Topic 15. World War II and the post-war world order

1.

International relations on the eve of the Second World War. Reasons for the instability of the system of international relations. The impact of the global economic crisis of 1929-1933. to intensify rivalry between leading powers. The threat to world stability from fascist states. Foreign policy program of the Nazi Party of Germany. Causes of World War II. Beginning of World War II.

2. USSR on the eve and during the Great Patriotic War

The policy of creating a collective security system. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and secret protocols on the delimitation of spheres of influence. German attack on Poland. Entry of Soviet troops into Western Ukraine and Belarus. War with Finland.

The main stages of the Great Patriotic War. Plan "Barbarossa". Failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the war and their reasons. Restructuring the country's life on a war footing. Defensive battles in the summer and autumn of 1941. The defeat of fascist troops near Moscow was a decisive military-political event in the first year of the war. Order No. 227 of July 28, 1942 “Not a step back.” Defense of Stalingrad. Battles in the Caucasus. A radical turning point in the course of the war and its victorious conclusion. Worldwide historical significance and lessons of the Great Patriotic War.

3. International relations after the Second World War. Cold War: confrontation between socialist and capitalist systems

Results of the Second World War. Nuremberg Tribunal. Creation of the UN, its composition, structure and functions. Causes of the Cold War. Fulton speech by W. Churchill. "Iron curtain". "Truman Doctrine". Marshall Plan. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marks the beginning of the nuclear age. Creation of hostile military-political blocs of NATO and the Warsaw Department. Arms race.

1. The Second World War as a manifestation of the crisis of modern civilization

The birth of fascism. The world on the eve of World War II

Fascism was a reflection and result of the development of the main contradictions of Western civilization. His ideology absorbed (to the point of grotesquery) the ideas of racism and social equality, technocratic and statist concepts. An eclectic interweaving of various ideas and theories resulted in the form of an accessible populist doctrine and demagogic politics. The National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany grew out of the Free Workers' Committee for the Achievement of good world" - a circle founded in 1915 by a worker Anton Drexler. At the beginning of 1919, other National Socialist organizations were created in Germany. In November 1921, a fascist party was created in Italy, numbering 300 thousand members, of which 40% were workers. Recognizing this political force, the King of Italy instructed the leader of this party in 1922 Benito Mussolini

According to the same scenario, the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933. Party leader Adolf Hitler(1889-1945) receives the position of Reich Chancellor from the hands of the President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934).

From the first steps, the fascists established themselves as irreconcilable anti-communists, anti-Semites, good organizers capable of reaching all segments of the population, and revanchists. Their activities could hardly have been so rapidly successful without the support of the revanchist monopolistic circles of their countries. The existence of their direct connections with the fascists is beyond doubt, if only because the leaders of the criminal regime and the largest economic magnates of fascist Germany (G. Schacht, G. Krupp) were nearby in the dock at Nuremberg in 1945. It can be argued that the financial resources of the monopolies contributed to the fascisation of countries, the strengthening of fascism, designed not only to destroy the communist regime in the USSR (anti-communist idea), inferior peoples (the idea of ​​racism), but also to redraw the world map, destroying the Versailles system of the post-war system (revanchist idea).

The phenomenon of fascisation in a number of European countries demonstrated even more clearly the critical state of the entire Western civilization. Essentially it is political and ideological trend represented an alternative to its foundations by curtailing democracy, market relations and replacing them with a policy of statism, building a society of social equality for selected peoples, cultivating collectivist forms of life, inhumane attitude towards non-Aryans, etc. True, fascism did not imply the complete destruction of Western civilization. Perhaps this, to a certain extent, explains the relatively loyal attitude of the ruling circles of democratic countries towards this formidable phenomenon for a long time. In addition, fascism can be classified as one of the varieties of totalitarianism. Western political scientists have proposed a definition of totalitarianism based on several criteria that have received recognition and further development in political science. Totalitarianism characterized by: 1) the presence official ideology, covering the most vital spheres of human life and society and supported by the overwhelming majority of citizens. This ideology is based on rejection of the previously existing order and pursues the task of uniting society to create a new way of life, not excluding the use of violent methods; 2) the dominance of a mass party, built on a strictly hierarchical principle of management, usually with a leader at its head. Party - performing the functions of control over the bureaucratic state apparatus or dissolving in it; 3) availability developed system police control permeating all public aspects of the country's life; 4) almost complete party control over the media; 5) complete control of the party over the security forces, primarily the army; 6) management central government economic life of the country.

