Life has become better, life has become happier
From the speech of J.V. Stalin (1878-1953) at the First All-Union Conference of Stakhanovites (November 17, 1935): “Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun." Further, the party leader continued: “And when life is fun, work goes well... If our life was bad, unattractive, sad, then we would not have any Stakhanov movement.”
In modern speech, it is usually quoted ironically - about unfavorable life circumstances.
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.
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- Life has become better, life has become happier! , Valentin Gaft. A stunning one-man show by Valentin Gaft! …I was having a dream. He was so strange, I couldn't invent him. Here, in the seductive fog, Stalin made an appointment for me, came, sat down on...
Many remember this phrase uttered by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, I.V. Stalin, on November 17, 1935, in a speech at the First All-Union Meeting of Workers and Workwomen - Stakhanovites. The full phrase sounded like this: “Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun. And when life is fun, work goes smoothly... If life here was bad, unsightly, sad, then we wouldn’t have any Stakhanovist movement.”
The evil irony of the phrase lies in the fact that it was uttered on the eve of the peak of mass repressions in the late 1930s. Whatever you say, Comrade Stalin had a unique sense of humor and this post is dedicated to this humor
He was such a joker...
Comrade Stalin had a specific sense of humor, specific, but very witty. Sometimes he voiced his decisions and conclusions with humor, but those to whom he said this were far from laughing.
1. When developing the Pobeda car, it was planned that the car would be called Rodina. Having learned about this, Stalin ironically asked: “Well, how much will we have a Motherland?” The name of the car was immediately changed.
2. From the memoirs of one of Stalin’s guards, A. Rybin. On his trips, Stalin was often accompanied by his bodyguard Tukov. He sat in the front seat next to the driver and had a habit of falling asleep on the way. One of the Politburo members, riding with Stalin in the back seat, remarked:
- Comrade Stalin, I don’t understand which of you is protecting whom?
“What is that,” answered Joseph Vissarionovich, “he also put his pistol in my raincoat - take it, just in case!”
3. One day Stalin was informed that Marshal Rokossovsky had a mistress and this was the famous beautiful actress Valentina Serova. And, they say, what are we going to do with them now? Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, thought a little and said:
- What will we, what will we... we will envy!
4. Stalin walked with the First Secretary of the Central Committee of Georgia A.I. Mgeladze along the alleys of the Kuntsevo dacha and treated him to lemons, which he grew himself in his lemon garden:
- Try it, you grew up here, near Moscow! And so several times, between conversations on other topics:
- Try them, good lemons! Finally it dawned on the interlocutor:
- Comrade Stalin, I promise you that in seven years Georgia will provide the country with lemons, and we will not import them from abroad.
- Thank God, I guessed it! - said Stalin.
5. Designer of artillery systems V.G. Grabin told how on the eve of 1942 Stalin invited him and said:
- Your gun saved Russia. What do you want - a Hero of Socialist Labor or a Stalin Prize?
- I don’t care, Comrade Stalin.
They gave both.
6. During the war, troops under the command of Bagramyan were the first to reach the Baltic. To make this event more pathetic, the Armenian general personally poured water from the Baltic Sea into a bottle and ordered his adjutant to fly with this bottle to Moscow to see Stalin. He flew away. But while he was flying, the Germans counterattacked and drove Bagramyan off the Baltic coast. By the time the adjutant arrived in Moscow, they were already aware of this, but the adjutant himself did not know - there was no radio on the plane. And so the proud adjutant enters Stalin’s office and pathetically proclaims: “Comrade Stalin, General Bagramyan is sending you Baltic water!” Stalin takes the bottle, twirls it in his hands for a few seconds, after which he gives it back to the adjutant and says: “Give it back to Bagramyan, tell him to pour it out where he took it.”
7. In 1939 we watched “The Train Goes East.” The film is not so hot: a train rides, stops...
- What station is this? - Stalin asked.
- Demyanovka.
“This is where I’ll get off,” said Stalin and left the hall.
8. A candidacy for the post of Minister of Coal Industry was discussed.
They suggested the director of one of the Zasyadko mines. Someone objected:
- Everything is fine, but he abuses alcohol!
“Invite him to me,” said Stalin. Zasyadko came. Stalin began to talk to him and offered him a drink.
“With pleasure,” said Zasyadko, poured a glass of vodka: “To your health, Comrade Stalin!” - He drank and continued the conversation.
Stalin took a sip and, watching carefully, offered a second drink. Zasyadko - drink a second glass, and not in either eye. Stalin suggested a third, but his interlocutor pushed his glass aside and said:
- Zasyadko knows when to stop.
We talked. At a meeting of the Politburo, when the question of the candidacy of the minister again arose, and again it was announced that the proposed candidate was abusing alcohol, Stalin, walking with a pipe, said:
- Zasyadko knows when to stop!
And for many years Zasyadko headed our coal industry...
9. One colonel general reported to Stalin about the state of affairs. The Supreme Commander looked very pleased and nodded twice in approval. Having finished his report, the military commander hesitated. Stalin asked: “Do you want to say anything else?”
“Yes, I have a personal question. In Germany, I selected some things that interested me, but they were detained at the checkpoint. If possible, I would ask you to return them to me.”
"It's possible. Write a report, I will impose a resolution.”
The Colonel General pulled out a prepared report from his pocket. Stalin imposed the resolution. The petitioner began to thank him warmly.
“No need for gratitude,” remarked Stalin.
After reading the resolution written on the report: “Return his junk to the colonel. I. Stalin,” the general turned to the Supreme Commander: “There is a typo here, Comrade Stalin. I’m not a colonel, but a colonel general.”
“No, everything is correct here, Comrade Colonel,” Stalin replied.
