V modern Russia spiritual life is a reflection of the same processes that occur in other areas of social development.
Reformatting the economy into a market economy, updating social structures, restructuring the political system and complex relationships with the rest of the world - all this greatly affects the spirituality and culture of society.
What features characterize the spiritual life of modern Russia
In the Russian spiritual tradition, which was preserved and cultivated during the times of the USSR, there was a priority of unselfishness and honesty. Working solely for money and material goods, without moral incentives, was considered an unworthy occupation. It was indecent to praise oneself, shout about one's achievements and good results in any area. In the current capitalist conditions, each person should present himself favorably in his resume as an excellent specialist, briefly and vividly reflect his professional successes. That is, it is more expensive to sell yourself.
Careerism, which at the time Soviet Union condemned, in our time is presented as the basis of the success of every person. And also the attitude to material motivation in work has changed. The pinnacle of prestige and success in modern society are those professions that can give a person the maximum profit. Such changes in the consciousness of society have a strong influence on all aspects of spiritual and cultural life.
Changing the cultural vector
In art there was a complete commercialization. The author creates a product, expecting only financial profit from it, and not setting the task of creating a work of art, as it was before. The sphere of true art is moving further and further away from the perception of the masses. It becomes inaccessible to the perception of an ordinary person because of its difficult aesthetics. Today, many people talk about the absence of the spiritual component of the modern generation of our citizens, about the influence of clichés of Western culture.
In the vast majority of cases, this true statement, since, thanks to globalization, the speed of dissemination of any information among a wide mass of people, so-called cultural universals are created, which are most often focused on an intellectually limited “connoisseur”. The current culture in Russia is being reformatted due to changes in our society and under influence from outside. The dynamics of cultural life in our country, as well as its instability, rapid changes in cultural landmarks create certain trends in spiritual values in modern Russia.
What determines the trends of the spiritual life of modern society
The level of development of culture and spirituality of society can be determined:
- by the volume of cultural values created in it;
- along the boundaries of their distribution;
- according to how people perceive them.
One of key features development of cultural and spiritual life in our country is colossal social and cultural gap between the capital and big cities with the provinces, which should cause serious concern among politicians and scientists.
Constantly evaluate the level of cultural and spiritual changes is extremely important. Necessary know how many research institutes, universities, libraries, theaters, museums in the country etc. But quantity does not mean quality yet, it is necessary to control the richness and content of the spiritual and cultural component in these institutions. That is evaluate quality scientific works, level of education, books and films. Taken together, these indicators reflect the very goal of cultural and spiritual education of society.
Dubious projects
It is required to take into account not only what has been created in the field of culture and spirituality, but also how society uses it. The most important criterion of cultural dynamics is the achieved level of social equality of people, including in familiarizing a person with spiritual values.
Nowadays, the media deliberately try to direct people's attention to the problems of other states, while keeping silent about the catastrophic internal situation in the country. The Ministry of Culture of Russia often provides large financial support, to put it mildly, to dubious projects, ignoring the really necessary and important works. All this together in many cases leads to a split in society and destabilization of spirituality and culture.
Downward movement
Another one of important aspects development of society is considered the possibility of the necessary conditions for the realization of creative abilities and talents. Today, the situation of the spiritual and cultural component in Russian society is rightfully assessed as catastrophic, because:
Such a depressing state in the cultural sphere of our country is primarily due to the inefficient distribution of finances, theft of funds in one form or another. The crisis state of the economy itself is already a secondary factor, since the crisis itself is a consequence of the inefficient work of the Cabinet of Ministers and the deliberate destruction of almost all sectors from industry to culture.
The socio-cultural sphere is financed on a residual basis, while allocating huge sums for pseudo-cultural events and projects.
With the allocation of funds by the Ministry The main task of the authorities is to make a profit rather than supporting culture in the country.
To cultivate spirituality in society, it is unacceptable to save on the development of culture as its commercialization is unacceptable. This leads to the impoverishment of the spirit of society and its degeneration as a civilization in the broadest sense.
Spiritual life in the 21st century in Russia - other features
Features of spiritual life modern society in Russia is also characterized by a sharp decline in the socio-economic status of ordinary cultural workers. A large number of specialists go to other areas, some leave the country.
In the modern so-called cultural and spiritual sphere, two directions have formed:
- Lack of spirituality, hypocrisy and falsehood.
- The manifestation of discontent and protest on almost any occasion.
- The imposition of immoral, meaningless directions.
All this forms a soulless, intellectually limited society, which eventually begins to consider vulgarity and stupidity as the norm, while ridiculing nobility, honesty and decency.
