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Tsai Vladimir Ilyich. Historical experience of interethnic relations in the USSR, Russian Federation (1953-2003): Dis. ... Dr. Ist. Sciences: 07.00.02: Moscow, 2004 352 p. RSL OD, 71:05-7/59

Introduction

Section I. HISTORICAL PREREQUISITES FOR THE FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN PRE-LUCTION RUSSIA AND THE USSR 18

Section II. THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF PERSONNEL POTENTIAL IN DECISIONING NATIONAL POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 61

Section III. NATIONAL-CULTURAL POLICY OF THE PARTY AND THE STATE IN RELATION TO THE PEOPLES OF THE USSR AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 115

Section IV. FEATURES OF INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS ON THE TERRITORY OF THE USSR AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 167

Section V. STATE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR 263

CONCLUSION 313

NOTES 326

LIST OF SOURCES AND REFERENCES USED 342

Introduction to the work

Relevance research topics. Problems associated with the governance and functioning of the state in ethnically divided societies - subject special attention modern scientists and politicians. Therefore, the issues of improving international relations, creating a culture of communication, establishing the values ​​of internationalism and friendship of peoples were relevant in all multinational states.

These questions have been and remain the most pressing for Russian society. Russian Federation, as the successor to the USSR, is known to be one of the world's largest multinational states, home to more than 150 nations and nationalities. Each of them has its own specifics - in number, socio-professional structure, type of economic and cultural activity, language, features of material and spiritual culture. The boundaries of the settlement of peoples, as a rule, do not coincide with the boundaries of republics, territories, regions and districts. The number and nature of their settlement in various regions of the Russian Federation is particularly affected by the intensity of migration processes. The overwhelming majority of ethnic communities have evolved over centuries and in this sense are indigenous. Hence their historical role in the formation of Russian statehood and claims to independent national-territorial or, at least, national-cultural entities.

The dramatic collisions of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the aggravation of interethnic relations in almost the entire post-Soviet space dictate the need to study and rethink

experience of national political processes. This is due, first of all, to the fact that in modern conditions the problem of preserving the unity of the Russian Federation is one of the most important and pressing. The experience of the recent Soviet past teaches that underestimating the role of the ethnic factor and errors in assessing its real role lead to the accumulation of its enormous conflict potential, which can serve as a threat to the integrity of a multinational state. The recent collapse of the USSR also shows how important it is to build national policies and interethnic relations on a scientific basis.

Therefore, according to the doctoral student, the urgent problem of modern Russia is the problem of preserving the political, economic, cultural and historical unity of Russian society, the integrity of the territory, and the revival on this basis of truly strong, mutually beneficial, extremely necessary interethnic relations.

Therefore, without a thorough study of the rich Soviet experience of national movements and drawing those historical lessons, an objective picture of modern national relations in Russia is impossible. All this emphasizes the need to study the causes and main stages of national politics and interethnic relations. This is necessary for the formation of a national policy in the country that would lead to a more complete development of the peoples inhabiting the Russian Federation.

A study of the problems of interethnic relations in the USSR and the Russian Federation, in particular, shows that their analysis in relation to different stages of the historical development of society

is marked both by its characteristics arising from specific goals and objectives, and by the forms of their resolution.

In this regard, it must be admitted that during the years of socialist construction, interest in the problems of interethnic relations increased noticeably. This became especially noticeable in the 60-70s. Much attention was paid to covering the activities of the party and the state in implementing interethnic policies, i.e. the practical side of this problem. It is to this period that the appearance of generalizing monographs in the field of national politics and interethnic relations dates back to 1.

Naturally, in these works the specifics of national policy and
interethnic relations in the USSR, the role of the national program
CPSU in the conditions of building a socialist society

were considered exclusively on the basis of the Marxist-Leninist methodology of approaching the problem as an integral part of the general question of social revolution.

Degree of scientific study of the problem shows that the problem of national policy and interethnic relations in the years under review, due to the specifics of the study, began to be studied by domestic historical science relatively recently, and therefore the specific historical picture of the formation of national policy and interethnic relations remains far from complete and unevenly studied. The conceptual basis of all Soviet historiography

Gardanov V.K., Dolgikh B. O., Zhdanko T.A. The main directions of ethnic processes among the peoples of the USSR.// Sov. Ethnography. 1961.No.4; Groshev I.I. Historical experience of the CPSU in the implementation of Leninist national policy. -M., 1967; Brus SI. Ethnodemographic processes in the USSR (based on the 1970 census materials) // Sov. Ethnography. 1971.№4; Sherstobitov V.P. Education of the USSR and historical objects of our country // History of the USSR.1971.No.3; Kulichenko M.I. National relations in the USSR and trends in their development; Malanchuk V.E. Historical experience of the CPSU on the decision national question and the development of national relations in the USSR.-M., 1972, etc.

national policy and interethnic relations constituted theses about the complete and final victory of socialism in the USSR and the beginning of the transition from socialism to communism. In the 1960s, the previously existing ideological framework of scientific work on national issues was supplemented by the concept of developed socialism, the main emphasis of which was placed on the ideas of achieving social and national homogeneity of society.

State leaders of the USSR declared the “monolithic unity” of the Soviet people and that the national question in the USSR had been “successfully resolved.” Hence all the literature of this time is in rainbow colors. painted a cloudless picture of national and interethnic relations in the USSR. Secondly, an analysis of the historiography of this period shows that “in the USSR there is, on the one hand, the flourishing of all nations, on the other hand, their rapprochement,” which was first voiced at the XXII Congress of the CPSU in the report “On the Program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.” They tried not to notice the inconsistency and multidirectionality of these statements.

A number of works by Soviet scientists of this period were aimed at considering the main directions of criticism of the bourgeois “falsifications” of the development of national and interethnic relations in the USSR. The authors of these works, although they pointed out the persistence of remnants of chauvinism and nationalism in the Soviet Union, at the same time explained this by backward cultural and religious traditions, the weakness of atheistic and international education, as well as anti-Soviet propaganda.

"Groshev I.I., Chechenkina O.I. Criticism of bourgeois falsifications of the national policy of the CPSU. - M, 1974; Bagramov E.A. The national question in the struggle of ideas. - M., 1982; Bourgeois historiography of the formation and development of the USSR. - M., 1983; Criticism of falsifications of national relations in the USSR. -M., 1983, etc.

A number of studies in the 60-70s were devoted to the general achievements of national policy in the USSR. Despite the fact that the name of such a theorist of national relations as Stalin, scientific works not mentioned. The literature rehabilitated the Stalinist model of building socialism in previously backward national republics; 3 covered ethnic processes in the USSR - internationalization, assimilation, the emergence and formation of a new historical community “Soviet people”; 4 thoughts were expressed about the dialectic of national and international in development Soviet society in the process of rapprochement and integration of the peoples of the USSR. 5 At the same time, firstly,

"Sherstobitov V.P. Education of the USSR and historical subjects of the peoples of our country // History of the USSR. 1972. No. 3. Kukushkin Y.S. Problems of studying the history of creation // History of the USSR. 1972. No. 6.; Gardanov V.K., Dolgikh B. .O., Zhdanko T.A. Main directions of ethnic processes among the peoples of the USSR. // Soviet ethnography. ] 961 No. 4, Brook S. I. Ethnodemographic processes in the USSR (based on the 1970 census materials). // Soviet ethnography. 1971 No. 4.; Groshev I.I. Historical experience of the CPSU in implementing Leninist national policy. - M., 1967.; Kulichenko M. I. National relations in the USSR and trends in their development; Malanchuk V. E. Historical experience of the CPSU in resolving the national question and the development of national relations in the USSR. - M., 1972.

4 The Soviet people are a new historical community of people. - Proceedings of the interuniversity scientific concept (October 15-19, 1969). - Volgograd, 1969; Kaltakhchyan SR. Leninism is about the essence of the nation and the path to the formation of an international community of people. M., 1976; Kim M P The Soviet people are a new historical community of people. - M, 1972. "Abd>latipov R.G., Burmistrov T.Yu. Lenin's policy of internationalism in the USSR: history and modernity - M., 1982; Bagramov E.A. Lenin's national policy of achievements and prospects. - M., 1977; Burmistrov T.Yu. Patterns and features of the development of socialist nations in the conditions of the construction of communism.

L. 1974, Dialectics of the international and national in a socialist society, - M, 1981; Drobizheva L.M. The spiritual community of the peoples of the USSR: a historical and sociological essay on interethnic relations. - M, 1981; Kaltakhchyan SR. Marxist-Leninist theory of the nation and modernity. - M., 1983; Kulichenko M.I. National relations in the USSR and trends in their development. - M., 1972; His own. The flourishing and rapprochement of socialist nations in the USSR. - M, 1981; Metelitsa L.V. The flourishing and rapprochement of socialist nations. - M, 1978; National relations in a developed socialist society. - M., 1977; Likholat A.V., Patijulaska V.F. In a single family of nations. - M, 19789; Rosenko M.N. Patriotism and national pride of the Soviet people. -L., 1977; Sulzhenko V.K. Internationalism at the stage of developed socialism - the implementation of the Leninist national policy of the CPSU in Ukraine - Lvov, 1981; Tzameryan I.P. Nations and national relations in a developed socialist society. - M., 1979, etc.

the objective nature of the formation and development of a “new interethnic community” - the “Soviet people” was emphasized on the basis of a common economic space and the Russian language as the language of all-Union communication, 6 secondly, the dialectic of national and international in the development of Soviet society was often considered through the prism of the formula “interpenetration and the mutual enrichment of the two tendencies of socialism in the development of nations and national relations - the flourishing and rapprochement of nations.” Obviously, such a limitation of this problem did not reveal in its entirety and complexity the dynamics of the development of this most important task of society. Some researchers have consistently emphasized that history does not provide us with convincing material for concluding that nations are dying out. The problem of dialectical contradictions in the national sphere of the USSR was not only not considered by many authors, but even the term “contradiction” itself was not even mentioned in many publications. 7

Works on national politics in the USSR, published in the 70s and 80s, acquire a new quality. In a number of these works, national

6 Kulichenko M.I. National relations in the USSR and trends in their development. - M., 1972; Kim M.P. The relationship between the national and the international in the life of peoples: its typology. // Fraternal unity of the peoples of the USSR. - M., 1976; Drobizheva L.M. Spiritual community of the peoples of the USSR (Historical and sociological essay on interethnic relations). - M., 1981; Development of national relations in the USSR.-M., 1986, etc.

B>rmistrova T.Yu. National policy of the CPSU in conditions of mature socialism. - In the book: National Policy of the CPSU. -M., 1981; Burmistrova T.Yu., Dmitriev O.L. United by friendship: the culture of interethnic communication in the USSR. - M., 1986, etc.

