was conducted for no more than 10 days Conducting a trial without a prosecutor and defense attorney Deprivation of the right to appeal sentences -"threes"(non-judicial bodies that passed the sentence) Repressions against leading cadres of the party, army, and punitive authorities. Served as prosecutor in all major trials Vyshinsky. 1937-1938 – “the case of Marshal Tukhachevsky” - repressions swept the top command staff of the army - about 40 thousand officers were repressed, of the five marshals only two remained - Voroshilov and Budyonny |
Through terror, Stalin physically destroyed all possible opponents. Terror turned the population into submissive masses. Millions of prisoners were used as free labor on five-year construction projects.
In 1936, the “Stalinist” Constitution was adopted. According to it, the Soviet system was formally democratic in nature. Elections were held regularly for Councils at all levels. The word “election” did not reflect reality, since only one candidate was nominated. The most important social rights were proclaimed: to work, to rest, to medical care, to education, and financial support in old age and illness. The most important personal and political freedoms were also declared: conscience, speech, press, meetings and rallies, unions and public organizations, inviolability of personality and home. Democratic laws were not an obstacle to repression. The state finally became totalitarian.
LECTURE 74. Industrialization in the USSR.
Industrialization is the process of creating a developed industry.
The task of implementing industrialization was inherited from pre-revolutionary Russia. The First World War and the Civil War set the country's economy far back. With the end of the restoration period (1925), the need arose again to complete the interrupted process.
The course towards industrialization was taken back in 1925. But!!! Difficult questions arose. Where can you get capital to finance industry? What rate of industrialization will produce sustainable growth?
By 1927, two approaches to implementing industrialization had emerged.
First approach, substantiated by prominent economists; followed this approach Bukharin: capital for industrialization will provide the development of private entrepreneurship, attraction of foreign loans, expansion of trade turnover;
Bukharin and his like-minded people insisted on a balanced development of industries.
Second approach stuck to it Stalin: it is not possible to finance industrialization from external resources; it is necessary to find funds within the country, pumping them into heavy industry from light industry and agriculture; it is necessary to accelerate industrial growth, to carry out industrialization rapidly in 5-10 years.
After Stalin's victory over the opposition, a plan for accelerated industrialization began to be implemented.
First Five Year Plan 1928-1932 was quite real. However, at the insistence of Stalin, the planned indicators were increased twice
Industrialization goals:
-Overcoming the technical and economic backwardness of the country
-Achieving economic independence
-Creation of a powerful heavy and defense industry
-Formation of machine and technical base in agriculture for collectivization
Peculiarities:
-high tempo
-short time
-emphasis on the development of heavy industry at the expense of light industry.
-carried out at the expense of internal sources and savings.
The first five-year plan was distinguished by the enormous scope of new industrial construction. The five-year plan provided for the construction of over 1,500 enterprises. The largest objects of the first five-year plan were: Dneproges, Magnitogorsk, Zaporozhye metallurgical plants, Stalingrad Tractor Plant, Uralmash.
People worked hard and were often deprived of even primitive household amenities. The increase in plans resulted in a loss of quality and the inability to concentrate funds and forces. The first five-year plan was not fulfilled, although Stalin claimed that it was completed in 4 years and three months.
Second Five-Year Plan (1933-1937). The negative experience of the first five-year plan forced us to take a more cautious approach to drawing up plans. The abundance of defects forced us to pay attention to industrial training of workers. The shortage of consumer goods required the accelerated development of Group B industries.
After the mine miner Stakhanov produced 104 tons of coal per shift in 1935, when the norm was 7 tons, the Stakhanov movement, which was promoted and served as a means to mobilize workers to achieve high production results. Often records were based on rationalization proposals. There were also cases when Stakhanovites were given special working conditions.
During the Second Five-Year Plan, the gross output doubled, but in many respects the plan was not fulfilled.
RESULTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION:
· Rise of the USSR to second place in the world in industrial production
· Reconstruction of old and construction of new industrial enterprises
· Creation of new industries: automobile, tractor, aircraft manufacturing...
· Disproportions in the development of heavy and light industry
· Eliminating unemployment
· Strengthening the country's defense capability
· Formation of a command economy.
LECTURE 75. Collectivization in the USSR.
Collectivization is the mass creation of collective farms (collective farms) in the late 20s and early 30s.
By the end of the recovery period, the country's agriculture had largely reached pre-war levels. However, the level of its marketability remained lower than before the revolution due to the destruction of landowners' farms. Small peasant farming primarily provided for its own needs, and maintained contact with the market irregularly. Only large-scale farming could lead to an increase in commodity production. The involvement of the broad masses in collective farms allowed the state to implement the Marxist idea of transforming small peasant farms into large socialist agricultural “factories”, ensuring the growth of commodity production, and taking control of agricultural reserves.
Goals of collectivization:
§ overcoming the state’s dependence on individual peasant farms
§ providing industry with labor due to the departure of peasants from the countryside
§ transfer of funds from agriculture to industry
§ liquidation of the kulaks as a class
In 1927, the policy of collectivization was proclaimed . However, no time frame was set. But the grain procurement crisis at the turn of 1927-28. changed the situation. The peasants refused to sell bread at a loss. The country has introduced a card system. The party leaders saw a way out of this situation in the creation of collective farms.
1929 - “complete collectivization” began. To assist collective farms, 25 thousand workers (twenty-five thousand workers) were sent to the villages. In November 1929, Stalin published an article in Pravda "The year of the great turning point" in which it was stated that the bulk of the peasantry had joined the collective farms and the tasks of collectivization were close to being accomplished. This speech was taken locally as an instruction to increase the pace of collectivization.
1930-liquidation of the kulaks as a class(they were dispossessed - their lands and property were transferred to collective farms, they themselves and their family members were deported to remote areas of the country (Urals, Kazakhstan, Siberia)). According to some reports, the number of dispossessed people reached 5 million people.
Forced collectivization and dispossession caused resistance from the peasants. In the first three months alone, more than 2 thousand performances took place in the country. Peasants slaughtered livestock, set fire to collective farm barns, attacked activists...
1930 (March) - Stalin spoke in Pravda with the article “Dizziness from success” where he laid the blame for the “excesses” on the local authorities. Stalin began to be perceived as the protector of the people. The peasants took this as a signal to leave the collective farms. A mass exit from collective farms followed. However, a year later the level of collectivization returned to its previous level. This is explained by higher taxes on individual farmers and the difficulties they encountered in trying to get back the plots, livestock and equipment transferred to collective farms.
1932-1933 -a severe famine struck the country (the harvest turned out to be below average, and the volume of grain procurements increased; this was explained by the desire to export as much grain as possible abroad in order to obtain foreign currency for the purchase of industrial equipment). The victims of the famine were from 4 to 8 million.
1932 (August) – “The Law of Three Spikelets", according to which even the smallest theft of collective farm property was punishable by ten years in prison.
1937 – completion of collectivization.(93% of peasant farms are united into collective farms)
Elimination of the layer of wealthy peasants
Destruction of the private sector in agriculture
Alienation of peasants from property and land
Loss of economic incentives to work
Slowdown in the growth of agricultural production in the country and the constant worsening of the food problem.
BUT!!! -conditions have been created for an industrial breakthrough
Funds were received for industrialization.
LECTURE 76. Culture in the USSR in the 20-30s.
Cultural Revolution- this term appeared in the work of V.I. Lenin and meant a “leap into
development of culture"; the process of transformation of the spiritual sphere of society;
Goals:
- increasing the level of education and creating a socialist education system;
-affirmation of Marxist-Leninist ideology;
-introducing the general public to cultural values;
-formation of socialist culture.
EDUCATION.
Objectives in the field of education:
1) The fight against illiteracy.
