USSR in the period 1945-1953 economic recovery. From work and

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Economic recovery 1945- 1953G.

Barmin D.

The economy of the USSR after the war.

The war brought enormous human and material losses to our country. 1,710 cities and towns were destroyed, 70 thousand villages were destroyed, 31,850 factories and factories, 1,135 mines, 65 thousand km of railways were blown up and put out of action. Cultivated areas decreased by 36.8 million hectares. The country has lost about a third of its national wealth.

The war claimed almost 27 million human lives, and this is its most tragic result. 2.6 million people became disabled. The population decreased by 34.4 million and amounted to 162.4 million people by the end of 1945. The reduction in labor force, lack of adequate food and housing led to a decrease in labor productivity.

The country began to restore the economy during the war years. In 1943, the party and government resolution “On urgent measures to restore farms in areas liberated from German occupation” was adopted. With enormous efforts, by the end of the war it was possible to restore industrial production to a third of the 1940 level.

Economic discussions 1945-1946

In August 1945, the government instructed the State Planning Committee (chaired by N.A. Voznesensky) to prepare a draft of the fourth five-year plan. Proposals were made for some easing of pressure in economic management and for the reorganization of collective farms. In 1946, a draft of a new Constitution of the USSR was prepared. He allowed the existence of small private farms of peasants and artisans, based on personal labor and excluding the exploitation of other people's labor. During the discussion of this project, ideas were voiced about the need to provide more rights to the regions and people's commissariats.

“From below” there were increasingly frequent calls for the liquidation of collective farms. They talked about their ineffectiveness, and reminded that the relative weakening of state pressure on producers during the war years had a positive result. Direct analogies were drawn with the NEP, introduced after the Civil War, when the revival of the economy began with the revival of the private sector, decentralization of management and the development of light industry.

Industrial development.

A heroic page in the post-war history of our country was the people’s struggle to revive the economy. Western experts believed that restoring the destroyed economic base would take at least 25 years. However, the recovery period in industry was less than 5 years. Given the new external threats, the challenge was not only to restore pre-war economic levels, but also to surpass them.

The revival of industry took place under very difficult conditions. In the first post-war years, the work of Soviet people was not much different from work during wartime. The constant shortage of food, the most difficult working and living conditions, and the high level of morbidity and mortality were explained to the population by the fact that the long-awaited peace had just arrived and life was about to get better.

Analyze the diagram. Calculate how many kilograms of bread, meat, sugar, butter could be bought for an average monthly salary of 500 rubles.

As before the war, from one to one and a half monthly salaries per year were spent on the purchase of obligatory government loan bonds. Many working families still lived in dugouts and barracks, and sometimes worked in the open air or in unheated rooms, using old equipment.

The restoration took place in the context of a sharp increase in population displacement caused by the demobilization of the army (it decreased from 11.4 million people in 1945 to 2.9 million in 1948), the repatriation of Soviet citizens, and the return of refugees from the eastern regions. Considerable funds were also spent on supporting the allied states. Huge losses in the war caused a labor shortage. Staff turnover increased: people were looking for more favorable working conditions. Prices for food products in the pre-war years and in 1947, in rubles per 1 kg.

As before, acute problems had to be solved by increasing the transfer of funds from villages to cities and developing the labor activity of workers. One of the most famous initiatives of those years was the “speed workers” movement, initiated by the Leningrad turner G.S. Bortkevich, who completed a 13-day output on a lathe in February 1948 in one shift. The movement became massive. At some enterprises, attempts were made to introduce self-financing. But no material measures were taken to consolidate these new phenomena; on the contrary, as labor productivity increased, prices were lowered.

There has been a tendency towards wider use of scientific and technical developments in production. However, it manifested itself mainly at enterprises of the military-industrial complex (MIC), where the development of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, missile systems, and new models of tank and aircraft equipment was underway.

In addition to the military-industrial complex, preference was also given to mechanical engineering, metallurgy, fuel, and energy industries, the development of which accounted for 88% of all capital investments in industry. The light and food industries, as before, did not satisfy even the minimum needs of the population. In total, during the years of the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1946-1950), 6,200 large enterprises were restored and rebuilt. In 1950, according to official data, industrial production exceeded pre-war levels by 73% (and in the new union republics - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova - 2-3 times). True, reparations and products of joint Soviet-East German enterprises were also included here.

