State Defense Committee of the USSR - abstract. Formation of the State Defense Committee of the USSR and city defense committees The State Defense Committee was created

Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

University of Moscow

Department of History of State and Law

on the topic: “Education of the State Committee defense of the USSR and city defense committees"

Introduction

State Defense Committee, Supreme Command Headquarters and General Staff

State Defense Committee

Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR

City defense committees

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The Great Patriotic War was a colossal test for our state and society. Today it is important to turn to the history of public administration during the years of the last war in order to comprehend historical experience. The relevance of the research topic is as follows.

Firstly, an in-depth and comprehensive study of the topic of the activities of emergency central government bodies in wartime allows us to more fully imagine and evaluate the essence, goals, objectives, priorities and features of the emergency system government controlled USSR during the period under study, see the main directions, forms and methods of work of emergency structures for leading the country and the army.

Secondly, an objective analysis of this large and socially significant problem is important not only in terms of deep understanding and assessment of the past, but also for determining the prospects for state building Russian Federation at the present stage. The rich historical experience that was acquired in the field of public administration during the war is very important for us today. In the interests of stable development of the state and society, it is necessary to know the experience of governing the country in an emergency situation. Knowledge of the historical experience of the problem under study allows us to formulate provisions for the concept of national security of the Russian Federation that are adequate to the challenges of the time.

Thirdly, the appeal to this topic is connected with the ongoing rethinking of the events of the Second World War, the ambiguity of assessments of the activities of emergency government bodies on the pages of various publications. Fourthly, the relevance of the problem lies in the fact that, with all the diversity of literature written on the Great Patriotic War, the system of central emergency authorities has not been fully considered, since archival documents were closed from the scientific community for a long time and therefore did not become the object of special study.

The purpose of the work is to study the process of creation and activity of the State Defense Committee and city defense committees in the system of emergency authorities of the USSR during the period under study.

Explore the theoretical foundations - the reasons, goals, objectives and principles of the creation and operation of the system of emergency authorities of the USSR in the period under study;

Determine the role and place of State Defense Committees in the system of emergency authorities;

Consider the history of city defense committees created during the Second World War.

1. State Defense Committee, Supreme Command Headquarters and General Staff

Picture 1

The Constitution of 1936, or the Stalinist Constitution, did not provide in any way for the implementation of state and military administration of the country in wartime conditions.

In the presented diagram, the heads of the power structures of the USSR are indicated in 1941. The Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces was vested with the right to declare a state of war, general or partial mobilization, martial law in the interests of the country's defense and state security. The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the highest executive body of state power, took measures to ensure public order, protect the interests of the state and protect the rights of the population, supervised the overall construction of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and determined the annual contingent of citizens subject to conscription for active military service.

The Defense Committee (DC) under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR carried out leadership and coordination of issues of military development and direct preparation of the country for defense. Although before the war it was envisaged that with the outbreak of hostilities, military control should have been carried out by the Main Military Council headed by the People's Commissar of Defense, this did not happen. General leadership of the armed struggle of the Soviet people against Nazi troops took over the CPSU(b), or rather its Central Committee (Central Committee) headed by Stalin I.V. The situation on the fronts was very difficult, Soviet troops they were retreating everywhere. A reorganization of the highest bodies of state and military administration was necessary.

On the second day of the war, June 23, 1941, by resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Headquarters of the Main Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created. It was headed by People's Commissar of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko. , i.e. Military command and control bodies were reorganized. The reorganization of the system of state power took place on June 30, 1941, when by decision of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the State Defense Committee (GKO) was created - the extraordinary highest state body of the USSR, which concentrated all power in the country. The State Defense Committee supervised all military and economic issues during the war, and the leadership of military operations was carried out through the Supreme Command Headquarters.

“Both at Headquarters and the State Defense Committee there was no bureaucracy. These were exclusively operational bodies. Leadership was concentrated in the hands of Stalin... Life in the entire state and military apparatus was tense, the work schedule was round the clock, everyone was at their official places. No one gave orders “That it should be exactly like this, but it happened that way,” recalled the head of the Logistics, Army General A.V. Khrulev. In the first months of the Great Patriotic War There was a complete centralization of power in the country. Stalin I.V. concentrated immense power in his hands - while remaining the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he headed the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the State Defense Committee, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the People's Commissariat of Defense.

2. State Defense Committee

The State Defense Committee, created during the Great Patriotic War, was an emergency governing body that had full power in the USSR. The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, I.V. Stalin, became the Chairman of the State Defense Committee. , his deputy is the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov. The State Defense Committee included L.P. Beria. (People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR), Voroshilov K.E. (Chairman of the KO under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR), Malenkov G.M. (Secretary, Head of the Personnel Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)). In February 1942, the following were introduced into the State Defense Committee: Voznesensky N.A. (1st Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars) and Mikoyan A.I. (Chairman of the Committee for Food and Clothing Supply of the Red Army), Kaganovich L.M. (Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars). In November 1944, N.A. Bulganin became a new member of the GKO. (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR), and Voroshilov K.E. was removed from the State Defense Committee.

The State Defense Committee was endowed with broad legislative, executive and administrative functions; it united the military, political and economic leadership of the country. The resolutions and orders of the State Defense Committee had the force of wartime laws and were subject to unquestioning execution by all party, state, military, economic and trade union bodies. However, the USSR Armed Forces, the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, and the People's Commissariats also continued to act, implementing the resolutions and decisions of the State Defense Committee. During the Great Patriotic War, the State Defense Committee adopted 9,971 resolutions, of which approximately two-thirds concerned the problems of the war economy and the organization of military production: the evacuation of the population and industry; mobilization of industry, production of weapons and ammunition; handling captured weapons and ammunition; organization of combat operations, distribution of weapons; appointment of authorized representatives of State Defense Committees; structural changes in the State Defense Committee itself, etc. The remaining resolutions of the State Defense Committee concerned political, personnel, and other issues.

Functions of the State Defense Committee: 1) management of the activities of government departments and institutions, directing their efforts towards the full use of the material, spiritual and military capabilities of the country to achieve victory over the enemy; 2) mobilization of the country’s human resources for the needs of the front and the national economy; 3) organization of uninterrupted operation of the defense industry of the USSR; 4) resolving issues of restructuring the economy on a war footing; 5) evacuation of industrial facilities from threatened areas and transfer of enterprises to liberated areas; 6) training reserves and personnel for the Armed Forces and industry; 7) restoration of the economy destroyed by the war; 8) determining the volume and timing of industrial supplies of military products.

The State Defense Committee set military-political tasks for the military leadership, improved the structure of the Armed Forces, determined the general nature of their use in war, and appointed leading personnel. The working bodies of the State Defense Committee on military issues, as well as the direct organizers and executors of its decisions in this area were the People's Commissariats of Defense (NCOs of the USSR) and Navy(NK USSR Navy).

From the jurisdiction of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the People's Commissariats of the defense industry were transferred to the jurisdiction of the State Defense Committee: People's Commissariats of the Defense Industry: People's Commissariats of Aviation Industry, People's Commissariat of Tankoprom, People's Commissariat of Ammunition, People's Commissariat of Armaments, People's Commissariat of Mining Armaments, People's Commissariat of Armaments, People's Commissariat of Sustainable Industry, People's Commissariat of Sustainable Industry, People's Commissariat of Armaments, People's Commissariat of Armaments, People's Commissariat of Industry, People's Commissars of the State Defense Industry, etc. An important role in the implementation of a number of functions of the State Defense Committee was assigned to the corps of its authorized representatives, whose main task was local control over the implementation of GKO decrees on the production of military products. The commissioners had mandates signed by the chairman of the State Defense Committee, Stalin, which clearly defined the practical tasks that the State Defense Committee set for its commissioners. As a result of the efforts made, the output of military products in March 1942 only in the eastern regions of the country reached the pre-war level of its output throughout the entire territory of the Soviet Union.

It began to control the current work of all people's commissariats of the defense industry, as well as the preparation and execution of production and supply plans for industrial and transport sectors. The Operations Bureau became responsible for supplying the army; in addition, it was assigned the responsibilities of the previously abolished Transport Committee. “All members of the State Defense Committee were in charge of certain areas of work. Thus, Molotov was in charge of tanks, Mikoyan - matters of quartermaster supply, fuel supply, Lend-Lease issues, and sometimes carried out individual orders from Stalin for the delivery of shells to the front. Malenkov was in charge of aviation, Beria - ammunition and weapons. Everyone came to Stalin with their questions and said: I ask you to make such and such a decision on such and such an issue...”, recalled the head of the Logistics, Army General A.V. Khrulev.

To carry out the evacuation of industrial enterprises and the population from the front-line areas to the east, a Council for Evacuation Affairs was created under the State Defense Committee. In addition, in October 1941, the Committee for the Evacuation of Food Supplies, Industrial Goods and Industrial Enterprises was formed. However, in October 1941, these bodies were reorganized into the Directorate for Evacuation Affairs under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Other important divisions of the State Defense Committee were: the Trophy Commission, created in December 1941, and in April 1943 transformed into the Trophy Committee; A special committee that dealt with development issues nuclear weapons; A special committee dealt with issues of reparations, etc.

The State Defense Committee became the main link in the mechanism of centralized management of the mobilization of the country's human and material resources for defense and armed struggle against the enemy. Having fulfilled its functions, the State Defense Committee was disbanded by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 4, 1945.

3. Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR

Initially the highest body of strategic management of Soviet military actions Armed Forces was called the Headquarters of the Main Command. It included members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks: Stalin I.V., Molotov V.M., Marshal of the Soviet Union Voroshilov K.E., Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union S.M. Budyonny, People's Commissar of the Navy Admiral of the Fleet Kuznetsov N.G. and Chief of the General Staff, Army General G.K. Zhukov. , headed by People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Timoshenko S.K. At Headquarters, an institute of permanent advisers was formed consisting of: Marshals of the Soviet Union Shaposhnikov B.M. and Kulik G.I.; generals Meretskov K.A. , Zhigarev P.F., Vatutin N.F., Voronov N.N.; as well as Mikoyan A.I., Kaganovich L.M., Beria L.P., Voznesensky N.A., Zhdanov A.A., Malenkov G.M., Mehlis L.Z.

The Headquarters of the Main Command was transformed into the Headquarters of the Supreme Command. It was headed by the chairman of the State Defense Committee, Stalin. By the same decree, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshal B.M. Shaposhnikov was added to the Headquarters. August 8, 1941 Stalin I.V. was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief. From that time on, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command was renamed the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SHC). It included: Stalin I., Molotov V., Timoshenko S., Budyonny S., Voroshilov K., Kuznetsov N., Shaposhnikov B. and Zhukov G.

At the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, the composition of the Supreme Command Headquarters was changed for the last time. By the Decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR dated February 17, 1945, the following composition of the Supreme Command Headquarters was determined: Marshals of the Soviet Union Stalin I.V. (Chairman - Supreme Commander-in-Chief), Zhukov G.K. (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense) and Vasilevsky A.M. (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense), Army Generals Bulganin N.A. (Member of the State Defense Committee and Deputy People's Commissar of Defense) and Antonov A.I. (Chief of the General Staff), Admiral Kuznetsov N.G. (People's Commissar of the USSR Navy).

The Supreme Command Headquarters exercised strategic leadership of the Red Army, the USSR Navy, border and internal troops, and partisan formations . The activities of the Headquarters consisted of assessing the military-political and military-strategic situation, making strategic and operational-strategic decisions, organizing strategic regroupings and creating groupings of troops, organizing interaction and coordination of actions during operations between groups of fronts, fronts, individual armies, as well as between active army and partisan detachments. In addition, the Headquarters supervised the formation and preparation of strategic reserves, logistical support of the Armed Forces, supervised the study and generalization of war experience, exercised control over the implementation of assigned tasks, and resolved issues related to military operations.

The Supreme Command Headquarters led the fronts, fleets and long-range aviation, set tasks for them, approved plans of operations, provided them with the necessary forces and means, through the Central Headquarters partisan movement led the partisans. An important role in directing the combat activities of the fronts and fleets was played by the directives of the Headquarters, which usually indicated the goals and objectives of the troops in operations, the main directions where it was necessary to concentrate the main efforts, the necessary density of artillery and tanks in breakthrough areas, etc.

In the first days of the war, in a rapidly changing situation, in the absence of stable communication with the fronts and reliable information about the position of the troops, the military leadership was systematically late in making decisions, so it became necessary to create an intermediate command authority between the Supreme Command Headquarters and the fronts. For these purposes, a decision was made to send senior employees of the People's Commissariat of Defense to the front, but these measures are initial stage the wars did not produce results.

Therefore, on July 10, 1941, by decree of the State Defense Committee, three Main Commands of troops were created in strategic directions: the North-Western direction, headed by Marshal K.E. Voroshilov. - coordination of the actions of the Northern and Northwestern fronts, as well as the Northern and Baltic fleets; Western direction led by Marshal S.K. Timoshenko - coordination of the actions of the Western Front and the Pinsk military flotilla, and later - the Western Front, the Front of Reserve Armies and the Central Front; South-Western direction led by Marshal S.M. Budyonny. - coordination of the actions of the Southwestern, Southern, and later Bryansk fronts, with the operational subordination of the Black Sea Fleet .

The tasks of the Main Commands included studying and analyzing the operational-strategic situation in the directional zone, coordinating the actions of troops in the strategic direction, informing Headquarters about the situation on the fronts, leading the preparation of operations in accordance with Headquarters plans, and leading partisan warfare behind enemy lines. In the initial period of the war, the Main Commands had the opportunity to quickly respond to enemy actions, ensuring more reliable and precise command and control of troops, as well as organizing interaction between fronts. Unfortunately, the Commanders-in-Chief of the strategic directions not only did not have sufficiently broad powers, but also did not have the necessary military reserves and material resources to actively influence the course of hostilities. Headquarters did not clearly define the range of their functions and tasks.

Often their activities boiled down to transmitting information from the fronts to Headquarters and, conversely, orders from Headquarters to the fronts.

The commanders-in-chief of the troops in strategic directions failed to improve the leadership of the fronts. The main commands of troops in strategic directions began to be abolished one by one. But the Supreme Command Headquarters did not completely abandon them. In February 1942, Headquarters entrusted the commander Western Front General of the Army Zhukov G.K. duties of the Commander-in-Chief of the troops of the Western direction, to coordinate the combat operations of the Western and Kalinin fronts during the Rzhev-Vyazma operation . Soon the Main Command of the South-Western Direction was also restored. Commander-in-Chief was appointed Southwestern Front Marshal Timoshenko S.K., to coordinate the actions of the Southwestern and neighboring Bryansk fronts. And in April 1942, on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front, the Main Command of the troops of the North Caucasus direction was formed, headed by Marshal S.M. Budyonny, to whom the Crimean Front, the Sevastopol defensive region, the North Caucasus Military District, the Black Sea Fleet and Azov military flotilla. Soon such a management system had to be abandoned as it was not very effective. In May 1942, the Main Commands of the troops of the Western and North Caucasus were abolished, and in June - of the Southwestern directions.

It was replaced by the institution of representatives of the Supreme Command Headquarters, which became more widespread during the Great Patriotic War. The most trained military leaders were appointed as representatives of the Headquarters, who were endowed with broad powers and were usually sent to where, according to the Supreme Command Headquarters plan, the main tasks at the moment were being solved. Representatives of the Supreme Command Headquarters on the fronts in different time were: Budyonny S.M., Zhukov G.K., Vasilevsky A.M., Voroshilov K.E., Antonov A.I., Timoshenko S.K., Kuznetsov N.G., Shtemenko S.M., Novikov A.A. and others. Supreme Commander-in-Chief - Stalin I.V. demanded constant reports from Headquarters representatives on the progress of completing assigned tasks, often calling them to Headquarters during operations, especially when something did not go well.

Stalin personally set specific tasks for his representatives, sternly asking for omissions and miscalculations. The institution of representatives of the Supreme Command Headquarters significantly increased the effectiveness of strategic leadership, contributed to a more rational use of forces in operations carried out on the fronts, it was easier to coordinate efforts and maintain close interaction between the fronts, branches of the Armed Forces, branches of the military and partisan formations. Representatives of the Headquarters, having great powers, could influence the course of battles and correct the mistakes of the front and army command in a timely manner. The institution of Headquarters representatives existed almost until the end of the war.

The Supreme Command Headquarters developed the most appropriate methods of strategic leadership gradually, with the accumulation of combat experience and the growth of military art at the highest levels of command and headquarters. During the war, the methods of strategic leadership of the Supreme Command Headquarters continuously developed and improved. The most important issues of strategic plans and plans of operations were discussed at its meetings, which in some cases were attended by commanders and members of military councils of fronts, commanders of branches of the armed forces and branches of the military. The final decision on the issues discussed was formulated by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief personally.

Throughout the war, the Supreme Command Headquarters was located in Moscow, which was of great moral importance. Members of the Supreme Command Headquarters gathered in the Kremlin office of Stalin I.V., but with the beginning of the bombing it was transferred from the Kremlin to a small mansion on Kirov Street with reliable work space and communications. Headquarters was not evacuated from Moscow, and during the bombing, work moved to the Kirovskaya metro station, where an underground strategic control center for the Armed Forces was prepared. The offices of Stalin I.V. were equipped there. and Shaposhnikov B.M., the operational group of the General Staff and the departments of the People's Commissariat of Defense was located.

In Stalin's office I.V. At the same time, members of the Politburo, the State Defense Committee and the Supreme Command Headquarters met, but the unifying body in war conditions was still the Supreme Command Headquarters, whose meetings could be held at any time of the day. Reports to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief were made, as a rule, three times a day. At 10-11 o'clock in the morning the Chief of the Operations Directorate usually reported, at 16-17 o'clock - the Chief of the General Staff, and at night the military leaders went to Stalin with a final report for the day.

The priority in resolving military issues, of course, belonged to the General Staff. Therefore, during the war, his superiors visited I.V. Stalin almost every day, becoming his main experts, consultants and advisers. Frequent visitors to the Supreme Command Headquarters were People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov. and the head of the Red Army Logistics A.V. Khrulev. Repeatedly, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief met with the heads of the Main Directorates of NPOs, commanders and heads of military branches. On issues related to the adoption of military equipment or its supply to the troops, the People's Commissars of the aviation, tank industry, weapons, ammunition and others came with them. Leading designers of weapons and military equipment were often invited to discuss these issues. Having fulfilled its functions, the Supreme Command Headquarters was abolished in October 1945.

4. City defense committees

City Defense Committee - emergency authority V largest cities USSR during the Great Patriotic War .