10. Admiral I. Isakov has been Deputy People's Commissar of the Navy since 1938. One day in 1946, Stalin called him and said that there was an opinion to appoint him head of the Main Naval Staff, which that year was renamed the Main Headquarters of the Navy.
Isakov replied: “Comrade Stalin, I must report to you that I have a serious disadvantage: one leg has been amputated.”
“Is this the only deficiency you feel the need to report?” - followed the question.
“Yes,” confirmed the admiral.
“We used to have a headless chief of staff. Nothing, it worked. You just don’t have a leg - it’s not scary,” Stalin concluded.
11. After the war, Stalin learned that Professor K. had “built up” an expensive dacha near Moscow. He called him to him and asked: “Is it true that you built yourself a dacha for so many thousands?!” “True, Comrade Stalin,” answered the professor. “Thank you very much from the orphanage, to which you gave this dacha,” said Stalin and sent him to teach in Novosibirsk.
12. In the fall of 1936, a rumor spread in the West that Joseph Stalin had died from a serious illness. Charles Nitter, a correspondent for the Associated Press news agency, decided to get information from the most reliable source. He went to the Kremlin, where he handed over a letter to Stalin in which he asked: to confirm or refute this rumor.
Stalin answered the journalist immediately: “Dear sir! As far as I know from reports in the foreign press, I have long since left this sinful world and moved to the next world. Since the reports of the foreign press cannot be ignored, if you do not want to be erased from the list of civilized people, then I ask you to believe these reports and not disturb my peace in the silence of the other world.
October 26, 1936. With respect, I. Stalin.”
13. Once foreign correspondents asked Stalin:
- Why is Mount Ararat depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia, since it is not located on the territory of Armenia?
Stalin replied:
- The coat of arms of Turkey depicts a crescent, but it is also not located on Turkish territory.
14. The People's Commissar of Agriculture of Ukraine was summoned to the Politburo. He asked:
- How should I report: briefly or in detail?
“As you wish, you can briefly, you can detail, but the limit is three minutes,” Stalin answered.
15. A new production of Glinka’s opera “Ivan Susanin” was being prepared at the Bolshoi Theater. The members of the commission, led by Chairman Bolshakov, listened and decided that it was necessary to film the finale “Hail, Russian people!”: churchism, patriarchalism...
They reported to Stalin.
“And we’ll do it differently: we’ll leave the ending, but we’ll remove Bolshakov.”
16. When they were deciding what to do with the German navy, Stalin proposed dividing it, and Churchill made a counter-proposal: “Sink.” Stalin replies: “Here you are drowning your half.”
17. Stalin came to the performance in Hood. theater. Stanislavsky met him and, holding out his hand, said: “Alekseev,” calling his real name.
“Dzhugashvili,” Stalin answered, shaking hands and walking to his chair.
18. Harriman at the Potsdam Conference asked Stalin:
“After the Germans were 18 km away in 1941. From Moscow, you probably now enjoy sharing defeated Berlin?”
“Tsar Alexander reached Paris,” Stalin replied.
19. Stalin asked meteorologists what percentage of forecast accuracy they had.
- Forty percent, Comrade Stalin.
- And you say the opposite, and then you will have sixty percent.
20. During the war, Stalin instructed Baibakov to open new oil fields. When Baibakov objected that this was impossible, Stalin replied:
- There will be oil, there will be Baibakov, there will be no oil, there will be no Baibakov!
Soon deposits were discovered in Tataria and Bashkiria.
Monday, December 16, 2013 18:05 + to quote book
“During the period of the most terrible terror, everyday life strangely improved. After long hungry years, after collectivization and everything else that brought the people to almost complete exhaustion, there was a kind of calm. Stalin himself gave the go-ahead. He uttered the famous phrase: “Life has begun It’s better, life has become more fun." All the newspapers repeated it in unison."
Stalin allowed the joys of life. He legitimized love, family happiness (divorce was very difficult), paternal duty, allowed poetry, allowed discussions about humanism, blush and jewelry. Tango and foxtrot returned, and Leonid Utesov created Soviet jazz. He had a song that accurately expresses the spirit of the new times:
On the alleys of the central park
Mignonette grows on a May morning.
You can wear a very bright tie
And be a labor hero in the mine.
How can it be: mignonette -
And a hero of labor?
I don’t understand, please explain to me.
Because we have
Everyone is young now
In our young beautiful country.
For residents of the former USSR, 1937 became a household name, a symbol of the Great Terror, a senseless and merciless conveyor belt of arrests, torture, trials and executions. During that year, about 350 thousand people were killed, 315 times more compared to the previous year, 1936. Approximately the same number were sent to camps for “counter-revolutionary crimes.”
However, in parallel with the bloody bacchanalia in the country, everyday life somehow continued with its joys and worries, newspaper reports on trials were densely interspersed with reports of new successes in socialist construction and the exploits of brave pilots. And for Western tourists who came to the USSR in 1937, the horror of mass executions remained completely behind the scenes
I propose to look at a small kaleidoscope of visual evidence of that hectic time. . 
On January 6, the USSR population census took place. However, its preliminary results were almost immediately (10 days later) declared “sabotage”; The responsible workers who carried it out were arrested and repressed. It seems that several million were missing and those at the top didn’t like it.
* In the 1937 census, for the first and last time in our entire history from 1917 to the present day, the questionnaires included a “Religion” column. Many people filled it out, not being afraid to call themselves believers under those conditions. And this is after the notorious “five-year plan of godlessness” (1932-37)! Which was one of the reasons for the cancellation of the census results and the repression of those who conducted it: if the facts do not suit the leadership, so much the worse for the facts
With unexpectedly great pomp in 1937, the USSR celebrated the centenary of the death of A.S. Pushkin (poster by Buev and Jordansky)
In 1937, the centenary of Pushkin’s death was celebrated with great fanfare; two editions of the Complete Works were printed in millions of copies. 