2) Restructuring the education system
3) Transformation of the education system into an instrument of ideological influence
Soviet power won in a country with a relatively low level of culture among the population. The bulk of the population was illiterate. Meanwhile, the Soviet government was interested in disseminating its ideas and views.
-1919-decree “On the elimination of illiteracy among the population of Russia”, which obliged all citizens from 8 to 50 years of age to learn to read and write. Literacy centers have been created - educational programs; Creation workers' faculties, those. workers' faculties that prepared young people for entering universities; Students of workers' faculties mastered the course of four to six grades of school in three years.
- Expanding the network of urban and rural schools, creating FZU (factory schools).
- Distribution of on-the-job education (evening, correspondence, courses...)
- 1930-1931 - introduction of universal compulsory primary education
-Growth in the number of universities
In the 30s illiteracy was largely eradicated. By 1939, 90% of men and 72% of women could read and write.
THE SCIENCE. NATURAL AND EXACT SCIENCES.
The Soviet government paid great attention to the development of technical and natural sciences.
Ioffe-semiconductor research
Kapitsa-research in microphysics
Tsiolkovsky-inventor, scientist substantiated the possibility of space flights.
Tupolev-aircraft designer, aircraft manufacturing.
Vavilov-creator of Soviet genetics (repressed and died in prison)
Lysenkoism is a political campaign to persecute a group of geneticists, deny genetics and
temporary ban on genetic research in the USSR. Received its popular name from the name
Lysenko, became the symbol of the campaign. The campaign was launched in scientific biological circles
from approximately the mid-1930s to the first half of the 1960s.
Vernadsky-discovery of the noosphere.
Korolev-rocket science (creator of rockets for space flight and intercontinental missiles).
Kurchatov-study of the atomic nucleus ( after the war, creator of the Soviet atomic bomb)
VASKHNIL-All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences named after. Lenin.
THE SCIENCE. SOCIAL SCIENCES. ESTABLISHMENT OF MARXIST-LENINIST IDEOLOGY.
After the revolution, social sciences found themselves under severe pressure.
1922- expulsion from Russia of 150 leading scientists, philosophers, historians, economists who did not share the ideological guidelines of the Bolsheviks (this process is called "philosophical ship""). Philosophers Ilyin, Berdyaev, Bunin, Kuprin, Chaliapin, Anna Pavlova emigrated...
1922 - creation of the Main Directorate for Literary Affairs (Glavlit) - the main body of Soviet censorship (existed until 1991).
In 1922, the state confiscated all valuables from the church, which sparked protests. During the anti-religious campaign, thousands of clergy were executed and sent to camps. There was anti-church propaganda.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRINCIPLE OF SOCIALIST REALISM IN LITERATURE
In the 1920s There were many different literary associations.
"Proletkult" -(Proletarian culture). They considered it necessary to discard all previous cultural achievements and create a new proletarian culture.
"RAPP" (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers). They tried to create their works in a simplified form so that they would be accessible to the masses. Members of RAPP fought against Alexei Tolstoy, Platonov, Bulgakov, Yesenin. In the end, the concept of “Soviet writer” was established.
In 1934, the Writers' Union of the USSR was created. The main method of Soviet literature was socialist realism(depiction of life in the light of socialist ideals - example, prohibition of Bulgakov's works).
In the 30s writers developed a historical-revolutionary theme. The most notable works of this direction were “Quiet Don” Sholokhov, "Destruction" Fadeeva,"As the Steel Was Tempered" Ostrovsky.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRINCIPLE OF SOCIALIST REALISM IN ART.
"Windows of Growth" »- more precisely, “Windows of Satire of the Russian Telegraph Agency” - posters created in 1919-1921 by Soviet artists and writers. A type of propaganda art - sharp, intelligible satirical posters with easy-to-remember verses (later renamed "TASS Windows")
The artists who accepted the revolution created many associations. There's a fight going on
realistic and modernist movements.
LEF-left front of the arts
AHRR- Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia.
They tried to create their works in a simplified form.
Artists: Malevich, Chagall, Petrov-Vodkin, Deineka, Filonov, Kandinsky.
Sculptural group “Worker and Collective Farm Woman” - Mukhina.
1932 - the last exhibition of avant-garde artists in the USSR (Malevich, Filonov...)
Demolition of architectural monuments, especially religious ones; for example, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
MUSIC. MOVIE.
Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Dunaevsky - composers.
Meyerhold-theater director, repressed, shot.
Vakhtangov- theater director.
Eisenstein-film "Alexander Nevsky"
Alexandrov- “Jolly guys”, “Volga-Volga”-films imbued with optimism.
FEATURES OF SOVIET CULTURE IN THE 20s.
1) Fight against illiteracy
2) Active replenishment of the creative intelligentsia from the worker-peasant environment
3) Following the slogan “Art for the service of the people.”
4) Limiting contacts with representatives of foreign cultures
5) Existence of censorship
FEATURES OF SOVIET CULTURE IN THE 30s.
1) A single method was established - socialist realism, and all other directions began to be persecuted.
2) Culture is placed under strict party control.
3) Part of the creative intelligentsia is subjected to persecution and repression
Addition to the lecture: The first non-stop flight of Soviet aviators, made in 1937 from the USSR to the USA, consisting of: Chkalov, Baidukov, Belyaev.
LECTURE 77. Foreign policy of the USSR in the 20-30s.
The main direction of the foreign policy of the RSFSR, and then the USSR in the 1920s. was exit from diplomatic isolation. In 1920-1921 Diplomatic relations were established with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland. In 1921-1922 The USSR signs a number of trade agreements. This actually meant recognition of the country in the international arena. However, the major powers refrained from establishing diplomatic relations.
In 1922, for the first time in the post-revolutionary years, Soviet Russia took part in Genoa (headed by the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs - Chicherin). The main issue on which the struggle unfolded was related to the settlement of Russia's debts to European countries. The Genoa Conference did not bring any results, but during its days Russia and Germany signed:
1922- Treaty of Rappal between Russia and Germany(the countries abandoned mutual claims, established diplomatic and trade relations; Germany, which had lost the war and was relegated to the position of a second-class power, needed allies; Russia received serious support in the struggle to overcome international isolation; trade, economic and military-technical relations developed until the Nazis came to power in 1933)
1924-1925. became a turning point - the USSR was recognized by Great Britain, France, Italy...
At this time, the USSR was trying to spark a world revolution. The Comintern is an international organization that united communist parties in 1919-1943. Significant funds were allocated to support revolutionary uprisings in other countries. At the end of the 20s. The prevailing point of view was about building socialism in a single country, which assigned a subordinate role to the world revolution.
In 1933, the international situation changed. The National Socialists, led by Hitler, came to power. Germany set a course for scrapping the Versailles system and preparing for war in Europe. The USSR was faced with a choice: either remain faithful to its friendly policy towards Germany, or look for ways to isolate Germany, which did not hide its aggressive plans.
1933-1939 - Soviet foreign policy was directed against Germany and towards the creation of a system of collective security in Europe (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Litvinov-1930-1939).
-1934-USSR was admitted to the League of Nations
-1935 - mutual assistance agreement with France and Czechoslovakia(The USSR could provide
assistance to Czechoslovakia on the condition that similar assistance will be provided by France).
-1936-1939—support for anti-fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War.
-1938 – Soviet-Japanese armed conflict in the lake area. Hassan ( Soviet counterattack
forced the Japanese to leave the territory of the USSR).
-1939 – battles of Soviet troops under the command of Zhukov against the Japanese in the area of the Khalkhin Gol River
(Soviet troops assisted Mongolia and defeated the Japanese).
-1938 – Munich Agreement, according to which England and France satisfied
German demands for the annexation of the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia.
-1939 (March-August) - negotiations between the USSR, Great Britain and France on the conclusion
tripartite agreement(negotiating partners had no trust, each side
sought to gain advantages; negotiations stalled in August).