A similar characteristic of totalitarianism is applicable both to the regime that developed in Germany, Italy and other fascist countries, and in many ways to the Stalinist regime that developed in the 30s in the USSR. It is also possible that such similarity in the various faces of totalitarianism made it difficult for politicians who were at the head of democratic countries to understand the danger posed by this monstrous phenomenon in that dramatic period of modern history.

Already in 1935, Germany refused to implement the war clauses Treaty of Versailles, followed by the occupation of the Rhineland Demilitarized Zone, withdrawal from the League of Nations, Italian assistance in the occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1936), intervention in Spain (1936-1939), Anschluss (or annexation) of Austria (1938), dismemberment of Czechoslovakia (1938-1939) ) in accordance with the Munich Agreement, etc. Finally, in April 1939, Germany unilaterally terminated the Anglo-German naval agreement and the non-aggression pact with Poland, thus the casus belli (cause for war) arose.

World War II

Foreign policies of countries before the war. The Versailles system finally fell before the outbreak of World War II, for which Germany was quite thoroughly prepared. Thus, from 1934 to 1939, military production in the country increased 22 times, the number of troops - 35 times, Germany became second in the world in terms of industrial production, etc.

Currently, researchers do not have a common view on the geopolitical state of the world on the eve of World War II. Some historians (Marxists) continue to insist on a two-polise characterization. In their opinion, there were two social political systems(socialism and capitalism), and within the framework of the capitalist system of world relations - two centers of a future war (Germany in Europe and Japan in Asia). A significant part of historians believe that on the eve of the Second World War there were three political systems: bourgeois-democratic, socialist and fascist-militarist. The interaction of these systems, the balance of power between them could ensure peace or disrupt it. A possible bloc of bourgeois-democratic and socialist systems was a real alternative to World War II. However, the peace alliance did not work out. The bourgeois-democratic countries did not agree to create a bloc before the start of the war, because their leadership continued to view Soviet totalitarianism as the greatest threat to the foundations of civilization (the result of revolutionary changes in the USSR, including the 30s) than its fascist antipode, which openly proclaimed a crusade against communism. The USSR's attempt to create a collective security system in Europe ended with the signing of treaties with France and Czechoslovakia (1935). But these treaties were not put into effect during the period of Germany’s occupation of Czechoslovakia due to the counteracting “policy of appeasement” pursued at that time by most European countries towards Germany.

Germany, in October 1936, formalized a military-political alliance with Italy (“Berlin-Rome Axis”), and a month later the Anti-Comintern Pact was signed between Japan and Germany, to which Italy joined a year later (November 6, 1937). The creation of a revanchist alliance forced the countries of the bourgeois-democratic camp to become more active. However, only in March 1939 did England and France begin negotiations with the USSR on joint actions against Germany. But the agreement was never signed. Despite the polarity of interpretations of the reasons for the failed union of anti-fascist states, some of which shift the blame for the unbridled aggressor onto capitalist countries, others attribute it to the policies of the leadership of the USSR, etc., one thing is obvious - the skillful use by fascist politicians of contradictions between anti-fascist countries, which led to grave consequences for the whole world.

Beginning of World War II. The immediate pretext for the attack on Poland was a fairly open provocation of Germany on their common border (Gliwice), after which on September 1, 1939, 57 German divisions (1.5 million people), about 2,500 tanks, 2,000 aircraft invaded Polish territory . The Second World War began.

England and France declared war on Germany on September 3, without, however, providing real assistance to Poland. From September 3 to 10, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Canada entered the war against Germany; The United States declared neutrality, Japan declared non-intervention in the European War.

