The manifestation of a thaw. Khrushchev's Thaw - dismantling the Stalinist system

25.09.2019

Nikita Khrushchev made the first large-scale attempt to consciously destroy the totalitarian system that had ensnared the Soviet Union for decades. Khrushchev's reforms, which lasted until 1964, brought qualitative changes to the political and social life of the USSR. The internal and foreign policies of the proletarian state changed, an end was put to violations of the law, arbitrariness and mass repression.

Joseph Stalin managed, in a short period by historical standards, to create a system of “barracks socialism,” which fundamentally contradicted the theoretical views of the classics and the fundamental interests of the people. During Stalin's reign, the party and state bureaucracy stood guard over his regime. Meanwhile, the ideological machine was working at full speed, forcing the people, frightened by repression, to believe that the country was confidently moving towards a bright future.

Dissatisfaction with the existing system was demonstrated not only by the lower classes, but also by representatives of the party nomenklatura. The death of the leader allowed one of the party workers, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, to emerge. He was considered a political genius who had sufficient personal courage and leadership abilities.

Political directness, spontaneity of character, developed intuition - all this allowed Khrushchev to defeat political opponents, gain a high post and the trust of the people.

“Khrushchev Thaw”: a fresh wind of change

In September 1953, Khrushchev headed the CPSU, becoming First Secretary of the Party Central Committee. He was faced with the task of assessing the current situation and outlining ways to solve the many problems that had accumulated in the country. The new leader saw most of the ills of socialism in the consequences of the personality cult of Stalin, who, according to Khrushchev, made not only political mistakes, but also committed obvious lawlessness. That is why all of Khrushchev’s reforms were permeated by one thing: how to cleanse the country of Stalinism.

Khrushchev’s actions were in line with these tasks. He is a repressive apparatus, at the 20th Party Congress he condemned the personality cult of Joseph Stalin, and then came up with many innovative ideas for those times. They made an attempt to improve state system, sharply limit the administrative apparatus, make the Soviet more . Under the leadership of Khrushchev, the working people of the country set out to develop virgin lands and built new housing en masse.

There were some excesses: consider Khrushchev’s attacks on artists and writers or his attempts to make corn the “queen” of Soviet fields.

Modern researchers believe that many of Khrushchev's reforms and actions were contradictory and not entirely consistent. But no one denies that the “Khrushchev Thaw” dealt a mortal blow to the ideology of totalitarianism, putting an end to lawlessness. The years of Khrushchev's rule became the time when the foundations of democratic transformations were born, when the formation of new people, nicknamed "sixties". It was during the “thaw” that Soviet citizens learned to discuss social and political issues that worried everyone without fear.

2 years ago, I dwelt in detail directly on the personality of Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his birth. The first leader of the Soviet state after Stalin, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, died exactly 45 years ago, on September 11, 1971. He spent 11 years at the helm of the Land of Soviets until his 70th birthday, after which, as a result of an internal government conspiracy, he was removed from his post. He spent the last 7 years in disgrace. How the USSR lived under Khrushchev and how the third (or rather the 4th; G.M. Malenkov was appointed acting head of state after Stalin’s death) Soviet leader left it behind - we will now turn to this.

Repeat at Once again I am by no means planning a biography of Khrushchev. Suffice it to say that he was one of Stalin's most devoted servants and one of his followers. Nikita Sergeich’s fiery character is largely explained by the fact that southern blood flowed in his veins, and this is largely why Stalin appointed him one of the leaders of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR. When Stalin died, Georgy Malenkov was appointed acting head of state. He was also tasked with developing an economic program for the country's development. Khrushchev was the main contender for the post of secretary general of the party, and accordingly the head of the Country of Soviets.

The starting point of the “Khrushchev Thaw” was the death of Stalin in 1953. The “thaw” also includes a short period when Georgy Malenkov was in charge of the country’s leadership and major criminal cases were closed (“Leningrad Case”, “Doctors’ Case”), and an amnesty was held for those convicted of minor crimes. During these years, prisoner uprisings broke out in the Gulag system: the Norilsk Uprising, the Vorkuta Uprising, the Kengir Uprising, etc.
With Khrushchev strengthening in power, the “thaw” began to be associated with the condemnation of Stalin’s personality cult. At the same time, in 1953-1956, Stalin still continued to be officially revered in the USSR as a great leader; at that time, in portraits they were often depicted together with Lenin. At the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956, N. S. Khrushchev made a report “On the cult of personality and its consequences,” in which Stalin’s cult of personality and Stalin’s repressions were criticized, and foreign policy The USSR proclaimed a course towards “peaceful coexistence” with the capitalist world. Khrushchev also began a rapprochement with Yugoslavia, relations with which had been severed under Stalin.