October 1941 a resolution of the State Defense Committee of the USSR was adopted on the creation of city defense committees in a number of regions: “Local defense committees are created in the interests of concentrating all civil and military power and establishing the strictest order in cities and adjacent areas representing the immediate rear area of the front.” Their decisions were binding on all organizations. The first secretaries of regional committees became the chairmen of the committees (city committees ) VKP(b) , the composition necessarily included the chairman of the regional (city) Council of People's Deputies and head of the local NKVD department .

In accordance with the resolution, city defense committees were formed on October 23-24. Without a permanent staff, they used the apparatus of regional and city party committees, Soviet bodies, NKVD departments, as well as city headquarters of local air defense . City committees monitored the situation in cities, social problems, emergencies, the work of industry and others. Often they had to deal with purely military issues, including air defense.

After the start of the war in 1941, special authorities were created in 60 cities of the front-line zone - city defense committees. In Stalingrad, the State Defense Committee was created on October 23, 1941 and was in force until September 7, 1945. The Stalingrad City Defense Committee included: the first secretary of the regional and city committees of the CPSU (b) A.S. Chuyanov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Regional Council of Workers' Deputies I.F. Zimenkov, head of the regional department of the NKVD A.I. Voronin and the military commandant of the city G.M. Kobyzev, and from December 1941 - V.Kh. Demchenko.

Among the tasks of the City Defense Committee: carrying out activities on local air defense (LAD) and chemical defense (ACD); preparation for the defense of the city in the event of the approaching front line; ensuring uninterrupted supplies of products from Kostroma enterprises to active units of the Red Army; maintaining order in cities established by wartime rules; conducting universal compulsory military training for city residents and much more.

Over the long years of war, members of the City Defense Committees more than once had to deal with negligent or simply insufficiently thorough execution of their duties. job responsibilities on the part of managers and ordinary ordinary employees of enterprises and city institutions. In these situations, martial law came to their aid.

Time itself judges the deeds of the leaders of the Defense Committees, and it has shown that their selfless actions brought the most lasting results: the cities survived and helped the entire country survive these terrible times.

military defense high command armed

Conclusion

In conclusion, we will draw the main conclusions on the aspects that were raised in the abstract:

The Soviet state and its instrument - the state apparatus - acted as the organizer of the people's struggle against Nazi Germany and victory over it.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a radical turn occurred in the system of state power and administration of the Soviet Union - all constitutional bodies of the central government (the Supreme Council of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the highest party bodies headed by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks) underwent important changes. Politically and administratively they were subordinated to the State Defense Committee, and all their work was restructured in accordance with wartime requirements.

The main feature of the public administration system in wartime was the creation and functioning of emergency authorities - State Defense Committees in the center and city defense committees in the localities.

The emergency nature of government meant the creation of a system of bodies that operated not on a constitutional, but on an emergency basis. The central body of this kind was created on June 29

The State Defense Committee, which, having supreme powers, coordinated the work of all branches of government, led the economy, the army, and society.

The criterion for the effectiveness of public administration during a war period, as is known, is victory in the war. At the same time, the price of victory is very important. For us it was huge, since the losses were prohibitively large. And yet, the Soviet government and the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks managed to unite the army and people, recover from the heavy defeats of the first year and a half of the war, and ultimately lead the country to victory. The results of the activities of the State Defense Committee were summed up by the war.

The activities of the emergency central government during the war, especially in its first period, were not free from serious shortcomings and major miscalculations. The war exposed the weaknesses of the Soviet state and the dominant monopoly party system. In the fall of 1941 and 1942, the USSR stood on the brink of military disaster.

The Great Patriotic War was a serious test for the Soviet state. Of primary importance in mobilizing the Soviet people for Victory was the organizing role of state power, the entire system of public administration, which was of an extraordinary nature during the years of the last war.

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"The harsh days of war have come.
We will fight until victory.
We are all ready, Comrade Stalin,
Defend your birthplace with your breasts."

S. Alymov

According to the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, the highest body of state power in the USSR was the Supreme Council (SC) of the USSR, which was elected for 4 years. The USSR Supreme Council elected the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council - the highest authority of the Soviet Union in the period between sessions of the Supreme Council. Also, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR elected the government of the USSR - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (SNK). The Supreme Court was elected by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for a period of five years. The USSR Supreme Court also appointed the Prosecutor (Prosecutor General) of the USSR. The Constitution of 1936, or the Stalinist Constitution, did not provide in any way for the implementation of state and military administration of the country in wartime conditions. In the presented diagram, the heads of the power structures of the USSR are indicated in 1941. The Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces was vested with the right to declare a state of war, general or partial mobilization, martial law in the interests of the country's defense and state security. The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the highest executive body of state power, took measures to ensure public order, protect the interests of the state and protect the rights of the population, supervised the overall construction of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and determined the annual contingent of citizens subject to conscription for active military service.

The Defense Committee (DC) under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR carried out leadership and coordination of issues of military development and direct preparation of the country for defense. Although before the war it was envisaged that with the outbreak of hostilities, military control should have been carried out by the Main Military Council headed by the People's Commissar of Defense, this did not happen. The overall leadership of the armed struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi troops was assumed by the CPSU (b), or rather its Central Committee (Central Committee), headed by The situation on the fronts was very difficult, Soviet troops were retreating everywhere. A reorganization of the highest bodies of state and military administration was necessary.

On the second day of the war, June 23, 1941, by resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Headquarters of the Main Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created. It was headed by the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, i.e. Military command and control bodies were reorganized. The reorganization of the system of state power took place on June 30, 1941, when by decision of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the State Defense Committee (GKO) was created - the extraordinary highest state body of the USSR, which concentrated all power in the country. The State Defense Committee supervised all military and economic issues during the war, and the leadership of military operations was carried out through the Supreme Command Headquarters.

“Both at Headquarters and the State Defense Committee there was no bureaucracy. These were exclusively operational bodies. Leadership was concentrated in the hands of Stalin... Life in the entire state and military apparatus was tense, the work schedule was round the clock, everyone was at their official places. No one gave orders “That it should be exactly like this, but it happened that way,” recalled the head of the Logistics, Army General A.V. Khrulev. In the first months of the Great Patriotic War, there was a complete centralization of power in the country. Stalin I.V. concentrated immense power in his hands - while remaining the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he headed the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the State Defense Committee, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the People's Commissariat of Defense.

State Defense Committee

The State Defense Committee, created during the Great Patriotic War, was an emergency governing body that had full power in the USSR. The Chairman of the State Defense Committee was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, his deputy was the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. (Secretary, Head of the Personnel Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)). In February 1942, the following were introduced into the State Defense Committee: Voznesensky N.A. (1st Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars) and Mikoyan A.I. (Chairman of the Committee for Food and Clothing Supply of the Red Army), Kaganovich L.M. (Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars). In November 1944, N.A. Bulganin became a new member of the GKO. (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR), and Voroshilov K.E. was removed from the State Defense Committee.

Functions of State Bonds:
1) management of the activities of government departments and institutions, directing their efforts towards the full use of the country’s material, spiritual and military capabilities to achieve victory over the enemy;
2) mobilization of the country’s human resources for the needs of the front and the national economy;
3) organization of uninterrupted operation of the defense industry of the USSR;
4) resolving issues of restructuring the economy on a war footing;
5) evacuation of industrial facilities from threatened areas and transfer of enterprises to liberated areas;
6) training reserves and personnel for the Armed Forces and industry;
7) restoration of the economy destroyed by the war;
8) determining the volume and timing of industrial supplies of military products.

The State Defense Committee set military-political tasks for the military leadership, improved the structure of the Armed Forces, determined the general nature of their use in war, and appointed leading personnel. The working bodies of the State Defense Committee on military issues, as well as the direct organizers and executors of its decisions in this area, were the People's Commissariats of Defense (NKO USSR) and the Navy (NK Navy of the USSR).

During the war, in order to achieve maximum management efficiency and adapt to current conditions, the structure of the State Defense Committee was changed several times. One of the important divisions of the State Defense Committee was the Operations Bureau, created on December 8, 1942. The Operations Bureau included L.P. Beria, G.M. Malenkov, A.I. Mikoyan. and Molotov V.M. The tasks of this unit initially included coordinating and unifying the actions of all other GKO units. But in 1944, the functions of the bureau were significantly expanded. It began to control the current work of all people's commissariats of the defense industry, as well as the preparation and execution of production and supply plans for industrial and transport sectors. The Operations Bureau became responsible for supplying the army; in addition, it was assigned the responsibilities of the previously abolished Transport Committee. “All members of the State Defense Committee were in charge of certain areas of work. Thus, Molotov was in charge of tanks, Mikoyan - matters of quartermaster supply, fuel supply, Lend-Lease issues, and sometimes carried out individual orders from Stalin for the delivery of shells to the front. Malenkov was in charge of aviation, Beria - ammunition and weapons. Everyone came to Stalin with their questions and said: I ask you to make such and such a decision on such and such an issue...”, recalled the head of the Logistics, Army General A.V. Khrulev.

To carry out the evacuation of industrial enterprises and the population from the front-line areas to the east, a Council for Evacuation Affairs was created under the State Defense Committee. In addition, in October 1941, the Committee for the Evacuation of Food Supplies, Industrial Goods and Industrial Enterprises was formed. However, in October 1941, these bodies were reorganized into the Directorate for Evacuation Affairs under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Other important divisions of the State Defense Committee were: the Trophy Commission, created in December 1941, and in April 1943 transformed into the Trophy Committee; A special committee that dealt with the development of nuclear weapons; A special committee dealt with issues of reparations, etc.

Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR

Initially, the highest body of strategic management of military operations of the Soviet Armed Forces was called the Headquarters of the Main Command. It included members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks: Stalin I.V., Molotov V.M., Marshal of the Soviet Union Voroshilov K.E., Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union S.M. Budyonny, People's Commissar of the Navy Admiral of the Fleet and the Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army, led by People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Timoshenko S.K. At Headquarters, an institute of permanent advisers was formed consisting of: Marshals of the Soviet Union and G.I. Kulik; generals, Zhigarev P.F., Vatutin N.F., Voronov N.N.; as well as Mikoyan A.I., Kaganovich L.M., Beria L.P., Voznesensky N.A., Zhdanov A.A., Malenkov G.M., Mehlis L.Z.

However, the dynamism of military operations, rapid and drastic changes in the situation on a huge front required high efficiency in the leadership of troops. Meanwhile, Marshal Timoshenko S.K. could not independently, without the consent of the government, make any serious decisions regarding the leadership of the country’s Armed Forces. He did not even have the right to make decisions on the preparation and use of strategic reserves. In order to ensure centralized and more efficient control of the actions of troops, by the decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR of July 10, 1941, the Headquarters of the Main Command was transformed into the Headquarters of the Supreme Command. It was headed by the chairman of the State Defense Committee, Stalin. By the same decree, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshal B.M. Shaposhnikov was added to the Headquarters. August 8, 1941 Stalin I.V. was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief. From that time on, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command was renamed the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SHC). It included: Stalin I., Molotov V., Timoshenko S., Budyonny S., Voroshilov K., Kuznetsov N., Shaposhnikov B. and Zhukov G.

At the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, the composition of the Supreme Command Headquarters was changed for the last time. By the Decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR dated February 17, 1945, the following composition of the Supreme Command Headquarters was determined: Marshals of the Soviet Union Stalin I.V. (Chairman - Supreme Commander-in-Chief), (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense) and (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense), Army Generals Bulganin N.A. (Member of the State Defense Committee and Deputy People's Commissar of Defense) and Antonov A.I. (Chief of the General Staff), Admiral Kuznetsov N.G. (People's Commissar of the USSR Navy).

The Supreme Command Headquarters exercised strategic leadership of the Red Army, the USSR Navy, border and internal troops. The activities of the Headquarters consisted of assessing the military-political and military-strategic situation, making strategic and operational-strategic decisions, organizing strategic regroupings and creating groupings of troops, organizing interaction and coordination of actions during operations between groups of fronts, fronts, individual armies, as well as between active army and partisan detachments. In addition, the Headquarters supervised the formation and preparation of strategic reserves, logistical support of the Armed Forces, supervised the study and generalization of war experience, exercised control over the implementation of assigned tasks, and resolved issues related to military operations.

The Supreme High Command Headquarters led the fronts, fleets and long-range aviation, set tasks for them, approved plans of operations, provided them with the necessary forces and means, and directed the partisans through the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement. An important role in directing the combat activities of the fronts and fleets was played by the directives of the Headquarters, which usually indicated the goals and objectives of the troops in operations, the main directions where it was necessary to concentrate the main efforts, the necessary density of artillery and tanks in breakthrough areas, etc.

In the first days of the war, in a rapidly changing situation, in the absence of stable communication with the fronts and reliable information about the position of the troops, the military leadership was systematically late in making decisions, so it became necessary to create an intermediate command authority between the Supreme Command Headquarters and the fronts. For these purposes, a decision was made to send senior employees of the People's Commissariat of Defense to the front, but these measures did not produce results at the initial stage of the war.

Therefore, on July 10, 1941, by decree of the State Defense Committee, three Main Commands of troops were created in strategic directions: the North-Western direction, headed by Marshal K.E. Voroshilov. - coordination of the actions of the Northern and Northwestern fronts, as well as fleets; Western direction led by Marshal S.K. Timoshenko - coordination of the actions of the Western Front and the Pinsk military flotilla, and later - the Western Front, the Front of Reserve Armies and the Central Front; South-Western direction led by Marshal S.M. Budyonny. - coordination of the actions of the South-Western, Southern, and later Bryansk fronts, with operational subordination.

The commanders-in-chief of the troops in strategic directions failed to improve the leadership of the fronts. The main commands of troops in strategic directions began to be abolished one by one. But the Supreme Command Headquarters did not completely abandon them. In February 1942, Headquarters assigned Army General G.K. Zhukov to the commander of the Western Front. duties of the Commander-in-Chief of the troops of the Western direction, to coordinate the combat operations of the Western and Kalinin fronts during. Soon the Main Command of the South-Western Direction was also restored. The commander in chief of the Southwestern Front, Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, was appointed to coordinate the actions of the Southwestern and neighboring Bryansk fronts. And in April 1942, on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front, the Main Command of the troops of the North Caucasus direction was formed, headed by Marshal S.M. Budyonny, to whom the Crimean Front, the Sevastopol defensive region, the North Caucasus Military District, the Black Sea Fleet and Azov military flotilla. Soon such a management system had to be abandoned as it was not very effective. In May 1942, the Main Commands of the troops of the Western and North Caucasus were abolished, and in June - of the Southwestern directions.

It was replaced by the institution of representatives of the Supreme Command Headquarters, which became more widespread during the Great Patriotic War. The most trained military leaders were appointed as representatives of the Headquarters, who were endowed with broad powers and were usually sent to where, according to the Supreme Command Headquarters plan, the main tasks at the moment were being solved. Representatives of the Supreme Command Headquarters on the fronts at different times were: Budyonny S.M., Zhukov G.K., Vasilevsky A.M., Voroshilov K.E., Antonov A.I., Timoshenko S.K., Kuznetsov N.G. ., Shtemenko S.M., and others. Supreme Commander-in-Chief - Stalin I.V. demanded constant reports from Headquarters representatives on the progress of completing assigned tasks, often calling them to Headquarters during operations, especially when something did not go well.

Campaign plans were adopted at joint meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the State Defense Committee and the Supreme Command Headquarters, although in the first months of the war the principle of collegiality was practically not observed. The commanders of fronts, branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces took the most active part in further work on preparing operations. As the front stabilized and the strategic leadership system was reorganized, troop control also improved. Planning of operations began to be characterized by more coordinated efforts of the Supreme Command Headquarters, the General Staff and front headquarters. The Supreme Command Headquarters developed the most appropriate methods of strategic leadership gradually, with the accumulation of combat experience and the growth of military art at the highest levels of command and headquarters. During the war, the methods of strategic leadership of the Supreme Command Headquarters continuously developed and improved. The most important issues of strategic plans and plans of operations were discussed at its meetings, which in some cases were attended by commanders and members of military councils of fronts, commanders of branches of the armed forces and branches of the military. The final decision on the issues discussed was formulated by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief personally.

General Staff of the Red Army

The General Staff is the main body for planning and managing the Armed Forces in the system of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. “Such a team,” according to B.M. Shaposhnikov, “is required to streamline the gigantic work of preparing for war. Coordination and harmonization of preparations... can only be made by the General Staff - a collection of individuals who forged and tested their military views in the same conditions under the same leadership, selected in the most careful manner, bound by mutual responsibility, united performances, who achieved turning points in the military construction."

In the pre-war period, the General Staff carried out large-scale work to prepare the country for defense. The General Staff developed a “Plan for the strategic deployment of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in the West and East for 1940 and 1941”, approved on October 5, 1940. On May 15, 1941, a revised draft of “Considerations on the Plan” was presented to the political leadership of the country for consideration strategic deployment in case of war with Germany and its allies,” but it was not approved. Zhukov G.K. wrote: “The decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (b) and the Soviet government of March 8, 1941 clarified the distribution of responsibilities in the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR. The leadership of the Red Army was carried out by the People's Commissar of Defense through the General Staff, his deputies and the system of main and central departments... The General Staff carried out enormous operational, organizational and mobilization work, being the main apparatus of the People's Commissar of Defense."

However, according to the testimony of Marshal G.K. Zhukov, who was the chief of the General Staff before the war, “...I.V. Stalin, on the eve and at the beginning of the war, underestimated the role and importance of the General Staff... was very little interested in the activities of the General Staff. Neither my predecessors nor I did not have the opportunity to comprehensively report to I.V. Stalin about the state of the country’s defense, about our military capabilities and the capabilities of our potential enemy.”

In other words, the country's political leadership did not allow the General Staff to fully and timely implement the necessary measures on the eve of the war. For the USSR Armed Forces on the eve of the war, the only document prescribing the bringing of troops in border districts to combat readiness was a directive sent to the troops a few hours before the start of the war (June 21, 1941 at 21.45 Moscow time). In the initial period of the war, in the conditions of an unfavorable situation on the fronts, the volume and content of the work of the General Staff increased enormously. But it was only towards the end of the first period of the war that Stalin’s relations with the General Staff were significantly normalized. Since the second half of 1942, Stalin I.V., as a rule, did not make a single decision without first hearing the opinion of the General Staff.

The main governing bodies of the USSR Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War were the Supreme Command Headquarters and the General Staff. This troop control system operated throughout the war. In accordance with wartime requirements, the General Staff worked around the clock. The operation hours of the Supreme Command Headquarters were almost around the clock. The tone was set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief himself, who worked 12-16 hours a day, and, as a rule, in the evening and at night. He paid main attention to operational-strategic issues, weapons problems, and the preparation of human and material resources.