The first stage of the war. Thus, World War II began as a war between the bourgeois-democratic and fascist-militarist blocs. The first stage of the war dates from September 1, 1939 - June 21, 1941, at the beginning of which the German army occupied part of Poland until September 17, reaching the line (the cities of Lviv, Vladimir-Volynsky, Brest-Litovsk), designated by one of the mentioned secret protocols Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Until May 10, 1940, England and France conducted virtually no military operations with the enemy, so this period was called the “Phantom War.” Germany took advantage of the passivity of the Allies, expanding its aggression, occupying Denmark and Norway in April 1940 and going on the offensive from the shores of the North Sea to the Maginot Line on May 10 of the same year. During May, the governments of Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland capitulated. And already on June 22, 1940, France was forced to sign an armistice with Germany in Compiegne. As a result of the actual surrender of France, a collaborationist state was created in its south, led by Marshal A. Pétain(1856-1951) and the administrative center in Vichy (the so-called “Vichy regime”). France's resistance was led by a general Charles de Gaulle ( 1890-1970).

On May 10, changes occurred in the leadership of Great Britain; Winston Churchill(1874-1965), whose anti-German, anti-fascist and, of course, anti-Soviet sentiments were well known. The period of the “strange warrior” is over.

From August 1940 to May 1941, the German command organized systematic air raids on English cities, trying to force its leadership to withdraw from the war. As a result, during this time, about 190 thousand high-explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped on England, and by June 1941, a third of the tonnage of its merchant fleet was sunk at sea. Germany also intensified its pressure on the countries of South-Eastern Europe. The accession of the Bulgarian pro-fascist government to the Berlin Pact (an agreement between Germany, Italy and Japan of September 27, 1940) ensured the success of the aggression against Greece and Yugoslavia in April 1941.

Italy in 1940 developed military operations in Africa, attacking the colonial possessions of England and France (East Africa, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia). However, in December 1940, the British forced the Italian troops to surrender. Germany rushed to the aid of its ally.

The policy of the USSR at the first stage of the war did not receive a single assessment. A significant part of Russian and foreign researchers are inclined to interpret it as complicit in relation to Germany, which is supported by the agreement between the USSR and Germany within the framework of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as well as fairly close military-political and trade cooperation between the two countries until the start of Germany’s aggression against the USSR. In our opinion, in such an assessment, a more strategic approach at the pan-European, global level prevails. At the same time, a point of view that draws attention to the benefits received by the USSR from cooperation with Germany at the first stage of World War II somewhat corrects this unambiguous assessment, allowing us to talk about a certain strengthening of the USSR within the framework of the time it gained to prepare to repel the inevitable aggression, which ultimately ensured the subsequent Great Victory over fascism of the entire anti-fascist camp.

The scale of the war and its causes. The Second World War was the largest military conflict in human history. Military operations took place on the territory of 40 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, covering vast areas of four oceans and adjacent seas. 61 states with a population of 1 billion were drawn into the orbit of war. 700 million people, that is, 4/5 of the world's population. It was put under arms 110 million people The Second World War lasted six years, accompanied by the death of masses of people and numerous destructions.

Based on its deep origins, the Second World War should be considered as a surge in the global crisis of the system of international relations of the first half of the 20th century. The results of the First World War, embodied V Versailles-Washington system (1919-1922), as well as the victory of the Bolsheviks in Russia did not allow the restoration of a stable balance of power in the international arena. The world has split into a socialist one And capitalist camp, and the latter - to the triumphant victorious powers And humiliated losing countries. At these are the two largest And rapidly recovering economic powers: USSR And Germany - were placed, as it were, outside the system of civilized states, in the position of international “pariahs”. Formed V Their totalitarian regimes were united by their rejection of universal human values ​​and “bourgeois democracies” And The Versailles-Washington system, the desire for social (and national - in Germany) messianism. “Genetically” they were united by the fact that the global crisis in the sphere of international relations was an important prerequisite for the victory of the Bolshevik and fascist regimes, A in many ways - and the condition of their existence.