In general, the new course was supported at the top of the party and corresponded to the interests of the nomenklatura, since previously even the most prominent party figures who fell into disgrace had to fear for their lives. Many surviving political prisoners in the USSR and socialist countries were released and rehabilitated. Since 1953, commissions for verification of cases and rehabilitation have been formed. The majority of peoples deported in the 1930s and 1940s were allowed to return to their homeland.

Liberalized labor legislation(in 1956, criminal liability for truancy was abolished).

From left to right: N.A. Bulganin (mouth open), N.S. Khrushchev (smiles), M.A. Suslov (laughs)
Tens of thousands of German and Japanese prisoners of war were sent home. In some countries, relatively liberal leaders came to power, such as Imre Nagy in Hungary. An agreement was reached on the state neutrality of Austria and the withdrawal of all occupation forces from it. In 1955, Khrushchev met in Geneva with US President Dwight Eisenhower and the heads of government of Great Britain and France.

At the same time, de-Stalinization had an extremely negative impact on relations with Maoist China. The CCP condemned de-Stalinization as revisionism.

In 1957, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR prohibited the naming of cities and factories after party leaders during their lifetime.

On the night of October 31 to November 1, 1961, Stalin's body was taken out of the Mausoleum and reburied near the Kremlin wall.

Under Khrushchev, Stalin was treated neutrally. In all Soviet publications of the Khrushchev Thaw, Stalin was called a prominent party figure, a staunch revolutionary and a major theoretician of the party, who united the party during a period of difficult trials. But at the same time, in all publications of that time they wrote that Stalin had his shortcomings and that in last years In his life he made major mistakes and excesses.

The thaw period did not last long. Already with the suppression of the Hungarian uprising of 1956, clear boundaries of the policy of openness emerged. The party leadership was frightened by the fact that liberalization of the regime in Hungary led to open anti-communist protests and violence; accordingly, liberalization of the regime in the USSR could lead to the same consequences. On December 19, 1956, the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee approved the text of the Letter of the CPSU Central Committee “On strengthening the political work of party organizations among the masses and suppressing the attacks of anti-Soviet, hostile elements.” It said: “The Central Committee of the Communist Party Soviet Union considers it necessary to appeal to all party organizations... in order to attract the attention of the party and mobilize communists to strengthen political work among the masses, to resolutely fight to suppress the attacks of anti-Soviet elements who are Lately, due to some aggravation international situation, intensified their hostile activities against the Communist Party and the Soviet state." It went on to talk about the recent “intensification of the activities of anti-Soviet and hostile elements.” First of all, this is a “counter-revolutionary conspiracy against the Hungarian people”, conceived under the guise of “false slogans of freedom and democracy” using “the discontent of a significant part of the population caused by serious mistakes made by the former state and party leadership of Hungary.” It was also stated: “Recently, among individual workers literature and art, slipping from party positions, politically immature and philistine-minded, attempts appeared to question the correctness of the party line in development Soviet literature and art, move away from principles socialist realism in the position of unidealized art, demands are put forward to “liberate” literature and art from the party leadership, to ensure “freedom of creativity,” understood in the bourgeois-anarchist, individualistic spirit.” The letter contained instructions to communists working in the organs state security, “vigilantly guard the interests of our socialist state, be vigilant to the machinations of hostile elements and, in accordance with the laws of Soviet power, promptly stop criminal actions.” A direct consequence of this letter was a significant increase in 1957 in the number of people convicted of “counter-revolutionary crimes” (2948 people, which is 4 times more than in 1956). Students were expelled from institutes for making critical statements.