The work of the General Staff during the war was complex and multifaceted. Functions of the General Staff:
1) collection and processing of operational-strategic information about the situation developing at the fronts;
2) preparation of operational calculations, conclusions and proposals for the use of the armed forces, direct development of plans for military campaigns and strategic operations in theaters of military operations;
3) development of directives and orders of the Supreme Command Headquarters on the operational use of the armed forces and war plans in new possible theaters of military operations;
4) organization and management of all types of intelligence activities;
5) processing of data and information from lower headquarters and troops;
6) resolution of air defense issues;
7) management of the construction of fortified areas;
8) management of the military topographic service and the supply of topographic maps to the army;
9) organization and arrangement of the operational rear of the army;
development of regulations on army formations;
10) development of manuals and guidelines for staff service;
11) generalization of the advanced combat experience of formations, formations and units;
12) coordination of combat operations of partisan formations with Red Army formations and much more.

The Chief of the General Staff was not just a member of the Headquarters, he was its deputy chairman. In accordance with the instructions and decisions of the Supreme Command Headquarters, the Chief of the General Staff united the activities of all departments of the People's Commissariat of Defense, as well as the People's Commissariat of the Navy. Moreover, the Chief of the General Staff was given the authority to sign orders and directives of the Supreme Command Headquarters, as well as give orders on behalf of the Headquarters. Throughout the war, the Chief of the General Staff reported the military-strategic situation in the theaters of military operations and the General Staff's proposals personally to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The Chief of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff (Vasilevsky A.M., Shtemenko S.M.) also reported to the Supreme Commander on the situation at the fronts. During the Great Patriotic War, the General Staff was successively headed by four military leaders - Marshals of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, B.M. Shaposhnikov, A.M. Vasilevsky. and Army General Antonov A.I.

The organizational structure of the General Staff was improved throughout the war, as a result of which the General Staff became a control body capable of quickly and adequately responding to changes in the situation on the fronts. During the Second World War, necessary changes took place in management. In particular, directions were created for each active front consisting of the head of the direction, his deputy and 5-10 officer-operators. In addition, a corps of officers representing the General Staff was created. It was intended to maintain continuous communication with the troops, verify the execution of directives, orders and orders of the highest command authorities, provide the General Staff with prompt and accurate information about the situation, as well as to provide timely assistance to headquarters and troops.

State Defense Committee(abbreviated GKO) - an emergency governing body created during the Great Patriotic War, which had full power in the USSR. The need for creation was obvious, because in wartime it was necessary to concentrate all power in the country, both executive and legislative, in one governing body. Stalin and the Politburo actually headed the state and made all decisions. However, the decisions made formally came from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, etc. In order to eliminate such a method of leadership, acceptable in peacetime, but not meeting the requirements of the country's military situation, a decision was made to create the State Defense Committee, which included some members of the Politburo, secretaries of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Stalin himself, as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

Education GKO

Composition of GKOs

Initially (based on the joint Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated June 30, see below) the composition of the State Defense Committee was as follows:

Chairman of the State Defense Committee - J.V. Stalin.

Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee - V. M. Molotov.

Most of the GKO resolutions were signed by its chairman, Stalin, some also by his deputy Molotov and GKO members Mikoyan and Beria.

The State Defense Committee did not have its own apparatus; its decisions were prepared in the relevant people's commissariats and departments, and paperwork was carried out by the Special Sector of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

The overwhelming majority of GKO resolutions were classified as “Secret”, “Top Secret” or “Top Secret/Especially Important” (designation “s”, “ss” and “ss/s” after the number), but some resolutions were open and published in the press (an example of such a resolution is).

The vast majority of GKO resolutions concerned topics related to the war:

evacuation of population and industry (during the first period of the Great Patriotic War);
mobilization of industry, production of weapons and ammunition;
handling captured weapons and ammunition;
studying and exporting to the USSR captured samples of technology, industrial equipment, reparations (for final stage war);
organization of combat operations, distribution of weapons, etc.;
appointment of authorized representatives of State Defense Committees;
about the beginning of “work on uranium” (the creation of nuclear weapons);
structural changes in the GKO itself.

GKO structure

The State Defense Committee included several structural divisions. During its existence, the structure of the Committee has changed several times in order to maximize management efficiency and adapt to current conditions.

The most important unit was the Operations Bureau, created on December 8. The bureau included L.P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov, A. I. Mikoyan and V. M. Molotov. The actual head of the Operations Bureau was Beria. The tasks of this unit initially included control and monitoring of the current work of all people's commissariats of the defense industry, people's commissariats of communications, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, power plants, oil, coal and chemical industry, as well as the matter of drawing up and executing production plans and supplying the indicated industries and transport with everything necessary. On May 19, it was adopted, by which the functions of the bureau were significantly expanded - now its tasks included monitoring and control over the work of the people's commissariats of the defense industry, transport, metallurgy, people's commissariats of the most important areas of industry and power plants; Also, from that moment on, the Operations Bureau was responsible for supplying the army; finally, it was entrusted with the responsibilities of the Transport Committee, which was abolished by decision.

Other important divisions of the State Defense Committee were:

Trophy Commission (created in December 1941, and on April 5 by Resolution No. 3123ss transformed into the Trophy Committee);
Special Committee - created on August 20, 1945 (GKO Resolution No. 9887ss/op). He was involved in the development of nuclear weapons.
Special Committee (dealt with reparations issues).
Evacuation Committee (created on June 25, 1941 by GKO Resolution No. 834, disbanded on December 25, 1941 by GKO Resolution No. 1066ss). On September 26, 1941, by GKO Resolution No. 715c, the Office for Evacuation of the Population was organized under this committee.
Unloading Committee railways- formed on December 25, 1941 by GKO Resolution No. 1066ss, on September 14, 1942 by GKO Resolution No. 1279 it was transformed into the Transport Committee under the GKO, which existed until May 19, 1944, after which, by GKO Resolution No. 5931, the Transport Committee was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the Operations Bureau GKO;
Evacuation Commission - (formed on June 22, 1942 by GKO Resolution No. 1922);
Radar Council - created on July 4, 1943 by GKO Resolution No. 3686ss consisting of: Malenkov (chairman), Arkhipov, Berg, Golovanov, Gorokhov, Danilov, Kabanov, Kobzarev, Stogov, Terentyev, Ucher, Shakhurin, Shchukin.
A group of permanent commissioners of the State Defense Committee and permanent commissions of the State Defense Committee at the fronts.

Functions of State Bonds

The State Defense Committee managed all military and economic issues during the war. The leadership of the military operations was carried out through the Headquarters.

Disbandment of the State Defense Committee

More information on Wikisource

Notes

Literature

Gorkov Yu.A. “The State Defense Committee decides (1941-1945)”, M.: Olma-Press, 2002. - 575 p.

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See what “State Defense Committee (USSR)” is in other dictionaries:

The State Defense Committee is an extraordinary supreme state body that concentrated all power during the Great Patriotic War. Formed on June 30, 1941. Composition: L. P. Beria, K. E. Voroshilov (until 1944), G. M. Malenkov, V. M. Molotov (deputy chairman), I. ... ... Political science. Dictionary.

THE STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE in the USSR (GKO) is an extraordinary highest state body that concentrated all power during the Great Patriotic War. Formed 30.6.1941. Composition: L. P. Beria, K. E. Voroshilov (until 1944), G. M. Malenkov, ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

GKO, State Defense Committee of the USSR,- from June 30, 1941 to September 4, 1945, an extraordinary supreme state body that concentrated in its hands the fullness of legislative and executive power, effectively replacing the constitutional bodies of power and administration. Abolished due to... ... Brief dictionary historical and legal terms

This term has other meanings, see State Defense Committee (meanings). They should not be confused with state committees, the central government bodies of the USSR. Not to be confused with committees at... ... Wikipedia

State Defense Committee: The State Defense Committee was created during the Great Patriotic War as an emergency governing body that had full power in the USSR. State Defense Committee of the People's Republic of China is the highest... ... Wikipedia

The State Defense Committee (abbreviated as GKO), which was created during the Great Patriotic War and had full power in the USSR, should not be confused with the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Necessity... ... Wikipedia

Correct link to the article:

Kodan S.V. — State Defense Committee in the system of party leadership and public administration in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945: creation, nature, structure and organization of activities // Genesis: historical studies. - 2015. - No. 3. - P. 616 - 636. DOI: 10.7256/2409-868X.2015.3.15198 URL: https://nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=15198

State Defense Committee in the system of party leadership and public administration in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945: creation, nature, structure and organization of activities

Kodan Sergey Vladimirovich

Doctor of Law

Professor, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, member of the Expert Council on Law of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation, professor of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the Ural State Law University, editor-in-chief of the journal "Genesis: Historical Research"

620137, Russia, Sverdlovsk region, Ekaterinburg, st. Komsomolskaya, 21, of. 210

Kodan Sergei Vladimirovich

Doctor of Law

Professor, the department of Theory of State and Law, Merited Lawyer of the Russian Federation, Ural State Law Academy; Editor-in-Chief of the Scientific Journal “Genesis: historical studies”

620137, Russia, Sverdlvskaya oblast", g. Ekaterinburg, st. Komsomol"skaya, 21, of. 210

10.7256/2409-868X.2015.3.15198

Date the article was sent to the editor:

07-05-2015

Publication date:

09-05-2015

Annotation.

