The “warm wind of change” that blew from the rostrum of the 20th Congress of the CPSU in February 1956 dramatically changed the lives of Soviet people. The writer Ilya Grigorievich Erenburg gave an accurate description of the Khrushchev era, calling it the “thaw.” In his affair with symbolic name“The Thaw” posed a whole series of questions: what should be said about the past, what is the mission of the intelligentsia, what should be its relationship with the party.

In the second half of the 1950s. Society was gripped by a feeling of delight from sudden freedom; the people themselves did not fully understand this new and, undoubtedly, sincere feeling. It was the lack of agreement that gave it a special charm. This feeling dominated in one of the characteristic films of those years - “I’m Walking Through Moscow”... (Nikita Mikhalkov in leading role, this is one of his first roles). And the song from the film became a hymn to vague delight: “Everything in the world happens well, but you don’t immediately understand what’s going on...”.

The “Thaw” affected, first of all, literature. New magazines appeared: “Youth”, “Young Guard”, “Moscow”, “Our Contemporary”. The magazine “ New world", headed by A.T. Tvardovsky. It was here that the story of A.I. was published. Solzhenitsyn "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." Solzhenitsyn became one of the “dissidents,” as they were later called (dissidents). His writings presented a true picture of the labor, suffering and heroism of the Soviet people.

The rehabilitation of writers S. Yesenin, M. Bulgakov, A. Akhmatova, M. Zoshchenko, O. Mandelstam, B. Pilnyak and others began. Soviet people began to read more and think more. It was then that the statement appeared that the USSR was the most reading country in the world. A mass passion for poetry became a lifestyle; performances by poets took place in stadiums and huge halls. Perhaps after " silver age In Russian poetry, interest in it did not rise as high as in the “Khrushchev decade.” For example, E. Yevtushenko, according to contemporaries, performed 250 times a year. The second idol of the reading public was A. Voznesensky.

Began to open up " iron curtain"in front of the west. Works began to be published in magazines foreign writers E. Hemingway, E.-M. Remarque, T. Dreiser, J. London and others (E. Zola, V. Hugo, O. de Balzac, S. Zweig).

Remarque and Hemingway influenced not only the minds, but also the lifestyle of certain groups of the population, especially young people, who tried to copy Western fashion and behavior. Lines from the song: “... He wore tight trousers, read Hemingway...”. This is the image of a dude: a young man in tight trousers, long-toed boots, bent in a strange pretentious pose, imitating Western rock and roll, twist, neck, etc.

The process of the “thaw”, the liberalization of literature, was not unambiguous, and this was characteristic of the entire life of society during Khrushchev’s time. Such writers as B. Pasternak (for the novel “Doctor Zhivago”), V.D. remained banned. Dudintsev (“Not by Bread Alone”), D. Granin, A. Voznesensky, I. Erenburg, V.P. Nekrasov. The attacks on writers were associated not so much with criticism of their works, but with changes in the political situation, i.e. with the curtailment of political and social freedoms. At the end of the 1950s. The decline of the “thaw” began in all spheres of society. Among the intelligentsia, voices against N.S.’s policies were becoming increasingly louder. Khrushchev.

Boris Pasternak worked for many years on a novel about the revolution and civil war. Poems from this novel were published back in 1947. But he was unable to publish the novel itself, because censors saw in it a departure from “ socialist realism" The manuscript of Doctor Zhivago went abroad and was published in Italy. In 1958 Pasternak was awarded Nobel Prize in literature for this novel, not published in the USSR. This caused unequivocal condemnation from Khrushchev and the party. A campaign of flagellation against Pasternak began. He was expelled from the Writers' Union. Almost all writers were forced to join this campaign, subjecting Pasternak to insults. The defamation of Pasternak reflected the party's attempts to maintain complete control over society, not allowing any dissent. Pasternak himself wrote a poem these days that became famous years later:

What did I dare to mess up?

Am I a dirty trickster and a villain?

I made the whole world cry over the beauty of my land.

