9. The ussr in the 50-70-s
1. Brief content of the lecture
1. The Soviet Union in the 50-s.
Material damage after the Great Patriotic war was 2 trillion 569 billion rubles.
towns and 70 thousand of villages were ruined
25 mln people lost their homes
31850 plants and factories were ruined
losses in heads of cattle: 7 mln horses
17 mln cows
20 mln pigs
The war retarded the USSR economic development for 10 years.
Economic development.
The first post-war 5-year plan 1946-1950 put forward the task to restore economy up to the pre-war level and surpass it.
*Sources:
** Results:
In political life the Stalin's dictatorship intensified, the repressions went on ("Leningrad case" , repressions against the representatives of culture.)
Foreign policy: "Cold war», conflict with Yugoslavia,
***1949-
1955-.
2. The USSR in the 60-s
This time of reforms was called "Thaw".
In 1956 at the XX Congress of the CPSU its First Secretary N. Khrushchev condemned the
personal cult of Stalin .He revealed facts of mass repressions: in 1937-1938 70 % participants of the XVII Congress of the CPSU were arrested and shot. Millions of political prisoners were rehabilitated. Democratization of the country began.
Reforms of the 60-s
In economy priorities were the same: industrial development, but with the development of
textile industry, agriculture.
****Management was reformed:
New technology: chemical, atomic. Electrification, mechanization and automatization became the symbols of this period.
The country had a great success in cosmic space: in 1957 it launched sputnik the first time in
history, in 1961 Y. Gagarin made the first flight.
In agriculture prices for agrarian products became higher , taxes – lower. Incomes of collective farmers increased on 20 % in 1954-55. In 1954 the upsurge of waste land (tselina) was proclaimed.
*Social policy
**Foreign policy.
***Caribbean crisis
Negative features in the Khrushchev’s policy: he was inconsistent, very fast, ahead of his time.( XXI Congress adopted the decision on building communism) In 1964 N. Khrushchev was accused in voluntarism and dismissed.
2. Questions for test
1. Casualties and material losses of the USSR after the WWII
2. Economic life in the 50-s
3. Peculiarities of political life
4. Causes and results of the Caribbean crisis
The first Soviet satellite ( Sputnik) was launched in:
A) 1961
B) 1969
C) 1957
D) 1947
The leader of the USSR during the WWII was:
A) V. Lenin
B) J. Stalin
C) L. Trotsky
D) N. Bukharin
After the WWII ( 1945-1953) political life of the Soviet Union was characterized by:
A) democracy
B) “ Thaw”
C) stagnation
D) Stalin’s dictatorship
10. The ussr in the 1970-80-s
1. Brief content of the lecture
