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. There have been changes in the structure of state bodies and forms of management of the national economy. 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). In accordance with the tasks of peacetime, some military people's commissariats were reorganized, new ones were created on their basis (the people's commissariat of machine building and instrument making on the basis of the people's commissariat of mortar weapons, etc.).

Measures were taken to restore the normal working regime at enterprises and institutions. Mandatory overtime work was abolished, the 8-hour working day and annual paid holidays were restored. The state budget for the III and IV quarters of 1945 and for 1946 was revised. Appropriations for military needs were reduced and expenditures for the development of civilian sectors of the economy increased. In August 1945, the State Planning Committee of the USSR received the task of preparing a draft plan for the restoration and development of the national economy.

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. It determined the ways of reviving and further developing the economy. The main task 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 surpass them (by 48 and 23%, respectively). 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 the achievements of scientific and technological progress.

Recovery and development of industry

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. The Dneproges came into operation. At the same time, construction of new and reconstruction of existing plants and factories was carried out. During the five years more than 6,200 industrial enterprises were restored and rebuilt. Particular attention was paid to the development of metallurgy, mechanical engineering, fuel and energy and military-industrial complexes. The foundations of nuclear power engineering 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 World War II. 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 50s. 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%. However, the priority development of heavy industry, the redistribution in its favor of funds from the light and food industries led to a further deformation of the industrial structure towards an increase in the production of group A products.

The restoration of industry and transport, new industrial construction led to an increase in the size of the working class. During the years of the Fourth Five-Year Plan alone, the ranks of workers increased by 11 million people.

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 agro-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. In 1947 - 1948. in the RSFSR alone, about 1 million people died of starvation and related diseases.

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 routes of its rise have been identified; providing the village with tractors, agricultural machinery 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. 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 from 255 to 94 thousand. New collective farms were created in the western regions of Belarus and Ukraine, in the Baltic republics, in Right-bank Moldavia. Collectivization was carried out by violent methods, accompanied by repressions and deportations of the population. Only from Lithuania were evicted in May - July 1948 over 19.3 thousand peasant families with a total number of about 70 thousand people.

An increase in the production and supply of machinery to the countryside, measures for the organizational restructuring of collective farms did not change the difficult situation in the agricultural sector. Grain procurements in 1950 amounted to 32.3 million tons against 36.4 million in 1940. All production activities of collective farms and state farms were under the control of party and state authorities. Taxes on agricultural enterprises were periodically increased, which led to their impoverishment. Measures were tightened in relation to individual peasant farms: requisitions from personal plots increased.

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.

Agriculture, as before, did not satisfy the needs of the light and food industries for raw materials.

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. This led to the growth of the administrative apparatus, its separation from production.

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 food rationing system was abolished. In order to overcome financial difficulties, a monetary reform was carried out. With its help, it was supposed to remove counterfeit money from circulation, which became widespread during the war years in the occupied territories. New money was introduced into circulation. Old money held by the population was exchanged at a ratio of 10:1. In practice, the reform led to the withdrawal of cash from citizens.

Cities and villages destroyed during the war years were revived from the ruins and ashes. The scale of housing and cultural and domestic construction 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, I. V. Stalin's work "Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR" was published. In it, the head of state tried to theoretically substantiate 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, should have ensured high growth rates of the national economy in the USSR.

The transfer of civil defense to martial law is one of the most responsible and difficult periods of activity. At the same time, the order and sequence of the implementation of all measures are carried out according to the established degrees of civil defense readiness, which are determined in advance in peacetime.

In the Russian Federation, the following degrees of civil defense readiness are established:

· "Daily";

· « Priority measures of civil defense of the first group”;

· "Priority measures of civil defense of the second group";

· "General Civil Defense Readiness".

Activating the civil defense and transferring it from a peaceful to a martial law ensures the sustainable management of the civil defense forces in wartime, reducing the loss of population and personnel of the service by taking measures for medical protection, increasing the stability of the operation of civil defense facilities in wartime and preparing forces and means for a comprehensive providing for the population in the event of an enemy attack.

Bringing the civil defense to readiness of one degree or another can be carried out either sequentially or, depending on the situation, immediately to the highest levels of readiness, with the obligatory carrying out of the measures provided for by the previous levels of readiness. In order to build up the civil defense forces in a timely manner and prepare them to perform tasks in special cases, by decision of the President of the Russian Federation, part of the civil defense control bodies can be brought to the highest degree of readiness in advance.

In order to reduce the time for transferring civil defense to martial law, even before the civil defense plans are put into effect, it is planned to carry out priority civil defense measures of the first and second groups, which increase the readiness of civil defense services. These activities should be carried out covertly, under the guise of exercises, training and repair work.

With the systematic transfer of the civil defense system from peaceful to martial law, with the receipt of an order to conduct priority civil defense activities of the first group, the head of the civil defense notifies and gathers the leadership of the civil defense, after which he brings the situation received from the relevant management body for civil defense, sets the task for the employees of his headquarters, distributes the leadership according to the staff and areas of activity.

Directly at the point of permanent deployment of the control body, round-the-clock duty of the leadership of the civil defense headquarters is organized, whose members begin to perform their duties in accordance with the staffing table. The specialists of the governing body and members of the civil defense headquarters, in accordance with their functional duties, refine the sections of the civil defense plan for providing the population in wartime.

During the implementation of priority measures of civil defense of the first group protected hospitals are being prepared to shelter non-transportable patients and attendants.

During this period, preparations are being made for the issuance of personal protective equipment to the personnel of formations from the stocks of economic facilities. From the warehouses of the mobilization reserve, the export of gas masks and radiation and chemical reconnaissance devices to points of issue is organized.

For the purpose of medical support for combat crews of launchers, medicines are being laid at reserve out-of-town command posts (ZZPU) of ministries and departments, constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In the institutions of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance (SSES), which are part of the network for monitoring and laboratory control of civil defense (SNLC), technical means and equipment are brought into working condition, designed to detect and indicate radioactive, chemical and biological contamination of products, food raw materials and drinking water. .

The staffing of civil defense formations and institutions with personnel and scarce specialists, the provision of equipment and property are being specified. The presence and serviceability of automotive and other equipment coming for re-staffing from various organizations is determined; an application is being prepared to the relevant head of the civil defense for the missing amount of equipment and property in accordance with the equipment standards.

An important section of the work of the civil defense headquarters in the implementation of priority civil defense activities of the first group is to clarify the schedules for increasing measures to increase the stability of work in wartime according to the following indicators:

1. Provision of formations and institutions of civil defense with autonomous sources of electricity.

2. The state of staffing of formations and institutions of civil defense with specialists.

3. Provision of civil defense formations and institutions with all types of property.

4. The readiness of the understudies of the civil defense headquarters to take control.

5. Communication and control status.

At the same time, preparatory measures are being taken at civil defense facilities for the introduction of blackout modes and the strengthening of fire protection measures.

When performing priority measures of civil defense of the second group the transfer of the management staff of the civil defense to round-the-clock work. The head of the Civil Defense gives instructions to all subordinate headquarters to organize round-the-clock shift work and monitors its implementation. A task force is sent to the suburban emergency command post.