Society Khrushchev period has changed noticeably. People began to visit more often; they “missed communication, missed the opportunity to talk loudly about everything that was bothering them.” After 10 days of fear, when conversations even in a narrow and seemingly confidential circle could and did end in camps and executions, the opportunity arose to talk and communicate. A new phenomenon has become heated debates in the workplace after the end of the working day, in small cafes. “... Cafes have become like aquariums - with glass walls for everyone to see. And instead of solid... [titles], the country was strewn with frivolous “Smiles”, “Minutes”, “Veterki”. In the “glasses” they talked about politics and art, sports and matters of the heart. Communication also took organized forms in palaces and cultural centers, the number of which increased. Oral journals, debates, discussions literary works, films and performances - these forms of communication have become noticeably livelier compared to previous years, and the participants’ statements were distinguished by a certain degree of freedom. “Associations of interests” began to emerge - clubs of philatelists, scuba divers, book lovers, florists, lovers of songs, jazz music, etc.

The most unusual for Soviet times were international friendship clubs, also the brainchild of the Thaw. In 1957, the VI World Festival of Youth and Students was held in Moscow. It led to the establishment of friendly contacts between the youth of the USSR and other countries. Since 1958, they began to celebrate the Day of Soviet Youth.

A characteristic touch " Khrushchev's thaw"was the development of satire. The audience enthusiastically received the performances of clowns Oleg Popov, Tarapunka and Shtepsel, Arkady Raikin, M.V. Mironova and A.S. Menakera, P.V. Rudakov and V.P. Nechaeva. The country excitedly repeated Raikin’s words “I’m already laughing!” and “It’s done!”

Television was part of people's lives. Televisions were a rarity; they were watched together with friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and lively discussed programs. The game KVN, which appeared in 1961, gained incredible popularity. This game itself in the 1960s. has become a general epidemic. KVN was played by everyone and everywhere: schoolchildren of junior and senior classes, students of technical schools and students, workers and office workers; in schools and red corners of dormitories, in student clubs and palaces of culture, in rest homes and sanatoriums.

In the art of cinema, the policy of filming only undisputed masterpieces was removed. In 1951, the stagnation in cinema became especially noticeable - only 6 full-length feature films were shot during the year. Subsequently, new talented actors began to appear on the screens. The audience got acquainted with such outstanding works as “ Quiet Don", "The Cranes Are Flying", "The House I Live In", "The Idiot", etc. In 1958, film studios released 102 films. film (« Carnival Night» with I.I. Ilyinsky and L.M. Gurchenko, “Amphibian Man” with A. Vertinskaya, “Hussar Ballad” with Yu.V. Yakovlev and L.I. Golubkina, “Barbos the Dog and the Extraordinary Cross” and “Moonshiners” by L.I. Gaidai). A high tradition of intellectual cinema was established, which was picked up in the 1960s and 1970s. Many masters of Russian cinema received wide international recognition(G. Chukhrai, M. Kalatazov, S. Bondarchuk, A. Tarkovsky, N. Mikhalkov, etc.).

Cinemas began to show Polish, Italian (Federico Fellini), French, German, Indian, Hungarian, and Egyptian films. For the Soviet people it was a breath of new, fresh Western life.

General approach to cultural environment was contradictory: he was distinguished by his previous desire to put it in the service of administrative-command ideology. Khrushchev himself sought to attract wide circles of the intelligentsia to his side, but considered them as “automatic machine gunners of the party,” as he directly said in one of his speeches (i.e., the intelligentsia had to work for the needs of the party). Already since the late 1950s. The control of the party apparatus over the activities of the artistic intelligentsia began to increase. At meetings with its representatives, Khrushchev mentored writers and artists in a fatherly manner, telling them how to work. Although he himself had little understanding of cultural issues, he had average tastes. All this gave rise to distrust of the party's policy in the field of culture.

Opposition sentiments intensified, primarily among the intelligentsia. Representatives of the opposition considered it necessary to carry out a more decisive de-Stalinization than was envisaged by the authorities. The party could not help but react to the public speeches of the oppositionists: “soft repressions” were applied to them (exclusion from the party, dismissal from work, deprivation of capital registration, etc.).

“Thaw” - this is how the famous writer I. Orenburg called the Khrushchev era that came after the long and harsh Stalinist “winter” work of the same name, and this is how the period of post-Stalin development, marked by serious changes in spiritual life, was symbolically outlined in people’s minds (Fig. 21.8).

Rice. 21.8

Literature. Ideological pressure on literature and art was weakened. Society received a breath of freedom. New works have appeared. D. Granin tried to show the real contradictions of Soviet society in the novels “Seekers” and “I’m Going into the Storm”, V. Dudintsev - in the novel “Not by Bread Alone”.

