The restructuring of the national economy in a peaceful manner and its post-war development were accompanied by incredible internal difficulties. A third of the country's wealth was destroyed: 1710 cities, more than 70 thousand villages and villages, a huge number of factories, factories, mines, thousands of kilometers of railways, etc. were destroyed. Human casualties numbered in the millions - according to the latest data, about 30 million Soviet citizens died. There was a lack of manpower, equipment, housing, food. The restoration of the national economy destroyed by the war required the mobilization of all the forces of the Soviet people. Kazakhstan occupied a special place in the fulfillment of the task of restoring and further raising the national economy, which is common for the whole country. Due to the fact that evacuated plants and factories were located on the territory of Kazakhstan, new ones were built and existing enterprises were expanded, the industry of Kazakhstan during the war years significantly exceeded the pre-war level.
But the consequences of the war were also severe for the economy of Kazakhstan. The production of many types of industrial products, especially consumer goods, has declined. The problem of labor resources has sharply become aggravated. There was an acute shortage of workers in factories, factories and agriculture. This was due to a number of reasons. Most of the specialists evacuated to Kazakhstan during the war returned to their homes. Many Kazakhs died at the fronts and did not return from the war. In general, the professional qualifications of workers in factories and factories were not high. To eliminate the shortage of labor and replenish the ranks of the working class, schools and colleges for labor reserves began to be created everywhere in the republic. The material and technical base of agriculture was thoroughly undermined. The productivity of agricultural crops and the productivity of animal husbandry have greatly decreased.
Despite these difficulties, the working people of Kazakhstan continued to provide disinterested assistance in the restoration and development of the national economy to the regions of the country that had suffered from the fascist occupation. From Kazakhstan there were trains loaded with timber, coal, metal, machinery, equipment and tools, grain and other products of industry and agriculture. Kazakhstanis participated in the restoration of the national economy of Leningrad, Stalingrad, Bryansk, Kursk, Orel regions, the Moscow region, the North Caucasus and many other affected cities and regions of the country. Kazakhstan patronized 12 cities and 45 regions of the country. 20 thousand railway workers, many miners, machine builders, and metallurgists left for the liberated regions of Ukraine, Belarus and other republics.
When the national economy was transferred to a peaceful track, hundreds of enterprises that worked for the needs of the war were reorganized to produce peaceful products. At the same time, priority was given to the accelerated development of heavy industry, such as metallurgy and mechanical engineering, as well as chemical and light industries. Workers were trained and retrained, and the labor force was redistributed. A forced measure - the labor mobilization of citizens for work in industry and construction, which was used during the war years, was replaced by organized recruitment. Due to the demobilization of a significant part of the Armed Forces of the USSR in 1945, 104 thousand retired soldiers and officers arrived in Kazakhstan, and by January 1, 1947 - 188.2 thousand people. In industry, the 8-hour working day was restored, mass overtime work and work on weekends were canceled. Workers and employees were provided with paid labor holidays.
The state of emergency was lifted, the State Defense Committee was abolished, and all the functions of managing the national economy were again concentrated in the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.
The working people of Kazakhstan, having overcome all difficulties and already in 1946, basically completed the transition

national economy on a peaceful track.

60. Beginning of the strengthening of the military-industrial base. On the one hand, the gigantic military-industrial complex, unbearably burdening the economy of the state involved in the arms race, contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union, on the other hand, the collapse negatively affected the further functioning and development of the military industry. The main part of the military-industrial complex of the Soviet Union, and specifically more than 80% of the enterprises ended up on the territory of Russia. However, without the supply of materials and components from neighboring countries, that is, the former republics of the Soviet Union, Russia was able to produce no more than 30 percent of its military products. The rupture of economic and economic ties, the established schemes for the supply of products, the lack of funding and government orders negatively affected the functioning of defense industry plants. After the collapse of the USSR, the products of the enterprises of Kazakhstani military factories in the conditions of the cessation of the arms race and the Cold War turned out to be unclaimed. The first years of Independence for the economies of the former Soviet Union countries, including Kazakhstan, can be called a difficult period due to the current socio-economic situation and the breakdown of the old mechanisms for the functioning of economic relations. Experts criticized the current situation in the defense industry of Kazakhstan, speaking of corruption and neglect in the industry. The harsh realities of those years demonstrated that Kazakhstan does not play a significant role in the modern world division of labor as a manufacturer of weapons and military equipment. Not all enterprises withstood the impact of the transition period. Not only factories were closed, entire industries were on the verge of extinction. Those few enterprises of the defense industry, which, despite the crisis, the reduction in production, lack of financial resources, withstood and continued to function, can rightfully be called heroes.

61. Strengthening party control in public life. The Soviet state was no less controversial. Its defining factors are:
- a sense of pride in the victory, the increased authority of the country fed the idea of ​​​​the exclusivity of the socialist power;
- material and moral losses, human sacrifices, on the contrary, gave rise to pessimism, disbelief, a lost sense of perspective;
- "cold war", the aggravation of the international situation provoked an extreme situation
- a “critical mass” was ripening in society (those who returned from the front, from the camps, the intelligentsia), whose focus was on the issue of the system and the need to revise it. In addition, the common threat brought the peoples together and the concept of “system” lost its meaning.
The victory gave the Soviet state a choice: to develop with the civilized world, or to continue to look for "its own path."
The economic situation was extremely difficult. The USSR lost 1/3 of its national wealth, 27 million died. people 32 thousand enterprises, 1710 cities and towns, 70 thousand villages, 96 thousand collective farms and state farms were destroyed. The amount of direct losses caused by the war was estimated at 679 billion rubles, which was 5.5 times the national income of the USSR in 1940. The drought of 1946 and the resulting famine worsened the productive forces of the countryside.
The tasks of restoring the economy were reflected in the Fourth Five-Year Plan, the main task of which was not only to restore the national economy destroyed by the war, but also to surpass the pre-war level on a significant scale. The main direction of development in the postwar years again becomes the accelerated development of heavy industry. Already in 1948. the national income of the country was increased by 64%, the pre-war level of industrial production was reached, and in 1950. outperformed by 73%. Agriculture reached the level of pre-war production in 1950. Science and technology developed rapidly. Domestic rocket science, aircraft engineering, and radio engineering have achieved major achievements.

63. Formation of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences. In June 1946, the Kazakh Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR was established. K. I. Satpaev became the first president of the academy. The first composition of the Academy included 14 academicians and 16 corresponding members, including prominent figures of science, technology and culture of Kazakhstan - academicians M. O. Auezov, A. B. Bekturov, I. G. Galuzo, A. K. Zhubanov, N. V. Pavlov, M. P. Rusakov, K. I. Satpaev, G. A. Tikhov, V. G. Fesenkov, S. V. Yushkov. The central office is located in Alma-Ata. For the discovery of the Dzhezkazgan field, Kanysh Satpayev was awarded the country's highest award, the Order of Lenin, in 1940.
By the end of 1950, there were already 50 research institutions in the system of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, including 19 institutes, 13 sectors, 2 museums, an observatory, 3 botanical gardens and 8 scientific bases. About 500 graduate students studied at the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. Scientists of Kazakhstan have explored many mineral deposits. For 1946–1949 more than 900 proposals and studies were submitted by the research institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR for implementation in production. For a more effective return of scientific research, visiting sessions of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR began to be practiced.
In the XX Congress of the CPSU, which took place in Moscow on February 14-25, 1956. During the congress, the cult of personality and, indirectly, the ideological legacy of Stalin was condemned. After the congress, Kazakh writers S. Seifullin, B. Mailin, I. Dzhansugirov were rehabilitated, but nothing was said about the rehabilitation of A. Baitursynuly, M. Zhumabaev, M. Dulatuly, Zh. Aimauytov.
In 1947, Mukhtar Auezov completed the first two volumes of the epic novel "The Way of Abai". In 1949, for the first two books, he was awarded the USSR State Prize of the first degree. In 1959, M. Auezov was awarded the Order of Lenin. Also, such books were written as: the autobiographical story "School of Life" by S. Mukanov; “Soldier from Kazakhstan”, “Oyan, Cossack” by G. Musrepov; "Shiganak", "Millionaire", "Karaganda", "Dauyldan Keyin" by G. Mustafin; "Young generation" A. Abishev.
Sh. Khusainov - “Keshe men bugin

65. Notebook G

66. Economy. Since the summer of 1953, the leadership of the USSR took a course towards reforming the economy, which had a beneficial effect both on the pace of development of the national economy and on the well-being of the people. The main reason for the success of the reforms that went down in history as "Khrushchev's reforms" was that they began with agriculture, revived the economic methods of leadership and received widespread support from the masses.
The reforms were not supported by a consistent democratization of the political system. This was the main reason for their defeat. Having broken the command-repressive system of government that had developed in the 1930s, the reformers retained its basis - the command-administrative system. It gave rise to irresponsible voluntarism in decision-making. Therefore, after 5-6 years, many reforms were curtailed.
The new course of the domestic policy of the USSR was proclaimed in August 1953 at the 5th session of the Supreme Soviet of the Union. Head of government G.M. Malenkov was the first to raise the question of turning the economy towards the people, of the priority attention of the state to the needs of the people, their well-being. The new course was supposed to be ensured through the accelerated development of agriculture and the production of consumer goods.

EVENTS IN TEMIRTAU

A major explosion of discontent occurred in the summer of 1958. The metallurgical plant under construction in Temirtau was declared a shock Komsomol construction site, and by the end of 1958 132 thousand people arrived in the region. The following year, another 70,000 arrived.

Reasons: exacerbation of social problems. lack of housing, newly arrived workers had to be placed in tents. Difficulties acclimatization. Shortage of drinking water. Poor nutrition.

The first illegal actions gradually turned into riots. Unfortunately, in general, criminal elements took advantage of the discontent of the workers.

The crowd robbed shops, a market, a department store, a canteen, besieged the city police department. The riots continued for about 3 days. The instigators of the riots were put on trial.