Pushkin was glorified even in the Mountain Mari language 
Cultural life was in full swing: citizens were encouraged to actively subscribe to foreign literature
Until the thirty-sixth year, everyone lived in the name of the “common cause” and no one thought about private life. It was barely enough to have children. And then suddenly, after Stalin’s single phrase “life has become more fun,” everything changed. The people obeyed.
In 1937, it was the second year since “Life has become better, life has become more fun” and the theme of people’s happiness was actively played up by the authors of the posters.
“Thank you to the party, thank you to dear Stalin for a happy, cheerful childhood!”, 1937
Painters did not lag behind either. In this painting by Alexander Deineka we see a fashion show of 1937 in Moscow 
A. Samokhvalov painted the painting “Soviet Physical Education” in 1937 
They did not shy away from erotic motives. The famous sculpture of a girl with an oar by Shadr in Moscow's Gorky Park, 1937.
* I always thought that the "Girl with a Paddle" was wearing panties. But somehow it didn’t turn out that way...
The "girl with the paddle" was in shorts. 2 sculptures by Shadr “Girls with an Oar” were installed in the Central Park of Culture and Culture. One in 1935, the other in 1937. The first was criticized for being erotic and was removed. But the second one was naked too. Judging by the appearance in the photo (of the building), it could be 1935(?)
And the “Girl with a Paddle” was then replaced by a dressed one, in shorts and a T-shirt
New resorts for workers were built in the Caucasus. City buses on Stalinsky Prospekt in Sochi, 1937 
“Citizens of the USSR have the right to rest” V.I. Govorkov, 1937
The counters were slowly filling up. Smoked fish, caviar, and four or even five types of cheese appeared. They started selling Spanish oranges everywhere. Cafes have opened. For example, “Cocktail Bar” on Gorky Street. You could have a drink there, sitting in the twilight on a high stool - this was considered the height of luxury. And in the “Artistic”, opposite the Moscow Art Theater, you could drink a cup of coffee before or after the performance and eat an omelet.
They began to dress better. Women began to go to hairdressers and get manicures - there were even manicurists in factories - they painted their lips with red lipstick and plucked their eyebrows. Previously, everyone dressed equally poorly, but now there is some opportunity to be elegant. Fashion magazines began to appear again. Comrade Zhemchuzhina, Molotov's wife, was entrusted with responsibility for the production of perfumes, lotions and creams. 
Particular attention in the USSR was paid to the emancipation of women. In 1937, ladies motorists became a fashionable topic. "We are learning to drive a car", S. Shore, 1937.
Communists began to regularly fall in love and start a family. At the same time, new literature appeared, lyric poetry returned in the form of poems by Simonov and Dolmatovsky, who sang about love under the cloudless sky of their homeland. It was even allowed to mention Dostoevsky and Yesenin, for which previously one could go to prison for a long time.
And motorcyclists! "Motorcycle ride of engineers' wives", A. Yar-Kravchenko, 1937 
And pilots, of course. Poster by P. Karachentsev, 1937
The theater had such a success then, which it probably never had again later. At night we stood in line for tickets to get into the Moscow Art Theater and see Kachalov, Moskvin, Knipper - Chekhov. The most fashionable performance was “Anna Karenina”; it even went to Paris.
The Days of the Turbins were a huge success. I knew people who went to the Turbins thirty-two times. Bulgakov showed that white officers also had a sense of self-esteem and a concept of honor. They said that Stalin visited the performance many times, sat in the back of the box, hidden from view.
The path to the very top was open for successful women. "An Unforgettable Meeting", Vasily Efanov, 1937 
The year 1937 was marked by further successes in the industrial and technological development of the country.
Automobile factories built on a turnkey basis by Americans increased production of American car models.
Main conveyor of ZIS, I. Shagin, 1937
“I don’t know any other country where people can breathe so freely.” It sounded incessantly on the streets from loudspeakers, and in apartments from “cymbals”, and God forbid in the kitchen or in the corridor of a communal apartment you ask to turn it down. They would have reported it instantly; there was no shortage of informers. It was impossible to hide from the avalanche of propaganda. Let's say, on every wall hung a photograph of Lenin and Stalin, called “Big Friendship”. Then, under Khrushchev, it turned out that this was a photomontage: two different photographs - one of Lenin, the other of Stalin - were combined in order to canonize Stalin during his lifetime.
The futuristic giant steam locomotive "Joseph Stalin" (1937) entered the steel highways 
Beautiful motor ships of unprecedented shapes appeared on the waterways, 1937. 
One of the main events of the year was the opening of the Moscow - Volga channel.
He never appeared in public. He was invisible like a god
He never appeared in public. He was invisible, like a god. Sometimes he called on the phone in the middle of the night. There were many rumors in Moscow about his conversations with Pasternak, Ehrenburg, and Stanislavsky. He invited actors to perform in the Kremlin. But ordinary people could see him only twice a year: at the mausoleum during parades on the first of May or the seventh of November.
It is impossible to describe the trepidation of people. Especially the young ones. We woke up at six in the morning in anticipation of happiness, then waited for hours in the columns... Impatience, fun - they played accordions, sang, carried banners and could not believe that they would see Him so close. They walked in ranks. When it was the turn to walk in front of the mausoleum, the pace quickened, the guards commanded: take a wider step, go faster, walk faster! And people craned their necks to see for as long as possible, in order to imprint in their memory the precious image of the leader and teacher.
He was idolized. People shouted “Long live Stalin!” as they were shot, convinced that he did not know what was happening to them. How later, during the Patriotic War, soldiers died with his name on their lips - this was described by Ehrenburg, Grossman, Paustovsky.