Khrushchev, who paid great attention to the Komsomol and relied “on youth,” in 1958 appointed the young 40-year-old Shelepin, a non-cheka officer who had previously held leadership positions in the Komsomol, to the post of KGB chairman. This choice was consistent with the new image of the KGB and responded to the desire to create a strong association with the forces of renewal and revival. During the personnel changes that began in 1959, the total number of KGB personnel was reduced, but new security officers were also recruited, drawn mainly from the Komsomol. The image of the security officer in the cinema also changed: instead of people in leather jackets since the early 1960s. young, neat heroes in formal suits began to appear on the screens; now they were respected members of society, fully integrated into the Soviet state system, representatives of one of the state institutions. The increased level of education of security officers was emphasized; Thus, the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper noted: “today the vast majority of employees of the State Security Committee have higher education, many own one or more foreign languages", while in 1921 1.3% of security officers had higher education

In 1956, the anti-religious struggle began to intensify. The secret resolution of the CPSU Central Committee “On the note of the department of propaganda and agitation of the CPSU Central Committee for the union republics “On the shortcomings of scientific-atheistic propaganda”” dated October 4, 1958 obliged party, Komsomol and public organizations launch a propaganda offensive against “religious relics”; government institutions were ordered to implement administrative measures aimed at tightening the conditions for the existence of religious communities. On October 16, 1958, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted the Resolutions “On monasteries in the USSR” and “On increasing taxes on the income of diocesan enterprises and monasteries”

Secret instructions on the application of legislation on cults in March 1961 addressed Special attention that ministers of religion do not have the right to interfere in the administrative, financial and economic activities of religious communities. The instructions for the first time identified “sects whose creed and nature of activities are anti-state and fanatical in nature: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals, Adventist Reformists” that were not subject to registration.

IN mass consciousness a statement attributed to Khrushchev from that period has been preserved, in which he promises to show the last priest on television in 1980.

How many generations are still alive who can personally remember the thaw in the USSR? Many of those who saw Khrushchev in 1960 - knocking his boot at the UN, still ask themselves the question: where did the leader of the USSR want to reach? Agree, until that time not a single Russian or Soviet ruler allowed himself to do this.

The thaw period in the USSR is illustrated even more beautifully by the frightened faces of three currency traders sentenced to execution in 1962. Faybyshenko, Rokotov, Yakovlev were shot on Khrushchev’s personal orders. He could not bear the phrases of the bully Nixon that the USSR was systematically raising the US economy - after all great amount American currency is circulating in our country.

The USSR during the Thaw years was a kind of theater of the absurd of Khrushchev alone. Crimea, given to Ukraine, reacted instantly - Ukrainian ones began to be screwed in next to the Russian names. It was fun local residents, and that's all. My father told me that the only thing they were afraid of was that they would be forced to teach Ukrainian in schools, but this did not happen under Nikita Sergeevich. The same Crimea in the USSR, only in a Ukrainian shirt.

During the Thaw years, the Soviet state attracted the attention of the entire planet. The flights of dogs, satellites, people - made it clear to the whole world - who had already gone beyond the limits of earthly influences and rushed into infinity.

During the Thaw, the Soviet Union continued to strengthen its ideological influence, both on its continent ( Eastern Europe, Asia) and beyond (Cuba), getting close to the United States. The young President John Kennedy wanted to easily resolve the issue of influence in Europe - but in response he received the famous Berlin Wall.

During the Thaw, the Soviet Union often upset the United States, but nuclear submarines, then the most powerful icebreakers. That's all - Kuzka's mother - thermonuclear bomb. In general, everything is in the Russian spirit.

But there was another side to the thaw. As paradoxical as it may sound, it was with the beginning of the Khrushchev era that the USSR turned into a leading sports power. Soviet athletes made their debut at Olympic Games only in 1952, still under Stalin, when Nina Ponomareva (Romashkova) brought the first Olympic gold medal. At the same time, the debut of the football team at the Helsinki Olympics took place. Having begun the Olympic football chronicle with a victory over the Bulgarians, the Soviet team, which included Vsevolod Bobrov, Anatoly Ilyin and others, lost to the SFRY team in the next two matches, playing one of the matches to a heroic draw 5:5. In the replay, the Soviets lost 1:3, largely due to fatigue. For the USSR national team, this was only the third official match in history, while for the Balkan allied team it was the 153rd! After the failure in Helsinki, the USSR football team was disbanded and did not meet for two years.