Modern ethnic processes in the USSR. M. 1977; The main directions of studying national relations in the USSR. - M., 1979; Social policy and national relations (based on materials from the All-Union scientific-practical conference"Development of national relations in conditions of mature socialism." - M., 1982; “Experience and problems of patriotic and international education.” - Riga, July 28-30, 1982; Problems of perestroika: social aspect. - M., 1984; Semenov V.S., Jordan M.V., Babakov V.G., Samsonov V.A. Interethnic contradictions and conflicts in the USSR. - M., 1991; Kukushkin B.S., Barsenov A.K. On the issue of the concept of national policy of the Russian Federation. - Ethnopolis. // Ethnopolitical Bulletin of Russia. -

relations and national politics are considered in a generalized form, attempts are made to highlight key points in them in order to get closer to understanding the origins and causes of the collapse of the USSR and modern national problems of Russia and do not affect the problems we are studying.

In the 90s, researchers were faced with the task of rethinking all the accumulated experience in the field of interethnic relations. During these years, many works were published on this issue, 9 which covered the problems of interethnic relations between the peoples of Russia, the war in Chechnya, the problems of the Russian-speaking population who, through no fault of their own, found themselves abroad as small peoples in newly formed national states in the near abroad.

In general, it should be noted that these works raise the question of the relationship between national and international factors; the question of general culture our thinking in

M, 1992, No. 1.; Will Russia share the fate of the USSR? The crisis of interethnic relations and federal policy - M, 1993; Mikhalin V.A. National policy as a factor in state building. - M, 1995; Kalinina K.V. National minorities in Russia - M., 1993; Bugai N.F., Mekulov D. X. People power “Socialist experiment”, Maykop, 1994, etc.

Yu Boroday. From ethnic diversity to national unity // Russia on a new frontier. -M., - 1991; A.I. Vdovin. Features of ethnopolitical relations and the formation of a new statehood in Russia (historical and conceptual aspects) - M., - 1993; M.N. G>boglo. Protection and self-defense of nationalities // Ethnopolitical Bulletin. -M., - 1995. -No. 4; A.I. Doronchenkov. Interethnic relations and national politics in Russia: current problems. -M., -1995; L M Drobizheva. Nationalism, ethnic identity and conflicts in a transforming society: main approaches to the study // National consciousness and nationalism in the Russian Federation in the early 1990s. -M., -1994; A.G. Zdravomyslov. Diversity of interests and institutions of power. -M., -1994; V.Yu. Zorin. National policy- legal basis// National politics of Russia: history and modernity. - M., -1997; K.V. Kalinina. Institutions of state power are regulators of interethnic relations. - M., -1995; L. M. Karapetyan. Borders of sovereignty and self-determination of peoples // State and law. - 1993 - No. 1; N I Medvedev National policy of Russia. From unitarianism to federalism. -M„ -1993. Interethnic relations in the regions of the Russian Federation. -M., -1992; Interethnic relations in the Russian Federation//Annual report of the IEARAN. -M., -1998; V.I.Tsai. Interethnic relations in the USSR and the Russian Federation. -M., - 2004 and DR-

national issue, without which it would be difficult to count on making a real contribution to solving the problems of national and interethnic relations, taking into account the pressing problems here. In this regard, the book “National Policy of Russia. History and modernity" (Kuleshov S., Amanzholova D.A., Volobuev O.V., Mikhailov V.A.), which represents the first study in domestic national policy at all its stages and in the interrelation

theoretical designs with practical implementation.

Many issues of the ethnological situation in the USSR and in its individual regions are reflected in the collection of articles “National Processes in the USSR”, written by scientists from the N.N. Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology. Miklouho-Maclay and the Center for the Study of Interethnic Relations of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The articles by V. Muntyan, V. Tishkov, S. Cheshko attract attention, in which a new level of understanding of the most characteristic tasks in the development of national relations is visible, their typological groups are highlighted, and the policies of M. Gorbachev during the years of perestroika are illuminated through the prism of critical analysis. eleven

The monograph by scientists F. Gorovsky and Yu. Rymanenko, published in 1991, deserves special attention. Of main interest to us is chapter two, “Results of the path traveled: successes and deformations.” The authors, without detracting from what has been done in the interethnic sphere, noting how the level of socio-economic development, education, culture of the union and autonomous republics has risen during the years of Soviet power, emphasizing that deep, progressive changes have occurred in the life of every nation and nationality,

National policy of Russia. History and modernity. - M., 1997. 1 National processes in the USSR: collection of articles. - M., 1991.

Gorovsky F.Ya., Rymanenko Yu.I. The national question and socialist practice: experience of historical and theoretical analysis. - Kyiv: Vishcha School, 1991. - 225 p.

paid considerable attention to the analysis of problems, errors, miscalculations in
national policy. The source base of the monograph consists of
various publications, archival sources were not used.
Let us next turn to works written and published after
Belovezhsky meeting. The monograph is of significant interest
^ historian-researchers A.I. Zalessky and P.N. Kobrinets, in which

Along with great achievements in economic and cultural construction, errors and miscalculations are analyzed, especially in the field of language construction. The authors deeply and convincingly expose modern falsifiers of the history of national relations in the USSR.

Based on the above, and also from the fact that interethnic
the problem is one of the most complex and acute problems of any state,
4fc requires a special approach and daily attention, in

The dissertation aims to reveal the most pressing tasks of national policy and interethnic relations, their effectiveness, problems and contradictions in 1953-2003.

In connection with this goal, as well as relying on accumulated research experience, widely drawing on the results of existing publications in the field of interethnic relations, new documentary and archival materials, the author decides the following tasks:

to uncover historical background formation
interethnic relations in pre-revolutionary Russia and the USSR;

explore the role and significance of human resources in solving
f|i national and interethnic relations;

Zalessky A.I., Kobrinets P.N. On national relations in Soviet Belarus: historical essays. - Grodno: State University, 1992. - 192 p.

analyze the national-cultural policy of the party and the state in the system of interethnic relations between the peoples of the USSR and the Russian Federation;

show the features of interethnic conflicts on the territory of the USSR, the Russian Federation,

summarize the state of interethnic relations in the Russian Federation after the collapse THE USSR.

Subject of research are national politics and interethnic relations in Soviet and Russian societies in 1953-2003.

Defining chronological framework research (1953-2003), the author proceeded from the fact that in these years, along with the painful manifestations of the echoes of unjustified repression of national personnel, especially leaders and intelligentsia in the 30s - early 50s, there was an active renewal process that affected after the death of I. Stalin all spheres public life, including national public policy. The atmosphere of democratization created by the 20th Congress of the CPSU gave a powerful impetus to social progress and inspired the country. The flow of scientific discoveries was carried out by the Soviet people, who were the first to pave the way into space. The standard of living, education and culture of the masses grew. In national literatures there is a fireworks display of bright poetic names. Along with this, the moral and political unity of the nations and nationalities of the country strengthened.

In subsequent years, the active development of nations continued, the processes of democratization of the most important sphere of life of the Soviet state - national personnel policy - deepened, and the training of specialists in economics, science, culture, management, and military affairs from representatives of all nations and nationalities was widely deployed

USSR, national culture and art have reached a high level, much has been done to develop national languages, national literature, national traditions, etc.

At the same time, the national factor was sometimes underestimated; it was not always taken into account that national relations retain their specificity and relative independence and develop according to their own special laws. The scope of use of the national languages ​​of some republics of the USSR has narrowed. During the reforms of the second half of the 80s, existing contradictions in the national sphere still remained.

The 90s of the last century, which laid the foundation for the formation of the Russian state. During these years, the Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted (December 12, 1993), agreements “On the delimitation of jurisdiction and mutual delegation of powers between state authorities of the Russian Federation and state authorities of the subject” were signed, the strengthening of the vertical of power began, etc.

At the same time, during this period, the concept of national policy was adopted, as well as federal laws affecting the solution of the interethnic issue and national statehood: on national and cultural autonomy of May 22, 1996; on guarantees of the rights of indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation dated April 16, 1999; about general principles organizations of legislative (representative) and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation dated September 22, 1999, etc. At the regional level, a lot of work is also being done to improve national policy and interethnic relations. It has become especially active in the 21st century.

The source base of the dissertation consisted of published and unpublished materials. The published materials are mainly the service records and nationality of members of the leaders of party and government bodies, the army, public organizations, etc. Periodicals were used to cover almost all the problems studied in the dissertation.

The dissertation also uses unpublished documents identified by the author in the archives of the city. Moscow, Minsk, Kyiv. In particular, empirical material was obtained from the following state archives: 1) state archive of the Russian Federation. - F. 5508; 2) Russian State Historical Archive. - F. 776; 3)Storage center for special documentation. - F. 5, 89; 4) Central State Archive of the Republic of Belarus. - F. 1; 5) National Archive of the Republic of Belarus. - F. 4, 74, 974; 6) Archive of the information center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. - F. 23; 7) Archive of the Main Information Bureau of Ukraine. - F. 4; 8) Central State Archives of Government and Administration of Ukraine. - F. 288.

Valuable materials reflecting the implementation of national policy are concentrated in the funds of the Union and republican ministries and departments, in particular, the State Planning Committees of the Central Statistical Office, Culture, Education and others. Various aspects of the problem under consideration are covered in certificates, information, and reports sent by ministries and departments of the republics to party and higher government bodies. Of great importance for penetration into the topic are the internal memos (for internal, official use) of the heads of departments of party committees at various levels and the Affairs Directorates of the Councils of Ministers of the Union Republics,

addressed to the secretariats of regional committees, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the union republics, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Councils of Ministers of the republics of the USSR on various issues of economic, cultural and national construction.

Materials from party and state statistics and periodicals were of great importance for writing the work. The study also used articles, speeches, speeches by leaders of the USSR, RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Belarusian SSR and other regions of the country, as well as the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, etc.

When assessing the entire array of sources, it should be noted that they do not always provide an adequate picture of the problem under study. Because of this, the necessary verification (re-verification) of them was carried out in order to confirm the stated facts. In addition, many questions in the sources are focused only on positive data and are interpreted one-sidedly, sometimes schematically. This state of the sources was taken into account, and their data was critically interpreted during the study.

At the same time, the analysis of historical sources, published documents and archival materials made it possible to consider the problem objectively, over the course of almost forty years, a very controversial and dramatic period, to reveal those problems and issues that were not previously the subject of special study. The author believes that this study will help you to better understand and comprehend many pages modern history in the field of national politics and interethnic relations.

Scientific novelty of the research is as follows: 1. First of all, a wide range of documents and materials have been identified that make it possible to reveal the content of national policy and interethnic

relations in the period we are studying, many of the documents are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time; 2. The prerequisites and reasons for the aggravation of contradictions are revealed, the role and place of government authorities in resolving existing conflicts and mitigating tensions in interethnic relations is shown; 3. Based on the collected and generalized, previously unstudied documentary material, new historical material on the problems of national politics and interethnic relations of the Soviet society of the Russian Federation, in the years 1953-2003, is harmoniously introduced into the fabric of the study; 4. The mechanism of collusion in the signing of the Belovezhskaya agreements on the collapse of the USSR is studied, a complex of negative circumstances of both internal and external order is shown, which, in the author’s opinion, played a significant role in the collapse of the Soviet Union, which caused dire consequences in the sphere of national, economic and other areas development of the former republics of the USSR; 5. A mechanism for the formation of a new concept of national policy and interethnic relations in the regions of Russia is proposed, taking into account the current state of the Russian Federation.

