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Soviet foreign policy of the 30s

USSR in the 30s.

Plan:

    Industrialization

    Collectivization

    The totalitarian system in the USSR in the 30s.

    Foreign policy of the USSR in the 30s.

1. INDUSTRIALIZATION

Industry the resumption of industrialization, which began in pre-revolutionary times and was interrupted by the events of 1917.

The course towards industrialization was proclaimed in December 1925 at the XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The NEP gradually begins to wind down, which finally ends at the turn of the 20-30s.

Initially, a soft version of industrialization was adopted. However, after the removal of its main supporters from the party leadership in 1929 (Rykov, Bukharin, Tomsky), the plan sharply increased.

Sources of funds allocated for industrialization:

    Transfer of funds from the village (high prices for industrial goods and low prices for agricultural products, income from agriculture)

    Nationalization of the private sector in industry and trade

    Development of heavy industry at the expense of light industry

    Monopoly foreign trade(grain, gold, timber, etc.)

    Mandatory government loans from the population

    Enthusiasm of the people (Stakhanov movement, socialist competitions)

Five-year plans:

1) 1928-1932;

2) 1933-1937;

3) 1938-1942 (interrupted in June 1941).

Results of Industrialization:

    During industrialization they were curtailed market relations, the public sector in the economy has sharply expanded, industrial production is acquiring a strictly planned character. An administrative-command system was being formed, in which the main emphasis was placed not on economic, but on administrative levers of control.

    The country has turned from an agricultural one into an agrarian-industrial one. During the first two five-year plans (until 1937), about 6 thousand industrial enterprises were built.

(Dneproges, tractor plants Chelyabinsk, Stalingrad, Kharkov, automobile plants - Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, metallurgical plants - Magnitogorsk, Kuznetsk)

NLMZ - construction began in March 1931; 1934 – 1 blast furnace began operation; 1935 – 2nd blast furnace; a pipe foundry was built at the Svobodny Sokol plant).

In terms of industrial production, the USSR at the end of the 30s took second place in the world after the United States. Technical and economic backwardness and dependence on imports were overcome. The size of the working class has grown significantly; unemployment disappeared; private capital was completely forced out of industry and trade.

2. COLLECTIVIZATION

Collectivization in the USSR (unification of small individual peasant farms into large, collective ones through cooperation.

Main reasons:

    Constant disruption of grain supplies from the countryside (very low purchase prices) => this jeopardized industrialization

    Collective farms that were under state control were easier to manage.

    The peasant owner was a threat to the Bolshevik regime, because had property and income independent from the state.

On January 5, 1930, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution “On the pace of collectivization and measures of state assistance to collective farm construction.” It proclaimed the “liquidation of the kulaks as a class.” The kulaks were divided into three categories: the first - counter-revolutionary - was subject to immediate destruction; the second - resettlement to the northern uninhabited areas, the third (resettlement within the collectivization area on new lands allocated to them outside the collective farms).

The mass dispossession that began in February-March 1930 caused peasant uprisings.

The departure of peasant families to the city, mass slaughter of livestock, and uprisings begin.

On March 2, 1930, Stalin’s article “Dizziness from Success” appears in Pravda. In it, all the blame for the “excesses” was placed on the local leadership.

A mass exodus of peasants from collective farms begins.

Famine 1932-1933 (Ukraine, Volga region, Kazakhstan) suspended collectivization. (Organized by Stalin). 4-7 million people died of hunger.

7.08. 1932 – the law on five spikelets. 10 years in prison.

In June 1934, the beginning of a new, final stage of collectivization was announced. Agricultural tax rates for individual farmers were increased, and the norms for mandatory supplies to the state increased by 50% compared to collective farmers.

By 1937, collectivization was virtually completed (93% of peasant farms were united into collective farms.

Collectivization results:

    Complete alienation of the peasantry from property. Collective farms were state property. Collective farmers did not receive any payment (workdays) for their work. Collective farmers did not have passports and had no right to leave the village. – VKP(b).