But already in 1954, Soviet football began to take off. Despite a draw with the finalists of the 54 World Cup, the Hungarians, who included Ferenc Puskás, in another friendly match with the world champion German national team, the Soviets achieved a 3:2 victory. The USSR national team also started the Olympic football tournament in Melbourne in 1956 with a victory, where the West Germans became the first victims of the Soviet team. Conceived as a rematch for the defeat in Moscow, it eliminated the West German team already at the stage of the 1/8 finals. And the USSR national team eventually became the Olympic champion, taking revenge in the final for their defeat in Helsinki against the Yugoslavs. 1.5 years after the “golden Melbourne”, the “red football machine” successfully debuted at the world championships, and in 1960 it became a pioneer winner at the 1st European Football Cup.

The country did not live by football alone. From its debut at major competitions in 1952 until its collapse, Soviet sport reigned supreme over the world, leaving its main competitor, the United States, far behind. Only once did the Americans manage to break the hegemony of the Soviets back in 1984, but all this was a consequence of political intrigues that forced the Soviet leadership to boycott the games in Los Angeles.
It is also worth noting that the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, the first flight of man into space, and then women and animals also took place under Khrushchev.

The USSR during the thaw years had the taste of corn in all products and even drinks, but the country really overcame hunger. These are years of discoveries and accomplishments. This is the hope of millions of people that the nightly fear of waiting for arrests, losing loved ones, accused of treason will never return.

This was not freedom yet. But only its taste. But those who remember that time, who lived in it, say that even the subsequent years of stagnation, then perestroika, and even more so these days, did not arouse such enthusiasm in our compatriots.

Sources for the material: Wikipedia, 22-91.ru

With the death of I.V. Stalin in March 1953 ended an entire era in the USSR, which lasted 30 years and was remembered for terror, famine, and repression.

To replace the tyrant with a short time came to head the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Under the leader, the party apparatus was controlled by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, that is, the same Stalin. But Malenkov had to cede leadership of the party apparatus to Khrushchev on March 14. From that day on, Khrushchev pursued a policy of seizing power in the country. Khrushchev was not a stupid politician at all. At first he rallied against less powerful politicians. Having secured the support of Colonel General P.F. Batitsky, achieved the arrest of Beria.

The appointment of Malenkov to the post of head of state was a kind of sacrifice of Malenkov to Beria. So, just in case, if Beria fails to weaken and overthrow. Managed. Malenkov, like many politicians, was himself afraid of Beria and therefore supported Khrushchev in his accusations against Stalin’s Cerberus. Malenkov also supported Khrushchev in his policy of de-Stalinization of society. I didn’t take into account that Khrushchev decided to rise above Stalin, trampling the Father of Nations into the mud. This was also part of Khrushchev's strategy. Having gotten rid of a strong and influential opponent, Khrushchev removed Malenkov. The so-called Khrushchev Thaw begins with the report at the 20th Congress of the CPSU “On the cult of personality and its consequences.”

Some concessions

Feeling his strength and popular support, he gets rid of Malenkov and rises to the pinnacle of power. Then, in 1957, he removed Marshal Zhukov from his post as Minister of Defense and the people's favorite, Hero of the Great Patriotic War. Yes, Khrushchev was not stupid at all. He understood that he could not survive without the support of the people. He gave the people a taste of “freedom.” Khrushchev's thaw was marked by the following events and processes:

Rehabilitation of victims of political repression;
Residents of collective and state farms received passports and the opportunity to move around the country.
Even those convicted of light criminal charges were amnestied.
Republics received more political and legal rights.
In 1957, Chechens and Balkars returned to their native lands,
The holding of the International Youth Festival showed the whole world the openness of the country of the Soviets.
During the same period, the pace of construction of residential buildings in cities increased, industry and energy began to develop.
Visit of the head of state to the USA.

Cultural life of the country

The Khrushchev Thaw lasted 10 years. Exactly as long as Nikita Sergeevich ruled the country. During this period, the avant-garde Taganka Theater of Yuri Lyubimov was born and flourished, which was called “the theater of freedom in an unfree country.”