Practical significance of the study lies, first of all, in the fact that its provisions and conclusions, as well as the documentary material on national politics and interethnic relations introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, can be used by specialists in solving problems related to national and interethnic processes, as well as scientists and university teachers , school teachers in the preparation of general works on national issues and special courses on the history of Russia, diploma and coursework students of history departments of universities, etc.

Approbation of work. The main content of the study is reflected in the monograph, textbooks, articles, in collections of scientific works,

The structure of the work is determined by the objectives of the study. It consists of an introduction, five sections, a conclusion, a list of sources and literature.

historical background for the formation of interethnic relations in pre-revolutionary Russia and the USSR

Exploring the problem, we note that already by the beginning of the 19th century. Russia was a huge continental country, occupying a vast area of ​​Eastern Europe, Northern Asia and part North America(Alaska and the Aleutian Islands). During the first half of the 19th century, its territory increased from 16 to 18 million square meters. km due to the annexation of Finland, the Kingdom of Poland, Bessarabia, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Kazakhstan. According to the first revision (1719), there were 15.6 million people of both sexes in Russia, according to the fifth (1795) - 7.4 million, and according to the tenth (1857) - 59.3 million (excluding Finland and the kingdom Polish). Natural population growth in the first half of the 19th century. was about 1% per year, and the average life expectancy was 27.3 years,1 which was generally typical, as foreign demographic calculations show, for the “countries of pre-industrial Europe.” Low life expectancy rates were due to high infant mortality and periodic epidemics.

Besides this, there were other reasons for these disasters. In particular, more than 9/10 of the Russian population lived in rural areas. According to the 1811 census, the urban population numbered 2,765 thousand people, and according to the 1863 census - already 6,105 thousand, that is, over half a century it increased 2.2 times. However, its share in relation to the entire population increased slightly during this time - only from 6.5 to 8%. The number of cities themselves increased over half a century from 630 to 1032. However, small cities predominated among them: at the beginning of the 19th century. out of 630 cities, 500 had less than 5 thousand each and only 19-over 20 thousand inhabitants. This ratio between small and large cities practically remained the same by the early 60s of the 19th century. The largest cities were both “capitals” - St. Petersburg and Moscow. The population of St. Petersburg in the first half of the 19th century. increased from 336 to 540 thousand, and Moscow - from 275 to 462 thousand people.3 Many cities were actually large villages, whose residents were engaged in agriculture on the lands allocated to the cities, partly in trade and small crafts. At this time, the official division of settlements into cities and villages was carried out along administrative lines. Therefore, there were many large commercial and industrial settlements, which, due to the nature of the inhabitants’ occupations and even according to appearance were real cities (such as, for example, the large factory village of Ivanovo, which surpassed even the provincial city of Vladimir in the number of inhabitants). Such industrial villages were Pavlovo, Kimry, Gorodets, Vichuga, Mstera. However, they continued to remain in the status of villages, for most of them belonged to large landowners-magnates - the Sheremetevs, Panins, Golitsyns, Yusupovs, Vorontsovs. The right of landowners to own such villages slowed down the process of city formation. Thus, the village of Ivanovo received city status only in 1871, when it was finally freed from all its obligations towards its former owner, Count Sheremetev.

Administratively, the European part of Russia was divided into 47 provinces and 5 regions (Astrakhan, Tauride, Caucasus, the land of the Don Army and the land of the Black Sea Army). Subsequently, the number of provinces increased due to the division of some of them and the annexation of new territories. The Astrakhan and Tauride regions received the status of provinces. According to the administrative division of 1822, Siberia was divided into Tobolsk, Tomsk, Omsk, Irkutsk, Yenisei provinces and the Yakutsk region. In the 50s of the XIX century. Kamchatka, Transbaikal, Primorsk and Amur regions were also formed.5

The role and importance of human resources in solving national politics and interethnic relations

The study of this problem has shown that in its positive solution, human resources play an extremely important role, that is, those workers who are directly involved in the development and stabilization of national and interethnic relations.

In this regard, a priority role belongs to the selection of management personnel based on business qualities, and not on national characteristics, which in any state was and is considered a special definition of its high morality. In the republics, territories and regions of the former USSR, they tried to adhere to the principle of selecting and appointing leading personnel in all areas of the national economy, party, Soviet and other public bodies, taking into account a healthy combination of their nationalities. This process was controlled by both party and Soviet authorities.

In the process of working on this problem, we examined in detail several of the largest republics of the former USSR within the framework of our period - 1953-2003. For example, in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, among the heads of departments, in addition to Belarusians and Russians, Ukrainians also worked in some periods. Thus, on January 1, 1960, there were 4 Belarusians (50 percent), 3 Russians (37.5 percent), and 1 Ukrainians (12.5 percent).1 The proportion of Belarusians in this job group tended to increase. On January 1, 1975, there were 8 Belarusians (61.5%), Russians 5 (38.5%). Belarusians were in charge of the departments of science and educational institutions, culture, heavy industry and transport, chemical and light industry, construction and municipal services, food industry, administrative bodies, and organizational and party work. Russians - departments of propaganda and agitation, foreign relations, agriculture, trade and consumer services, general.2 As of January 1, 1985, Belarusians were in charge of 10 departments (this is 62.5%), Russians were in charge of 6 (this is 37.5%).3

Among the secretaries of the regional party committees of Ukraine (as of January 1, 1960 - 114 people, as of January 1, 1985 - 126 people), in addition to Ukrainians and Russians, statistics recorded Belarusians (as of January 1 of the corresponding year: 1980 - 1; 1985 . - 2).4 In the 60s, among the secretaries of the regional party committees of Ukraine, Ukrainians were from 78 to 82 percent, in the 70s - from 82 to 85 (and on January 1, 1975 - 87 percent). On January 1, 1985, this figure had dropped to 78.5 percent. But the share of secretaries of regional committees of the titular nation was significantly higher than its share in the Communist Party.5 The share of first secretaries of regional committees - Ukrainians during the period under study was even higher than secretaries in general. It did not fall below 84 percent, and on January 1, 1970 there were 88 percent, on January 1, 1980 - 92 percent.6 Thus, the proportion of first secretaries of regional party committees - Ukrainians was 20 percent, in some periods 26 percent higher the share of Ukrainians in the Communist Party of Ukraine. This is important to note, since it was these 21-23 people who ruled the republic. Among the secretaries, including the first ones, of the regional committees of the Communist Party of Ukraine, as we see, only the Slavic superethnos was represented.

National-cultural policy of the party and state in relation to the peoples of the USSR and the Russian Federation

When studying this problem, first of all, it should be noted that in the conditions of economic and cultural development of nations, there is a certain inequality in the system of international relations. When developing an economic strategy, it is important to take into account natural features and production infrastructure. For example, the Republic of Belarus lags behind its neighbors in economic development several times, but its natural conditions favorable for light and food industries, forestry and woodworking industries, tourism, etc. The disproportion in the development of infrastructure in the republics, the violation of the principles of social justice in relations within and between national entities, disturbs the national consciousness, often leading it to a partial connection with religious and patriarchal-tribal traditions, to the emergence of national isolation. There were gross violations of the sovereign rights of the union republics, the lack of rights of autonomous entities, a lag in the development of national cultures, a crisis or pre-crisis state of many forms of cultural development and enrichment of the peoples of the USSR, and in particular, the peoples of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.

Among the many forms of national cultural policy of the state are monuments of architecture and art. Therefore, organizing the protection of architectural and art monuments is the most important component of national and interethnic relations in the USSR during the period under study. In this regard, on January 23, 1963, Minister of Culture Furtseva sent a note to the CPSU Central Committee on the state of protection of monuments in the country, their propaganda and study. At the same time, she emphasized that there were the most serious shortcomings in this matter. Among them, E. Furtseva named the main and most serious one as departmental disunity in the system of protection of cultural monuments. As a consequence of this, in a number of union republics (Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, Armenian SSR, Lithuanian SSR, etc.), the protection of monuments is under the jurisdiction of the State Construction Committee of the republics (architectural monuments) and the Ministry of Culture (art monuments); there is no unified system of subordination in the network of restoration workshops .

Considering this situation, the USSR Minister of Culture informed the CPSU Central Committee about cases of extremely irresponsible attitude of local bodies for the protection of valuable cultural monuments and executive committees of the Soviets of Working People's Deputies towards their preservation. Thus, the Council of Ministers of Belarus, on the proposal of the executive committee of the Vitebsk City Council on September 23, 1961, decided to exclude from the lists of monuments accepted for state protection the most valuable work of ancient Russian architecture of the 12th century, a monument of national significance - the former Church of the Annunciation. In December 1961, by order of the city executive committee, the monument was destroyed almost to the ground. Rubble from the 12th century walls was used to build roads. On January 8, 1962, the Council of Ministers of the Republic revised its decision and restored the monument to the lists, from which only part of the walls remained.

Launch of the first artificial Earth satellite into orbit. The launch date is considered the beginning of the space age of mankind.


Launch of the world's first spacecraft with a person on board. The first person to go into space was Yuri Gagarin. Yuri Gagarin's flight became the most important achievement of Soviet science and space industry. The USSR became the undisputed leader in space exploration for several years. Russian word“satellite” has entered many European languages. The name Gagarin became known to millions of people. Many pinned hopes on the USSR for a bright future, when the development of science would lead to the establishment of social justice and peace throughout the world.

The entry of Warsaw Pact troops (except Romania) into Czechoslovakia, putting an end to the reforms of the Prague Spring. The largest contingent of troops was allocated from the USSR. The political goal of the operation was to change the political leadership of the country and establish a regime loyal to the USSR in Czechoslovakia. Citizens of Czechoslovakia demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops and the return of party and government leaders taken to the USSR. At the beginning of September, troops were withdrawn from many cities and towns of Czechoslovakia to specially designated locations. Soviet tanks left Prague on September 11, 1968. On October 16, 1968, an agreement was signed between the governments of the USSR and Czechoslovakia on the conditions for the temporary presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia, according to which part of the Soviet troops remained on the territory of Czechoslovakia “in order to ensure the security of the socialist commonwealth.” These events had a great influence both on the internal politics of the USSR and on the atmosphere in society. It became obvious that the Soviet authorities had finally chosen a hard line of government. The hopes of a significant part of the population for the possibility of reforming socialism, which arose during the Khrushchev “thaw”, have faded.