I've never seen him. The only time I had the opportunity was when I got sick. In the evening, the guys, terribly excited, came to me to tell me. They really regretted that I wasn’t with them. I listened and once again felt like a stranger.
A large group of photographers, journalists and writers were immediately transported along the canal; as a result of the trip, a luxurious photo album was published 
However, the greatest pride of the USSR was aviation! In June 1937, the American city of Vancouver met the Soviet ANT-25 aircraft under the command of Chkalov 
While the authorities were mercilessly exterminating the command staff of the Red Army, the country was popularly preparing for war.
Exercises in the Leningrad region, 1937 
“Collective farmers greet tankers during maneuvers,” Ekaterina Zernova, 1937 
Back in 1937, the “architectural genocide” reached its peak - the massive destruction of Orthodox and other churches.
Demolition of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Baku, 1937 
At the end of the year, elections to the Supreme Council were held, according to the new Stalinist Constitution of 1936 
The Soviet leadership did its best to advertise the country's successes in the West.
The highlight of the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris was the Soviet pavilion with a sculpture of Vera Mukhina 
In 1937, the USSR was visited by thousands of Western tourists. Foreign tourists in Leningrad, 1937 
Back in 1937, the rather famous German writer Lion Feichwanger visited the USSR and wrote a book about it
STALIN:Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun. And when life is fun, work goes smoothly
1. IMPORTANCE OF THE STAKHANOV MOVEMENT
Comrades! So much and so well was said about the Stakhanovites here, at this meeting, that I actually have little left to say. Still, since I was called to the podium, I will have to say a few words.
The Stakhanov movement cannot be considered as an ordinary movement of working men and women. The Stakhanov movement is a movement of workers and working women that will go down in the history of our socialist construction as one of its most glorious pages.
What is the significance of the Stakhanov movement?
First of all, it expresses a new rise in socialist competition, a new, highest stage of socialist competition. Why new, why superior? Because it, the Stakhanov movement, compares favorably as an expression of socialist competition with the old stage of socialist competition. In the past, about three years ago, during the first stage of socialist competition, socialist competition was not necessarily associated with new technology. Yes, then we, in fact, did not have almost new technology. The current stage of socialist competition - the Stakhanov movement, on the contrary, is necessarily associated with new technology. The Stakhanov movement would have been unthinkable without new, higher technology. Before you are people like comrades Stakhanov, Busygin, Smetanin, Krivonos, Pronin, Vinogradov and many others, new people, workers and workers who have completely mastered the technique of their craft, saddled it and drove forward. We didn’t have such people, or almost none, three years ago. These are new, special people.
Further. The Stakhanov movement is a movement of men and women whose goal is to overcome current technical standards, overcome existing design capacities, and overcome existing production plans and balances. Overcoming - because they, these very norms, have already become old for our days, for our new people. This movement breaks old views on technology, breaks old technical standards, old design capacities, old production plans and requires the creation of new, higher technical standards, design capacities, and production plans. It is designed to revolutionize our industry. That is why it, the Stakhanov movement, is fundamentally deeply revolutionary.
It has already been said here that the Stakhanov movement, as an expression of new, higher technical standards, is an example of the high productivity of labor that only socialism can provide and which capitalism cannot provide. This is absolutely correct. Why did capitalism defeat and overcome feudalism? Because he created higher standards of labor productivity, he made it possible for society to obtain incomparably more products than was the case under feudal orders. Because he made society richer. Why can, should and will definitely defeat the capitalist economic system? Because it can provide higher standards of labor, higher labor productivity than the capitalist economic system. Because it can provide society with more products and can make society richer than the capitalist economic system.
Some people think that socialism can be strengthened by some material injury to people on the basis of poor life. This is not true. This is a petty-bourgeois idea of socialism. In fact, socialism can only win on the basis of high labor productivity, higher than under capitalism, on the basis of an abundance of products and all kinds of consumer goods, on the basis of a prosperous and cultural life of all members of society. But in order for socialism to achieve this goal and make our Soviet society the most prosperous, it is necessary to have in the country such labor productivity that exceeds the labor productivity of advanced capitalist countries. Without this, there is no point in thinking about the abundance of products and all kinds of consumer goods. The significance of the Stakhanov movement lies in the fact that it is a movement that breaks down old technical norms as insufficient, overlaps in a number of cases the labor productivity of advanced capitalist countries and thus opens up the practical possibility of further strengthening socialism in our country, the possibility of transforming our country to the most prosperous country.
But this does not exhaust the significance of the Stakhanov movement. Its significance also lies in the fact that it prepares the conditions for the transition from socialism to communism.
The principle of socialism is that in a socialist society everyone works according to his abilities and receives consumer goods not according to his needs, but according to the work he has done for society. This means that the cultural and technical level of the working class is still low, the opposition between mental labor and physical labor continues to exist, labor productivity is not yet so high as to ensure an abundance of consumer goods, as a result of which society is forced to distribute consumer goods not in accordance with the needs of members of society, but according to the work they have done for society.
Communism represents a higher stage of development. The principle of communism is that in a communist society everyone works according to his abilities and receives consumer goods not according to the work he has done, but according to the needs of a culturally developed person that he has. This means that the cultural and technical level of the working class has become high enough to undermine the foundations of the opposition between mental labor and physical labor, the opposition between mental labor and physical labor has already disappeared, and labor productivity has risen to such a high level that it can ensure complete an abundance of consumer goods, due to which society has the opportunity to distribute these items according to the needs of its members.
