The extreme situation dictated unusual approaches to the organization of management. The search for saving effective measures to rid the country of a really threatening catastrophe led to the creation on June 30, 1941 of the State Defense Committee (GKO) of the USSR.

By a joint resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks created the State Defense Committee of the USSR, determined its state status, nature, functions, and composition. Its features are that it is endowed with unlimited powers, united the state, party, public principles of administration, became an extraordinary and authoritative body of power and administration, headed the verticals of the Soviet, party, and entire civilian administration of the fighting state. The GKO was headed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks I.V. Stalin, which meant the highest degree of centralization of management, concentration, combination of its various forms in the hands of one official. Members of the GKO represented the top party and state leadership, made up a narrow composition of the PB of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which considered preliminary, proposed draft decisions on all the most important issues of state life, power and administration. The formation of the State Defense Committee gave legitimacy to the decisions of the Politburo, which included people close to I.V. Stalin faces.

The members of the State Defense Committee, in addition to their previous great powers, received unlimited powers in order to increase the efficiency of specific branches of government.

The Joint Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks obliged all citizens, all state, military, economic, party, trade union, Komsomol bodies to unquestioningly comply with the decisions and orders of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, which were given the force of wartime laws.

The emergency body worked in an extraordinary way. The T-bills had no work regulations, they met irregularly and not always in full force. Decisions were made by the chairman or his deputies - V.M. Molotov (since June 30, 1941) and L.P. Beria (since May 16, 1944) after consultations with those members of the GKO who supervised the relevant departments. The people's commissars and military leaders in their memoirs note that the decision-making procedure was simplified to the limit, the initiative of responsible persons was encouraged, and the businesslike nature of the work of the GKO was ensured. Since the top leaders of the country were simultaneously members of the State Defense Committee, the Politburo, the Stavka, the Council of People's Commissars, their decisions were often formalized as directives and resolutions of one or another governing body, depending on the nature of the issue under consideration. Marshal G.K. Zhukov recalled that it was not always possible to determine at a meeting of which body he was present. He characterized the work of the State Defense Committee as follows: “At the meetings of the State Defense Committee, which took place at any time of the day, as a rule, in the Kremlin or at the dacha of I.V. Stalin, the most important issues were discussed and adopted” Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. Ed. 10th. M., 2000. S. 130-140 ..

A feature of the activities of the State Defense Committee was the absence of its own branched apparatus. Management was carried out through the apparatus of organs government controlled, party committees. In the most important sectors of the national economy, there was an institution of authorized GKOs, who very often were simultaneously representatives of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which provided them with unlimited rights. There were also representatives in all the union and autonomous republics.

On the ground in the most strategically important regions, regional and city defense committees were formed and operated.

These local emergency bodies ensured the unity of administration in a state of emergency, were created by the decision of the State Defense Committee, were guided by its decisions, decisions of local, party and Soviet bodies, military councils of fronts and armies. The GKO established such bodies in almost 60 cities of the Moscow region, the Center, the Volga region, the North Caucasus, and since 1942 in large cities of the Transcaucasus. They united civil and military power in cities that were in the combat zone and near the front line or were within the range of enemy aircraft, as well as where ships of the naval and merchant fleet. They included the first officials of the party, state governments, military commissars, commandants of garrisons, heads of departments of the NKVD. They were closely connected with the military command, and their representatives were at the same time members of the respective military councils. Lacking their own staff, as well as the GKO in the center, the city defense committees relied on local party, Soviet, economic, and public bodies. Under them, there was an institution of commissioners, task forces were created to urgently resolve issues, social activists Danilov V.N. were widely involved. War and power: Emergency authorities of the regions of Russia during the Great Patriotic War. / Danilov V.N. - Saratov, 1996. S. 47-52 ..