Stalin felt that neither France nor Great Britain were ready to sign a serious treaty. Moreover, in the summer of 1939, secret negotiations began between Great Britain and Germany. The Soviet government moved towards rapprochement with Germany; Litvinov was removed from the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. The Soviet Union was afraid to be left alone with Germany.
On August 23, 1939, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and USSR Foreign Minister Molotov signed a 10-year non-aggression pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) in Moscow. A secret protocol was attached to the Pact. He delimited the spheres of influence of the USSR and Germany in Eastern Europe. The Soviet sphere included Latvia, Estonia, Eastern Poland (Western Ukraine and Western Belarus), Finland, Bessarabia, and Western Poland and Lithuania in the German sphere.
Many are inclined to believe that the signing of the pact was a necessary measure aimed at delaying the involvement of the USSR, which was not prepared for war, into a military conflict with Germany. Others consider this treaty criminal, since the territories of independent states were divided secretly from everyone and after the signing of this treaty the Second World War began.
Formation of a regime of personal power by I.V. Stalin. Stalin acquired complete power over the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), who, using intrigue, deception and demagoguery, managed to eliminate all opponents. The rise of “the most outstanding mediocrity of the party,” as Trotsky called him, occurred due to the fact that the majority of communists did not possess a high political culture. Among the 1.674 million party members in 1930, 75% had primary education and only 0.6% had higher education. Oppositionists, as a rule, were part of the old party guard (12–20 thousand people, or 2%). Their ideas were incomprehensible to the general mass of communists. And Stalin expressed his views simply and intelligibly. The general secretary was also supported by the party apparatus, in which the positions of secretaries of provincial and district committees were occupied by Stalin’s proteges. Having won the party, Stalin automatically became the first person in the state. A regime of his personal power was established in the country.
The party, which had grown numerically (from 1926 to 1941, increased 3 times) turned into a centralist organization, fused with the executive branch. In 1928, the distribution of transcripts of Central Committee plenums and work plans of the Politburo and the Organizing Bureau ceased; congresses, conferences, and plenums of the Central Committee were convened less frequently. The dictatorship was also supported through party “purges”: in 1937–1938. Almost 200 thousand people, or every tenth, were expelled from the ranks of the CPSU(b). Most often, leading party workers were subjected to repression. Of the 1,966 delegates to the XVII Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, more than half were arrested; 70% of the members and candidates for members of the Central Committee elected at the congress were repressed.
During this period, the practice of co-optation as committee members and list voting became widespread. The over-centralization of the party and state leadership, the emergence of its upper echelons from under any form of control led to the emergence of a regime of personal power by I.V. Stalin. Party influence in production increased: in 1930–1932. at industrial enterprises where over 500 communists worked, party committees, shop cells and party groups in brigades were created; party cells in collective farms, state farms, MTS. If in the summer of 1930 there were 30 thousand in the village, in October 1933 there were already 80 thousand primary party organizations and candidate groups. When crisis phenomena occurred in certain areas of production, since 1933, political departments (political departments) were created, endowed with emergency powers.
Party, Komsomol, and other public organizations and government bodies performed the functions of “drive belts” connecting Stalin as the leader of the ruling party with the masses, mobilizing the people to solve the tasks set by the “national leader.”
Repressive bodies of the state. The main support of the Stalinist regime were the repressive bodies. In 1930, the Republican People's Commissariats of Internal Affairs were abolished, and the police were transferred to the OGPU.
The OGPU (former Cheka) joined the NKVD in 1934, adding another repressive system with its own “judicial board.” The Main Police Department was also transferred to the NKVD. On the basis of the former OGPU, the Main Directorate of State Security was created in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. The territories, regions and autonomous republics also had corresponding departments that directed the forces and means of the repressive bodies.
The NKVD of the USSR was removed from the control of state and party bodies. In fact, he reported directly to Stalin. Under the NKVD of the USSR there were bodies for the use of extrajudicial repression.
Thus, under Stalin, the NKVD had everything necessary: legal support, security forces - for total control over “anti-Soviet elements” and quick reprisals against them.
Everything was thought out and prepared for the organized conduct of mass repressions on “legal grounds.” In the press and on the radio, there was a sophisticated ideological indoctrination of the population, which was instilled with the need to fight the “enemies of the people” during the period of building socialism. It was Stalin who introduced the concept of "Enemy of the people".
At the same time, the prosecutor's office and the court were reformed. The Regulations on the Prosecutor's Office of 1933 sharply increased its centralization. The Supreme Court of the USSR was deprived of the right of constitutional supervision, but expanded the right to control the activities of the judicial bodies of the union republics.
The fight against dissent. In parallel with the formation of the regime of personal power, I.V. Stalin launched a fight against dissent. The scale of repression against “class-hostile” individuals increased. Punitive measures affected almost all segments of the population. Following the dispossession, repressive measures were taken against the townspeople. Many senior officials of the State Planning Committee, the Supreme Economic Council, and the People's Commissariats fell into the category of “enemies of the people.” Business executives and engineers, primarily representatives of old (bourgeois) specialists, were declared to be the culprits for the failure of industrial plans. At the end of 1930, in the “Industrial Party” case, a group of scientific and technical intelligentsia led by the director of the Scientific Research Institute of Thermal Engineering L.K. was brought to trial and convicted. Ramzin.
Prominent agricultural scientists N.D. were in the dock on charges of belonging to the Labor Peasant Party. Kondratyev, A.V. Chayanov and others. The “fault” of the scientists was that their views on the ongoing collectivization differed from the official views. In particular, they considered the presence of a market to be a necessary condition for the development of rural cooperation.
Violence and refusal of voluntariness during the period of mass collectivization, as noted above, were condemned by individual leaders of the party and state. A.I. Rykov and M.P. Tomsky suggested, for example, using NEP methods. However, the majority of party leaders regarded the views of opponents of the official political course as erroneous. These and other facts indicated Stalin's intolerance towards dissenters.
Oppression of the Russian Orthodox Church. By instilling Bolshevik ideology in society, the Soviet state, led by Stalin, dealt a heavy blow to the Russian Orthodox Church, bringing it under its control, despite the decree on the separation of church and state. Under the pretext of raising funds to fight hunger, a significant part of church valuables was confiscated. intensified anti-religious propaganda, temples and cathedrals were destroyed. The persecution of priests began. Patriarch* Tikhon was placed under house arrest.
To undermine intra-church unity, the government provided material and moral support to religious movements and sects that called on parishioners obey authority. After Tikhon's death in 1925, the government prevented the election of a new patriarch. The locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Peter, was arrested. His successor, Metropolitan Sergius, and 8 bishops were forced to show loyalty to the Soviet government. In 1927, they signed a Declaration in which they obliged priests who did not recognize the new government to withdraw from church affairs.
Stalin's "justice". At the direction of “Comrade Stalin,” the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, on November 5, 1934, issued a resolution on the creation of a “Special Meeting” under the NKVD of the USSR. It included: People's Commissar of Internal Affairs; his deputy and head of the main police department. This legal act created " troika" - an extrajudicial repressive body with great powers. He administered summary “justice.” Neither lay judges nor lawyers were needed. In 1934, another extrajudicial body of repression was created, the so-called « deuce» – Commission of the NKVD of the USSR and the USSR Prosecutor for investigative cases.
The resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, adopted on December 1, 1934 (on the day of the murder of the secretary of the Leningrad party organization S.M. Kirov), established the following procedure for conducting cases of terrorist organizations and terrorist acts against workers of the Soviet government.
