Since the beginning of the 20s. The relationship between Soviet Russia and the outside world was determined by a number of circumstances:

There was a decline in the revolutionary wave in Europe.

The attempt to revolutionize Europe by involving the Red Army in the period of the Soviet-Polish War ended in failure.

Based on this, the Soviet leadership is developing new model the country's behavior in the world. This model rested on two contradictory foundations:

1) the principle of proletarian internationalism. According to him, the USSR supported the communist national liberation movement in the world of a pragmatic concept

2) peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems. It implied the normalization of interstate relations with Western countries.

In Soviet foreign policy of the 20s. ideological guidelines gradually gave way to a pragmatic course. As a result, the USSR was largely able to overcome the state of diplomatic isolation. The Soviet Union was officially recognized by 22 states from different continents.

In 1929-1933. The largest economic crisis in the history of capitalism broke out. The crisis accelerated the structural restructuring of the capitalist economy and led to increased government intervention in the economy and public life.

In the context of the global crisis, it seemed to the leaders of the Comintern that a new period was beginning proletarian revolutions. Therefore, they considered the reformists to be the main enemy of the proletarians. This deepened the split in the labor movement into communist and social democratic. When in 1933 the course was taken to create broad popular fronts, it was already too late - two centers of aggression arose: fascist Germany in the West, militaristic Japan in the East.

Economic crisis 1929-1933 accelerated preparations for a new world war. In view of the increasing military threat, the Soviet Union signed treaties on mutual assistance with France and Czechoslovakia.

In 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact - a kind of military-political alliance. A year later Italy joined him. After the formation of the fascist bloc they intensified aggressive actions Germany. In March 1938, Austria was occupied and annexed by Germany. In September 1938, a conference of the heads of four powers took place in Munich: Germany, England, France, and Italy. An agreement was signed on the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia: the Sudetenland passed to Germany.

In October 1938 Japan captured South China, isolating it from outside world. In May - August 1939, Japan unleashed fighting against the USSR and Mongolia in the area of ​​the Khalkhin Gol River.

By the summer of 1939, the threat of a war on two fronts became real for the USSR. Under these conditions, the Soviet government faced the need to develop a foreign policy that would prevent a military clash in such a difficult situation of political isolation of the USSR. There were two possible directions of foreign policy decisions:

Seek the conclusion of a military alliance with England and France, which could become a barrier to aggression

Try to avoid war through negotiations with Germany, and if it is impossible to at least avoid a war on two fronts, eliminate the conflict on the river as quickly as possible. Khalkhin Gol.

The first direction began to be officially worked out by the parties in August 1939, when a joint Anglo-French military delegation arrived in Moscow, but the negotiations reached a dead end and ended without result on August 21.

The second path opened up after Berlin's persistent proposals, starting in May 1939, to conclude an agreement with the Soviet Union. The Soviet leadership knew that, along with negotiations in Moscow, England was conducting secret negotiations in Berlin. On August 15, negotiations began in Moscow between Molotov and the German Ambassador Schulenberg. On August 23, after Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow, the USSR and Germany signed a non-aggression pact.

The non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany made a stronger impression in Japan. Hiranuma's cabinet resigned. In April 1940, Japan concluded a neutrality treaty with the USSR.

To better understand what Russia was like at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, I want to quote the words of Leo Tolstoy from his letter to Nicholas 2 dated January 16, 1906. None of the historians described the situation in Russia of that era better.

Russia is in a position of increased security, that is, outside the law. The army and police (overt and covert) are increasing. The prisons are overcrowded. Even workers are now considered political prisoners. Censorship has reached the point of absurd prohibitions that it has never achieved before. Religious persecution has never been so intense. As a result, those 100 million on which Russia's power rests are impoverished. It is becoming so poor that hunger has now become a normal occurrence. Even 50 years ago, under Nicholas 1, prestige royal power stood very high. Now it has fallen so much that even representatives of the lower classes criticize not only the government, but also the tsar.

Leo Tolstoy

Population

The first official population census (without economic overtones) in the Russian Empire took place in 1897 and counted 125 million people in the country. The second census of 1914 recorded 178.1 million people (an increase of 53.1 million over 17 years). The rate of population growth was high and it was calculated that if Russia manages to reach the mid-20th century without external and internal shocks, then the population in the country will be about 350 million inhabitants.

Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was a multinational country. The same 1914 census recorded the following composition of the population:

• Russians - 44.6%
• Ukrainians - 18.1%
• Poles - 6.5%
• Jews - 4.2%
• Belarusians - 4.0%
• Kazakhs - 2.7%
• Other nations - each no more than 2%

The official language of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century is Russian. At the same time, there was no oppression on the basis of language, and other peoples could use their language for communication.

Estates

An important characteristic of the Russian population of the early 20th century was the preservation of classes. The bulk of the population are peasants, whose class made up just over 80% of the country's population. There were approximately 1.5% of nobles in Russia, but it was the leading class that consolidated power. The nobility was not united; it was divided into hereditary and personal.

The problem of the nobility was acute in Russia, since according to the reform of 1861, the nobles were formally deprived of all rights of exclusive land use. This was the starting point, after which the position of the nobility began to deteriorate, and with them the power of the Emperor became less and less strong. As a result, the events of 1917 happened.

A separate important class in Russia is the clergy. At the beginning of the 20th century it was divided into categories:

• Black (monastic). Monks who have taken a vow of celibacy.
• White (parish). Priests who are allowed to have a family.

Despite the important status of the clergy, the church continued to be under state control.

