Some issues of mobilization of the spiritual forces of the state
The military doctrine of the Russian Federation, approved by decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 146 of February 5 of 2010, states that a large-scale war will require the mobilization of all available material resources and spiritual forces of the member states.
In the course of mobilization, a complex of measures is being taken to transfer the economy, state authorities, local self-government bodies and organizations to work in wartime conditions, and the Armed Forces to organize and composition wartime. In this case, the entire population of the country. The quality and organizational capabilities of the authorities depend on its spiritual and moral condition, along with other factors; the work of industrial enterprises, organizations of agriculture, transport, communications and other sectors of the economy; the readiness of the officer and soldier to be steadfast in battle and to win.
The Russian public figure L. A. Tikhomirov, speaking of the development of the nation, writes: “... the nation must be able to develop all the spiritual and material strength available to it. The basis and driving force of development in the nation, as well as in man, is at the same time its spiritual strength. ”
Spiritual strength is of particular importance during the war years, when the state mechanism as a whole, and each person experiencing enormous physical and psychological stress.
A distinctive feature of modern wars is the strengthening of the role of information confrontation. Its result may affect the most important thing - the loss of the will of the population of one of the parties with weakened spiritual forces before the outbreak of hostilities, then the latest equipment and weapons will be in unreliable hands.
An example is Republican France during the Second World War. Possessing quite impressive economic and military capabilities, she was unable to consolidate the society weakened by the internal political struggle and, on the verge of defeat, lost all ability to resist.
In this regard, the spiritual forces of the state constitute its defense power, along with material resources. They operate constantly in peacetime, and in the military they are manifested in the ability of the state to organize the struggle against the enemy, to endure by the people all the burden and hardships of wartime and achieve victory.
Numerous and almost incessant wars in stories Russia was hardened by the Russian people, taught the ability not only to survive in the most difficult conditions of enemy invasions, but also to win.
The highest tests went to Russia during the two world wars. To varying degrees, they showed how the state was able to mobilize spiritual forces and withstand the difficulties of wartime.
By the beginning of the First World War, the Russian Empire came up with impressive successes in the economy and the social sphere. The country has increased its vitality through natural population growth. In terms of the growth of industrial production and labor productivity, Russia came out on top in the world; it was almost independent of imports.
From 1894 to 1914, the average annual per capita income has doubled, and household deposits in savings banks have increased sevenfold. The total amount of taxes per resident of the country was significantly less than in a number of large European countries.
These and many other successes in the field of economics have been noticed in the West. English writer Maurice Baring, who spent several years in Russia, wrote about the prosperity of the country during this period in 1914, more than ever and did not see the reasons for the majority of the people to be dissatisfied. Edmond Terry, an editor of a French newspaper, examined the Russian economy and concluded that by the middle of the 20th century it would become the leader in Europe in the economic and financial situation.
However, the growth of material well-being was not accompanied by a noticeable spiritual growth of society and the spiritual schism between the upper intelligentsia and the people deepened in it. This was written by the Russian philosopher and public figure Prince Ye.N. Trubetskoy, Theologian and publicist Archbishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) and others.
The beginning of the war was perceived by the majority of the people in the countryside, silently and with dignity, as the fulfillment of their civic duty to the fatherland, and the townspeople in the big cities with violent enthusiasm and patriotic demonstrations. It would seem that here it is the union of the intelligentsia and the people, so necessary for the mobilization of the spiritual forces of the state, but the enthusiasm was quickly replaced by a different mood.
As a result, a revolution was chosen precisely at the moment when the country was militarily and economically ready to end the war with a victory over an exhausted opponent who was already searching for peace.
Thus, the spiritual forces of the state turned out to be unable to become the driving force of all the material resources accumulated for the victory and bring the war with the external enemy to complete victory over it. The lack of national unity, deepened during the war, became the internal enemy that turned out to be smarter and more insidious than the external.