Some people think that the elimination of the opposition between mental labor and physical labor can be achieved through some cultural and technical equalization of mental and physical workers on the basis of reducing the cultural and technical level of engineers and technicians, mental workers, to the level of semi-skilled workers. This is completely false. Only petty-bourgeois talkers can think about communism in this way. In fact, the abolition of the opposition between mental labor and physical labor can be achieved only on the basis of raising the cultural and technical level of the working class to the level of engineering and technical workers. It would be ridiculous to think that such a rise is impossible. It is entirely feasible under the conditions of the Soviet system, where the country's productive forces are freed from the shackles of capitalism, where labor is freed from the yoke of exploitation, where the working class is in power and where the younger generation of the working class has every opportunity to provide themselves with sufficient technical education. There is no reason to doubt that only such a cultural and technical upsurge of the working class can undermine the foundations of the opposition between mental labor and physical labor, that only it can ensure that high labor productivity and that abundance of consumer goods that are necessary to begin the transition from socialism to communism.
The Stakhanov movement is significant in this regard in that it contains the first beginnings, albeit still weak, but still the beginnings of just such a cultural and technical upsurge of the working class of our country.
Indeed, take a closer look at the Stakhanovite comrades. What kind of people are these? These are mainly young or middle-aged workers, cultured and technically savvy people, who set examples of precision and accuracy in work, who know how to appreciate the time factor in work and who have learned to count time not only in minutes, but also in seconds. Most of them have passed the so-called technical minimum and continue to expand their technical education. They are free from the conservatism and stagnation of some engineers, technicians and business executives, they move boldly forward, breaking down outdated technical standards and creating new, higher ones, they amend the design capacities and economic plans drawn up by the leaders of our industry, they continually supplement and correct engineers and technicians, they often teach and push them forward, for these are people who have completely mastered the technology of their craft and know how to squeeze out of technology the maximum that can be squeezed out of it. Today there are still few Stakhanovites, but who can doubt that tomorrow there will be ten times more of them? Isn’t it clear that the Stakhanovites are innovators in our industry, that the Stakhanov movement represents the future of our industry, that it contains the grain of the future cultural and technical upsurge of the working class, that it opens up for us the path on which only we can achieve those highest indicators labor productivity, which are necessary for the transition from socialism to communism and the destruction of the opposition between mental labor and physical labor?
This, comrades, is the significance of the Stakhanov movement in the cause of our socialist construction.
Did Stakhanov and Busygin think about this great significance of the Stakhanov movement when they began to break the old technical norms? Of course not. They had their own worries - they sought to bring the enterprise out of the breakthrough and exceed the economic plan. But in achieving this goal, they had to break the old technical standards and develop high labor productivity that surpassed the advanced capitalist countries. It would be ridiculous, however, to think that this circumstance could in any way diminish the great historical significance of the Stakhanovite movement.
The same can be said about those workers who first organized Soviets of Workers' Deputies in our country in 1905. They, of course, did not think that the Soviets of Workers' Deputies would serve as the basis of the socialist system. They only defended themselves against tsarism, against the bourgeoisie, creating Soviets of Workers' Deputies. But this circumstance in no way contradicts the undoubted fact that the movement for the Soviets of Workers' Deputies, launched in 1905 by Leningrad and Moscow workers, ultimately led to the defeat of capitalism and the victory of socialism in one sixth of the world.
2. ROOTS OF THE STAKHANOV MOVEMENT
We are now present at the cradle of the Stakhanov movement, at its origins.
It would be worth noting some characteristic features of the Stakhanov movement.
What is striking, first of all, is the fact that it, this movement, began somehow spontaneously, almost spontaneously, from below, without any pressure from the administration of our enterprises. Moreover. This movement arose and began to develop to a certain extent contrary to the will of the administration of our enterprises, even in the fight against it. Comrade Molotov has already told you about the torment that Comrade Musinsky, a sawmill in Arkhangelsk, had to endure when, secretly from the economic organization, secretly from the controllers, he developed new, higher technical standards. The fate of Stakhanov himself was not the best, for he had to defend himself as he moved forward not only from some members of the administration, but also from some workers, who ridiculed and persecuted him for his “innovations.” As for Busygin, it is known that he almost paid for his “innovations” by losing his job at the plant, and only the intervention of the shop manager, Comrade Sokolinsky, helped him stay at the plant.
As you can see, if there was any influence on the part of the administration of our enterprises, it did not go towards the Stakhanov movement, but against it. Consequently, the Stakhanovist movement arose and developed as a movement coming from below. And precisely because it arose spontaneously, precisely because it comes from below, it is the most vital and irresistible movement of our time.
It is necessary, further, to dwell on one more characteristic feature of the Stakhanov movement. It consists, this characteristic feature, in the fact that the Stakhanov movement spread across the entire face of our Union not gradually, but with some unprecedented speed, like a hurricane. How did the matter begin? Stakhanov raised the technical standard for coal production five or six times, if not more. Busygin and Smetanin did the same, one in the field of mechanical engineering, the other in the shoe industry. Newspapers reported these facts. And suddenly the flames of the Stakhanov movement engulfed the entire country. What's the matter? Where did such speed come from in the spread of the Stakhanov movement? Maybe Stakhanov and Busygin are great organizers with great connections in the regions and districts of the USSR and they themselves organized this business? No, of course not! Maybe Stakhanov and Busygin have a claim to be great figures in our country and they themselves spread the sparks of the Stakhanov movement throughout the country? This is also incorrect. You saw Stakhanov and Busygin here. They spoke at the meeting. These are simple and modest people, without any pretensions to winning laurels on an all-Union scale. It even seems to me that they are somewhat embarrassed by the scope of the movement that has unfolded in our country, contrary to their expectations. And if, despite this, the match thrown by Stakhanov and Busygin turned out to be enough to turn this whole thing into flames, then this means that the Stakhanov movement is a matter that is completely ripe. Only a movement that is fully mature and is waiting for an impetus in order to break free, only such a movement could spread so quickly and grow like a snowball.