Autonomy

Autonomy is a characteristic feature of the development of the Russian state. The Empire, annexing new lands into its composition, in most cases provided these lands with autonomy, preserving their national traditions, religion, and so on. Finland had the most complete autonomy, which had its own parliament, legislation and money. I specifically emphasized this system of preserving autonomies, which was relevant at the beginning of the 20th century, so that you could compare how Russia annexed regions and how Western countries did it. Suffice it to remember that as a result of colonization North America Europeans, Indians (the indigenous population was almost completely exterminated, and the part that remained alive was placed in special reservations - pens for livestock, from which it was impossible to get out.

Autonomy was also granted to the Baltic peoples and Poland to the west. The autonomy of these regions was curtailed in terms of political freedoms, since, for example, the Polish population Always advocated the restoration of the Polish state, which means it actively fought underground against Russia.

The best indicator of maintaining the cultural integrity of autonomies was religion. Despite the dominance Orthodox Church(76% of the population), other religions also remained: Islam (11.9%), Judaism (3.1%), Protestantism (2.0%), Catholicism (1.2%).

Territory

At the beginning of the last century, Russia's scale was at its peak geographically, and naturally it was the largest country in the world. Western borders states took place with Norway, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

The Russian state included: modern Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, and partly Poland. I would like to note that the current capital of Poland, Warsaw, was part of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

We looked at the territory of Russia in Europe, since this was the theater where the main actions of that era took place. If we talk about Asia, all states that later joined the USSR were also included in Russia.

Governance and laws

Russia at the beginning of the 20th century continued to remain a monarchy, when in the 1st article of the code of laws of the country it was written that “the emperor is an autocrat with unlimited power.” Power in the country was passed on by inheritance to the eldest in the family. In this case, preference was given to males.

Control system

The main figure in the country was the Emperor. He had the main functions in governing the country. The Romanov dynasty itself and all the people who belonged to it had influence on the emperor and influenced the politics of Russia. According to the laws of that time, a member ruling dynasty Only Orthodox could be, so when representatives of other countries joined the dynasty, they were immediately baptized into the Orthodox faith.

Since 1810, Russia had a State Council, an advisory body that provided legislative ideas to the Emperor, but the adoption of laws was the sole function of the Emperor.

Executive power was concentrated in the hands of the Ministries. There was no government or prime ministers above the ministries. Each minister reported directly to the ruler (this is a feature of the imperial regime). The most important ministries of the Russian Empire of the late 19th - early 20th centuries: internal affairs, military, foreign affairs, finance and public education. Ministries created huge amount officials. According to official statistics in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century there was 1 official per 3 thousand people. It was the largest bureaucracy in the world. A typical problem for tsarist officials was corruption and bribery. This was largely due to low salaries. The obvious problem of the large apparatus of officials was the inability to accept important decisions fast.

Judicial functions

The highest judicial power in the country, since the time of Peter 1, belonged to the Senate. He performed the functions of the judiciary, supervisory authorities and interpretation of laws. The judicial power itself relied on the judicial reform of the 60s of the 19th century. Russia practiced equality, jury trials and openness. In practice, inequality still persisted, since numerous laws of the Russian Empire left many loopholes for lawyers. Whoever could hire them won in the courts.

Regarding the Russian judicial system of the early 20th century, it is important to note that a special method of judicial proceedings was applied to political criminals(anyone could be considered one of these if there was a strong desire). After the assassination of Alexander 2, the law “On the preservation of order and public peace” was adopted. According to him - in relation to political prisoners, the verdict was made not by the court, but by officials.

Local government

system local government functioned on the basis of the laws of the 60s of the 19th century. Zemstvos were created locally, which resolved exclusively local issues (construction of roads, schools, etc. By the beginning of the 20th century, the functions of the zemstvos changed somewhat. Now a bureaucratic apparatus was built over them, completely controlling all functions local authorities authorities.

Self-government bodies were divided into:

• Urban. City Dumas were formed, to which only owners of houses in the city could be elected.
• Rural. Village gatherings or “worlds” were formed.

Every year the role of local authorities became lower and lower, and more and more control organizations appeared above them.

Army and security

The Police Department (analogous to the current Ministry of Internal Affairs) dealt with internal security issues. The police network was extensive and, on the whole, did not cope with its functions well enough. It is enough to recall only the numerous attempts on members of the imperial house to be convinced of this.

The size of the army at the beginning of the 20th century exceeded 900 thousand people. The army continued to remain regular, formed on the principle of conscription. Conscription was universal, but benefits were provided. The only sons in the family, breadwinners, teachers and doctors were exempt from military service. Today there is a lot of talk about the fact that the army of the Russian Empire was the best in the world. You can definitely argue with this. It is enough to recall the Russo-Japanese War to understand that the problems in the army and in its administration were significant. The limitations of the command are also emphasized by the First World War, in which Russia entered practically without artillery (the command was convinced that this was a hopeless type of weapon). In reality, 75% of all losses in that war were from artillery.

Economy

The problems that characterized Russia at the end of the 19th century were reflected in the economic development of the country at the beginning of the 20th century. It is no coincidence that at this stage there are 2 revolutions and significant discontent among the population. There are 3 points of view on the economy of that era:

If we highlight the main features of the Russian economy of that period, we can highlight: the formation of monopolies, the preservation of a largely serf-based economic system, complete dependence economy from the state, unevenness economic development regions.

The state made attempts to solve the problem that had accumulated in the economy. For this purpose, Witte's reforms and Stolypin's agrarian reform were undertaken. These reforms did not radically change the situation, and at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia there was a decline in production and the standard of living of the majority of the population. This is where the social dynamite that exploded in 1917 lies.

