1976 who ruled the USSR. Who was the president of the USSR and the Russian Federation. reference

With the death of Stalin - the “father of nations” and the “architect of communism” - in 1953, a struggle for power began, because what he established assumed that at the helm of the USSR there would be the same autocratic leader who would take the reins of government into his hands.

The only difference was that the main contenders for power all unanimously advocated the abolition of this very cult and the liberalization of the country’s political course.

Who ruled after Stalin?

A serious struggle unfolded between the three main contenders, who initially represented a triumvirate - Georgy Malenkov (Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR), Lavrentiy Beria (Minister of the United Ministry of Internal Affairs) and Nikita Khrushchev (Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee). Each of them wanted to take a place in it, but victory could only go to the candidate whose candidacy was supported by the party, whose members enjoyed great authority and had the necessary connections. In addition, they were all united by the desire to achieve stability, end the era of repression and gain more freedom in their actions. That is why the question of who ruled after Stalin’s death does not always have a clear answer - after all, there were three people fighting for power at once.

The triumvirate in power: the beginning of a split

The triumvirate created under Stalin divided power. Most of it was concentrated in the hands of Malenkov and Beria. Khrushchev was assigned the role of secretary, which was not so significant in the eyes of his rivals. However, they underestimated the ambitious and assertive party member, who stood out for his extraordinary thinking and intuition.

For those who ruled the country after Stalin, it was important to understand who first needed to be eliminated from the competition. The first target was Lavrenty Beria. Khrushchev and Malenkov were aware of the dossier on each of them that the Minister of Internal Affairs, who was in charge of the entire system of repressive bodies, had. In this regard, in July 1953, Beria was arrested, accusing him of espionage and some other crimes, thereby eliminating such a dangerous enemy.

Malenkov and his politics

Khrushchev's authority as the organizer of this conspiracy increased significantly, and his influence over other party members increased. However, while Malenkov was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, key decisions and policy directions depended on him. At the first meeting of the Presidium, a course was set for de-Stalinization and the establishment of collective governance of the country: it was planned to abolish the cult of personality, but to do this in such a way as not to diminish the merits of the “father of nations.” The main task set by Malenkov was to develop the economy taking into account the interests of the population. He proposed a fairly extensive program of changes, which was not adopted at the meeting of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Then Malenkov put forward these same proposals at a session of the Supreme Council, where they were approved. For the first time after Stalin’s autocratic rule, the decision was made not by the party, but by an official government body. The CPSU Central Committee and the Politburo were forced to agree to this.

Further history will show that among those who ruled after Stalin, Malenkov would be the most “effective” in his decisions. The set of measures he adopted to combat bureaucracy in the state and party apparatus, to develop the food and light industry, to expand the independence of collective farms bore fruit: 1954-1956, for the first time since the end of the war, showed an increase in the rural population and an increase in agricultural production, which for many years decline and stagnation became profitable. The effect of these measures lasted until 1958. It is this five-year plan that is considered the most productive and effective after the death of Stalin.

It was clear to those who ruled after Stalin that such successes would not be achieved in light industry, since Malenkov’s proposals for its development contradicted the tasks of the next five-year plan, which emphasized the promotion

I tried to approach solving problems from a rational point of view, using economic rather than ideological considerations. However, this order did not suit the party nomenklatura (led by Khrushchev), which practically lost its predominant role in the life of the state. This was a weighty argument against Malenkov, who, under pressure from the party, submitted his resignation in February 1955. His place was taken by Khrushchev's comrade-in-arms, Malenkov became one of his deputies, but after the 1957 dispersal of the anti-party group (of which he was a member), together with his supporters, he was expelled from the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Khrushchev took advantage of this situation and in 1958 removed Malenkov from the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers, taking his place and becoming the one who ruled after Stalin in the USSR.

Thus, he concentrated almost complete power in his hands. He got rid of the two most powerful competitors and led the country.

Who ruled the country after the death of Stalin and the removal of Malenkov?

Those 11 years that Khrushchev ruled the USSR were rich in various events and reforms. The agenda included many problems that the state faced after industrialization, war and attempts to restore the economy. The main milestones that will remember the era of Khrushchev’s reign are as follows:

1. The policy of virgin land development (not supported by scientific study) increased the number of sown areas, but did not take into account climatic features that hampered development agriculture in the developed territories.
2. The “Corn Campaign,” the goal of which was to catch up and overtake the United States, which received good harvests this culture. The area under corn has doubled, to the detriment of rye and wheat. But the result was sad - climatic conditions did not allow obtaining a high yield, and the reduction in areas for other crops provoked low harvest rates. The campaign failed miserably in 1962, and its result was an increase in the price of butter and meat, which caused discontent among the population.
3. The beginning of perestroika was the massive construction of houses, which allowed many families to move from dormitories and communal apartments to apartments (the so-called “Khrushchev buildings”).