During the "thaw" the creativity of such famous writers and poets such as V. Astafiev, Ch. Aitmatov, T. Baklanov, Yu. Bondarev, V. Voinovich, A. Voznesensky and others.

New literary and artistic magazines emerged: “Youth”, “Young Guard”, “Moscow”, “Our Contemporary”, “Foreign Literature”.

However, at the same time, the party leadership ensured that literary process was controlled and did not go beyond certain limits. The “Pasternak case” clearly showed the limits of de-Stalinization in relations between the authorities and the intelligentsia. The writer, who received the Nobel Prize for the novel "Doctor Zhivago" in 1958, was expelled from the Writers' Union, defamed and disgraced. For ideological dubiousness and formalism, A. Voznesensky, D. Granin, V. Dudiitsev, E. Evtushenko,

E. Neizvestny, B. Okudzhava, V. Bykov, M. Khutsiev and many other prominent representatives of the creative intelligentsia.

The science. In science the priorities were nuclear power and rocket science (Fig. 21.9). The peaceful use of the atom began. In 1954 it was introduced

Rice. 21.9

the first in the world to be put into operation nuclear power plant, and three years later launched nuclear icebreaker"Lepin." The successes in space exploration were also impressive: on October 4, 1957, the first artificial Earth satellite was successfully launched, and on April 12, 1961, the first human flight into space took place. Yu. A. Gagarin, having flown around the Earth in 1 hour 48 minutes, opened the way for humanity to space. The Russian space program was led by Academician S. II. Korolev.

The outstanding achievements of scientists in the natural sciences were noted by the world community. In 1956, N. N. Semenov received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating the theory of chain reactions; in 1958, physicists P. A. Cherenkov, I. M. Frank and I. E. Tamm became laureates of this prize. In 1962, the Nobel Prize was awarded to the theoretical physicist L. D. Landau for the creation of the theory of condensed matter (especially liquid helium), and in 1964 to the physicists N. G. Basov and A. M. Prokhorov for fundamental work in the field quantum electronics.

Education. Khrushchev's reforms also affected the educational sphere (Fig. 21.10). In order to bring mental and physical labor closer together, to connect education and production, it was conceived

Rice. 21.10

and since 1958, reform in the field of education began to be implemented. Instead of compulsory seven-year education and a full ten-year education, a compulsory eight-year polytechnic school was created. Young people now received secondary education either through a school for working (rural) youth on the job, or through technical schools operating on the basis of an eight-year school, or through a secondary three-year labor comprehensive school with industrial training. Mandatory work experience was introduced for those wishing to obtain higher education. The reform temporarily ensured an uninterrupted flow of labor into production, but gave rise to even more complex social problems: staff turnover has increased, the level of labor and technological discipline of young people has turned out to be catastrophically low, etc.

In August 1964, the reform was adjusted and a two-year period of study was restored in secondary schools on the basis of an eight-year course. Complete secondary school again became ten years old.

The end of the "thaw"

Characterizing the reforms of N. S. Khrushchev as a whole, it is necessary to note their distinctive features:

• - reforms were carried out within the framework of the administrative-command, mobilization system and could not go beyond it:
• - transformations were sometimes impulsive and ill-considered, which did not lead to an improvement in the situation in certain areas, but, on the contrary, sometimes confused and aggravated the situation.

By 1964, reports sent by the State Security Committee (hereinafter referred to as the KGB), party organizations and ordinary people to the highest party and state authorities indicated growing discontent in the country (Fig. 21.11).

Here is one of the letters of appeal:

"Nikita Sergeevich!

People respect you, that’s why I’m turning to you...

We have enormous achievements on a national scale. We are heartily pleased with the changes that have occurred since March 1953. But for now we all live only for the future, but not for ourselves.

It should be clear to everyone that you cannot live with enthusiasm alone. Improving the material life of our people is absolutely necessary. The solution to this issue cannot be delayed...

People live poorly, and the state of mind is not in our favor. Food shortages throughout the country are very tight...

We, Russia, bring meat from New Zealand! Look at the collective farm yards, at the yards of individual collective farmers - ruin...