How can we explain that the Stakhanov movement turned out to be a matter of urgency? Where are the reasons that it has spread so quickly? What are the roots of the Stakhanov movement?
There are at least four of these reasons.
1) The basis of the Stakhanov movement was, first of all, a radical improvement in the financial situation of the workers. Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun. And when life is fun, work goes smoothly. Hence the high production standards. Hence the heroes and heroines of labor. This is, first of all, the root of the Stakhanov movement. If we had a crisis, if we had unemployment - the scourge of the working class, if our life was bad, unsightly, sad, then we would not have any Stakhanov movement. Our proletarian revolution is the only revolution in the world that had the opportunity to show the people not only its political results, but also its material results. Of all the workers' revolutions, we know of only one that somehow achieved power. This is the Paris Commune. But it didn't last long. It is true that she tried to break the shackles of capitalism, but she did not have time to break them, and even more so did not have time to show the people the good material results of the revolution. Our revolution is the only one that not only broke the shackles of capitalism and gave the people freedom, but also managed to give the people the material conditions for a prosperous life. This is the strength and invincibility of our revolution. Of course, it’s good to drive out the capitalists, drive out the landowners, drive out the Tsar’s guardsmen, take power and gain freedom. This is very good. But, unfortunately, freedom alone is far from enough. If there is not enough bread, not enough butter and fats, not enough textiles, poor housing, then freedom alone will not get you far. It is very difficult, comrades, to live by freedom alone. In order to live well and cheerfully, it is necessary that the benefits of political freedom be complemented by material benefits. A characteristic feature of our revolution is that it gave the people not only freedom, but also material benefits, but also the opportunity for a prosperous and cultural life. This is why life has become fun for us, and this is the soil on which the Stakhanov movement grew.
2) The second source of the Stakhanov movement is our lack of exploitation. Our people work not for exploiters, not to enrich parasites, but for themselves, for their class, for their own Soviet society, where the best people of the working class are in power. That is why work has social significance for us; it is a matter of honor and glory. Under capitalism, work has a private, personal character. If you work more, get more and live as you please. No one knows you and no one wants to know you. Do you work for the capitalists, do you enrich them? How else? That's why they hired you, to enrich the exploiters. If you don’t agree with this, go join the ranks of the unemployed and vegetate as you know, we’ll find others who are more accommodating. This is why people's labor is not highly valued under capitalism. It is clear that in such conditions there can be no place for the Stakhanov movement. It's a different matter under the Soviet system. Here the working man is held in high esteem. Here he works not for the exploiters, but for himself, for his class, for society. Here a working person cannot feel abandoned and lonely. On the contrary, a working person feels like a free citizen of his country, a kind of public figure. And if he works well and gives to society what he can give, he is a hero of labor, he is covered in glory. It is clear that only under such conditions could the Stakhanov movement arise.
3) The third source of the Stakhanov movement should be considered the presence of new technology in our country. The Stakhanov movement is organically connected with new technology. Without new technology, without new plants and factories, without new equipment, the Stakhanov movement could not have arisen in our country. Without new technology, it is possible to raise technical standards one or two times - no more. If the Stakhanovites raised technical standards five and six times, this means that they rely entirely on new technology. Thus, it turns out that the industrialization of our country, the reconstruction of our plants and factories, the availability of new technology and new equipment were one of the reasons that gave rise to the Stakhanov movement.
4) But you won’t get far with new technology alone. You can have first-class technology, first-class plants and factories, but if there are no people who can ride this technology, your technology will remain bare technology. In order for new technology to produce its results, it is necessary to have more people, a cadre of men and women who are capable of becoming the head of technology and moving it forward. The emergence and growth of the Stakhanov movement means that we already have such cadres among the working men and women. About two years ago the party said that by building new plants and factories and giving our enterprises new equipment, we had only done half the job. The party said then that the enthusiasm for building new factories must be complemented by the enthusiasm for their development, that only in this way can the matter be completed. It is obvious that during these two years the development of this new technology and the emergence of new personnel took place. It is now clear that we already have such personnel. It is clear that without such personnel, without these new people, we would not have any Stakhanov movement. Thus, new people from working men and women, who mastered the new technology, served as the force that formalized and moved forward the Stakhanov movement.
These are the conditions that gave birth to and moved forward the Stakhanov movement.
3. NEW PEOPLE - NEW TECHNICAL STANDARDS
I said that the Stakhanov movement developed not in the order of gradualness, but in the order of an explosion that broke through some kind of dam. It is obvious that he had to overcome some obstacles. Someone interfered with him, someone squeezed him, and now, having accumulated strength, the Stakhanov movement broke through these obstacles and flooded the country.
What's the matter, who actually interfered?
Old technical standards and people standing behind these standards got in the way. Several years ago, our engineering, technical and economic workers drew up well-known technical standards in relation to the technical backwardness of our men and women. Several years have passed since then. During this time, people grew up and became technically savvy. But technical standards remained unchanged. It is clear that these norms have now turned out to be outdated for our new people. Now everyone is criticizing the current technical standards. But they didn’t fall from the sky. And the point here is not at all that these technical standards were drawn up at one time as underestimated standards. The point is, first of all, that now, when these norms have become outdated, they are trying to defend them as modern norms. They cling to the technical backwardness of our men and women, focus on this backwardness, proceed from backwardness, and it finally comes to the point where they begin to play backward. Well, what if this backwardness becomes a thing of the past? Are we really going to bow down to our backwardness and make an icon, a fetish out of it? What if the men and women have already grown up and are technically savvy? What to do if the old technical standards no longer correspond to reality, and our men and women have already managed to exceed them five, ten times? Have we ever sworn allegiance to our backwardness? It seems that we didn’t have this, comrades? Did we assume that our men and women would remain backward forever? As if we didn't start from this? What's the matter then? Do we really not have the courage to break the conservatism of some of our engineers and technicians, to break the old traditions and norms and give room to the new forces of the working class?