Negative phenomena in the ROC
The spiritual cleansing of society has ceased, there is a slide into the abyss of ignorance and moral deformity. Those who are responsible for the creation and dissemination of spirituality and culture are in reality aloof from culture itself.
The church has turned into a kind of closed joint-stock company for the elite. Instead of bringing spirituality to people, she actually just earns money on faith. The Russian Orthodox Church is busy obtaining ownership of land and architectural monuments, and is increasing its capital.
Classical culture is being replaced by a Western surrogate based on the humiliation of those who have low social status and the admiration of those who are rich. In fact, spirituality, humanity is replaced by the cult of money. The personality itself is not important, the main thing is getting benefits.
Revival as the main task
The revival of classical culture is the most important task for society both in Russia and in the rest of the world. Lack of spirituality is the problem of all mankind, which in our days has almost all turned into ordinary consumers of one type or another of the product. Necessary preserve and revive the classical and folk cultural heritage left to us by our ancestors, in which universal human values are dominant. Honor, kindness, honesty and decency are some of the classic spiritual and cultural components.
In modern Russia, spirituality is degrading, belittling and distorting the merits of people who lived in Soviet time. The achievements of Soviet society, whether they are colossal industrial, construction or cultural achievements, are trying to either be hushed up or declared a failure. This happens for various reasons, one of which is the limited knowledge and critical thinking.
there is hope
Despite the fact that the state of spiritual and cultural life in modern Russia can be called catastrophic, there is still hope for its revival. Against the backdrop of the total dominance of our media and Internet space by a Western surrogate of culture (low-grade films, meaningless performances and exhibitions, programs that broadcast stupidity to society), a person’s need for a real, true spiritual culture is increasingly manifesting. The very terms spirituality and culture are again acquiring the meaning that was originally laid down in them.
Most of society was fed up with the mediocre culture that they tried to replace our classical spirituality. Interest in one's own history, culture, literature, and national traditions is being revived. Universities and schools are beginning to pay more and more attention to this area, students and schoolchildren study in comparative tables history, write term papers and essays on the spiritual life of Russia in the past, present and future.
What phenomena characterize modern Russian culture - conclusions
A person of the 21st century cannot be outside of culture and spirituality, just like society as a whole. After all, spirituality is that area in the life of society that is associated with the creation and dissemination of spiritual and cultural values and the satisfaction of spiritual needs of a person.
To features spiritual development In the 21st century in Russia, the following factors can be attributed, which are contradictory:
- The internationalization of culture, which can more accurately be called ersatz culture.
- The removal of censorship, in which it is allowed to say and show whatever the author wants.
- Growing interest in the origins of spirituality.
- Search for real cultural trends in society.
What do we have to do
I would like to hope that the Ministry of Education will realize its mistakes and blunders made in the nineties and zero, when an attempt was made to abandon its spiritual and cultural origins, replacing them with the so-called progressive Western novelty. While educational material was massively replaced by a new one, the basis of which were texts created at the expense of the Soros Foundation.
It should be understood that without a foundation consisting of spirituality and culture, inherited from our ancestors, the further development of society is impossible. It is necessary to reject pseudo-cultural Western values, to revive and spread true spirituality in society. At the same time, it is necessary to lay a new cultural and spiritual component in society, based on morality, art, science and religion.
Question 01. What, in your opinion, are the most important changes in the spiritual life and culture of the countries of the world in the first half of the 20th century?
Answer. Changes:
1) disappointment in technological progress after the First World War;
2) the emergence of the "lost generation";
3) sexual revolution (for example, the theory of a glass of water in Russia);
4) the development of numerous currents of avant-garde.
Question 02. What problems reflected the development of philosophical, social thought? How did they differ from each other, what new things did they introduce into the ideas about man and society? What impact did they have on the spiritual life of society?
Answer. Two currents became popular in philosophy: rationalism and irrationalism. The first one continued to insist on rationality, the logical validity of human actions (although after the battles of World War I, many had doubts about this), while the second emphasized the role of the unconscious, subconscious in motivating human actions (Z. Freud's works were indicative in this sense) . Sociology has taken these directions. The psychology of the crowd began to be studied, that unconscious, transpersonal, which sometimes controls popular movements.
Question 03. Describe the main modernist currents in art.