The situation in the village

The events of 1893 are very important for understanding the situation in the Russian village at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. This year a law was passed limiting the community's right to redistribute land. Now the land was divided once every 12 years. What does it mean? Every 12 years the land was divided anew. That is, the community took land plot from one peasant and gave it to another. Some historians talk about the low significance of these events, but this is not so. The land issue has always been very acute in Rus' and most riots, uprisings and revolutions happened precisely because of the land issue. In the best possible way Subsequent events represent the significance of the 1893 law. It is enough to add 12 years to convince of this. The following dates are obtained:

• 1905 (1893 + 12) - first revolution
• 1917 (1905 + 12) - February and beyond October Revolution
• 1929 (1917 + 12) - beginning of collectivization

Due to the nature of the redistribution, agriculture suffered greatly. There was no point in investing in land. Anyway, after 12 years this plot will be given to someone else. Therefore, it was necessary to squeeze out the maximum in 12 years, and then let another owner think about restoring the land’s productivity. And this point of view was widespread!

Once again I want to emphasize the years of land redistribution: 1905, 1917, 1929. These are the most important years of Russian history, and if they are considered without taking into account the specifics of land redistribution, it is impossible to understand the real events in the Russian village in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. After all, the overwhelming majority of the population were peasants, and they are fed by the land. Therefore, in the literal sense of the word, the peasants were ready to kill for the land.

International relations

After the reign of Alexander 3, Russia was very often characterized as a powerful country, but too distant from European political processes. This was fully consistent with the interests of the Empire, and Nicholas 2 promised to continue this policy. This could not be done. As a result, Russia was drawn into a world war.

The early 20th century saw the rise of the German Empire, which grew stronger every year and showed signs of bringing Europe under its control. If we consider this process objectively, Germany did not threaten Russia in any way, but Nicholas 2, who in words guaranteed the Empire’s path to isolation from European intrigues, was in fact afraid of Germany and began to look for allies. Thus began a rapprochement with France, and after the signing of the Franco-English treaty, the Entente was formed. I will not now describe in detail the idiocy of the behavior of Nicholas 2 (this topic is well discussed in the material about the First World War), but it was his fear of Germany that allowed Russia to be drawn into the war, where its Entente allies (France and England) did not help at all and more interfered.

Traditional rival of Russia - Ottoman Empire- was experiencing a clear decline and questions were increasingly raised in Russian society that Constantinople should be taken away from Turkey. It is noteworthy that this should have happened (all documents were signed) after the First World War. This is where one of the reasons lies Western countries recognized so quickly Russian revolution legitimate

In the first half of the 20s main task domestic policy consisted of restoring the economy destroyed by the world and civil wars, creating a material and technical base for the transition to the construction of socialism.

The main task of foreign policy was to overcome the political, economic and cultural isolation of the RSFSR from the West, to which it moved after the failure civil war and foreign intervention. The post-war Russian economy was in dire condition. The population decreased by 10.9 million people. During the hostilities, the Donbass, Baku oil region, the Urals and Siberia were particularly affected. Due to a lack of fuel and raw materials, plants and factories stopped. Traffic stopped at 30 railways. Inflation increased uncontrollably. Skilled workers left the cities and went to the countryside to escape hunger. This led to a narrowing of the base of the dictatorship of the proletariat. For example, Petrograd lost 60% of workers when Putilovsky, Obukhovsky and other enterprises closed, Moscow - 50%.

Foreign policy of the USSR in the 20-30s. developed towards the establishment of official diplomatic relations with other states and illegal attempts to transport revolutionary ideas. With the advent of understanding the impossibility of immediately implementing a world revolution, more attention began to be paid to strengthening the external stability of the regime.

In the early 20s. The USSR achieved the lifting of the economic blockade. The decree of the Council of People's Commissars on concessions dated November 23, 1920 played a positive role. The signing of trade agreements with England, Germany, Norway, Italy, Denmark and Czechoslovakia meant the actual recognition of the Soviet state. 1924-1933 - years of gradual recognition of the USSR. In 1924 alone, diplomatic relations were established with thirteen capitalist countries. The first Soviet People's Commissars for Foreign Affairs were G.V. Chicherin and M.M. Litvinov. They achieved great success in the international development of the Soviet state thanks to the brilliant education and manners received in Tsarist Russia. It was through their efforts that relations with England were renewed, peace and trade treaties were signed with France, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and thereby the cordon between the Soviet Union and Europe was lifted.

At the end of the 20s there was a sharp deterioration international situation USSR. The reason for this was the Soviet government's support for the national liberation movement in China. There was a rupture in diplomatic relations with England due to attempts to provide material support to striking English workers. Religious leaders of the Vatican and England called for a crusade against Soviet Russia.

The policy of the Soviet state changed in accordance with the change political situation in the world. In 1933, after the National Socialist dictatorship came to power in Germany, the Soviet Union began to show interest in creating a system of collective security in Europe.

In 1934, the USSR was admitted to the League of Nations.

In 1935, the USSR concluded an agreement with France on mutual assistance in the event of aggression in Europe. Hitler saw this as an anti-German move and used it to seize the Rhineland.

In 1936, German intervention in Italy and Spain began. The USSR provided support to the Spanish Republicans, sending equipment and specialists. Fascism began to spread across Europe.

In March 1938, Germany captured Austria. In September 1938, a conference was held in Munich with the participation of Germany, England, France and Italy, general decision to which Germany was given the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia.

The USSR condemned this decision.

Germany invades Czechoslovakia and Poland.