01 Sep 1969

Publication in the West of the book by the famous dissident Andrei Amalrik, “Will the Soviet Union Exist Until 1984?” A. Amalrik was one of the first to predict the imminent collapse of the USSR. The end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s were a time of stable economic growth and an increase in the standard of living of the population in the USSR, as well as a time of easing international tension. Most Soviet people believed that they would always live under Soviet rule. Some were delighted by this, others were horrified, others simply got used to this idea. Western Sovietologists also did not foresee the collapse of the USSR. Only a few were able to see behind the façade of relative prosperity the signs of an inevitably approaching crisis. (From the book by A. Amalrik “Will the Soviet Union Exist until 1984?” and From the book by A. Gurevich “The History of a Historian”).

02 Sep 1972

The beginning of a super series of eight ice hockey matches between the USSR and Canada national teams. The USSR was a great sports power. The leadership of the USSR saw sports victories as a means of ensuring the prestige of the country, which was supposed to be the first in everything. This was achieved better in sports than in economics. In particular, Soviet hockey players almost always won world championships. However, these competitions did not include hockey players from professional clubs in Canada and the United States, whom many considered the best in the world. The 1972 Super Series was watched by millions of television viewers around the world. In the first match, the USSR national team achieved a convincing victory with a score of 7:3. In general, the series ended almost in a draw: the Canadian team won 4 matches, the USSR team - 3, but in terms of the number of goals scored, the Soviet athletes were ahead of the Canadians (32:31).

Publication in Paris of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book "The Gulag Archipelago" - an artistic study of Stalinist repressions and Soviet society as a whole. The book was based on the personal testimonies of many hundreds of former prisoners who spoke in detail about their experiences of encountering the machine of state terror to A. Solzhenitsyn, who himself went through Stalin’s camps. Translated into many languages, the book made a strong impression on readers, showing a wide panorama of crimes committed by the Soviet regime against the population of the country. "The Gulag Archipelago" is one of those books that changed the world. A. Solzhenitsyn’s most important idea was that terror was not an accident, but a natural result of the establishment of the communist regime. The book dealt a blow to the international prestige of the USSR and contributed to the disillusionment of the Western “left” with Soviet-style socialism.


Signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Signed in Helsinki (therefore often called the Helsinki Agreement) by representatives of 35 states, including the USSR, this treaty became the high point of the detente of international tension that began in the late 60s. The treaty established the principle of the inviolability of post-war borders in Europe and the non-interference of the countries that signed it in each other’s internal affairs, and proclaimed the need for international cooperation and respect for human rights. However, the USSR was not going to respect the political and civil rights of its citizens. The persecution of dissidents continued. The Helsinki Agreement became a trap for the USSR: it made it possible to accuse the communist regime of violating international obligations and contributed to the development of the human rights movement. In 1976, the first Russian human rights organization was created - the Moscow Helsinki Group, the first chairman of which was Yuri Orlov.


Assault on the palace of Amin (the leader of Afghanistan) in Kabul. Soviet troops, under the pretext of supporting the democratic revolution, invaded Afghanistan and established a pro-communist puppet regime. The response was a massive movement of the Mujahideen - guerrillas who spoke under the slogans of independence and religious (Islamic) slogans, supported by Pakistan and the United States. A long war began, during which the USSR was forced to maintain a so-called “limited contingent” in Afghanistan (from 80 thousand to 120 thousand military personnel in different years), who, however, were unable to take control of this mountainous country. The war led to a new confrontation with the West, a further decline in the international prestige of the USSR and unaffordable military expenses. It cost the lives of many thousands of Soviet soldiers, and as a result of military operations and punitive expeditions against partisans, hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians died (there are no exact data). The war ended in 1989 with the virtual defeat of the USSR. It became a difficult moral and psychological experience for the Soviet people, and above all for the “Afghans”, i.e. military personnel who went through the war. Some developed “Afghan syndrome,” a form of mental disorder born of experiences of fear and cruelty. During the years of perestroika, rumors circulated in society about special forces made up of “Afghans” and ready to drown the democratic movement in blood.


Holding the XXII Olympic Games in Moscow. The USSR national team won the unofficial team competition, receiving 80 gold, 69 silver and 46 bronze awards. However, due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, many foreign athletes refused to attend the Moscow Olympics. The USA also boycotted the Olympics, which, of course, reduced the value of the victory of the Soviet team.


Funeral of Vladimir Vysotsky, an outstanding artist and singer-songwriter who enjoyed enormous popularity of songs. Tens of thousands of fans of his talent came to the Taganka Theater to say goodbye to their beloved singer, and they came against the will of the authorities, who did everything to silence the fact of the artist’s death, which occurred during the Moscow Olympics. The funeral of V. Vysotsky became the same mass demonstration of opposition sentiments as the farewells of A. Suvorov (1800) or L. Tolstoy (1910) were in their time - public funerals of great people for whom the ruling elite did not want to give an honorary state funeral.

07 Mar 1981

On March 7, 1981, a “rock session” permitted by the authorities took place in the Leningrad Inter-Union House of Amateur Arts at 13 Rubinshteina Str.

False

Death of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, who ruled the country after Nikita Khrushchev was removed from power in 1964. The reign of L. Brezhnev is divided into two stages. At its beginning, there were attempts at economic reforms, the rise of the Soviet economy and the growth of the international influence of the USSR, which achieved nuclear parity with the United States. However, fear of the “erosion” of socialism, intensified by the events of 1968 in Czechoslovakia, led to the curtailment of reforms. The country's leadership chose a conservative strategy of maintaining the status quo (the current state of affairs). In conditions of relatively high energy prices, this made it possible to maintain the illusion of growth for several years, but in the 70s the country entered a period called stagnation. The crisis of the Soviet economy was accompanied by a new confrontation with the West, which especially intensified with the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan, a catastrophic decline in the prestige of power and mass disappointment of the Soviet people in socialist values.

09 Feb 1984

Death of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Yuri Andropov, elected to this post after the death of L. Brezhnev. The middle-aged and seriously ill Yuri Andropov, who was the chairman of the KGB for many years, had extensive information about the situation in the country. He understood the urgent need for reforms, but was afraid of even the slightest manifestations of liberalization. Therefore, the reform attempts he made mainly boiled down to “restoring order,” i.e. to investigate corruption in the highest echelons of power and improve labor discipline through police raids on stores and cinemas, where they tried to catch people skipping work.

29 Sep 1984

The “golden” junction of two segments of the Baikal-Amur Mainline under construction - the famous BAM, the last “great construction site of socialism”. The docking took place at the Balbukhta crossing in the Kalarsky district of the Chita region, where two groups of builders met, moving towards each other for ten years.

10 Mar 1985

Death of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Konstantin Chernenko, who became the leader of the party and state after the death of Yu. Andropov. K. Chernenko belonged to the same generation of Soviet leaders as L. Brezhnev and Yu. Andropov. An even more cautious and conservative politician than Yuri Andropov, he tried to return to the practice of the Brezhnev leadership. The obvious ineffectiveness of his activities prompted the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee to choose a representative of the next generation, Mikhail Gorbachev, as its new general secretary.


11 Mar 1985

Election of Mikhail Gorbachev as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The coming to power of a relatively young (fifty-four-year-old) leader raised optimistic expectations in Soviet society for long-overdue reforms. M. Gorbachev, as General Secretary, had enormous power. Having created his team from liberal-minded party members and statesmen new generation, he began to transform. However, it soon became clear that the new leadership did not have a specific program. M. Gorbachev and his team moved forward intuitively, overcoming the resistance of the conservative wing of the leadership and adapting to changing conditions.

The adoption of the resolution of the CPSU Central Committee “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism”, followed by a wide anti-alcohol campaign, conceived under Yuri Andropov. Sale restrictions have been introduced alcoholic drinks, administrative penalties for drunkenness have been strengthened and tens of thousands of hectares of unique vineyards have been cut down in Crimea, Moldova and other areas of the country. The result of the thoughtlessly carried out campaign was not so much a decrease in alcohol consumption, but a reduction in budget revenues (which depended on income from the wine trade) and the widespread spread of moonshine. The campaign damaged the reputation of the new leadership. The nickname “mineral secretary” stuck to M. Gorbachev for a long time.

27 Sep 1985

Appointment of Nikolai Ryzhkov as head of the Soviet government - chairman of the Council of Ministers. An engineer by training, former general director of one of the largest industrial enterprises of the USSR - Uralmash (Ural Machine-Building Plant), N. Ryzhkov was appointed Secretary of the Central Committee for Economics in 1982 and joined the team created by Yu. Andropov to implement economic reforms. N. Ryzhkov became one of the main associates of M. Gorbachev. However, his knowledge and experience (in particular in the field of economics) were insufficient to lead the reforms, which became clear as the economic crisis grew in the country.

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is the largest accident in the history of nuclear energy. During a scheduled test, a powerful explosion occurred in the fourth power unit, accompanied by the release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere. The Soviet leadership tried to first hush up the disaster and then downplay its scale (for example, despite the danger of mass infection, the May Day demonstration in Kyiv was not cancelled). The resettlement of residents from the 30-kilometer zone around the station began with great delay. About a hundred people died during the accident and from its consequences, and more than 115 thousand people were evicted from the disaster area. More than 600 thousand people took part in eliminating the consequences of the accident (which are still felt in Belarus and Ukraine). The Chernobyl accident dealt a blow to the prestige of the USSR, showing the unreliability of Soviet technology and the irresponsibility of the Soviet leadership.

Soviet-American summit in Reykjavik. M. Gorbachev and US President R. Reagan reached an understanding on the issue of eliminating medium- and shorter-range missiles and beginning to reduce nuclear stockpiles. Both countries were experiencing financial difficulties and had to limit the arms race. The corresponding agreement was signed on December 8, 1987. However, the unwillingness of the United States to abandon the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), colloquially called the “Star Wars” program (i.e., launching nuclear strikes from space), prevented agreement on more radical nuclear disarmament.

German amateur pilot Matthias Rust landing near the Kremlin. Taking off from Helsinki, the 18-year-old pilot turned off his instruments and crossed the Soviet border undetected. After that, he was detected several times by the air defense service, but he again disappeared from radar and evaded pursuit. M. Rust himself claimed that his flight was a call for friendship between peoples, but many Soviet military and intelligence officers saw this as a provocation of Western intelligence services. M. Rust's flight was used by M. Gorbachev to update the leadership of the Ministry of Defense. The new minister was Dmitry Yazov, who was then a supporter of M. Gorbachev, but later supported the State Emergency Committee.

The first episode of the most popular television program of the 90s, “Vzglyad,” aired. This program of Central Television (later ORT) was created on the initiative of A. Yakovlev as an information and entertainment youth program by a group of young journalists (in particular, Vlad Listyev and Alexander Lyubimov). The program was broadcast live, which was new for Soviet viewers. This largely ensured the popularity of Vzglyad, since previously only sports matches and the first minutes of the General Secretary’s speech at congresses of the CPSU could be seen live.In December 1990, at a time of extreme aggravation of the political struggle, “Vzglyad” was banned for several months, but soon again became the main political program supporting Boris Yeltsin’s democratic reforms. However, many Vzglyad journalists, including A. Lyubimov, did not support the president at the decisive moment of the conflict with the Supreme Council - on the night of October 3-4, 1993, calling on Muscovites to refrain from participating in the demonstration organized by E. Gaidar.Since 1994, the program began to be published as an information and analytical program. Closed in 2001 (see articles "" and "").

