USSR on the eve of World War II: foreign and domestic policy, defense factors, international position, expansion of borders, economy

One of the most difficult topics in domestic and world historical science is the assessment of what the state of the USSR was on the eve of the Great Patriotic War. Briefly, this issue should be considered in several aspects: from a political, economic point of view, taking into account the difficult international situation in which the country found itself before the aggression of Nazi Germany.

The European policy direction of the Soviet government

At the time under review, two centers of aggression were outlined on the continent. In this regard, the situation of the USSR on the eve of World War II became very threatening. It was required to take urgent measures in order to protect their borders from a possible attack. The situation was complicated by the fact that the European allies of the Soviet Union - France and Great Britain - allowed Germany to seize the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, and subsequently, in fact, turned a blind eye to the occupation of the whole country. In such circumstances, the Soviet leadership proposed its own solution to the problem of ending the German aggression: a plan to create a series of alliances that should unite all countries in the fight against the new enemy.

The USSR, on the eve of World War II, in connection with the aggravation of the militaristic threat, signed a series of agreements on mutual assistance and common actions with European and Eastern countries. However, these agreements were not enough, and therefore more serious measures were taken, namely: a proposal was put forward to France and Great Britain to create an alliance against Nazi Germany. For this, embassies from these countries arrived in our country for negotiations. This happened 2 years before the Nazis attack on our country.

Relations with Germany

On the eve of World War II, the USSR found itself in a very difficult situation: potential allies did not fully trust the Stalinist government, which, in turn, had no reason to make concessions to them after the Munich Treaty, which essentially authorized the partition of Czechoslovakia. Mutual misunderstandings led to the fact that the assembled parties were not able to come to an agreement. This alignment of forces allowed the Nazi government to invite the Soviet side to conclude a non-aggression pact, which was signed in August of that year. After that, the French and English delegations left Moscow. The non-aggression treaty was accompanied by a secret protocol providing for the redivision of Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union. According to this document, the Baltic countries, Poland, Bessarabia were recognized as the sphere of interests of the Soviet Union.

Soviet-Finnish War

After signing the pact, the USSR began a war with Finland, which lasted as long as 5 months and revealed serious technical problems in armament and strategy. The goal of the Stalinist leadership was to push the western borders of the country 100 km. Finland was invited to cede the Karelian Isthmus, to lease the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union for the construction of naval bases there. Instead, the northern country was offered territory in Soviet Karelia. The Finnish authorities rejected this ultimatum, and then the Soviet troops began military operations. With great difficulty, the Red Army managed to get around the Mannerheim line and take Vyborg. Then Finland made concessions, giving the enemy not only the mentioned isthmus and peninsula, but also the area north of them. Such a foreign policy of the USSR on the eve of World War II caused international condemnation, as a result of which he was expelled from membership in the League of Nations.

Political and cultural status of the country

Another important area of ​​the domestic policy of the Soviet leadership was the consolidation of the monopoly of the Communist Party and its unconditional and total control over all spheres of society. For this, a new constitution was adopted in December 1936, which proclaimed that socialism had triumphed in the country, in other words, this implied the final destruction of private property and the exploiting classes. This event was preceded by the victory of Stalin in the course of the internal party struggle, which continued throughout the second half of the 30s of the XX century.

In fact, it was precisely in the period under consideration that a totalitarian political system developed in the Soviet Union. The cult of the leader’s personality was one of its main components. In addition, the Communist Party established full control over all spheres of society. It was such strict centralization that made it possible to quickly mobilize all the country's resources to repulse the enemy. All the efforts of the Soviet leadership at this time were aimed at preparing the people for the struggle. Therefore, much attention was paid to military and sports training.

But considerable attention was paid to culture and ideology. On the eve of World War II, the USSR needed social cohesion for a common struggle against the enemy. It was precisely for this that the works of fiction, films that were released at the time in question were calculated. At this time, military-patriotic films were shot in the country, which were designed to show the heroic past of the country in the fight against foreign invaders. Also on the screens came out films glorifying the labor feat of the Soviet people, their achievements in production and economics. A similar situation was observed in fiction. Famous Soviet writers composed works of a monumental nature that were supposed to inspire the Soviet people to fight. In general, the party reached its goal: during the German attack, the Soviet people rose to defend their homeland.

Strengthening defense is the main direction of domestic policy

On the eve of World War II, the USSR was in a very difficult situation: actual international isolation, the threat of external invasion, which by April 1941 had already touched almost all of Europe, required urgent measures to prepare the country for the upcoming hostilities. It was this task that determined the course of party leadership in the decade under consideration.

The economy of the USSR on the eve of World War II was at a fairly high level of development. In previous years, thanks to two full five-year plans, a powerful military-industrial complex was created in the country. In the course of industrialization, machine and tractor plants, metallurgical plants, and hydroelectric stations were built. In a short time, our country has overcome the backlog of Western countries in technical terms.

The defense factors of the USSR on the eve of World War II included several directions. First of all, the course continued on the predominant development of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, and weapons were also being manufactured at an accelerated pace. In just a few years, its production was increased 4 times. New tanks, high-speed fighters, attack aircraft were created, but their mass production has not yet been established. Machine guns and machine guns were designed. A law was adopted on universal military service, so that by the beginning of the war the country could put several million people under arms.

Social Policy and Repression

The defense capabilities of the USSR depended on the effectiveness of the organization of production. To this end, the party took a series of decisive measures: a resolution was adopted on an eight-hour working day, a seven-day working week. Unauthorized departure from enterprises was prohibited. For being late for work, a severe punishment followed - arrest, and for industrial marriage a person was threatened with forced labor.