Let's have real elections. Let's choose all the people nominated by the masses, and not lists handed down from above...

With deep respect for you and faith in your devotion to the people,

M. Nikolaeva, teacher."

The townspeople were dissatisfied with the increase in food prices and its actual rationing, the villagers were dissatisfied with the desire to rid them of living creatures and cut them personal plots, believers - a new wave of closures of churches and houses of worship, creative intelligentsia - reprimands

and threats to expel them from the country, the military - a massive reduction in the armed forces, officials of the party-state apparatus - a constant shake-up of personnel and ill-conceived reorganizations.

Rice. 21.11

The removal of N.S. Khrushchev from power was the result of a conspiracy among the highest party and state leaders. The main role in its preparation was played by the Chairman of the Party Control Committee and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L. N. Shelepin, the head of the KGB V. L. Semichastny, the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M. A. Suslov and others.

While N.S. Khrushchev was vacationing on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus in September 1964, the conspirators prepared his removal. He was summoned to the Plenum of the Party Central Committee in Moscow, where opponents demanded his resignation from the post of First Secretary. N.S. Khrushchev was removed on October 14, 1964 and did not fight for power. The removal took place through a simple vote, without arrests or repressions, which can be considered the main result of the Khrushchev decade. De-Stalinization rocked society, made

the atmosphere in it was freer, and the news of N.S. Khrushchev’s resignation was greeted calmly and even with some approval.

March 5, 1953 Stalin died. With the death of Stalin, an entire era in the life of the country ended. Stalin’s heirs, who came to power after his death, on the one hand, understood that preserving or strengthening the system was impossible and even disastrous, but, on the other hand, they were ready to abandon only some of its most odious elements (the cult of the leader’s personality, mass terror and repressions, complete suppression of commodity-money relations, etc.). The first with proposals for partial rehabilitation of prisoners, revision of the fundamentals foreign policy, the adjustment of agricultural policy was made by G. M. Malenkov, who became Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR after the death of Stalin, and L. P. Beria, from the late 30s. in charge of the punitive system. In July 1953, Beria was arrested and soon executed. The First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, N.S. Khrushchev, who was gaining strength, managed to achieve victory over his main competitor, Malenkov, by 1955. By this time, tens of thousands of people had been released from prisons and camps, victims of the “Doctors’ Plot”, “Leningrad Affair”, and military leaders convicted after the Great Patriotic War had been rehabilitated. Patriotic War. Transformations were promised agriculture: purchasing prices were raised, debts were written off, capital investments in the collective farm economy were increased, taxes on personal subsidiary plots were reduced and it was allowed to increase its size five times. The development of virgin and fallow lands began in Kazakhstan and Western Siberia (1954).

On February 25, 1956, at a closed meeting of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, N. S. Khrushchev made a report “On the cult of personality and its consequences.” The report cited Lenin’s “testament” (“Letter to the Congress”), criticizing Stalin, talking about the execution of the overwhelming majority of the delegates of the 17th Congress, Stalin’s behavior in the first days of the war, and the repressions of the 40s. and much more.

Khrushchev's report was accusatory in nature and made a strong impression on the congress delegates. It was decided not to make the contents of the report known to the people; they limited themselves to reading it at meetings of party activists. However, a few days after the congress full text Khrushchev's report “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences” appeared in foreign newspapers and was broadcast by Western radio stations. In our country, Khrushchev’s report was published only in 1989.

After the 20th Congress, the process of de-Stalinization went faster. Many political prisoners were released from the camps, and many categories of special settlers were removed from the register. The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution that improved legal status former Soviet prisoners of war. In 1957, the Kalmyk, Kabardino-Balkarian, Karachay-Cherkess, Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republics were restored. The moral climate was improving and favorable conditions were created for the development of science and culture, which allowed publicists to define this period Soviet history like "thaw". Has been restored good name many figures of science and art, the banned works of A. A. Akhmatova, M. M. Zoshchenko, S. A. Yesenin began to be published.

In the second half of the 50s. international cultural connections: the USSR hosted festivals of foreign films, theatrical tours, exhibitions of foreign visual arts. In 1957, the World Festival of Youth and Students took place in Moscow. Soviet scientific and cultural figures began to travel abroad again. Informal circles of student youth emerged in Moscow and Leningrad, whose participants sought to better understand the political mechanism of the Soviet system. In Moscow, young people began to gather at the monument to V.V. Mayakovsky, erected in 1958. Participants in these meetings read their poems, prose, and held political discussions. It was from the student environment that those who later came to be called dissidents emerged.