Publication in the Pravda newspaper of an article about the “cotton case” - an investigation into theft in Uzbekistan, in which representatives of the republic’s top leadership were involved. This article served as a signal for a broad campaign of exposure of corruption in the party and state apparatus.

• Investigators Telman Gdlyan and Nikolai Ivanov investigated one of the most high-profile criminal cases of the 80s - the “cotton case”
• One of the defendants in the “cotton case”, former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Sharaf Rashidov and Nikita Khrushchev

27 Feb 1988

Armenian pogrom in Sumgait (Azerbaijan). Several dozen people were killed and several hundred were injured. This was the first case of mass violence motivated by ethno-national hatred during the years of perestroika. The reason for the pogrom was the conflict surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug, populated predominantly by Armenians, within the Azerbaijan SSR. Both the Armenian majority in this district and the leadership of Armenia demanded that Karabakh be transferred to this republic, while the leadership of Azerbaijan categorically objected. Demonstrations began in Karabakh in the summer, and in the fall and winter the conflict continued to worsen, accompanied by mass rallies and armed clashes. The intervention of the union leadership, which called for calm, but generally supported the principle of the immutability of borders, i.e. Azerbaijan's position did not lead to normalization of the situation. Mass emigration of Armenians from Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis from Armenia began, murders motivated by ethno-national hatred took place in both republics, and new pogroms occurred in November-December ( ).

13 Mar 1988

Publication in “Soviet Russia” (a newspaper with a sovereign-patriotic orientation) of an article by Nina Andreeva, a teacher at the Technological Institute in Leningrad, “I Can’t Give Up Principles,” which condemned “excesses” in the criticism of Stalinism. The author contrasted his position with both “left-liberals”, i.e. pro-Western intelligentsia and nationalists. The article aroused public concern: is it a signal that perestroika is over? Under pressure from M. Gorbachev, the Politburo decided to condemn N. Andreeva’s article.

On April 5, the main party newspaper Pravda published the article “Principles of Perestroika: Revolutionary Thinking and Action” by Alexander Yakovlev, in which the course towards democratization of public life was confirmed, and N. Andreeva’s article was characterized as a manifesto of anti-perestroika forces ( see articles "", "").

16 Sep 1988

Premiere of the film “Igla” in Almaty (film studio “Kazakhfilm”, director Rashid Nugmanov, starring famous rock musicians Viktor Tsoi and Pyotr Mamonov). The film, dedicated to the problem of youth drug addiction, quickly became a cult classic.

A powerful earthquake in the northwestern regions of Armenia (with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale), affecting about 40% of the territory of the republic. The city of Spitak was completely destroyed, Leninakan and hundreds of other settlements were partially destroyed. At least 25 thousand people were killed and about half a million were made homeless as a result of the earthquake. For the first time since the Cold War, Soviet authorities formally requested assistance from other countries, which readily provided humanitarian and technical support to combat the consequences of the earthquake. Thousands of volunteers arrived at the scene of the tragedy to provide all possible assistance to the victims: people brought food, water and clothing, donated blood, searched for survivors under the rubble, and evacuated the population in their cars.

26 Mar 1989

Elections of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. These were the first partially free elections in the history of the USSR, when in most districts there were alternative candidates with different programs. Despite the fact that the law established numerous “filters” that allowed the authorities to weed out undesirable candidates, many democratically minded public figures were still elected. The elections were a triumph for Boris Yeltsin, who received more than 90% of the votes in Moscow (with a turnout of almost 90%). This is how the future president of Russia returned to politics. On the contrary, many local party leaders lost the elections. A number of democratic candidates became deputies from public organizations. But in general, the majority of deputies were controlled by the party apparatus and took moderate or openly conservative positions.

The First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was held in Moscow, the broadcast of the meetings of which was watched by tens of millions of television viewers. At the congress, a sharp struggle unfolded between democratically minded deputies and the “aggressively obedient majority,” as historian Yuri Afanasyev, one of the opposition leaders, called it. Conservative deputies “slammed” democratic speakers (with applause and noise they did not allow them to speak and were driven from the podium), such as Academician A. Sakharov. M. Gorbachev at the congress relied on the majority, while trying not to alienate the democratic opposition. The congress elected the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and appointed M. Gorbachev as its chairman. B. Yeltsin also got into the Supreme Council - he lacked one vote to be elected, and then one of the elected deputies abandoned his mandate, thus giving way to Yeltsin. During the congress, the organizational formation of the democratic opposition - the Interregional Deputy Group - took place.

Death of A. Sakharov, an outstanding Soviet scientist and public figure, one of the creators of the hydrogen bomb, leader of the human rights movement in the USSR, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1975). Tens of thousands of Muscovites took part in the funeral of A. Sakharov.

The fall of Nicolae Ceausescu's regime - the most authoritarian of Eastern Europe's communist regimes - after weeks of mass demonstrations and a failed attempt to suppress them with military force. On December 25, after a short trial, N. Ceausescu and his wife (who took an active part in organizing reprisals against opponents of the regime) were shot.

Opening of the first McDonald's fast food restaurant in the USSR in Moscow. On Pushkin Square there were hours-long queues of people wanting to try classic American food - hamburgers. McDonald's amazed us with its unusual cleanliness - even in the winter slush, its floors were always perfectly washed. Service staff- young people and girls - were unusually diligent and helpful, trying to reproduce in their behavior the ideal image of the West, which was opposed to the Soviet (“Soviet”, as they said then) way of life.

04 Feb 1990

Holding a demonstration in Moscow, in which more than 200 thousand people took part, demanding the deepening of democratic reforms and the abolition of Article 6 of the USSR Constitution, which established the leading role of the CPSU in Soviet society. On February 7, the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee voted to abolish Article 6. M. Gorbachev managed to convince the party that it would be able to maintain a leading role under a multi-party system.

Election by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church of Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad and Novgorod (1929-2008) as head of the Russian Orthodox Church - Patriarch of Moscow. Alexy II replaced Patriarch Pimen in this post who died in May. The period of the patriarchate of Alexy II was marked by decisive changes in the life of the country, a crisis of communist ideology, the end of the persecution of citizens for religious beliefs and the growth of religious sentiment in society. Under the leadership of the Patriarch, the Russian Orthodox Church made attempts to establish control over various spheres of public life and culture ( see article "").

Death in a car accident of Viktor Tsoi, the leader of the Kino group and the brightest figure of the Leningrad rock club. Tsoi belonged to the “generation of janitors and watchmen,” as another famous musician, Boris Grebenshchikov, called representatives of the forbidden culture (“underground”) of the 70s and 80s. This generation blossomed brightly during the years of perestroika. V. Tsoi's albums and films with his participation were extremely popular. V. Tsoi’s song “We are waiting for change” became one of the symbols of perestroika: “Change! - our hearts demand. // Change! - our eyes demand.” The death of an idol at the peak of fame caused an extraordinary resonance among young people. In many cities, “Tsoi walls” appeared, covered with words from songs and statements “Tsoi is alive.” V. Tsoi's former place of work - a boiler room in St. Petersburg - has become a place of pilgrimage for fans of his work. Later, in 2003, the V. Tsoi club-museum opened there.

17 Mar 1991

Conducting a union referendum on the issue of preserving the USSR, as well as a Russian referendum on the introduction of the post of president of the RSFSR. 79.5% of citizens who had the right to vote took part in the union referendum, and 76.4% of them were in favor of preserving the USSR (Results in the union republics that supported the referendum on preserving the USSR on March 17, 1991). The Union leadership wanted to use the victory in the referendum to prevent the collapse of the Union and force the republics to sign a new Union Treaty. However, six union republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova) boycotted the referendum on the grounds that they had already made decisions on secession from the USSR. True, in Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia (which sought to separate from Moldova and Georgia, respectively), the majority of citizens took part in the vote and spoke out in favor of preserving the USSR, which meant an increase in internal conflict in these republics. 71.3% of participants in the Russian referendum were in favor of creating the post of president.

Election of Boris Yeltsin as President of the RSFSR. He won in the first round, ahead of the communist and nationalist candidates who opposed him. At the same time as B. Yeltsin, Alexander Rutskoi, an aviation general and one of the leaders of democratically minded communist deputies, was elected vice president. On the same day, the first direct elections of regional heads took place. Mintimer Shaimiev was elected President of Tatarstan, and the chairmen of the democratic Moscow City Council and Leningrad City Council, Gavriil Popov and Anatoly Sobchak, were elected mayors of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

On July 4, 1991, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin signed the law “On the privatization of housing stock in the RSFSR”

False

On November 18, 1991, the Mexican television series “The Rich Also Cry” was released on USSR television screens. It became the second “soap opera” shown on our television, after the huge success “Slave Isaura”.

False

On December 25, 1991, USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev announced the termination of his activities in this post “for reasons of principle.”

Statement by USSR President M. Gorbachev about his resignation and the transfer to President of the RSFSR B. Yeltsin of the so-called “nuclear suitcase”, with the help of which the head of state has the ability to control the use of nuclear weapons. From that day on, the RSFSR became officially known as the Russian Federation. Instead of the Soviet red flag, the tricolor Russian flag was raised over the Kremlin.

On January 2, 1992, prices were liberalized in Russia, marking the beginning of large-scale market reforms carried out by the government of Yegor Gaidar.

23 Feb 1992

From February 8 to February 23, 1992, the XVI Winter Olympic Games were held in Albertville, France. They became the third in the history of France - the first were in Chamonix in 1924, the second in Grenoble in 1968.

March 31, 1992

On March 31, 1992, the Federative Treaty, one of the main sources of constitutional law of the Russian Federation in the field of regulation of federal relations, was signed in the Kremlin.

On April 6, 1992, the VI Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation opened. It witnessed the first sharp confrontation between the legislative and executive branches of government on two main issues - the progress of economic reform and the draft of a new Constitution.

On August 14, 1992, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree “On the introduction of a system of privatization checks in the Russian Federation,” which launched check privatization in Russia.

07 Sep 1992

On October 1, 1992, Russia began issuing privatization checks, which were popularly called vouchers.

False

The president was supported in the referendum by the majority of Russians, who expressed confidence in the president (58.7%) and approved of his socio-economic policies (53%). Despite Boris Yeltsin's moral victory, the constitutional crisis was not overcome.

23 Sep 1993

Holding the X Extraordinary (Extraordinary) Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation in connection with B. Yeltsin's decree No. 1400. On the very first day of work, the congress decided to depose B. Yeltsin. Vice-President A. Rutskoy, who, along with the Chairman of the Supreme Council R. Khasbulatov, was the leader of the opposition, was appointed acting president. The White house- the meeting place of the Supreme Council, around which the events of the August putsch unfolded, was cordoned off by the police. As in August 1991, the White House was surrounded by barricades. Nationalist militants hastily flocked to Moscow to defend the Supreme Soviet.