Results of Khrushchev's reign

Among those who ruled after Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev stood out for his unconventional and not always thoughtful approach to reform within the state. Despite the numerous projects that were implemented, their inconsistency led to Khrushchev's removal from office in 1964.

Story Soviet Union- This a very difficult topic in history. It covers only 70 years of history, but the material in it needs to be studied many times more than in all previous time! In this article we will look at what the general secretaries of the USSR were like in chronological order, we will characterize each one and provide links to the relevant site materials on them!

Position of Secretary General

The position of General Secretary is the highest position in the party apparatus of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), and then in the CPSU. The person who occupied it was not only the leader of the party, but de facto the entire country. How is this possible, let’s figure it out now! The title of the position was constantly changing: from 1922 to 1925 - Secretary General Central Committee of the RCP(b); from 1925 to 1953 she was called the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks; from 1953 to 1966 - First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee; from 1966 to 1989 - General Secretary of the CPSU.

The position itself arose in April 1922. Before this, the position was called party chairman and was headed by V.I. Lenin.

Why was the head of the party the de facto head of the country? In 1922, this position was headed by Stalin. The influence of the position was such that he could form a congress at his own request, which provided himself full support in the party. By the way, such support was extremely important. Therefore, the struggle for power in the 20s of the last century resulted precisely in the form of discussions in which victory meant life, and loss meant death, if not now, then in the future for sure.

I.V. Stalin understood this perfectly. That’s why he insisted on creating such a position, which, in fact, he headed. But the main thing was something else: in the 20s and 30s, a historical process of merging the party apparatus with the state apparatus took place. This meant, for example, that the district party committee (the head of the district party committee) is in fact the head of the district, the city party committee is the head of the city, and the regional party committee is the head of the region. And the councils played a subordinate role.

Here it is important to remember that the power in the country was Soviet - that is, the real state authorities should have been councils. And they were, but only de jure (legally), formally, on paper, if you like. It was the party that determined all aspects of the development of the state.

So let's look at the main secretaries general.

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Dzhugashvili)

Was the first Secretary General party, unchanged until 1953 - until his death. The fact of the merging of the party and state apparatus was reflected in the fact that from 1941 to 1953 he was also the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, and then the Council of Ministers of the USSR. If you don’t know, the Council of People’s Commissars and then the Council of Ministers are the Government of the USSR. If you are not in the subject at all, then .

Stalin stood at the origins of both the great victories of the Soviet Union and the great troubles in the history of our country. He was the author of the articles “The Year of the Great Turnaround.” He stood at the origins of super-industrialization and collectivization. It is with him that such concepts as the “cult of personality” are associated (see more about it and), the Holodomor of the 30s, the repressions of the 30s. In principle, under Khrushchev, Stalin was blamed for the failures in the first months of the Great Patriotic War.

However, the unrivaled growth of industrial construction in the 1930s is also associated with the name of Stalin. The USSR received its own heavy industry, which we still use today.

Stalin himself said this about the future of his name: “I know that after my death a heap of rubbish will be placed on my grave, but the wind of history will mercilessly scatter it!” Well, we'll see how it goes!

Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev

N.S. Khrushchev served as General (or First) Secretary of the Party from 1953 to 1964. His name is associated with many events both from world history and from the history of Russia: Events in Poland, the Suez Crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the slogan “Catch up and surpass America in meat and milk production per capita!”, the shooting in Novocherkassk, and much more other.

Khrushchev, in general, was not a very smart politician, but he was very intuitive. He understood perfectly well how he would rise, because after Stalin’s death the struggle for power became fierce again. Many people saw the future of the USSR not in Khrushchev, but in Malenkov, who then held the position of Chairman of the Council of Ministers. But Khrushchev took a strategically correct position.

Details about the USSR under him.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

L.I. Brezhnev held the main position in the party from 1964 to 1982. His time is otherwise called the period of “stagnation”. The USSR began to turn into a “banana republic”, the shadow economy grew, the shortage of consumer goods grew, and the Soviet nomenclature expanded. All these processes then led to a systemic crisis during the years of Perestroika, and ultimately.

Leonid Ilyich himself was very fond of cars. The authorities blocked one of the rings around the Kremlin so that the secretary general could test the new model presented to him. There is also an interesting historical anecdote associated with the name of his daughter. They say one day my daughter went to museums to look for some kind of necklace. Yes, yes, to museums, not shopping. As a result, in one of the museums she pointed to the necklace and asked for it. The director of the museum called Leonid Ilyich and explained the situation. To which I received a clear answer: “Don’t give!” Something like that.

And more about the USSR and Brezhnev.