Auxiliary emergency bodies were also created. On June 24, 1941, the Evacuation Council appeared as part of N.M. Shvernik and his deputy A.N. Kosygin. “Create a Council. To oblige him to start work,” the corresponding resolution read. Such conciseness, combined with the absence of work regulations, opened up wide scope for initiative. On July 16, 1941, M.G. was introduced to the council. Pervukhin (Deputy Chairman), A.I. Mikoyan, L.M. Kaganovich, M.Z. Saburov, B.C. Abakumov. The Council acted as a body attached to the State Defense Committee, and had authorized members of the State Defense Committee. Additionally, in October 1941, the Committee for the Evacuation of Food Stocks, Industrial Goods and Industrial Enterprises was formed. At the end of December 1941, instead of both of these bodies, the Directorate for Evacuation Affairs under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the corresponding departments in the republics, territories and regions, and evacuation centers on the railways were created.

The Committee for Food and Clothing Supply of the Red Army, the Committee for Unloading Transit Cargoes, and the Transport Committee also became similar emergency bodies. The latter was formed under the GKO on February 14, 1942. His duties included planning and regulating transportation by all modes of transport, coordinating their work, and developing measures to improve the material base. The effectiveness of the management of the transport system was evidenced by the head of the military communications department, and since December 1944, the People's Commissar of Railways I.V. Kovalev: during the war years, there was not a single train crash due to the fault of the railway workers, and not a single military echelon was destroyed by enemy aircraft along the way.

The operational bureau created on December 8, 1942 under the State Defense Committee of the USSR, which controlled all the people's commissariats of the defense complex, compiled quarterly and monthly production plans, and prepared drafts of relevant decisions for the chairman of the State Defense Committee, had peculiar functions.

The State Defense Committee and other higher administration bodies paid maximum attention to the military organizational system, changed the structure and composition of the military leadership during the war, made up for the loss of command staff, helped the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the General Staff of the Red Army, the departments of NGOs, the Navy, the command of strategic directions and fronts. Management of all structures of the armed forces has been established, the command of fronts, armies, formations and operational formations as part of fronts, corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, etc. has been streamlined.

From July 15, 1941 to October 9, 1942, the institute of military commissars and political officers in companies functioned in all parts of the Red Army and on ships of the Navy. Unlike the commissars of the period of foreign military intervention and the civil war, the military commissars of 1941-1942. they did not have the right to control the command staff, but often many of them interfered in the actions of military leaders, which undermined unity of command and created a state of dual power in the military body. In the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 9, 1942, the abolition of the institution of military commissars is motivated by the fact that he fulfilled the tasks assigned to him. At the same time, the institution of deputy commanders for political work (zampolitov) was introduced, who throughout the war and after it performed the functions of ideological and political education of constantly updated personnel under military leaders.

In connection with the growth of the partisan movement, on May 30, 1942, the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (TSSHPD) was formed at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. It was headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus P.K. Ponomarenko. TSSHPD coordinated the actions of numerous partisan detachments among themselves and with regular army units, organized the supply of people's avengers with weapons, ammunition, communications equipment, provided medical assistance, established mutual information, held meetings of partisan commanders in Moscow, helped prepare and conduct deep raids of partisan formations on the rear of the Nazi army; and others. TsSHPD worked together with the leaders of the underground Soviet, party, Komsomol bodies in the temporarily occupied territory. Management of the mass partisan movement from single center turned out to be especially effective in the liberation of Soviet territory in 1943-1944 N. Vert. History of the Soviet state. /vert. N. 1900--1991 / Per. from fr. -M., 1992. S. 38-49 ..

The state management of the military sphere acquired not only a priority, but also a comprehensive character, new functions, was carried out on the basis of martial law, by emergency methods, ensured intensive military development, a qualitatively new level of military organizational work, ultimately victorious, although with separate errors and failures, the fulfillment by the Armed Forces of the main tasks of protecting the country and defeating the enemy.

Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

University of Moscow

Department of History of State and Law

on the topic: "Formation of the State Defense Committee of the USSR and city defense committees"

Introduction

State Defense Committee, Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the General Staff

State Defense Committee

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

City defense committees

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

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

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

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

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

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

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

Determine the role and place of GKOs in the system of emergency authorities;

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

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

Picture 1

According to the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, the supreme body of state power in the USSR was the Supreme Soviet (SC) of the USSR, which was elected for 4 years. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR elected the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR - the highest authority of the Soviet Union in the period between sessions of the Supreme Council. Also, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR elected the government of the USSR - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (SNK). The Supreme Court was elected by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for a term of five years. The USSR Armed Forces also appointed the Prosecutor (Procurator General) of the USSR.

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

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

The Defense Committee (KO) under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR supervised and coordinated issues of military development and direct preparation of the country for defense. Although before the war it was envisaged that with the outbreak of hostilities, the military command should be carried out by the Main Military Council headed by the People's Commissar of Defense, this did not happen. The general leadership of the armed struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi troops was assumed by the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, or rather its Central Committee (CC), headed by Stalin I.V. The situation on the fronts was very difficult, the Soviet troops retreated everywhere. It was necessary to reorganize the highest bodies of state and military administration.

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

“There was no bureaucracy in both the Headquarters and the State Defense Committee. They were exclusively operational bodies. , which should be exactly like this, but it happened so, "recalled the head of the Logistics, General of the Army Khrulev A.V. In the first months of the Great Patriotic War, there was a complete centralization of power in the country. Stalin I.V. concentrated immense power in his hands - while remaining General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he headed the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the State Defense Committee, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command and the People's Commissariat of Defense.

2. State Defense Committee

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

The GKO was endowed with broad legislative, executive and administrative functions, it united the military, political and economic leadership of the country. The decrees and orders of the State Defense Committee had the force of wartime laws and were subject to unquestioning execution by all party, state, military, economic and trade union bodies. However, the USSR Armed Forces, the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the people's commissariats also continued to operate, fulfilling the decrees and decisions of the State Defense Committee. During the Great Patriotic War, the State Defense Committee adopted 9971 resolutions, of which about two-thirds dealt with the problems of the military economy and the organization of military production: the evacuation of the population and industry; mobilization of industry, production of weapons and ammunition; handling captured weapons and ammunition; organization of hostilities, distribution of weapons; appointment of authorized GKOs; structural changes in the State Defense Committee itself, etc. The remaining decisions of the State Defense Committee concerned political, personnel, and other issues.

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

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

From the jurisdiction of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR to the jurisdiction of the State Defense Committee, the people's commissariats of the defense industry were transferred: People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry, People's Commissariat of Tank Industry, People's Commissariat of Ammunition, People's Commissariat for Armaments, People's Commissariat for Armaments, People's Commissariat for Armaments, and others. GKO resolutions on the production of military products. The commissioners had mandates, signed by the chairman of the GKO - Stalin, which clearly defined the practical tasks that the GKO set for their commissioners. As a result of the efforts made, the output of military products in March 1942 only in the eastern regions of the country reached the pre-war level of its output throughout the entire territory of the Soviet Union.

During the war, in order to achieve maximum efficiency of management and adaptation to current conditions, the structure of the GKO was repeatedly changed. One of the important divisions of the State Defense Committee was the Operations Bureau, established on December 8, 1942. The Operations Bureau included L.P. Beria, G.M. Malenkov, A.I. Mikoyan. and Molotov V.M. The tasks of this unit initially included the coordination and unification of the actions of all other units of the State Defense Committee. But in 1944 the bureau's functions were significantly expanded.