The capture of the White House by troops loyal to the president. During this operation, the tanks, having warned about the opening of fire, fired several shots (not with live shells, but with training blanks) at the upper floors of the White House, where, as was known in advance, there was not a single person. During the day, units loyal to the government occupied the White House and arrested the organizers of the coup. As a result of these events, there were no deaths, which, unfortunately, cannot be said about armed clashes on the street: from September 21 to October 4, from 141 (data from the Prosecutor General’s Office) to 160 (data from a special parliamentary commission) people died. This was a tragic consequence of the October conflict, but it was precisely this that made it possible to avoid an even more terrible development of events - a repetition of the civil war, when more than 10 million people died.

Elections to the State Duma and referendum on the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Yegor Gaidar's resignation from the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, to which he was appointed on September 18, 1993 - on the eve of decisive events related to the struggle between the President and the Supreme Council. On the night of October 3-4, when militants of the Supreme Council tried to seize the Ostankino television center, E. Gaidar’s televised appeal to Muscovites calling on them to gather at the Moscow City Council building and express support for the president helped turn the situation in favor of B. Yeltsin. However, the electoral bloc “Russia's Choice” created by E. Gaidar failed to obtain a majority in the Duma in the elections in December 1993, which could have allowed the continuation of radical market reforms. It became obvious that the government of V. Chernomyrdin would be forced to pursue the previous policy of compromise. Under these conditions, E. Gaidar left the government and focused on working as the leader of the Duma faction “Russia’s Choice”. E. Gaidar no longer worked in the government ( see articles "", "" and "").

Return to Russia of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. On this day, the writer flew to Magadan from the USA, where he had lived since 1974 after being expelled from the USSR. The writer, universally greeted as a triumphant, made a long trip around the country.

01 Mar 1995

Holding a military parade in Moscow in honor of the 50th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. The parade consisted of two parts - historical and modern. The historical part took place on Red Square. It was attended by veterans of the Great Patriotic War, who marched along Red Square in columns of war-era fronts, with front banners in front; as well as military personnel dressed in the uniform of the Red Army of the 40s. The modern part of the parade took place on Poklonnaya Hill, where units of the Russian army and modern military equipment marched. The reason for this division was the condemnation by the leaders of other countries of military actions on the territory of the Chechen Republic. They refused to attend the parade of troops participating in these events, and it was for this reason that only the historical part of the parade was held on Red Square.

The national question and national relations

National relations are always associated with the solution of certain ethnic problems concerning the conditions of survival and development of certain ethnic groups, including problems of territory, language, traditions, and spiritual life in general.

The objective basis for the emergence and development of national-ethnic relations is the coexistence of individual ethnic groups in a single territory (neighboring territories). Typically, these relationships do not exist in pure form, they are woven into existing economic, social, and political relations, but their subjects are ethnosocial communities.

Economic interethnic relations are aimed at satisfying the economic needs of ethnic groups in work, a certain level of consumption, and property. Social relations between ethnic groups are realized in everyday life, family structure (tendency towards interethnic marriages, or, conversely, avoiding them), in the structure of production teams, etc. Political interethnic relations in a multinational state concern, first of all, the participation of ethnic groups in the exercise of political power, in the national state structure, and in the practice of exercising civil rights. Interethnic relations in the region culture characterize the interaction of ethnic groups in spiritual life and are aimed, on the one hand, at preserving national identity, on the other, at mutual enrichment and internationalization.

The interaction of national communities is characterized by the following social processes: migration, integration, consolidation, assimilation, accommodation (adaptation), acculturation.

Under migration refers to the movement of ethnosocial groups within an ethnic territory or resettlement to the territory of other titular ethnic groups. (The titular ethnic group gives the name to the territory of the state, the national-state formation).

Quite often in Western sociology and ethnography, the term “migration” is related to culture; in this case, migration processes are considered as an invasion of a population or culture into an alien ethnic or cultural area.

Integration characterizes the process of establishing ethnic cultural contacts of heterogeneous ethnic groups within the same socio-economic and political community (for example, the formation in Russia of identical traditions and rituals among different ethnic groups). During the existence of the USSR and the socialist camp, integration also meant economic ties developing according to a single plan.

Consolidation - This is the process of merging relatively independent ethnic groups and ethnic groups, usually related in language and culture, into a single ethnosocial community. For example, Altai-Kizhi, Telengits, Teleuts, Chelkans, Kumandins in the twentieth century formed into the Altai people.

Assimilation - the process of ethnic interaction between already formed ethnosocial communities that differ significantly in origin, culture, and language, as a result of which representatives of one ethnic group assimilate the language and culture of another ethnic group. As a rule, in this case they lose their former nationality (ethnicity) and dissolve in the sociocultural environment of another ethnic group. Assimilation can be natural, voluntary or forced. The latter is accompanied by the oppression of one people by another, socio-economic inequality, and violation of civil rights.

Accommodation, or adaptation is the adaptation of people to life in a new ethnic environment or the adaptation of this environment to them for mutual existence and interaction in the economic and social spheres. These terms were borrowed by positivist sociologists from the biological sciences.

Acculturation - This is a process of interpenetration of cultures, as a result of which their original models change. Often in Western ethnosociology, acculturation appears as a synonym for Europeanization, Americanization, i.e. means the process of spreading foreign cultural elements, economic forms, and social institutions among the peoples of Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia.

The ideology and practice of regulating national relations in the USSR, despite their official internationalist shell, formed the ethnic self-awareness of citizens both through the official registration of ethnic origin through one of the parents, and through the nationalization of ethnicity in the system of national government.

Russian empire, unlike Western states, which forcibly displaced and destroyed indigenous ethnic groups (aboriginals) in the conquered territory, created conditions for the preservation of ethnic groups and provided them with military-political protection. Most peoples became part of Russia voluntarily. However, the level of socio-economic and cultural development of most ethnic groups varied significantly, which led to periodic exacerbations of the national question.

Under national issue most often they understand the issue of the oppression of one nation by another, their unequal rights and socio-economic inequality, the liberation and self-determination of an ethnic group.

In textbooks and dictionaries you can find another definition, where the emphasis is on a system of interrelated problems of the development of peoples. In our opinion, the first definition is more correct, since the national question itself is remembered when society is faced with certain contradictions, dysfunctions, and injustices.

Problems of national equality and justice are extremely complex and cannot always be successfully resolved even in developed democratic countries. For decades, the Kurdish national question has persisted in Turkey, the French one in Canada (Quebec), and the Irish one in Great Britain (Ulster). Sociologists note ethnic tension in the relationships between the Spaniards and the Basques, the Walloons and the Flemings in Belgium, etc.

Long before October 1917, the Bolsheviks proposed the principle of complete equality of nations to solve the national question. After the Bolsheviks came to power, Stalin replaced the principle of self-determination with the concept of secession, secession from the state (secession).

Even under the Provisional Government, the Polish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian nations became self-determined, in the sense of secession. Self-determination of the Soviet republics through secession, in conditions of military and economic devastation, was tantamount to suicide. By the time of the revolution, Russia, at its core, remained a traditional society with deep communal traditions, a patriarchal Asian mode of production, gravitating toward administrative methods of economic management. These reasons significantly influenced the form of self-determination. Stalin - People's Commissar for National Affairs, then head of state - actually laid down the tradition of treating self-determination exclusively as a separation, which, in turn, turned out to be illusory, since the right of the working class to strengthen its dictatorship was considered higher than the right to self-determination.

As a result, one type of domination - on behalf of the Great Russian nation - was replaced by another - on behalf of the Great Russian proletariat. The Russian nation retained its dominant position in the USSR in the administrative and political aspect. At the same time, in the socio-economic sense, the Russian ethnic group for decades lived no better than its politically dependent brothers in socialism.

The inadmissibility of forced assimilation was verbally proclaimed. If assimilation is carried out without coercion, then there is nothing reprehensible in it. In the countries of Western Europe and America, immigrants are actively assimilating. In practice, the line was pursued towards the forced assimilation of small nationalities and the liquidation of organizations involved in national affairs. In the mid-30s, 250 national districts were liquidated, including the German national district in Altai, and 5,300 national village councils. Stalin’s report on the draft constitution stated that there were 60 ethno-social communities in the country, although 194 ethnic groups were taken into account during the 1926 census. In the 40s, the autonomies of the Volga Germans, Kalmyks, Crimean Tatars, Balkars, Ingush, Chechens-Akins and other peoples were liquidated, and they themselves were deported - forcibly evicted from ethnic territories with deprivation of civil rights.

Elements of “Russification” were clearly visible in language policy. Today, out of 120 languages ​​spoken in Russia, only four (Russian, Tatar, Bashkir and Yakut) have complete secondary education available.

Since the ethnic structure of society was built on the principle of a branching tree (autonomous okrugs were included in regions, autonomous regions were included in territories, etc.), small ethnic groups found themselves subordinate to larger ones. Therefore, for example, in Tajikistan the problems of the peoples of the Pamirs were ignored, and in Azerbaijan - of Nagorno-Karabakh. Some ethnic groups have become objects of real ethnocide, that is, destruction on the basis of belonging to ethnic communities or the creation of conditions for their narrowed reproduction. This applies, first of all, to the peoples of the North and Siberia, which survived for 5-6 thousand years and were undermined in 30-40 years. Their numbers are declining, and their average life expectancy is much lower than the national average.

These sad facts and trends should not obscure the outstanding achievements of the USSR in the field of economics and culture of most nations. Many of them acquired their written language and reached a level of education comparable to the developed countries of the world, and created national cinema and literature. From 1922 to 1985 the volume of industrial production in Kazakhstan increased 950 times, Tajikistan - 905 times, Kyrgyzstan - 720 times. The national outskirts developed at a much faster pace than Russia. The terrible trials of the Great Patriotic War and the nationwide victory over fascism became a convincing test of the friendship of nations.

We paid great attention to earlier mistakes and miscalculations in national policy, because they created the preconditions for a sharp deterioration of national relations in the late 80s and early 90s. The policy of glasnost stirred up all the old grievances, and the crisis in the economy of most regions prepared the ground first for the spread of nationalism, and then for socio-political movements for separation from the USSR.

Ethnonationalism -this is a declaration of the priority of ethnic values ​​over personal and group ones, propaganda of the exclusivity and superiority of one nation over others.

The rise of national self-awareness was accompanied by an increase in tension and conflict in interethnic relations, and the emergence of strong centrifugal tendencies. The adventurism of politicians completed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sociologists, ethnologists, and lawyers were faced with new serious questions that required special research. The problem of forms of implementation of the sovereignty of national-state entities - subjects of the Russian Federation - has become particularly acute. The migration activity of Russian and Russian-speaking national groups in the former republics of the USSR has increased sharply. Social well-being has worsened. If during the period of stagnation the Russian assimilation of other nationalities was real, today we can talk about the other extreme - the forced assimilation of Russians, and in some republics - Chechnya, Latvia, Estonia - about flagrant violations of civil rights and ethnic cleansing.