1. The investigation in these cases should be completed within no more than ten days.
2. The indictment must be served on the accused one day before the hearing of the case in court.
3. Cases should be heard without the participation of the parties.
4. Cassation appeals against sentences, as well as filing petitions for pardon, should not be allowed.
5. A sentence of capital punishment shall be carried out immediately.
In the 30s high-profile trials fabricated by the NKVD were carried out: in 1936 about the “Anti-Soviet United Trotskyist-Zinoviev Center” (G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Evdokimov, etc.); in 1937 about the “Parallel Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Center” (Yu.L. Pyatakov, G.Ya. Sokolnikov, K.V. Radek, L.P. Serebryakov, etc.); in 1938 about the “Anti-Soviet right-Trotskyist bloc” (N.I. Bukharin, N.N. Krestinsky, A.I. Rykov and others *).
Totalitarianism. Established in the 1930s. the totalitarian state system generally corresponded to Stalin’s ideology and was an organic consequence of his rejection of the NEP and the turn to forced industrialization and forced collectivization.
The doctrine of “socialist legality,” which emerged in the 1930s, was based on the Marxist-Leninist concept of law, when the administration of justice was dominated not by law, but by ideology. When “socialist legality” was applied in practice, numerous violations of the law occurred. At the same time, Soviet law was imperative in nature, requiring interpretation of the law in strict accordance with the intentions of its authors, and not free or literal interpretation (as in Western law).
In the 30s the already fragile line between political and civil society was broken: the economy was subject to total state control, the party merged with the state, the state became ideologized, turning first into an authoritarian one, and then, with the weakness of civil society, into a totalitarian regime.
The most important state decisions were made jointly on behalf of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. The processes of concentration of political power among a circle of party and government officials (nomenklatura) were accompanied by a narrowing of the civil rights of workers. In the branches of labor, collective farm and criminal law, this was especially obvious. Law during this period acquired the role of an instrument for the formation of the personality cult of Stalin, strengthening the administrative-command system, and made the totalitarian regime established in the country “legal.”
Although the principle of legality was formally declared, in practice it was not observed and was often violated. Many violations of the law were committed by government agencies themselves. These were, for example, the fabricated trials of 1928 and 1930. – “Shakhty case”, “Industrial Party case”, etc.
In criminal law, a number of clearly repressive laws were passed, providing for severe penalties for certain crimes. Thus, on August 7, 1932, a resolution was issued by the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR “On the protection of the property of state enterprises, collective farms and cooperatives and the strengthening of public (socialist) property.” The resolution provided for the possibility of applying capital punishment - execution with confiscation of all property with replacement, under mitigating circumstances, by imprisonment for a term of at least 10 years with confiscation of property for theft of state and public (collective farm and cooperative) property. A significant flaw in the resolution, which made it extremely repressive, was the lack of a clear distinction between petty and major thefts.
On August 22, 1932, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution “On the fight against profiteering.” In it, just like in the resolution of August 7, 1932, there was no distinction between small, medium and large speculation. This often led to punishments disproportionate to the crime.
In April 1935, a resolution of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR established criminal liability for serious crimes (murder, rape, mutilation, theft) for minors of twelve years of age; for all other crimes (according to the May 1941 Decree), responsibility was established from the age of 14.
A year earlier, all institutions « re-education » Convicted and repressed Soviet citizens were united into the Main Directorate of Camps within the NKVD of the USSR. In the novels of A.I. Solzhenitsyn, it was aptly named "GULAG Archipelago". By the end of the 1930s. The Gulag included 53 camps, 425 correctional labor colonies, and 50 juvenile colonies. Thus, with the participation of the “national leader,” everything was ready for mass repressions in the country.
Mass repression. During the period 1935–1938 a vicious practice of mass repressions developed, initiated by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, first against the Trotskyists, Bukharinites, and then against many innocent ordinary communists.
Many heads of state bodies, senior officials of the State Planning Committee, the Supreme Economic Council, and many people's commissariats fell into the category of “enemies of the people.” Business executives and engineers, primarily representatives of old (bourgeois) specialists, were declared to be the culprits for the failure of industrial plans.
Prominent military leaders and heroes of the civil war did not escape Stalin’s repressions: M.N. Tukhachevsky, who became Marshal of the Soviet Union at the age of 36, V.K. Blucher, holder of 5 Orders of the Red Banner, the highest award of the Motherland at that time, A.I. Egorov, I.P. Uborevich and others. As “foreign intelligence agents,” the commanders of all military districts were unjustly convicted and shot. All corps commanders, almost all division commanders, brigade commanders, and about half of the regiment commanders were killed or subjected to long-term imprisonment. In total, by 1941, 40 thousand marshals, generals and officers were subjected to repression, that is, about half of the entire senior and middle command staff of the Red Army. And this is on the eve of the attack on the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany! These repressions Stalin contributed to Hitler's successful invasion deep into our country.
In total, from 1921 to February 1, 1953, with the connivance of the “national leader”, and often on his direct instructions, 3,777,380 people were convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes, including 642,980 sentenced to death and 2,369 to imprisonment 220, to exile and deportation - 765,180 people.
The unleashed terror also fell on ordinary citizens. They threw innocent people, cultural and artistic figures into prisons and camps, from whom they demanded to confess to crimes they had not committed against the Soviet regime. The expansion of the scale of repression was accompanied by a massive violation of the rule of law. Historians cite terrible figures for Stalin’s repressions on the eve of the war: from 2 to 12 million Soviet people.
One of the legal theorists who provided a “scientific basis” for legal arbitrariness and Stalinist repressions of the 30s was A.Ya. Vyshinsky, Prosecutor General of the USSR. It is he who deserves the credit for establishing the guilt of the accused - his confession to the crime. It didn’t matter to the Prosecutor General that confessions of “treason” were extracted (in the literal sense of the word) from investigative agencies and NKVD detention centers. On Stalin’s personal instructions, torture was allowed to be used on those arrested to extract confessions of anti-Soviet conspiracies and treason.
To be fair, it is worth noting that not everyone bowed their heads to the dictator who usurped power in the country. Thus, in 1932, the organization “Union of Marxists-Leninists”, known as the M.N. group, operated in the country. Ryutina. She released a manifesto “To all members of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)”, which condemned the policies of terror and repression and the dictatorship of Stalin. Naturally, this organization was quickly identified and suppressed by the NKVD.
At the XVII Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, an anti-Stalinist bloc was formed, which included the secretaries of regional committees and the Central Committee of the Republican Communist Parties, including the secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee S.M. Kirov. Stalin received the fewest votes in the elections to the Central Committee of the party, and S.M. After the congress, Kirov took three posts in the highest party authorities: the Politburo, the Organizing Bureau and the Secretariat. But the counting commission of the congress committed falsification, and the leader was again elected general secretary. He did not forget the voting results, and after some time more than half of the party congress (1,108 people out of 1966) were repressed.
Fear and horror in the life of Soviet people coexisted with loud statements about building socialism in the country and eliminating the exploitation of man by man. This was a manifestation of political pharisaism*. In an effort to smooth out tensions in society, to explain the contradictions between the promise of freedoms under socialism and the ongoing mass repressions, Stalin and his circle, through the media, made scapegoats out of repressive leaders. All troubles and failures in work, the deterioration of the lives of ordinary people were attributed to their machinations as “enemies of the people”, agents of imperialism. This indoctrination was also facilitated by regular “public” trials of “enemies of the people” - a kind of court plays, staged according to Stalin's instructions. Show trials of “enemies of the people” were intended to justify mass repressions and to impress upon the Soviet people and their executioners the need to carry them out.
In 1940, near Katyn (Smolensk region), NKVD officers shot about 22 thousand captured officers of the Polish army. For many years, Soviet propaganda attributed responsibility for this crime to Nazi Germany, and only on November 26, 2010, the Russian State Duma adopted a statement “About the Katyn tragedy and its victims”, in which she admitted that the execution of the Polish military was carried out on the direct orders of Stalin.
Thus, the NKVD authorities carried out a huge amount of work, for which they should have been rewarded. And they awarded some with orders and medals, some with prison terms, and some with execution. Thus, the leaders of the NKVD G.G. were shot. Yagoda and N.I. Yezhov, who carried out Jesuit orders and Stalin’s orders for mass repressions.