    An absolutely unproductive land management system has been created. Lack of initiative. Equalization is encouraged. The layer of peasant owners was destroyed (physically). The number of “kulaks” destroyed was 750 thousand. 10-15 million people were exiled and dispossessed.

3. TOTALITARIARY SYSTEM IN THE USSR IN THE 30S.

Totalitarianism is a political regime that controls all parties public life, right down to the inner world of a person.

Features of totalitarianism:

    The presence of a single mass party led by a leader-dictator (VKP(b); NSDAP)

    The only officially dominant ideology in society (communist; national socialism)

    Monopoly on mass media

    Centralized system of control and management of the economy (including in Germany, despite the preservation of private property)

    Existence of the repressive apparatus (NKVD; Gestapo)

    Bureaucratization

    Lack of feedback in society management

    Reliance primarily on the “lower classes” of society (lumpen), as well as youth (creation of paramilitary organizations) (Komsomol; Hitler Youth)

    Merging the party apparatus with the state apparatus (in Germany there was no E.g: 1737 - 7 out of 12 ministers were not members of the NSDAP. Reason: Hitler could not afford to destroy the old cadres and educate his own - it was necessary to quickly prepare for war (1933-1939))

    Complete alienation from property, complete dependence of citizens on the state in a material sense (But! private property remains in Germany)

    No separation of powers

    Substitution of individual rights with class and group interests (interests of the working class, nation, state. The public is primary, the personal is secondary).

    Active formation of the image of a common enemy (Germany - communism, Jews; USSR - the term “enemy of the people”)

    In both cases, communism and national socialism come to power as a result of a crisis of democracy (Russia in 1917 - the Provisional Government was unable to solve virtually any problem facing the country; in Germany - as a result of the overthrow of the monarchy in 1918, the so-called Weimar Republic; the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919, shameful for Germany, is signed, the government cannot solve the economic problems facing the country; in 1929-1933 - “Great Depression”; on January 30, 1933, after winning the elections, Hitler is entrusted with the formation of the government)

The beginning of mass repressions is associated with the murder of S.M. Kirov on December 1, 1934. On the same day, the period of investigation in cases of national importance was reduced to ten days; it was possible to consider these cases and pass a sentence on them, even death, in the absence of the accused and a lawyer; the sentences were not subject to appeal and review.

In 1937-38 As a result of the trials, Bukharin, Rykov, Kamenev, Zinoviev and other associates of Lenin were destroyed, as well as most of the Soviet military leaders (Tukhachevsky, Egorov, Yakir, Uborevich, Kork, etc.). The People's Commissars of the Internal Affairs (Yagoda, Yezhov) were also destroyed. A network of concentration camps was created - Gulag

In total, thanks to Stalin's repressive policies before 1953, more than 20 million were shot, died of hunger, disease, or in camps.

In the late 20s - early 30s. international situation has changed significantly. Deep global economic crisis, which began in 1929, caused serious internal political changes in all capitalist countries.

The international situation deteriorated even more sharply after the National Socialist Party led by A. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. The new government set as its goal to review the results of the First World War. Hitler's program, outlined in his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), said: “We are resuming the movement in the direction in which it was suspended six hundred years ago. We are stopping the eternal onslaught on the South and West of Europe and turning our attention to to lands in the East... But if today we are talking about new lands in Europe, then we can think, first of all, only about Russia and the outlying states subordinate to it.”

As a country that lost the war, Germany did not have the right to have its own armed forces, but it refused to comply with the conditions Treaty of Versailles and in 1935 announced the creation of military aviation and navy, introduced universal conscription. Preparing for the struggle for the redivision of the world, Germany attracted fascist Italy and militaristic Japan to its side.