The tense situation remained in the Far East. In 1938-1939 armed clashes occurred with units of the Japanese Kwantung Army on Lake Khasan, the Khalkhin Gol River and in Mongolia. The USSR achieved territorial concessions.

Having made several unsuccessful attempts to create a system of collective security in Europe, the Soviet government set a course for rapprochement with Germany.

The main purpose of this policy was to avoid premature military conflict.

In August 1939, a non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR (Molotov-Ribbentrop) and a secret protocol on the delimitation of spheres of influence were signed. Poland went to Germany, the USSR - the Baltic states, Eastern Poland, Finland, Western Ukraine, Northern Bukovina. Diplomatic relations with England and France were severed.

November 30, 1939 began Soviet-Finnish war, which caused enormous financial, military and political damage to the country.

Topic 13. COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD IN THE 20S OF THE XX CENTURY

1. Economic development of Soviet Russia in the 1920s. New economic policy.

2. Internal political development of Soviet Russia in the 1920s. Education of the USSR.

3. The creation and development of the global Versailles-Washington system and its influence on the foreign policy of the USSR in the 1920s.

4. The NEP crisis in the second half of the 1920s. Intra-party struggle and its results.

At the end of 1920, the Civil War ended in Russia, but the situation in the country did not improve, but rather worsened even more.

In the spring of 1921, the country was experiencing a powerful socio-economic crisis, which threatened the Bolsheviks with the loss of all the gains of October and the civil war. The crisis gripped all spheres of the economic life of society, which found itself on the verge of complete disaster as a result of wars that lasted 7 years.

The economic situation also had a negative impact on the internal political situation in the country. Peasants, dissatisfied with the surplus appropriation system, began to reduce the area under crops, and refused to hand over the grown grain to the state. In order to obtain food for the starving cities, the government was forced to resort to force, to which the peasants responded with uprisings. At the beginning of 1921, more than 40 large peasant armed uprisings were recorded. There was a strong insurgency in Western Siberia, where the rebel peasants even managed to capture several cities. Antonov's uprising unfolded in the Central Black Earth Region, covering modern Voronezh, Oryol and Tambov regions.

Supervisor peasant uprising in the Central Black Earth Region A.S. Antonov

The unstable situation was not only in rural areas, but also in cities. The reduction in military production, the closure of factories, the reduction of food rations, high prices and continued inflation caused worker strikes in Moscow, Petrograd, Voronezh and other large industrial centers.

The culmination of the crisis was the uprising in March 1921 of the sailors of the Kronstadt fortress. They demanded greater rights for peasants and free elections, putting forward the slogan “Soviets, but without communists.”

As a way out of the socio-economic crisis, V.I. Lenin proposed replacing surplus appropriation with a tax in kind, which fixed a fixed percentage of the harvest. The tax in kind became the basis of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which was proposed by Lenin at the X Congress of the RCP (b), held in March 1921.

V.I. Lenin with members of the X RCP(b). Moscow, March 1921 Similar pictures

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The NEP was supposed to replace war communism and provide a way out of the crisis by strengthening economic union workers and peasants. This was a whole complex of socio-economic measures designed to improve the health of Soviet society. But the NEP was characterized by changes not only in the economic sphere, but also in the domestic and foreign policies of the Soviet state.

Legislative formalization of the new economic policy began in the spring of 1921. First of all, measures are being taken to improve the situation in agriculture. In May of this year, a tax in kind was introduced, fixing a firmly established percentage of the harvest that the peasants handed over to the state; they could freely sell the surplus on the market. In addition, the tax in kind was half the size of the surplus appropriation system and was announced in advance on the eve of the sowing season; when it was collected, differentiated approach, when the more prosperous layers of the village, these included the kulaks, handed over more grain to the state than the less prosperous middle peasants and the poor.

The next stage was the adoption in October 1922 of the new land code of the RSFSR. According to it, peasants received the right to freely leave the community and choose forms of land use. Allowed, although limited size, land rental and the use of hired labor. The state encouraged the development of simple forms of cooperation: consumer, trade, credit, etc. In total there were about 50 different associations. The new legislation on cooperation was initiated by the decree of April 7, 1921.

As a result of all these measures, agriculture in the 1920s. experienced an economic boom, which was reflected in a significant increase in sown areas and an increase in the well-being of peasants. And already in 1922 we managed to get a large harvest.

Simultaneously with reforms in the field agriculture, measures were taken aimed at restoring industry and financial system countries. In the fall of 1921, a number of decrees were issued that stimulated the development of handicraft and small industry, some enterprises of the latter were transferred into private hands. But there were few of them by the end of the 1920s. The capitalist sector in industry covered about 20% of all enterprises, mostly small ones, the remaining 80% were controlled by the state. In management state industry the principles of economic and commercial calculation began to be used. Attempts were made to attract foreign capital to the country; for this purpose, various concessions were created in Soviet Russia, mainly for the exploitation natural resources. By 1927, about 65 foreign concessions had been created on the territory of the USSR.

But the pace of industrial growth turned out to be slow, especially in the first half of the 1920s. The crisis in industry was overcome only in 1924. Industries initially revived light industry, working for the peasant market, heavy industry continued to lag behind. In 1924, the annual volume industrial production was two and a half times the number of goods produced in 1920 and now amounted to 40% of the 1913 (pre-war) level, of which the metallurgical industry accounted for only 28%.

By 1927, the level of industrial production exceeded the pre-war level, which is explained by the end of the recovery period and the resumption of work of most existing enterprises. But at the same time, the industry faced a serious problem: a radical change was required in the operating equipment, which had been in use since the early 1910s, which required large capital investments.