The communication system with all subordinate civil defense headquarters is put on full alert. The plan for the departure to the ZZPU of the main staff of the civil defense headquarters is being specified, the staff of the headquarters of the assembly place and their main duties are being brought to the attention.

Out-of-town emergency defense control posts are created in advance. They are equipped outside the zones of possible destruction of categorized cities and objects of special importance, as well as outside the zones of possible catastrophic flooding. When choosing the locations of the ZZPU, the possibility of using existing and under construction communication lines is taken into account.

During this period, medical formations of high readiness and sanitary transport formations are put on alert at the points of permanent deployment. To do this, the relevant head of the civil defense gives an order to notify and assemble the personnel of the formations in the designated places; organize the issuance and receipt by personnel of personal protective equipment, personnel equipment and instruments; to staff medical formations with personnel, to prepare equipment and instruments for work; check readiness, organize training of personnel of formations that have not been trained in civil defense.

At the same time, all protective structures available to the medical service, designed to shelter the personnel of the service and patients, are put on alert. Shelters are being checked for tightness and operability of systems, the availability of emergency supplies of water, food, the availability of communication and warning facilities and their preparation for work. In shelters of categorized cities, collective first-aid kits are laid, designed to provide medical assistance to those sheltered. The laying of collective medical kits is carried out directly by the medical services of the civil defense of cities, urban areas, economic facilities within up to 12 hours, and in prefabricated shelters - as they are put into operation. The range and quantity of medicines, dressings, medical items depend on the number of sheltered.

For 100-150 people, a collective first-aid kit is laid according to inventory No. 1, for 400-600 people - according to inventory No. 2. If there is a paramedic in the link (group) for servicing the shelter, an additional paramedic kit is completed, a doctor - a medical kit.

Collective first-aid kits and kits are completed by medical institutions (first-aid posts), medical and sanitary units, outpatient clinics (polyclinics) serving economic facilities during the period of alerting protective structures at the expense of current supply property and the acquisition of missing items in the pharmacy network and stores of TPO "Medtekhnika".

Workers and employees are issued personal protective equipment and medical personal protective equipment from the stock of facilities.

During this period, some patients are discharged from medical institutions for outpatient treatment. Hospitalization of patients for planned treatment and terms of inpatient treatment are reduced.

The institutions of the monitoring and laboratory control network (SNLC) are transferred to round-the-clock work with constant monitoring of the radiation, chemical and bacteriological situation in the territory assigned to them. SNLC specialists take readings twice a day for contamination of environmental objects with toxic and radioactive substances. Measures for the indication of bacterial (biological) agents are carried out according to indications.

In the presence of epidemic indications, mass immunization of the population is carried out during this period. Vaccination teams are created on the basis of medical institutions. Appropriate vaccines and sera are provided at the expense of state sanitary and epidemiological supervision institutions.

In order to ensure radiation safety, NPP personnel and the population living in a 30-kilometer zone are given stable iodine preparations. Urgent measures are being taken at healthcare facilities to improve the sustainability of the operation of healthcare facilities - stand-alone power supplies, facility control points are put on alert, emergency lighting is being prepared.

One of the most important activities carried out during this period is preparations for the additional deployment of hospital beds in the countryside. For this purpose, the head of the MC of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, in cooperation with the head of the medical protection department of the main department for civil defense and emergency situations of the region (territory, republic within the Russian Federation), organizes a check of the availability of warrants for assigned buildings and premises for the deployment of medical institutions of the hospital base, as well as the degree of readiness these buildings for the deployment of medical institutions in them BB MS GO in accordance with the assignment. Measures are being taken to complete the adaptive work of the second stage in a short time.

In order to ensure the timely deployment of medical institutions in the suburban area, each medical evacuation area is assigned the required number of civil defense formations. To equip medical institutions with MS GO, medical property is being prepared, their provision with sanitary and economic and special property is being specified. During this period, medical property is issued to medical institutions in the countryside from the warehouses of the mobilization reserve.

At the same time, the existing anti-radiation shelters (PRU) are being put on alert, work is underway to adapt basements to shelter medical personnel and patients in medical institutions. The personnel of the civil defense formations are given radiation and chemical reconnaissance devices, medical personal protective equipment is taken out from the warehouses of the mobilization reserve. In the shelters of the objects of the economy of the categorized cities, which continue their production activities in wartime, medical stations are being deployed.

With the introduction of the "General readiness of civil defense", the headquarters of the civil defense, together with the department of medical protection of the main department for civil emergency situations of the region (krai, republic), alerts the governing bodies, formations and institutions of the service, organizes the work of institutions of state sanitary and epidemiological supervision as part of the SNLC, carries out activities for the protection of civil defense personnel. To this end, timely notification and collection of personnel of the governing bodies, their work to establish communication with higher and lower civil defense headquarters, interaction with civil defense services, and clarification of plans for providing the population are organized.

During this period, preparations are being made for the evacuation of medical institutions and for the removal of stocks of medical equipment from the categorized cities. A set of sanitary and anti-epidemic measures aimed at preventing the emergence and spread of mass infectious diseases is being carried out.

Without stopping work in the medical institutions on the basis of which they are created, all the formations of the medical service of the Civil Defense are put on alert. During this period, the work of the SNLC institutions is organized around the clock to monitor and laboratory control over the contamination of environmental objects, atmospheric air, food and drinking water with RV, OV, BS.

When transferring civil defense to martial law, special attention should be paid to carrying out measures to protect the personnel of the formations of the Civil Defense Ministry, medical personnel and patients in medical institutions from the means of destruction of a potential enemy by sheltering them in protective structures. The shelter of these contingents is carried out as follows: in categorized cities - in protective structures and prefabricated shelters; in the suburban area - in anti-radiation shelters and adapted basements.

During this period, the sanitary transport formations of the civil defense are brought to readiness and transferred to the operational subordination of the relevant heads of the MS GO.

Non-transportable patients in categorized cities take shelter in protected hospitals deployed in shelters, the construction of which is provided at the rate of 10% of the bed capacity of a peacetime institution.

During the activities of the "General readiness of civil defense" medical institutions of the categorized cities are being prepared for evacuation to the countryside, which requires great attention from the medical service of the civil defense: it is necessary to prepare for the discharge of some patients for outpatient treatment; identify groups of non-transportable patients and patients subject to evacuation; to outline the order of export of property, taking into account its need for the provision of medical care; send operational groups to the places of deployment of medical institutions of MS GO in the suburban area in order to receive the assigned premises and organize adaptive work; specify the number of vehicles required for the evacuation of medical facilities.

Taking into account the possibility of a surprise attack by the enemy, an important measure during this period is the deployment of additional hospital beds of MS GO in the countryside by the health care forces of rural areas and uncategorized cities.

Carrying out a complex of sanitary and anti-epidemic measures at the degree of readiness "General readiness of civil defense" is aimed at preserving the health of the population and personnel of civil defense formations and institutions, as well as preventing the occurrence and spread of mass infectious diseases. These activities are carried out by the Centers for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance and the sanitary and anti-epidemic formations of civil defense created on their basis throughout the region (territory, republic within the Russian Federation), including in areas intended to accommodate dispersed workers, employees and the evacuated population, and also on evacuation routes and in places where evacuation authorities are deployed.