The main creator of these undoubted successes was the people. Through his incredible efforts and sacrifices, seemingly impossible economic results were achieved. At the same time, the possibilities of a super-centralized economic model and the traditional policy of redistributing funds from the light and food industries, agriculture and social sphere in favor of heavy industry played a role. Significant assistance was also provided by reparations received from Germany ($4.3 billion), which provided up to half the volume of industrial equipment installed during these years. The labor of millions of Soviet prisoners and more than 3 million German and Japanese prisoners of war also contributed to post-war reconstruction.

Agriculture.

The country's agriculture emerged from the war weakened, whose production in 1945 did not exceed 60% of the pre-war level. The situation there worsened further due to the drought of 1946, which caused severe famine. The state, purchasing agricultural products at fixed prices, compensated collective farms for only a fifth of the costs of producing milk, a tenth for grain, and a twentieth for meat. Collective farmers received practically nothing. Their subsidiary farming saved them. However, the state also dealt a blow to him. In 1946-1949. 10.6 million hectares of land from peasant plots were cut off in favor of collective farms. Taxes on income from market sales were significantly increased. Only peasants whose collective farms fulfilled state supplies were allowed to trade on the market. Each peasant farm was obliged to hand over meat, milk, eggs, and wool to the state as a tax for a plot of land. In 1948, collective farmers were “recommended” to sell small livestock to the state (which was allowed to be kept by the collective farm charter), which caused a massive slaughter of pigs, sheep, and goats throughout the country (up to 2 million heads). economics monetary war

The monetary reform of 1947 hit hardest the peasantry, who kept their savings at home. Pre-war norms that limited the freedom of movement of collective farmers were preserved: they were actually deprived of a passport, they were not paid for days when they did not work due to illness, and they were not paid old-age pensions. By the end of the Fourth Five-Year Plan, the disastrous economic situation of collective farms required their reform. However, the authorities saw its essence not in material incentives for the manufacturer, but in yet another structural restructuring. Instead of a link (a small agricultural unit, usually consisting of members of one family, and therefore often more efficient), it was recommended to develop a team form of work. This caused discontent among the peasants and disorganization of agricultural work. The subsequent consolidation of collective farms led to a further reduction in peasant plots.

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Introduction

As a result of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union managed to take an honorable place as a “great power” that determined the post-war structure of the world at the international conferences of the “Big Three”. By the end of the war, the USSR had the largest army in Europe, the agreements reached between the allies secured the rights of the Soviet Union to a number of new territories, as well as to its acquisitions made in 1939-1940: the Baltic states, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina , part of East Prussia, Pechenga region, Subcarpathian Rus', Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

Military power and the right of the winner supported the ambitions of the Soviet leadership, its claims to the role of an equal partner of the West, and primarily the United States, in solving international problems.

The spiritual and moral rise of the people who won the just war of liberation aroused pride in their country and a sense of self-respect in the Soviet people. Thanks to active propaganda and the prevailing stereotype of thinking, Victory in the minds of the overwhelming majority of the people was associated with the strength of the regime and the genius of the Soviet leader - I.V. Stalin, for whom a new title was introduced - Generalissimo of the Soviet Union.

It would seem that the main difficulties have been overcome and, despite the enormous sacrifices, the country will quickly recover and live a peaceful life, and the internal difficulties of the late 1930s. and the eternal struggle with “enemies” will become a thing of the past. However, in many ways these post-war hopes were not destined to come true and in the first post-war years the USSR again had to face a series of serious problems.

The history of the USSR in the first post-war years is a huge variety of events, persons and phenomena. Therefore, in this work we will dwell only on such issues as the economic development of the USSR in 1945-1953, the famine of 1946-1948, the beginning of the Cold War and the creation of the atomic bomb, and consider the features of the political regime and the development of Soviet culture.

Economic development of the USSR in the post-war years (1945-1953)

At the end of the victorious war, a difficult transition for the country to peaceful construction began. The population, according to very approximate data from the Central Statistical Office, decreased during the period from January 1, 1941 to January 1, 1946 from 196.8 to 162.4 million people, i.e. by almost 18%. The number of disabled people during the Patriotic War in 1946 was 2,575,694.

Material losses were also enormous. 1,710 cities and towns, more than 70 thousand villages and hamlets, about 6 million buildings were completely or partially destroyed; 25 million people lost their homes. Over 7 million horses and 17 million heads of cattle were destroyed, taken away, or driven to Germany. The material damage caused to the USSR during the war amounted to 2 trillion. 169 billion rubles. (in 1941 prices), i.e. the country lost a third of its national wealth.