It began to control the current work of all the people's commissariats of the defense industry, as well as the preparation and implementation of plans for the production and supply of industries and transport. The operational bureau became responsible for supplying the army, in addition, the duties of the previously abolished Transport Committee were assigned to it. "All members of the GKO were in charge of certain areas of work. So, Molotov was in charge of tanks, Mikoyan was in charge of quartermaster supply, fuel supply, lend-lease issues, sometimes he carried out individual orders from Stalin to deliver shells to the front. Malenkov was engaged in aviation, Beria - ammunition and weapons. Everyone came to Stalin with their own questions and said: I ask you to make such and such a decision on such and such an issue ... "- recalled the head of the Logistics, General of the Army Khrulev A.V.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Often their activities were reduced to the transfer of information from the fronts to the Headquarters and, conversely, the orders of the Headquarters to the fronts.

The commanders-in-chief of the troops of the strategic directions were not able to improve the leadership of the fronts. The main commands of the troops of strategic directions began to be abolished one by one. But finally the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command did not refuse them. In February 1942, the Headquarters assigned the commander Western Front General of the Army Zhukov G.K. duties of the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Direction, to coordinate the military operations of the Western and Kalinin fronts during the Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation . Soon the High Command of the troops of the South-Western direction was restored. Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, commander of the Southwestern Front, was appointed commander-in-chief to coordinate the actions of the Southwestern and neighboring Bryansk fronts. And in April 1942, on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front, the High Command of the troops of the North Caucasian direction was formed, headed by Marshal S.M. Azov military flotilla. Soon, such a control system, as ineffective as it was, had to be abandoned. In May 1942, the High Commands of the troops of the Western and North Caucasian directions were abolished, and in June - of the South-Western directions.

The institute of representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, which became more widespread during the Great Patriotic War, appeared to replace it. The most trained military leaders were appointed as representatives of the Headquarters, who were endowed with broad powers and were usually sent to where, according to the plan of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the main tasks at the moment were being solved. Representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command at the fronts in different time were: Budyonny S.M., Zhukov G.K., Vasilevsky A.M., Voroshilov K.E., Antonov A.I., Timoshenko S.K., Kuznetsov N.G., Shtemenko S.M., Novikov A.A. and others. Supreme Commander - Stalin I.V. demanded from representatives of the Headquarters constant reports on the progress of the tasks, often calling them to the Headquarters during operations, especially when something went wrong.

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

Campaign plans were adopted at joint meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, although in the first months of the war the principle of collegiality was practically not respected. The commanders of the fronts, branches of the Armed Forces and combat arms took the most active part in further work on the preparation of operations. With the stabilization of the front, the reorganization of the system of strategic leadership, the command and control of troops was also improved. The planning of operations began to be characterized by more coordinated efforts of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, the General Staff and the headquarters of the fronts.

The Supreme Command Headquarters developed the most expedient methods of strategic leadership gradually, with the accumulation of combat experience and the growth of military art among the highest echelons of command and staffs. In the course of the war, the methods of strategic leadership of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command were continuously developed and improved. The most important issues of strategic plans and plans of operations were discussed at its meetings, which in a number of cases were attended by commanders and members of the military councils of the fronts, commanders of the branches of the armed forces and military branches. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief personally formulated the final decision on the issues under discussion.

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

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

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

4. City defense committees

City Defense Committee - Emergency authority in the largest cities of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War .

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

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

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

Among the tasks of the City Defense Committee: carrying out activities for local air defense (MPVO) and chemical defense (PVHO); preparation for the defense of the city in case of approaching the front line; ensuring uninterrupted supplies of products from Kostroma enterprises to the operating units of the Red Army; maintenance in the cities of the order established by the rules of war; conducting universal compulsory military training for city residents and much more.

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

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

military defense high command armed

Conclusion

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

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

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

The main feature of the public administration system in wartime was the creation and functioning of emergency authorities - GKO in the center and city defense committees in the field.

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

d. The State Defense Committee, which, having the highest authority, coordinated the work of all branches of state power, led the economy, the army, and society.

The criterion for the effectiveness of public administration in a war period, as you know, is victory in the war. At the same time, the price of victory is very important. It was huge for us, because the losses turned out to be prohibitive. And, nevertheless, the Soviet government and the CPSU (b) managed to rally the army and the people, recover from the heavy defeats of the first year and a half of the war, and ultimately lead the country to victory. The results of the activities of the State Defense Committee were summed up by the war.