They talk about science. They say that the data of science, the data of technical reference books and instructions contradict the demands of the Stakhanovites for new, higher technical standards. But what kind of science are we talking about here? These sciences have always been tested by practice and experience. Science that has broken ties with practice, with experience - what kind of science is this? If science were the way some of our conservative comrades portray it, it would have perished for humanity long ago. Science is called science because it does not recognize fetishes, is not afraid to raise its hand to the obsolete, old, and listens sensitively to the voice of experience and practice. If things were different, we would have no science at all, we would not have, say, astronomy and we would still be making do with the dilapidated system of Ptolemy, we would not have biology and we would still be consoled by the legend of the creation of man, we there would be no chemistry and we would still supplement ourselves with the prophecies of alchemists.
That is why I think that our engineering, technical and economic workers, who have already managed to lag considerably behind the Stakhanovist movement, would do well if they stopped clinging to old technical standards and truly, scientifically, rebuilt themselves in a new, Stakhanovist way .
Okay, they'll tell us. But what about technical standards in general? Are they needed for industry or can we do without any standards at all?
Some say that we don't need any more technical standards. This is not true, comrades. Moreover, it's stupid. Without technical standards, planned economy is impossible. Technical standards are also needed in order to bring the lagging masses closer to the advanced ones. Technical norms are a great regulatory force that organizes the broad masses of workers in production around the advanced elements of the working class. Consequently, we need technical standards, but not the ones that exist now, but higher ones.
Others say that technical standards are needed, but they must now be brought to the achievements that the Stakhanovs, Busygins, Vinogradovs and others achieved. This is also incorrect. Such standards would be unrealistic for the present time, because workers less technically savvy than the Stakhanovs and Busygins would not be able to fulfill such standards. We need technical standards that would be somewhere in the middle between the current technical standards and the standards that the Stakhanovs and Busygins achieved. Take, for example, Maria Demchenko, a well-known 500-year-old in beets. She achieved a beet yield per hectare of 500 centners or more. Is it possible to make this achievement a yield standard for the entire beet industry, say, in Ukraine? No you can not. It's too early to talk about this. Maria Demchenko achieved five hundred or more centners per hectare, and the average beet harvest, for example, in Ukraine this year is 130-132 centners per hectare. The difference, as you can see, is not small. Is it possible to give a norm for beet yield of 400 or 300 centners? All experts in the matter say that this cannot be done for now. Obviously, we will have to give the norm for yield per hectare in Ukraine for 1936 at 200-250 centners. And this norm is not small, since if it were met, it could give us twice as much sugar as in 1935. The same must be said about industry. Stakhanov exceeded the existing technical standard, it seems, ten times or even more. It would be unwise to declare this achievement a new technical norm for all jackhammer workers. It is obvious that we will have to give a norm that lies somewhere in the middle between the existing technical norm and the norm implemented by Comrade Stakhanov.
One thing, in any case, is clear: the current technical standards no longer correspond to reality, they have fallen behind and have become a brake on our industry, and in order not to slow down our industry, it is necessary to replace them with new, higher technical standards. New people, new times, new technical standards.
4. IMMEDIATE TASKS
What are our immediate tasks from the point of view of the interests of the Stakhanov movement?
In order not to be scattered, let's reduce this matter to two immediate tasks.
Firstly. The task is to help the Stakhanovites expand the Stakhanov movement further and spread it in breadth and depth to all regions and regions of the USSR. This is on the one hand. And on the other hand, to curb all those elements of economic, engineering and technical workers who stubbornly cling to the old, do not want to move forward and systematically slow down the development of the Stakhanov movement. To spread the Stakhanovist movement throughout the entire face of our country, the Stakhanovites alone are, of course, not enough. It is necessary that our party organizations get involved in this matter and help the Stakhanovites bring the movement to the end. In this regard, the Donetsk regional organization undoubtedly showed great initiative. The Moscow and Leningrad regional organizations work well in this sense. What about other areas? They are apparently still "swinging". For example, something is not heard or very little is heard about the Urals, although the Urals, as is known, are a huge industrial center. The same must be said about Western Siberia, about Kuzbass, where, by all appearances, they have not yet had time to “swing”. However, there is no doubt that our party organizations will take up this matter and help the Stakhanovites overcome difficulties. As for the other side of the matter - curbing stubborn conservatives from among economic and engineering workers - here the situation will be somewhat more complicated. First of all, we will have to convince, patiently and comradely, these conservative elements of industry of the progressiveness of the Stakhanov movement and the need to rebuild in the Stakhanov way. And if beliefs do not help, you will have to take more drastic measures. Take, for example, the People's Commissariat of Railways. In the central apparatus of this People's Commissariat, there recently existed a group of professors, engineers and other experts in the matter - among them there were communists - who assured everyone that 13-14 kilometers of commercial speed per hour is the limit beyond which it is impossible, it is impossible to move if they do not want to come into conflict with the “science of exploitation”. This was a fairly authoritative group that preached its views orally and in print, gave instructions to the relevant bodies of the NKPS and in general was the “master of thoughts” among the exploiters. We, not experts in the matter, based on the proposals of a number of railway practitioners, in turn, assured these authoritative professors that 13-14 kilometers cannot be the limit, that with a certain organization of the matter, this limit can be expanded. In response to this, this group, instead of listening to the voice of experience and practice and reconsidering its attitude to the matter, rushed to fight the progressive elements of the railroad business and further intensified the propaganda of its conservative views. It is clear that we had to punch these respected people lightly in the teeth and politely escort them out of the central office of the NKPS. And what? We now have a commercial speed of 18-19 kilometers per hour. I think, comrades, that as a last resort we will have to resort to this method in other areas of our national economy, unless, of course, stubborn conservatives stop interfering and throwing a spoke in the wheels of the Stakhanov movement.