IN 1933. The Soviet government developed a plan to fight for collective security, which provided for the conclusion of a regional agreement between European states on mutual defense against German aggression. IN 1934. USSR joined League of Nations. As a result of negotiations between the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou and the USSR People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs M.M. Litvinov developed a project Eastern Pact, according to which the USSR, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland form a collective security system. However, the Eastern Pact as a system of collective security was not implemented due to the opposition of England and the right-wing reactionary circles of France. The signing of the Soviet-French and Soviet-Czechoslovak mutual assistance treaties in 1935 should be recognized as a success of Soviet foreign policy. The parties were obliged to immediately provide assistance to each other in the event of an attack on one of them.

In March 1936, an agreement was concluded with the Mongolian People's Republic, and in August 1937 - a non-aggression pact between the USSR and China.

In 1935, Germany sent its troops into the demilitarized Rhineland, and in 1936, Germany and Japan signed an agreement directed against the USSR (Anti-Comintern Pact). In 1938, Germany carried out the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria.
The Western powers pursued a policy of concessions to Nazi Germany, hoping to direct aggression to the East. Therefore, it was no coincidence that the signing between Germany, Italy, France and England Munich Agreement 1938, according to which Czechoslovakia lost its independence.

In conditions when negotiations between the USSR and England and France reached a dead end in 1939, the Soviet leadership accepted Germany’s proposal for peace negotiations, as a result of which the agreement was concluded on August 23, 1939 in Moscow. Soviet-German treaty non-aggression agreement, which entered into force immediately and is valid for 10 years ( Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact). Attached to it was secret protocol on the delimitation of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. The interests of the Soviet Union were recognized by Germany in the Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Finland) and Bessarabia.

The USSR was faced with an alternative: either come to an agreement with England and France and create a system of collective security in Europe, or conclude a pact with Germany, or remain alone. Having concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939, when Far East military operations were underway, the USSR avoided a war on two fronts.

In general, this pact did not make it possible to create a united anti-Soviet front in Europe.

On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, the Second World War began world war. In the new international conditions, the USSR began to implement the Soviet-German agreements. On September 17, after the Germans defeated the Polish army and the fall of the Polish government, the Red Army entered Western Belarus And Western Ukraine. On September 28, 1939, the Soviet-German Treaty “On Friendship and Border” was concluded, securing these lands as part of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the USSR insisted on concluding agreements with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, receiving the right to station its troops on their territory. In these republics, in the presence of Soviet troops, legislative elections were held, in which communist forces won. IN 1940 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became part of the USSR.

In October 1939, the USSR offered Finland to lease the Hanko Peninsula, which was of strategic importance for our borders, for 30 years, as well as to transfer the islands in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas near Murmansk and part of the Karelian Isthmus - i.e. about 2,710 sq. km in exchange for a territory in Soviet Karelia measuring 5,523 sq. km. The Finnish side did not accept these conditions, and negotiations were interrupted on November 13, and then a military conflict broke out.

Soviet-Finnish War lasted 105 days, with November 30, 1939 to March 12, 1940. Although this campaign ended in victory for the USSR and allowed our country to strengthen its strategic positions in the north-west and move the border away from Leningrad, it still caused political and moral damage to our country. World public opinion in this conflict was on the side of Finland, and the prestige of the USSR dropped noticeably. On December 14, 1939, the USSR was expelled from the League of Nations.

Hi all!

The foreign policy of the USSR at the beginning of its existence was contradictory. On the one side, The Soviet Union sought to spread socialist ideas and help the working class end the capitalist and colonial regime. A on the other side, it was necessary to maintain relations with the capitalist powers in order to establish economic and political ties with them and increase the international authority of the USSR.

In turn, the attitude of Western countries towards Soviet Russia was also ambiguous. On the one side, the movement of the working class against capitalism did not sympathize with them at all, and they set the isolation of the Soviet Union as one of the goals of their foreign policy. But, on the other side, The West wanted to regain the money and property it had lost after the Soviets came to power and, to this end, sought to establish political and economic ties with the USSR.