The destruction of the national economy of the USSR was so catastrophic that its consequences could be overcome after many years. Reduction in population and, consequently, labor force, replacement of working-age personnel at enterprises with old people and teenagers, men with women, skilled workers with newcomers, decreased ability to work due to poor nutrition due to a reduction in the number of livestock in the country; deterioration of living conditions; destruction or wear of technical equipment; a decline in national income and capital investment - all this undermined labor productivity, the level of which could not be compared with the pre-war level.

The difficulties of the recovery period were aggravated by great destruction in transport, the depletion of raw materials, the decline of agriculture, and the transfer of the economy of the Baltic republics to a socialist way of management, which entailed a breakdown of previous social relations and required considerable costs. The war caused profound changes in the consciousness and mood of people. The people gave all their physical and spiritual strength, all their savings, tens of millions of lives for victory, hoping that with peace would come relief. However, poverty prevailed among most of the country's population.

The international situation also had an impact: within the framework of “nuclear diplomacy” conducted by the United States, the Soviet Union sharply accelerated the pace of creating its own atomic weapons, which required enormous funds.

The Soviet Union provided great material support to the people's democracies at the stage of their initial formation. A positive aspect in the current situation was the increase in the territory of the USSR at the expense of the western regions and the Far East, as well as the fact that as a result of the evacuation of enterprises from European Russia to the East, the foundations were laid for the further development of the industrial base in the Asian part of the country. But these “positive results” could not be compared with the losses suffered by the Soviet Union during the fascist aggression, especially considering the number of millions of people killed, destroyed and maimed by the war.

The village found itself in a most difficult situation. The grain procurement policy, which was prohibitively difficult for collective farms, became even more stringent during the war years: grain was taken from farms completely; often, in order to fulfill state deliveries, local authorities took away from collective farmers grain issued for workdays or grown on personal farms. An acute shortage of food products, often created artificially, contributed to the intensification of extortion of collective farm property, bread, and livestock by the bureaucratic layer, which turned this occupation into a kind of feeding system. The discontent of the peasants grew. In addition, the village suffered higher human losses compared to the city, since the reservation system applied to very small segments of the rural population.

The assistance of international financial capital (primarily the United States) during this period was rejected by the Soviet leadership for fear that the West would demand political concessions in exchange for loans. The only possible way out, although unpopular among the population, was to increase taxes on the village, preserving the laws of war for it in times of peace.

In March 1946, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a law on a 5-year plan for the restoration and development of the country's national economy for 1946-1950. The following tasks were set as priorities: restoration and development of heavy industry and railway transport, ensuring technical progress in all sectors (in order to “surpass in the near future the achievements of science outside the USSR”); increasing the country's defense capability and equipping the armed forces with the latest military equipment. The five-year plan provided for the restoration of the pre-war level of industrial production already in 1948, and by the end of the five-year plan it would be exceeded by 48%. The law on the first post-war five-year plan evoked wide responses abroad. The Western press commented with particular passion on the part of Voznesensky’s speech that said that “Russia, using the advantages of the Soviet system, can get ahead of capitalist countries on all paths of progress, including technology.” The issue of broad development of research in the field of atomic energy was not ignored.

The 5-year plan posed too difficult tasks for a war-drained country. In defining them, the Soviet leadership proceeded from the existing balance of power in the international arena between two different systems (socialist and capitalist). In order to keep up with its Western competitors, who had strengthened economically during the war years, the USSR began to restore the national economy to the limit of what was possible.

With the transition to peaceful construction, corresponding changes occurred in government structures. On September 4, 1945, the State Defense Committee, which acted as a temporary body during the war and state of emergency in the country, was abolished.

By the Law of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 15, 1946, the Council of People's Commissars and the People's Commissariats were transformed, respectively, into the Council of Ministers and Ministries, since, as stated in the law, “the old name no longer expresses the scope of competence and responsibility that the Constitution of the USSR assigns to central bodies and individuals standing at the head of individual branches of public administration” I. Stalin was elected Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and Minister of the Armed Forces of the country. His closest circle included V. Molotov, A. Andreev, A. Mikoyan, K. Voroshilov, L. Kaganovich, L. Beria, A. Kosygin, N. Voznesensky, G. Malenkov.

The post-war period of economic development is characterized by repeated reorganizations (1946, 1948, 1953) and the merger and division of ministries, mainly industrial. This was partly due to the incredible swelling of the state apparatus: from 1928 to 1955. the number of managers in industry increased from 300 thousand to 2300 thousand people, i.e. 7 times, and the number of workers - 4.5 times. On the one hand, the specialization of industrial sectors led to an increase in their number, on the other hand, to a disruption of the ties between industries and enterprises that had developed over decades.