Upon receipt of the relevant orders, the medical service of the civil defense organization organizes medical support for the partial evacuation of the population and the withdrawal of high-readiness medical units to the suburban area.

The attack of fascist Germany on the USSR required the Communist Party and the Soviet government to take emergency measures to mobilize all the resources of the state to repel aggression, radically reorganize the life and activities of the country on a military footing.

On the very first day of the war, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued decrees on the mobilization of those liable for military service in 1905-1918. birth, on the introduction of martial law on the territory of a number of republics and regions, the transfer of state power functions in defense and ensuring public order and state security to the military councils of fronts, military districts and armies, and where there were no military councils, to the high command of military formations .

On June 23, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution on putting into effect a mobilization plan for the production of ammunition. The next day, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee, the urgent needs of the tank industry were considered. In the resolutions on tank building, the task of creating a powerful integrated tank building industry in the Volga region and the Urals, areas where tanks had not previously been produced, was set as a priority. On the eighth day of the war, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved a mobilization national economic plan for the third quarter of 1941, which provided for an increase in the production of military equipment.

On June 24, 1941, an Evacuation Council was created to manage the evacuation of the population, institutions, military and other cargo, equipment of enterprises and other valuables from the front-line areas.

Guided by the ideas of V. I. Lenin on the defense of the socialist Fatherland, the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the very first days of the war worked out a detailed program for restructuring the activities of the party and the country in accordance with the new situation and new tasks, mobilizing all the forces of the Soviet people to fight the enemy. The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks formulated the liberation goals of the Great Patriotic War, indicated the ways and means of achieving victory over the Nazi invaders.

This comprehensive action program of the Communist Party and the Soviet government to turn the country into a single military camp under the slogan "Everything for the front, everything for victory!" was set out in the directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks to the party and Soviet organizations of the front-line regions dated June 29, 1941. It was sent to all members of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the central committees of the communist parties of the union republics, regional, regional, city and district party committees , people's commissars and formed the basis of the organizational and ideological work of state, party, Komsomol and other public organizations.

This document emphasized the mortal danger hanging over the Soviet country, revealed the just, liberating nature of the war on the part of the Soviet state, which was defending its freedom and independence, and exposed the criminal, predatory nature of the war on the part of fascist Germany. “... In the war with fascist Germany imposed on us,” the directive said, “the question of life and death of the Soviet state is being decided, of whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement” (86) .

The Central Committee of the Party and the Soviet government called on the Soviet people to realize the full depth of the danger hanging over the country, to renounce the complacency, carelessness and moods of peacetime. The Party made no secret of the difficulties of the upcoming struggle. Warning that “the enemy is cunning, cunning, experienced in deception and spreading false rumors” (87), the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks demanded high political vigilance from the communists, all Soviet people, urged them to expose the fabrications of enemy propaganda.

The directive defined the tasks of party organizations in the conditions of the outbreak of war. All the activities of the party, the forms and methods of its work had to be quickly reorganized and subordinated to the defeat of the enemy.

The Central Committee called on the Soviet people to rally still more closely around the Communist Party and the Soviet government, to turn the whole country into a single fighting camp and rise in a sacred and merciless struggle against the enemy, to defend every inch of Soviet land, to fight to the last drop of blood; strengthen the combat power of the Armed Forces in every possible way and provide broad and comprehensive assistance to the army in the field; reorganize the work of the rear on a war footing and maximize the output of military products; deploy guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.

“In areas occupied by the enemy,” the directive said, “create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight against parts of the enemy army, to incite partisan war everywhere and everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, set fire to warehouses, etc. e. In the occupied areas, create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue and destroy them at every turn, and disrupt all their measures” (88) .

The directive stated that in the event of a forced withdrawal of units of the Soviet Army, it was necessary “to steal a rolling stock, not to leave the enemy a single locomotive, not a single wagon, not to leave the enemy a kilogram of bread or a liter of fuel. Collective farmers must steal cattle, hand over grain for safekeeping to state bodies for taking it to the rear areas ”(89) .

The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks demanded that party organizations reorganize ideological and political work at the front and in the rear in accordance with wartime conditions, widely explain to the working masses and soldiers of the Armed Forces the nature and political goals of the Patriotic War, their duties and the situation that has arisen, educate the Soviet people's hatred for the Nazi invaders, promptly and specifically manage all military, economic and political activities. “Now,” the directive of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks said, “everything depends on our ability to quickly organize and act, without wasting a minute of time, without missing a single opportunity in the fight against the enemy” (90) .

The main provisions of the directive of June 29 were outlined and developed in the speech of the Chairman of the State Defense Committee I.V. Stalin on the radio on July 3, 1941 and specified in subsequent decisions of the party and government. Speaking on behalf of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Party, I. V. Stalin pointed out the danger looming over the country, the need to support the Soviet troops in every possible way, who heroically fought against the worst enemy “armed to the teeth with tanks and aircraft”. The speech revealed a program for defending the gains of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the achievements of building socialism, freedom and independence of the Land of Soviets, and expressed an unshakable faith in the victory of the Soviet people. “Our forces are incalculable,” said I. V. Stalin. - An arrogant enemy will soon be convinced of this. Together with the Red Army, many thousands of workers, collective farmers, and intellectuals are rising to war against the attacking enemy. The millions of our people will rise” (91) .

In order to successfully carry out the developed program, the Communist Party had first of all to subordinate all its activities to the main goal - to defeat the enemy, to restructure the style and methods of work of the state apparatus, to centralize the country's administration to the maximum and ensure coordination of the efforts of the highest party and government bodies to organize the country's defense and promptly resolve all political, military and economic tasks facing the state in the conditions of war.

The State Defense Committee (GKO), established on June 30, 1941 by a joint decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, headed by I. V. Stalin, became the body in whose hands all power in the country was concentrated. The GKO included members and candidate members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks V. M. Molotov (deputy chairman), K. E. Voroshilov, G. M. Malenkov, a little later - N. A. Bulganin, N. A. Voznesensky, L. M. Kaganovich, A. I. Mikoyan. The resolutions of the State Defense Committee were mandatory for party, Soviet, trade union, Komsomol organizations and military bodies, for all citizens of the USSR.

The functions of the State Defense Committee included the solution of state and national economic issues related to the conduct of the war. The most important and priority among them were the mobilization of human and material resources, the restructuring of the national economy on a war footing, the transfer of productive forces from threatened areas to the east, and the establishment of military production in new places. The State Defense Committee organized the training of reserves for the army and navy, established the volume and timing of the supply of military products by industry, and provided the High Command with the necessary forces and means for conducting armed struggle. Deeply delving into all questions of organizational development of the Armed Forces, the State Defense Committee supervised the implementation of measures to improve their structure and the deployment of military personnel, and determined the general nature and direction of the combat activities of the army and navy. The issues of leading the struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines were also in the field of view of the GKO.

In accordance with the decisions of the Politburo of the Central Committee and the State Defense Committee, the republican, territorial, regional, district party and Soviet organizations restructured their work. In a short time, the entire system of party and state bodies in the country was adapted to wartime conditions.