Unfortunately, the events of Temirtau did not force the leadership of the republic and the country to reconsider their views on the further development of society.

68. Lecture Brezhnev

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The end of the war brought to the fore the task of restoring the normal functioning of the national economy. The human and material losses caused by the war were very heavy. The total loss of the dead is estimated at 27 million.

People, among whom there were only a few more than 10 million military personnel. 32 thousand industrial enterprises, 1710 cities and towns, 70 thousand villages were destroyed. The amount of direct losses caused by the war was estimated at 679 billion rubles, which was 5.5 times higher than the national income of the USSR in 1940. In addition to the huge destruction, the war led to a complete restructuring of the national economy on a war footing, and its end necessitated new efforts to his return to peacetime conditions.

The restoration of the economy was the main task of the Fourth Five-Year Plan. As early as August 1945, Gosplan began drawing up a plan for the restoration and development of the national economy for 1946-1950. When considering the draft plan, the country's leadership revealed different approaches to the methods and goals of restoring the country's economy: 1) a more balanced, balanced development of the national economy, some mitigation of coercive measures in economic life, 2) a return to the pre-war model of economic development, based on the predominant growth of heavy industry.

The difference in points of view in the choice of ways to restore the economy was based on a different assessment of the post-war international situation. Supporters of the first option (A.A. Zhdanov - Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Party Committee, N.A. Voznesensky - Chairman of the State Planning Commission, M.I. Rodionov - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, etc.) believed that with return to peace in the capitalist countries, an economic and political crisis should come, a conflict between the imperialist powers is possible due to the redistribution of colonial empires, in which, first of all, the USA and Great Britain will clash. As a result, in their opinion, a relatively favorable international climate is emerging for the USSR, which means that there is no urgent need to continue the policy of accelerated development of heavy industry. Supporters of a return to the pre-war model of economic development, among which the main role was played by G.M. Malenkov and L.P. Beria, as well as the leaders of heavy industry, on the contrary, viewed the international situation as very alarming. In their opinion, at this stage, capitalism was able to cope with its internal contradictions, and the nuclear monopoly gave the imperialist states a clear military superiority over the USSR. Consequently, the accelerated development of the country's military-industrial base should once again become the absolute priority of economic policy.

Approved by Stalin and adopted by the Supreme Soviet in the spring of 1946, the five-year plan meant a return to the pre-war slogan: the completion of the construction of socialism and the beginning of the transition to communism. Stalin believed that the war only interrupted this task. The process of building communism was considered by Stalin in a very simplified way, primarily as the achievement of certain quantitative indicators in several industries. To do this, it is enough, allegedly, to bring the production of cast iron to 50 million tons per year within 15 years, steel to 60 million tons, oil to 60 million tons, coal to 500 million tons, i.e., to produce in 3 times more than what was achieved before the war.

Thus, Stalin decided to remain true to his pre-war industrialization scheme, based on the priority development of several basic branches of heavy industry. Later return to the development model of the 30s. was theoretically substantiated by Stalin in his work “The Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR” (1952), in which he argued that in the conditions of the growth of the aggressiveness of capitalism, the priorities of the Soviet economy should be the predominant development of heavy industry and the acceleration of the process of transforming agriculture towards greater socialization . The main direction of development in the post-war years again becomes the accelerated development of heavy industry at the expense and to the detriment of the development of the production of consumer goods and agriculture. Therefore, 88% of capital investments in industry were directed to the engineering industry and only 12% to light industry.

In order to increase efficiency, an attempt was made to modernize the governing bodies. In March 1946, a law was passed on the transformation of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR into the Council of Ministers of the USSR. However, the number of ministers grew, the administrative apparatus increased, and wartime forms of leadership were practiced, which became familiar. In fact, the government was carried out with the help of decrees and resolutions published on behalf of the party and government, but they were developed at meetings of a very narrow circle of leaders. For 13 years the Congress of the Communist Party was not convened. Only in 1952 did the next 19th congress meet, at which the party adopted a new name - the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Central Committee of the party, as an elected body of the collective management of the multi-million ruling party, also did not work. All the main elements that made up the mechanism of the Soviet state - the party, the government, the army, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, diplomacy, were directly subordinated to Stalin.

Relying on the spiritual upsurge of the victorious people, the USSR already in 1948 managed to increase the national income by 64%, to reach the pre-war level of industrial production. In 1950, the pre-war level of gross industrial production was surpassed by 73%, with an increase in labor productivity by 45%. Agriculture also reached pre-war levels of production. Although the accuracy of these statistics is criticized, the steep positive dynamics of the process of restoration of the national economy in 1946-1950.

It is noted by all experts.

Science and technology developed at high rates in the postwar years, and the USSR reached the most advanced frontiers in a number of areas of science and technology. Domestic rocket science, aircraft engineering, and radio engineering have achieved major achievements. Significant progress has been made in the development of mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry. On August 29, 1949, an atomic bomb was tested in the USSR, developed by a large group of scientists and engineers led by I.V. Kurchatov.

The solution of social problems improved much more slowly. The post-war years were difficult for the vast majority of the population. However, the first successes in the restoration of the national economy made it possible already in December 1947 (earlier than in most European countries) to cancel the card system. At the same time, a monetary reform was carried out, which, although at first infringed on the interests of a limited segment of the population, led to a real stabilization of the monetary system and ensured the subsequent growth in the well-being of the people as a whole. Of course, neither the monetary reform nor the periodic price cuts led to a significant increase in the purchasing power of the population, but they contributed to the growth of interest in work and created a favorable social climate. At the same time, enterprises voluntarily-compulsorily carried out annual loans, subscription to bonds in the amount of at least a monthly salary. However, the population saw positive changes around, believed that this money goes to the restoration and development of the country.

To a large extent, the high rates of recovery and development of the industry were ensured by withdrawing funds from agriculture. During these years, the village lived especially hard; in 1950, every fifth collective farm did not make cash payments for workdays at all. Egregious poverty stimulated a massive outflow of peasants to the cities: about 8 million rural residents left their villages in 1946-1953. At the end of 1949, the economic and financial situation of the collective farms deteriorated so much that the government had to adjust its agrarian policy. Responsible for agrarian policy A.A. Andreev was replaced by N.S. Khrushchev. The subsequent measures to enlarge the collective farms were carried out very quickly - the number of collective farms decreased from 252 thousand to 94 thousand by the end of 1952. The enlargement was accompanied by a new and significant reduction in the individual allotments of the peasants, a reduction in payment in kind, which constituted a significant part of collective farm earnings and was considered a great value , because it gave the peasants the opportunity to sell surplus products in the markets at high prices for cash.

The initiator of these reforms, Khrushchev, intended to complete the work he had begun with a radical and utopian change in the entire way of peasant life. In March 1951 Pravda published his project for the creation of "agricultural cities". The agro-city was conceived by Khrushchev as a real city in which the peasants, resettled from their huts, had to lead urban life in apartment buildings far from their individual allotments.

The post-war atmosphere in society carried a potential danger for the Stalinist regime, which was due to the fact that the extreme conditions of wartime awakened in a person the ability to think relatively independently, critically assess the situation, compare and choose solutions. As in the war with Napoleon, the mass of our compatriots went abroad, saw a qualitatively different standard of living for the population of European countries and asked themselves the question: “Why do we live worse?”. At the same time, in peacetime conditions, such stereotypes of wartime behavior as the habit of command and subordination, strict discipline and unconditional execution of orders remained tenacious.

The long-awaited common victory inspired people to rally around the authorities, and an open confrontation between the people and the authorities was impossible. Firstly, the liberating, just, nature of the war assumed the unity of society in confronting a common enemy. Secondly, people, tired of destroying, strove for peace, which became for them the highest value, excluding violence in any form. Thirdly, the experience of the war and the impressions of foreign campaigns forced us to reflect on the justice of the Stalinist regime, but very few thought about how, in what way to change it. The existing regime of power was perceived as an unchangeable given. Thus, the first post-war years were characterized by a contradiction in people's minds between a sense of the injustice of what was happening in their lives and the hopelessness of attempts to change it. At the same time, complete trust in the ruling party and the leadership of the country was predominant in society. Therefore, post-war difficulties were perceived as inevitable and surmountable in the near future. In general, the people were characterized by social optimism.

However, Stalin did not really count on these sentiments and gradually revived the practice of the repressive whip against the associates and the people. From the point of view of the leadership, it was necessary to "tighten up the reins" that had been loosened somewhat in the war, and in 1949 the repressive line became noticeably tougher. Among the political processes of the post-war period, the most famous was the "Leningrad case", under which they unite a whole series of cases fabricated against a number of prominent party, Soviet and economic workers of Leningrad, accused of departing from the party line.

Odious historical fame acquired "the case of doctors." On January 13, 1953, TASS announced the arrest of a terrorist group of doctors, which allegedly aimed to shorten the lives of leading figures of the Soviet state through sabotage treatment. Only after Stalin's death was the decision of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the full rehabilitation and release of doctors and members of their families adopted.

State University of Management

Institute *****

Abstract on the discipline "History of Economics"

"Restoration of the national economy after the Great Patriotic War of 1945 - 1964."

1. Introduction

2. Restoration of the economy of the USSR: achievements and difficulties. Stalin's last ideological campaigns.

3. The struggle for leadership in the highest echelons of power in 1953 - 1957. XX Congress of the CPSU.

4. Reforms N.S. Khrushchev. "Thaw" in the public life of the USSR.

5. Conclusion.

6. Literature.

INTRODUCTION

This topic was not chosen by me by chance. In my opinion, the period from 1945 to 1964 is one of the significant periods in the history of the USSR that deserves attention. These almost two decades are full of events. This is the post-war period of the labor feat of the Soviet people to restore the destroyed national economy, the successful testing of the first Soviet atomic bomb, the beginning of the Cold War.