The switching of funds and material resources to peaceful purposes began in the spring of 1945, and by June more than 500 enterprises, including defense ones, had been transferred to the production of civilian products. To repurpose them, the People's Commissariats (ministries since March 1946) were transformed: tank industry - into the Ministry of Transport Engineering, Ammunition - Agricultural Engineering, Mortar Armament - Mechanical Engineering and Instrument Making. On the basis of the construction organizations operating during the war, people's commissariats for the construction of heavy industry enterprises, fuel enterprises, and military facilities were created. The People's Commissariats of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, coal and oil industries were divided and were in charge of the western and eastern regions of the USSR, respectively.

Special problems faced enterprises that were completely switched to the production of military products at the beginning of the war. The work to reconvert the socialist economy in 1946 soon bore fruit. During the first post-war year, there was a noticeable increase in the growth of production of the main types of mechanical engineering products - turbines, steam locomotives, cars, cars, tractors, combines, excavators, etc.

The enterprises restored during the 4th Five-Year Plan produced in 1950 1/5 of the coal mined in the country, 39% of the smelted steel and rolled products, 40% of the cast iron; they accounted for a significant portion of the generated electricity, mechanical engineering and metalworking products, chemical, light and food industries. About 3,200 enterprises, technically more advanced and powerful, were built on the site of the previous ones. The restoration of a number of industrial sectors was completely completed by 1953. In parallel with this, a broad program of new industrial and transport construction was carried out.

The technical re-equipment of industry in the USSR was greatly facilitated by the removal of equipment from German and Japanese enterprises (from the territory of Germany, which was annexed to Poland, from Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Manchuria). According to calculations of the Special Committee under the USSR Council of Ministers, the power equipment that arrived in the Soviet Union by December 1946 made it possible, after its commissioning, to “increase the power of existing power plants of the USSR by 32.5%” (most of it was equipped with modern electrical equipment, automatic devices for starting and monitoring the operation of units). The stock of equipment of the engineering ministries also increased significantly: the machine tool industry more than doubled (by 109%), the automotive industry - by 85%, the mechanical engineering and instrument making industry by 83%, and the heavy engineering industry by 55%. The stock of radar industry equipment has tripled (including due to world-famous institutes and enterprises of Telefunken, Siemens, etc.). At the expense of German factories, the beginning of the synthetic liquid fuel industry was laid (the technology of which for the production of gasoline, lubricating oils, etc. was based on coal).

The most important construction projects in the post-war five-year period were the Farhad hydroelectric power station on the Syrdarya in Uzbekistan (the first stage of the station was commissioned in February 1948), Nizhneturinskaya in the Urals, and Shchekinskaya hydroelectric power station in the Moscow region. The development of oil reservoirs in the Caspian Sea was of particular importance (the first well in the open sea was put into operation in November 1949). Due to the increase in oil production, Azerbaijan came out on top in the USSR in terms of liquid fuel production. Mine construction was intensively carried out in the Donetsk, Moscow Region, and Pechora coal basins, in the Urals, Kuzbass, Karaganda, Khakassia, and Primorye. In the first post-war years, the development of large gas fields began in the Saratov region and Ukraine.

In a relatively short period of time, the Baltic republics, the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus began to gradually turn into industrial-agrarian regions. A large share of the costs was covered by the state.

In total, during the years of the first post-war five-year plan, 6,200 large industrial enterprises and many other objects of economic importance were restored or rebuilt.

According to official Soviet data, the 5-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy of the USSR for 1946-1950. was successfully completed, and its most important tasks were significantly exceeded.” First of all, these are the achievements of ferrous metallurgy (steel smelting and rolled metal production), coal and oil mining, electricity generation, production of machine tools and machinery, and chemical industry products. In July 1950, a commission consisting of V. Molotov, L. Kaganovich, A. Mikoyan, M. Saburov, I. Benediktov presented Stalin with draft directives of the fifth 5-year plan for 1951-1955. It provided for an increase in the level of industrial production over the five-year period by approximately 1.8 times (with an average annual growth rate of gross industrial output of 12%). For the production of means of production (group “A”), the growth rate was set at 18%, and for the production of consumer goods (group “B”) - 11. Investments in industry were to double.

An important role in stabilizing the country's financial system was played by the monetary reform and the abolition of cards for food and industrial goods in December 1947. The government planned to do this back in 1946, but drought and famine that affected many parts of the country prevented it.