Today, having before us the experience of the Great Patriotic War (WWII), it can be said that to a large extent this situation was already promoted during the war by the absence of some restrictions characteristic of the introduction of martial law, i.e. The organizational resource was not fully utilized.
First, it refers to the system of state power, which has not undergone significant changes associated with the transition to work in wartime conditions.
In order to mobilize the country's economy and guide it during the war, special state institutions were created - five "Special Meetings" (OS): on defense, providing fuel for communications (institutions and enterprises working for defense); transportation of fuel, food and military goods; food business; device refugees. The OS system included regulatory authorities for individual industries. The members of the Board in an advisory capacity were representatives of departments, the State Duma, the State Council and public organizations.
The executive branch has managed to mobilize the country's economy, strengthen state regulation and, without a radical breakdown of economic relations, achieve rapid growth in military production indicators.
Since January 1915 August 1916, the release of the three-inch guns raised in 8 time 48-linear howitzers - in 4 times, rifles - in 4 times, shells of various calibers - in 5-17,5 time fuses - in 19 time, high-explosive bombs - in 16 times, asphyxiation - 69 times. In the field of food supply, the bread supply increased in December 1916 of the year compared with the average monthly figure for August-November in 2, and by January 1917 of the year - in 2,6 times.
The contribution of representative power to the cause of war is characterized differently.
During the war years, the situation in the State Duma changed dramatically, from calls for rallying "around the sovereign leader" at the beginning of the war, to slander and disobedience. At an emergency meeting of 26 July 1914, the bills on financial matters during wartime, necessary for war, were adopted, but already then the slogan “War to War” sounded shyly.
Subsequently, as the situation on the front deteriorated in the Duma, anti-government sentiments began to prevail. In August, 1915, a “Progressive Bloc” was created within its walls, the purpose of which was to fight the government, which led to the commission of a coup d'état.
In the summer session of 1916, the representatives of the bloc proposed a number of bills on Zemstvo reform, on societies and unions, on the Zemstvo and city All-Russian unions, and this clearly indicates their inopportuneness for the belligerent country.
1 November 1916, at the Duma meeting, there are already threats against the government, statements are made with accusations of treason. After the dissolution of 26 in February of 1917 of the year, it creates the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, which forms the Provisional Government, which turned out to be incapable of waging a war or engaging in the economy, unlike the one that was overthrown.
Thus, the representative body became the center from which actions proceeded, leading not to the consolidation of society for victory over an external enemy, but to arousing it to fight with the executive branch.
Secondly, with the good purpose of helping the front, public organizations of the All-German Union and the Union of Cities (Zemgor), the military-industrial committee, besides their main activities, dealt with political issues, discrediting the government, although they worked for money only from the state budget. At the front and in the rear, they carried out propaganda against the government, strongly emphasized their usefulness and did not hesitate to present with their merit what was done by the executive branch.
Thirdly, taking advantage of the fact that there was no military caesura in Moscow, newspapers began to spread information aimed at undermining confidence in the executive branch. In a statement on treason at a meeting of the Duma 1 in November 1916, Milyukov said that he had taken information in Moscow newspapers. It is known that this slander was not confirmed later, but the deed was done - doubt and indignation was sown in society.
The experience gained by the country during the First World War, including examples of the activities of representative bodies, public organizations and the press, was taken into account during the Great Patriotic War (WWII).
In accordance with the Constitution of the USSR 1936, the supreme body of state power was the Supreme Council of the USSR. On the very first day of the war, the Presidium of the Supreme Council issued a decree “On martial law”, which imposed a number of restrictions, and on June 30, a joint resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, Council of People’s Commissars, the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.) Was adopted by a joint resolution ( T-bills).
In this governing body was concentrated the full state power. All citizens, party, Soviet, Komsomol and military bodies were obliged to unconditionally implement the decisions and orders of the GKO.
The Supreme Council and the Presidium of the Supreme Council continued to function, but in fact all power was in place with a body specially created to ensure strict centralized leadership of the country during a period of martial law.