The creation and activities of the State Defense Committee reflected the peculiarities of public administration in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, in which conditions it was necessary to concentrate all resources to win the war. In the pre-war years, a system of governing the country finally took shape, in which the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks determined public policy and actually headed the party-state administration. The creation of the State Defense Committee on June 30, 1941 fully reflected this trend and, during the war, concentrated all power in the state as an emergency party-state body. Declassified archival documents about the activities of the State Defense Committee create new opportunities for studying its activities. The article presents a description of the creation, composition, areas of activity and an overview of the materials of the official record keeping of the State Defense Committee. The article describes the State Defense Committee, and the representation of publications of documents on activities in scientific research, and identifies the possibilities of attracting new materials. The latter is due to the fact that almost the entire array of documents on activities has been declassified and creates opportunities for further research into the history of the State Defense Committee.

Keywords: history of the Soviet state, the Great Patriotic War, public administration, emergency governing bodies, party-state governing bodies, military governing bodies, State Defense Committee, composition of the State Defense Committee, organization of the activities of the State Defense Committee, resolutions of the State Defense Committee

Abstract.

The creation and activity of the State Defense Committee (SDC) reflected the peculiarities of the state administration in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945 during which the concentration of all the resources were needed to gain the victory. Before the war the country’s system of administration were fully formed, and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of the Bolsheviks defined the state politics and headed the state administration. The creation of the SDC in June, 30, 1941 fully reflected this tendency and in the conditions of the war took all the state power as an emergency Party and State authorities. Unclassified archive documents about the SDC activity give new opportunities for studying its activity. The article tells about the characteristic features of creation, structure, directions of activity and a review of materials about the official paperwork of the State Defense Committee. The article characterizes the State Defense Committee, shows the documents about the activity of scientific research, defines the possibilities to use new materials. The latter comes out of the fact that all the documents are unclassified and gives many opportunities for the further studying of the SDC history.

Keywords:

The history of the Soviet state, The Great Patriotic War, public administration, emergency management agencies, party - government authorities, the military authorities, State Defense Committee, of the ICTs, organization of ICT activities, GKO order

The publication was prepared as part of the implementation of the Russian Humanitarian Foundation project No. 15-03-00624 “Source studies of the history of state and law of Russia (1917 - 1990s)

In the conditions of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 - 1945. a specially created management system was in effect, in which the State Defense Committee occupied a dominant position from June 30, 1945 to September 4, 1945. The history of the activities of the State Defense Committee is very interesting and indicative, since this body reflected the features and combined in its organization two principles - the party and the state, characteristic of management mechanisms in Soviet society. But, at the same time, this is a unique experience in creating, organizing and ensuring fairly effective management in wartime.

Within the framework of this article, we will dwell on the issues of the creation and place of the State Defense Committee in the system of party and government administration during the Great Patriotic War, the features of its activities and the acts issued, as well as the state of research on the issue and the availability of those declassified in the early 2000s. GKO documents.

Creation of the State Defense Committeewas due to the fact that the beginning of the Great Patriotic War showed clearly that the pre-war command and administrative control system, even in the conditions of the military-mobilization orientation of its orientation and activities, was not able to withstand the large-scale military aggression of Nazi Germany. What was required was a restructuring of the entire system of political and public administration of the USSR, the creation in the country of new emergency authorities capable of ensuring comprehensive and coordinated control of the front and rear and “transforming the country into a single military camp in the shortest possible time.” On the second day of the war, the body of the highest collective strategic leadership of the active army was created - the Headquarters of the High Command. And although the Headquarters “had all the powers in the strategic leadership of troops and naval forces, it did not have the opportunity to exercise power and administrative functions in the sphere of civil administration.” Headquarters also “could not act as a coordinating principle in the activities of civilian government and management structures in the interests of the active army, which, naturally, complicated the strategic leadership of troops and naval forces.” The situation at the front was rapidly deteriorating and this “pushed the highest party and state leadership of the USSR to form a power structure that could become higher in status not only than the Headquarters of the High Command, but also all leading party authorities, government bodies and administration.” The decision to create a new emergency body was considered and approved by its resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

The creation of the State Defense Committee was formalized by a joint resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated June 30, 1941. It established two fundamentally important provisions: “To concentrate all power in the state in the hands of the State Defense Committee” (clause 2) and “Oblige all citizens and all party, Soviet, Komsomol and military bodies to unquestioningly implement the decisions and orders of the State Defense Committee” (clause 2). The composition of the State Defense Committee was represented by the leadership of the party and state - members and candidate members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks: I.V. Stalin (chairman), V.M. Molotov, K.E. Voroshilov, G.M. Malenkov, L.P. Beria. Subsequent changes in the composition of the State Defense Committee took place in the same personnel vein: in 1942, N.A. joined the committee. Voznesensky, L.M. Kaganovich, A.I. Mikoyan, and in 1944 N.A. Bulganin replaced K.E. Voroshilov. The State Defense Committee was abolished by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of September 4, 1945 with the wording - “In connection with the end of the war and the end of the state of emergency in the country, recognize that the continued existence of the State Defense Committee is not necessary, whereby the State Defense Committee and all its transfer the affairs to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR."

It should be noted that the creation of state bonds was not an exceptional phenomenon in national history state and law. Its organization can be considered in the context of a certain continuity in the creation of similar emergency and special bodies in the history of our country. They existed in Russian Empire, and then at earlier stages of the existence of the RSFSR and the USSR. So, for example, in Russia the Council of State Defense was created on June 8, 1905 and operated until August 12, 1909, and during the First World War a Special Meeting was created to discuss and consolidate measures for the defense of the state (1915-1918) . After the October Revolution of 1917, among the political and administrative structures of the Soviet government there were: the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense (1918-1920), the Council of Labor and Defense (1920-1937), the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1937 - June 1941).

The place of the State Defense Committee in the system of party and government administration of the USSRduring the Great Patriotic War, it was determined by its characteristics as a body that was complex in its political and managerial nature - it simultaneously combined party leadership and state administration of the country. At the same time, the main question is whether to maintain or abandon in war conditions the old system that had developed by the early 1940s. administrative-command system of party-Soviet governance in the country. She was actually represented by one person - V.I. Stalin, who relied on a narrow circle of party functionaries and at the same time the heads of the highest bodies of state power and administration that were part of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

Studies of the activities of the State Defense Committee note and focus on one of its important features, namely that the previously existing Soviet emergency bodies, unlike the State Defense Committee, did not replace the activities of party bodies in war conditions. On this occasion N.Ya. Komarov emphasizes that “emergency authorities during the civil and Great Patriotic Wars differed very significantly, and primarily in their methods of activity. The main feature of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense was that it did not replace party, government and military bodies. Fundamental issues of conducting armed struggle were considered at that time at the Politburo and plenums of the Central Committee, at congresses of the RCP (b), at meetings of the Council of People's Commissars. During the Great Patriotic War, no plenums, much less party congresses, were held; all cardinal issues were resolved by the State Defense Committee. The tasks of strengthening the country's defense capability, which had become urgently on the agenda, were considered by Stalin in the closest unity of the political, economic and military spheres, which made it possible, from the point of view of the chairman of the State Defense Committee, to concentrate the country's political and military efforts on solving urgent problems of defense of our state, on increasing the combat effectiveness of the army and navy. This, finally, ensured the reality of implementing the unity of political, economic and military leadership of the entire system of socialist social relations.”

The question posed is answered more convincingly by the team of authors of the newest study - “The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” (2015). Considering the place of the “Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in the system of strategic leadership of the country and the armed forces” in the 11th volume of this publication, the team of authors who prepared it notes: “The Politburo transferred power functions to a new emergency authority - the State Defense Committee... I.V. Stalin and his closest associates, by placing all power on the State Defense Committee and becoming part of it, thereby radically changed the power structure in the country, the system of state and military administration. In fact, all decisions of the State Defense Committee, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, and draft decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were approved by a narrow circle statesmen: V.M. Molotov, G.M. Malenkov, L.P. Beria, K.E. Voroshilov, L.M. Kaganovich, and then I.V. Stalin made a decision on behalf of which body it would be advisable to issue this or that administrative document.” It is also emphasized that in the new conditions of governing the country, “the leading role in both the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command belonged to members of the Politburo. Thus, the GKO included all members of the Politburo, with the exception of N.A. Voznesensky, and at Headquarters the Politburo was represented by three members of the highest party body: I.V. Stalin, V.M. Molotov and K.E. Voroshilov. Accordingly, the resolutions of the State Defense Committee were actually also resolutions of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. ... Members of the Politburo, State Defense Committee and Headquarters, representing the unified state-political and strategic center of the country's leadership, possessed all available information about the state of affairs in the country and at the front, so they could quickly resolve urgent issues. Thanks to this, the process of making important decisions was significantly accelerated, which had a positive impact on the general situation at the front and in the rear. Despite the violation of the principles of internal party democracy, such an approach was justified by the specifics of wartime, when the issues of organizing the country’s defense and mobilizing all forces to repel the enemy came to the fore.” At the same time, “the decisive word in both the Politburo and the State Defense Committee remained with the head of the country.”