The difference between them was, in particular, that the victory of the Bolsheviks was directly promoted by the First World War, and the fascists - by its results and the growing influence of the communists. The formation of a totalitarian regime in Germany took only three years, compared to two decades in the Soviet Union. Having quickly solved their internal political problems, the Nazis relied on external expansion. As a means of implementing their ideological doctrine, which was based on the thesis of the racial superiority of the “Aryans” over other peoples, as well as a way to solve internal socio-economic problems, A. Hitler openly proclaimed war. Already in 1933, Germany withdrew from the League of Nations, in 1935 it introduced universal conscription and broke its obligations under the Treaty of Versailles, returning (through a plebiscite) the Saar region. In 1936, German troops entered the demilitarized Rhineland, and in 1938 the Anschluss of Austria was carried out. Fascist Italy in 1935-1936. captured Ethiopia, and in 1936-1939. carried out armed intervention together with Germany in the civil war in Spain, where for the first time they were opposed not only by the left-democratic world community, but also by the USSR.

The situation in Asia has also worsened. In 1931-1932 Japan annexed Manchuria, and in 1937 began a large-scale war against China and captured Beijing, Shanghai and other important centers of the country. Thus, in the interwar period, up to 70 regional wars and local armed conflicts occurred.

The growth of international instability was facilitated by the weakness of the forces interested in preserving the Versailles-Washington system. The traditional Russian-French alliance that held Germany back disappeared after 1917, and isolationist sentiments prevailed in the United States. The Versailles system relied mainly only on France and England. However, the desire of these countries to maintain the status quo in Europe was negated both by the contradictions that existed between them and by the unwillingness of their ruling elites to take active action to suppress the aggressors. The passive wait-and-see position of England and France was explained not only by the relative instability of their internal situation, but, above all, by the desire to use Germany against the Bolshevik threat. That is why they pursued a policy of “appeasement,” which actually encouraged Hitler’s aggressive actions. The apogee of this policy was the Munich Agreement (September 1938), which authorized the transfer to Germany of the most important industrially and militarily Sudetenland, thereby leaving Czechoslovakia practically defenseless.

Munich was the biggest strategic miscalculation of Western democracy, which opened the way for the armed expansion of fascism and brought closer the start of the “great war” in Europe. In March 1939, German troops occupied the Czech Republic and Moravia (a puppet state was created in Slovakia), and then the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda (Memel). In April, Italy captured Albania. In Spain civil war ended in victory for Franco's fascist regime. The German army quickly grew and strengthened. Hitler could equip up to 40 of his divisions with weapons captured in Czechoslovakia, and the Skoda factories produced the same amount of weapons as the whole of Great Britain. The balance of power in Europe was rapidly changing.

In response, England and France were forced to speed up their military programs, agree on mutual assistance and provide guarantees to some European countries against possible aggression. There was a smell of war in the air, but a significant part of the ruling elites of England and France still did not lose hope of directing Hitler’s aspirations to the East and, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, expected a German-Soviet conflict.

Meanwhile, Germany was not yet ready for a big war with the USSR, and Hitler chose the Western option. The Nazi expansion strategy provided that after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Poland would be captured by the fall of 1939, and in 1940-1941. it will be France's turn, and then England's. The ultimate goal was proclaimed to be the “unification” of Europe and the establishment of fascist domination on the American continent. Since fascist Italy and militaristic Japan also had their own aggressive plans, an alliance of aggressors formed between these two countries and Germany. Back in October 1936, an Italian-German cooperation protocol was signed, called the “Berlin-Rome Axis.” In November of the same year, Germany and Japan concluded the Anti-Comintern Pact. A year later Italy joined him. The Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis emerged. The aggressive bloc was created with the aim of preparing and unleashing a war for the redivision of the world.