Carrying out top-priority military-political measures, the party concentrated its main attention on strengthening the Armed Forces and increasing their combat effectiveness. For this, it was necessary, first of all, to mobilize conscripts in a timely manner. The hard work of party and state bodies ensured that by July 1 (during the first eight days of the war) 5.3 million people were drafted into the army (92).

To guide the military operations of the Soviet troops on June 23, the Headquarters of the High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was formed, consisting of Marshal S. K. Timoshenko (chairman), General G. K. Zhukov, I. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, Marshals S M. Budyonny and K. E. Voroshilov and Admiral N. G. Kuznetsov. The working apparatus of the Stavka was the General Staff and the central departments of the People's Commissariat of Defense. On June 29, the post of Commander of the Air Force was established with the appointment of General P.F. Zhigarev to it, the Military Council of the Air Force was created, and Corps Commissar P.S. Stepanov was appointed a member of it.

By the decision of the GKO on July 10, 1941, intermediate bodies of strategic leadership were created - the main commands of the troops of the directions.

The main command of the troops of the North-Western direction, headed by Marshal K. E. Voroshilov (chief of staff, General M. V. Zakharov), united the command and control of the troops of the Northern and North-Western fronts. The Northern and Red Banner Baltic Fleets were operationally subordinate to him.

The main command of the troops of the Western direction, which was headed by Marshal S. K. Timoshenko (chief of staff General G. K. Malandin, from July 19 - Marshal B. M. Shaposhnikov, and from July 30 - General V. D. Sokolovsky), was assigned responsibility for organizing a rebuff to the enemy in the zone of operations of the Western Front subordinate to him.

The main command of the troops of the South-Western direction (commander-in-chief Marshal S. M. Budyonny, chief of staff General A. P. Pokrovsky) headed the management of the combat activities of the troops of the South-Western and Southern fronts and the Black Sea Fleet operationally subordinate to him.

Soon, military councils were established under the commanders-in-chief of the directions. A. A. Zhdanov (North-West direction), N. A. Bulganin (Western direction) and N. S. Khrushchev (South-West direction) are appointed members of the military councils.

On July 10, the Headquarters of the High Command was transformed into the Headquarters of the High Command under the chairmanship of I.V. Stalin. It included V. M. Molotov, S. K. Timoshenko, S. M. Budyonny, K. E. Voroshilov, B. M. Shaposhnikov and G. K. Zhukov.

On July 19, 1941, Stalin was appointed People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, and on August 8 - Supreme Commander of the USSR Armed Forces. The Headquarters of the Supreme Command is renamed into the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

The headquarters was a permanent body under the Supreme Commander. Members of the Headquarters simultaneously performed other responsible duties, often being outside of Moscow. Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Party and the GKO participated in the development of operational-strategic decisions and the discussion of other problems of conducting armed struggle. Decisions were made in the form of directives.

The General Staff was still the working body of the Headquarters. Analyzing and processing incoming information, the General Staff prepared proposals, which, after consideration by the Headquarters, formed the basis of its directives. By a GKO resolution of July 23, the General Staff removed the functions of forming new units and formations, preparing marching replacements for the army in the field, conducting calls for military service from the reserve, and managing military educational institutions. The tasks of the formation, recruitment and combat training of units and formations were assigned to the Main Directorate for the Formation and Staffing of the Soviet Army Troops, created in August 1941, headed by General E. A. Shchadenko. To organize and manage the compulsory military training of citizens of the USSR under the People's Commissariat of Defense, the Main Directorate of General Military Training (Vsevobuch) was formed, which was headed by General H. H. Pronin.

To improve the logistic support of the troops of the active army, in July 1941, by the decision of the State Defense Committee, the Main Logistics Directorate was created and the post of chief of the rear of the Soviet Army was established, to which General A.V. Khrulev was appointed. In the fronts and armies, respectively, rear departments were created.

Other changes were made in the central apparatus, aimed at improving the leadership of the Armed Forces, their construction and support. A number of directorates of the NPO are reorganized into main directorates, the post of chief of artillery of the Soviet Army is restored with the appointment of General H.H. Voronova. In August - September, the positions of commanders of the airborne troops and guards mortar units were established, to which generals V. A. Glazunov and V. V. Aborenkov were appointed, and in November 1941 - the head of the engineering troops of the Soviet Army and the commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory with the appointment of General L. Z. Kotlyar and General M. S. Gromadin; the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the country and the Directorate of Fighter Aviation of the Air Defense are created.

Having completed the first stage of mobilization, the State Defense Committee began to form new rifle, cavalry, tank, aviation and artillery units and formations, to train command, political and military-technical personnel. All union and autonomous republics joined in the creation of reserves.

In solving questions of military construction, the Communist Party paid special attention to strengthening party influence in the Armed Forces, strengthening the morale of the troops, and raising the level of party political work in the army and navy. At the same time, she was guided by the instructions of V. I. Lenin that “where political work is most carefully carried out in the troops ... there is no laxity in the army, its system and its spirit are better, there are more victories” (93) .

In accordance with the directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of June 29, 1941, the party determines the main directions of party political work in war conditions, carries out organizational restructuring of political agencies and party organizations, and makes changes to the forms and methods of their activity. On July 16, 1941, the Politburo of the Central Committee and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR make a decision "On the reorganization of political propaganda bodies and the introduction of the institution of military commissars in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army." On July 20, 1941, this decision was extended to the Navy.

In all regiments and divisions, headquarters, military educational institutions and institutions of the army and navy, the institution of military commissars was introduced, and in companies, batteries, squadrons - the institution of political leaders (political officers). The institute of military commissars was an extraordinary form of party leadership in the Armed Forces. In difficult conditions, when the enemy had a significant advantage in strength, in the experience of waging war, the military commissars had to increase the morale of the troops, the desire to stop the enemy at any cost.

Military commissars, along with commanders, were fully responsible for the performance of combat missions and for the steadfastness of personnel in battle. They played an important role in improving party political work and in strengthening the army and navy.

During the war, as in peacetime, the leadership of party work in the Armed Forces was carried out by political bodies. They ensured the day-to-day influence of the party on the life and activities of the army and navy. The reorganization of the political agencies contributed to the enhancement of their role in the Armed Forces. The Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army and the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Navy were transformed into the main political directorates, and the directorates and departments of political propaganda of the fronts, fleets, armies and formations were transformed into political directorates and departments. As a result, their role in solving the combat missions facing the troops increased, and the leadership of Party and Komsomol organizations improved.

The successful solution of the tasks of mobilizing the personnel of the army and navy to defeat the Nazi invaders required the strengthening of army and navy party organizations, replenishing them with new forces. During the most difficult periods of the war, the Communist Party sent its best representatives to the army and navy. Emphasizing the importance of the redistribution of party forces from the rear (territorial) organizations to the military, V. I. Lenin wrote in 1923: “How did we act in more dangerous moments of the civil war? We concentrated our best party forces in the Red Army...” (94) .

In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the party, a significant number of communists went over to military work. 500 secretaries of the Central Committee of the communist parties of the republics, regional, regional committees, city committees, district committees, 270 senior officials of the Central Committee apparatus, 1265 employees of the regional and district level, who were part of the nomenclature of the Central Committee of the party (95) were sent to the Armed Forces.