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev

M.S. Gorbachev held the party position in question from March 11, 1984 to August 24, 1991. His name is associated with such things as: Perestroika, ending Cold War, fall Berlin Wall, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the attempt to create the JIT, the coup in August 1991. He was the first and last President of the USSR.

Read more about all this.

We have not named two more general secretaries. See them in this table with photos:

Post Scriptum: many rely on texts - textbooks, manuals, even monographs. But you can beat all your competitors on the Unified State Exam if you use video lessons. They all exist. Studying video lessons is at least five times more effective than simply reading a textbook!

Best regards, Andrey Puchkov

My labor activity began after finishing 4 classes of the zemstvo school in the house of the nobleman Morduchai-Bolotovsky. Here he served as a footman.

Then there were difficult ordeals in search of work, later a position as an apprentice under a turner at the Old Arsenal gun factory.

And then there was the Putilov plant. Here he first encountered underground revolutionary organizations workers whose activities I had heard about for a long time. He immediately joined them, joined the Social Democratic Party and even organized his own educational circle at the factory.

After his first arrest and release, he left for the Caucasus (he was prohibited from living in St. Petersburg and the surrounding area), where he continued his revolutionary activities.

After a brief second imprisonment, he moved to Revel, where he also actively established connections with revolutionary figures and activists. He begins to write articles for Iskra, collaborates with the newspaper as a correspondent, distributor, liaison, etc.

Over the course of several years, he was arrested 14 times! But he continued his activities. By 1917, he played an important role in the Petrograd Bolshevik organization and was elected a member of the executive commission of the St. Petersburg party committee. Actively participated in the development of the revolutionary program.

At the end of March 1919, Lenin personally proposed his candidacy for the post of chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. At the same time, F. Dzerzhinsky, A. Beloborodov, N. Krestinsky and others applied for this post.

The first document that Kalinin presented during the meeting was a declaration containing the immediate tasks of the All-Union Central Executive Committee.

During the civil war, he often visited the fronts, conducted active propaganda work among the fighters, and traveled to villages and villages, where he held conversations with peasants. Despite the position high position, he was easy to communicate, knew how to find an approach to anyone. In addition, he himself was from a peasant family and worked at a factory for many years. All this inspired confidence in him and forced people to listen to his words.

For many years, people faced with a problem or injustice wrote to Kalinin, and in most cases received real help.

In 1932, thanks to him, the operation to deport several tens of thousands of dispossessed families and expelled from collective farms was stopped.

After the end of the war, issues of economic and social development of the country became a priority for Kalinin. Together with Lenin, he developed plans and documents for electrification, restoration of heavy industry, the transport system and agriculture.

It would not have been possible without him when choosing the statute of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, drawing up the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR, union treaty, Constitution and other significant documents.

During the 1st Congress of Soviets USSR he was elected one of the chairmen of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR.

The main activity in foreign policy there was work to recognize the country of Soviets by other states.

In all his affairs, even after Lenin's death, he clearly adhered to the line of development outlined by Ilyich.

On the first day of winter 1934 he signed a decree, which subsequently gave the green light for mass repressions.

In January 1938 he became chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He worked in this position for more than 8 years. He resigned from his post a few months before his death.

Who ruled after Stalin in the USSR? It was Georgy Malenkov. His political biography was a truly phenomenal combination of both ups and downs. At one time, he was considered the successor to the leader of the peoples and was even the de facto leader of the Soviet state. He was one of the most experienced apparatchiks and was famous for his ability to think many moves ahead. In addition, the one who was in power after Stalin had a unique memory. On the other hand, he was expelled from the party during the Khrushchev era. They say that he has not yet been rehabilitated, unlike his associates. However, the one who ruled after Stalin was able to withstand all this and remain faithful to his cause to death. Although, they say, in his old age he overestimated a lot...

Career start

Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was born in 1901 in Orenburg. His father worked for railway. Despite the fact that noble blood flowed in his veins, he was considered a rather minor employee. His ancestors came from Macedonia. The grandfather of the Soviet leader chose the army path, was a colonel, and his brother was a rear admiral. The party leader’s mother was the daughter of a blacksmith.

In 1919, after graduating from a classical gymnasium, Georgy was drafted into the Red Army. On next year he joined the Bolshevik Party, becoming a political worker for an entire squadron.

After the Civil War, he studied at the Bauman School, but, having quit his studies, began working in the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee. It was 1925.

Five years later, under the patronage of L. Kaganovich, he began to head the organizational department of the capital city committee of the CPSU (b). Note that Stalin really liked this young official. He was intelligent and devoted to the General Secretary...

Malenkov selection

In the second half of the 30s, purges of the opposition took place in the capital's party organization, which became a prelude to future political repressions. It was Malenkov who then led this “selection” of the party nomenklatura. Later, with the sanction of the functionary, almost all the old communist cadres were repressed. He himself came to the regions in order to intensify the fight against “enemies of the people.” Sometimes he witnessed interrogations. True, the functionary, in fact, was only an executor of the direct instructions of the leader of the peoples.