During the reform, the State Bank of the USSR exchanged old money for new ones in a ratio of 10:1 (metal coins were not subject to exchange and were accepted for payments at face value). Deposits of the population whose size did not exceed 3 thousand rubles were not subject to revaluation. (the number of such investors was about 80%); other deposits were revalued from a ratio of 3:2 (if the deposit size did not exceed 10 thousand rubles), over 10 thousand rubles. - from a ratio of 2:1 At the same time, all previously issued government loans were converted into a single two-percent loan issued in 1948 (the exchange of bonds from previous loans to a new one was carried out at a rate of 3:1).

Thus, the monetary reform in the USSR in 1947 was carried out entirely at the expense of the interests of the working people. According to the government, the reform made it possible to eliminate the consequences of the war in the field of monetary circulation, to eliminate large savings formed “by certain groups of the population as a result of high market prices, as well as speculation.” The public debt on loans was significantly reduced and the associated state budget expenses were reduced.

The reform was a necessary condition for the abolition of the card system.

After the abolition of cards (carried out in December 1947 simultaneously with the monetary reform), food and industrial goods began to be sold in open trade at uniform state retail prices (instead of commercial and ration prices). For example, prices for bread and cereals were set 10-12% below ration prices, for other food products - at the ration level; for industrial goods - increased in comparison with rations, but were approximately 3 times lower than commercial ones.

After the war, the government repeatedly reduced state retail prices for consumer products. This policy has received various assessments in domestic historiography - from enthusiastic to sharply negative. It must be emphasized that the price reduction was carried out entirely at the expense of the village, due to the overexertion of its forces and the sharp deterioration of its financial situation.

For ideological reasons, the government was not interested in encouraging the wealthy layer of society that had developed during the war years. By reducing state retail prices after the abolition of cards, the authorities tried to pursue a policy not in the direction of consolidating social stratification, but, on the contrary, in terms of making everyone equal to everyone. As V. Molotov noted about this: “Don’t offend anyone, but don’t pamper anyone either. This is the only way to restore order. This is where a general line is needed.”

In January 1953, the head of the Central Statistical Office V. Starovsky reported to Stalin that over the two years of the fifth five-year plan, the average annual growth rate of gross output in industry, as well as the growth in its most important types (iron, steel, rolled products, electricity, etc.) exceeded the planned ones tasks, but some lag in growth rates was observed in oil production, production of large metal-cutting machines and some other indicators. These achievements allowed the USSR to create significant raw material resources by the beginning of the 50s for the successful development of the country's national economy in the future. Thus, at the beginning of 1953, state reserves of grain increased 4 times compared to the pre-war level, non-ferrous metals - 10 times; petroleum products - 3.3; coal in 5.1; firewood 2.7 times. Thus, the strategic goal that Stalin spoke about in February 1946 was fulfilled, since the accumulated reserves were the most important condition for guaranteeing the USSR “against any accidents.”

It was these reserves, obtained as a result of the heroic labor of the entire people, that allowed Khrushchev to carry out most of his reforms and initiatives.

Abstract on the history of Russia

The restructuring of the economy along the lines of peaceful development was carried out in difficult conditions. Military operations on the territory of the country caused enormous damage to the national economy: the country lost about 30% of its 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 decisions marked the beginning of the Soviet Union's transition to peaceful construction.

I had to choose path of economic revival- support emerging trends or reject them and return to the model of the 30s. The first path was defended by the Secretary of the Central Committee Zhdanov, the Chairman of the State Planning Committee Voznesensky, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Rodionov. Supporters of a return to the old model were Beria and Malenkov, who were supported by the leaders of heavy industry. Growing international tensions and the interests of the defense industry, a bad harvest and famine in 1946, and finally the death of Zhdanov (1948) led to the victory of supporters of coercive measures.

The economy was based on 2 forms of ownership: state and collective farm-cooperative. There was no private ownership of the means of production. Economic management was centralized, planned, and totalitarian in nature.

Fourth Five Year Plan(1946-1950) In 1946, elections were held to the Supreme Council of the 2nd convocation, which at its session approved a new five-year plan. The 4th Five Year Plan was more realistic than the first three. The main emphasis was on restoring industry, especially heavy industry. In the first post-war years, some wartime restrictions were lifted: the 8-hour working day, annual leave were restored, and mandatory overtime was abolished. However, working conditions remained very difficult, wages were very low, and command methods of management took place. The achievements of scientific and technological revolution were introduced only in the defense industry.