In the geopolitical space of the former USSR, the number of ethnic conflicts, that is, those in which confrontation occurs along the lines of an ethnic community, has sharply increased. Disproportions between ethnic and social structures in the republics have increased. Back in the 70s, while maintaining the monoethnicity of the rural population, prestigious professions began to turn into a privilege of the titular nationality, and the latter’s share in the working class was declining. Under the influence of the emigration of the Russian-speaking population in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the national working class almost disappeared. Kazakhs made up no more than 1% of workers in industry in the mid-80s, and today their share has dropped to 0.5%.

NATIONAL POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. COLLAPSE OF THE USSR

Democratization of society and the national question. The democratization of public life could not but affect the sphere of interethnic relations. Problems that had been accumulating for years, which the authorities had long tried not to notice, manifested themselves in drastic forms as soon as there was a whiff of freedom.

The first open mass protests took place as a sign of disagreement with the number of national schools decreasing from year to year and the desire to expand the scope of the Russian language. At the beginning of 1986, under the slogans “Yakutia is for the Yakuts”, “Down with the Russians!” Student demonstrations took place in Yakutsk.

Gorbachev's attempts to limit the influence of national elites caused even more active protests in a number of republics. In December 1986, as a sign of protest against the appointment of the Russian G.V. Kolbin as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan instead of D.A. Kunaev, demonstrations of many thousands, which turned into riots, took place in Alma-Ata. The investigation into abuses of power that took place in Uzbekistan has caused widespread discontent in the republic.

Even more active than in previous years, demands were made to restore the autonomy of the Crimean Tatars and Volga Germans. Transcaucasia became the zone of the most acute ethnic conflicts.

Interethnic conflicts and the formation of mass national movements. In 1987, mass unrest began in Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan SSR) among Armenians, who made up the majority of the population of this autonomous region. They demanded that Karabakh be transferred to the Armenian SSR. The promise of the allied authorities to “consider” this issue was perceived as an agreement to satisfy these demands. All this led to massacres of Armenians in Sumgait (Az SSR). It is characteristic that the party apparatus of both republics not only did not interfere with the interethnic conflict, but also actively participated in the creation of national movements. Gorbachev gave the order to send troops into Sumgayit and declare a curfew there.

Against the backdrop of the Karabakh conflict and the impotence of the allied authorities, popular fronts were created in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia in May 1988. If at first they spoke “in support of perestroika,” then after a few months they declared their ultimate goal to secede from the USSR. The most widespread and radical of these organizations was Sąjūdis (Lithuania). Soon, under pressure from the popular fronts, the Supreme Councils of the Baltic republics decided to declare national languages ​​as state languages ​​and deprive the Russian language of this status.

The demand for the introduction of the native language in state and educational institutions was voiced in Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.

In the republics of Transcaucasia, interethnic relations have worsened not only between the republics, but also within them (between Georgians and Abkhazians, Georgians and Ossetians, etc.).

In the Central Asian republics, for the first time in many years, there was a threat of Islamic fundamentalism penetrating from outside.

In Yakutia, Tataria, and Bashkiria, movements were gaining strength, whose participants demanded that these autonomous republics be given union rights.

The leaders of national movements, trying to secure mass support for themselves, placed special emphasis on the fact that their republics and peoples “feed Russia” and the Union Center. As the economic crisis deepened, this instilled in people's minds the idea that their prosperity could only be ensured by secession from the USSR.

For the party leadership of the republics, an exceptional opportunity was created to ensure a quick career and prosperity.

“Gorbachev’s team” was not ready to offer ways out of the “national impasse” and therefore constantly hesitated and was late in making decisions. The situation gradually began to get out of control.

Elections of 1990 in the union republics. The situation became even more complicated after elections were held in the union republics in early 1990 on the basis of a new electoral law. Leaders of national movements won almost everywhere. The party leadership of the republics chose to support them, hoping to remain in power.

The “parade of sovereignties” began: on March 9, the Declaration of Sovereignty was adopted by the Supreme Council of Georgia, on March 11 - by Lithuania, on March 30 - by Estonia, on May 4 - by Latvia, on June 12 - by the RSFSR, on June 20 - by Uzbekistan, on June 23 - by Moldova, on July 16 - by Ukraine , July 27 - Belarus.

Gorbachev's reaction was initially harsh. For example, economic sanctions were adopted against Lithuania. However, with the help of the West, the republic managed to survive.

In the conditions of discord between the Center and the republics, the leaders of Western countries - the USA, Germany, France - tried to assume the role of arbiters between them.

All this forced Gorbachev to announce, with great delay, the beginning of the development of a new Union Treaty.

Development of a new Union Treaty. Work on preparing a fundamentally new document, which was to become the basis of the state, began in the summer of 1990. The majority of members of the Politburo and the leadership of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR opposed the revision of the foundations of the Union Treaty of 1922. Therefore, Gorbachev began to fight against them with the help of B. N. Yeltsin, who was elected Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, and the leaders of other union republics, who supported his course towards reforming the Soviet Union.

The main idea included in the draft of the new treaty was the provision of broad rights to the union republics, primarily in the economic sphere (and later even their acquisition of economic sovereignty). However, it soon became clear that Gorbachev was not ready to do this either. From the end of 1990, the union republics, now enjoying great freedom, decided to act independently: a series of bilateral agreements were concluded between them in the field of economics.

Meanwhile, the situation in Lithuania became sharply more complicated, the Supreme Council of which adopted laws one after another that formalized in practice the sovereignty of the republic. In January 1991, Gorbachev, in the form of an ultimatum, demanded that the Supreme Council of Lithuania restore the full validity of the USSR Constitution, and after their refusal, he introduced additional military formations into the republic. This caused clashes between the army and the population in Vilnius, which resulted in the death of 14 people. The tragic events in the capital of Lithuania caused a violent reaction throughout the country, once again compromising the Union Center.

On March 17, 1991, a referendum was held on the fate of the USSR. Every citizen who had the right to vote received a ballot with the question: “Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?” 76% of the population of the huge country spoke in favor of maintaining a single state. However, it was no longer possible to stop the collapse of the USSR.

In the summer of 1991, the first ever presidential elections in Russia took place. During the election campaign, the leading candidate from the “democrats,” Yeltsin, actively played the “national card,” inviting Russia’s regional leaders to take as much sovereignty as they “could eat.” This largely ensured his victory in the elections. Gorbachev's position weakened even more. Growing economic difficulties required speeding up the development of a new Union Treaty. The Union leadership was now primarily interested in this. In the summer, Gorbachev agreed to all the conditions and demands presented by the union republics. According to the draft of the new treaty, the USSR was supposed to turn into a Union of Sovereign States, which would include both former union and autonomous republics on equal terms. In terms of the form of unification, it was more like a confederation. It was also assumed that new union authorities would be formed. The signing of the agreement was scheduled for August 20, 1991.

August 1991 and its consequences. Some of the top leaders of the Soviet Union perceived the preparations for signing a new union treaty as a threat to the existence of a single state and tried to prevent it.

In the absence of Gorbachev in Moscow, on the night of August 19, the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP) was created, which included Vice President G. I. Yanaev, Prime Minister V. S. Pavlov, Minister of Defense D. T. Yazov, KGB Chairman V.A. Kryuchkov, Minister of Internal Affairs B.K. Pugo, etc. The State Emergency Committee introduced a state of emergency in certain regions of the country; declared the power structures that acted contrary to the 1977 constitution disbanded; suspended the activities of opposition parties; banned rallies and demonstrations; established control over the media; sent troops to Moscow.

On the morning of August 20, the Supreme Council of Russia issued an appeal to the citizens of the republic, in which it regarded the actions of the State Emergency Committee as a coup d'état and declared them illegal. At the call of President Yeltsin, tens of thousands of Muscovites took up defensive positions around the Supreme Soviet building to prevent troops from storming it. On August 21, a session of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR began, supporting the leadership of the republic. On the same day, USSR President Gorbachev returned from Crimea to Moscow, and members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested.

Collapse of the USSR. The attempt by members of the State Emergency Committee to save the Soviet Union led to the exact opposite result - the collapse of the unified state accelerated. On August 21, Latvia and Estonia declared independence, on August 24 - Ukraine, on August 25 - Belarus, on August 27 - Moldova, on August 30 - Azerbaijan, on August 31 - Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, on September 9 - Tajikistan, on September 23 - Armenia, on October 27 - Turkmenistan . The Union Center, compromised in August, turned out to be of no use to anyone.

Now we could only talk about creating a confederation. On September 5, the V Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR actually announced self-dissolution and the transfer of power to the State Council of the USSR, composed of the leaders of the republics. Gorbachev, as the head of a single state, turned out to be superfluous. On September 6, the USSR State Council recognized the independence of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. This was the beginning of the real collapse of the USSR.

On December 8, President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Ukraine L. M. Kravchuk and Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus S. S. Shushkevich gathered in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus). They announced the denunciation of the Union Treaty of 1922 and the end of the existence of the USSR. "The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a subject between folk law and geopolitical reality ceases to exist,” said the statement of the leaders of the three republics.

Instead of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was created, which initially united 11 former Soviet republics (excluding the Baltic states and Georgia). On December 27, Gorbachev announced his resignation. The USSR ceased to exist.

What you need to know about this topic:

Socio-economic and political development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Nicholas II.

Domestic policy tsarism. Nicholas II. Increased repression. "Police Socialism"

Russo-Japanese War. Reasons, progress, results.

Revolution 1905 - 1907 Character, driving forces and features of the Russian revolution of 1905-1907. stages of the revolution. The reasons for the defeat and the significance of the revolution.

Elections to the State Duma. I State Duma. The agrarian question in the Duma. Dispersal of the Duma. II State Duma. Coup d'etat of June 3, 1907

Third June political system. Electoral law June 3, 1907 III State Duma. The alignment of political forces in the Duma. Activities of the Duma. Government terror. Decline of the labor movement in 1907-1910.

Stolypin agrarian reform.

IV State Duma. Party composition and Duma factions. Activities of the Duma.

Political crisis in Russia on the eve of the war. Labor movement in the summer of 1914. Crisis at the top.

International position of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

The beginning of the First World War. Origin and nature of the war. Russia's entry into the war. Attitude to the war of parties and classes.

Progress of military operations. Strategic forces and plans of the parties. Results of the war. The role of the Eastern Front in the First World War.

The Russian economy during the First World War.

Worker and peasant movement in 1915-1916. Revolutionary movement in the army and navy. The growth of anti-war sentiment. Formation of the bourgeois opposition.

Russian culture of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

The aggravation of socio-political contradictions in the country in January-February 1917. The beginning, prerequisites and nature of the revolution. Uprising in Petrograd. Formation of the Petrograd Soviet. Temporary Committee of the State Duma. Order N I. Formation of the Provisional Government. Abdication of Nicholas II. The reasons for the emergence of dual power and its essence. The February revolution in Moscow, at the front, in the provinces.