Bloomed literary creativity Viktor Astafiev, Bella Akhmadulina, Vladimir Tendryakov, Evgeny Yevtushenko, Andrei Voznesensky, Robert Rozhdestvensky.

Film production has increased manifold. The leading film directors of the Thaw were Marlen Khutsiev, Georgy Danelia, Mikhail Romm, Leonid Gaidai, Eldar Ryazanov. The following films became a cultural event of their time:

detective "Murder on Dante Street"
laureate of the 1958 Cannes Film Festival - the film “The Cranes Are Flying”,
The first Soviet-Indian production - the film “Walking across Three Seas”
"Spring on Zarechnaya Street"
"Ballad of a Soldier"
"Amphibian Man",

This one is far from full list complement film comedies:

Comedies - “Carnival Night”,
The film “Striped Flight”, which became the leader of the Soviet box office in 1961, was viewed by 45.8 million viewers.
"Hussar Ballad"

"I'm walking around Moscow"

The years 1955-1964 were marked by the development of television. Television repeaters were installed throughout the main part of the country. National television began to emerge in all the capitals of the union republics. Television studios appeared in most regional centers and autonomous districts of the RSFSR.

Kinks

All these are positive moments in the development of the country. But Nikita Sergeevich also had obvious excesses, which became the subject of condemnation of his policies and popular jokes. For example, his slogans on the highways “Let’s catch up and overtake America” next to road sign“not sure, don’t overtake” brought smiles to the drivers of that time.

The requirement to sow corn instead of wheat in fields where there was none in the first place caused irritation. There were collective farm leaders who categorically ignored this requirement. Nikita Sergeevich himself was known among the people as a “corn grower”.

The Khrushchev thaw also became years of brutal persecution of the church. Also, the Secretary General did something that even Lenin and Stalin did not dare to do: he sold to Israel the lands that belonged to our country in the Holy Land. He did not even sell these lands, which had the highest spiritual value, but exchanged them for oranges. It is noteworthy that these oranges rotted during transportation.

Also, there was no particular “thaw” in international politics. Was the Cuban missile crisis, which brought the world to the brink of the third world war and the first atomic war, a mistake by Khrushchev? Analysts and historians should already answer this question. Perhaps this conflict did not receive a resolution that satisfied everyone. Perhaps strategic mistakes were made, which later served as an accusation against Khrushchev of his inability to manage the state and the basis for his removal.

March 5, 1953. I.V. died Stalin, long years stood at the head of the party and state. With his death, an entire era ended. Stalin's associates had to not only resolve the issue of continuity of the socio-economic course, but also divide party and state posts among themselves. Considering that society as a whole was not yet ready for radical changes, it could have been more about some softening political regime than about abandoning the Stalinist course. But the possibility of its continuation was also quite real.

Already March, 6 Stalin's associates began the first division of leadership positions. The first place in the new hierarchy was taken by G.M. Malenkov, who received the post Chairman of the Council of Ministers And First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. In the Council of Ministers he had four deputies: L.P. Beria, a close associate of Malenkov, who headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs; V.M. Molotov, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The other two posts of deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers were held by N.A. Bulganin and L.M. Kaganovich. K.E. Voroshilov was appointed chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. N.S. Khrushchev was appointed to the secretariat of the party's Central Committee.

From the very first days, the new leadership took steps against the abuses of past years. Stalin's personal secretariat was dissolved. On March 27, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declared an amnesty for all prisoners whose sentence did not exceed five years.

In mid-July 1953, at one of the meetings in the Kremlin, which was chaired by G.M. Malenkov, who in those years was the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR N.S. Khrushchev made accusations against L.P. Beria. N.S. Khrushchev was supported by N.A. Bulgarin, V.M. Molotov and others. As soon as they started voting, Malenkov pressed the hidden bell button. Several high-ranking officers arrested Beria. The military side of this action was led by G.K. Zhukov. On his orders, the Kantemirovskaya and Tamanskaya tank divisions were introduced into Moscow, occupying key positions downtown. This action was carried out by force. However, there was no alternative then.

IN September 1953. N.S. Khrushchev was elected First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. By this time, having been in party work since 1924, he had gone through all the steps of the apparatus ladder (in the 1930s he was the first secretary of the Moscow organization of the CPSU (b), in 1938 he headed the party leadership of Ukraine, in 1949 he was appointed secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee).