In order to ensure production with labor, several decrees were adopted on the liability of persons evading labor activity. The “Ukazniki” were subject to deportation; the Kemerovo and Omsk regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory were chosen as places for their new settlement and work.

During the five-year plan, prices for consumer goods were reduced several times. In order to overcome financial difficulties, a currency reform. But neither one nor the other led to a significant increase in the purchasing power of the population. The situation was aggravated by forced annual loans. The lack of queues was explained, first of all, by high, in comparison with wages, prices and lifestyle, which did not stimulate the growth of needs. In addition, the price reduction applied only to the urban population. The supply of cities improved due to the deterioration of life in the countryside. The scale of housing and cultural construction increased. However, the pace of construction work lagged behind the scale of urban population growth. In the early 50s. housing shortage has become a pressing housing problem.

The war had a hard impact on state of agriculture. Cultivated areas have decreased and field cultivation has deteriorated. The number of working-age population has decreased by almost a third. For several years, almost no new equipment was supplied to the village. In 1946, drought struck Ukraine, Moldova, and southern Russia. Famine began again, which caused a massive exodus of the rural population to the cities. At this time, grain was exported to the countries of Eastern Europe.

Relaxations for the peasantry were curtailed; the leadership demanded that plans be fulfilled at any cost, based not on the capabilities of the collective farms, but on the needs of the state. Control over agriculture increased again. Wages in rural areas were 4 times lower than in the cities, there was no pension provision, and the collective farm peasantry was deprived of passports and freedom of movement. His share was hard work associated with low technical equipment. Purchase prices were low, workdays were actually not paid. Taxes on everything that a collective farmer could support made it unprofitable to have livestock or grow fruit trees. The peasants were forced to devote all their time to social production. There was no large investment in agriculture.

At the turn of the 40s - 50s. Small collective farms were consolidated. Over the course of several 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, and in Right Bank Moldova. Collectivization was carried out by violent methods, accompanied by repressions and deportations of the population. All production activities of collective and state farms were under the control of party and state authorities.

However, measures for the organizational restructuring of collective farms did not change the difficult situation in the agricultural sector. Grain procurement in 1950 amounted to 32.3 million tons compared to 36.4 million in 1940.

Results of the Fourth Five-Year Plan were as follows - rapid growth (1947-1948) was replaced by a slowdown that lasted until 1954. Everything was reminiscent of the development of the 30s. - dissipation of funds, capital investments, deficits and disorganization of production, financial breakdown, growth of unfinished construction, purges in management, active use of prison labor, discontent of the working class.

But a lot has been done. Cities and enterprises were restored, the Stakhanov movement and socialist competition developed and grew again. In 1948, the pre-war level was reached and surpassed. In the industrial sector, 6.2 thousand enterprises have been restored and rebuilt. Gross industrial output increased by 73%. The number of workers and employees increased to 40.4 million people. In the field of agriculture, the pre-war level was not achieved in all respects. Cultivated areas amounted to 97% of the pre-war level. National income increased by 64%. About 2 million square meters have been restored and rebuilt. m of housing.

THE USSR. Restored and newly independent states. USSR in 1945 - 1953

Restoration of the USSR after the war

The Great Patriotic War cost the Soviet Union not only millions of casualties (about 27 million people died), but also colossal material losses. 1,700 cities lay in ruins. Among them are Stalingrad, Minsk, Sevastopol and many others; 70 thousand villages were destroyed and burned. During the war years, people went hungry and lost their clothes and shoes. Many of them had only cotton jackets and military overcoats. The Soviet people needed to carry out a huge amount of work to restore the economy, raise the material standard of living, and move on to peaceful creative work. However, in 1946, the Soviet people again suffered disaster. An extremely severe drought caused famine among the population of several regions of the USSR and caused significant loss of life. The war-weary people, despite some help from the allies and reparations from Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Finland, could only raise the country, ravaged by disasters, from the ruins only by relying on their own strength. Thanks to the selfless, sincere, honest work of demobilized soldiers, disabled people and pensioners, mothers and widows, boys and girls, factories were restored, residential buildings and schools were built. They put up with the difficulties that marked their life and everyday life. In the shortest possible time, the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station was restored, and the industrial centers of the south of the country received electricity, the cement factories of Novorossiysk rose from the ruins, and all their products were sent to the affected areas. The mines of Donbass, factories of Leningrad and other cities were restored. The harvests of 1947 and 1948 somewhat improved the food supply of the country's population. In December 1947, the card system was abolished and monetary reform was carried out. A roof appeared over your head and a piece of bread on the table. In 1948, just three years after the end of the bloody and destructive war, pre-war production levels were exceeded. Success was achieved through the introduction and development of new technology, the development of new production facilities, an increase in the number of machines, machines, equipment, mechanization of labor-intensive and difficult production processes, the introduction of automation and electronic equipment. At the same time, the main attention was paid to the development of heavy industry and the creation of new types of weapons. The light and food industries were financed on a residual basis and did not meet the needs of the population. This affected the standard of living of the country's population, which continued to remain low, although its increase occurred at a slow pace in the cities. Things were worse in the countryside, where collective farmers fed the city and barely survived from harvest to harvest. Almost all the products they made went towards government supplies and taxes.