Secondly. The task is to help those business executives, engineers and technicians who do not want to interfere with the Stakhanov Movement, who sympathize with this movement, but have not yet managed to reform, have not yet been able to lead the Stakhanov movement, to rebuild and lead the Stakhanov movement. I must say, comrades, that we have quite a few such business executives, engineers and technicians. And if we help these comrades, then we will undoubtedly have even more of them.
I think that if these tasks are completed by us, the Stakhanov movement will unfold with all its might, cover all regions and regions of our country and show us the wonders of new achievements.
5. TWO WORDS
A few words about this meeting and its significance. Lenin taught that real Bolshevik leaders can only be those leaders who know how to not only teach workers and peasants, but also learn from them. Some of the Bolsheviks did not like these words of Lenin. But history shows that Lenin was one hundred percent right in this area. In fact, millions of workers, workers and peasants work, live, and fight. Who can doubt that these people do not live in vain, that by living and fighting, these people accumulate enormous practical experience? Can there be any doubt that leaders who neglect this experience cannot be considered real leaders? Therefore, we, the leaders of the party and government, must not only teach the workers, but also learn from them. That you, members of this meeting, learned something here at the meeting from the leaders of our government, I will not deny this. But it cannot be denied that we, the leaders of the government, have learned a lot from you, from the Stakhanovites, from the members of this meeting. So, thank you, comrades, for your studies, thank you very much! ( Stormy applause.)
Finally, a few words about how this meeting should be commemorated. We conferred here at the presidium and decided that we would have to somehow mark this meeting of the government leaders with the leaders of the Stakhanov movement. And so we came to the decision that 100-120 of you will have to be nominated for the highest award.
STALIN. If you approve, comrades, then we will carry out this matter.
(Participants in the meeting of Stakhanovites give a stormy, enthusiastic ovation to Comrade Stalin. The whole hall thunders with applause, a powerful “hurray” shakes the vaults of the hall. Countless exclamations greeting the leader of the party, Comrade Stalin, are heard from all over. The ovation ends with the powerful singing of the “Internationale” - three thousand meeting participants sing the proletarian anthem.)
The text is reproduced from the edition: The First All-Union Conference of Stakhanovite Workers and Workers. November 14 - 17, 1935. Stenographer. report. - P. 363 - 376.
The period from 1935 to 1940 is known in Russian history as a time of relative commodity abundance. It was then, in 1935, that Stalin, speaking at the First All-Union Meeting of Stakhanovite workers and workers, declared: “Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun."
At this time, the food industry increased production volumes at an accelerated pace. Modern meat processing plants, fish canning plants, refrigerators, dairies, agricultural processing plants, and glass container manufacturing plants were built.
At the end of 1935, Resolution No. 1462 of the People's Commissariat of Internal Trade of the USSR “On the use of advertising methods to expand trade turnover” was published, marking the beginning of the creation of a new centralized advertising system that replaced the market element of the NEP. In the same year, the first Soviet rules for the maintenance of shop windows and signs were approved.
On February 1, 1936, Torgsin was abolished. The vacated premises were reconstructed and Gastronom stores were located in them. We have launched the production of commercial equipment and elements of external and internal decoration for state and cooperative stores.
In February, an Advertising Bureau was created under the Gostorgizdat of the People's Commissariat of Internal Trade of the USSR. Posters, leaflets, playbills, labels, directories, radio advertising, illuminated stands, illuminated advertising, advertising on trams, rental of poster stands, outdoor advertising - all this was the responsibility of the Advertising Bureau. In the same 1936, issues regarding the procedure for spending funds on advertising were resolved - advertising costs were approved in the amount of 0.1% of turnover.
At the end of 1937, the People's Commissariat of Internal Trade created the all-Union office "Soyuzkreklamtorg", designed to serve the economic organizations of the People's Commissariat system with all types of advertising, produce and sell advertising inventory and equipment. At the same time, by merging the Advertising Bureau of the USSR Narkopischeprom and the advertising department of the Main Perfumer, the Soyuzpischepromreklama office was created. Experienced professional artists were recruited in large numbers to work at the newly created advertising enterprises.
Posters and outdoor advertising introduced customers to all the new trade products produced in abundance at that time: packaged meat and butter, pasteurized bottled milk, natural juices, fruit waters, dumplings, ice cream, crackers, sausages, processed cheese, bouillon cubes, mayonnaise , ketchup, figured chocolate.
The most effective posters were selected from a variety of printing products from advertising factories and transferred to plywood firewalls using stencils. At the same time, of course, the posters had to be greatly enlarged and sometimes the composition had to be changed, adjusted to the size and configuration of the wall.
This scaling often led to the most unexpected results. Thus, a poster by the artist of the Soyuzpischepromreklama plant, S. Prokoptsev, from 1938, depicting a pike and a suckling pig with a jar of mayonnaise, when enlarged and transferred to the wall, not only multiplied the inherent tastelessness of it, but also gave birth to creepy, frightening monsters. The five-story “gastronomy victims” advertise the mayonnaise they should be consumed with.
The curtailment of trade advertising began in 1940, simultaneously with the emergence of problems in supplying the population with food and industrial goods caused by preparations for war. With the outbreak of the war, all advertising activities in the USSR were completely stopped.
The article uses materials from the books: