As Khrushchev, the Soviet armed forces and law enforcement bodies were trashers
Khrushchev’s “de-Stalinization” (“Perestroika-1”) caused great damage to the Armed Forces of the USSR. So, on January 15, 1960, the Supreme Council of the USSR without discussion approved the Law "On a New Significant Reduction in the Armed Forces of the USSR." From the army and fleet up to 1 million 300 thousand soldiers and officers were to be fired. That is, more than a third of the total number of the USSR Armed Forces.
And it was not the first cut. During Stalin's lifetime, a reduction of 0,5 million was outlined, which was associated with bringing the Armed Forces to peacetime standards. According to a secret report sent to the CPSU Central Committee by the Minister of Defense G. K. Zhukov and the Chief of the General Staff V. D. Sokolovsky, on March 13, 1 the number of Soviet Armed Forces was 1953 5 396 people. It was planned to reduce it by 038 500 people for three years, which fit into the norm. However, Khrushchev intervened, and for the period from March 000 1 to January 1953 1 the 1956 989 soldiers were reduced. And by December 822 1 in the staffing table remained 1959 3 623 posts.
Announced by law from 15 on January 1960, the reduction would take the army to 2 430 000 people. Total: The Soviet Army was reduced by two and a half times! Khrushchev trashed the USSR Armed Forces without a fight and better than any external enemy!
Moreover, Khrushchev could deliver a near-fatal blow to the army and navy of the USSR. In February, 1963, at the retreat of the Defense Council in Fili, the first secretary of the Central Committee set out his view on the future armed forces of the Soviet Union. They should consist of two parts: a half-million grouping that serves and protects the 300 launchers of ballistic missiles, and the militia army, in essence, the militia. Thus, Khrushchev planned to implement the long-standing plans of the Trotskyists, who believed that the army should have a "militia" (militia) character. Thank God, Khrushchev was not given to do and removed from power. He could still break a lot of wood.
"Reforming" the army was associated with three main prerequisites. First, Khrushchev fulfilled the order of his masters in the West. It was necessary to reduce the enormous power of the USSR, to curtail a number of defense projects dangerous for the West. Secondly, as a hidden Trotskyite, Khrushchev did not understand the significance of the traditional, "imperial" army and navy. He believed that the "missiles" was enough, and the army could be of a militia nature. Thirdly, the case was connected with the struggle for power and Khrushchev’s suspicions that the military elite could shift him. First of all, with Khrushchev's fears that the “Stalinist shadow” and the influence of Zhukov in the army, even despite his resignation, could lead to the resignation of Nikita Khrushchev himself.
Thus, Khrushchev struck two blows to the army and its prestige. The damage of the Armed Forces was enormous, and not only material, when with "joy" they destroyed the new military equipment, but also moral. Newspapers, magazines and other Soviet media in those years - in 1955-1958. and 1960-1961 widely covered the mayhem of the army. For example, about how with smiles they destroy the newest military equipment, how soldiers and officers shouting "Hurray" reacted to reports of a reduction in the army, etc. It is clear that this had a negative effect on the personnel of the Armed Forces and the entire society as a whole. .
And the world situation, when smashing the army in the USSR, was very dangerous. Not a single country in the world, let alone other great powers, in those years, reduced its troops, either on its own territory or on foreign bases. On the contrary, the arms race was on, the number, equipment and financing of the Western armies increased rapidly. In the United States, a congressional resolution and the law “On enslaved peoples” (1958-1959) were adopted, stimulating the dismemberment of not only the USSR, but also the RSFSR. The United States increased its nuclear arsenal in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The United States sent troops to South Vietnam. Indonesian and Caribbean crises, collisions in the Taiwan Strait, “Berlin Wall”. All this spoke of the need to strengthen the defense of the USSR.
Moreover, the Khrushchev, starting "de-Stalinization", ruined relations with former allies - huge China and Albania. And the relationship was spoiled so much that the Soviet-Chinese and Soviet-Albanian confrontations began. And the Chinese army, modernized with the help of the USSR, quickly re-equipped technically and increased its number, including several thousand kilometers along the entire border with the USSR! It was because of the treacherous policy of Khrushchev that the USSR was forced to maintain a powerful grouping on the border with China, in case of a war with China. And this imposed an additional burden on the so-upset economy of the Red Empire. Already in 1964, Beijing experienced an atomic bomb, while Soviet-Chinese relations quickly deteriorated, mainly due to Khrushchev personally. Besides, Khrushchev worsened the military-strategic position of the Soviet Union in the Asia-Pacific region. Back in the middle of 1950, on the initiative of Khrushchev, Moscow surrendered its military bases in northeastern China (Port Arthur).
In the midst of Khrushchev the USSR quarreled with Albania. The requirement of the then “pro-Stalinist” Albania to the USSR in 1960 - to return to it the naval base in the Albanian southern Adriatic port of Vlora (the Soviet Union used it from 1950) and the unsuccessful Khrushchev attempt to eliminate the then Albanian leadership - almost led to the Soviet-Albanian conflict in 1960-1962. As a result, Albania began to prepare for war "on two fronts" - against the USSR and NATO.
Almost simultaneously, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was subjected to pogrom. 13 January 1960 The USSR Ministry of the Interior was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the ministries of the interior of the Union republics. History The Union Republican Office (NKVD-MIA), which almost completely controlled the life of the Soviet state, was interrupted for six and a half years. Only 26 July 1966 g. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the creation of the Union-Republican Ministry of Public Security of the USSR" was restored centralized police control throughout the country (MOOP USSR). And the Ministry of Internal Affairs was restored two years later: November 25 1968 The Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet adopted the Decree “On the renaming of the USSR Ministry of the Public Order Security to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.”
One of the reasons for the pogrom of the army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was the strengthening of regional and ethnocratic elites. As the researcher of the Khrushchev era, Alexei Chichkin, “the rapid growth of the influence of the elites of most of the Union republics and their economically powerful“ clans ”in the top leadership of the USSR-CPSU, in fact, began to press down all-union structures. Moreover, the main, one might say, target of the impact of these elites was, above all, the all-Union law enforcement agencies. In order to "secure" in case of investigations of all sorts of economic frauds and, especially, anti-Soviet actions in the same republics.
The socio-economic and, therefore, the internal political situation in the Soviet Union at that time was worsening due to the “Khrushchev experiments” (“virgin”; “corn”; the beginning of the liquidation of “unpromising villages” in the RSFSR; the defeat of state machine-tractor stations; the rise in retail prices for goods and services from the end of 1950-x, etc.). Therefore, Khrushchev needed the support of the national-regional elites. Naturally, they understood the situation, and therefore demanded in return strategic concessions from the Kremlin. This concerned the redistribution of powers in favor of the republics and the dissolution of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. The authorities of the Baltic, Transcaucasian and Central Asian republics were particularly active on this issue since the second half of the 1950s. The leaders of these regions (members of the Central Committee and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU) directly or indirectly demanded “thanks” from the Kremlin for supporting the Khrushchev group in 1956-1958. And not only in her confrontation with the “Stalinist group” (Bulganin, Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich, Saburov, Shepilov), but also in the “victory” of the Khrushchevites over Defense Minister Georgy Zhukov.
A characteristic detail is that due to the abolition of the all-Union Ministry of Internal Affairs, almost all the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs files on many of the leaders and economic figures of the Union republics in January 1960 were transferred not to the all-Union KGB, but to the ministries of the interior or the KGB of the same national republics where them safely and forgotten.
At the same time, regional and ethnocratic elites did not stop there. At the beginning of the 1960s, they even demanded the liquidation of the KGB of the USSR. True, this is not the case. Last but not least, thanks to the removal of Khrushchev from all posts in October 1964.
Fleet
Immediately after the restoration of the national economy destroyed by the war, Stalin set out to create a powerful ocean fleet in the USSR. Such a fleet was necessary to resist the aggression of such traditionally strong sea powers as the United States and Great Britain. Soviet economists have calculated and concluded that the USSR has enough capacity to build a large fleet, and its construction will not affect the well-being of the people. Solved this important problem Commissar of the Navy NG Kuznetsov.
They planned to build a large fleet before the war, but they did not have time, but the priorities were different. And during the war all the possibilities of the shipbuilding industry were mobilized to build destroyers, submarines, submarine hunters, minesweepers, torpedo boats and armored boats. Shortly after the end of World War II, the People's Commissar of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Kuznetsov submitted for approval by the government a draft ten-year shipbuilding plan for the 1946-1955 years. True, Kuznetsov’s advanced views on the role of aircraft carriers were not understood by Stalin and met with decisive resistance from the leadership of the People’s Commissariat of the shipbuilding industry, which constantly referred to the “unwillingness” to build ships that were fundamentally new for the domestic fleet. Work on aircraft carriers were curtailed. Only in 1953, the Kuznetsov was able to continue work on the creation of a light aircraft carrier.
Khrushchev, on the other hand, simply cut down almost the entire program. He rejected the concept of building a surface navy proposed by Admiral Kuznetsov in a memorandum dated March 31, 1954, which generally continued the Stalinist shipbuilding program. Kuznetsov himself was removed from his post in December 1955, and on February 17, 1956, he was demoted to vice admiral and dismissed so as not to interfere with the destruction of the fleet. From that moment, Moscow decided to create a "nuclear missile nuclear fleet." The main branches of the forces were identified nuclear submarines and marine missile aviation coast-based. Large surface ships were assigned an auxiliary role, and aircraft carriers were generally declared "weapons aggression. The construction of surface ships was suspended, practically ready-made cruisers began to be cut on the stocks. Khrushchev categorically argued that "submarines can solve all tasks, large surface ships are not needed, and aircraft carriers are" dead "."
At the same time white began to gloss over black. 13 February 1956, on the initiative of Khrushchev, adopted another resolution “On the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the Navy”, condemning the low combat readiness of the fleets and blaming the situation for N.G. Kuznetsova.
Khrushchev dealt a blow to the military-strategic positions of the USSR in the north-west. In January, 1956 ceased to exist Porkkala-Udd naval base - “a gun at the temple of Finland”. 100 sq. kilometers of Finnish territory, leased to 1944 in the year to the Soviet Union voluntarily-compulsory for a period of 50 years. The unique position from which the whole Gulf of Finland was sweeping was surrendered to the recent enemies who had besieged Leningrad, stupidly, under the pretext of “improving relations with Helsinki”.
In addition, on the initiative of Khrushchev, the Marine Corps were disbanded. The only Vyborg Naval School in the country, which trained officers for the Marines, was closed. In 1957, seven cruisers, which had a high degree of readiness (Scherbakov, Admiral Kornilov, Kronstadt, Tallinn, Varyag, Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok) were sent for scrap at once. Infected by the “rocket euphoria”, the Soviet leadership considered the 68-bis artillery cruisers to be a hopelessly outdated weapon. Although the same Kuznetsov showed that cruisers can be upgraded. In November, 1954, by the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces, approved the assignment for the development of the re-equipment of cruisers of the 68-bis Ave.
The 82 cruisers, also known as the heavy cruisers of the Stalingrad type (the ship's 3), in fact, the real battleships, were also destroyed. Just a month after the death of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, three of the hulk were removed from the stocks and cut into metal. In addition, Khrushchev stopped all work on the long-range, as well as in general on heavy artillery.
Khrushchev showed great generosity, at the expense of the people, with regard to Indonesia. Before World War II, it was a colony of the Netherlands and was called the Netherlands East Indies. During the war, the country was occupied by the Japanese. Independence of the Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed 17 August 1945. A. Sukarno became its president. The conflict with Holland almost immediately began, which from the beginning even refused to recognize the independence of Indonesia. Indonesia also claimed all former Dutch colonies in the region. Hostility was also with England and the United States. Therefore, with the 1950-ies, Sukarno began to lean toward an alliance with the USSR. Khrushchev decided to provide large-scale military support to Indonesia.
During a visit to Khrushchev in Indonesia in February 1960, an agreement was signed on the supply of ships, aircraft, helicopters, tanks and other weapons. The most expensive acquisition was the cruiser Ordzhonikidze, renamed the Irian (it was later turned into a floating prison). In total, the Soviet Union supplied Indonesia with arms and military equipment worth more than $ 1 billion (in prices of that time). The Indonesian Navy alone received about 100 combat and auxiliary ships and vessels, including the Ordzhonikidze cruiser, 6 destroyers, 4 patrol ships, 12 submarines, 12 missile and 12 torpedo boats and 10 base minesweepers (a whole squadron!). The Marines received 100 amphibious tanks, artillery, several divisions of air defense missiles, small arms, ammunition and equipment for two divisions of the marine corps.
Being obsessed with rockets and realizing someone else's plan to undermine the defenses of the USSR, the secretary general expected to reduce the composition of the Navy even more, but the Soviet fleet was “saved” by the Americans. In the autumn of 1960, the underwater bomber George Washington entered the combat patrol. The latest submarine ("killer cities") equipped with 16 SLBM "Polaris A-1". Therefore, the USSR began to look for an "antidote." An ambitious program to build large anti-submarine ships (BOD) of the 61 project was urgently initiated. They built 20 units. In addition to the BOD, a draft anti-submarine cruiser (1123 code Condor) was developed - the first step towards the creation of aircraft-carrying cruisers. Between 1962 and 1969 Two such ships were built - “Moscow” and “Leningrad”.
The Caribbean crisis also showed the need for a strong surface fleet and the revival of the marines. In the Soviet Union began the revival of the Marines. In 1963, the Marine Guards Regiment was formed in the Baltic. In the same year, the regiments of the marines appeared in the Pacific Fleet, and after Khrushchev, the marine corps were restored in the Northern and Black Sea fleets. In addition, the 1964 of the year began the mass construction of large amphibious assault ships of the Xnumx Avenue Tapir.
Thus, Khrushchev inflicted enormous damage on the Soviet fleet and on the defenses of the USSR. Some of the potential was later restored. So, already from the middle of the 1960-x begins to increase the number of Soviet Armed Forces, eventually reaching nearly five million people. However, a lot of time was wasted and money and resources were spent.
The success of the fleet during the reign of Khrushchev did not appear due to, but in spite of his efforts. Under the pressure of circumstances, thanks to the enthusiasm of the representatives of the fleet, science and industry, some programs developed according to a previously set course. Only three years after Khrushchev’s dismissal and the appointment of A. A. Grechko as Minister of Defense, under the direction of S. G. Gorshkov, the creation of a balanced type of forces and classes of ships of the fleet, proposed by N. G. Kuznetsov, began, which was reflected in the plans of military shipbuilding on 1971 -1980 and on 1981-1990.
In general, the policy of Khrushchev, taking into account the disastrous socio-economic policy and their consequences, meant one thing: the acceleration of the destruction of Soviet civilization and statehood.
To be continued ...
- Alexander Samsonov
- Khrushchev "perestroika"
Enemy blow to the Soviet civilization
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