In 1959 it was adopted new charter CPSU, which for the first time spoke about the possibility of internal party discussions, personnel renewal, etc. In 1961, the XXII Congress of the CPSU, having adopted new program party - the “program for building communism”, adopted a resolution on the reburial of Stalin’s body on Red Square and on intensifying the fight against the cult of personality. Molotov, Kaganovich and others were expelled from the party. Finally, in 1962, Khrushchev proposed to begin developing a draft of a new Constitution.

The social policy pursued by Khrushchev was also a departure from the Stalinist model: the passport system was extended to collective farmers, pension provision was streamlined, and mass housing construction, the resettlement of communal apartments began.

However, de-Stalinization was not consistent. In industrial policy, Khrushchev adhered to the priority development of heavy and defense industries and retained command management methods. In the agricultural sector in 1958-1959. there was a return to administrative methods of management. The famous campaign for the forced introduction of corn, the reorganization of machine and tractor stations, the fight against personal subsidiary farms were manifestations of a directive leadership style and caused enormous harm to agriculture. The consequences of ill-conceived decisions were difficulties in supplying cities with food and bread, and grain purchases began abroad (1963). There was an increase in retail prices for products. The resulting unrest in Novocherkassk was suppressed by force (protest participants were shot).

The course towards de-Stalinization in the sphere of culture, ideology, and spiritual life was inconsistent. The “Thaw” was perceived with caution; it was seen as an undesirable “ferment of minds”, “undermining the foundations”. That is why an ideological campaign was launched against B. L. Pasternak, who published the novel “Doctor Zhivago” abroad, abstract artists were ridiculed, and writers and poets who tried to move away from outdated dogmas were criticized. “I am a Stalinist in culture,” Khrushchev himself said. But at the same time, it was he who gave permission for the publication of A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,” directed against Stalinism.

Khrushchev was relieved of his post as First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR at the Plenum of the Central Committee in October 1964. The totalitarian system inherited from the reign of Stalin underwent some changes, but essentially did not change. The spiritual and cultural life of society during the Khrushchev “thaw” was of a contradictory nature. On the one hand, the process of renewal and liberalization in politics could not but cause a revival of culture, a weakening of ideological control, and the rise of science and education. On the other hand, the general approach to cultural sphere distinguished by his previous desire to put it at the service of official ideology. Nevertheless, especially before the beginning of the 1960s, there was a spiritual revival of the creative intelligentsia. The spiritual center of the sixties was the magazine “New World,” headed by A. T. Tvardovsky. The Sovremennik Theater began operating in Moscow under the direction of O. N. Efremov. Many writers, artists, and scientists were able to visit abroad. Memoirs of Soviet military leaders began to be published: in previous years, none of the statesmen and military leaders even dared to write down their memories. In historical science there has been a departure from dogma “ Short course history of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)”, the role of Stalin in the history of the Soviet state was reconsidered. New magazines began to be published: “Yunost”, “Moscow”, “Our Contemporary”, “Young Guard”, “History of the USSR”, “New and recent history”, “Culture and Life”, almanacs and newspapers. New creative unions were created. In 1958, the CPSU Central Committee adopted a resolution “On correcting errors in the evaluation of the operas “Great Friendship”, “Bogdan Khmelnitsky”, “With all my heart”. A sign of the times was the rehabilitation of some cultural figures convicted under Stalin. Forbidden poems by S. A. Yesenin, D. A. Akhmatova, M. I. Tsvetaeva, stories by M. M. Zoshchenko and others were published. During the “thaw”, F. A. Abramov, V. P. first announced themselves. Astafiev, E. A. Evtushenko, R. I. Rozhdestvensky, A. A. Voznesensky, B. A. Akhmadulina, V. P. Aksenov and others. However, the inconsistency of cultural policy made itself felt. Some works of literature and art were received with hostility by N. S. Khrushchev, his advisers and a number of cultural figures (novels by V. D. Dudintsev “Not by Bread Alone”, B. L. Pasternak “Doctor Zhivago”, film by M. M. Khutsiev “ Zastava Ilyich”, etc.). The talented painters E. Belyutin, B. Zhutovsky, and the sculptor E. Neizvestny undeservedly fell into disgrace. There were significant achievements in the development of science and technology, especially in astronautics (the launch of an artificial satellite; the flight of Yu. A. Gagarin; successes in rocket science). A large international research center was created in Dubna - the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. Much attention was given to the average and higher education: tuition fees at universities, technical schools and high schools were canceled high school; instead of seven years, universal compulsory eight-year education was introduced. The number of universities and scientific institutions has increased. Reform that began in 1958 secondary school(eleven-year school instead of ten-year school) with an emphasis on industrial training and vocational training of students was not scientifically justified. In 1964 it was abandoned. In general, the spiritual emancipation of Soviet people during the period under review was not and could not be complete. In the early 1960s. There was a strengthening of ideological dictates in the field of literature and art, and intolerance towards dissent appeared. These years marked the beginning of the dissident movement.