At the same time, repressions had an extremely detrimental effect on the state of the Red Army. Officers were particularly affected: out of more than five hundred of their representatives, approximately 400 were repressed. As a result, only 7% of representatives of the higher command staff had higher education. There is news that Soviet intelligence has repeatedly warned of an impending enemy attack on our country. Nevertheless, management did not take decisive measures to repel this invasion. However, in general, it should be noted that the defense of the USSR on the eve of the Great Patriotic War allowed our country not only to withstand the terrible onslaught of Nazi Germany, but subsequently go on the offensive.

The situation in Europe

The international situation of the USSR on the eve of World War II was extremely difficult due to the emergence of militaristic foci. In the West, it was, as mentioned above, Germany. At her disposal was the entire industry of Europe. In addition, she could exhibit more than 8 million well-armed soldiers. The Germans occupied such leading and developed European states as Czechoslovakia, France, Poland, Austria. In Spain, they supported the totalitarian regime of General Franco. In the worsening international situation, the Soviet leadership, as was said above, turned out to be in isolation, the reason for which were mutual misunderstandings and misunderstandings between the Allies, which subsequently led to sad consequences.

The situation in the East

The USSR also found itself in a difficult situation due to the situation in Asia on the eve of the Great Patriotic War. Briefly, this problem can be explained by the militaristic aspirations of Japan, which invaded neighboring states and came close to the borders of our country. It came to armed clashes: Soviet troops had to repel the attacks of new opponents. There was a threat of war on 2 fronts. In many ways, it was precisely this alignment of forces that prompted the Soviet leadership after unsuccessful negotiations with West European representatives to agree to a non-aggression agreement with Germany. Subsequently, the eastern front played an important role in the course of the war and its successful conclusion. It was at the time under consideration that the strengthening of this direction of military policy was one of the priority ones.

Economics of a country

The domestic policy of the USSR on the eve of World War II was aimed at the development of heavy industry. For this, all the forces of Soviet society were abandoned. Pumping money out of the village and loans for the needs of heavy industry were the main steps of the party to create a powerful military-industrial complex. Two five-year plans were carried out at a fast pace, during which the Soviet Union overcame the lag behind the Western European states. Large collective farms were created in the village and private property was liquidated. Agricultural products went to the needs of an industrial city. At this time, a broad Stakhanov movement unfolded in the working environment , which was supported by the party. The manufacturers were tasked with overfulfillment of the standards for the workpieces. The main goal of all emergency measures was to strengthen the defense of the USSR on the eve of World War II.

Territorial changes

By 1940, the borders of the USSR expanded on the eve of World War II. This was the result of a whole range of foreign policy measures taken by the Stalinist leadership to ensure the security of the country's borders. First of all, it was about pushing the border line in the northwest, which led, as mentioned above, to a war with Finland. Despite the heavy losses and the obvious technical backwardness of the Red Army, the Soviet government achieved its goal by receiving the Karelian Isthmus and the Hanko Peninsula.

But even more important territorial changes occurred on the western borders. In 1940, the Baltic republics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia became part of the Soviet Union. Such changes at the considered time were of fundamental importance, since they created a kind of protective zone from the impending enemy invasion

Learning topics in schools

In the course of the history of the XX century, one of the most difficult is the theme "USSR on the eve of World War II." Grade 9 is the time of studying this problem, which is so ambiguous and complex that the teacher must be extremely careful in choosing material and interpreting the facts. This primarily concerns, of course, the infamous non-aggression pact, the content of which raises questions and presents a wide field for discussion and debate.

In this case, the age of the students should be taken into account: adolescents are often prone to maximalism in their assessments, therefore it is very important to convey to them the idea that the signing of such a document, if difficult to justify, can be explained by the difficult foreign policy situation, when the Soviet Union, in fact, He became isolated in his attempts to create a system of alliances against Germany.

Another equally controversial issue is the issue of the accession of the Baltic countries to the Soviet Union. Very often you can find opinions about their forcible accession and interference in internal affairs. The study of this item requires a thorough analysis of the entire foreign policy situation. Perhaps the situation is the same as with the non-aggression pact: in the pre-war time, redivision of territories and changing borders were inevitable. The map of Europe was constantly changing, therefore any political steps of the state should be considered precisely as preparation for war.

The lesson plan “The USSR on the eve of the Great Patriotic War”, the brief content of which should include both the foreign and domestic political state of the state, must be drawn up taking into account the age of the students. In grade 9, you can restrict yourself to the basic facts set forth in this article. For students in grade 11, a number of controversial issues on the topic should be identified and a discussion should be offered on its various aspects. It should be noted that the problem of Soviet foreign policy before the outbreak of World War II is one of the most controversial in Russian historical science, which is why it occupies a prominent place in the school curriculum.

In the study of this topic should take into account the entire previous period of development of the Soviet Union. The foreign and domestic policy of this state was aimed at strengthening its foreign policy position and creating a socialist system. Therefore, it must be borne in mind that it is these 2 factors that largely determined the actions taken by the party leadership in the context of the aggravation of the military threat in Western Europe.

In previous decades, the Soviet Union sought to secure its place in the international arena. The consequence of these efforts was the creation of a new state and the expansion of its spheres of influence. The same leadership continued to be implemented after the Nazi political victory in Germany. However, now this policy has taken on an accelerated character in view of the outbreak of centers of world war in the West and East. The theme "The USSR on the eve of World War II," the table of theses of which is presented below, clearly shows the main directions of the party's foreign and domestic policy.

So, the state’s position on the eve of the war was extremely difficult, which explains the characteristics of politics both in the international arena and domestically. The defense factors of the USSR on the eve of World War II played a decisive role in the victory over fascist Germany.