With the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people got the opportunity to start peaceful creative work. It was necessary to revive hundreds of destroyed cities and towns, to restore railways and industrial enterprises, to raise the material standard of living of people. The main priorities and directions of the country's development were determined, as in the prewar years, by national economic five-year plans. The party and state leadership of the country saw the strategic task of the development of society in building a socialist society.

In March 1953, the reign of I.V. Stalin ended. A whole era in the life of the Soviet Union was connected with the life of this man. Everything that has been done for 30 years has been done for the first time. The USSR was the embodiment of a new socio-economic formation. Its development took place under the most severe pressure from the capitalist environment. The socialist idea that had taken possession of the minds of the Soviet people worked wonders. The great genius of the Soviet man managed to turn backward Russia into a powerful industrial power in the historically shortest possible time. It was the Soviet Union, and not the United States or any other country in the world, that utterly defeated Nazi Germany, saved the world from total enslavement, saved its sovereignty and its territorial integrity.

The main purpose of this work is to try, on the basis of a variety of material, to understand the important historical period of our Motherland.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY OF THE USSR:

ACHIEVEMENTS AND DIFFICULTIES.

STALIN'S LAST IDEOLOGICAL CAMPAIGN

Transition to peaceful construction. The restructuring of the economy on the rails of peaceful development was carried out in difficult conditions. The war brought numerous casualties: about 27 million people died in battles for their homeland and in fascist captivity, died of starvation and disease. Military operations on the territory of the country caused enormous damage to the national economy: the country lost about 30% of the national wealth.

At the end of May 1945, the State Defense Committee decided to transfer part of the defense enterprises to the production of goods for the population. Somewhat later, a law was passed on the demobilization of thirteen ages of army personnel. These resolutions marked the beginning of the transition of the Soviet Union to peaceful construction. On August 29, 1945, a decision was made to prepare a five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy. Describing the goals of the new five-year plan, on February 9, 1946, Stalin emphasized that they boil down to “restoring the affected areas of the country, restoring the pre-war level of industry and agriculture, and then surpassing this level on a more or less significant scale.” In September 1945, the GKO was abolished. All functions of governing the country were concentrated in the hands of the Council of People's Commissars (in March 1946 it was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the USSR).

Measures were taken to restore normal work in enterprises and institutions. Mandatory overtime work was abolished, the 8-hour working day and annual paid holidays were restored. The budget for the third and fourth quarters of 1945 and for 1946 was considered. Appropriations for military needs were reduced and spending on the development of civilian sectors of the economy increased. The restructuring of the national economy and public life in relation to peacetime conditions was completed mainly in 1946.

In March 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved a plan for the restoration and development of the national economy for 1946-1950. The main objective of the five-year plan was to restore the areas of the country that had been occupied, to reach the pre-war level of development of industry and agriculture, and then to surpass them. The plan provided for the priority development of heavy and defense industries. Significant financial resources, material and labor resources were directed here. It was planned to develop new coal regions, expand the metallurgical base in the east of the country. One of the conditions for the fulfillment of planned targets was the maximum use of scientific and technological progress.

The year 1946 was the most difficult in the post-war development of industry. To switch enterprises to the production of civilian products, the production technology was changed, new equipment was created, and retraining of personnel was carried out. In accordance with the five-year plan, restoration work began in Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. The coal industry of Donbass was revived. Zaporizhstal was restored, Dneproges was put into operation. At the same time, construction of new and reconstruction of existing plants and factories was carried out. Over 6,200 industrial enterprises were restored and rebuilt during the five years. Particular attention was paid to the development of metallurgy, mechanical engineering, fuel and energy and military-industrial complexes. The foundations of nuclear energy and the radio-electronic industry were laid. New industry giants emerged in the Urals, in Siberia, in the republics of Transcaucasia and Central Asia (Ust-Kamenogorsk lead-zinc plant, Kutaisi automobile plant). The country's first long-distance gas pipeline Saratov - Moscow was put into operation. The Rybinsk and Sukhumi hydroelectric power stations began to operate.

Enterprises were equipped with new technology. The mechanization of labor-intensive processes in ferrous metallurgy and the coal industry has increased. The electrification of production continued. The electric power of labor in industry by the end of the five-year plan was one and a half times higher than the level of 1940.

A large amount of industrial work was carried out in the republics and regions included in the USSR on the eve of the Second World War. In the western regions of Ukraine, in the Baltic republics, new industries were created, in particular, gas and automobile, metalworking and electrical engineering. The peat industry and electric power industry have been developed in Western Belarus.

Work on the restoration of industry was basically completed in 1948. But at individual metallurgical enterprises, they continued even in the early 1950s. The mass industrial heroism of the Soviet people, expressed in numerous labor initiatives (the introduction of high-speed methods of work, the movement for metal savings and high product quality, the movement of multi-machine operators, etc.), contributed to the successful fulfillment of planned targets. By the end of the five-year plan, the level of industrial production exceeded the pre-war level by 73%.

The restoration of industry and transport, new industrial construction led to an increase in the size of the working class.

Difficulties in the development of agriculture. The war severely affected the state of agriculture. The sown areas have been reduced, the processing of fields has worsened. The number of able-bodied population decreased by almost a third. For several years, almost no new equipment was supplied to the village. The situation in the agricultural sector of the economy was complicated by the fact that in 1946 a severe drought swept Ukraine, Moldova, the right-bank regions of the Lower Volga region, the North Caucasus, and the Central Black Earth regions. The outbreak of famine caused a massive outflow of the rural population to the cities.

In February 1947, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks considered the question "On measures to improve agriculture in the post-war period." The main ways of its rise were determined: providing the village with tractors, agricultural machines and fertilizers, improving the culture of agriculture. Attention was drawn to the need to improve the management of the agricultural sector of the economy. To implement the plan, the output of agricultural machinery was increased. During the five-year period the number of tractors increased by 1.5 times, combine harvesters by 1.4 times. Work was underway to electrify the village. Emergency measures were taken to strengthen collective farm and state farm production. At the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, small collective farms were enlarged. Within a few years, their number decreased by almost three times. New collective farms were created in the western regions of Belarus and Ukraine, in the Baltic republics, in Right-bank Moldavia.

An increase in the production and supply of equipment to the countryside and measures for the organizational restructuring of collective farms did not change the difficult situation in the agricultural sector. All production activities of collective farms and state farms were under the control of party and state authorities.

On October 20, 1948, at the initiative of Stalin, a resolution was adopted "On the plan for protective afforestation, the introduction of grass-field crop rotations, the construction of ponds and reservoirs to ensure high and stable yields in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of the European part of the USSR." This program, designed for 1950 - 1965, was called in the press "Stalin's plan for the transformation of nature." Although the plan was abandoned after Stalin's death, the shelterbelts built during his lifetime have become a memorable and useful testament to the efforts of the first post-war years to increase agricultural production and protect the environment.

Socio-economic situation in the early 50s. The economy in the early 1950s developed on the basis of the trends that had developed in the previous period. In the fifth five-year plan (1951-1955), as before, priority was given to the heavy and especially the defense industry. The output of consumer goods (cotton fabrics, shoes, etc.) lagged significantly behind the planned targets and the needs of the population.

At the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, the centralization of industrial management intensified. The ministries (coal, oil industry, etc.) were enlarged, new departments were created.

Measures were taken to improve the living conditions of the population. During the Fourth Five-Year Plan, prices for consumer goods fell several times. In 1947, the rationing system for the distribution of a number of foodstuffs was abolished.

Simultaneously with the abolition of the card system, a monetary reform was carried out, during which 10 rubles of the old model of 1938 were exchanged for 1 ruble of 1947. The need for monetary reform was substantiated in a special resolution, in the preparation of which Stalin actively participated. It drew attention to the fact that the huge military spending in 1941-1945 “required the release into circulation of a large amount of money ... At the same time, the production of goods intended for sale to the population was reduced, and retail trade decreased significantly. In addition, as is known, during the Great Patriotic War, on the temporarily occupied Soviet territory, German and other invaders issued a large amount of counterfeit money in rubles, which further increased the surplus of money in the country and clogged our money circulation. As a result, significantly more money turned out to be in circulation than is necessary for the national economy, the purchasing power of money has decreased, and now special measures are required to strengthen the Soviet ruble.

Despite the fact that, in accordance with the terms of the monetary reform, the value of money was reduced by 10 times, a significant part of the people who became impoverished during the war years did not suffer from it. The losses of those who kept deposits in savings banks were much smaller. Deposits up to 3,000 rubles were revalued ruble for ruble. If the deposits were more than 3,000 rubles, then the amount from 3,000 to 10,000 was exchanged at the rate of 3 old rubles for 2 new rubles, and the amount over 10,000 rubles was changed at the rate of 2 old rubles for 1 new ruble. Those who kept large sums of money at home suffered the most. Thus, another radical expropriation of funds from people who profited from the market and did not trust state savings banks was carried out.

At the same time, retail prices for basic foodstuffs and industrial consumer goods were announced to be lower than average market prices. The result of these measures was a steady increase in the material well-being of the population, which created confidence among the Soviet people in the constant improvement of life.

Cities and villages destroyed during the war years were revived from the ruins and ashes. The scale of housing and cultural and household construction has increased. However, the pace of construction work lagged behind the scale of urban population growth. In the early 1950s, the lack of housing turned into an acute housing problem.

In 1952, the work of I.V. Stalin, Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR. In it, the head of state theoretically substantiated the principles of the economic policy pursued in the country. It was about the priority development of heavy industry, the need to curtail cooperative-collective farm property by turning it into state property, and to reduce the sphere of commodity circulation. Compliance with these principles, according to I.V. Stalin, was supposed to ensure high growth rates of the national economy in the USSR.

Soviet society after the war. Stalin's last ideological campaigns. Having endured the incredible hardships of wartime, the population expected improvement in working and living conditions, positive changes in society. As in previous years, the majority of these hopes were associated with the name of I.V. Stalin. At the end of the war, I.V. Stalin was relieved of his duties as People's Commissar for Defense, but retained the post of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. He continued to be a member of the Politburo and the Orgburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. The authority of I.V. Stalin was supported by the entire system of the administrative-bureaucratic and ideological apparatus.