Responsibility for the short-sighted policy of “appeasement” lay primarily with the governments of England and France. But not only them. The general underestimation of the fascist threat (January 2, 1939, the American magazine “Time” declared Hitler “man of the year”), and the not unreasonable (in the future) fear of communist expansion, and, finally, the well-known “national egoism” had an impact » leading European peoples. A public opinion poll conducted in October 1938 in France showed that 57% of respondents approved of the Munich Agreements, and only 37% opposed them.

Dramatic changes also occurred in the foreign policy of the USSR. In the spring of 1939, the Soviet leadership made a sharp change in its foreign policy strategy, choosing a course towards rapprochement with Berlin. On August 23, after three hours of negotiations in Moscow, the so-called “Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact” was signed. Attached to the non-aggression pact was a secret protocol that provided for “the delimitation of spheres of mutual interests in Eastern Europe.”

These documents radically changed not only Soviet foreign policy, but also the situation in Europe as a whole. Now the Stalinist leadership has become an ally of Germany in the division of Europe. Thus, the last obstacle to starting a new global war for the redivision of the world was removed.

The nature of the fighting. The Second World War differed from the first in the very nature of military operations. If the first was predominantly a positional war, in which defense was stronger than attack, then during the second, the use of tanks, aircraft, motorization of armies and increased firepower made it possible to break through the enemy’s defenses. The war has become more maneuverable, and combat operations have become more dynamic, and their geographic scope has increased.

For countries - fascist states that took the path of aggression, the Second World War was an aggressive one. The expansionist policies of these countries led to the elimination of democratic order in the occupied territories and the emergence of racial and national oppression. Therefore, all those peoples who fought against the aggressors fought a just war of liberation, regardless of what the motives of this fight were for each of its participants. It should be borne in mind that among the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition there was also a totalitarian state - the USSR. For the Soviet people, the anti-fascist war did not become a movement towards democracy; rather, on the contrary, the war contributed to the strengthening of totalitarianism. But this in no way diminishes the role that the peoples of the USSR played in the war, nor does it diminish their contribution to the defeat of fascism.

Periodization war. Chronologically, the Second World War can be divided into three large periods. The first period lasted from September 1, 1939 to June 1942. It was characterized by the expanding scale of the war while maintaining the superiority of the aggressor forces. The second period lasted from June 1942 to January 1944 - this was the turning point in the war, during which the initiative and superiority in forces gradually fell into the hands of the anti-Hitler coalition. Third - from January 1944 until September 2, 1945 - the final stage of the war, during which the superiority of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition was consolidated, their armies managed to defeat the enemy, and the crisis of the regimes of the aggressor states developed into their collapse.

There is a point of view in historical literature according to which the war for the Soviet Union began long before the German attack. Its supporters believe that the annexation of the Baltic states, the war of aggression with Finland, the annexation of Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and Bessarabia can also be designated as episodes of the Second World War, which means that this was the direct participation of the USSR in the world conflict. These researchers raise the question of the legitimacy of the periodization of the events of 1939 - 1945. to the “Second World War” “Great Patriotic War" In their opinion, everything that the Soviet leadership did in 1939 - 1945. - this is the nurturing and implementation of aggressive plans for “historical” revenge, called, in accordance with the ideology of that time, the “expansion” of socialism. Only after June 22, 1941, the nature of the war for the Soviet Union changed - it became a people's war, a war of liberation. Despite this, the USSR's participation in World War II continued. As a result, the Soviet political elite actually managed to expand its sphere of influence, extending it to some areas of Central and Eastern Europe.

WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS 1929-1933. HITLER'S COMING TO POWER AND THE BEGINNING OF FASCIST AGGRESSION

One of the essential features of the functioning of a market economy is cyclic repeatability economic phenomena. In this case we are talking about cyclical crises, accompanying the history of capitalism from early XIX V. up to the present time. Today, economists have a sufficient amount of material to answer the question about the nature of this terrible phenomenon and what seems most significant - to develop recommendations for its prevention.