Answer. Currents:
1) primitivism - a style of painting that implied a deliberate simplification of the picture, making its forms primitive, like the work of a child or drawings of primitive times (but different from "naive art", since the first means non-professional painting, the second - stylized painting of professionals);
2) futurism - a direction of art that was interested not so much in content as in form, therefore new words were invented here, vulgar vocabulary, professional jargon, the language of a document, poster and posters were used;
3) abstractionism - a direction of art that has abandoned the image of forms approximate to reality in painting and sculpture in order to achieve “harmonization”, create certain color combinations and geometric shapes to evoke a variety of associations in the contemplator;
4) Dadaism - a direction in art in which rationalism and logic were declared one of the main culprits of devastating wars and conflicts, and the main idea was the consistent destruction of any kind of aesthetics;
5) expressionism - a direction in art that seeks not so much to reproduce reality as to express emotional state the author, perceived reality extremely subjectively, through the prism of such emotions as disappointment, anxiety, fear;
6) surrealism - a direction in art that is distinguished by the use of allusions and paradoxical combinations of forms;
7) constructivism - a direction in art, which is characterized by rigor, geometrism of forms and solidity of appearance.
Question 04. What are the features of constructivism in your opinion? Can this direction be called a product of the industrial age and why?
Answer. In architecture, this style means the absence of unnecessary decorations. Each detail should be a functional element of the design, also in order not to hide this design, technological solutions, but to admire them. That is why it is considered a product of the industrial era: it gave rise to a love for progress, for the technical genius of man. But constructivism does not mean the simplicity of reinforced concrete boxes. It sometimes means complex calculation(including, for example, optical illusions, thanks to which small rooms in apartments seem larger).
Question 05. Describe the main directions in the development of fiction in the first half of the 20th century. What works of domestic and foreign authors do you know?
Answer. Directions:
1) rethought romanticism wrote about distant countries, a world unknown to Europeans (for example, R. Kipling "The Jungle Book");
2) critical realism again turned to the unresolved problems of society (for example, W. Faulkner "The Sound and the Fury");
3) intellectual realism tried to analyze reality more and show its general unreasonableness (for example, E.M. Remarque “On Western front no change”, B. Brecht “Mother Courage and her children”);
4) the detective genre showed the intricacies of human criminal thought and the detection of a villain by a detective using only his own intellect (for example, A. Christie's series of stories about Ecrul Poirot).
Question 06. Describe the main innovative ideas in the musical art of the XX century. What composers are they associated with?
Answer. Innovative ideas:
1) expressionism, that is, the world of the subconscious in music, was characteristic of B. Bartok;
2) musical design in the person of L. Duray, F. Poulenc and others. On the contrary, they sought to abandon emotionality in favor of the clarity of the language of music.
Question 07. What features characterize the development of theatrical art in the first half of the 20th century?
Answer. Realism was established in the theater, that is, the desire to reliably show actions, emotions, etc. The main theorist of this trend is K.S. Stanislavsky with his famous exclamation "I do not believe!". His method of preparing actors quickly spread throughout the world, often through his immigrant students.
Question 08 important issues involved in cinema? Expand its role in the spiritual life of society.
Answer. Cinematography, especially with the advent of sound films, turned out to be the most understandable to the mass audience, inexperienced elite culture, which with the development of capitalism has become the main consumer. With the advent of television, films began to come to homes without even requiring a trip to the cinema. Cult films began to shape the worldview of entire generations. In the period between the world wars, films touched on both basic life problems like love and hate, and purely everyday difficulties. During the world economic crisis the famous Hollywood style appeared, whose representatives in the hopelessness of the present of those years filmed about the fact that in the end everything will be fine, there will be a happy end.
Social political changes in society during the period of perestroika, they also touched the spiritual life of Soviet citizens. Freedom of speech, religion, conscience and publicity became available to the people, all that for many years was under the strictest ban of the state leadership.
Publicity
The policy of glasnost was demonstrated by M. Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, even at the initial stage of his reign. During a visit to Leningrad, without the consent of the members of the Politburo, Gorbachev began to communicate directly with the people, raising topics that were discussed only in close circles of government members.
For the first time in the history of the USSR, the policy of the top leadership was openly conveyed to the masses. By the end of 1985, state censorship was gradually weakening; critical materials in newspapers, magazines, radio and television did not succumb to the ban, and sometimes were encouraged by the authorities.
The Soviet people got the opportunity to openly express their dissatisfaction with the work state structures, including the KGB, local officials and top party leadership. With the introduction of the policy of glasnost, the collapse of the official Soviet ideology began.
Socialism, in the eyes of the population, was inextricably linked with democracy, and not with the old communist principles, which had significantly lost their relevance. Some officials attempted to eliminate glasnost as a phenomenon threatening communism.
However, it turned out to be impossible to stop the emancipation of the people's consciousness. A New Look to the historical past. The abrupt transition from "stagnation" led to some rethinking of Soviet history by the people.