After eliminating L.P. Beria between G.M. Malenkov and N.S. Khrushchev began conflicts that concerned two main aspects: economics and the role of society in the changes taking place. As for the economy, there was a confrontation between the strategy for the development of light industry, advocated by Malenkov, and the “union” Agriculture and heavy industry, proposed by Khrushchev. Khrushchev spoke about the need to increase purchase prices for the products of collective farms, which were on the verge of ruin; on the expansion of sown areas and the development of virgin lands.

Khrushchev achieved significant things for collective farms increase in government purchase prices(5.5 times for meat, two times for milk and butter, 50% for grains). The increase in purchase prices was accompanied by the write-off of collective farm debts, a reduction in taxes on personal plots and on sales on the free market.

Expansion of sown areas, development of virgin lands Northern Kazakhstan, Siberia, Altai and Southern Urals constituted the second point of Khrushchev’s program, the adoption of which he sought at February (1954) plenum of the Central Committee. Over the next three years, 37 million hectares, which was three times more than planned in February 1954 and amounted to approximately 30% of all cultivated lands in the USSR at that time, were developed. In 1954, the share of virgin bread in the grain harvest was 50%.

On Plenum of the Central Committee 1955 (January) N.S. Khrushchev came up with a project corn cultivation to solve the feed problem (in practice, this manifested itself in an unprecedented action to introduce this crop, often in regions not at all suitable for this). At the same Plenum of the Central Committee, G.M. was harshly criticized. Malenkov for the so-called “right deviationism” (G.M. Malenkov, unlike N.S. Khrushchev, considered the development of light industry rather than agriculture a priority). The leadership of the government passed to N.A. Bulganin. Position of N.S. Khrushchev became even more entrenched in the country's political leadership.

1953 - 1956. — this period entered people’s consciousness as “ thaw” (based on the title of the novel by I.G. Ehrenburg, published in 1954). Distinctive feature This time it was not only the implementation of economic events that largely ensured the life of Soviet people, but also softening of the political regime. The “Thaw” is characterized by the collegial nature of management. In June 1953, the newspaper Pravda spoke about such management as an obligation to the people. New expressions appear - “cult of personality”, laudatory speeches disappear. In the press during this period, there was not so much a reassessment of Stalin’s rule, but a decrease in exaltation in relation to Stalin’s personality, and frequent quotation of Lenin.

The 4 thousand political prisoners released in 1953 were the first breach made in the repressive system. These are changes, but they are still unstable, like the “thaw” in early spring.

N.S. Khrushchev gradually gathers allies around himself to expose Stalin's cult of personality.

Candidates for Politburo membership
Komsomol
Is it true
Lenin Guard
Opposition in the CPSU(b)
Great Terror
Anti-Party Group
Peaceful coexistence
General line of the party

Khrushchev's thaw- an unofficial designation for the period in the history of the USSR after the death of I.V. Stalin (mid-1950s - mid-1960s). It was characterized in the internal political life of the USSR by the liberalization of the regime, the weakening of totalitarian power, the emergence of some freedom of speech, the relative democratization of political and public life, openness to the Western world, greater freedom creative activity. The name is associated with the tenure of the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee N. Khrushchev (-).

The word "thaw" is associated with story of the same name Ilya Ehrenburg.

Story

The starting point of the “Khrushchev Thaw” was the death of Stalin in 1953. The “thaw” also includes a short period when Georgy Malenkov was in charge of the country’s leadership and major criminal cases were closed (“Leningrad case”, “Doctors’ case”), and an amnesty was held for those convicted of minor crimes. During these years, prisoner uprisings broke out in the Gulag system: Norilsk Uprising, Vorkuta Uprising, Kengir Uprising, etc.

De-Stalinization

With Khrushchev strengthening in power, the “thaw” began to be associated with the condemnation of Stalin’s personality cult. At the same time, in 1953-55, Stalin still continued to be officially revered in the USSR as a great leader; at that time, in portraits they were often depicted together with Lenin. At the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956, N. S. Khrushchev made a report “On the cult of personality and its consequences”, in which Stalin’s cult of personality and Stalin’s repressions were criticized, and in the foreign policy of the USSR a course towards “peaceful coexistence” with capitalism was proclaimed peace. Khrushchev also began a rapprochement with Yugoslavia, with which relations had been severed under Stalin.