Formation of state- monopoly capitalism

Rapid development of production under the influence of scientific and technological revolution turn of XIX-XX centuries strengthened the process of its concentration and centralization, the process of formation of monopolistic associations. The merging of industrial and banking capital led to the formation of the largest financial groups who have occupied key positions in the main sectors of economic life. Almighty corporations were not slow to interfere in the domestic and foreign policies of their states, bringing them under their control. The folding process has begun state monopoly capitalism, which acquired special significance during the First and Second World Wars.

Monopolies, as the most powerful economic entities, in the pursuit of profit, increasingly influenced the sphere of pricing. This led not only to the emergence of serious imbalances within the national economies of individual countries, but also intensified international economic contradictions. Thus, the economic crises of the 20th century. are associated mainly not with hypothetical failures in the sphere of commodity and monetary circulation, but with the selfish policies of monopolies. This is what determined the peculiarities of the course of crises, their cyclical nature, scale, depth, length and consequences. So, in the first half of the 20th century. crises are becoming more frequent compared to the previous period, while the stages of recovery and growth are shorter. Before the First World War, two significant crises were noted: the already mentioned crisis of 1900-1901, the crisis of 1907, and the pre-crisis state of 1913-1914. During the interwar period, there were three major crises of general overproduction: 1920-1921, 1929-1933, 1937-1938. Moreover, at the stages of economic boom in the 20-30s. In most countries, unemployment and inflation persisted, becoming permanent and chronic, which had not been observed before.

Economic crisis 1929-1933 The most protracted, deep and all-encompassing crisis was the 1929-

1933, from which the USA and Germany suffered the most. Thus, industrial production in the USA decreased over these years by 46.2%, in Germany - by 40.2%, in France - by 30.9%, in England - by 16.2%. The crisis gripped all countries of the world, and the decline in production in less developed countries was often deeper than that of the four economic leaders. For example, the industrial production index in Czechoslovakia decreased by 40%, in Poland - by 45%, in Yugoslavia - by 50%, etc. Unemployment has reached unprecedented levels. Thus, according to official data alone, in 32 countries the number of unemployed during the three years of the crisis (1929-1932) increased from 5.9 million to 26.4 million, there was a massive ruin of farmers, etc.

The fight against the crisis, the search for new methods and forms of countering it, determined the general policy line of the governments of all countries. At first, anti-crisis policy was guided by a well-known liberal approach. However, it soon became obvious that the doctrine of state “non-interference” in economic life, based on the concept of market self-regulation, is unsuitable in modern conditions.

Exit options crisis

IN In connection with this, since the beginning of the 30s, the activity of the state in economic and social spheres,

The tendency towards the development of state-monopoly capitalism is clearly visible. However, in various countries, the degree of state intervention was determined by the characteristics of their historical development, the level and specificity of socio-economic and political relations. Nevertheless, we can conditionally identify three main directions, three options within which this phenomenon developed. Its most striking expression is one of them ( liberal-reformist) received in the anti-crisis policy of the “new course” of President F. Roosevelt in the USA; second (social reformist) - typical for Scandinavian countries, France; third (totalitarian) The option of state regulation was most fully used in Germany.

American version relied heavily on the traditions of liberal economic doctrine, and therefore the emphasis was on indirect methods of influencing the economic and social spheres of life. The banking and financial reforms carried out by Roosevelt served as the starting point for subsequent transformations. With the help of strong fiscal and monetary policies, the government carried out major investment activities aimed at achieving optimal rates of economic growth; eliminated social tensions by financing programs to help the unemployed, organizing public works, etc. The policy of public financing was supplemented by a complex of legal acts and skillful regulation tax system, protectionist measures, etc.

Despite the fact that the results of this direction were not felt immediately, but only after a fairly long period of time, it turned out to be very acceptable in the foreseeable future. Thus, by the beginning of World War II, the United States had almost completely recovered from the consequences of the crisis, as had Great Britain and a number of countries that had applied the “New Deal” policy. It should be noted that this direction was chosen by countries with a higher level of economic development and strong democratic traditions.