The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks sent to the disposal of the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army about 2.5 thousand people from the Lenin Courses, from the Higher School of Party Organizers, the Higher Party School. By decision of the Central Committee, a significant number of communists were called up as Red Army political fighters to strengthen parts of the army in the field.

On June 27, 1941, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution "On the selection of communists to strengthen party political influence in the regiments." On its basis, the first mobilization of 18.5 thousand communists and Komsomol members was carried out after the start of the war. On June 29, the Politburo ordered the regional committees of 26 regions to select another 23 thousand communists and the best Komsomol members within three days and send them to the People's Commissariat of Defense.

The main task of political fighters in the army was to help commanders and political workers in strengthening the political and moral state of the personnel, in increasing the combat capability of units. Usually they poured into units in groups. Military councils and political agencies showed concern for the correct use of political fighters at the front, for them to mobilize soldiers by word and personal example for the successful completion of combat missions.

The strengthening of the party and Komsomol organizations of the active army occurred as a result of the influx of communists and Komsomol members for the general mobilization of those liable for military service, party and Komsomol mobilizations, as well as the admission to the party and Komsomol of soldiers who distinguished themselves in battles.

The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and political agencies subordinated all party political work in the army and navy to the main thing - the mobilization of personnel to defeat the enemy. They explained the just, liberating aims of the Soviet Union's war; they instilled in soldiers love for the Motherland and a burning hatred for the fascist invaders, iron discipline, high vigilance, courage, fearlessness in battle, readiness for self-sacrifice, endurance and an unshakable will to achieve victory over the enemy; widely popularized the exploits of fighters and commanders. Party and Komsomol organizations ensured the vanguard role of communists and Komsomol members in battle.

In early July 1941, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks approved the patriotic movement, launched on the initiative of Leningraders and Muscovites, for the creation of units and formations of the people's militia to help the front. Already by July 7, 12 divisions with a total number of about 120 thousand people were formed in Moscow and the region, and in Leningrad in a short time - 10 divisions and 14 separate artillery and machine-gun battalions, in which there were over 135 thousand people (96) .

From the first days of the war, decisive measures were taken to ensure the strictest order in the front line, to organize a ruthless struggle against enemy sabotage groups. Fighter battalions were created from volunteers - communists and Komsomol members. By the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of June 25, 1941, the institution of front-line and army chiefs of defense of the military rear was introduced. They were subordinate to the border and internal troops of the NKVD, who were in the combat zone. The security forces fought against enemy agents, ensured the security of the rear, the work of communications and communications. They provided assistance to local government agencies in the evacuation of the population and material values.

The Communist Party acted as the organizer of the struggle of the Soviet people in the rear of the fascist invaders. On June 30, the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine formed a task force for the deployment of partisan struggle, and on July 5, it adopted a special decision to create armed detachments and organizations of the party underground in areas threatened by fascist occupation (97) . On June 30, the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Belarus issued a directive [ 56] No. 1 "On the transition to underground work of party organizations in areas occupied by the enemy" (98) . On July 4, a similar decision was made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of the Karelian-Finnish SSR.

On July 18, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution "On the organization of the struggle in the rear of the German troops" (99). It specified the tasks and measures to turn the partisan struggle into a truly mass movement.

Given the importance of up-to-date information about events taking place in the world, on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War and in the rear of the country, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on June 24 decided to create a Soviet Information Bureau headed by Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A.S. Shcherbakov (100) . The reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, which were published daily in the press and broadcast on the radio, were not only a source of information, but also an effective means of educating the Soviet people, mobilizing them for a merciless fight against the enemy.

In order to centralize the leadership of propaganda and counter-propaganda among the troops and population of the enemy, by a resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of June 25, 1941, the Soviet Bureau of Military-Political Propaganda (101) was created.

The war against fascist Germany brought forward new tasks in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. It was necessary to thwart the calculations of the Nazis on the international isolation of the USSR and organize a united front of states and peoples to defeat the aggressors.

The USSR advocated the restoration of democratic freedoms and sovereign rights of peoples in the countries occupied by Germany. The goal of the Patriotic War of the Soviet Union against the fascist oppressors, emphasized in a speech by I.V. Stalin on July 3, 1941, is not only the elimination of the danger hanging over the Soviet country, but also help to all the peoples of Europe enslaved by German fascism.

The foreign policy program of the Communist Party expressed the interests of the working people of all countries. It was a powerful stimulus for the mobilization of freedom-loving forces to defeat fascism. The Communist Party was sure that the liberation war of the Soviet people would merge with the struggle of the peoples of Europe and America for their independence, that they would come out as a united front against fascism and aggression. In July 1941, the Soviet government signed agreements on joint actions in the war against Germany with the governments of Great Britain, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The foundation was laid for the creation of an anti-fascist coalition.

The most important decisions and measures taken by the Communist Party and the Soviet government played an enormous role in restructuring the entire life of the country on a war footing, in creating the necessary conditions for the successful conduct of the war.

The initial period of the war was the most difficult in the struggle of the Soviet Union against the fascist invaders. Its consequences for a long time determined the conditions and nature of military operations on the Soviet-German front.

As a result of the unfavorable outcome of the border battles and heavy losses in people and military equipment, the Soviet troops were forced to retreat deep into the country with heavy fighting. By mid-July, the enemy occupied Latvia, Lithuania, part of Belarus, Right-Bank Ukraine, invaded the western regions of the Russian Federation, reached the distant approaches to Leningrad, threatened Smolensk and Kyiv.

The losses of the Soviet troops during this period were characterized by the following data: out of 170 divisions, 28 were out of action and more than 70 lost half of their strength in people and military equipment (102); about 200 warehouses with fuel, ammunition and weapons remained on the territory occupied by the enemy. As a result, the balance of forces on the Soviet-German front changed even more in favor of the Nazis.

The successes of the fascist German army at the beginning of the war were explained by the great temporary advantages it received as a result of the militarization of Hitlerite Germany, its use of the military-economic resources of almost all of Western Europe, and the protracted preparation of aggression against the USSR. The German troops had the experience of modern warfare gained during military campaigns in the West, were fully mobilized and equipped with new types of aircraft and tanks, and had superior mobility and maneuverability. Most of the Wehrmacht forces concentrated in advance at the Soviet borders and suddenly invaded the USSR.

The miscalculations made in determining the possible time of Germany's attack on the Soviet Union and the related omissions in preparing to repulse the first blows of the aggressor also played their role.

The incomplete deployment of Soviet troops according to cover plans and their untimely withdrawal to the defense lines had a negative impact on the course and outcome of the first operations, and caused the cover armies to be unable to engage in frontier battles in an organized manner.

Enemy aviation and saboteurs managed to disable many nodes and communication lines in the division-army-front link. This created great difficulties for the command and staffs of all levels in obtaining comprehensive information on the situation on the battlefields in a timely manner and complicated the command and control of troops.

The high degree of motorization of the fascist German army allowed its shock groupings, and above all tank formations, to rapidly develop the offensive, overcome large water barriers on the move, intercept communications, preempt Soviet troops in occupying defensive lines, and frustrate or weaken their counterattacks. The limited mobility of the rifle formations of the Soviet Army often did not allow them to timely get out from under the blows of the enemy and take up defense on new lines.