Social and political life

The Soviet people, who bore on their shoulders the poverty of the pre-war years and the unprecedented hardships of wartime, hoped that the victory obtained with such labor and sacrifice would radically change the life of the people for the better. The world was changing before the eyes of the Soviet people, and they were full of hopes that these changes would affect their lives. Many hoped that in the post-war world nothing would humiliate their human dignity, the citizens of the country would be able to say what they think and live as they wish. Everyone expected a drop in physical, ideological and political tension. However, the regime was not going to make concessions. Official propaganda instilled in people the idea that the war was won only thanks to the genius of the “greatest commander” and the party leadership. The State Anthem of the USSR contained the words: “Stalin raised us, inspired us to be loyal to the people, to work and to heroic deeds.” New repressions became the answer to the aspirations of the people, to their desire for democracy and freedom.

In 1946-1948, resolutions of the Communist Party were adopted, introducing strict ideological control over the activities of the creative intelligentsia and, in particular, in the field of literature, drama, theater, and music. Propaganda campaigns followed one another and were directed against the influence of Western “bourgeois” ideology. Any manifestation of originality or independence in the work of a writer, artist, composer, or film director, which, in the opinion of the authorities, indicated a departure from communist ideology, was strictly condemned.

At night there were arrests, people died in numerous camps. At the end of the war, the future writer, Captain A.I. Solzhenitsyn, was sent to a camp for criticizing Stalinism. After the war, Marshal of Artillery N.D. Yakovlev and Marshal of Aviation A.A. Novikov were arrested. Member of the Politburo, Chairman of the USSR State Planning Committee N.A. Voznesensky and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR M.I. Rodionov were repressed. Tens of thousands of people have become victims of false accusations.

Against famous writers (A. A. Akhmatova, M. M. Zoshchenko, etc.), composers (D. D. Shostakovich, etc.), scientists (genetic biologists, cyberneticists, etc.). Ideological campaigns were decided. Many scientists and artists were accused of cosmopolitanism, i.e. in the absence of patriotism and admiration for the “rotten” Western culture.

The struggle for power after the death of Stalin

On March 5, 1953, J.V. Stalin died. His heirs, G. M. Malenkov (headed the government), N. S. Khrushchev (Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee), L. P. Beria (headed the state security and internal affairs bodies), proclaimed the principle of collective leadership of the party and the state. However, a struggle for supremacy soon broke out between them. Beria was arrested, accused of conspiracy to seize power, secretly convicted and executed.

Today in class we will talk about methods for restoring the USSR economy after the war, about the development of science and problems in agriculture and the social sphere, and we will also learn what reparations, deportation and the Soviet economic miracle are.

In addition, the leadership of the Soviet Union, led by Stalin, understood that the victorious people, who survived a terrible war, should live better, so this was another task of economic recovery.

The Soviet economy was restored by 1950-1951, although some scholars argue that this happened earlier, in 1947, when the ration cards(Fig. 2) and the supply of the population began to occur at a quite decent level.

Rice. 2. Card for bread (1941) ()

This was facilitated by the heroic work of the civilian population. After the war, overtime was abolished and the 8-hour working day, vacations, and ballots were returned, but all administrative and criminal penalties for absenteeism, tardiness, and fraud remained until 1953. In addition, it was adopted fourth five year plan- a high-quality and balanced plan, according to which it was convenient to restore the economy (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Propaganda poster (1948) ()

The head of the State Planning Committee during this period was N.A. Voznesensky (Fig. 4). It is known that the planned economic system is well suited for a developing economy.