Simultaneously with large-scale preparations for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, scandalous publications about Stalinist repressions, and carefully concealed facts of the Civil War.
For the first time, the holiday in honor of the coming to power of the Bolsheviks was in jeopardy. During this period, a special commission was created under the Politburo to investigate the crimes of the Stalinist regime.
Already by the middle of 1988, Stalin's political opponents were posthumously rehabilitated, who became victims of the totalitarian machine of the Soviet leader N.I. Bukharin, L.B. Kamenev, A.I., Rykov, G.E. Zinoviev.
The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a declaration in which the forced deportation of the peoples of the Soviet Union in the 1940s was recognized as political repression. In 1990, M. Gorbachev personally announced the real number of victims of the Bolshevik terror, which reached several tens of millions of people.
The shocked people of the USSR perceived such information with great pain and indignation - there could be no question of the further credibility of the Communist Party.
Literature, television and press
During the period of perestroika, cultural figures began to gradually return to the USSR, who, for political reasons, had been in forced emigration for many years. Soviet publishing houses massively began to publish works by previously banned authors.
The works of A. Solzhenitsyn, M. Bulgakov, I. Severyanin, B. Pasternak, M. Bakhtin, as well as religious books Koran, Bible, Torah became available to the general public. The print media also enjoyed unprecedented popularity. The circulation of non-political publications during the period of perestroika increased tenfold.
Newspapers began to print letters from readers who came to the editorial office. The beginning of this trend was laid by a resident of Leningrad, who wrote an article in the newspaper Sovetskaya Rossiya, in which she called on the people to defend the honor of Stalin and not betray communist ideas.
The response was thousands of letters in which the Soviet people openly criticized Stalinism. A huge role in the development of spiritual life was played by television, which for the first time began to broadcast foreign television programs and films that opened Soviet people the Western world, which for a long time was inaccessible.
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During the years of the second five-year plan, major changes took place in the spiritual life of Soviet society and ideology. They are marked by the growth of two tendencies. On the one hand, the establishment of "Stalinism" in society, that is, Marxism-Leninism in the Stalinist interpretation, the ideology of leaderism and cult consciousness. On the other hand, as the economic and political power of the USSR strengthens, the state-patriotic principles and the corresponding design of state traditions and symbols are strengthened. The Marxist thesis of the withering away of the state was condemned as Trotskyist. Instead, the thesis of the all-round strengthening of the socialist state and the need to protect it from external and internal encroachments was actively introduced.
In 1934-1935. a campaign to revise the country's history began. History faculties were reopened in universities. Continuity in development restored Russian Empire and the USSR. If earlier everything that concerned the pre-revolutionary past was subjected to desecration and reproach, now it was presented in a slightly different light. The history of Russia was now considered in the context of the country's movement towards revolution and towards socialism. Names and events that contributed to strengthening the power of the state were noted (Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan the Terrible, Minin and Pozharsky, Peter I, Catherine II, etc.). If earlier, according to the same Stalin, Russia was a country that was constantly beaten for its economic backwardness, now it is beginning to present itself more and more as a victorious power. Anniversaries dedicated to Patriotic War 1812, the liberation of Moscow from the Polish invaders in 1612 and other events. Were "rehabilitated" many figures of science and culture, contributed to the progress of Russia and its glorification. The position on the colonial policy of Russia was subjected to a complete revision, now it was becoming "civilizing and progressive" in relation to the peoples that became part of it. The history of the Soviet state and the ruling party was built in the same context. The idea of the identity of Marxism-Leninism and state patriotism, personified by the personality of Stalin, was introduced into the public consciousness. In this spirit were created " Short course History of the CPSU(b)" and "History of the Civil War in the USSR".
Similar trends were reflected in literature, art, and cinema. Writers sat down to write historical novels. Pompous painting and architecture were approved, designed to glorify the power and greatness of the state and its leaders in a rather primitive and naturalistic manner, accessible to the still culturally underdeveloped Soviet society. Creative quests lying outside this were subjected to scolding and condemnation as a manifestation of formalism and degeneration. Poets, writers, artists, etc., who insisted on freedom of creativity, fell into the "risk zone" and were either doomed to oblivion or persecuted.
The return to state-patriotic foundations to some extent contributed to the consolidation of public opinion in the country and reconciliation with the regime. In this regard, even in emigre circles, increased attention to the USSR became noticeable. At the same time, there was a revival of traditional norms of behavior and morality. The experiments of the first five-year plan in this area were rejected. A course was taken to strengthen the family, which was now officially recognized as the primary unit of Soviet society. In 1936, a decree was adopted to ban abortion and help mothers with many children. The fight against divorce, crime, and homelessness intensified. Implemented by administrative and repressive measures, these actions sometimes brought unexpected effects, giving rise to new problems and difficulties, which are yet to be discussed.