The hastily organized defense, with a lack of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, turned out to be fragile. Armies and fronts had to operate in wide bands (armies - from 100 to 200 km, fronts - from 300 to 500 km), which forced the commanders to deploy almost all forces in one echelon. With such an operational formation of troops, the defense did not have the necessary stability.

Deep breakthroughs of German mobile formations forced the Soviet command to bring reserve armies into battle much earlier than planned. Some of them had to start hostilities before they could complete the concentration of their units and formations.

The unfavorable outcome of the initial operations was also affected by the lack of combat experience of most of the command and political staff of the Soviet Army. At the head of formations and operational formations, along with military personnel who went through a harsh school in the civil war, in the battles at Khalkhin Gol, in the military conflict with Finland, there were many young commanders and military leaders who were promoted to responsible posts immediately before the war. Finding themselves in extremely difficult conditions of dynamically developing events, they did not always make informed decisions.

These are the main reasons for the failures that befell the Soviet Armed Forces at the beginning of hostilities.

At the same time, already in that difficult period of the war for the Soviet Union, the unrealistic plans of the political and military leaders of fascist Germany were revealed. The calculations of the Nazis that with access to the Dnieper they would be able to finally break the resistance of the Soviet troops, open the way for unhindered advance to the most important political and economic centers of the Soviet Union and thereby achieve the final goals of the war in a short time did not come true.

The Barbarossa plan, based on the idea of ​​a lightning defeat of the USSR, at the very beginning of the war gave a serious crack. The leaders of the Wehrmacht made a gross miscalculation in assessing the combat effectiveness and capabilities of the Soviet Armed Forces.

Encountering active resistance, the aggressor in the very first operations suffered heavy losses in people and military equipment. By mid-July, in the ground forces alone, they amounted to about 100 thousand people (103) and about half of the tanks participating in the offensive. By July 19, German aviation had lost 1284 aircraft (104). The total losses of the ground forces of the Wehrmacht by the end of July exceeded 213 thousand people (105).

Life decisively refuted the illusions of the leaders of fascist Germany, who considered the socio-political system of the USSR to be fragile, and the Soviet multinational state politically weak. Contrary to their calculations, the peoples of the Soviet Union, in the face of the menacing danger hanging over the country, rallied even more around the Communist Party, and the will of the Soviet people to achieve victory was strengthened.

The adventuristic calculations of the aggressors for the foreign policy isolation of the USSR also failed. Thanks to the far-sighted foreign policy of the party, its program, which expressed the hopes and aspirations of the freedom-loving peoples of the world, the Soviet Union gained allies at the very beginning of the war. All democratic forces rose up to fight Hitler's aggression. A solid foundation was laid for the creation of an anti-fascist coalition.

USSR on the eve of the Great Patriotic War (1938-1941)

I. Politics and ideology.

II. Economy and social structure.

III. Measures to strengthen the country's defense capability.

IV. Causes of insufficient readiness to repel aggression.

IV. Expansion of the composition of the USSR (see foreign policy, topic 42).

I.Contradictions: the administrative-command system, Stalin's personality cult, the omnipotence of the party leadership, centralization, bureaucratization, lack of discussion and labor enthusiasm and high citizenship of the people.

II.1) Economy pre-war period is defined as a directive (A-K system):

a) nationalization of the means of production

b) rigid planning and centralized management, minimal economic independence in the field

c) deformation of the objective law of value (prices were determined by the administration, not the market)

d) control over the distribution of resources and finished products.

The strengthening of the A-K system was specifically manifested:

a) expanding the functions of the State Planning Commission

b) the creation of the People's Commissariat of State Control

c) the creation of 20 new union people's commissariats, the rights of the union republics are limited

d) the law on labor discipline, passport regime - non-economic coercion.

2)Industry. III Five-Year Plan 1938 - 1942

Task: to overtake and overtake the developed capitalist countries in terms of per capita output without reducing arms spending.

A) the main thing is the industries that ensure defense capability: mechanical engineering, mining, chemical, electric power, metallurgy - up to 43% of all investments

B) construction of backup plants (oil refining, mechanical engineering, chemical)

C) creation of a fuel and energy base - the “second Baku” (between the Volga and the Urals), new mines and mines in Siberia, Central Asia

D) light industry - lagging behind; production of equipment for agriculture reduced (tractors - for tanks); reduced housing construction.

3)C/household- On the eve of the war, agrarian policy was tightened:

A) development for defense needs: expanding the sowing of industrial crops (sugar beet, cotton - for the production of explosives), expanding the sowing of grain in Siberia and Kazakhstan (by 1941 a significant food reserve had been created)

B) restriction of private household plots (personal subsidiary plots), per hectare allocation to collective farms

C) mandatory minimum workdays (from 60 to 100 in cotton districts)
D) resettlement to the Far East and Transbaikalia (137 thousand families)

E) the fight against farms (in the Baltic States, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus) - 816 thousand farms were destroyed.

4) Social development. The material condition did not yet correspond to the level that the socialist economy was supposed to provide.

1940 - population of about 190 million people.

Workers - 34% (earnings of drummers are 8-10 times higher than those of other workers).

Peasants (kolkhoz and cooperative) - 47% (deprived of passports).

The intelligentsia (and employees) - 16.5%, 11 million people, about 2 million - higher or secondary specialized education.

Individual peasants and handicraftsmen - 2.5%.

Measures to strengthen discipline:

1 month notice of dismissal; 3 lateness - dismissal, labor camps; 1939 - a single work book; 1940 - 8-hour working day and 7-day working week; the right of the administration to transfer from one job to another; reduction in piece rates - reduction in wages.

Much manual physical labor remained. The labor of prisoners was used more and more: ½ of gold, chromium and nickel were mined; 1/3 - platinum and wood; built Magadan, Angarsk, Norilsk, Taishet and others; canals - White Sea-Baltic, Moscow - Volga; railway - Taishet - Lena BAM - Tynda, Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Severnaya Gavan, etc.

Results. 3,500 enterprises have been put into operation, more than in the 1st Five-Year Plan.

In terms of the total volume of manufactured products - 1st place in Europe, 2nd place in the world.

Industrial production amounted to 77.4%, agriculture - the rest; 58% of the entire industry is the production of means of production (group "A"). development of the republics. Kazakhstan - I place in the world in the production of lead, Tajikistan - coal production increased 12 times.

Measures to strengthen the country's defense capability

1. Increase in allocations for the defense industry.

2. 1940 - serial production of more advanced combat aircraft began (YAK-1 - fighter, MIG-3, Po-2 dive bomber, I-2 attack aircraft); but slowly, by the beginning of the war, Germany had an advantage in aviation.

3. New samples of powerful and maneuverable tanks (KV - heavy tanks, T-34) were created, but mass production was not established by the beginning of the war.

4. June 1941 - the decision to launch mass production of rocket artillery systems BM-13 ("Katyusha").

5. Mass production of small arms, artillery weapons, ammunition.

men - from 19 years old (earlier - from 21 years old);

those who graduated from high school - from the age of 18;

service in the ground forces - 3 years (previously - 2 years);

in the Navy - 5 years.

The size of the army increased from 1.9 million people. up to 5.3 million people; 125 new divisions.

7. 1937 - The People's Commissariat of the Navy was formed, the fleet was being formed at an accelerated pace.