From February to October. The policy of the Provisional Government regarding war and peace, on agrarian, national, and labor issues. Relations between the Provisional Government and the Soviets. Arrival of V.I. Lenin in Petrograd.

Political parties (Cadets, Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks): political programs, influence among the masses.

Crises of the Provisional Government. Attempted military coup in the country. The growth of revolutionary sentiment among the masses. Bolshevization of the capital's Soviets.

Preparation and conduct of an armed uprising in Petrograd.

II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Decisions about power, peace, land. Formation of government and management bodies. Composition of the first Soviet government.

Victory of the armed uprising in Moscow. Government agreement with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. Elections to the Constituent Assembly, its convocation and dispersal.

The first socio-economic transformations in the fields of industry, agriculture, finance, labor and women's issues. Church and State.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, its terms and significance.

Economic tasks of the Soviet government in the spring of 1918. Aggravation of the food issue. Introduction of food dictatorship. Working food detachments. Combeds.

The revolt of the left Socialist Revolutionaries and the collapse of the two-party system in Russia.

The first Soviet Constitution.

Causes of intervention and civil war. Progress of military operations. Human and material losses during the civil war and military intervention.

Domestic policy of the Soviet leadership during the war. "War communism". GOELRO plan.

The policy of the new government regarding culture.

Foreign policy. Treaties with border countries. Russia's participation in the Genoa, Hague, Moscow and Lausanne conferences. Diplomatic recognition of the USSR by the main capitalist countries.

Domestic policy. Socio-economic and political crisis of the early 20s. Famine 1921-1922 Transition to a new economic policy. The essence of NEP. NEP in the field of agriculture, trade, industry. Financial reform. Economic recovery. Crises during the NEP period and its collapse.

Projects for the creation of the USSR. I Congress of Soviets of the USSR. The first government and the Constitution of the USSR.

Illness and death of V.I. Lenin. Intra-party struggle. The beginning of the formation of Stalin's regime.

Industrialization and collectivization. Development and implementation of the first five-year plans. Socialist competition - goal, forms, leaders.

Formation and strengthening of the state system of economic management.

The course towards complete collectivization. Dispossession.

Results of industrialization and collectivization.

Political, national-state development in the 30s. Intra-party struggle. Political repression. Formation of the nomenklatura as a layer of managers. Stalin's regime and the USSR Constitution of 1936

Soviet culture in the 20-30s.

Foreign policy of the second half of the 20s - mid-30s.

Domestic policy. Growth of military production. Emergency measures in the field of labor legislation. Measures to solve the grain problem. Armed forces. The growth of the Red Army. Military reform. Repressions against the command cadres of the Red Army and the Red Army.

Foreign policy. Non-aggression pact and treaty of friendship and borders between the USSR and Germany. The entry of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus into the USSR. Soviet-Finnish war. Inclusion of the Baltic republics and other territories into the USSR.

Periodization of the Great Patriotic War. First stage war. Turning the country into a military camp. Military defeats 1941-1942 and their reasons. Major military events. Surrender of Nazi Germany. Participation of the USSR in the war with Japan.

Soviet rear during the war.

Deportation of peoples.

Guerrilla warfare.

Human and material losses during the war.

Creation of an anti-Hitler coalition. Declaration of the United Nations. The problem of the second front. "Big Three" conferences. Problems of post-war peace settlement and comprehensive cooperation. USSR and UN.

The beginning of the Cold War. The USSR's contribution to the creation of the "socialist camp". CMEA education.

Domestic policy of the USSR in the mid-40s - early 50s. Restoration of the national economy.

Social and political life. Policy in the field of science and culture. Continued repression. "Leningrad affair". Campaign against cosmopolitanism. "The Doctors' Case"

Socio-economic development of Soviet society in the mid-50s - the first half of the 60s.

Socio-political development: XX Congress of the CPSU and condemnation of Stalin’s personality cult. Rehabilitation of victims of repression and deportation. Internal party struggle in the second half of the 50s.

Foreign policy: creation of the Department of Internal Affairs. Entry of Soviet troops into Hungary. Exacerbation of Soviet-Chinese relations. Split of the "socialist camp". Soviet-American relations and the Cuban missile crisis. USSR and "third world" countries. Reduction in the size of the armed forces of the USSR. Moscow Treaty on the Limitation of Nuclear Tests.

USSR in the mid-60s - first half of the 80s.

Socio-economic development: economic reform of 1965

Increasing difficulties in economic development. Declining rates of socio-economic growth.

Constitution of the USSR 1977

Social and political life of the USSR in the 1970s - early 1980s.

Foreign policy: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Consolidation of post-war borders in Europe. Moscow Treaty with Germany. Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Soviet-American treaties of the 70s. Soviet-Chinese relations. Entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan. Exacerbation of international tension and the USSR. Strengthening Soviet-American confrontation in the early 80s.

USSR in 1985-1991

Domestic policy: an attempt to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. An attempt to reform the political system of Soviet society. Congresses of People's Deputies. Election of the President of the USSR. Multi-party system. Exacerbation of the political crisis.

Exacerbation of the national question. Attempts to reform the national-state structure of the USSR. Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR. "Novoogaryovsky trial". Collapse of the USSR.

Foreign policy: Soviet-American relations and the problem of disarmament. Agreements with leading capitalist countries. Withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Changing relations with the countries of the socialist community. Collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact Organization.

Russian Federation in 1992-2000.

Domestic policy: “Shock therapy” in the economy: price liberalization, stages of privatization of commercial and industrial enterprises. Fall in production. Increased social tension. Growth and slowdown in financial inflation. Intensification of the struggle between the executive and legislative branches. Dissolution of the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies. October events of 1993. Abolition of local bodies of Soviet power. Elections to the Federal Assembly. Constitution of the Russian Federation 1993 Formation of a presidential republic. Exacerbation and overcoming national conflicts in the North Caucasus.

Parliamentary elections of 1995. Presidential elections of 1996. Power and opposition. An attempt to return to the course of liberal reforms (spring 1997) and its failure. Financial crisis of August 1998: causes, economic and political consequences. "Second Chechen War". Parliamentary elections of 1999 and early presidential elections of 2000. Foreign policy: Russia in the CIS. Participation of Russian troops in “hot spots” of the neighboring countries: Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan. Relations between Russia and foreign countries. Withdrawal of Russian troops from Europe and neighboring countries. Russian-American agreements. Russia and NATO. Russia and the Council of Europe. Yugoslav crises (1999-2000) and Russia’s position.

• Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. History of the state and peoples of Russia. XX century.

As perestroika progressed, the national problems.

In 1989 and especially in 1990-1991. happened bloody clashes in Central Asia(Fergana, Dushanbe, Osh and a number of other areas). The Caucasus, primarily South Ossetia and Abkhazia, was an area of ​​intense ethnic armed conflict. In 1990-1991 in South Ossetia, in essence, there was a real war in which only heavy artillery, aircraft and tanks were not used.

Confrontation also took place in Moldova, where the population of the Gagauz and Transnistrian regions protested against the infringement of their national rights and in the Baltic states, where part of the Russian-speaking population opposed the leadership of the republics.

In the Baltic republics, Ukraine, and Georgia, it takes on acute forms struggle for independence, for leaving the USSR. In early 1990, after Lithuania declared its independence and negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh stalled, it became obvious that the central government was unable to use economic ties in the process of radically renegotiating federal relations, which was the only way to prevent, or even though would stop the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Collapse of the USSR. Formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States

Prerequisites for the collapse of the USSR.

1) A deep socio-economic crisis that has engulfed the entire country. The crisis led to a severance of economic ties and gave rise to a desire among the republics to “save themselves alone.”

2) The destruction of the Soviet system means a sharp weakening of the center.

3) The collapse of the CPSU.

4) Exacerbation of interethnic relations. National conflicts undermined state unity, becoming one of the reasons for the destruction of the union statehood.

5) Republican separatism and political ambition of local leaders.

The union center can no longer retain power democratically and resorts to military force: Tbilisi - September 1989, Baku - January 1990, Vilnius and Riga - January 1991, Moscow - August 1991. In addition - interethnic conflicts in Central Asia (1989-1990): Fergana, Dushanbe, Osh and etc.

The last straw that pushed the party and state leadership of the USSR to act was the threat of signing a new Union Treaty, which was developed during negotiations between representatives of the republics in Novo-Ogarevo.

August 1991 coup and its failure.

August 1991 - Gorbachev was on vacation in Crimea. The signing of a new Union Treaty was scheduled for August 20. On August 18, a number of senior officials of the USSR suggested that Gorbachev introduce a state of emergency throughout the country, but were refused by him. In order to disrupt the signing of the Union Treaty and maintain their powers of power, part of the top party and state leadership tried to seize power. On August 19, a state of emergency was introduced in the country (for 6 months). Troops were brought into the streets of Moscow and a number of other large cities.

But the coup failed. The population of the country basically refused to support the State Emergency Committee, while the army did not want to use force against its citizens. Already on August 20, barricades grew up around the “White House”, on which there were several tens of thousands of people, and some military units went over to the side of the defenders. The resistance was led by Russian President B.N. Yeltsin. The actions of the State Emergency Committee were received very negatively abroad, where statements were immediately made about the suspension of assistance to the USSR.

The coup was extremely poorly organized and there was no active operational leadership. Already on August 22, he was defeated, and the members of the State Emergency Committee themselves were arrested. Interior Minister Pugo shot himself. The main reason for the failure of the coup was the determination of the masses to defend their political freedoms.

The final stage of the collapse of the USSR(September - December 1991).

The attempted coup sharply accelerated the collapse of the USSR, led to Gorbachev's loss of authority and power, and to a noticeable increase in Yeltsin's popularity. The activities of the CPSU were suspended and then terminated. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and dissolved the Central Committee. In the days that followed the putsch, 8 republics declared their complete independence, and three Baltic republics achieved recognition from the USSR. There was a sharp reduction in the competence of the KGB, and its reorganization was announced.

On December 1, 1991, more than 80% of the population of Ukraine spoke in favor of the independence of their republic.

December 8, 1991 - Belovezhskaya Agreement (Yeltsin, Kravchuk, Shushkevich): the termination of the Union Treaty of 1922 and the end of the activities of state structures of the former Union were announced. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus reached an agreement on the creation Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The three states invited all former republics to join the CIS.

On December 21, 1991, 8 republics joined the CIS. The Declaration on the cessation of the existence of the USSR and on the principles of the CIS activities was adopted. On December 25, Gorbachev announced his resignation as president due to the disappearance of the state. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Georgia joined the CIS.

During the existence of the CIS, more than 900 fundamental legal acts have been signed. They related to the single ruble space, open borders, defense, space, information exchange, security, customs policy, etc.

Review questions:

1. The main reasons that led to the aggravation of interethnic relations in the USSR by the beginning of the 1990s are listed.

2. Name the regions in which hotbeds of tension have developed. In what forms did national conflicts unfold there?

3. How did the USSR collapse?