In 1946-1947. on behalf of I.V. Stalin, drafts of the new Constitution of the USSR and the program of the CPSU (b) were developed. The constitutional project provided for some development of democratic principles in the life of society. So, simultaneously with the recognition of the state form of ownership as the dominant one, the existence of a small peasant economy based on personal labor was allowed. During the discussion of the draft Constitution, wishes were expressed for the decentralization of economic life. Proposals were made to expand the economic independence of local administrative organizations. It was proposed to supplement the draft Program of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks with a provision on limiting the terms of elective party work, etc. However, all proposals were rejected.

The development of all legislative acts and resolutions, formally approved then by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, was carried out in the highest party instances. The leadership of all spheres of society's life was concentrated in the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party. Here the plans for the activities of the Supreme Council were determined, candidates for the positions of ministers and their deputies were considered, and the highest command staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR was approved. The resolutions of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks obliged the primary party organizations to control the work of the administration of industrial enterprises and collective farms, to reveal "mistakes and blunders of economic leaders."

In order to ensure the production of labor force, several decrees were adopted on the responsibility of persons who evade labor activity. "Ukazniki" were subject to deportation, the Kemerovo and Omsk regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory were chosen as the place for their new settlement and work. Administrative and punitive measures were applied to collective farmers who did not work out the mandatory minimum of workdays, and to urban "parasites".

The position on two camps, on the confrontation on the world stage of two social systems, was at the heart of the foreign policy views of the party and state leadership of the USSR. These views are reflected, in particular, in the work of I.V. Stalin, Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR. The work also contained a conclusion about the inevitability of wars in the world as long as imperialism exists.

In 1949, in order to expand economic cooperation and trade between countries, an intergovernmental economic organization was created - the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). It included Albania (until 1961), Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and since 1949 the GDR. Moscow was the seat of the CMEA Secretariat. One of the reasons for the creation of the CMEA was the Western countries' boycott of trade relations with the USSR and the states of Eastern Europe.

Since the end of the Patriotic War, there have been changes in the relations between the USSR and the former allies. "Cold War" - this is the name given to the foreign policy pursued by both sides in relation to each other in the second half of the 40s - early 90s. It was characterized, first of all, by the hostile political actions of the parties.

The confrontation of the parties was clearly manifested in 1947 in connection with the Marshall Plan put forward by the USA. This program provided for the provision of economic assistance to European countries that suffered during the Second World War. The Soviet government regarded the Marshall Plan as a weapon of anti-Soviet policy and refused to participate in the conference. The Eastern European countries invited to the conference also announced their refusal to participate in the Marshall Plan.

One of the manifestations of the Cold War was the formation of political and military-political blocs. In 1949, the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) was created. It included the USA, Canada and several states of Western Europe. Two years later, the signing of the military-political alliance between the United States, Australia and New Zealand (ANZUS) took place.

The Soviet Union carried out work against the propaganda of a new war. The main arena of his activity was the United Nations (UN). It was created in 1945 and united 51 states. Its goal was to strengthen peace and security and develop cooperation between states. At UN sessions, Soviet representatives came up with proposals for the reduction of conventional weapons and the prohibition of atomic weapons, and for the withdrawal of troops from the territories of foreign states. All these proposals, as a rule, were blocked by representatives of the United States and its allies. The USSR unilaterally withdrew its troops from the territories of several states, where they were introduced during the war years.

Although the country could not recover from the consequences of the war for a long time, the entire pre-war experience of the rapid development of the USSR convinced the Soviet people that the Stalinist program for the restoration of the national economy had to quickly and organically develop into an accelerated movement of the country forward and turning it into the most developed and most prosperous state peace.

THE STRUGGLE FOR LEADERSHIP IN THE HIGHEST Echelons OF POWER IN

1953 -1957

XX CONGRESS OF THE CPSU

struggle for political leadership. On March 5, 1953, I.V. died. Stalin - First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and on March 14 the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee was held and the secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee was elected. Changes were made in the leadership of the CPSU and the Soviet government. The secretariat of the Central Committee of the party was headed by N.S. Khrushchev is a well-known party leader who for many years led the largest party organizations in the country. G.M. was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Malenkov, Minister of Foreign Affairs - V.M. Molotov, Minister of Defense - N.A. Bulganin. K.E. was approved as the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Voroshilov. L.P. became the head of the new Ministry of the Interior. Beria, formerly Deputy Minister of the Interior. The new leaders announced their readiness to exercise "collective leadership" of the country. However, from the very first days of being in power, a struggle began between them for political leadership. The main rivals in it were L.P. Beria, G.M. Malenkov and N.S. Khrushchev.

A secret struggle was waged between Malenkov and Beria, and after Stalin's death this struggle escalated, taking on a deadly character, although it seemed that Malenkov and Beria "made friends" and would rule the country together. The fact that they entered into a temporary alliance between themselves was indicated by the fact that Malenkov approved all the new appointments of Beria in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Having far-reaching plans to seize power in the country, through all sorts of combinations, Beria unites the USSR Ministry of State Security and the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs into one ministry for the fourth time in Soviet history. He seeks to urgently place his proteges in key positions, freeing himself from objectionable to him, although honest workers. Beria came up with a cunning move with an amnesty after Stalin's death. It was extremely necessary for Beria to send the objectionable back into exile, to detain those who remained there. It was then that they began to release criminals and recidivists. They immediately returned to their old ways. Discontent and instability could give Beria a chance to return to the old methods. Beria launched an offensive against the party, subordinating it to the Ministry of the Interior.

Khrushchev understood, of course, what might await him. And it was he who organized the overthrow of Beria from all his high posts. The essential thing was that Nikita Sergeevich received the full support of Marshal Zhukov and General Moskalenko, and it was they who announced to Beria that he was under arrest. He was expelled from the party as an "enemy of the people" and put on trial.

In the verdict, announced on December 23, 1953, Beria was accused of having put together a treacherous group of conspirators hostile to the Soviet state, who aimed to use the internal affairs bodies against the Communist Party and the Soviet government, to put the Ministry of Internal Affairs over the party and the government in order to seize power, liquidate the Soviet system, the restoration of capitalism and the restoration of the rule of the bourgeoisie.

The court accused Beria and his accomplices of committing terrorist massacres against people from whom they were afraid of exposure, etc. In connection with all this and other grave crimes, the court sentenced all the defendants to death, indicating that the sentence was final and not subject to appeal. On the same day, the sentence was carried out.

One of the central places in the activities of the new leadership was occupied by the work to overcome the personality cult of I.V. Stalin. The main role in it belonged to N.S. Khrushchev, who was elected in September 1953 First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The press began criticizing the personality cult of I.V. Stalin. The reorganization of the structure and renewal of personnel in the internal affairs bodies were carried out.

Transformations in social and political life. At the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU (February 1956) the report on the work of the Central Committee of the Party and the directives of the Sixth Five-Year Plan of National Economic Development were discussed. The congress devoted much attention to questions of the international situation and the prospects for world development. The congress documents drew conclusions about the possibility of preventing a new world war and about the variety of forms of transition to socialism. (In 1957, A.A. Gromyko, a professional diplomat who had represented the interests of the country in the UN for a long time, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR.) N.S. Khrushchev with a report "On the cult of personality and its consequences."

Conducted by N.S. Khrushchev's policy of de-Stalinization, numerous restructurings in the political and economic spheres caused growing dissatisfaction with part of the party and state apparatus. According to many leaders of the country, the exposure of the cult of I.V. Stalin led to the fall of the authority of the USSR and the Communist Party in the international arena. In 1957, a group of party leaders headed by G.M. Malenkov, V.M. Molotov and L.M. Kaganovich, tried to remove N.S. Khrushchev from the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. They accused Khrushchev of violating the principles of "collective

leadership” and the establishment of their cult, in unauthorized and thoughtless foreign policy actions, in economic voluntarism. However, the open resistance of some party and state leaders to the reform policy ended in failure. A significant part of the party and Soviet leaders at that moment supported N.S. Khrushchev. The June (1957) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU recognized the group of G.M. Malenkova, V.M. Molotov and L.M. Kaganovich guilty of speaking out against the political course of the party. The members of the group were expelled from the highest party bodies and removed from their posts.

After the elimination of the "opposition", changes were made in the composition of the highest authorities. He was relieved of his duties as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR K.E. Voroshilov - his place was taken by L.I. Brezhnev. Minister of Defense G.K. was removed. Zhukov, who in June 1957 played a decisive role in the preservation of N.S. Khrushchev as leader of the CPSU.

Thus, by 1958, the struggle for leadership in the highest echelons of power, which began as early as March 1953, ended. Accordingly, the cult of N.S. Khrushchev. Since 1958, he has already combined two positions: the first secretary of the Central Committee of the party and the head of government.

REFORMS N.S. KHRUSHCHEV IN ECONOMY AND MANAGEMENT.

"THAW" IN THE PUBLIC LIFE OF THE USSR.

Economic course in the countryside. In the second half of 1953, cardinal transformations began in the country's economy. Their nature and direction testified to some changes in the economic course. The changes concerned, first of all, agriculture, its accelerated rise in order to provide the population with food and light industry - raw materials. Improving the well-being of the people was declared one of the central tasks of the new leadership. To resolve it, the development of a new agrarian policy began, the foundations of which were approved at the September (1953) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The central place in it was occupied by: an increase in state purchase prices for agricultural products, an increase in financing of agricultural sectors, and an improvement in tax policy. The system of planning agricultural production has changed. From now on, the state determined only the volume of procurement of products to be delivered. The prices for agricultural products handed over to the state have risen several times. Taxes were reduced from private subsidiary plots of peasants and a new system of taxation was introduced (per unit of land area). Steps were taken to improve the technical equipment of collective farms and state farms. Deliveries of tractors and agricultural machinery to the countryside have increased.