8. The training of military personnel has been expanded: 19 military academies, 203 schools. It became 3 times more land and 5 times more aviation schools.

9. 1940 - The introduction of general and admiral ranks (the authority and responsibility of the top management increased).

10. Activation of OSOAVIAKhIM.

11. 1940 - Voroshilov was dismissed, Timoshenko became People's Commissar of Defense, Zhukov became Chief of the General Staff.

©2015-2019 site
All rights belong to their authors. This site does not claim authorship, but provides free use.
Page creation date: 2016-04-11

§ 20. USSR ON THE EVE OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

How prepared was the USSR for war in 1941?

1. Soviet foreign policy at the initial stage of World War II. September 1, 1939 Germany attacked Poland. England and France declared war on Germany. Thus began the bloodiest war in world history. On September 17, when the Polish government had already left the territory of the country, the Red Army units were ordered to cross the western border and liberate the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. Soviet troops met virtually no resistance. Polish soldiers surrendered en masse in the east. Their fate was different, tragic for many. Thousands of Polish officers were later shot in the Katyn forest near Smolensk.

On September 28, a new treaty "On Friendship and Borders" was concluded between the USSR and Germany, which determined the passage of the common border between the two countries.

In October 1939, in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus, elections were held for People's Assemblies, which proclaimed Soviet power and asked the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to accept them into the Soviet Union. In November 1939, the new regions were legally incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR and the BSSR.

In the autumn of 1939, the USSR offered Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to conclude agreements on mutual assistance. They contained provisions on the deployment of Red Army troops on the territory of these states. During October-November 1939 such agreements were concluded.

The USSR proposed to conclude a similar treaty with Finland. The Soviet side, referring to the need to ensure their security, offered the Finns to move the state border from Leningrad and lease the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula. As compensation, it was proposed to transfer to Finland a significant part of the territory of Karelia. After the Finnish side refused to yield, the Soviet leadership decided to use military force.

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet-Finnish war began. Parts of the Red Army began military operations against Finland, counting on a quick victory. However, the war took on a protracted character. The Finnish army put up fierce resistance. For two months, the Red Army could not overcome the powerful system of fortifications - the Mannerheim Line. Only after the concentration of a powerful grouping was it possible to break the resistance of the enemy. In March 1940, a peace treaty was signed, according to which the border was moved away from Leningrad by 120-150 km, the Khanko Peninsula was leased for 30 years.

Red flag over Vyborg. Artist M.B. Khrapkovsky (participant in the battles). 1940

Soviet losses in the war were great. 126.9 thousand killed (almost 3 times more than the losses of the Finnish army), 248 thousand wounded, shell-shocked and frostbite (almost 6 times more). After this war, the German command believed in the weakness of the Red Army, which also prompted it to develop aggressive plans against the USSR.

Russia is not dangerous now. Today it is weakened by many internal processes. In addition, we have an agreement with Russia. Treaties, however, are respected only as long as they are consistent with the goals ... We will be able to oppose Russia only when we are free in the West.

Residents of Chisinau raise a red flag in anticipation of the entry into Bessarabia of the Red Army. 1940

The Soviet Union also suffered certain political losses. In December 1939, he was expelled from the membership of the League of Nations.

In June 1940, the USSR, under the pretext of hostile activity against the garrisons of Soviet troops in the Baltic states, demanded the formation of new governments in them. The parliamentary elections held led to the victory of the pro-communist forces and the formation of people's governments, which asked to be accepted into the USSR. In August 1940 Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia became Soviet socialist republics.

In June 1940, under pressure from the USSR, Romania transferred control over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to him. In August 1940, the Moldavian SSR was formed, and Northern Bukovina became part of the Ukrainian SSR.

Despite the outbreak of World War II and the events in neighboring states, the USSR did not stop the dialogue with England, France and the United States. British Prime Minister W. Churchill sought friendly neutrality from the USSR in the outbreak of war. At the same time, he declared that England would provide assistance to the USSR in the event of Germany's aggression against it. The USSR also counted on British influence on Turkey in order to ensure that in a possible war between the USSR and Germany, it would remain neutral.

Since November 1939, contacts began between the top leaders of the USSR and the USA. The defeat of the Anglo-French coalition in June 1940, the withdrawal of France from the war, the aggravation of American-Japanese relations forced the United States to intensify relations with the USSR. At the beginning of 1941, the USA told the Soviet representatives that they would be ready to help the USSR if it became a victim of German aggression.

The contacts of the USSR with the leaders of Germany, Japan and Italy also continued. Their goal was the greatest possible deterrence from the impending war against the USSR. In November 1940, V. M. Molotov visited Berlin. An important success of Soviet diplomacy was the conclusion in April 1941 of a neutrality treaty with Japan.

In April-June 1941, Churchill repeatedly warned Stalin about the impending German attack on the USSR. But after the flight to England, A. Hitler's deputy R. Hess, Stalin's distrust of the British only intensified. He considered Churchill's warnings a great provocation.

2. Forcing military production and development of new military equipment. The outbreak of the Second World War affected the fulfillment of the plans of the third five-year plan. Preparation for a possible war became the basis for the development of the economy. By the spring of 1941, the production of the defense industry had grown 2.8 times. Before the start of the war, 3,000 industrial enterprises were built. Of the total investment in 1940, more than 50% was directed to defense construction projects and enterprises. To increase the specialization of production, the People's Commissariat of the Defense Industry in 1939 was divided into People's Commissariats for the aviation industry, armaments, ammunition, and the shipbuilding industry. The number of defense plants was expanding, including backup plants in the east of the country. In 1939, there were 17 aircraft manufacturing plants, and by the summer of 1941 - 24. Defense orders were placed at thousands of enterprises, up to factories of musical instruments and factories of children's toys. In 1940, 40 factories were transferred from civilian departments to the defense people's commissariats. The production of tanks since 1940 began to master the Stalingrad and Chelyabinsk tractor plants. For the faster creation, testing and introduction into production of new types of military equipment and weapons, the number of research institutes and design bureaus (KB) is increasing. In the prewar years, design bureaus arose under the guidance of talented designers A. I. Mikoyan, S. A. Lavochkin, P. O. Sukhoi, M. I. Gurevich and others. Serial production of the MiG-1, MiG-3, Yak-1 fighters began , attack aircraft Il-2, high-speed bomber SV. By 1939, the latest tank designs appeared. These included the T-34 medium tank (M. I. Koshkin and others), and the KV heavy tank (Zh. Ya. Kotin).

Tank T-34

However, the serial production of new types of weapons was delayed. The situation with the production of machine guns, anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery was unfavorable, the production of light and heavy machine guns was reduced. For two years, M-13 rockets for a mortar installation, which later received the name "Katyusha", could not be put into mass production. The process of re-equipping the army and navy with new models of equipment was planned to be completed only in 1942.

3. Reorganization of the Red Army. On September 1, 1939, a law on universal conscription was adopted. Its adoption testified to the beginning of the reform of the armed forces, the transition to a personnel recruitment system. The draft age was reduced from 21 to 19 years, which made it possible to call for an additional two ages. On September 2, 1939, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution to more than triple the number of rifle divisions (from 51 to 173).