20s

In 1921-1922, England, Austria, Norway and other countries signed trade agreements with Russia. Economic ties were then put in order with countries that had once been part of Russian Empire: Poland, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and Latvia. In 1921 Soviet Russia expanded its influence in the East by concluding agreements with Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan that established the rule of mutual assistance and mutual recognition between countries. Also in 1921, Russia provided military assistance to Mongolia in the revolution, supporting the leader Sukhbaatar.

Genoa Conference.

In 1922, the Genoa Conference took place. Russia was offered official recognition in exchange for an agreement to accept Western claims. The following demands were put forward.

West:

  • return of the imperial debt (18 billion rubles) and property that belonged to Western capitalists before nationalization;
  • abolition of the import monopoly;
  • allowing foreigners to invest in Russian industry;
  • Stopping the spread of the “revolutionary infection” in Western countries

Russia:

  • Compensation for damage caused by interventionists during Civil War(RUB 39 billion)
  • Guarantee of long-term loans to Russia
  • Adoption of a program to limit weapons and prohibit the use of brutal weapons in war

But both sides were unable to find a compromise. The issues of the conference were not resolved.

But Russia managed to conclude an agreement with Germany in Rapallo, which contributed to further development relationships in a positive way.

After the creation of the USSR, a series of confessions followed. All states except the United States accepted the Soviet Union.

Further, in the context of the growing threat of a new world war, the USSR needed to reduce international tension and increase its authority. The Soviets put forward two proposals to resolve the escalating conflict: a declaration on general disarmament in 1927 and an arms reduction convention in 1928. None of them were accepted. But in 1928, the Union agreed to the call of the Kellogg-Briand Pact to reject war as a method of resolving international disputes.

30s

In 1929, the world was overcome by an economic crisis, which caused changes in foreign policy in many countries. International situation it grew more and more. In this regard, the USSR made the following decisions:

  • Do not enter into armed international conflicts
  • Maintain relations with democratic countries in order to pacify the aggression of Germany and Japan
  • Create a system of collective security in Europe

In 1933, the United States recognized the USSR. In 1934, the League of Nations admitted the Soviet Union into its ranks. After the USSR, he agreed with France and Czechoslovakia on support in case of war (1935).

The USSR soon violated its principle of not interfering in the circumstances of other states and in 1936 helped the Spanish Popular Front in the civil war.

International tension intensified, Western countries were increasingly less successful in containing the aggression of Germany, Japan and Italy. From the East, the USSR was threatened by Japan in alliance with Germany. Realizing that they are unable to eliminate the fascist threat, Western countries began to look for ways to reflect it from themselves. To do this, they concluded the Munich Agreement (1938).

England and France no longer believed in the ability of the USSR to repel the pressure of the Nazis and did not express a desire to conclude security agreements with the Union. In this regard, the USSR turned its foreign policy in the opposite direction, concluding a non-aggression pact with Germany (1939). To some extent, this agreement “freed the hands” of Nazi Germany and contributed to the outbreak of World War II (September 1, 1939).

© Anastasia Prikhodchenko 2015

The coming to power of fascism in Germany in 1933 significantly changed the balance of political forces in Europe. The main task of the USSR's foreign policy is to ensure collective security and create a bloc democracies against the aggressive aspirations of Germany and Japan. The Soviet Union establishes diplomatic relations with the USA (1933), France (1935), and joins the League of Nations (1934).

Occupying leading place in the Comintern, the USSR calls for the creation of a united anti-fascist front. It should be noted that J.V. Stalin sought to impose his view on the solution of international problems here too.

The need for the speedy creation of an anti-fascist front was also confirmed by Spanish events - the first attempt to suppress the fascist rebellion raised by General Franco by international forces. However European countries for a number of reasons, they did not support the initiative of the Soviet Union, which actively helped the Republicans by providing them with military and material assistance.