Education

What did the Thaw policy mean in the spiritual sphere? Revival of culture in the 50-60s

On March 5, 1953, an event occurred that radically changed the course of foreign and domestic policy THE USSR. I. Stalin died. By this time, the repressive methods of governing the country had already exhausted themselves, so the henchmen of Stalin’s course urgently had to carry out some reforms aimed at optimizing the economy and implementing social transformations. This time was called the thaw. What did the Thaw policy mean in the spiritual sphere, what new names appeared in cultural life countries, you can read in this article.

XX Congress of the CPSU

In 1955, after the resignation of Malenkov, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev became the head of the Soviet Union. In February 1956, at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, his famous speech on the cult of personality was made. After this, the authority of the new leader noticeably strengthened, despite the resistance of Stalin’s henchmen.

The 20th Congress gave rise to various reform initiatives in our country, reviving the process of cultural reformation of society. What did the Thaw policy mean in spiritual and literary life people can be learned from new books and novels published at that time.

Thaw politics in literature

In 1957, a publication was published abroad famous work B. Pasternak "Doctor Zhivago". Although this work was banned, it was sold in huge quantities in samizdat copies made on old typewriters. The same fate befell the works of M. Bulgakov, V. Grossman and other writers of that time.

The publication of A. Solzhenitsyn’s famous work “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” is indicative. The story, which describes the terrible everyday life of Stalin's camp, was immediately rejected by the chief political scientist Suslov. But the editor of the New World magazine was able to show Solzhenitsyn’s story personally to N.S. Khrushchev, after which permission was given for publication.

Works that expose Stalin's repressions, found their reader.

The opportunity to convey your thoughts to readers, to publish your works in defiance of censorship and authorities - this is what the Thaw policy meant in the spiritual sphere and literature of that time.

Revival of theater and cinema

In the 50-60s, the theater experienced its rebirth. About what the Thaw policy meant in the spiritual sphere and theater arts, is best told by a repertoire of cutting-edge mid-century scenes. Productions about workers and collective farmers have gone into oblivion; the classical repertoire and works of the 20s of the 20th century are returning to the stage. But the command style of work still dominated in the theater, and administrative positions were occupied by incompetent and illiterate officials. Because of this, many performances never saw their audience: plays by Meyerhold, Vampilov and many others remained shelved.

The thaw had a beneficial effect on cinema. Many films of that time became known far beyond the borders of our country. Such works as “The Cranes Are Flying” and “Ivan’s Childhood” won the most prestigious international awards. Soviet cinematography returned to our country the status of a film power, which had been lost since the time of Eisenstein.

Religious persecution

The reduction of political pressure on various aspects of people's lives did not affect the religious policy of the state. Persecution of spiritual and religious leaders intensified. The initiator of the anti-religious campaign was Khrushchev himself. Instead of the physical destruction of believers and religious figures of various faiths, the practice of public ridicule and debunking of religious prejudices was used. Basically, everything that the Thaw policy meant in the spiritual life of believers boiled down to “re-education” and condemnation.

Results

Unfortunately, the period of cultural flourishing did not last long. The final point in the thaw was put by the significant event of 1962 - the destruction of the art exhibition at the Manege. Despite the curtailment of freedoms in the Soviet Union, a return to the dark Stalinist times did not take place. What the Thaw policy meant in the spiritual sphere of every citizen can be described by a sense of the wind of change, a decrease in the role of mass consciousness and an appeal to a person as an individual with the right to his own views.