The country's leadership analyzed the mistakes and failures of the military operations of the Red Army during the Soviet-Finnish war. Marshal of the Soviet Union K. E. Voroshilov was dismissed from his post and in May 1940 S. K. Timoshenko was appointed. Commanders who had proven themselves in the course of hostilities near the Khalkhin Gol River and the “winter” war with Finland were nominated for leadership positions.

The combat effectiveness of the Red Army largely depended on the level of training of military personnel, and there was a clear lack of commanders in it. This was explained both by the ongoing reorganization, which led to a sharp increase in the number of military units, and by the rapid growth in the number of armed forces in the country. On the eve of the war, the strength of the army exceeded 5 million people. There was a significant increase in the network of military educational institutions. In 1941, 15 military academies, 203 secondary military schools and other educational institutions were training personnel. In 1939, more than 240 thousand people were appointed to new positions (69% of the entire command staff). The educational level of command personnel has increased. Among them, in 1941, 52% had a higher military education. However, experienced command personnel were clearly not enough. By the beginning of 1940, up to 70% of regimental commanders and over 70% of division commanders had been in this position for less than a year. This was largely a consequence of the repressions of 1937-1938, when more than 9.5 thousand commanders were arrested, 434 people with the rank of brigade commander and above were shot. In the central office of the People's Commissariat of Defense, 8 deputies of the People's Commissar of Defense, 24 heads of departments were shot. True, in 1939-1941. about 4,000 servicemen were released and reinstated.

Certain miscalculations were made in the organizational development of tank troops. In 1939, the mechanized corps were disbanded based on the experience of the war in Spain. After the Soviet-Finnish war and the actions of the German army in France, it was decided to create six tank corps, which began to be called mechanized. At the beginning of 1941, a decision was made to form another 20 mechanized corps. All tank brigades and separate tank battalions of the Red Army were used for their recruitment. As a result, it was not possible to fully equip the corps, and the infantry units lost their tank support.

Party meeting in the tank unit. 1940

Unlike the armed forces of Germany (the Wehrmacht), the Soviet air force was not centralized as much as possible, but was subordinate to the fronts, armies, and fleets.

Thus, the reorganization carried out in the Red Army was not completed, which reduced its combat effectiveness.

4. Strengthening labor and production discipline. The accumulated crisis phenomena in the economy had a negative impact on industrial production. The increase in production rates, low wages led to labor turnover, which was typical for many enterprises.

On June 26, 1940, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree "On the transition to an 8-hour working day, to a 7-day working week and on the prohibition of unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions." The working day was extended by one hour. Instead of a 6-day working week (5 working days and a day off), a seven-day working week (6 working days and a day off) was introduced. Overtime work became mandatory. Workers were fixed at the place of their labor activity; to move from one place of work to another, permission was required from the management of the enterprise. Criminal liability was provided for unauthorized leaving the enterprise and absenteeism without good reason. It was a fairly tough decree, but it was carried out for several months, and then the directorate responsible for the production of products found various forms of softening this decree. For example, fines were offset by bonus payments.

The heads of industrial people's commissariats could move engineering and technical workers, administrative staff and workers from one enterprise to another in different regions of the country, and the workers did not have the right to refuse to comply with this order. For all employees, work books were introduced, in which information was recorded on employment, dismissals and the reasons that caused them.

In July 1940, a decree was adopted on liability for the release of poor-quality incomplete products. Directors of enterprises, heads of departments and workshops were already brought to criminal responsibility.

In order to provide industry with a skilled workforce, on October 2, 1940, a decree “On the State Labor Reserves of the USSR” followed, which provided for the creation of trade, railway and factory schools. It was planned to produce about a million skilled workers annually. The toughening of labor discipline also affected students. Decree of December 1940 provided for criminal liability, up to imprisonment in a colony for up to a year, for violation of discipline and for unauthorized leaving the school.

5. Military-patriotic education of the population. In 1938, Stalin said that the entire people must be kept in a state of mobilization readiness in the face of military danger. In those years, the activities of the mass defense organizations of Osoaviakhim, the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and others were widely developed in those years. In the late 1930s. Osoaviakhim is turning into a powerful paramilitary organization, its main task has become pre-conscription training and preparation of the army and navy reserves. The society began to be a state body, whose activities were under the strict control of the party, government and army. By the autumn of 1939, there were more than 10 million people in the ranks of the organization.

Osoaviakhim’s circles trained riflemen, Morse telephone operators, pilots and cavalrymen, etc. About 8 million people were trained in the air defense and chemical defense system in 1939 alone. In the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, the basics of medical training were mostly girls.

Only for 1938-1939. about 2.5 million people passed the GTO and BGTO standards ("Be ready for work and defense"). Sports societies had a large material base. By the end of 1939, there were 62 thousand sports teams in the country, uniting 5 million people. In the outbreak of the war, the military training of the population played a large positive role.

Parade of Soviet athletes in Moscow on Red Square

In propaganda work, the goal was to form among the Soviet people the conviction that the war would be only offensive in nature, waged on foreign territory. Other options were not considered. In fiction, in periodicals, in cinema, in poetry and songs, the valor and strength of the Red Army were glorified.

SUMMING UP

Thanks to a consistent and pragmatic foreign policy, the Soviet leadership managed to delay the entry of the USSR into the war for almost two years (and, accordingly, better prepare for it), and also create the preconditions for the formation of an anti-Hitler coalition in the future. The accelerated growth of military production on the eve of the war, despite the "overheating" of industry, created the preconditions for the subsequent rapid transfer of the country's economy to a military footing. Although the full peaceful respite of 1939-1941. was never used.

Questions and tasks for working with the text of the paragraph

1. What activities were carried out for the priority development of defense industries? 2. What international treaties and agreements were signed by the USSR on the eve of the Great Patriotic War? 3. Why did the war with Finland become protracted? 4. What are the main directions of the reorganization of the Red Army. 5. How did the country's leadership strengthen labor discipline and replenish the ranks of the working class?

Working with the map

1. Show on the map the changes in the national-state structure of the USSR in 1939-1941. 2. Show the western borders of the USSR by June 1941

Thinking, comparing, reflecting

1. Formulate in the form of theses the main tasks facing the leadership of the USSR in 1939-1941. How were these tasks solved? 2. What shortcomings in the combat training of the Red Army revealed the war with Finland? How did the combat experience gained affect the reorganization of the armed forces of the USSR? 3. Tell us about the changes in the national-state structure of the USSR on the eve of the war. How did the expansion of the western borders affect the defense capability of our country? 4. What do you see as the importance of the military-patriotic education of the youth for strengthening the country's defense capability? 5. Describe the foreign and domestic policy of the USSR at the beginning of World War II. 6. Listen to the performance of the famous Soviet song by the brothers Pokrass and V.I. Lebedev-Kumach “If there is war tomorrow”. Based on historical facts and arguments, give an analysis of the text of the song and evaluate the readiness of the USSR, the Soviet people for war.

HISTORIANS DEBATE

The Stalinist strategy of a victorious offensive war in 1941 turned into heavy defeats for the Red Army. Instead of a "jump" to the West, a "throw to the East" was carried out.

V. D. Danilov

There are no serious arguments and facts that can prove the readiness of the USSR for an offensive war in the summer of 1941.