Tens of thousands of German and Japanese prisoners of war were sent home. In some countries, relatively liberal leaders came to power, such as Imre Nagy in Hungary. An agreement was reached on the state neutrality of Austria and the withdrawal of all occupation forces from it. In the city, Khrushchev met in Geneva with US President Dwight Eisenhower and the heads of government of Great Britain and France.

At the same time, de-Stalinization had an extremely negative impact on relations with Maoist China. The CCP condemned de-Stalinization as revisionism.

In 1957, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR prohibited the naming of cities and factories after party leaders during their lifetime.

Limits and contradictions of the Thaw

The thaw period did not last long. Already with the suppression of the Hungarian uprising of 1956, clear boundaries of the policy of openness emerged. The party leadership was frightened by the fact that liberalization of the regime in Hungary led to open anti-communist protests and violence; accordingly, liberalization of the regime in the USSR could lead to the same consequences. On December 19, 1956, the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee approved the text of the Letter of the CPSU Central Committee “On strengthening the political work of party organizations among the masses and suppressing the attacks of anti-Soviet, hostile elements.” It said: “The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union considers it necessary to appeal to all party organizations ... in order to attract the attention of the party and mobilize communists to strengthen political work among the masses, to resolutely fight to suppress the attacks of anti-Soviet elements, which have recently, in due to some aggravation of the international situation, they intensified their hostile activities against the Communist Party and the Soviet state.” It went on to talk about the recent “intensification of the activities of anti-Soviet and hostile elements.” First of all, this is a “counter-revolutionary conspiracy against the Hungarian people”, conceived under the guise of “false slogans of freedom and democracy” using “the discontent of a significant part of the population caused by serious mistakes made by the former state and party leadership of Hungary.” It was also stated: “Recently, among individual workers of literature and art, sliding from party positions, politically immature and philistine-minded, attempts have appeared to question the correctness of the party line in the development of Soviet literature and art, to move away from the principles of socialist realism to the positions of unidealized art, demands to “liberate” literature and art from party leadership, to ensure “freedom of creativity,” understood in a bourgeois-anarchist, individualistic spirit.” The letter contained instructions to communists working in state security agencies to “vigilantly guard the interests of our socialist state, be vigilant to the machinations of hostile elements and, in accordance with the laws of Soviet power, promptly suppress criminal actions.” A direct consequence of this letter was a significant increase in 1957 in the number of people convicted of “counter-revolutionary crimes” (2,948 people, which is 4 times more than in 1956). ) . Students were expelled from institutes for making critical statements.

Thaw in art

Thaw in architecture

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Increasing pressure on religious associations

In 1956, the anti-religious struggle began to intensify. The secret resolution of the CPSU Central Committee “On the note of the department of propaganda and agitation of the CPSU Central Committee for the Union Republics “On the shortcomings of scientific-atheistic propaganda”” dated October 4, 1958 obligated party, Komsomol and public organizations to launch a propaganda offensive against “religious relics”; government institutions were ordered to implement administrative measures aimed at tightening the conditions for the existence of religious communities. On October 16, 1958, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted the Resolutions “On monasteries in the USSR” and “On increasing taxes on the income of diocesan enterprises and monasteries.”

On April 21, 1960, the new chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kuroyedov, appointed in February of the same year, in his report at the All-Union Meeting of Commissioners of the Council, characterized the work of its previous leadership as follows: “ Main mistake Affairs Council Orthodox Church was that he inconsistently followed the line of the party and the state in relation to the church and often slipped into positions of serving church organizations. Taking a defensive position in relation to the church, the council pursued a line not to combat violations of the legislation on cults by the clergy, but to protect church interests.”

The secret instructions on the application of legislation on cults in March 1961 paid special attention to the fact that ministers of worship do not have the right to interfere in the administrative, financial and economic activities of religious communities. The instructions for the first time identified “sects whose creed and nature of activities are anti-state and fanatical in nature: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals, Adventist Reformists” that were not subject to registration.

In the mass consciousness, a statement attributed to Khrushchev from that period has been preserved, in which he promises to show the last priest on television in 1980.