The revival of industry and agriculture was facilitated by financial reform. It was carried out in 1922-1924. and its result was the introduction of a new financial unit backed by gold. In the fall of 1922, the State Bank began issuing treasury notes of a new denomination - chervonets, equal in value to 1 “gold” ruble.

People's Commissar of Finance G.Ya. Sokolnikov

Gold ruble 1923

So, in the early 1920s. the Soviet government implemented a whole range of socio-economic measures: a progressive income tax on the peasantry (1921-1922 - tax in kind), legalization of commodity-money relations, freedom of trade, permission to rent small enterprises, free hiring of labor, abolition of the card system and rationed supplies , ordering financial sector, admission of foreign capital. Consequently, the NEP differed from war communism in the use of market relations in the economy in transition period from capitalism to socialism with the coexistence of different economic structures. General features of both of the above systems was the preservation under state control of large industry, transport, communications, the use of harsh administrative measures in management economic life countries, unequal economic exchange with the countryside and curbing the growth of private enterprise.

War communism and the NEP had both common goal, which was expressed in the construction of a socialist model of society under the dictatorship of the proletariat.

As a result of the reforms carried out, the situation in the country stabilized not only economically, but also politically: the consumer market was replenished and hunger subsided, which improved people's lives, riots and uprisings stopped, and there was a transition from civil war to national harmony. A sign of economic recovery was the annually increasing export of products and raw materials from the country: 75% of it consisted of agricultural products, including grain; other important exports were timber and oil.

The completion of the formation of the new Soviet state, which was reflected in the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also played a positive role in internal political stabilization. Back in 1918, after the proclamation of the RSFR, other national entities controlled by communist parties arose on the territory of the former Russian Empire. In most cases, contacts between the RSFSR and other Soviet republics passed through unions, and they were considered formally independent states. But there were also autonomous republics that were part of the RSFSR. Some representatives of the leadership of the RCP (b) did not distinguish between the allied and autonomous republics and believed that both those and others should be completely controlled by the center in all their affairs.

One of the manifestations of these contradictions was the “Georgian incident,” when the leaders of the Communist Party of Georgia opposed the autonomization project and defended the idea of ​​Georgia’s independent (and not as part of the Transcaucasian Republic) entry into the union on the principles of sovereignty. They were opposed by I.V. Stalin, as well as N.I. Ordzhonikidze and F.I. Dzerzhinsky.

Having read the materials of the commission and learned about the “Georgian incident” V.I. In November 1922, Lenin sent a letter to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) outlining the exact plan for the formation of the USSR. In this letter, Lenin demanded that the RSFSR recognize itself as equal in rights with other republics, and together with them create a new state.

The process of formation of the USSR entered its final phase in the second half of 1922. As a first step, the three Transcaucasian republics - Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan - were united into the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (TSFSR). In December 1922, a congress of representatives of four republics - the RSFSR, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Transcaucasian - was held in Moscow, who signed a union treaty and voted for the creation of the USSR. Then the delegates of these four republics gathered together, proclaimed their congress the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR and elected a commission to prepare a draft constitution. In July 1923, the Constitution of the USSR was approved and then formally ratified on January 31, 1924 at the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR.

Coat of arms of the USSR 1920s.

Economic stabilization and the completion of state construction of Soviet society contributed to the partial liberalization of the ruling regime. The armed forces were significantly reduced (by 10 times), the coercive system was weakened, and the Soviets were revived, which during the civil war turned into simple executors of party decisions. There was an active recruitment of old specialists, primarily into economic management bodies. There was an increase wages technical intelligentsia, conditions were created for its creative work etc.

In the first half of the 1920s. Some representatives of the Bolshevik leadership began to advocate the formation of legal guarantees for the implementation of the new economic policy. Under their influence, the Cheka reform was carried out, as a result of which this body was abolished, and the State political administration under the NKVD. At the end of the investigation, all cases began to be referred to court. A number of laws were adopted aimed at strengthening law and order: the law on labor land use, the Criminal Code, a decree on basic private and property rights, etc. In 1922, a state prosecutor's office was established, a people's court, a provincial court, and the Supreme Court of the Republic with elected judges and people's assessors were created.

In the first half of the 1920s. many hoped that the economic pluralism that arose as a result of the introduction of the NEP would lead to a gradual democratization of public life. However, the Bolshevik leaders, on the contrary, considered it necessary to further brutalize the political regime, otherwise the NEP would not lead to socialism, but would return the country back to capitalism. The country retained constitutional provisions on the deprivation of political rights individual categories citizens, among whom were entrepreneurs, clergy and others, the so-called former, who were prohibited from participating in elections. In the 1920s, persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church and the opposition intelligentsia continued.

On issues related to the NEP, a struggle broke out between representatives of various political parties. The Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks saw in it the possibility of creating the necessary preconditions for socialist construction without revolutionary explosions and cataclysms. But they were not allowed to discuss these issues for a long time; the XII Party Conference of the RCP (b), held in August 1922, recognized all anti-Bolshevik parties as “anti-Soviet”. In the same year, a major political trial, over the Socialist Revolutionary Party, after which its activities were banned. In June 1923, the Central Committee of the RCP(b) developed a secret instruction “On measures to combat the Mensheviks.” According to scientists, the Socialist Revolutionaries in 1923 and the Mensheviks in 1924 ceased to exist as an organized force on the territory of the USSR.

Thus, the socio-political development of the Soviet state in the 1920s was not adequate economic transformation. Economic “freedom” was not accompanied by a deep reform of the Soviet political system, and true democratization did not occur. But at the same time, the suppression of the political opposition further strengthened the power of the Bolsheviks, and thereby contributed to stabilization in the country. This allowed the Soviet state in the first half of the 1920s. get out of foreign policy isolation and restore its position in the international arena.