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

The Great Patriotic War was a serious test for the Soviet state. Of paramount importance in the mobilization of the Soviet people for victory was the organizing role of the state power, the entire system of state administration, which during the years of the last war was of an emergency nature.

Bibliography

1. Tenth session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: Stenogr. report. M., 1944. Kalinin M.I. Articles and speeches (1941-1946). - M.1975. Eleventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: Stenogr. report. - M., 1945. .

2. The work of the Soviets in the conditions of war: On the issue of increasing the authority of the village Council; The power of the Soviet state: Articles and speeches (1941-1946). - M., 2005.

Abaev A.I. The working class of North Ossetia during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Ordzhonikidze, 2008.

Abdullaev Sh.M. State authorities and public organizations of Dagestan in economic and socio-cultural construction in the 30s of the XX century. - Makhachkala, 2003.

Azovkin I.A. Local Councils in the system of authorities. - M., 2001.

Azovkin H.A. Management and control in the activities of the highest authorities in the USSR. - M., 2006.

Azovkin H.A., Gaidukov D.A., Kirin V.N. The highest representative bodies of power in the USSR. - M., 2005.

Artamanov D.N. Institute of martial law under Soviet law. - M., 1993.

Bilenko C.V. From the history of the Soviet police during the Great Patriotic War. - M., 2007;

Bilenko C.V. Soviet militia in defense of the Fatherland (1941-1945). - M., 2006.

Bilenko C.V. Soviet militia: history and modernity. 1917-1987.-M., 2007.

Boffa D. History of the Soviet Union. From the Patriotic War to the position of the second world power. Stalin and Khrushchev, 1941-1964 -T. 2.-M., 2000.

Varyukhin G.A. On the study of the history of local Soviets during the Great Patriotic War. - Cheboksary, 2006.

Vasiliev V.I. Relations between the highest and local bodies of state power and state administration in the Soviet socialist state. - M., 2004.

Vasiliev N.M. On the improvement of the work of the Soviet state apparatus. - Chisinau, 2004.

Kositsyn A.P. History of the Soviet state and law. Soviet state and law on the eve and during the Great Patriotic War (1936-1945). Book. 3. - M., 2005.

Manokhin V.M. Bodies of the Soviet state administration. - Saratov, 2002.

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

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

The State Defense Committee was an emergency governing body created during the Great Patriotic War, which had full power in the USSR. The need for creation was obvious, since in wartime it was required to concentrate all executive and legislative power in the country in one governing body. Stalin and the Politburo actually headed the state and made all decisions. However, the decisions made formally came from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, etc. , which included some members of the Politburo, secretaries of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and Stalin himself, as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

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

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

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

Chairman of the GKO -- I. V. Stalin

Deputy Chairman of the GKO - V. M. Molotov.

GKO members - K. E. Voroshilov, G. M. Malenkov, L. P. Beria.

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

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

The first GKO decree (“On the organization of the production of T-34 medium tanks at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant”) was issued on July 1, 1941, the last one (No. ”) - September 4, 1945. The numbering of decisions was kept through.

Of the 9971 decisions and orders adopted by the GKO during its work, 98 documents are completely classified and three more are partially classified (they relate mainly to the production chemical weapons and the atomic problem).

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

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

The overwhelming majority of GKO resolutions were classified as “Secret”, “Top Secret” or “Top Secret / Special Importance” (the designation “s”, “ss” and “ss / s” after the number), but some resolutions were open and published in the press (an example of such a resolution is the Decree of the State Defense Committee No. 813 of 10/19/41 on the introduction of a state of siege in Moscow).

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

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

mobilization of industry, production of weapons and ammunition;

handling captured weapons and ammunition;

study and export to the USSR of captured samples of equipment, industrial equipment, reparations (at the final stage of the war);

organization of hostilities, distribution of weapons, etc.;

appointment of authorized GKOs;

about the beginning of "works on uranium" (the creation of nuclear weapons);

structural changes in the GKO itself.