Along with the spread of the former ideals of universal equality and sacrifice for the sake of a brighter future as essential features of the "socialist way of life", the idea of personal well-being and career begins to acquire its value in society, which affected primarily the ruling party-state nomenklatura and resulted in the creation of a hierarchy of positions and privileges. , folded into one of distinguishing features the Soviet regime.
Reference material for preparing for the seminar on the theme "SOVEREIGN RUSSIA: THE CHOICE OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY PATHWAYS (SECOND HALF OF THE 80S - BEGINNING OF THE XXI CENTURY)"
Annex 1
Features of the political and spiritual development of the country in the 60-70s.
| Peculiarities | Social Consequences |
| The gap between the proclaimed ideals of developed socialism and real life | Increasing ossification of party-state structures |
| Unresolved problems of development of national republics | Gradual awakening of the national self-consciousness of peoples |
| Departure from the analysis of real contradictions of social development | Growing mass skepticism, political apathy, cynicism; dogmatism in the ideological sphere |
| Aggravation of the ideological struggle | Prohibitions and restrictions in the spiritual life; creating the image of an "external enemy" |
| Ideological rehabilitation of Stalinism | The exaltation of the new leader - L.I. Brezhnev |
| Confrontation between official dogmatic and humanistic, democratic culture | Formation of the spiritual prerequisites for perestroika |
Annex 2
USSR in the early 80s.
Economy
o Sharp drop in economic growth
o Strengthening the command-administrative system of farm management
o Attempts to further strengthen the centralization of administration during the 1979 reform
o Crisis of rigid bureaucratic management of agriculture
o The crisis of the system of non-economic coercion
o inefficient use of material and labor resources and delayed transition to intensive production methods
o inflationary processes, trade deficit, huge pent-up demand.
o Stiffness of party-state structures tougher repressions against dissidents
o Strengthening the bureaucratization of the state machine
o Strengthening contradictions in the social class structure of society
o Crisis interethnic relations
spiritual realm
o Growing gap between words and deeds
o Moving away from an objective analysis of the state of affairs in society
o Tougher ideological dictate
o Ideological rehabilitation of Stalinism
o Growing mass skepticism, political apathy, cynicism
The emergence of a pre-crisis state of our society can be explained by both objective and subjective reasons. The objective features include the development of our country in the 70s. The difficult demographic situation, the removal of sources of raw materials and energy carriers from traditional areas of their use, the aggravation of economic problems, the unfavorable world economic situation, the growing burden of spending on maintaining military-strategic parity and on helping allies. In this regard, it is worth paying attention to the fact that the share of the USSR under the Warsaw Pact was 90% of total spending, and only 10% was accounted for by the allies (for comparison: within NATO, US spending is 54%).
Features and results of previous years of the country's development also contributed to the formation of the pre-crisis state. Such processes as, for example, the excessive centralization of economic management, the nationalization of the cooperative form of ownership were identified and gained momentum much earlier. But in the 70s, along with the growth of the scale of production, they began to manifest themselves more clearly.
The diagnosis of the situation in which the development of our society found itself is stagnation. In fact, a whole system of weakening the instruments of power arose, a kind of mechanism of inhibition of social economic development. The concept of "braking mechanism" helps to understand the causes of stagnation in the life of society.
The braking mechanism is a set of stagnant phenomena in all spheres of the life of our society: political, economic, social, spiritual, international. The braking mechanism is a consequence, or rather a manifestation of the contradictions between the productive forces and production relations. The subjective factor played a significant role in folding the braking mechanism. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the party and state leadership turned out to be unprepared to actively and effectively counter the growing negative phenomena in all areas of the country's life.
Appendix 3
The main stages of perestroika in the USSR
Appendix 4
Stages of economic reform in the USSR (1985 - 1991)
Annex 5
Production of main types of food products (in % to the previous year)
Appendix 6
Perestroika and changes in the spiritual life of society at the turn of the 1990s.
1985 became a milestone in the spiritual life of the USSR. The principle proclaimed by M. S. Gorbachev publicity created conditions for greater openness in decision-making and for an objective rethinking of the past (this was seen as continuity with the first years of the “thaw”). But the main goal of the new leadership of the CPSU was to create conditions for the renewal of socialism. It is no coincidence that the slogan "More glasnost, more socialism!" was put forward. and no less eloquent “We need publicity like we need air!”. Glasnost assumed a greater variety of topics and approaches, a more lively style of presenting material in the media. It was not tantamount to affirming the principle of freedom of speech and the possibility of unhindered and free expression. The implementation of this principle presupposes the existence of appropriate legal and political institutions, which in the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s. did not have.