L.P., who replaced them. Beria, Stalin's friend and ally, managed to establish a system of using cheap labor in the form of millions of convicts. The Main Directorate of Camps and Colonies supervised the work of prisoners on the construction of canals, railways, and industrial enterprises. The work of the prisoner builders and their enthusiasm are almost documented in the story of eyewitness A.I. Solzhenitsyn "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich."
The creation of Stalin's personality cult was largely facilitated by mass media. There was not a single day when the people were not informed about the successes of Stalin’s domestic and foreign policy on the pages of newspapers and magazines and on the radio. All labor victories of workers and collective farmers were attributed to the “leader of the people” Stalin, and failures and mistakes were presented as the result of subversive activities of enemies of the people.
In the last years of V.I.’s life. Lenin (1870-1924) an internal party struggle for power began. Since 1922, due to illness, Lenin retired from leading the country and the party, but during this period he dictated a number of letters and articles - “Lenin’s political testament.” Among them, the most notable Letter from V.I. Lenin to the congress(December 1922 - January 1923), where he warned the old Bolsheviks against factional struggle and split and gave impartial characteristics to the main party leaders: I.V. Stalin, L.D. Trotsky, L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev, N.I. Bukharin and others.
The main rivalry, according to Lenin, could develop between Stalin and Trotsky. Stalin, who concentrated enormous power in his hands, was characterized by Lenin as excessively power-hungry, rude and intolerant of criticism. Lenin proposed to remove Stalin from the post of General Secretary. Reference: Stalin was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) in April 1922, this position meant leadership of the party apparatus, Lenin, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, remained the leader of the party and government. After Lenin's death, his Letter was reported to the delegates of the XIII Congress of the RCP(b) in May 1924, but Stalin retained the post of Secretary General of the party.
Party factions existed during Lenin's lifetime and were officially banned at the X Congress of the RCP(b) in March 1921. Party faction- part of a party that comes out with a political program that diverges from the general program of the party.
Within the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b), and then the CPSU(b), there were four factions:
1. I.V. Stalin, relying on the party apparatus;
2. L.D. Trotsky at the head of the faction " left communists"(K. Radek, G. Pyatakov, L. Serebryakov);
3. Faction G.E. Zinoviev and L.B. Kameneva, who relied on Leningrad party organization; Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in 1924 at the Second Congress of Soviets.
4. Faction N.I. Bukharin, A.I. Rykova and M.P. Tomsky, “moderate” members of the Politburo, who were later accused of “right-wing deviation” in the party.
In the 1920s The internal party struggle unfolded in four stages:
Stage 1 1923-1924: Stalin teamed up with Kamenev and Zinoviev and established cooperation with Bukharin’s group. Together they opposed Trotsky, who claimed to become Lenin's successor. Result: Trotsky was accused of dictatorial habits, in January 1925 he was removed from the post of People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and from the post Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council(this is the highest military and political leadership in the Red Army - the Red Army, since 1925 M.V. Frunze).
Why did Trotsky suffer?: In his speech at the April 1923 Plenum of the Central Committee and in his letter to the Central Committee in October 1923 entitled "New Deal", he criticized the NEP and blamed the party for the economic crisis. Trotsky demanded the introduction of democratization in the party and criticized the bureaucracy. As for agriculture and industry: he proposed to withdraw funds from peasants for industrialization and take enterprises under state control. He was supported by a number of like-minded people who signed the “Statement of the 46”.
Stage 2 1925-1926.: Kamenev and Zinoviev unite against the omnipotence of Stalin and organize a “new opposition” as part of the Leningrad party organization. Stalin, Bukharin, Rykov opposed the “new opposition”, and as a result, in December 1925, at the XIV Party Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the opposition was defeated.
Stage 3 1926-1927: a “united opposition” (Trotskyist-Zinoviev bloc) against Stalin is formed. Stalin, Bukharin, and Rykov again oppose the “united opposition.” Result: on Plenum of the Central Committee CPSU(b) in 1926 Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev were expelled from Politburo of the Central Committee, Zinoviev was removed from the post of chairman of the Comintern, in 1927 Trotsky and Zinoviev were expelled from the party. Trotsky was exiled to Alma-Ata at the beginning of 1928, then expelled from the USSR the following year, and was killed in 1940 in Mexico by an agent of the Soviet secret services.
Reference: Plenum of the Central Committee of the party is a meeting of the entire composition of members and candidates for members of the Central Committee of the party, at least once every six months.
Reference: The Politburo of the Party Central Committee is the leading party body elected by the Central Committee to direct the work of the party in the period between plenums of the Central Committee. Its members include leaders of the highest party and state bodies.
Stage 4 1928-1929: The group of Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky opposed the curtailment of the NEP and forced collectivization. Their views were declared a “right deviation” at the Plenum of the Central Committee in 1928, the deviationists were removed from their posts: Bukharin from the Politburo, from the post of chairman of the Comintern and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Pravda, Tomsky was removed from the leadership of trade unions, Rykov from the post of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars .
The result of the internal party struggle of the 1920s. - establishment of a regime of personal power, and then cult of personality Stalin. The struggle was accompanied by party “purges”; about 170 thousand communists were expelled from the party.
1920s became a time of persecution of the church: confiscation of church valuables, destruction of churches, anti-religious propaganda, persecution of priests. The slogan was introduced: “Religion is the opium of the people!”
Addition: The political system of the USSR in the 1930s:
In the 1930s developed in the USSR totalitarian system of power: state control over all spheres of public life, elimination of constitutional rights and freedoms. The establishment of totalitarianism was accompanied repression– punitive measures in order to protect and preserve the existing system. Was taking shape Cult of personality- recognition of Stalin’s special merits, his infallibility as a leader of the people.
In 1928, Stalin put forward the thesis about the intensification of class struggle as we move towards socialism. All failures of modernization, industrialization, etc. were attributed to the activities of “saboteurs,” saboteurs, and counter-revolution.
At the turn of the 1920-30s. a series of political processes:
1928 " Shakhty case» - 53 Donbass miners were accused of sabotage, five were shot;
Early 30s case " Labor Peasant Party"led by economists N. Kondratyev and A. Chayanov, who interfered with collectivization, were shot.
Early 30s case against Moscow party workers led by M. Ryutin - “Union for the Defense of Leninism”, who advocated the removal of Stalin from the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
In January-February 1934 it gathered XVII Congress All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) – congress of winners of socialist competitions, later called “ congress of those executed", since most of its participants were repressed. The reason for mass repression was the murder of S.M. Kirov (head of the Leningrad party organization) December 1, 1934 - in the second half of the 1930s. Stalin dealt with all his rivals:
a) 1935-1936 destruction of the “new opposition” Zinoviev and Kamenev. They were tried, accused of complicity in the murder of Kirov and the creation of " Trotskyist-Zinovievist terrorist center", all 16 convicts were shot;
b) 1937 case “ parallel anti-Soviet Trotskyist center"(Pyatakov, Serebryakov, Sokolnikov) - against workers of the People's Commissariat of Heavy and Forestry Industry, charges of sabotage, undermining the Soviet economy;
c) 1937 – in Red Army repressions against command personnel began - M.N. Tukhachevsky, I.E. Yakira, I.P. Uborevich, A.I. Egorova, V.K. Blucher, etc.
d) 1938 trial in the case “ anti-Soviet right-Trotskyist bloc"(Bukharin, Rykov) - accusations of trying to restore capitalism, sabotage and espionage were shot;
e) repressions against individual peoples: Korean population expelled from the Far Eastern territories (1937);
e) repressions against ordinary Soviet citizens on denunciations and accusations of counter-revolutionary activities, etc. – link to the GULAG (network of camps, Main Directorate of Camps).