Current

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous

The “warm wind of change” that blew from the rostrum of the 20th Congress of the CPSU in February 1956 dramatically changed the lives of Soviet people. The writer Ilya Grigorievich Erenburg gave an accurate description of the Khrushchev era, calling it the “thaw.” His novel with the symbolic title “The Thaw” posed a whole series of questions: what should be said about the past, what is the mission of the intelligentsia, what should be its relationship with the party.

In the second half of the 1950s. Society was gripped by a feeling of delight from sudden freedom; the people themselves did not fully understand this new and, undoubtedly, sincere feeling. It was the lack of agreement that gave it a special charm. This feeling dominated in one of the characteristic films of those years - “I Walk Through Moscow”... (Nikita Mikhalkov in the title role, this is one of his first roles). And the song from the film became a hymn to vague delight: “Everything in the world happens well, but you don’t immediately understand what’s going on...”.

The “Thaw” affected, first of all, literature. New magazines appeared: “Youth”, “Young Guard”, “Moscow”, “Our Contemporary”. A special role was played by the magazine “New World”, headed by A.T. Tvardovsky. It was here that the story of A.I. was published. Solzhenitsyn "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." Solzhenitsyn became one of the “dissidents,” as they were later called (dissidents). His writings presented a true picture of the labor, suffering and heroism of the Soviet people.

The rehabilitation of writers S. Yesenin, M. Bulgakov, A. Akhmatova, M. Zoshchenko, O. Mandelstam, B. Pilnyak and others began. Soviet people began to read more and think more. It was then that the statement appeared that the USSR was the most reading country in the world. A mass passion for poetry became a lifestyle; performances by poets took place in stadiums and huge halls. Perhaps, after the “Silver Age” of Russian poetry, interest in it did not rise as high as in the “Khrushchev decade”. For example, E. Yevtushenko, according to contemporaries, performed 250 times a year. The second idol of the reading public was A. Voznesensky.

The “Iron Curtain” to the West began to open. Magazines began to publish works by foreign writers E. Hemingway, E.-M. Remarque, T. Dreiser, J. London and others (E. Zola, V. Hugo, O. de Balzac, S. Zweig).

Remarque and Hemingway influenced not only the minds, but also the lifestyle of certain groups of the population, especially young people, who tried to copy Western fashion and behavior. Lines from the song: “... He wore tight trousers, read Hemingway...”. This is the image of a dude: a young man in tight trousers, long-toed boots, bent in a strange pretentious pose, imitating Western rock and roll, twist, neck, etc.

The process of the “thaw”, the liberalization of literature, was not unambiguous, and this was characteristic of the entire life of society during Khrushchev’s time. Such writers as B. Pasternak (for the novel “Doctor Zhivago”), V.D. remained banned. Dudintsev (“Not by Bread Alone”), D. Granin, A. Voznesensky, I. Erenburg, V.P. Nekrasov. The attacks on writers were associated not so much with criticism of their works, but with changes in the political situation, i.e. with the curtailment of political and social freedoms. At the end of the 1950s. The decline of the “thaw” began in all spheres of society. Among the intelligentsia, voices against N.S.’s policies were becoming increasingly louder. Khrushchev.

Boris Pasternak worked for many years on a novel about the revolution and civil war. Poems from this novel were published back in 1947. But he was unable to publish the novel itself, because the censors saw in it a departure from “socialist realism.” The manuscript of Doctor Zhivago went abroad and was published in Italy. In 1958, Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for this novel, which was not published in the USSR. This caused unequivocal condemnation from Khrushchev and the party. A campaign of flagellation against Pasternak began. He was expelled from the Writers' Union. Almost all writers were forced to join this campaign, subjecting Pasternak to insults. The defamation of Pasternak reflected the party's attempts to maintain complete control over society, not allowing any dissent. Pasternak himself wrote a poem during these days that became famous years later:

What did I dare to mess up?

Am I a dirty trickster and a villain?

I made the whole world cry over the beauty of my land.