International politics in the first half of the 1920s. characterized by the establishment of the so-called Versailles-Washington system. It was based on peace treaties signed by the Entente countries with the states of the Quadruple Alliance that lost the First World War - Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey. These treaties, called Versailles, Saint-Germain, and Sevres, were the result of the Paris Peace Conference held in 1919 - 1920. One more the most important result Her work was the formation of the League of Nations. The task of the League of Nations was to resolve economic issues, carry out disarmament and establish a system of collective security. If the provisions of the Versailles Peace Conference concerned mainly disarmament ground armies, then at the Washington Peace Conference of 1922, issues of limiting the naval armament of developed capitalist countries were considered. The provisions of the Washington Peace Conference supplemented the Versailles anti-war agreements and became the basis for the agreement in force in the 1920s and 30s. collective security systems. The League of Nations acted as its guarantor.

Creators of the Versailles Peace: Lloyd George, Clemenceau,

Woodrow Wilson. Paris, 1919

Not all countries agreed with the provisions of the Versailles collective agreements; for example, China refused to ratify them due to the conflict with Japan over the Shandong Peninsula, which was a German colony before the First World War, and was occupied by Japan in 1919. The United States also refused to join the League of Nations and did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles, an integral part of which was its Charter. Instead, they signed a special US-German peace treaty.

President of China in 1921 Sun Yat-sen

However, despite all these difficulties, the League of Nations became the first international organization with a permanent secretariat, headquartered in Geneva. It was an organization in which not only major European powers and the United States took part, but also a number of independent and semi-dependent countries in Asia and Africa, Latin American countries and the British dominions. Nevertheless, the Versailles system, operating under the control of the League of Nations, met, first of all, the interests of the European countries that won the First World War. The mandate system gave them the right to administer the colonial territories of countries defeated in war. So Syria and Palestine, which belonged to Turkey before 1918, were in 1919-1920. were divided between France and Britain. Representatives of these two European countries mainly controlled the work of the League of Nations.

Palace of the League of Nations in Geneva. Other characters

and this international organization did not have logos

Soviet Russia, which was in the early 1920s. in international isolation, claimed active participation in European politics. Despite the fact that its leaders advocated the destruction of the capitalist system and the establishment of the power of workers and peasants throughout the world economic interests forced European countries to come closer to her. The first step in this direction was taken by Great Britain, which concluded a treaty agreement in 1921. trade agreement with Soviet Russia. In January of the following 1922, representatives of Soviet Russia received permission to take part in the Cannes International Conference. In April - May of the same year, the delegation of Soviet Russia arrived at the conference in Genoa. The German delegation was also present at the Genoa Peace Conference with her. The work of the conference was led by representatives of England and France. Both countries tried to impose their terms of the agreement on Soviet Russia and Germany, but did not receive consent from them. At the same time, the delegations of Soviet Russia and Germany held a joint meeting in Rapallo, which resulted in an agreement to renounce any economic and diplomatic claims and conclude a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance.

Soviet delegation at the Genoa Conference.

In the center, People's Commissar G.V. Chicherin

It should be pointed out that in the early 1920s, Germany was just as much of an outcast country as Soviet Russia. Germany, which lost the war and was forced to pay monetary reparations to the victorious countries at the turn of the 1910-1920s. found itself in a state of acute socio-economic and political crisis. The democratic government of the Weimar Republic, which came to power in 1918, was not in control of the situation. Extremist, revanchist, and in some lands, for example in Bavaria, separatist sentiments were growing in the country. In addition, Germany actually operated an armed force not controlled by the government, called the Freikorps ( Volunteer Corps). In 1920, the leaders of the Freikorps, together with conservative political leaders organized the so-called “Kapp putsch”. This was an attempt at a coup d'état directed against the Weimar government and the Treaty of Versailles. It was headed by the leader of the German Fatherland Party W. Kapp, generals E. Ludendorff, W. Luttwitz and others. However, the putsch failed due to the active protest of the democratic forces of the Weimar Republic, center-right parties and trade unions. The seizure of Berlin by the conspirators was disrupted by a general strike of railway workers and workers. The conspirators found themselves in political isolation and were forced to stop anti-government actions; their leader Kapp refused political activity.

However, despite the failure of the coup d'etat, the internal political situation in Germany was far from stabilizing. Economic and political chaos continued to expand in the country. In the eyes of the majority of the population, the Weimar Republic was illegitimate and its leaders were treated as traitors installed by foreign governments. As a counterweight to them, various radical groups began to be created. political parties right and left directions. Some political associations had their own armed units, formed from former front-line soldiers and members of the Freikorps. Among such groups, the organization “Steel Helmet”, a nationalist association of former military personnel created in 1918, especially stood out.

It was at this time, on the wave of general discontent and confusion in the capital of Bavaria, the city of Munich, that a small nationalist party was formed, called the National Socialist Workers of Germany (NDSAP). At the beginning of 1921, it was headed by a retired corporal and part-time police informant Adolf Hitler. Quite quickly, under the leadership of Hitler, the NDSAP began to gain popularity among the population of Bavaria and already at the end of 1921 there were 3 thousand people in it. In addition to political activities, Adolf Hitler’s party also waged a kind of armed struggle with its political opponents, for which Hitler created a kind of party militia called assault troops, or SA.