At the same time, a network was created and strengthened punitive authorities:
Since 1922, the GPU under the NKVD ( Main Political Directorate under the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) conducted simplified investigations in political cases;
In 1935 it was created Special Security Commission of the Politburo to eliminate “enemies of the people” (Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Ordzhonikidze, Kaganovich);
For the absentee and quick trial of those arrested in Moscow, the NKVD operated a “Special Meeting”; locally, “twos” and “troikas” (formed from OGPU employees, the prosecutor’s office, and party workers) decided execution cases in 10 days.
The bulk of the cases were carried out under Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (anti-Soviet activities, agitation and propaganda, terror against party members)
Political system of the 1930s was enshrined in the Stalin Constitution on December 5, 1936, approved at the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets. Basic provisions of the Constitution:
Was proclaimed victory of socialism in USSR;
The political basis of the state was Councils of Working People's Deputies;
the economic basis of the state became socialist property for means of production in two forms - state and collective farm-cooperative;
The social basis was the union of workers and peasants while maintaining the dictatorship of the proletariat (in fact, the dictatorship of the CPSU (b);
Approved the composition of the USSR from 11 republics (RSFSR, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Turkmen, Tajik).
The legislative body became the highest authority Supreme Soviet of the USSR from two chambers (Council of the Union and Council of Nationalities); acted during the breaks between its meetings Presidium Supreme Council. In 1937, elections to the Supreme Council were held. M.I. became the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council in 1938. Kalinin. The Supreme Council approved the composition of the government.
Executive power was exercised by the government of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, headed by V.M. Molotov.
Established universal direct and equal elections by secret ballot.
Guaranteed citizens the right to work, rest, education and material security in old age; Moreover, work was the responsibility of every citizen: “He who does not work does not eat!”
Freedom of religious worship was introduced simultaneously with freedom of anti-religious propaganda.
In Stalin’s history textbook “A Short Course in the History of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks” in 1938, it was said that the Constitution of 1936 reflected “the victory of socialism and workers’ and peasants’ democracy,” although in fact it consolidated the victory of the command-administrative system and totalitarianism .
Until 1921, the leader of the party was V.I. Lenin X Congress of the RCP (B) - prohibition of factions and party discussions - the danger of a split in the party was prevented
THE RISE OF J.V. STALIN 1922 - J.V. Stalin became General Secretary of the Central Committee Functions: record keeping, organization of clerical work, clarity in personnel work, communication between the Central Committee and local party organizations Very quickly Stalin brought the entire party apparatus under his control
In the fall of 1922, a seriously ill Lenin addressed the 11th Congress of the RCP (b) with a letter. “Lenin’s Letter to the Congress” (“Lenin’s Testament”) - the problem of the transfer of power in the party (country) 1) CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MOST PROMINENT PARTY LEADERS WAS GIVEN 2) CRITICISM OF STALIN (HIS PERSONAL AND BUSINESS QUALITIES), PROPOSAL TO REMOVE HIM FROM THE POST OF GENERAL SECRETARY
The letter was read out in 1924 before the XIII Congress of the RCP(b) by N.K. Krupskaya. Stalin announced his resignation for the first time at this meeting. Kamenev proposed to resolve the issue by voting. The majority was in favor of leaving Stalin as General Secretary of the RCP(b), only supporters of Leon Trotsky voted against. “Stalin is too rude, and this shortcoming, quite tolerable in the environment and in communications between us communists, becomes intolerable in the position of Secretary General. Therefore, I suggest that the comrades consider a way to move Stalin from this place and appoint another person to this place, who in all other respects differs from Comrade. Stalin has only one advantage, namely, more tolerant, more loyal, more polite and more attentive to his comrades, less capriciousness, etc. This circumstance may seem like an insignificant detail. But I think that from the point of view of protecting against a split and from the point of view of what I wrote above about the relationship between Stalin and Trotsky, this is not a trifle, or it is such a trifle that can become decisive.”
LENIN'S PROPOSALS Increasing the number of members of the Central Committee to several dozen or even hundreds. The relationship between Stalin and Trotsky is in danger of a split. Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary General, concentrated immense power in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be able to use this power carefully enough. Comrade Trotsky is perhaps the most capable person in the present Central Committee, but also boasts excessively of self-confidence and excessive enthusiasm for the purely administrative side of the matter. The October episode of Zinoviev and Kamenev, of course, was not an accident. Bukharin is not only the most valuable and largest theoretician of the party, he is also legitimately considered the favorite of the entire party, but his theoretical views can very doubtfully be classified as completely Marxist, because there is something scholastic in him (he never studied and, I think, never understood quite dialectic). Pyatakov is a man of undoubtedly outstanding will and outstanding abilities, but he is too keen on administration to be relied upon in a serious political matter.
Leon Trotsky Grigory Zinoviev Joseph Stalin Lev Kamenev Georgy Pyatakov Nikolai Bukharin Alexey Rykov No one was proposed as a successor!
- Well, I’m really rude... Ilyich invites you to find someone else who would differ from me only in greater politeness. Well, try to find it. “Nothing,” answered the voice of one of Stalin’s then friends. “You can’t frighten us with rudeness; our entire party is rude, proletarian.” January 21, 1924 - Lenin's death. The struggle within the party enters an open phase
1923 – 1928 - the period of the struggle for power between Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin and Stalin By 1929, J.V. Stalin won the victory in the internal party struggle “Old Bolsheviks” were removed from leading party posts Subsequently declared traitors and enemies of the people!
The formation of a regime of personal power People personally loyal to Stalin were appointed to key positions Vyacheslav Molotov Georgy Ordzhonikidze The state security bodies of the Cheka-NKVD-OGPU were placed under control Sergei Kirov Lazar Kaganovich Kliment Voroshilov Genrikh Yagoda Anastas Mikoyan Nikolay Yezhov
1925 - Stalin’s concept of the possibility of building socialism in one country The tasks of accelerated modernization of the country were set The thesis was put forward about the inevitability of an intensification of the class struggle in the process of socialist construction
The cult of personality is the exaltation of the historical role of one person, the general organizer of October; creator of the Red Army; outstanding commander; leader of the world proletariat; "father of nations"; great strategist of the Five Year Plan; "the best friend of Soviet children". any expression of disagreement with the views of Stalin and his circle, critical analysis of their policies is a crime against the working people of the Soviet Union
Power belongs to a single party standing over government agencies Generally binding state ideology Signs of a totalitarian state Repression as an integral means of politics Control over the media Centralized management of the economy, dominance of state property “Monopoly on weapons”, on the management of the armed forces
REASONS FOR THE FORMATION OF MASS REPRESSIONS Repressions as a tool for preserving the regime of Stalin’s personal power from his possible opponents Repressions as the main form of non-economic coercion of the population Repressions as a determining condition for the unity, preservation and strengthening of a totalitarian society of the Soviet type Needs for ideological support for the formation of the functioning of a totalitarian system Low level of culture of the masses, which allowed cult the existence of people's faith in greatness and personality, the infallibility of the leader. Personal qualities of Stalin
Party pyramid 10 15 people No more than 100 people 3 4 thousand people 30 40 thousand people 100 150 thousand people Politburo Central Committee “Party generals” Republican, regional, regional level “Party officers” City, district level “Party non-commissioned officers” Heads of primary organizations “Party taxpayers” All other members of the CPSU(b)
Features of the political system of the USSR in the 30s. The dominance of the one-party system. The real source of power in the USSR remained the CPSU(b). There was physical destruction of political opponents. The party apparatus performed the functions of the state apparatus. There was a system of mass public organizations. A personality cult of J.V. Stalin was created. A strong repressive apparatus took shape. Ideological treatment of the mass creation of the population of the USSR.
Repressions 1936 – 1938 Repression is the state's punitive measures against its citizens, violating their political, economic, personal rights and freedoms; an important element of control in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.