Society of the Khrushchev period changed noticeably. People began to visit more often; they “missed communication, missed the opportunity to talk loudly about everything that was bothering them.” After 10 days of fear, when conversations even in a narrow and seemingly confidential circle could and did end in camps and executions, the opportunity arose to talk and communicate. A new phenomenon has become heated debates in the workplace after the end of the working day, in small cafes. “... Cafes have become like aquariums - with glass walls for everyone to see. And instead of solid... [titles], the country was strewn with frivolous “Smiles”, “Minutes”, “Veterki”. In the “glasses” they talked about politics and art, sports and matters of the heart. Communication also took organized forms in palaces and cultural centers, the number of which increased. Oral journals, debates, discussions of literary works, films and performances - these forms of communication have become noticeably livelier compared to previous years, and the statements of the participants were distinguished by a certain degree of freedom. “Associations of interests” began to emerge - clubs of philatelists, scuba divers, book lovers, florists, lovers of songs, jazz music, etc.

The most unusual for Soviet times were international friendship clubs, also the brainchild of the Thaw. In 1957, the VI World Festival of Youth and Students was held in Moscow. It led to the establishment of friendly contacts between the youth of the USSR and other countries. On the other hand, this was beneficial for the authorities, because the opportunity arose to propagandize Soviet society abroad. Thus, one newspaper wrote: “The club is preparing a large photo exhibition “Leningrad” as a gift to the Dutch young communists and the Netherlands-USSR friendship society... photographs are selected of both historical architectural monuments of our city and new large-panel housing construction.”

A characteristic feature of the “Khrushchev Thaw” was universal enthusiasm - a reaction to sudden freedom. The audience enthusiastically received the performances of clowns Tarapunka and Shtepsel, Arkady Raikin (M.V. Mironova and A.S. Menaker, P.V. Rudakov and V.P. Nechaev). The country excitedly repeated Raikin’s words “I’m already laughing!” and “It’s done!”

Television was part of people's lives. Televisions were a rarity; they were watched together with friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and lively discussed programs. The game KVN, which appeared in 1961, gained incredible popularity. This game itself in the 1960s. has become a general epidemic. KVN was played by everyone and everywhere: schoolchildren of junior and senior classes, students of technical schools and students, workers and office workers; in schools and red corners of dormitories, in student clubs and palaces of culture, in rest homes and sanatoriums.

In the art of cinema, the policy of filming only undisputed masterpieces was removed. In 1951, the stagnation in cinema became especially noticeable - only 6 full-length feature films were shot during the year. Subsequently, new talented actors began to appear on the screens. Viewers were introduced to such outstanding works as “Quiet Don”, “The Cranes Are Flying”, “The House Where I Live”, “The Idiot”, etc. In 1958, film studios released 102 films. film (“Carnival Night” with I.I. Ilyinsky and L.M. Gurchenko, “Amphibian Man” with A. Vertinskaya, “Hussar Ballad” with Yu.V. Yakovlev and L.I. Golubkina, “Dog Barbos and the Extraordinary cross" and "Moonshiners" by L.I. Gaidai). A high tradition of intellectual cinema was established, which was picked up in the 1960s and 1970s. Many masters of domestic cinema have received wide international recognition (G. Chukhrai, M. Kalatazov, S. Bondarchuk, A. Tarkovsky, N. Mikhalkov, etc.).

Cinemas began to show Polish, Italian (Federico Fellini), French, German, Indian, Hungarian, and Egyptian films. For the Soviet people it was a breath of new, fresh Western life.

The general approach to the cultural environment was contradictory: it was distinguished by the previous desire to put it in the service of the administrative-command ideology. Khrushchev himself sought to attract wide circles of the intelligentsia to his side, but considered them as “automatic machine gunners of the party,” as he directly said in one of his speeches (i.e., the intelligentsia had to work for the needs of the party). Already since the late 1950s. The control of the party apparatus over the activities of the artistic intelligentsia began to increase. At meetings with its representatives, Khrushchev mentored writers and artists in a fatherly manner, telling them how to work. Although he himself had little understanding of cultural issues, he had average tastes. All this gave rise to distrust of the party's policy in the field of culture.

Opposition sentiments intensified, primarily among the intelligentsia. Representatives of the opposition considered it necessary to carry out a more decisive de-Stalinization than was envisaged by the authorities. The party could not help but react to the public speeches of the oppositionists: “soft repressions” were applied to them (exclusion from the party, dismissal from work, deprivation of capital registration, etc.).