The membership of the CPSU in 1986, when the 27th Congress was held, reached a record level in its history of 19 million people, after which the ranks of the ruling party began to decline (to 18 million in 1989). Gorbachev's speech at the congress was the first to say that without glasnost there is, and cannot be, democracy. It turned out to be impossible to keep glasnost in check, in metered volumes, especially after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (April 26, 1986), when the unwillingness of the country's leadership to give objective information and raise the question of responsibility for the tragedy was revealed.
In society, glasnost began to be seen as a rejection of ideological narrow-mindedness in the coverage of current events and in assessments of the past. This opened up, as it seemed, inexhaustible opportunities for the formation of a new information field and for an open discussion of all critical issues in mass media. The focus of public attention in the first years of perestroika was journalism. It was this genre of the printed word that could most sharply and promptly respond to problems that worried society. In 1987-1988 the most topical topics were already widely discussed in the press, and controversial points of view on the ways of the country's development were put forward. The appearance of such sharp publications on the pages of censored publications could not have been imagined a few years ago. Publicists on a short time became real "rulers of thoughts". New authoritative authors from among prominent economists, sociologists, journalists and historians were in the epicenter of attention. The popularity of the print media grew to an incredible level, publishing stunning articles about the failures in the economy and social policy, - "Moscow News", "Spark", "Arguments and Facts", "Literary Newspaper". A series of articles about the past and present and about the prospects of the Soviet experience (I. I. Klyamkina “Which street leads to the temple?”, N. P. Shmeleva “Advances and debts”, V. I. Selyunin and G. N. Khanina “Sly Digit", etc.) in the journal "New World", in which the writer S.P. Zalygin was the editor, caused a huge reader response. The publications of L. A. Abalkin, N. P. Shmelev, L. A. Piyasheva, G. Kh. Popov, and T. I. Koryagina on the problems of the country’s economic development were widely discussed. A. A. Tsipko offered a critical reflection on the Leninist ideological heritage and the prospects for socialism, the publicist Yu. Chernichenko called for a revision of the agrarian policy of the CPSU. Yu. N. Afanasiev organized in the spring of 1987 the historical and political readings "The Social Memory of Mankind", they had a response far beyond the Moscow Historical and Archival Institute, which he led. Collections that printed publicistic articles under one cover were especially popular; they were read like a fascinating novel. In 1988, with a circulation of 50,000 copies, the collection “No Other Is Given” was released and immediately became a “deficit”. Articles by its authors (Yu. N. Afanasiev, T. N. Zaslavskaya, A. D. Sakharov, A. A. Nuikin, V. I. Selyunin, Yu. F. Karyakin, G. G. Vodolazov and others) - The representatives of the intelligentsia, known for their public position, were united by a passionate and uncompromising call for the democratization of Soviet society. Every article read the desire for change. In a short preface by the editor, Yu. N. Afanasiev, it was said about “ different topics, conflicting opinions, non-trivial approaches. Perhaps this is precisely what gives particular credibility to the main idea of the collection: perestroika is a condition for the vitality of our society. Nothing else is given."
The "finest hour" of the press was 1989. Circulation of printed publications reached an unprecedented level: the weekly "Arguments and Facts" was published with a circulation of 30 million copies (this absolute record among weeklies was included in the Guinness Book of Records), the newspaper "Trud" - 20 million, "Pravda" - 10 million. It jumped sharply subscriptions to “thick” magazines (especially after the subscription scandal that broke out at the end of 1988, when they tried to limit it under the pretext of paper shortages). A public wave arose in defense of glasnost, and the subscription was successfully defended. Novy Mir in 1990 came out with a circulation of 2.7 million copies unprecedented for a literary magazine.
Live broadcasts from the meetings of the Congresses of People's Deputies of the USSR (1989-1990) gathered a huge audience, people did not turn off their radios at work, they took portable TVs from home. There was a conviction that it was here, at the congress, in the confrontation of positions and points of view that the fate of the country was being decided. Television began to use the method of reporting from the scene and live broadcast, this was a revolutionary step in covering what was happening. Born "speaking in live» broadcasts - round tables, teleconferences, discussions in the studio, etc. Without exaggeration, the popular popularity of publicistic and information programs ("Look", "Before and after midnight", "The Fifth Wheel", "600 Seconds") was due not only the need for information, but also the desire of people to be in the center of what is happening. Young TV presenters proved by their example that freedom of speech is emerging in the country and free polemics around the problems that worried people are possible. (True, more than once during the perestroika years, TV management tried to return to the old practice of pre-recording programs.)