Social reformist direction was characterized by a combination of strengthening the regulatory role of the state and the “socialization” of the economy, i.e. the transition of individual enterprises and sectors of the economy to the state. Thus, in the 1930s in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, the public sector in the economy grew significantly. The social democratic governments of these countries brought the state under control foreign trade and export of capital, eased the conditions for lending to production by reducing loan interest rates, financed capital construction, agricultural production, etc. These measures were supported by an equally strong social policy, which provided for a significant improvement in pensions, the creation of a state insurance system, the publication of laws on maternity protection and childhood, development labor legislation and finally, government financing of housing construction.

Similar trends in government regulation appeared in France and Spain after left-wing anti-fascist forces came to power in them.

This direction was typical for countries where, for various reasons, the bourgeoisie did not have wide opportunities for socio-economic maneuvering and at the same time the positions of left parties were strong. It should be noted that this option also did not lead to immediate positive results. Moreover, not in all countries reformers managed to maintain an optimal balance in activities, i.e. meet the needs of various social groups citizens, in conditions of severe crisis. This created instability in the internal political situation, deprived the reforms of consistency, and sometimes even interrupted them, as happened in Spain and France with the victory of right-wing forces. Nevertheless, the direction of state-monopoly capitalism turned out to be very promising, because today we have the phenomenon of “Swedish socialism” in the prosperous countries of Scandinavia.

Finally, a different picture was observed in countries that used totalitarian direction like Germany.

Fascism was a reflection and result of the development of the main contradictions of Western civilization. His ideology absorbed (to the point of grotesquery) the ideas of racism and social equality, technocratic and statist concepts. An eclectic interweaving of various ideas and theories resulted in the form of an accessible populist doctrine and demagogic politics. The National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany grew out of the Free Workers' Committee for a Good World, a circle founded in 1915 by workers Anton Drexler. IN At the beginning of 1919, other National Socialist organizations were created in Germany. In November 1921, a fascist party was created in Italy, numbering 300 thousand members, of which 40% were workers. Recognizing this political force, the King of Italy instructed the leader of this party in 1922 Benito Mussolini(1883-1945) form a cabinet of ministers, which from 1925 becomes fascist.

According to the same scenario, the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933. Party leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)

receives the position of Reich Chancellor from the hands of the President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934).

From the first steps, the fascists established themselves as irreconcilable anti-communists, anti-Semites, good organizers capable of reaching all segments of the population, and revanchists. Their activities could hardly have been so rapidly successful without the support of the revanchist monopolistic circles of their countries. The existence of their direct connections with the fascists is beyond doubt, if only because the leaders of the criminal regime and the largest economic magnates of fascist Germany (G. Schacht, G. Krupp) were nearby in the dock at Nuremberg in 1945. It can be argued that the financial resources of the monopolies contributed to the fascisation of countries, the strengthening of fascism, designed not only to destroy the communist regime in the USSR (anti-communist idea), inferior peoples (the idea of ​​racism), but also to redraw the world map, destroying the Versailles system of the post-war system (revanchist idea).

the phenomenon of fascisation in a number of European countries even more clearly demonstrated the critical state of the entire Western civilization. Essentially, this political and ideological movement represented an alternative to its foundations by curtailing democracy, market relations and replacing them with the politics of statism, building a society of social equality for selected peoples, cultivating collectivist forms of life, inhumane attitude towards non-Aryans, etc. True, fascism did not imply complete destruction of Western civilization. Perhaps this, to a certain extent, explains the relatively loyal attitude of the ruling circles of democratic countries to this formidable phenomenon for a long time. In addition, fascism can be classified as one of the varieties of totalitarianism. Western political scientists have proposed a definition of totalitarianism based on several criteria that have received recognition and further development in political science. Totalitarianism characterized by:

1) the presence of an official ideology that covers the most vital spheres of human life and society and is supported by the overwhelming majority of citizens. This ideology is based on rejection of the previously existing order and pursues the task of uniting society to create a new way of life, not excluding the use of violent methods;

2) the dominance of a mass party, built on a strictly hierarchical principle of management, usually with a leader at its head. Party - performing the functions of control over the bureaucratic state apparatus or dissolving in it;

3) the presence of a developed system of police control that permeates all public aspects of the country’s life;

4) almost complete party control over the media;

5) complete control of the party over the security forces, primarily the army;

6) the leadership of the central government in the economic life of the country.