However greatest threat to the world came from fascist Germany, which intensified its aggressive activities. By the spring of 1938, German shock troops were concentrated along the borders with Czechoslovakia. The USSR was ready to provide assistance to this country, but could not do this without the consent and participation of France, with which it was bound by an international treaty.

England and France took a completely different path. Having signed the infamous Munich Agreement (September 1938), these countries actually did not object to Germany's annexation of a significant part of Czechoslovak territory. In addition, England and France alternately concluded agreements with Germany, which had the status of a non-aggression pact.

A dangerous situation also developed on the Far Eastern borders of the Soviet Union. Difficult relationships with Japan led not only to escalation of the situation, but also to direct military clashes. By capturing Manchuria, Japan created a direct threat to the USSR. The CER, which belonged to our country, ended up in occupied territory. Having entered into an alliance with Germany (Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936), Japan began aggression against China. The Soviet Union, having concluded a non-aggression pact with China, provided it with significant material assistance and support. Separate clashes between the USSR and Japan in 1938 resulted in a major conflict at Lake Khasan on the Soviet-Manchurian border. The military success won by the Red Army somewhat reduced Japan's claims, but the situation remained tense and this forced the country's leadership to maintain significant armed forces in the Far East.

The foreign policy of the USSR in the 30s is a topic on which a lot of guys flop when answering an exam or writing a test. The reason for this state of affairs is that in addition to the facts, of which there are many, it is also necessary to remember the general trends that existed during this period. In this post I propose a plan for memorizing this topic, in which I will reveal some important points that are worth remembering.

General trends in USSR foreign policy in the 1930s

  • A course towards building socialism in a single country. This meant that now the USSR was not proceeding from the principle of world revolution, but that it would support revolutionary actions in capitalist countries if these actions were pro-socialist. Now the USSR acted as an independent state that was developing in its own way.
  • Escalation of international tension. The escalation began literally from the beginning of the 30s, when militaristic Japan occupied China. Many historians therefore consider the period of the 20-30s not just the threshold of the Second World War, but, in fact, consider the period from 1914 to 1945 as a single period of confrontation. Then Hitler added fuel to the fire by transferring power into his own hands in 1933 and coming out with his Nazi slogans.
  • The collapse of the League of Nations as a peacekeeping organization. Events in China in 1931 showed that the League of Nations was unable to exert any serious influence on potential aggressors.
  • The need to create a system of collective security in Europe against a possible aggressor. It was this idea that excited the minds of Louis Barthou (Minister of Foreign Affairs of France), King Alexander of Romania and the Soviet leadership.
  • The reluctance of the great powers, primarily England and France, for a new world war, and at the same time they turned a blind eye to the actions of Nazi Germany in Europe, indulging its ambitions. This policy is called: the policy of appeasing the aggressor. In connection with this, by the way, I highly recommend the collection of Soviet and foreign military cartoons that I. Also, the great powers turned a blind eye to Germany’s violation of the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, which, in particular, limited the volume of displacement of its warships.

Key events in foreign policy and its significance

  • 1930-1931 - Japanese occupation of Manchuria. The League of Nations acknowledged its incapacity by sending a written appeal to the Japanese leadership demanding an end to the occupation actions. Japan ignored the demand.
  • 1933 - the NSDAP party and its leader Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. This event changed the balance of power on the world stage - Germany again declared its territorial ambitions.
  • 1933 - establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the USA. US steel the last country, recognized Soviet Union as an independent state.
  • 1934 - The USSR was admitted to the League of Nations. This meant recognition of the USSR by the world community as an equal partner in foreign policy.
  • 1935 - an agreement between France, the USSR and Czechoslovakia on mutual assistance in the event of an attack by an aggressor.
  • 1936 - Anschluss between Germany and Austria.
  • 1938 - Czechoslovakia is divided by Germany.
  • 1938 - Munich Treaty between France and England, on the one hand, and Germany, on the other.