If you carefully study the relatively short period of human history, for example, only the last five millennia, it turns out that of these, the world reigned on the planet in aggregate for less than three centuries.
Threats to human life
Fifteen thousand wars survived humanity, and in each of them died not only brave (or not so) soldiers, but ordinary people who never held arms, children, women and the elderly. Moreover, such deaths were most often accidental, with the exception of cases of targeted genocide. In addition to wars, there were earthquakes, floods, epidemics, mass starvation and other misfortunes. Then, with the development of science, engineering and technology, the turn came and technological disasters.
Together, fatal factors during the indicated period claimed 3.5 billion human lives. After the appearance of weapons of mass destruction (at first only chemical), it became clear that civilization was slowly but surely moving along the path indicated by Thomas Malthus, successfully protecting the planet from overpopulation by self-destruction.
Each country seeks to protect its people from harmful factors, this is its main function. In 1932, the history of the development of the civil defense of our country began. This structure was designed to minimize the consequences of an attack by hostile countries on the USSR.
Citizen, you are poisoned!
Exercises to protect against the effects of chemical weapons were held until 1932. One of them, which contributed to the flight of the underground millionaire, is described in the famous book "The Golden Calf" by the writers I. Ilf and E. Petrov. A likely enemy of the Country of Soviets at that time was all the capitalist states that had a certain stock of chemical weapons, so gas masks were taught to put on quickly everyone, from children to people of advanced years, and invented them in different ways, even for animals. In the thirties, the external threat was concretized, it acquired concrete outlines in the face of the Nazis. The history of the creation of civil defense dates back to October 4, 1932, when the Nazis in Germany had not yet come to power. It was clear that the main danger to the civilian population was the air forces of the enemy army, which would undoubtedly bomb cities in the event of war. The war in Spain, which began four years later, confirmed these concerns.
Pre-war MPVO teams
Civil defense measures in the early years were carried out by a body called the local air defense (MPVO). The functions of the organization subordinate to the People’s Commissariat of Defense included the development and implementation of measures designed to reduce the damage caused by the enemy air force in the event of hostilities. Attached to it by personnel and technical means, this structure was to notify the population of the air alert, give it a hang-up, provide reliable shelters, eliminate the consequences of the attack of enemy aircraft and provide assistance to the injured. It was clear to the authorities of the highest power (SNK) that it was impossible to accomplish these tasks by the forces of the armed forces alone, and if aggression occurred, the Red Army would have another main goal - the defeat of the enemy. Maintaining production and economic potential and preserving the lives of Soviet people should be a nationwide affair. Therefore, the civil defense plan included the use of both military units of the MPVO, subordinate to the district command of the Red Army, and volunteer units. At the enterprises, teams were created to protect the facilities, with each housing department its own self-defense group functioned.
Subordinate to the NKVD
The more difficult the international situation became, the more thoroughly the organization of civil defense was carried out. Millions of Soviet people were involved in the structure, for each large production unit or fifty thousand residents of the district in urban or rural areas, there were 15 volunteers. They were trained in all the necessary skills for providing medical care, monitoring airspace, as well as competent organization of bomb shelters and public order protection.
The organization of civil defense was an important issue for the leadership of the USSR, eloquently evidenced by the fact that since 1940, the MPVO GU was subordinate to the all-powerful People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR. The efforts of the party and government have yielded results. By 1941, every enterprise or collective farm of the Soviet Union, all cities and regions had a specific civil defense plan, according to which they had to act in case of war. Numerous GO exercises were conducted. Numerous services have been created that are called upon, together with the authorities, to provide medical assistance to the wounded, the uninterrupted operation of transport, trade, food supplies, communications and much more.
Soon the acquired skills came in handy ...
War
Since June 1941, the front has passed not only along the front line. The rear worked, sparing no strength, to give the Red Army everything necessary. The German command understood the importance of each factory, each factory for the defense of the USSR. And sent a squadron of bombers, trying to inflict the greatest damage to production.
The history of civil defense during the Great Patriotic War deserves a separate study as a unique case of mobilizing all the forces of society to protect their country. Incendiary bombs on the roofs were extinguished by people of all ages, every resident of the house watched for blackouts, and cases of panic were extremely rare even on the most difficult days. The MPVO fighters were able to prevent more than 30 thousand accidents and catastrophes at the enterprises of the national economy, neutralize hundreds of thousands of bombs, put out 90 thousand fires, surviving thirty thousand air raids. These efforts, equivalent to a massive feat, made an important contribution to the cause of a common Victory. The civil defense of the USSR showed high efficiency, admirable.
Postwar Civil Defense
Atomic weapons appeared in 1945. And it was immediately applied. The Soviet Union was not ready for a new threat and did not possess the necessary number of shelters capable of withstanding a nuclear explosion. The country's economy was experiencing serious difficulties associated with the restoration of industrial potential and agriculture after the damage caused by hostilities and the occupation of a significant part of the territory. However, a new problem has caused a response. The history of the civil defense of the post-war years continued the traditions laid down in the 30s.