The polemical approach also distinguished the brightest documentary films of the journalistic genre that appeared at the turn of the 1990s: “You Can’t Live Like This” and “The Russia We Lost” (dir. S. Govorukhin), “Is It Easy to Be Young?” (dir. J. Podnieks). The last film was directly addressed to the youth audience.
The most famous art pictures about the present, without embellishment and false pathos, they talked about the life of the younger generation (“Little Vera”, dir. V. Pichul, “Assa”, dir. S. Solovyov, both appeared on the screen in 1988). Solovyov gathered a crowd of young people to shoot the last shots of the film, announcing in advance that V. Tsoi would sing and act. His songs became for the generation of the 1980s. what the work of V. Vysotsky was for the previous generation.
“Forbidden” topics have essentially disappeared from the press. The names of N. I. Bukharin, L. D. Trotsky, L. B. Kamenev, G. E. Zinoviev and many other repressed political figures returned to history. Party documents that had never been published were made public, and the declassification of archives began. It is characteristic that one of the “first signs” in understanding the past were the works of Western authors already published abroad on the Soviet period of national history (S. Cohen “Bukharin”, A. Rabinovich “The Bolsheviks Go to Power”, the two-volume “History of the Soviet Union” of the Italian historian J. Boffa). The publication of the works of N. I. Bukharin, unknown to the new generation of readers, caused a heated discussion about alternative models for building socialism. The very figure of Bukharin and his legacy were opposed to Stalin; the discussion of development alternatives was conducted in the context of modern prospects for the "renewal of socialism". The need to comprehend the historical truth and answer the questions “what happened” and “why did this happen” to the country and people aroused great interest in publications on Russian history of the 20th century, especially in the memoir literature that began to appear without censored cuts. In 1988, the first issue of the magazine "Our Heritage" was published, and unknown materials on the history of Russian culture, including from the heritage of the Russian emigration, appeared on its pages.
Contemporary art also sought answers to the questions that tormented people. The film directed by T. E. Abuladze "Repentance" (1986) - a parable about the world's evil, embodied in the recognizable image of a dictator, without exaggeration, shocked society. At the end of the picture, an aphorism was sounded, which became the leitmotif of perestroika: “Why the road if it does not lead to the temple?” The problems of a person's moral choice turned out to be the focus of attention of two masterpieces of Russian cinematography different in themes - the film adaptation of M. A. Bulgakov's story "Heart of a Dog" (Dir. V. Bortko, 1988) and "Cold Summer of 53rd" (dir. A. Proshkin , 1987). In the box office there were also those films that had not previously been allowed on the screen by censorship or came out with huge bills: A. Yu. German, A. A. Tarkovsky, K. P. Muratova, S. I. Parajanov. The strongest impression was made by A. Ya. Askoldov's picture "Commissioner" - a film of high tragic pathos.
Appendix 7
"New political thinking" in international relations
In the mid 1980s. the new leadership of the USSR sharply intensified foreign policy. The following traditional Soviet foreign policy tasks: achievement of general security and disarmament; strengthening the world socialist system as a whole, and the socialist community in particular; strengthening relations with the newly-free countries, primarily with the countries of "socialist orientation"; restoration of mutually beneficial relations with capitalist countries; strengthening of the international communist and workers' movement.
These tasks were approved by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU in early 1986. However, in 1987-1988. significant changes have been made to them. For the first time they were reflected in the book by M. S. Gorbachev "Perestroika and new thinking for our country and the whole world" (autumn 1987). Active participation in the definition and implementation of the principles of "new thinking" in the foreign policy of the USSR were taken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU E.A. Shevardnadze and Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU A. N. Yakovlev. The change of course was symbolized by the replacement of the highly experienced Minister of Foreign Affairs A. A. Gromyko by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia E. A. Shevardnadze, who had previously only had experience in Komsomol and police work and did not speak any foreign languages.
"New political thinking"(NPM) in foreign policy was an attempt to implement the "ideas of perestroika" in the international arena. The main principles of the NPM were as follows:
Rejection of the conclusion that the modern world is split into two opposite socio-political systems - capitalist and socialist, and recognition modern world unified, interconnected;
· rejection of the belief that the security of the modern world rests on the balance of forces of two opposing systems, and recognition of the balance of interests as a guarantor of this security;
· rejection of the principle of proletarian, socialist internationalism and recognition of the priority of universal human values over any others (national, class, etc.).