Sessions of the Supreme Council were not held regularly, during the war years only 4 meetings were held, at which decisions were made on specific issues for defense needs. His tribune did not become a place for political discussions, as was the case in the State Duma during the First World War.
The highest party organ, the CPSU (b) congress, did not convene from 1939 to 1952.
Even the very possibility for the activity of any opposition was excluded, if suddenly it appeared in a period of difficult situation at the front, in the conditions of the loss of vast territories, material resources and people.
Speaking about the state of society on the eve of the Second World War, some authors claim that "In the USSR, there was a spirit of militancy, readiness for military and labor feats ..." (VN Zemskov). Others say quite the opposite: “Soviet society approached the beginning of the war in a difficult spiritual state ...” (S. V. Bolotov).
However, it cannot be said that during the war, in the face of a common danger, national unity was not achieved and that the state could not mobilize all the spiritual forces of the state to achieve victory.
An example of this is the appeal of the Patriarchal locum tenens to Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), made on the first day of the war, even before officials turned to the people. "The miserable descendants of the enemies of Orthodox Christianity want to try again to put our people on their knees," he wrote and expressed the firm confidence of the Russian people in the upcoming victory: "With God's help, this time too, he will dispel the fascist enemy force."
These words did not go unnoticed by the leadership of the country. 3 July 1941, the chairman of the GKO, I.V. In his radio address to the Soviet people, Stalin made it clear that it was possible to win the war only in the unity of comrades, citizens, brothers and sisters and turning to the spiritual potential of Russia.
“Let the courageous image of our great ancestors — Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov — inspire you in this war ...” he said at the 7 military parade on November 1941 of the year.
The experience of two world wars clearly shows that the outcome of the war depends on the state of the spiritual forces of the state, which give the people unity, the ability to survive and win.
However, the Federal Law “On Defense” is silent about them, although it would be quite expedient to define the state’s defense power, which is a combination of constantly existing material resources and spiritual forces, precisely in this regulatory legal act.
According to this law, the organization of defense includes the prediction and assessment of military danger and military threat, but does not take into account the assessment of the spiritual and moral state of society and its readiness to withstand threats.
On what it is today, it was discussed on January 24 of the year 2013 in the State Duma at the meeting of the round table participants. They expressed concern "... the catastrophic situation that has developed in Russian society, much of which is losing fundamental moral guidelines and spiritually degrading ...".
Regarding how such a state of society will affect the outcome of the war, if it suddenly finds us today, one can only guess, but the earlier estimates of his state before the First World War and the Second World War were somewhat optimistic.
Not a small role in the formation of the spiritual and moral state of society belongs to the media (media). Peacetime gives them almost complete freedom, taking advantage of which they most often choose what has market value.
On the basis of the Federal Constitutional Law “On Martial Law”, when martial law is introduced in the country, military censorship, control over the work of the media and their use for wartime needs are provided for, but this is not enough.
Media activities spreading information aimed at inciting ethnic and inter-religious hatred, creating panic, immorality, discrediting the country's military-political leadership, forming anti-war and anti-government sentiments, propagating the military superiority of the enemy, should be prohibited under martial law.
In addition, this law allows that the decree of the President of the Russian Federation on the imposition of martial law may not be approved by the Council of the Federation and in this case, it will be terminated. At the same time, a situation can be created that will negatively affect the attitude of the people towards the authorities and at such a crucial moment they can be used to destabilize the situation in the country.
The Law on Martial Law suspends the activities of political parties and restricts the activities of the State Duma by adopting federal laws on ensuring the regime of martial law, as well as laws on the termination or suspension of international treaties with the states that committed an act of aggression against our country, but does not exclude the repetition of experience State Duma of the Russian Empire.
The experience of past wars suggests the feasibility of transforming the system of state power in order to ensure its internal unity and maximum centralization of the country's administration under martial law. Therefore, the experience of the GKO, which was created even under the conditions of a one-party system and political unity of opinion in the country, cannot lose its relevance.
Information