Since 1954, the development of virgin and fallow lands began. Over 350,000 settlers arrived in the eastern regions of the country - in the Southern Urals, in Siberia, Kazakhstan - to lift the virgin lands.

In 1958, the MTS was reorganized. Collective farms received the right to buy equipment from the MTS. On the basis of MTS, repair and technical stations were created. The expediency of this measure was neutralized by the haste in its implementation and unjustifiably high prices for obsolete equipment.

The inconsistency of the agrarian policy was also manifested in other transformations that affected the agricultural sector. A new stage of consolidation of collective farms and resettlement of unpromising villages began. Massive

transformation of collective farms into state agricultural enterprises

(state farms). Forceful methods of managing the branches of the agrosphere were used. At the end of the 1950s, a line began to be drawn towards curtailing personal subsidiary plots. After the visit of N.S. Khrushchev in the USA (1959), all farms - at his insistence - were recommended to move on to sowing corn, the "queen of the fields" and even those regions where it could not grow and ripen normally due to climatic conditions.

The totality of economic measures made it possible to achieve certain successes in the development of agricultural production. So in January 1964, for the successful development of animal husbandry, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR awarded the Vologda Oblast the challenge Red Banner of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR. But there was no fundamental improvement in the development of agriculture. The result of ill-conceived measures was the aggravation of the food problem. In connection with the reduction of state grain reserves, the USSR began to regularly buy it abroad.

Industrial management reforms. The reorientation of the economy towards the development of the agricultural sector and light industry was short-lived. The country's leadership did not have a detailed concept of transformations in the field of the economy. At the beginning of 1955 G.M. Malenkov - a supporter of the strategy for the development of light industry - was forced to leave the post of chairman of the Council of Ministers. The principle of the priority development of the production of means of production was restored, which was reflected in the plans of the sixth five-year plan and the seven-year plan (1959-1965).

Thousands of large industrial enterprises were built and put into operation. Among them are the Cherepovets Metallurgical Combine and the Omsk Oil Refinery. New industries developed - radio electronics, rocket science. The Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party, held in July 1955, drew attention to the need to improve the introduction of the latest achievements of science and technology into production.

In the second half of the 1950s, the country's industry rose to a qualitatively new level. At the same time, a rigid, centralized control system hindered the development of industry. In 1957, a law was passed on the restructuring of the management of industry and construction. In accordance with it, the former sectoral system of leadership, carried out through ministries and departments, was abolished. The main organizational form of management became the Councils of the National Economy - Economic Councils. 105 economic regions were created in the country on the basis of the existing administrative division. All industrial enterprises and construction sites located on their territory were transferred to the jurisdiction of local economic councils. Most of the sectoral ministries were abolished.

Development of science. Immediately after the Great Patriotic War, work began on the restoration of scientific centers. New research institutes were opened, including atomic energy, physical chemistry, precision mechanics, and computer technology. Research centers were created related to industries working for defense. Soviet scientists have carried out the synthesis of a controlled nuclear reaction in an atomic reactor. In 1949, an atomic bomb was tested in the USSR, and on August 12, 1953, the first hydrogen bomb was tested. In 1954, the world's first industrial nuclear power plant was launched in the USSR. Designing new high-speed

aircraft were engaged in aircraft designers Tupolev, Ilyushin and others.

The entry of the USSR into the era of the scientific and technological revolution required the expansion of the network of research institutions and the creation of new branch institutes. The Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences was organized. Increased allocations for scientific purposes.

Soviet scientists worked successfully in the rocket and space field. Under the leadership of S.P. The Queen created a ballistic missile and manned spacecraft. On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was launched. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was the first to fly around the Earth on the Vostok spacecraft. In subsequent years, several flights of multi-seat spacecraft were carried out. On March 18, 1965, the whole world was informed about the new victory of the Soviet people in space exploration. During the flight of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft, cosmonaut A.A. Leonov was the first in history to step out of a ship into outer space. The ship was commanded by Colonel P.A. Belyaev, a native of the village of Chelishchevo, Babushkinsky district of the Vologda region. The flights of cosmonauts opened up opportunities for further exploration of outer space.

Researchers have achieved significant results in the field of cybernetics, electronics and computer technology. A. Prokhorov and N. Basov (together with the American physicist C. Townes), Academicians N.N. Semenov (together with the American researcher S. Hinshelwood), L.D. Landau et al. Entered into the practice of Soviet scientists speaking at international congresses and conferences. It became obvious that the "Iron Curtain" separating the East and the West was beginning to collapse.

In the early 1960s, anti-religious propaganda was placed on a scientific basis. Religion was seen as the main opponent of the scientific worldview. In order to strengthen the atheistic education of citizens, the journal “Science and Religion” was published, and Houses of Scientific Atheism were opened. The circulation of anti-religious literature increased. All these measures contributed to the education of the scientific and materialistic worldview among the Soviet people.

Social sphere. By the end of the 1950s, changes had taken place in the social structure of society, which was reflected by the All-Union Population Census of the USSR conducted in 1959. The population of the country has grown. The development of the natural resources of the eastern regions led to an increase in the population of Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East. The city dwellers accounted for about half of the country's population. The number of workers in the total population has increased, the number of workers has decreased

percentage of rural residents and collective farm peasantry.

Measures were taken to improve the well-being of the people. For teenagers, a 6-hour working day was established. For other workers and employees, it was reduced by two hours on Saturdays and holidays. In July 1956, the Law on State Prizes was adopted. The gradual implementation of a program to increase wages for low-paid groups of workers and employees has begun.

The scale of housing construction has increased. The industrialization of construction work and the use of prefabricated reinforced concrete contributed to the acceleration of its pace. In the second half of the 1950s, almost a quarter of the country's population moved into new apartments.

"Thaw" in the public life of the country. In the second half of the 1950s, the policy aimed at establishing law in the socio-political sphere continued. The justice system was reformed to strengthen the rule of law. New criminal legislation was developed and approved. A regulation on prosecutorial oversight was adopted. The legislative powers of the Union republics were expanded.

Under the leadership of N.S. Khrushchev, a draft of a new program of the CPSU was prepared, the approval of which took place in 1961 at the XXII Party Congress. The new program proclaimed the entry of countries into the period of "full-scale communist construction." The program defined the tasks of building communism: achieving the highest per capita output in the world, transition to communist self-government, education of a new person. Implementation of program tasks was planned for the next two decades. “The current generation of Soviet people will live under communism,” N.S. Khrushchev. The congress adopted a new charter of the CPSU, providing for the expansion of the rights of local party cells, the introduction of a system for updating parties -

ny posts, expansion of the public beginnings in party work.

In 1962, in connection with the aggravation of the food situation, retail prices for certain foodstuffs (meat, milk, butter, etc.) were raised. This resulted in mass protests of the urban population. The workers of one of the largest factories in Novocherkassk went on strike. Weapons were used against the strikers who organized the demonstration. Innovations in domestic policy caused dissatisfaction among many social groups. Part of the party economic apparatus showed growing dissatisfaction with the instability of society and the measures taken to restructure the party, in particular, the reorganization of party committees along the lines of production.

Thus, the result of ill-conceived measures was the aggravation of the food problem. A unified technical and technological policy within industrial sectors was violated. The new Program of the CPSU, especially the provision on the speedy resolution of social issues, found a response in the country and caused a massive labor upsurge of the population. However, the deterioration of the economic situation, the inconsistency and ill-conceivedness of the ongoing reforms in the country led to an increase in opposition sentiments in society.

CONCLUSION

So, we have considered one of the periods in the history of our Motherland. It was not an easy period. It was a period of post-war restoration of the national economy, a period of reforms and transformations.

The Great Patriotic War ended, and the Soviet people began peaceful creative work. The destroyed cities and villages were reborn from the ruins and ashes. The mass labor heroism of the Soviet people contributed to the restoration of the national economy.

Gradually, the revival of the Soviet Union began. Reforms came one after another. Nikita Sergeevich was in a hurry - he wanted to see a lot during his lifetime. He hurried and made mistakes, suffered defeats from the opposition and rose again. The reason for many failures of N.S. Khrushchev, indeed, was in a hurry and his explosive character. However, in all his affairs, the desire to ensure that our country was the first was always clearly visible. From now on, not a single important international issue could be resolved without the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union owned not only nuclear weapons, but also intercontinental missiles capable of delivering them to a given point in the world. Since that time, the United States has lost invulnerability from across the ocean. Now they are under the same threat as the USSR. If until that moment there was one superpower in the world, now a second one has appeared, weaker, but having sufficient weight to determine the entire world politics. The Americans, who underestimated the capabilities of their enemy, were shocked. From now on, the United States had to reckon with the Soviet Union and reckon seriously.

The price of the victories of the Soviet people was considerable. World leadership presented a bill, and this bill was no small one. Less and less funds remained in the budget for improving the life of an ordinary Soviet person. Naturally, this did not arouse the delight of people. But still, concern for the needs was manifested not in words, but in deeds. The Soviet people saw with their own eyes that such an acute problem as housing is being solved and is being solved tangibly. More and more manufactured goods appeared in stores. Aimed to feed people agriculture. However, difficulties continued to occur. The opposition of N.S. played on these difficulties. Khrushchev.

In 1964, the policy of reforms carried out by N.S. Khrushchev. The transformations of this period were the first and most significant attempt to reform Soviet society, but only partially succeeded in overcoming the Stalinist legacy and updating political and social structures.

In October 1964 N.S. Khrushchev was relieved of all posts and dismissed. (The first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU was L.I. Brezhnev, one of the initiators and organizers of the removal of N.S. Khrushchev.)

N.S. Khrushchev died in 1971 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. An original bust was erected on the grave, made by the now famous Ernst Neizvestny, who at one time did not find mutual understanding with N.S. Khrushchev and was forced to emigrate. One half of the bust is dark, and the other is light, which really objectively reflects the activities of N.S. Khrushchev, who left a significant mark on the history of the Soviet Union.