This allows us to talk about the party-state nature of the State Defense Committee, the creation and activities of which reflected the final formation of the state in the 1930s. system of governing the country, in which the leading role was played by the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, represented by its General Secretary I.V. Stalin and members of the Politburo, and the Soviet state acted as a mechanism for legislative registration and implementation of the political decisions of the party. GKO was primarilyh emergency body of the party leadership in conditions of war and his activities fully corresponded to the principles of combining the general party leadership of the country and the use of the Soviet state apparatus to implement party decisions. This did not fundamentally change the previous style of leadership of the country - the State Defense Committee was primarily a body, albeit an emergency one, of the political, party leadership, committee discussed and made decisions on the main issues of governing the country in wartime conditions at the level of a very limited number of persons vested with the highest party power - “all officials of the newly formed body were members and candidate members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.” GKO asemergency government body was characterized by the fact that in it, at the level of heads of the highest bodies of state power and management, who occupied key positions in them, areas of organizational and managerial activity were concentrated. This was also manifested in the organization of the activities of the State Defense Committee - the entire system of military and civilian administration was involved in the implementation of the decisions it made. At the same time, the State Defense Committee was “a center of emergency power and control, endowed with special powers” and acted as “the main structure, including in the system of strategic management bodies of the country and its armed forces, whose decrees and orders were given the status of wartime laws, binding on everyone.” . At the same time, one should take into account the fair remark of military historians that “special emergency state bodies created in connection with the urgent need of wartime acted and were modified in connection with a perceived need. Then they were formalized according to the appropriate legislative procedure (GKO resolution), but without changing the Constitution of the USSR. Under them, new leadership positions, executive and technical apparatuses were established, and emergency management technology was developed in creative searches. With their help, it was possible to quickly solve the most pressing problems."

Directions and organization of activities of State Defense Committeescombined the principles of collegiality when discussing issues and unity of command when making decisions, and the committee itself acted “as a think tank and a mechanism for restructuring the country on a war footing.” At the same time, “the main direction of the GKO’s activities was the work of transferring the Soviet state from peacetime to wartime.” The committee's activities covered a complex range of issues in almost all areas of political and public administration of the country in wartime conditions.

In the organization and activities of the State Defense Committee, the leading role belonged to its chairman, I.V. Stalin, who during the war concentrated in his hands all the key party and state posts and at the same time was: Chairman of the State Defense Committee, Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Chairman of the Supreme Command Headquarters, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b), member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (b), chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, chairman of the Transport Committee of the State Defense Committee. I.V. Stalin and his deputy V.M. Molotov “carried out not only leadership over the activities of this emergency body, but also strategic leadership of the country, the armed struggle and the war as a whole. All resolutions and orders of the State Defense Committee were signed by them. At the same time, V.M. Molotov, also as People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, led the country’s foreign policy activities.” Military historians also pay attention to the advantages of unity of command in war conditions and emphasize that “having received unlimited powers, J.V. Stalin was able to use them rationally: he not only united, but also implemented huge military-political, administrative and administrative potential of state power and management in the interests of achieving the strategic goal - victory over Nazi Germany and its allies."

Members of the State Defense Committee were assigned to the most responsible areas of work. At the first meeting of the State Defense Committee - July 3, 1941 - “seven resolutions of the State Defense Committee were approved on the responsibility for the assigned area of each member of the State Defense Committee. ... Members of the State Defense Committee G.M. Malenkov, K.E. Voroshilov and L.P. Beria, along with his main responsibilities in the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, the People’s Commissariats and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, through the State Defense Committee, received new permanent or temporary assignments.” Beria in the military-industrial bloc oversaw the people's commissariats (mortar weapons, ammunition for the tank industry), and also, in accordance with the GKO decree of August 29, 1941, was appointed GKO commissioner on armament issues and was responsible “for the implementation and overfulfillment by industry of production plans of all types weapons." G.M. Malenkov supervised the production of all types of tanks. Marshal K.E. Voroshilov was engaged in military mobilization work. As necessary, assignments were redistributed among committee members.

Working groups and structural divisions were created and operated under the State Defense Committee. The working groups were the first structural elements of the State Defense Committee apparatus and comprised a team of qualified specialists - 20-50. More stable structural divisions of the State Defense Committee were committees, commissions, councils, groups, and bureaus created as needed. The committee included: Group of State Defense Authorities (July - December 1941), Evacuation Committee (July 16, 1941 - December 25, 1945), Committee for the evacuation of food and manufactured goods from front-line zones (from September 25, 1941), Trophy Commission (December 1941 - April 5, 1943), Committee for Unloading Railways (December 25, 1941 - February 14, 1942), Transport Committee (February 14, 1942 - May 19, 1944), GKO Operations Bureau (from 8 October 1942), Trophy Committee (from April 5, 1943), Radar Council (from July 4, 1943), Special Committee on Reparations (from February 25, 1945), Special Committee on the Use of Atomic Energy (since August 20, 1945).

Of particular importance in the organizational structure of the State Defense Committee was the institution of its representatives, who, as representatives of the committee, were sent to enterprises, front-line areas, etc. Military historians note that “the establishment of the institution of State Defense Committee commissioners became a powerful lever for the implementation of not only its decisions. At large enterprises, in addition to those authorized by the State Defense Committee, there were party organizers of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Komsomol Organizers of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, authorized representatives of the NKVD, and authorized representatives of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. In other words, there was a whole army of controllers on issues of performance discipline. It should be noted that most often, the authorized representatives of the State Defense Committee, who had incomparably greater rights and opportunities than the heads of enterprises, provided them with invaluable practical assistance. But there were also those who, without understanding the technological processes of production, using intimidation and threats, caused confusion. In such cases, a reasoned report to the chairman of the State Defense Committee quickly resolved conflict situation» .

The territorial structures of the State Defense Committee were the City Defense Committees - local emergency authorities, the decision to create which was made by the committee on October 22, 1941. City defense committees were created by decision of the State Defense Committee, were exclusively subordinate to it, and their most important decisions were approved by them. Researchers of the GKO activities note that “city defense committees had the right to declare the city in a state of siege, evacuate residents, give enterprises special tasks for the production of weapons, ammunition, equipment, form people’s militia and destruction battalions, organize the construction of defensive structures, mobilize the population and transport, create or abolish institutions and organizations. The police, formations of the NKVD troops and volunteer work detachments were placed at their disposal. In conditions of a critically difficult situation, local emergency authorities ensured unity of government, uniting civil and military power. They were guided by the resolutions of the State Defense Committee, decisions of local party and Soviet bodies, military councils of fronts and armies. Under them, there was also an institution of commissioners, operational groups were created to urgently resolve military issues, and public activists were widely involved.”

Giving a general assessment of the organization of the activities of the State Defense Committee, military historians emphasize: “The most characteristic features of the development of the State Defense Committee were: the forced necessity and some spontaneity of the creation of its organizational and functional structures; lack of experience in the formation and structural development of such a government body; management of the structural development of the State Defense Committee by the first person of the party and state - I.V. Stalin; lack of directly subordinate bodies; leadership of the active army, society and national economy through regulations that had the force of wartime laws, as well as through constitutional authorities; the use of the structures of the highest bodies of the party, state and executive power of the USSR as executive and technical apparatuses; lack of pre-officially approved tasks, functions and powers of the State Defense Committee and its apparatus.”

Decrees and orders of the State Defense Committeedocumented his decisions. Their preparation was not specifically regulated: depending on the complexity of the issues under consideration, they were resolved as quickly as possible or the problem was studied and, if necessary, written reports, information, proposals and other documents submitted from the relevant civil or military authorities were requested and heard. Then the issues were discussed by committee members and decisions were made on them. At the same time, a number of decisions that primarily fell within the competence of the Council of People's Commissars were made individually by V.I. Stalin. The decisions made until the end of 1942 were formalized by A.N. Poskrebyshev (head of the Special Department of the Central Committee), and then - the Operational Bureau of the State Defense Committee. The resolutions of the State Defense Committee were signed by I.V. Stalin, and other members of the committee had the right to sign operational directive documents (orders). It should be noted that the Politburo did not previously review or approve the decisions of the State Defense Committee, although the Politburo retained preliminary consideration and approval of draft resolutions of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, joint resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, as well as individual decisions of the Secretariat and the Organizing Bureau Party Central Committee.

Resolutions and orders of the State Defense Committee were not subject to publication - they were classified as “Top Secret”, and individual acts were supplemented with the label “Of Special Importance”. Only a few decisions of the State Defense Committee were brought to the attention of the population - published in the open press. In total, during the period of activity of the State Defense Committee from June 30, 1941 to September 4, 1945 (1629 days of work), 9971 resolutions and orders of the State Defense Committee were followed. “They cover all aspects of state activity during the war. The content of the documents, as a rule, depended on the developing military-political situation on the Soviet-German front, in the country and in the world, the military-political and strategic goals of operations, campaigns and the war in general, as well as on the state of one’s own economy.” Resolutions and orders of the State Defense Committee, after they were signed, were sent for execution to the people's commissars, first secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the union republics, regional committees, regional committees

Study of the activities of State Defense Committeesuntil the beginning of the 2000s. limited by the availability of the source base - the secrecy of the committee's documents, which also limited the possibilities of research. But even at the same time, historians and legal historians, to one degree or another, turned to the history of the State Defense Committee and illuminated, within the limits available to them, certain aspects of the activities of the State Defense Committee. In this regard, the studies of N.Ya. are interesting. Komarov - in 1989, his article “The State Defense Committee resolves ... Some issues of organizational building and strengthening of the combat Soviet Army during the Great Patriotic War” was published in the Military Historical Journal, which outlined a principled position and highlighted the main aspects of the activities of the State Defense Committee. In 1990, his documentary work “The State Defense Committee Resolves: Documents” was published. Memories. Comments".