It should be said that Hitler, in the early 1920s, in his political activities copied another European dictator, Benito Mussolini, who came to power in Italy in 1922. Mussolini seized power in the country with the help of an armed campaign against Rome. It was as a result of this campaign that he managed to head the government of the Italian Republic, giving himself the title “Duce” i.e. leader. In his political speeches, Mussolini called for the unification of the “young nations” in the struggle against the “old” to recreate the “great Latin Empire.” Immediately after seizing power, Mussolini began to use the tactics of “constructive aggression” in international politics; its goal was to create a military alliance of the countries of South-Eastern Europe directed against England and France. To this end, in 1925, Italy and Hungary first concluded a trade agreement in 1925, and a friendship agreement in 1927.

B. Mussolini

Hitler kept a close eye on political career Mussolini tried to copy and develop his political techniques in his activities. Its only difference was that Hitler did not advocate “constructive”, but open aggression to expand living space for Germany in the east. In early November 1923, Hitler became convinced that the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse, and decided, following the example of his political teacher, to carry out a “march on Berlin” to overthrow the German government, consisting of “Jewish-Marxist traitors.” The first stage of the Nazi revolution, in his opinion, was to take place in Munich, where Hitler, with the help of the SA, intended to overthrow the local Bavarian land government and win over the army. The “March on Berlin” began in a Munich beer hall, where Hitler gave an incendiary speech, after which his supporters tried to seize power in the city. These events took place on November 10th. The next day, November 11, regular army units entered Munich and the uprising was suppressed, and Hitler was arrested a few days later. The following year, 1924, a trial was held against Hitler and several of his political supporters, which ended in sentencing. Hitler was sentenced to imprisonment in the Landsberg fortress for a period of one year. It was in prison that Hitler wrote his famous book “My Struggle”.

The difficult economic and political situation in Germany caused concern in other European countries and the United States. The leaders of capitalist countries feared the communists coming to power there. To improve the situation in Germany, a so-called expert committee was created under the leadership of the American economist Charles Dawes, which was supposed to develop a set of stabilization measures economic situation Germany. As a result of his work, the so-called “Dawes Plan” was adopted, approved at the London Conference in July - August 1924. In accordance with this plan, France withdrew its troops from the Ruhr industrial region occupied by it. Economic sanctions on the Rhineland industrial region were lifted. At the same time, Germany was provided with a large financial loan in the amount of 800 million marks, and the amount of annual reparation payments was significantly reduced.

The following year, 1925, representatives of Germany were invited to an international conference in Locarno, at which several agreements were concluded with it. The most important of them was the agreement on Germany's admission to the League of Nations. In addition, at the Locarno conference, the Rhine Guarantee Pact was signed on the inviolability of the German-French and German-Belgian borders and the preservation of the demilitarization of the Rhineland. At the same time, Germany has not signed any agreements regarding its eastern borders, which gave her the opportunity after 11 years to terminate the Treaty of Locarno and remilitarize the Rhineland.

A major role in the work of the conference was played by supporters of the pan-European movement, who advocated the creation of a renewed and independent European Union, capable of resisting other political poles - America, Russia, British Empire, East Asia. Implementation of this political idea was the signing of the Briand-Kellogg Pact in 1928 (Briand was the Prime Minister of France, and Kellogg was the US Secretary of State). This pact contained important international legal norms: the renunciation of war as a means of resolving international disputes and the resolution of any conflicts by peaceful means. IN different times 48 states joined the pact, including the USA, France, Great Britain, Japan, the USSR, and Germany. In fact, the Briand-Kellogg Pact completed the formation of the Versailles-Washington system.

The USSR also pursued an active foreign policy towards Asian countries, first of all, border ones. Here Soviet diplomacy managed to achieve significant successes, during which it even managed to displace the position of the British Empire in the Middle East. The first success was achieved in Afghanistan, where in 1919 forces came to power and announced an independent political course. After a short military conflict, the British government had to recognize the full sovereignty of this country in matters of domestic and foreign policy. The new Afghan government in the first half of the 1920s. established close contacts with the government of Soviet Russia. Soviet military advisers who took part in the process of rearmament of the Afghan army were even invited to Afghanistan.

In the early 1920s. Soviet Russia intensified its presence in Iran. Here diplomatic activity partially supported by active hostilities in northern Iran, where on May 18, 1920 the Red Caspian flotilla captured the port of Anzeli. This successful combat operation served as the impetus for the powerful national liberation movement that unfolded in 1920–1921. Under his influence, the Iranian Majlis (parliament) refused to ratify the treaty signed with Great Britain on a de facto protectorate over this country. This was a sensitive blow to the foreign policy ambitions of the British Empire. In May 1923, the British Foreign Minister D. Curzon sent an ultimatum to the Soviet government demanding that it stop propaganda activities in Afghanistan and Iran, and protested against the detention of British fishing vessels in Soviet territorial waters, the prosecution of the Catholic priest Butkevich, the execution during the Civil War of the English citizen Hudson, accused of espionage. This course of bitter relations with Soviet Russia only harmed the reputation of the British government.

In the early 1920s. Soviet Russia provided great assistance to Turkey, where at that time significant changes were taking place in its state structure. It should be noted that Türkiye at the end of 1918 was occupied by the troops of the Entente countries. When Greece began military operations in Asia Minor the following year, 1919, the country found itself on the verge of complete extinction. However, this could not be accepted by healthy patriotic forces led by General Mustafa Kemal, under whose leadership the National Congress was held in Ankara, which demanded the restoration of the Turkish state within national borders. The Ottoman Sultan's government responded to this by imposing death sentences on Mustafa Kemal and his associates.