LITERATURE

1. History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. - M., 1976.

2. History of the Soviet Union. v.2. - M., 1990.

3. Light and shadows of the "great decade": N.S. Khrushchev and his time. - L., 1989.

4. Foreign policy of the Soviet Union. 1949 M., 1953.

5. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin. Short biography. M., 1947.

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One of the most important tasks for further strengthening the country's economy was the revival of industry, transport and agriculture in the territory liberated from the Nazi invaders. In the first half of 1945, the front of restoration work expanded significantly. At the call of the Communist Party, the struggle for the fulfillment of this task acquired a nationwide character. The whole country, all the fraternal republics came to the aid of the affected regions and districts. The Central Committee of the Party, the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union Republics, the regional and regional committees of the Party carried out a great deal of organizational work to mobilize forces and means for the restoration of the national economy.

Restoration work was carried out even in conditions when the war continued to divert huge human and material resources. On the devastated, scorched land, 25 million people were left homeless. They huddled in dugouts and in preserved cellars of houses. Personal consumption of the population in 1945 did not exceed 60-65 percent of the pre-war level. There were not enough clothes and shoes. Many hundreds and thousands of industrial enterprises, mines, railway stations, schools, various secondary and higher educational institutions, libraries, cultural and educational institutions lay in ruins. The war caused great damage to agriculture. Our country, writes L. I. Brezhnev, "was forced to start almost from scratch in many areas ... the Second World War destroyed a third of our national wealth" (819) .

The bourgeois press asserted that without the help of the West, and above all the United States, the Soviet Union was unable to restore its economy. But these predictions did not come true. The country of socialism with its own forces overcame the consequences of the war in an unprecedentedly short time. It was truly the greatest labor feat of the Soviet people. The Communist Party and the government attached particular importance to the most rational distribution and use of labor resources and material resources, in other words, to targeted planning of the entire range of measures to revive the ruined economy in a short time.

The restoration of cities and villages, mainly dwellings and cultural and community institutions, proceeded on an unprecedentedly broad front. In 1943 - 1945. about 25 million square meters of living space were put into operation in cities and workers' settlements. In addition, 1.4 million residential buildings in rural areas have been rehabilitated and rebuilt. Along with this, thousands of schools, hospitals, children's and cultural institutions were restored.

Prominent party leaders were directly in charge of the restoration of the national economy and culture in the areas liberated and affected by the war. By the end of the war, work began on drawing up a five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy of the USSR for 1946-1950, which was completed in November 1945 (820).

As before, great attention was paid to the revival of Donbass. On April 13, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution that significantly expanded the scope of work, determined specific measures to restore all the main coal mines in the basin and increase coal production. In 1945, the Donets Basin was supposed to provide the bulk of the increase in coal in the USSR. In June, coal production here was to be increased to 100,000 tons per day, including 30,000 tons of coking coal. The Central Committee of the Party and the State Defense Committee took measures to provide personnel for the restored mines. Many evacuated workers, engineers, technicians were returned to Donbass, and new contingents also arrived! workers. In 1944 - 1945. 293 thousand workers were sent here. The scale of housing and cultural and domestic construction increased. The material conditions of life of the miners improved. Great importance was attached to the mechanization of coal mining and the creation of underground transport. The party and the government demanded that the revival of Donbass be carried out on a new technical basis. In the first half of 1945, the degree of mechanization of labor-intensive work, such as cutting and breaking in stopes, reached 90 percent.

Returning life to the coal base of the South of the country, the Soviet people showed perseverance, creative initiative and ingenuity. Advanced methods of work, rationalization proposals were introduced everywhere, unused reserves were identified. The entire huge complex of restoration work in the Donbass was constantly in the field of view of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and local party bodies. In January 1945, the Stalin Regional Party Committee discussed the issue “On measures to ensure coal mining and restoration work at the Stalinugol Combine”, and in February, at the plenum of the Voroshilovgrad Regional Party Committee, the issue “On measures to restore the main and medium mines of the Voroshilovgradugol Combine” and adopted a detailed decision on it. As a result of the organizational work of the party and the efforts of the Soviet people, already in May the miners of Donbass produced more coal than any other basin of the Soviet Union.

Power plants were resurrected at a rapid pace. 120 industrial enterprises from 53 cities of the country participated in the restoration of the Dnieper hydroelectric power station named after V. I. Lenin. In Belorussia in the first half of 1945, the total capacity of power plants raised from the ruins reached 55 percent of the pre-war level.

By the end of the war, 7.5 thousand industrial enterprises were put into operation and operated in the liberated territory, more than 115 thousand kilometers of railway lines were restored. As a result of the selfless labor of the Soviet people, the industrial production of the liberated regions was restored by about a third compared to 1940.

The Soviet Armed Forces also provided assistance to the national economy. According to the decisions of the State Defense Committee, a significant number of cars were transferred to the districts and regions affected by the war. Industrial and power equipment, agricultural machinery, cultural and other valuables, taken out by fascist robbers from the USSR, were returned. The trophy service of the Soviet Army collected and shipped scrap metal for the needs of the national economy (821).

Great efforts were concentrated on the restoration of agriculture. The work was carried out in accordance with the decrees of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, according to which evacuated equipment returned to the liberated areas, and their supply with vehicles, fuel, and spare parts was carried out in the first place. The country sent experienced personnel to agriculture. From various republics, territories, regions of the USSR, seeds, agricultural machinery, working and productive livestock were sent to these regions. In 1945, the liberated regions received 44,600 draft horses, 26,400 draft oxen, 436,000 cattle, 980,000 sheep and goats, and 127,600 pigs (822).

As a result of the organizational work of the Party, great assistance from the state and the entire people, and the greatest efforts of agricultural workers, 85,000 collective farms, all state farms and MTS were restored by the end of the war. The sown area in the liberated regions in 1945 amounted to 72 percent of the pre-war, and the area under grain crops - 79 percent. Such results in such a short time could be achieved only under the conditions of the socialist system, using the advantages and viability of collective farms and state farms, with all-people fraternal assistance, which testifies to the strength of friendship between the peoples of the USSR.

The war in Europe was approaching its victorious end. New tasks arose before the Soviet people: without weakening military efforts, to carry out the transition to peaceful production. There was a huge amount and complexity of work to be done in all spheres of the life of Soviet society - to determine new proportions in the national economy in accordance with the tasks of peaceful socialist construction, to redistribute material and human reserves, to raise the standard of living of people. It was necessary to switch in a short time and at minimal cost hundreds of thousands of enterprises that carried out military orders to the production of peaceful products, to the production of consumer goods.

The Central Committee of the Party and the Soviet government led the preparations for the transition to peaceful construction. The state and party bodies considered projects for the restructuring of the apparatus, issues related to the upcoming demobilization from the Armed Forces. New departments and departments were created in the people's commissariats, design bureaus were created at the factories, the work of which should now be aimed at ensuring the production of peaceful products, the plans of research institutions were adjusted in order to switch forces to the development of problems related to the development of the national economy. Not a single important national economic problem was left out of the sight of the Party, its Central Committee, or government agencies.

The day of victory over fascist Germany was the day of the country's decisive turn to peaceful life. On May 26, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution "On measures for the restructuring of industry in connection with a reduction in the production of weapons." On June 17, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved the national economic plan for the third quarter. In the same month, more than 500 enterprises were transferred to civilian production. Textile, light and food industry enterprises have increased the output of goods for the population. The transition to an eight-hour working day has begun. Mandatory overtime work was abolished.

On June 22, 1945 - exactly four years after the attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union - a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR opened in Moscow, which adopted the law "On the demobilization of the older ages of the personnel of the active army." Over 3 million soldiers returned to peaceful labor. It was the largest event in the country's transition to peaceful construction.

The restoration in a short time of a significant part of the national economy destroyed by the war is the greatest feat of the entire people, led by the Communist Party. The unprecedented scale of restoration work, the enormous labor enthusiasm of the Soviet people became possible only under the conditions of the socialist system. The victory over the enemy came at a high cost to the Soviet people, but it opened up a broad opportunity to direct the country's productive forces to peaceful construction.

The first half of 1945 was characterized by the further strengthening of the internal and international position of the Soviet Union. The Communist Party, relying on the advantages of the socialist system and the Marxist-Leninist ideology, ensured a new upsurge in the creative activity of the people. There were solid economic foundations and spiritual forces of the Soviet society for the rapid end of the war in Europe and the transfer of the economy to a peaceful track.

Along with military production, work was carried out on a broad front to restore the national economy, an increasing number of industrial enterprises switched to the production of civilian products. The country not only fought, but also took confident steps towards peaceful construction. The strength and inviolability of its internal position were especially noticeable against the background of those sharp antagonistic contradictions that are characteristic of the economy of capitalist states.

The titanic activity of the Communist Party ensured the strengthening and development of the military-economic base of the USSR at the final stage of the war in Europe. It was her activity that was the most important source of the historical victory of socialist society over fascism.

The better economic and political organization of the socialist state made it possible to mobilize and make more efficient use of material and human resources much more fully and quickly. The military, economic, ideological and political victory of the Soviet people in the war against fascist Germany was achieved under the leadership of the Communist Party, as a result of its enormous political and organizational activities.

Plan.

Formation of the information society.

neoliberalism and neoconservatism.

Economic crisis of 1974-1975 and its meaning.

Post-war recovery of Western economies.

3. Welfare states.

The main trends in the development of Western countries after the Second World War:

1) the US becomes the absolute world leader; the dollar becomes the main international currency;

2) the emergence of international organizations (UN), as well as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, etc. The leading role in them is the United States. Created at the initiative of the United States;

3) the countries of Western Europe and the USSR, which suffered from the war, were in a difficult situation;

4) 2 Germanys were formed: the FRG and the GDR, the territories of Germany were reduced, Germany had to pay reparations to cover losses during the war;

5) as a result of the beginning of the Cold War in 1946, social organizations were formed. camp and cap. camp - the formation of two systems;

6) after the second world war: the crisis of the colonial systems - the countries of Africa and others will become independent.

Before all the states participating in the war, the tasks of demobilizing multimillion-strong armies, employing the demobilized, transferring industry to peacetime production, and restoring military destruction were acutely faced.

The economies of the defeated countries, especially Germany and Japan, suffered the most. In most European countries, the card distribution system was maintained, and there was an acute shortage of food, housing, and industrial goods. Only in 1949 did the industrial and agricultural production of capitalist Europe restore its pre-war level.

The economies of the United States and Canada, as well as some countries of Latin America that were not affected by the war, developed at a much faster pace.

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

Second place in the capitalist world was occupied by Great Britain, followed by France and other countries.

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

The US-dominated International Bank for Reconstruction and Development provided IMF members with loans and credits to develop the economy and maintain balance of payments equilibrium.

An important measure to stabilize the economic life of post-war Europe was the "Marshall Plan" (named after the US Secretary of State) - US assistance to Western countries for economic recovery. For 1948–1952 this aid amounted to $13 billion.

By the beginning of the 1950s. the countries of Western Europe and Japan largely overcame the consequences of the war. Their economic development accelerated. A rapid economic recovery began. They restored their economy and began to overtake rivals Germany and Japan. The rapid pace of their development began to be called an economic miracle.

In some European countries, partial nationalization of industry and banks was carried out. This was insisted upon by the broad masses of the people, who thus sought to open the way for social progress. Some circles of the bourgeoisie also advocated nationalization, believing that state regulation of the economy would be able to strengthen the positions of the bourgeoisie and save their countries from economic crises and social upheavals.

In the first post-war years in most European countries and the United States, state regulation of social relations intensified. Social legislation was updated and expanded, state regulation of relations between labor and capital was strengthened, paid holidays were restored, various social benefits were increased, including unemployment benefits, disability benefits, etc. Thus, an extensive social infrastructure was created. The state began to play a decisive role in the development of science, education and health care, in the construction of schools, hospitals, etc. As a result, capitalism acquired some new features, and the material situation of the working people improved.

Serious changes have taken place in the ideology of the ruling classes of the capitalist countries. The leading role now began to be played by supporters of state regulation of the economy, inspired by the ideas of John Keynes and striving to adapt them to new conditions.

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

The theory of regulation of market relations was developed by the English economist D. M. Keynes back in the 1930s. (the theory of "effective demand"). But it wasn't until after World War II that Western and North American governments were able to apply Keynesian theory. The expansion of aggregate demand has created a mass consumer of durable goods. It was thanks to the structural changes in the “production-consumption” system that took place in the 1950s-1960s that the opportunity was created for a relatively long period of economic recovery and high growth rates, reducing unemployment to the level of full employment in Western countries.

The symbol of this economic recovery was the car, which became available for personal use of millions of Westerners. Refrigerators, televisions, radios, washing machines, and so on became widely available. From a long-term perspective, the market for durable goods was approaching the mid-1970s. to the edge of saturation.

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

The peak of social reform in Western countries came in the 1960s. The major social transformations carried out at that time, although they significantly changed the face of Western society, at the same time marked the limits of the possibilities of liberal etatism.

The rapid development of the scientific and technological revolution, which also occurred in the 1960s, inspired hope for a sustainable further economic growth. Scientific and technological revolution contributed to the growth of needs, led to a constant renewal of the range of products, which left an imprint on the entire sphere of production, dictated its own conditions. All these factors affected not only material production, but also the culture of society. 1960s were marked by a stormy surge of "mass culture", which influenced the whole style of life.

Funds for ensuring stable economic growth were obtained mainly from taxes, government loans and money emission. This led to the formation of a budget deficit, but at that time they did not see any particular danger in it. Scarce public funding for numerous social programs was supposed to expand demand, which increased business activity and, as politicians and economists believed, guaranteed social stability. But there were flaws in these theoretical constructions. Deficit funding was inevitably accompanied by an increase in inflation. These negative moments began to affect later, in the 1970s, when a massive criticism of Keynesianism began.

By the end of the 1960s. it became clear that economic growth in itself does not save society from shocks. By the turn of the 1960-1970s. it became obvious that the implementation of social reforms does not guarantee sustainable social progress. It turned out that they have a lot of vulnerabilities, and this in the 1970s. used by conservatives.

Among the post-war economic upheavals, a special place belongs to the crisis of 1974-75. It covered almost all developed countries of the West and Japan.

The crisis led to the stagnation of the traditional sectors of the economy of these countries, to disruptions in the credit and financial sphere, and to a sharp drop in growth rates.

The use of anti-crisis measures based on neo-Keynesian recipes, which included an increase in government spending, tax cuts, and cheaper loans, only increased inflation. The use of reverse measures (cutting government spending, tightening tax and credit policies) led to a deepening recession and rising unemployment. The peculiarity of the situation was that neither one nor the other system of anti-crisis measures led to overcoming the economic shock.

The new conditions required fresh conceptual solutions concerning the development of methods adequate to the needs of the day for regulating socio-economic processes. The former Keynesian method of solving these problems has ceased to suit the ruling elite of the leading Western countries. Criticism of Keynesianism in the mid-1970s became frontal. A new conservative concept of economic regulation was gradually taking shape, the most prominent representatives of which at the political level were Margaret Thatcher, who headed the British government in 1979, and Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980 to the post of US President.

In the field of economic policy, the neoconservatives were inspired by the ideologists of the free market (M. Friedman) and supporters of the "supply theory" (A. Laffer). The most important difference between the new political economy recipes and Keynesianism was a different direction of government spending. The bet was made on reducing government spending on social policy. Tax cuts were also carried out in order to intensify the inflow of investments into production. If neo-Keysianism proceeded from the stimulation of demand as a prerequisite for the growth of production, then the neoconservatives, on the contrary, headed for the stimulation of factors that ensure the growth of the supply of goods. Hence their formula: it is not demand that determines supply, but supply that determines demand.

In the field of monetary policy, the neo-conservative course relied on the monetarist recipes for a tough policy of controlling money circulation in order to limit, above all, inflation.

Proponents of neoconservatism also defined the relationship between state regulation and the market mechanism in a different way. They gave priority to competition, the market, and private monopoly methods of regulation. "The state for the market" - that was the most important principle of the new conservatism.

According to the recommendations of the ideologues of neoconservatism in the states of Western Europe and the USA, Canada carried out the same type of measures: reducing taxes on corporations with an increase in indirect taxes, reducing the contributions of entrepreneurs to social insurance funds, curtailing a number of social policy programs, denationalizing or privatizing state property.

Economic turmoil in the 1970s took place against the backdrop of a growing scientific and technological revolution. The main content of the new phase of its development was the massive introduction of computers in the spheres of production and management. This gave impetus to the beginning of the process of structural restructuring of the economy and the gradual transition of Western civilization into a new phase, which began to be called the post-industrial, or information, society. The introduction of the latest technologies has contributed to a significant leap in productivity. And this began to pay off and led to a way out of the crisis and another economic recovery.

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

The crisis of the model of a socially oriented market economy, the loss of voters' confidence in the state, which provides "general welfare", stimulated the search for new ideas and models of social development. They will be neoliberalism and neoconservatism.

Within the framework of neoliberalism, the ideological and political current that dominated the Euro-Atlantic countries in the first post-war decades, new approaches could no longer be born.
The “welfare society”, in which the state guaranteed a constant increase in the well-being of the population, and increasing consumer demand created incentives for the growth of production, was considered by neoliberals as the pinnacle of progress.
The economic basis of neoliberalism was the ideas of Keynes, Galbraith and other supporters of extended state intervention in the sphere of socio-economic relations. According to these ideas, the increasing role of the "welfare" state not only does not threaten freedom, but, on the contrary, strengthens the guarantees of the rights and freedoms of citizens. Neoliberals saw a threat to freedom in the existence of mass groups, movements, especially radical ones. They believed that their members were pitting narrow, corporate interests against the public.
According to the American political scientist B. Gross, such an evolution of neoliberalism is capable of transforming it into the ideology of a new totalitarianism, “fascism with a human face”, where the state will establish total control over citizens, limit their freedoms, believing that this is necessary in the name of their own good.

A counterbalance to both neoliberalism and radicalism was neoconservatism, a movement that united various directions. Neoconservatives were called "new right", radical conservatives. They made the main emphasis on the preservation of traditional values, i.e. ideas of classical liberalism of the 19th century, which became the basis of their political tradition for developed countries.

The neoconservatives borrowed from the New Left the assessment of the "welfare" state as a bureaucratic monster that guards citizens and thereby restricts their freedom, crowding out the spirit of entrepreneurship and enterprise. From the point of view of the ideology of neoconservatism, too high a degree of social protection corrupts a person, gives rise to a dependent mood in him. And at the same time makes it completely dependent on officials and their decisions. Neoconservatives urged people to rely on their own strength, to show initiative and responsibility, solidarity with each other. They believed that a person realizes his freedom by participating in the activities of various non-governmental organizations (political, religious, ethnic, professional, and others) that reflect his interests.

M. Fridman is considered to be the founder of the economic theory of neoconservatism. The state, according to this theory, should support not the consumer, but the producer: to ensure the stability of the exchange rate, to reduce taxes on profits, on value added. The growth of production, the reduction in the cost of its products, according to neoconservatives, lead to an increase in the standard of living. In other words, the question was posed as follows: to pay attention not only to the redistribution of the produced GNP, but to ensuring its constant growth.

Neo-conservative ideas were taken up by the centre-right political parties. In the UK, neoconservatism is associated with the leader of the Conservative Party, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1979, M. Thatcher, and who replaced her in this post in 1992, D. Major. In the USA - with the Republican R. Reagan, who became US President in 1980. In the FRG - with G. Kohl, the leader of the Christian Democrats, Chancellor of the FRG in 1982-1998.
Neoconservatives advocated the revival of the authority of such social institutions as the family, school, church, appealing to the idea of ​​democratic capitalism. It assumed respect for law and order, discipline, restraint, patriotism. The neoconservatives received the support of the broadest sections of society. Their arguments were listened to by entrepreneurs and representatives of the “middle class” who were interested in reducing the tax burden, the poor, who considered social programs to be insufficiently effective, and intellectuals who were concerned about the displacement of spirituality by rationalism and pragmatism.