The GKO included several structural divisions. Over the period of its existence, the structure of the Committee has changed several times, with the aim of maximizing management efficiency and adapting to current conditions.

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

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

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

The main function of the GKO was to manage all military and economic issues during the war. The leadership of the fighting was carried out through the Headquarters.

Correct article link:

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

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

Kodan Sergey Vladimirovich

Doctor of Law

Professor, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, Member of the Expert Council on Law of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation, Professor of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the Ural State Law University, Chief Editor journal "Genesis: Historical Research"

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

Kodan Sergei Vladimirovich

Doctor of Law

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

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

10.7256/2409-868X.2015.3.15198

Date of submission of the article to the editor:

07-05-2015

Publication date:

09-05-2015

Annotation.

The creation and activities of the State Defense Committee reflected the features of state administration in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, in which the concentration of all resources was required to win the war. AT prewar years the system of government of the country was finally formed, in which the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks determined state policy and actually headed the party and state administration. The creation of the State Defense Committee on June 30, 1941 fully reflected this trend and, in the conditions of the war, as an emergency party-state body, concentrated all power in the state. Declassified archival documents on the activities of the State Defense Committee create new opportunities for studying its activities. The article presents a description of the creation, composition, activities and an overview of the materials of the official office work of the State Defense Committee. The article characterizes the State Defense Committee, and the representation of publications of documents on activities in scientific research, indicates the possibility of attracting new materials. The latter is due to the fact that almost the entire array of documents on activities has been declassified and creates opportunities for further research into the history of GKOs.

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

abstract.

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

keywords:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The place of the State Defense Committee in the system of party and state administration of the USSRduring the Great Patriotic War, it was determined by its characteristics as a body that was complex in its political and administrative nature - it simultaneously combined both party leadership and state administration of the country. At the same time, the main question is whether to preserve or abandon in the conditions of the war from the former, which had developed by the beginning of the 1940s. administrative-command system of the party-Soviet administration in the country. It was actually represented by one person - V.I. Stalin, who relied on a narrow circle of party functionaries and at the same time the leaders of the highest bodies of state power and administration that are part of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b).

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

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

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

Directions and organization of GKO activitiescombined the principles of collegiality in discussing issues and unity of command in making decisions, and the committee itself acted "as a think tank and a mechanism for restructuring the country on a military footing." At the same time, "the main activity of the GKO was the work on the transfer of the Soviet state from peacetime to wartime." The activities of the committee covered the most complex set of issues in almost all areas of the political and state administration of the country in wartime conditions.

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

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

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

Of particular importance in the organizational structure of the GKO was the institution of its representatives, who, as representatives of the committee, were sent to enterprises, front-line regions, etc. Military historians note that “the establishment of the institution of GKO commissioners has become a powerful lever for the implementation of not only its decisions. At large enterprises, in addition to authorized GKOs, party organizers of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Komsomol organizers of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, authorized representatives of the NKVD, authorized by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions worked. In other words, there was a whole army of supervisors on issues of performance discipline. It should be noted that most often authorized GKOs, who had incomparably greater rights and opportunities than the heads of enterprises, provided them with invaluable practical assistance. But there were also those who, without delving into the technological processes of production, acting by intimidation and threats, brought confusion. In such cases, a well-founded report to the chairman of the GKO quickly allowed conflict situation» .

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

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

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

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

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

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

The potential of studying documents on the activities of GKOs is far from being exhausted. At present, the GKO materials are mostly open and are stored in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (formerly the Central Party Archive of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU) - Fund 644. Only 98 decisions and orders of the GKO and partially 3 more documents have not been declassified. . The website of the Federal Archival Agency of the Russian Federation contains lists of GKO documents available to the researcher.

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

Bibliography

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