Carrying out work on declassifying documents in 1990 - early 2000. provided researchers with access to previously closed archival documents. The latter was reflected in an increase in research interest in the study of GKO - works devoted to its activities appeared, as well as publications of documents. Among them, the work of Yu.A. is of interest. Gorkova - “The State Defense Committee decides... (1941-1945). Figures, documents" (2002), based on previously closed materials from the Archive of the President of the Russian Federation, the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, the personal archives of I.V. Stalin, G.K. Zhukova, A.M. Vasilevsky, A.I. Mikoyan and allowing us to understand the range of directions and content of the activities of the State Defense Committee. In 2015, the work of a team of military historians, unique in terms of its richness of material and level of analysis, was published - “The State Defense Committee in the system of emergency bodies for the strategic leadership of the country and the armed forces”, included Volume 11 (“Policy and strategy of Victory: strategic leadership of the country and the Armed Forces of the USSR during the war”) of a twelve-volumepublications "The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" in (M., 2011-2015). Without dwelling on the characteristics of this publication, we note that for the first time the activities of the State Defense Committee received a systematic Scientific research in the context of the functioning of the entire mechanism of party, military, and civil governance in the country.

The potential of researching documents on the activities of State Defense Committees is far from exhausted. Currently, the GKO materials are mostly open and are stored in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (formerly the Central Party Archive of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the CPSU Central Committee) - fund 644. Only 98 resolutions and orders of the GKO and partially 3 more documents have not been declassified . The website of the Federal Archival Agency of the Russian Federation contains lists of GKO documents available to researchers.

So, the State Defense Committee was formed as an emergency party-state body that headed the system of public administration of the USSR in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945. The study of his activities was reflected in the studies of historians and legal historians of the 1960-1990s, devoted to the organization of government in the country during the Great Patriotic War, but they were extremely limited in their sources - materials on the activities of the State Defense Committee were mostly classified. This limitation of research capabilities for working with documents on the activities of the State Defense Committee was overcome in the 2000s. with the removal of the classification of secrecy, which ensured the emergence of new works and created opportunities for recreating both the history of the activities of the State Defense Committee and the picture of governance in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. generally.

Bibliography

.	USSR atomic project. Documents and materials in 3 volumes M.-Sarov, 2000. T. 1-3.
.	Arkhipova T.G. The state apparatus of the RSFSR during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). M., 1981.
.	Bulletin of declassified documents from federal state archives. M., 2005. Issue. 6. Electronic resource: http://www.rusarchives.ru/secret/bul6/pred.shtml
.	Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 In 12 vols. M., 2015. T. 11. Politics and strategy of Victory: strategic leadership of the country and the Armed Forces of the USSR during the war. Team of authors.
.	Golotik S.I. Council of State Defense // Higher and central government agencies Russia. 1801 – 1917 St. Petersburg, 1998. T. 2. Higher government institutions.
.	Gorkov Yu.A. The State Defense Committee decides... (1941-1945). Figures, documents. M., 2002.
.	Danilov V.N. The Soviet state in the Great Patriotic War: the phenomenon of emergency authorities of 1941-1945. Saratov, 2002.
.	History of the Great Patriotic War Soviet Union. 1941-1945. M., 1960-1965. T. 1-6.
.	History of the Soviet state and law. T. 3. The Soviet state and law on the eve and years of the Great Patriotic War (1836-1945). M., 1985.
.	Komarov N. Ya. The State Defense Committee decides... (Some issues of organizational development and strengthening of the combat Soviet Army during the Great Patriotic War) // Military Historical Journal. 1989.No. 3.
.	Komarov N.Ya. The State Defense Committee decides: Documents. Memories. Comments M., 1990.
.	Korneva N.M., Tyutyunnik L.I., Sayet L.Ya., Vitenberg B.M. Special meeting to discuss and combine measures for the defense of the state // Higher and central government institutions of Russia. 1801 – 1917 St. Petersburg, 1998. T. 2. Higher government institutions.

The State Defense Committee is an emergency governing body created during the Great Patriotic War that had full power in the USSR. The need for creation was obvious, since in wartime it was necessary to concentrate all the executive and legislative powers in the country in one governing body. Stalin and the Politburo actually headed the state and made all decisions. However, the decisions made formally came from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, etc. In order to eliminate such a method of leadership, which was acceptable in peacetime, but did not meet the requirements of the military situation of the country, it was decided to create the State Defense Committee , which included some members of the Politburo, secretaries of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and Stalin himself, as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

The State Defense Committee was formed on June 30, 1941 by a joint resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. The need to create state bonds, as supreme body leadership, was motivated by the difficult situation at the front, which required that the leadership of the country be centralized to the maximum extent possible. The said resolution states that all orders of the State Defense Committee must be unquestioningly carried out by citizens and any authorities.

The idea of creating the State Defense Committee was put forward at a meeting in Molotov’s office in the Kremlin, which was also attended by Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan and Voznesensky. In the afternoon (after 4 o’clock) they all went to the Near Dacha, where powers were distributed among the members of the State Defense Committee.

By a joint resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) dated June 30, 1941, the State Defense Committee was formed consisting of:

Chairman of the State Defense Committee - J.V. Stalin

Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee - V. M. Molotov.

Members of the State Defense Committee - K. E. Voroshilov, G. M. Malenkov, L. P. Beria.

Subsequently, the composition of the State Defense Committee changed several times.

On February 3, 1942, N. A. Voznesensky (at that time Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR) and A. I. Mikoyan were appointed members of the State Defense Committee;
On February 20, 1942, L. M. Kaganovich was introduced into the State Defense Committee;
On May 16, 1944, L.P. Beria was appointed deputy chairman of the State Defense Committee.
On November 22, 1944, N.A. Bulganin was appointed a member of the State Defense Committee instead of K.E. Voroshilov.

The first decree of the State Defense Committee (“On organizing the production of medium tanks T-34 at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant”) was issued on July 1, 1941, the last (No. 9971 “On payment for the remainder of incomplete ammunition elements accepted from industry and located at the bases of the NKO USSR and NKVMF ") - September 4, 1945. The numbering of resolutions remained continuous.

Of the 9,971 resolutions and orders adopted by the State Defense Committee during its work, 98 documents remain classified in full and three more partially (they relate mainly to the production of chemical weapons and the atomic problem).

Most of the resolutions of the State Defense Committee were signed by its chairman, Stalin, some also by his deputy Molotov and members of the State Defense Committee Mikoyan and Beria.

The vast majority of GKO resolutions concerned topics related to the war:

evacuation of population and industry (during the first period of the Great Patriotic War);

mobilization of industry, production of weapons and ammunition;

handling captured weapons and ammunition;

studying and exporting to the USSR captured samples of technology, industrial equipment, reparations (at the final stage of the war);

organization of combat operations, distribution of weapons, etc.;

appointment of authorized representatives of State Defense Committees;

about the beginning of “work on uranium” (the creation of nuclear weapons);

structural changes in the GKO itself.

The most important unit was the Operations Bureau, created on December 8, 1942 by GKO Resolution No. 2615c. The bureau included V. M. Molotov, L. P. Beria, G. M. Malenkov and A. I. Mikoyan. The tasks of this unit initially included control and monitoring of the current work of all People's Commissariats of the defense industry, People's Commissariats of Railways, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, power plants, oil, coal and chemical industries, as well as the matter of drawing up and executing plans for production and supply of these industries and transport with everything you need. On May 19, 1944, Resolution No. 5931 was adopted, by which the functions of the bureau were significantly expanded - now its tasks included monitoring and control over the work of the people's commissariats of the defense industry, transport, metallurgy, people's commissariats of the most important areas of industry and power plants; Also, from that moment on, the Operations Bureau was responsible for supplying the army; finally, it was entrusted with the responsibilities of the Transport Committee, which was abolished by decision.

On August 20, 1945, a Special Committee was created to deal with the development of nuclear weapons. Within the framework of the Special Committee, on the same day, August 20, 1945, the first department was created under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, which was engaged in the creation of a new industry in a short time.

The system of three main departments under the State Defense Committee was created with the expectation of the post-war development of fundamentally new industries and lasted much longer than the committee itself. This system directed a significant part of the resources of the Soviet economy to the development of the nuclear sector, the radar industry and the space sector. At the same time, the main departments decided not only the goals of improving the country’s defense capability, but were also a sign of the importance of their leaders. Thus, for reasons of secrecy, for several years after its creation, the PSU did not provide any information about the composition and results of its work to any bodies other than the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee.

The main function of the State Defense Committee was to manage all military and economic issues during the war. The leadership of the military operations was carried out through Headquarters.

State Defense Committee of the USSR - abstract. Formation of the State Defense Committee of the USSR and city defense committees The State Defense Committee was created

Introduction

1. State Defense Committee, Supreme Command Headquarters and General Staff

2. State Defense Committee

3. Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR

4. City defense committees

Conclusion

In conclusion, we will draw the main conclusions on the aspects that were raised in the abstract:

Bibliography

State Defense Committee

Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR

General Staff of the Red Army

Education GKO

Composition of GKOs

GKO structure

Functions of State Bonds

Disbandment of the State Defense Committee

More information on Wikisource

see also

Notes

Links

Literature

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