Socio-economic policy of neoconservatism in the USA and Western Europe. Neo-conservative governments have taken measures to improve the efficiency of the economy by cutting taxes on production, more rational use of budgetary funds. A particularly favorable tax regime was established for those corporations that modernized production. An important impetus for the development and implementation of advanced technologies was the expansion of military orders in NATO countries in the 1980s, especially those related to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) project. Savings of budgetary funds were carried out at various levels of government. Decentralization of social programs was carried out, many of them began to be implemented at the expense of the budgets of the subjects of the federation, local authorities. Part of the funds, previously paid in the form of benefits to the needy, began to be issued to them, but not as an allowance, but as a soft loan for starting their own business in the field of small business. This made it possible to occupy a significant part of the former unemployed mainly in the service sector. Small shops, cafes, repair shops, gas stations did not compete with large corporations, although their share in the production of national income turned out to be significant.

Savings on public spending contributed to the liberation of the state from excess property. Housing built at the expense of the state and municipalities for citizens with low and middle incomes, requiring repair and not generating income, was transferred to the ownership of tenants, i.e. privatized. State-owned and subsidized enterprises that lost profitability were closed or privatized. Their modernization was carried out by private capital. Reducing the role of the state in the economy somewhat reduced the size of the army of officials and the cost of maintaining the state apparatus.

The neo-conservative policy did not lead to the abandonment of state regulation of the economy. On the contrary, its scale has even increased. In the United States, from 1980 to 1995, the share of GDP redistributed by the state increased from 19.3% to 19.8%. In Great Britain - from 40.4% to 45.3%, in France - from 48.9% to 49.6%. The share of state budget funds in covering the costs of social programs (education, health care, social security, etc.) in the United States from 1980 to 1995 increased from 54.2% to 55%, in the UK - from 48.2% up to 54.5%. A slight reduction in the share of public spending for these purposes occurred in France, Sweden and other countries.

The neoconservative revolution did not destroy, but strengthened the foundations of the "welfare society". An active social policy maintained a high level of well-being of the population.
The neoconservative revolution revised the methods of state intervention in the economy, changed the structure of taxes, adjusted social programs.
The interests of modernizing the economy required the closure of unprofitable enterprises, the automation and robotization of many industrial complexes. This implied a reduction in the size of the labor force, which provoked resistance from the unions. However, the widespread awareness of the need for modernization in society deprived those trade unions whose members were subject to reduction of public support. The policy of the neo-conservatives did not set the goal of defeating the trade union movement. Repression was used only in cases where trade unions tried to carry out strike actions that were detrimental to citizens and the economy as a whole. Thus, the leadership of the air traffic controllers' union in the United States was prosecuted for an illegal strike, and military dispatchers took the place of the striking members of the trade union.

Neoconservative governments sought to create a social base for modernization policies. In those Western European countries where most of the workers were organized in trade unions, their representatives were included in the administrative bodies of enterprises, the supervisory boards of corporations, they were provided with access to information about reorganization plans. Where the role of trade unions was less (in the 1990s in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, trade unions consisted of 70% to 80% of employees, while in the USA - only 16%; on average, in developed countries, trade unions covered 26% of the employed), other forms of workers' participation in modernization were used. During the modernization of the American corporation "General Motors", associated with the transition to a robotic, modular production organization, 80% of highly qualified employees of the corporation guaranteed the preservation of the workplace and a share in profits. Elements of workers' self-government were introduced: each brigade itself determined the rhythm, order and duration of work, being responsible only for the final result.

The measures taken within the framework of the neo-conservative revolution related to the modernization of production were a decisive factor in the formation of a society that is increasingly defined as informational.

All previous technical improvements increased mainly the physical strength of a person. Mass, conveyor production has turned workers into appendages of the machine, performing the simplest functions. Automation, computerization and robotization of production have made it possible to minimize human participation in the production process, leaving behind it mainly control and creative functions.
The demand for the labor of engineers, technicians, programmers has increased. Much more important than ever in the past, the centers of knowledge production - laboratories and universities - began to play.
As labor activity became more and more creative and intellectual, the interest of workers in labor and its results acquired increasing importance. Labor productivity in the sectors of knowledge production, processing and generalization of information cannot be determined by the speed of the conveyor, dictated by the employer. The practice of large corporations in recent decades has shown that the best results are achieved by those where creative workers are directly interested in the results of their work. This is ensured by high salaries, expanding the circle of co-owners of shares, and introducing individual work and rest schedules.
The intellectualization of labor activity makes it possible to overcome the rigid barriers of subordination between managers and managed, which contributes to the development of social partnership.
The most important capital of the information society is a person, his creative, intellectual potential. The interests of its development, in particular due to the retraining of employees of manual labor, in the 1980s. turned out to be in the center of attention of the state, and corporations, and public, charitable organizations.

This determines the special attention to the development of the education sector. In the 1960s-1990s. the number of students in colleges and universities in the US and Japan increased 3.5 times, in Germany - 6 times, in the UK - 7 times. The average level of education of all employees reached 14 years.

A qualitatively new state of the economy, achieved through the introduction of high technologies, ensured a long period of crisis-free development of the countries of Western Europe and North America.

Firstly, new technologies have made it possible to switch to energy- and resource-saving production, which ensures the production of ever larger volumes of products while reducing the cost of raw materials and energy carriers. This led to a fall in world prices for them, created advantages in the world market for countries producing high-tech products.
Secondly, the mastery of high technologies makes it possible to constantly update the range of manufactured products at the expense of goods with qualitatively new consumer properties. This eliminates the overstocking of the market with one type of product.
Thirdly, high technologies themselves, knowledge have become the most important commodity in the world markets. The cost of their sales in the 1980s. reached the cost of selling oil, gas and other energy resources. The production of high technologies has become the most profitable business. Knowledge cannot be produced more than necessary. In addition, knowledge can be consumed many times by different consumers. The production of knowledge in those countries where the corresponding infrastructure of laboratories and scientific centers has developed for this purpose turns out to be the most profitable and cost-effective area for investing capital. The most important source of American global leadership has been the conquest of the US leading position in the development of technological innovations.
The decline of the neoconservative wave occurred in the 1990s. Neo-conservative political parties and leaders have been in power in advanced industrial countries for more than a decade (12 years in the US, 18 years in the UK). Since the methods of neoconservative politics proved to be effective in solving the problems of modernizing society, they were adopted in the 1980s. almost all political parties in power in developed countries. In Spain, modernization carried out according to neo-conservative recipes was carried out by the government headed by the leader of the socialists (Socialist Workers' Party) F. Gonzalez, in Italy - by a coalition government headed by the socialist B. Craxi, in France the neo-conservative course was pursued under the socialist president F. Mitterrand.
The decline of the neo-conservative wave in developed countries was due to the fact that the main tasks in the field of economic modernization had been solved. With the end of the Cold War, the situation in the international arena has changed. The influence of the radical left forces has sharply fallen. Accordingly, neoconservatism's emphasis on protecting the traditional values ​​of democracy has lost its appeal in the eyes of voters. Concrete problems of social, ethnic relations, the establishment of a new world order, to which the neoconservative leaders were not ready, came to the fore. In the United States, the leader of the Democratic Party, B. Clinton, won the 1992 presidential election. In the UK in 1997, Labor leader T Blair became Prime Minister. In Germany in 1998, the Social Democrats won the majority of seats in the Bundestag. There has been an increase in the influence of socialist and social democratic parties in other developed countries as well. However, the system of value orientations and political guidelines of these parties has changed significantly over the past decade.
The main ideas and achievements of neoconservatism related to the modernization of the economy, support for private entrepreneurship, limiting the bureaucratic tendencies of the central apparatus of state power were not questioned.
In developed countries, an agreement was reached between the main political forces on the fundamental issues of the strategy of social development. Differences in the ideological-theoretical and philosophical views of political leaders and theorists are less important than in the past. This gave grounds in April 1998 to T. Blair to propose dissolving the Socialist International and replacing it with a new type of union, including neoliberal parties (such as the US Democratic Party) that share the goals of a socially oriented policy. This idea was not supported by the French socialists, but was approved by the leader of the SPD G. Schroeder, who also advocated the creation of a broad alliance of parties with common ideals.

Tasks for the topic:

1. Must know the concepts:reparations, demobilization, Marshall plan, economic miracle, nationalization, social infrastructure, Keynesianism, liberal statism, neoconservatism, neoliberalism, scientific and technological revolution, mass culture, monetarism, post-industrial society, middle class, NATO, automation of production.

2. What are the main trends in the development of the West after World War II.

3. How was the recovery of the economies after the war? Name the leading countries.

4. What are the main ideas of the "welfare state".

5. What are the results of the economic crisis of 1974-1975? What made it possible to overcome it?

6. Why in the 80s. in the states of "general welfare" have new, alternative ideas for the development of society?

7. Expand the main differences in the views and policies of neoliberalism and neoconservatism using the table. Formulate conclusions about the essence of the established differences.

8. What unites the names of such political and statesmen as M. Thatcher, R. Reagan and G. Kohl? Why do you think it was in the 80s? XX century neoconservatism ideas prevailed?

9. What are the measures taken by neoconservatives to modernize the economy in Western countries. How did they affect the role of the state? Why is this policy called the neoconservative revolution?

10. Expand the main features that characterize the information society in developed countries. With what achievements of scientific and technological progress is its formation connected?

11. What is high technology, what changes in society occur when they are applied?

12. What explains the decline of the neoconservative wave in developed countries in the 1990s? Who replaced the neoconservatives and why?

Topic 51: "USSR in 1945 - 1953"