The most urgent problem of protecting the population became in the middle of the 20th century, after expanding the range of delivery vehicles. Not only strategic bombers, but also missiles, both ground and mobile, could now carry nuclear weapons. The history of the creation of civil defense in the USSR officially begins in 1961, it was then that the service received this name instead of the MPVO. Renaming was quite appropriate due to the expansion of the list of functions of the structure. The subject "GO" is taught in secondary and special educational institutions, in schools, students receive the necessary knowledge in the classes on military training (initial military training). In the 70s, mobile units were formed to fulfill the duties of protecting the population. In Balashikha near Moscow opens a school that trains officers of civil defense.
US Civil Defense
In the fifties, our science made a rapid breakthrough, overtaking other countries that considered themselves technologically advanced. This was expressed not only in the space successes of the USSR, but also in the defense field. The Soviet Air Force was armed with Tu-95 and Tu-16 jet and turboprop bombers, capable of reaching the most distant targets at high speed. But the most terrible weapon was intercontinental missiles, and the leadership of the USSR in the matter of their construction at that time was not in doubt. America lost overseas invulnerability, the ghost of a nuclear "mushroom" loomed over skyscrapers and farms. The history of US civil defense began precisely in the fifties, and immediately acquired a nationwide character. The country's territory was divided into ten districts, each with several states. Sirens of educational alarms howled over the cities, schoolchildren learned to quickly hide under the desks and run to the shelter. A whole industry has emerged, producing bunkers equipped with life support systems for everyone. It should be noted the desire of American "colleagues" to actively adopt the Soviet experience, both organizational and technical. During the Caribbean crisis, the number of shelters in the United States exceeded that in the USSR, in the event of a conflict, more people could have been saved, but the damage caused by a nuclear strike remained unacceptable anyway.
Israel
There is no such second country that would have such a dramatic history of the creation of civil defense. It can be briefly described in two words: "save everyone." Unfortunately, this is not always the case, but continuous shelling of the territory of the State of Israel by Scud missiles and conventional Grad shells, as well as numerous terrorist attacks, could have caused a much larger number of civilian casualties if it were not for effective measures aimed at them protection. The effectiveness of the civil defense service allowed the Minister of Civil Defense in 2012 to even make a statement on the estimated number of victims among the population in the event of a full-scale war with Iran and Hamas at the same time. According to him, the death toll would not exceed five hundred people. Some experts believe that the words of Matan Vilnai exaggerate the possibilities of the ministry he heads, but the fact that the civil defense of the population in Israel is well organized is obvious. Moreover, no one in this Middle Eastern country does not deny the use of Soviet experience in establishing the entire infrastructure of civil defense.
In democratic Russia
The history of the civil defense of Russia began in 1991, at the same time as the creation of all the organizational, power and power structures of the new state. The Civil Defense Department was included in the established State Committee for Emergency Situations and Disaster Management (GKChS), three years later transformed into the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM). Civil defense has become part of the tasks assigned to the structure. Their circle was wide.
It primarily included the fight against the natural and man-made consequences of environmental disasters and accidents and the conduct of the emergency response (emergency recovery work). The Ministry of Emergencies also prepares flooding or infection zones for the commissioning of specialized units, sanitizing the population, equipment, buildings and structures, pyrotechnic work, providing measures for evacuation from dangerous zones and territories, restoring broken communications (roads, airfields, power lines and communications, etc.). ) Other civil defense measures are also envisaged. The Ministry of Emergency Situations performs its functions, if necessary, together with parts of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In September 2011, a Presidential Decree was issued, according to which the Defense Ministry was entrusted with the creation of special military units with the aim of assisting the population in the disaster areas.
Currently, the Ministry of Emergencies is a powerful organization at the federal level, which has at its disposal the most modern equipment. Technical support is varied, the ministry even has its own aviation, numbering more than fifty aircraft, including small helicopters, and huge aircraft equipped to extinguish large-scale forest fires, and flying hospitals.
On all continents and at home
The latest history of Russia's civil defense is constantly replenished with glorious pages. Rescuers professionally operate not only within their native country, but also abroad. Emergencies Ministry aircraft delivered humanitarian aid to different regions of the planet. Rescue cargo was received by victims of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters. Rescuers also provided invaluable assistance to those who suffered from military operations. After the terrifying Hurricane Katrina, which caused many troubles in 2005, the history of civil defense was replenished with a unique fact. For the first time in history, Russian rescuers acted in the United States, providing assistance to the population. Humanitarian goods were delivered to America when Sandy (2012) was raging, and during the tornado that hit Oklahoma (2013).
Of course, other countries can count on the help of Russian rescuers. But the main priority of our civil defense system is to protect the lives and health of our fellow citizens. Among the operations carried out over the past two decades, one can list the actions in Chechnya, the work to eliminate the plague epidemic in Tuva, and the fight against terrorism in Moscow and other cities. And there were plane crashes, and the fire in Ostankino, and the Karmadon gorge, and explosions in the subway. And floods in Krymsk and the Far East. Hundreds of specialists eliminated the consequences of the disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station in 2009. And today, humanitarian convoys go to the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.
It’s hard to list. And everywhere on the front line are the rescuers of the Ministry of Emergencies, the heirs of the glory of the MPVO and the civil defense forces.