But here the Soviet government came to their aid, which, after the liberation of Yerevan and the territory of the modern Republic of Armenia by the Red Army, concluded a friendship treaty with Turkey in 1921 and provided Kemal with a large loan and weapons for the national Turkish army he was creating. This treaty was called the Kars Treaty; in addition to the RSFSR and Turkey, it was signed by the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian Soviet Republics. According to it, the Caucasian border was recognized. As a result of the Soviet support received, the national Turkish army under the command of Kemal was able to liberate from Greek occupation Asia Minor and liquidate the sultanate. In 1923, the new Turkish national government in Ankara signed the Lausanne Treaty with the Entente countries, according to which occupation forces were withdrawn from Turkey, capitulations and reparations were canceled. Also in 1923, Mustafa Kemal (from 1934 - Kemal Ataturk) became president of the Turkish Republic. At the same time, the Republican People's Party was founded, under whose leadership major reforms took place in the country. The prerequisite for their implementation was the exclusion of religious Islamic law from governance, the constitution, legal proceedings and education. During the educational reform, a new Latin alphabet was introduced and Arabic writing was banned, and the compulsory teaching of Arabic and Persian in higher education was abolished.

Kemal Ataturk

In addition to intensifying its activities in the Middle East, the diplomacy of Soviet Russia conducted in the first half of the 1920s. and active politics in the countries of the Far East. In 1920 – 1921 The RSFSR supported the national liberation movement in Mongolia, where a revolutionary government led by Ulaanbaatar came to power. Close partnerships in the first half of the 1920s. established between Soviet Russia and China. On May 31, 1924, an agreement on mutual recognition was signed between the USSR and China in Beijing.

At the same time, it should be noted that Soviet foreign policy during the NEP years experienced certain contradictions. On the one hand, national interests required peaceful coexistence with foreign countries; on the other hand, the Soviet leadership, directing the activities of the Comintern, continued to think (although not as clearly as before) about the world revolution, which complicated contacts with the world community and aroused its distrust (1927 - severance of diplomatic relations with England; 1929 - Soviet-Chinese conflict).

The NEP model of socio-economic development experienced various difficulties. First of all, class differentiation worsened and confrontation between individual groups intensified. social groups Soviet society. Thanks to the legalization of market relations, the growth of wealthy and entrepreneurial strata was observed: in the city - the “new bourgeoisie” (NEPmen), in the countryside - kulaks. In turn, less prosperous groups of the population demanded that decisive measures be taken against the bourgeois strata of the city and countryside. There were contradictions in the country between commodity-money relations and centralized leadership. It should also be noted that a market economy at its inception stage is accompanied by negative aspects: rising unemployment, inflation, increasing property inequality, etc. But this was contrary to the principles social policy Soviet power, the essence of which was to protect the interests of workers and peasants. And as soon as negative trends became apparent, the government had to use various methods To eliminate them, initially they were economic; in the second half of the 1920s, purely administrative ones were used.

During the implementation of the new economic policy, Soviet society experienced three deep socio-economic crises: 1923 - 1924. “price scissors crisis”; 1925 – 1926 the first grain procurement crisis; 1927 – 1928 second grain procurement crisis.

The collapse of the NEP was also accelerated by the development that unfolded after the death of V.I. Lenin's struggle for power between various political leaders and their supporters. The Bolshevik Communist Party in the 1920s did not represent a single monolithic structure, even at the turn of 1920-21. currents appeared in it that criticized the leadership for the predominance of military, bureaucratic, and undemocratic methods of management. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in March 1921, at the X Congress of the RCP (b), after long discussions, a resolution “On Party Unity” was adopted, which prohibited intra-party factions and groupings. However, this did not save the party from internal conflicts and struggles, arising mainly in connection with: 1) with the personal rivalry of the Bolshevik leadership for power (especially after the death of V.I. Lenin in January 1924); 2) with different understandings of the problems of building a new society.

The internal party struggle resulted in the form of discussions: 1923 – 1924. - fight against Trotskyists; 1925 – fight against the “new opposition”, supporters of Kamenev and Zinoviev; 1926 – 1927 – fight against the “united Trotskyist-Zinoviev bloc.”

In the leadership of the RCP(b) (since 1925 - VKP(b)), three factions took shape during the discussions: 1) the left, led by L.D. Trotsky advocated strengthening the planned economy, for a rapid pace of industrialization, for an attack on wealthy peasants, for limiting private capital; 2) the right (leader - N.I. Bukharin), believed that the planned economy should not be overly tough; advocated accelerated pace industrialization and the involvement of peasants in socialism through cooperation; they were more tolerant of private capital and the wealthy strata of the village. In addition, they stood on the principles of consistent development of the NEP based on the methods of “ civil peace"and the preservation of internal party democracy; 3) center headed by I.V. Stalin maneuvered, depending on the situation in the country, between the right and the left. Initially, Stalin supported Bukharin and the right-wing program, then, in the second half of the 1920s. after Trotsky's defeat, he accepts the program of the left.

Leaders of the CPSU(b) of the second half of the 1920s.

Initially, the internal party struggle was carried out through discussions, but after strengthening his personal power, Stalin began to use methods of administrative and judicial influence against political opponents.

As a result of intense internal party struggle by the end of the 1920s. Two main alternatives for the further economic development of the Soviet state were clearly identified: Bukharin (NEP) and Stalinist (anti-NEP). N.I. Bukharin and his supporters advocated harmonious, balanced development

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The most comprehensive reference table of major dates and events Russian history of the 20th century from 1900 to 1940. This table is convenient for schoolchildren and applicants to use for self-study, in preparation for tests, exams and the Unified State Exam in history.