Layers, categories of Soviet society that were subject to repression Bourgeois socialists Individual peasants Old Guard Cadre officers Companions of V. I. Lenin Scientists
NKVD People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR - the central government body of the USSR for combating crime and maintaining public order in 1934 - 1946. It included the Main Directorate of State Security, the name of this organization is often associated with Stalinist repressions.
OGPU (GPU) - United State Administration under the Council of People's Commissars Specialization - the fight against counter-revolution, espionage, ensuring state security and the fight against elements alien to Soviet power. The chairman of the GPU and later the OGPU until July 20, 1926 was F. E. Dzerzhinsky, then until 1934 the OGPU was headed by V. R. Menzhinsky. OGPU employee uniform
Yagoda Genrikh Grigorievich. Real name: Enon Gershonovich Yehuda. Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov People's Commissars of Internal Affairs of the USSR in the 30s. – perpetrators of mass repressions
The largest political trials of 1928 - the “Shakhty case” - 11 death sentences were handed down on charges of sabotage and sabotage on a large group of coal industry leaders and specialists from the Supreme Economic Council, the Donugol trust and mines. Officially it was called “The Case of Economic Counter-Revolution in Donbass”. The hearings were held in Moscow at the House of Unions from May 18 to July 6. The accused were charged not only with sabotage activities, but also with the creation of an underground organization, the establishment of secret connections with Moscow saboteurs and with foreign anti-Soviet centers.
THE CASE OF THE INDUSTRIAL PARTY is a major trial in the USSR in the case of sabotage in industry, which took place from November 25 to December 7, 1930. Professor Leonid Konstantinovich Ramzin, director of the All-Union Heat Engineering Institute, member of the State Planning Committee and the Supreme Economic Council, was declared the head of the “Industrial Party”.
in particular, Deputy People's Commissar of Agriculture of the USSR Andrei Berzin, economists Nikolai Kondratyev, Alexander Chayanov, Lev Litoshenko were arrested in the “case of the Labor Peasant Party”. Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov interceded for those arrested in this case, which served as the reason for accusing him of “leading the anti-Soviet spy organization “Labor Peasant Party”” in 1941. Rykov, Sokolnikov, and Kalinin were called “pests.”
From an address by Martimyan Nikitich. Ryutin "To all members of the CPSU (b)". June 1932 (responsible secretary of the Dagestan regional committee of the RCP (b) The rights of the party, guaranteed by the Charter, are usurped by an insignificant group of unprincipled politicians. Democratic centralism is replaced by the personal discretion of the leader, and collective leadership by a system of trusted people.
The reason for the deployment of mass repressions in the country was the murder on December 1, 1934 in Leningrad of a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the first secretary of the Leningrad Provincial Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, S. M. Kirov. On that day, Kirov was not going to Smolny. But at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon I called the garage. At 16.00 he left the house. I didn't get into the car. I took a walk. At the Equality Bridge I asked the driver to take me to the Regional Committee. Somewhere at 16.35 I already left the office into the corridor. His guard Borisov was a little behind. Nikolaev saw Kirov and followed him. The corridor was almost empty. Kirov was already approaching the door of his office when Nikolaev pulled out a revolver and shot him three times in the back of the head. Kirov fell.
Repressions in 1935-1938 There was a reason for a sharp tightening of legislation and the introduction of a simplified procedure for considering cases of terrorist acts and counter-revolutionary organizations. The basis for the death sentence was the personal confession of the suspect. The investigation was allowed to use torture. The trial took place without the participation of a prosecutor or lawyer. The sentences were passed without the right of appeal and were carried out immediately. The death penalty was allowed to be applied to persons over 12 years of age. Laws on treason are introduced, and execution is provided for for attempting to escape from the USSR. A law is being introduced on the collective responsibility of family members of a “traitor to the Motherland.” Family members of convicted “enemies of the people” were subject to exile without trial and were deprived of their civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Tightening of labor legislation that assigns workers to their place of work (work books are being introduced).
1936 – the case of the “Trotskyist-Zinovievist terrorist center. Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 other party members were convicted
1937 - the case of the “anti-Soviet Trotskyist center”, “trial of 17” - 13 people were sentenced to death, including K. Radek, G. Sokolnikov, L. Serebryakov Karl Radek Grigory Sokolnikov Leonid Serebryakov
Repressions 1936 -1938 - trials of the inner-party opposition 1938 Bukharin 1937 Tukhachevsky 1936 Zinoviev 1936 Kamenev 1938 Radek
“TUKHACHEVSKY’S CASE” M. N. Tukhachevsky: arrested in 1937, shot in 1938, rehabilitated in 1957. Tukhachevsky on trial Confession of Marshal Tukhachevsky dated May 26, 1937 about leading a military Trotskyist conspiracy.
1937 - “military trial” - M. Tukhachevsky, R. Eideman, A. Kork and others were sentenced to death. The victims were: - out of 5 marshals - 3 - out of 5 army commanders of the 1st rank - 3 - out of 10 army commanders of the 2nd rank - 10 - out of 57 corps commanders - 50 - out of 186 division commanders -154 - out of 16 army commissars of 1st and 2nd ranks - 16 - out of 26 corps commissars - 25 - out of 64 divisional commissars - 58 - out of 456 colonels - 401
One of the most iconic critical open letters in 1939 was written by the military man and diplomat (and former commander of the Baltic Fleet) Fyodor Raskolnikov. The holder of two Orders of the Red Banner was afraid of the wave of repressions that swept the entire army and the chain of command. At the height of the Great Terror, he and his family managed to hide abroad. From there, the defector wrote an open letter to Stalin, in which he accused him of large-scale repressions and the destruction of the armed forces. Fedorovich Raskolnikov
You have corrupted and polluted the souls of your comrades. You forced those following you to walk in agony and disgust through the pools of blood of yesterday's comrades and friends. You destroyed Lenin’s party, and on its bones you built a new “Lenin-Stalin” party, which serves as a successful cover for your autocracy. You created it not on the basis of general theory and tactics, as any party is built, but on the unprincipled basis of personal love and devotion to you. Knowledge of the program of the first party was declared optional for its members, but love for Stalin, daily fueled by the press, was obligatory. Recognition of the party program is replaced by an explanation of love for Stalin. You are a renegade, breaking with yesterday, betraying the cause of Lenin. You solemnly proclaimed the slogan of promoting new personnel. But how many of these young nominees are already rotting in your dungeons? How many of them did you shoot, Stalin? With the cruelty of a sadist, you beat up personnel who are useful and needed by the country. They seem dangerous to you from the point of view of your personal dictatorship. On the eve of the war, you are destroying the Red Army, the love and pride of the country, the stronghold of its power. You beheaded the Red Army and the Red Navy. You killed the most talented commanders, trained in the experience of world and civil wars, led by the brilliant Marshal Tukhachevsky. You exterminated the heroes of the civil war, who... made it invincible.
Years Trials 1928 1930 “Shakhtinsky Case” Trial of the Mensheviks Case of the Industrial Party, “Labor Peasant Party” Case of incompetent shipment of combine harvesters Case of the “Trotskyist Zinoviev terrorist center” Case of the “anti-Soviet Trotskyist center” Trial of the military Case of the anti-Soviet right-wing Trotskyist bloc 1933 1936 1937 1938
GULAG (30s) "Main Directorate of Camps and Places of Detention" As of May 1, 1930 As of March 1, 1940 Number of colonies and camps 279,536 Number of prisoners 171,251 people. 1,668,200 people
USE OF PRISONER LABOR Mining industry in sparsely populated and climatically unfavorable regions of the USSR. Forestry and construction of irrigation structures. Construction of canals.