The end of the thaw

The end of the “thaw” is considered to be the removal of Khrushchev and the accession of Leonid Brezhnev to leadership in the year. However, the tightening of the internal political regime and ideological control began during the reign of Khrushchev after the end of the Caribbean crisis. De-Stalinization was stopped, and in connection with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War the process of exalting the role of victory began Soviet people in war. They tried to avoid Stalin’s personality as much as possible; he was never rehabilitated. There was a neutral article about him in the TSB. In 1979, several articles were published on the occasion of Stalin's 100th birthday, but no special celebrations were held.

Mass political repressions, however, were not resumed, and Khrushchev, deprived of power, retired and even remained a member of the party. Shortly before this, Khrushchev himself criticized the concept of the “thaw” and even called Ehrenburg, who invented it, a “swindler.”

A number of researchers believe that the Thaw finally ended in 1968 after the suppression of the Prague Spring. With the end of the Thaw, criticism of Soviet reality began to spread only through unofficial channels, such as Samizdat.

Mass riots in the USSR

On June 10-11, 1957, an emergency occurred in the city of Podolsk, Moscow region. The actions of a group of citizens who spread rumors that police officers killed the detained driver. The size of the “group of drunken citizens” is 3 thousand people. 9 instigators were brought to justice.
January 15, 1961, city of Krasnodar. Reasons: the actions of a group of drunken citizens who spread rumors about the beating of a serviceman when he was detained by a patrol for violating the wearing of his uniform. Number of participants - 1300 people. Applied firearms, one person was killed. 24 people were brought to criminal responsibility. See Anti-Soviet rebellion in Krasnodar (1961).
June 21, 1961 in the city of Biysk Altai Territory 500 people took part in the riots. They stood up for a drunk who the police wanted to arrest at the central market. A drunken citizen resisted security officers during arrest public order. There was a fight involving weapons. One person was killed, one was injured, 15 were prosecuted.
On June 30, 1961, in the city of Murom, Vladimir Region, over 1.5 thousand workers of the local plant named after Ordzhonikidze almost destroyed the construction of a medical sobering-up station, in which one of the employees of the enterprise, taken there by the police, died. Law enforcement officers used weapons, two workers were injured, and 12 men were brought to justice.
On July 23, 1961, 1,200 people took to the streets of the city of Aleksandrov, Vladimir Region, and moved to the city police department to rescue their two detained comrades. The police used weapons, as a result of which four were killed, 11 were wounded, and 20 people were put in the dock.
September 15-16, 1961, street riots in the North Ossetian city of Beslan. The number of rioters was 700 people. The riot arose due to an attempt by the police to detain five people who were drunk in a public place. Armed resistance was provided to the law enforcement officers. One was killed. Seven were put on trial.
July 1-3, 1962, Novocherkassk, Rostov region, 4 thousand workers of the electric locomotive plant were dissatisfied with the actions of the administration when explaining the reasons for the increase retail prices for meat and milk, went to a protest demonstration. The protesting workers were dispersed with the help of troops. 23 people were killed, 70 were wounded. 132 instigators were brought to criminal responsibility, seven of whom were later shot (See Novocherkassk execution)
June 16-18, 1963, the city of Krivoy Rog, Dnepropetrovsk region. About 600 people took part in the performance. The reason was resistance to police officers by a drunken serviceman during his arrest and the actions of a group of people. Four killed, 15 wounded, 41 brought to justice.
On November 7, 1963, in the city of Sumgayit, more than 800 people came to the defense of demonstrators who marched with photographs of Stalin. The police and vigilantes tried to take away the unauthorized portraits. Weapons were used. One demonstrator was injured, six sat in the dock (See Mass riots in Sumgayit (1963)).
On April 16, 1964, in Bronnitsy near Moscow, about 300 people destroyed a bullpen, where a city resident died from beatings. The police provoked popular outrage with their unauthorized actions. No weapons were used, there were no killed or wounded. 8 people were brought to criminal responsibility.

Notes

Footnotes

Links

Rudolf Pihoya. Slowly melting ice (March 1953 - late 1957)
A. Shubin Dissidents, informals and freedom in the USSR
And I gave my heart to search and test with wisdom everything that is done under heaven...

Periods of Soviet history

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