Rice. 4. N. A. Voznesensky ()

In the period from 1945 to 1947. The demobilization of the military and the return of prisoners taken to Germany took place. All these people became the workforce, with the help of which Soviet industry was also restored. At the same time, the labor of Gulag prisoners was also used, who in the post-war period were not so much Soviet citizens as prisoners of war Germans, Hungarians, Romanians, Japanese, etc. (Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. The work of Gulag prisoners ()

In addition, under the terms of the Yalta and Potsdam Conference (Fig. 6), the Soviet Union had the right to reparations, i.e., for payments from Nazi Germany.

Rice. 6. Participants of the Yalta Conference 1945 ()

In Potsdam, our allies (England and America) invited the Soviet Union to take advantage of the material base of their occupation zone (East Germany), so machines, factories and other material assets were exported in large quantities. Historians have differing opinions on this matter: some believe that quite a lot was exported, and this greatly helped in restoration, while others argue that reparation payments did not provide serious assistance.

During this period there was development of science. There have been breakthroughs in some areas, such as the famous atomic breakthrough - creation of the atomic bomb- under the leadership of L.P. Beria and I.V. Kurchatov (Fig. 7) from the scientific side.

Rice. 7. I.V. Kurchatov ()

In general, those industries that were somehow connected with the military industry, for example, aircraft manufacturing, the production of missiles, launchers, cars, etc., developed quite well after the war.

So, we can say that by 1950, the industry of the USSR as a whole had been restored. The standard of living also increased. This was reflected in the social sphere by the liquidation of the card system, which was unique in our entire history of the 20th century. situation with falling prices. Every spring 1947-1950. announced price reduction. The psychological effect of this measure was enormous (Fig. 8).

Rice. 8. Comparative table of prices for 1947 and 1953. ()

In fact, prices remained slightly higher than in 1940, and wages remained slightly lower, but the planned annual price reduction is still remembered by older people.

There were gigantic problems in our agriculture. Its restoration in the post-war period is a rather complex process. This was due both to the fact that more livestock was killed or eaten, and to the fact that the men did not want to return to the village (Fig. 9).

Rice. 9. Village during the Nazi occupation ()

The main damage to the working population was suffered by the Soviet village, in which almost only women and children remained. Exactly village became in the 20-30s. a source of funds for industrialization, but in the post-war period it could not be this source. The Soviet government tried to improve the standard of living in the countryside, primarily through the consolidation of collective farms and improved quality of processing. But 1946-1948 - This is a period of natural disasters (drought, flood) and famine. Therefore, in such conditions the village lived even worse. In the villages, administrative and criminal punishments remained until 1951, in which the food situation in the country was more or less resolved and the need for mass punishment was sharply reduced.

Since 1947, attempts have begun to improve agriculture with the help of science and scientific progress. For example, forest shelterbelts were created around fields, which were supposed to protect crops from winds and cold; forced forest and grass sowing was carried out in order to strengthen the soil, etc.

Rice. 10. Collectivization ()

Since 1946, there has been a massive collectivization(Fig. 10) in the newly annexed areas: Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, the Baltic states. Despite the fact that collectivization in these regions proceeded more slowly and softly, forced relocation was used against opponents of this process or Soviet power - deportation.

So, thanks to the heroic work and enthusiasm of the Soviet people, the skillful policies of the authorities, the plan and development of science by the beginning of the 1950s. the Soviet economy was restored and, according to some estimates, even outstripped the indicators of pre-war industry (Fig. 11).

Rice. 11. Restoration of the USSR by the working population ()

Thus, we can talk about Soviet economic miracle, which was achieved at great cost and required improvements. Because they remained unresolved even until the mid-50s. problems in agriculture and the social sphere: millions of Soviet citizens continued to live in barracks and dugouts.

Homework

Tell us about the development of science in the USSR in 1945-1953.

Tell us about the problems in agriculture and the social sphere in the USSR in the post-war period.

Prepare a report on the recovery of the Soviet economy in 1945-1953.

Bibliography

Story. Russia in the 20th - early 19th centuries. 9th grade: textbook. for general education. establishment / A.A. Danilov. - M.: Education, 2011. - 224 p.: ill.
History of Russia: 9th grade: textbook. for students general images. establishment / V.S. Izmozik, O.N. Zhuravleva, S.N. Mine. - M.: Ventana-Graf, 2012. - 352 pp.: ill.
Russian history. XX - early XIX centuries. 9th grade: textbook. for general education. establishment / O.V. Volobuev, V.V. Zhuravlev, A.P. Nenarokov, A.T. Stepanishchev. - M.: Bustard, 2010. - 318, p.: ill.

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