TWO CHILDHOODS IN ONE COUNTRY... The death penalty was allowed to be applied to persons over 12 years of age. Family members of convicted “enemies of the people” were subject to exile without trial and were deprived of their civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution. “...Monitoring of the children of convicts 33. I entrust monitoring of the political sentiments of the children of convicts, their studies and educational life to the People's Commissars of Internal Affairs of the republics, heads of departments of the NKVD of territories and regions. REPORTING: 34. Report to me the progress of the operation in three-day reports by telegraph. About all excesses and emergencies - immediately” - from the order of the People's Commissar of the USSR Internal Affairs Ezhov N.I.
OCTOBER 30 – REMEMBRANCE DAY FOR THE VICTIMS OF POLITICAL REPRESSION To everyone who was branded under Article fifty-eight, who even in a dream was surrounded by dogs, a fierce escort, who, by court, without trial, by a special meeting, was doomed to a prison uniform until the grave, who was betrothed to fate shackles, thorns, chains, to them are our tears and sorrow, our eternal memory! (A. Akhmatova)
Constitution of victorious socialism December 5, 1936 The construction of socialism was proclaimed. The Soviets are the highest bodies of power. The leadership role belongs to the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Basic democratic freedoms were proclaimed - speech, press, assembly. State and collective farm-cooperative ownership of the means of production was affirmed. State ideology - Marxism-Leninism
Song of Isaac Dunaevsky and Vasily Lebedev - kumach “My Motherland” (“My native country is wide”) My native country is wide, There are many forests, fields and rivers in it. I don’t know another country like this, Where people can breathe so freely! From Moscow to the very outskirts, From the southern mountains to the northern seas, Man passes as the master of his Immense Motherland! Everywhere life flows freely and widely, like the full Volga, flowing. Young people are treasured everywhere, Old people are honored everywhere. No one is superfluous at our table; everyone is rewarded according to their merits. We write in golden letters the National Stalinist Law. No years can erase these words of greatness and glory: - A person always has the right to study, rest and work! The spring wind blows over the country, Every day it becomes more and more joyful to live, And no one in the world knows how to laugh and love better than us. But we will frown sternly, If the enemy wants to break us, Like a bride, We love our homeland, We take care of us like a tender mother!
Constitution of 1936 Progressive provisions of the Constitution Negative provisions 1. Public ownership of the means of production was not regulated and could only be exercised on May 1 and November 7 during official festivities. 2. Human exploitation disappeared 2. Pensions and wages were minimal 3. Citizens of the country received civil and political rights 3. There was no article on the inviolability of personality, home, or privacy of correspondence 4. Union republics had the right to secede from the USSR 4. The definition of “ enemy of the people" 5. The rights and freedoms of citizens 5. The leadership role of the CPSU was consolidated, the opposition, demonstrations and marches were not prohibited and were regulated by relevant laws 6. Control over the media
Management of the Soviet state All-Russian Congress of Soviets All-Union Congress of Soviets Supreme Soviet of the USSR Council of the Union of Nationalities All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) Central Executive Committee of the USSR Council of the Union of Nationalities Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Council of People's Commissars (SNK) SNK (since 1946 - CM - Council of Ministers ) from the II Congress of Soviets, October 1917. According to the Constitution of the USSR, January 1924. According to the Constitution. USSR December 1936
Social structure of Soviet society (according to the Constitution of 1936) Classes Working class Stratum Collective farms Intellectuals peasantry
SOCIAL COMPOSITION OF SOVIET SOCIETY IN THE 20–30s 1928 Total population, million people. 1939 152, 4 170 Bourgeoisie, % 4, 6 – Peasants, handicraftsmen, artisans, % 74, 9 2, 6 Workers and office workers, % 17, 6 50, 2 Collective farmers and cooperative artisans, % 2, 9 47, 2
Refined model of the “Social structure of society in the 1930s” STALIN Members of the Politburo OGPU figures - NKVD, production managers, party leaders Technical and humanitarian intelligentsia Workers - advanced workers in production Ordinary workers Machine operators and other specialists in agriculture Collective farmers Prisoners
By the 1930s, a system of totalitarianism had been established in the USSR, that is, a system in which all power was concentrated in the hands of a small group and all dissent was prohibited. A totalitarian state exercises control over all spheres of society. Under totalitarianism, the dominant group identifies itself with the state and subordinates the entire society to its interests. By the end of the 30s, the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) had completely merged with the state, and the dominant ideology was the dominance of the ideas of Marxism. All other points of view were prohibited. Dissidents were subject to repression. Stalin became the main exponent of the ideas of Marxism. The entire population belonged to organizations controlled by the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks): trade unions, Komsomol, pioneers. The country was governed through a system of party-economic bureaucracy (partocracy).
With the help of repressions, ideological and political opponents of the Bolsheviks were destroyed. The church and monarchists were among the first to suffer from repression. At the end of the 20s, a purge of the creative intelligentsia and university professors took place. In the early 30s, the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary parties were destroyed. Since 1938, the court has held special meetings of three people (troikas). Some of those repressed through the GULAG system (State Administration of Camps) were forced into slavery and their labor was very significant in the economy of the USSR.
Stalin tried to overcome national differences between the peoples of the USSR and create a single Soviet people. Therefore, any manifestation of national individualism was a crime. Entire peoples (Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Jews) were subjected to massive relocations to new places of residence. On the other hand, the official ideology strongly promoted national and religious tolerance.
Stalin's personality cult
The choice of religion by a people is always determined by its rulers. The true religion is always the one professed by the sovereign; the true god is the god whom the sovereign commands to be worshiped; Thus, the will of the clergy, which guides the sovereigns, always turns out to be the will of God himself.
Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili was born into a working-class family that lived quite poorly. The mother of the future politician and revolutionary was the daughter of a serf. The father, Vissarion Ivanovich, worked at a shoe factory in Tifliss, where in 1878 the 3rd son Joseph was born (Dzhugashvili’s first two sons died as infants). The cult of Stalin's personality in brief Joseph Vissarionovich's native language was Georgian, the accent from which would be noticeable in him all his life.
At the age of 5, the boy fell ill with smallpox, which left a mark on his face, and a year later (in 1885) he received an injury to his hand after colliding with a speeding phaeton. Ekaterina Georgievna, Joseph’s mother, dearly loved the boy, foreseeing the fate of a priest in his future, which is why she tried to send Joseph to a clergy school. Her son’s poor command of the Russian language interfered with Ekaterina Georgievna’s plans (Joseph was denied admission). After this, Ekaterina Georgievna tries to teach her son Russian by asking the children of a local priest to study with the boy. Joseph's education was so excellent that in 1888 he brilliantly entered the 2nd grade of theological school, where he could not enter a couple of years earlier.
In 1894, Joseph also brilliantly entered the Theological Seminary, where for the first time he became interested in politics, making friends with leaders of an underground group of Marxists. A year later, Dzhugashvili, completely imbued with the ideas of Marxism, published several poems in the Iberia publication, signing them “I. J-shvili.” Subsequently, Joseph would take about a dozen different pseudonyms (Chopur, Beshoshvili, Koba, Kato, Chizhikov, etc.), the most famous of which, Stalin, appeared in 1908 in Solvychegodsk. Stalin's personality cult in brief
In 1904, Joseph married Ekaterina Svanidze, who died in 1907. From his marriage to E. Svanidze, Stalin had a son, Yakov.
In 1908, Joseph Dzhugashvili, now Stalin, was arrested and sent into exile, where the future great politician maintained an active correspondence with Lenin. Over the course of two years (1908-1912), Stalin made several escapes, after which Stalin’s activities among the Bolsheviks would become even more pronounced. After the victory of the Red Army, Stalin became a member of the Council of People's Commissars, and in subsequent years he joined the Bureau of the Central Committee with Lenin and participated in meetings of the revolutionary committee. Over the course of 10 years (1912-1922), Joseph Vissarionovich became the General Secretary of the Central Committee, the political life of the revolutionary was in full swing. Stalin does not forget about women, having had a wedding with N. Alliluyeva in 1918.