In accordance with the new principles, new priorities of Soviet foreign policy were defined:
De-ideologization of interstate relations;
· joint solution of global supranational problems (security, economy, ecology, human rights);
· joint construction of a "common European home" and a single European market, which was planned to enter in the early 1990s.
As a decisive step along this path, the Political Consultative Committee of the Warsaw Pact countries, on the initiative of the Soviet leadership, adopted in May 1987 the "Berlin Declaration" on the simultaneous dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and NATO, and primarily their military organizations.
In the second half of the 1980s. The Soviet Union has taken major practical steps to normalize interstate relations, ease tensions in the world, and strengthen the international prestige of the USSR. In August 1985, on the fortieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the USSR imposed a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, inviting other nuclear powers to support his initiative. In response, the US leadership invited representatives of the USSR to attend their nuclear tests. Therefore, the moratorium was temporarily lifted in April 1987. In 1990, it was returned to. On January 15, 1986, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, M. S. Gorbachev, made a statement "In the year 2000 without nuclear weapons." It proposed a plan for the phased and complete elimination of nuclear weapons by the 21st century. In February 1987, in Moscow, at the international forum "For a nuclear-free world, for the survival of mankind", Gorbachev called on representatives of over 80 countries to "humanize" international relations, combine morality and politics, replace the ancient principle "if you want peace, prepare for war" with the modern "if you want peace - fight for peace.
The course towards a nuclear-free world was consistently pursued in the course of Soviet-American meetings at highest level. They were renewed in November 1985 and became annual. Meetings and negotiations between M. S. Gorbachev and US Presidents R. Reagan and George W. Bush Sr. contributed to the destruction of the image of the enemy, the establishment of comprehensive relations between the two states and led to the signing of two treaties on military issues. In December 1987, an INF treaty (intermediate and short-range missiles) was signed in Washington. It marked the beginning of a turn from an arms race to disarmament through the destruction of an entire class of weapons. Ratified in both countries in May 1988, it led to the elimination by May 1990 of more than 2,500 missiles (including 2/3 of Soviet ones). This amounted to approximately 4% of the world stock of nuclear weapons. In July 1991, an agreement on the limitation of strategic offensive arms (OSNV-1) was signed in Moscow. It was the second treaty that provided for the elimination of some of the nuclear weapons.
Annex 8
FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE USSR ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS "ON THE POLITICAL EVALUATION OF THE DECISION ON THE INTRODUCTION OF SOVIET TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN"
As a result of a thorough analysis of the available data, the committee concluded that the decision to introduce Soviet troops to Afghanistan deserves moral and political condemnation. The general international environment in which the decision was made was undoubtedly complex, characterized by acute political confrontation. In that situation, there were ideas about the intention of certain circles of the United States of America to take revenge in Afghanistan for the loss of positions after the fall of the Shah's regime in Iran, the facts pointed to the possibility of such a development of events. In the official statements that followed the introduction of troops, one of the motives for the action taken was the desire to strengthen the security of the Soviet Union on the outskirts of the southern borders and thereby protect its positions in the region in connection with the tension that had developed in Afghanistan by that time. Elements of armed intervention from outside were growing. There were appeals from the Afghan government to the Soviet leadership for help. It has been documented that the Afghan government, starting from March 1979, more than 10 times expressed a request to send Soviet military units to the country. In response, the Soviet side rejected this form of assistance, stating that the Afghan revolution must defend itself. However, in the future, this position has undergone, frankly speaking, dramatic changes.
<…>The Committee states that the decision to send troops was taken in violation of the Constitution of the USSR... In this context, we inform you that the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and its Presidium did not consider the issue of sending troops to Afghanistan. The decision was made by a narrow circle of people. As established by the Committee on International Affairs, the Politburo did not even meet in full force to discuss this issue and make a decision on it. Giving a political and moral assessment of the introduction of troops into Afghanistan, it is necessary, it is our duty, to name the names of those who, engaged in the study of the most important foreign policy issues since the mid-70s, decided to send Soviet troops to Afghanistan. This is Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, who at that time held the posts of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of our country, Chairman of the Defense Council and Supreme Commander Armed Forces of the USSR; this is the former Minister of Defense of the USSR Ustinov, Chairman of the Committee state security Andropov, USSR Foreign Minister Gromyko.<...>Politically and morally condemning the decision to bring in Soviet troops, the Committee considers it necessary to state that this in no way casts a shadow on the soldiers and officers heading for Afghanistan. Faithful to the oath, convinced that they were defending the interests of the Motherland and providing friendly assistance to the neighboring people, they were only fulfilling their military duty.<...>
Annex 9