On the roads of war

When the Great Patriotic War broke out, Malenkov managed to show his organizational talent. He had to professionally and fairly quickly resolve many economic and personnel issues. He always supported developments in the tank and missile industries. In addition, it was he who gave Marshal Zhukov the opportunity to stop the seemingly inevitable collapse of the Leningrad Front.

In 1942, this party leader ended up in Stalingrad and was involved, among other things, in organizing the defense of the city. On his orders, the city population began to evacuate.

In the same year, thanks to his efforts, the Astrakhan defensive region was strengthened. Thus, modern boats and other watercraft appeared in the Volga and Caspian flotillas.

Later he took an active part in preparing the battle on Kursk Bulge, after which he focused on the restoration of the liberated territories, heading the corresponding committee.

Post-war time

Malenkov Georgy Maximilianovich began to turn into the second figure in the country and party.

When the war ended, he dealt with issues related to the dismantling of German industry. By and large, this work was constantly criticized. The fact is that many of the influential departments tried to get this equipment. As a result, a corresponding commission was created, which made an unexpected decision. German industry was no longer dismantled, and enterprises that were based in the territories of East Germany began to produce goods for the Soviet Union as reparations.

Rise of a functionary

In mid-autumn 1952, the Soviet leader instructed Malenkov to deliver a report at the next congress of the Communist Party. Thus, the party functionary was essentially presented as Stalin’s successor.

Apparently, the leader nominated him as a compromise figure. It suited both the party leadership and the security forces.

A few months later, Stalin was no longer alive. And Malenkov, in turn, became the head Soviet government. Of course, before him this post was occupied by the deceased Secretary General.

Malenkov reforms

Malenkov's reforms began literally immediately. Historians also call them “perestroika” and believe that this reform could greatly change the entire structure of the national economy.

The head of government in the period after Stalin's death announced to the people absolutely new life. He promised that the two systems - capitalism and socialism - would coexist peacefully. He was the first leader of the Soviet Union to warn against atomic weapons. In addition, he intended to put an end to the policy of the cult of personality by moving to collective leadership of the state. He recalled that the late leader criticized members of the Central Committee for the cult planted around him. True, there was no significant reaction to this proposal from the new prime minister at all.

In addition, the one who ruled after Stalin and before Khrushchev decided to lift a number of bans - on border crossings, foreign press, customs transit. Unfortunately, the new head tried to present this policy as a natural continuation of the previous course. That is why Soviet citizens, in fact, not only did not pay attention to “perestroika”, but also did not remember it.

Decline of a career

By the way, it was Malenkov, as the head of government, who came up with the idea of ​​halving the remuneration of party officials, that is, the so-called. "envelopes". By the way, before him, Stalin also proposed the same thing shortly before his death. Now, thanks to the corresponding resolution, this initiative was implemented, but it caused even greater irritation on the part of the party nomenklatura, including N. Khrushchev. As a result, Malenkov was removed from office. And his entire “perestroika” was practically curtailed. At the same time, “ration” bonuses for officials were restored.

Nevertheless, the former head of government remained in the cabinet. He led all Soviet power plants, which began to operate much more successfully and efficiently. Malenkov also promptly resolved issues related to the social welfare of employees, workers and their families. Accordingly, all this increased his popularity. Although she was tall without it. But in the middle of the summer of 1957, he was “exiled” to the hydroelectric power station in Ust-Kamenogorsk, in Kazakhstan. When he arrived there, the whole city rose to greet him.

Three years later former minister already headed the thermal power plant in Ekibastuz. And also upon arrival, many people appeared carrying his portraits...

Many did not like his well-deserved fame. And the very next year, the one who was in power after Stalin was expelled from the party and sent into retirement.

Recent years

Once retired, Malenkov returned to Moscow. He retained some privileges. In any case, he bought groceries from special store for party officials. But, despite this, he periodically went to his dacha in Kratovo by train.

And in the 80s, the one who ruled after Stalin suddenly turned to Orthodox faith. This was, perhaps, his last “turn” of fate. Many saw him in the temple. In addition, he periodically listened to radio programs about Christianity. He also became a reader in churches. By the way, during these years he lost a lot of weight. This is probably why no one touched him or recognized him.

He passed away at the very beginning of January 1988. He was buried at the Novokuntsevo churchyard in the capital. Note that he was buried according to Christian rites. There were no reports of his death in the Soviet media of those times. But in Western periodicals there were obituaries. And very extensive...

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich (1870-1924) 1917-1923 reign
Stalin ( real name- Dzhugashvili) Joseph Vissarionovich)