A similar characteristic of totalitarianism is applicable both to the regime that developed in Germany, Italy and other fascist countries, and in many ways to the Stalinist regime that developed in the 30s in the USSR. It is also possible that such similarity in the various faces of totalitarianism made it difficult for politicians who were at the head of democratic countries to understand the danger posed by this monstrous phenomenon in that dramatic period of modern history.

Already in 1935, Germany refused to implement the military articles of the Versailles Treaty, which was followed by the occupation of the Rhineland demilitarized zone, withdrawal from the League of Nations, Italian assistance in the occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1936), intervention in Spain (1936-1939), the Anschluss (or annexation) of Austria (1938), dismemberment of Czechoslovakia (1938-1939) in accordance with the Munich Agreement, etc. Finally, in April 1939, Germany unilaterally terminated the Anglo-German naval agreement and the non-aggression pact with Poland, and thus a casus arose belli (cause for war).

It should be noted first of all that the liberal-reformist and social-reformist models were based on a system of market relations, and the totalitarian one essentially eliminated them as much as possible. This fundamentally different economic mechanism, characterized by over-centralization, developed in the 30-40s. also in Italy, Japan, Spain (after the victory of General Franco(1892-1975) and some other countries. All of them tried to solve not so much the problem of overcoming the crisis, but rather pursued the longer-term goal of the armed redivision of the world. More precisely, the ultimate task of redividing the world determined the path and methods of overcoming the crisis.

The main feature of anti-crisis policy thus becomes the total militarization of the national economy. For this purpose, fascist states widely used direct methods of intervention, along with indirect ones. Moreover, the latter, as a rule, as government intervention develops,

became dominant. Suffice it to say that in these countries there is a constant increase in the public sector in the economy. In addition to the enterprises of the military industry itself, the nationalization of raw materials industries, the fuel and energy base, transport, etc. took place. Along with this, forced cartelization was carried out (the entry of individual enterprises into large monopoly associations closely associated with the state). On this basis, the share of state orders constantly increased, and elements of directive economic planning developed.

As a result of this policy, within a year unemployment disappeared in Germany, from which countries that had chosen other models of state-monopoly capitalism continued to suffer. Economic growth rates, especially in heavy industries, have risen sharply. This model gave an immediate positive effect, distinguishing it from other models. It should also be noted that after the end of the crisis of 1929-1933. Most countries, with the exception of Germany and Japan, were in a state of fairly prolonged depression, feeling the impact of recurrent crisis phenomena.

And yet, despite the excellent indicators of economic growth, Germany stood on the brink of economic disaster: we should not forget that the basis of its prosperity was an artificially promoted military situation, the collapse of the market based on the forced over-centralization of the national economy. The continuation of the policy of militarization of the national economy not only did not solve the problem of restoring optimal economic proportions, expanding the domestic and foreign markets, improving the financial system, harmonization social relations etc., but on the contrary, it drove these problems into a dead end. Only the unleashing of external aggression could postpone the inevitable economic catastrophe. Therefore, already from 1935, Germany and other fascist countries were increasingly drawn into military conflicts and ultimately began the largest-scale Second World War in the history of mankind.

The militarization of fascist countries caused an intensification of the arms race in the world. In this regard, in countries such as the USA, England, France and others, before the war a tendency towards strengthening state-monopoly capitalism appeared. However, this did not change their economic mechanism according to the totalitarian model.

During the Second World War, as already noted, there was a rapid development of state-monopoly capitalism, and state intervention in economic life increased noticeably. However, with its completion, a reverse process was observed, which indicates the extraordinary nature of this phenomenon. This can be confirmed by the refusal of a number of countries to use state-monopoly capitalism with a centralized economic mechanism and their return to a market system. Its effectiveness was confirmed by the presence of rather long periods of rapid economic growth in these countries, which were called the German, Japanese, and Italian “economic miracle.”