If you were born in 1956, you will never know how many children in our country were born at the same time as you. And also ¬– how many marriages and divorces happened this year in the Soviet Union and how many inhabitants of a great country moved to another world. You also don’t know how many citizens in general were the happy owners of a sickle and hammered Soviet passport (with a cover not red, but dark green). Therefore, you will not find out that there are no statistics in the USSR yet. The population census was carried out in the 39th, and the next one will be only in the 59th. But if it had not been for the events of 56, it would never have taken place.
The year 1956 is a turning point, its beginning and end are like different eras. After Stalin's death, quite a bit of time passed, but mass grief over the "leader of the peoples" and the question in the eyes of "How to live on?" remained in the past - we live and will live! Between winter and spring of this year - the borderline: the XX Congress, which stirred up, split the society. Spring 1956 - the beginning of the legendary Khrushchev "thaw". But we still have to get to spring.
—The Chukchi were given an apartment on the 9th floor. - Like? - they ask him some time later. - Legs hurt, walk high on the ninth. - But the elevator is ... The Chukchi were given an apartment on the 9th floor. - Like? - they ask him some time later. - Legs hurt, walk high on the ninth. - But there is an elevator. - Yes, there is, but it says that it is designed for 4 people. Long wait for three more. Type: Sadistic Rhymes
—In the Voronezh region there is a camp "Golden Ear". This is a children's camp. There used to be a castle on the site of this camp. A rich gentleman lived there. Have n ... In the Voronezh region there is a camp "Golden Ear". This is a children's camp. There used to be a castle on the site of this camp. A rich gentleman lived there. He had a servant, Belin. One day he ordered her to wash his white shirt. Belina washed it, but when she was hanging it to dry, she accidentally dropped her shirt. The master was terribly angry, he chopped off Belina's head and buried it under a tree. He made a cross on a tree. (Last year I was in the camp - the cross really exists, there is a mound under the tree). After that Belina became completely white - hair, body, everything. Now she walks around the camp at night, and if she sees a sleepy man in a white shirt after midnight, she will strangle him ...
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The events in the USSR in 1956 radically changed the course of the development of the state. This year has been replete with successful discoveries, political announcements and important laws. If you analyze the course of events, then you can see a certain logical connection in the chronology.
Event # 1
On February 13, 1956, the Soviet Antarctic was opened. The construction of the facility was carried out as soon as possible. Shock construction began on January 5, 1956, when the Soviet ship "Ob" approached the coast of Antarctica. Until February 13, the ship's crew built 21 buildings for research and accommodation for members of the expedition, as well as an airfield. could already fly great distances, so the path through the air was much faster than through water. The grandiose construction was completed the day before the opening of the fateful 20th Congress of the CPSU. Is it logical? Undoubtedly! We tried not to be in time!
February 1956: an event in the USSR that changed attitudes towards Stalin
Soviet life from the early 1930s until Stalin's death in 1953 was filled with horror. Repressions, deaths, denunciations, executions, the destruction of the best military before the start of the war, the exaltation of the personality of Joseph Stalin. Such moments were obvious excesses and were not prescribed in the Marxist-Leninist theory, which in its essence was quite interesting and democratic.
The convention opened on February 14, 1956. More than 1400 delegates from all the republics of the Union took part in its work. The importance of this event was that the 19th Congress took place back in the 1930s. It was necessary to reset all spheres of life in Soviet society. Congress delegates condemned the political excesses that took place during Stalin's rule. It was emphasized that Stalin did not become a follower of Lenin in the implementation of the provisions of the Marxist-Leninist theory. At this congress, a creative rethinking of the life of the USSR took place in the past 20 years. The delegates agreed on important decisions of the Council of Ministers regarding the gradual increase in salaries, strengthening the development of agriculture. The so-called thaw began in cultural life. The apogee of the congress and the whole political life states for long years came It was on this day that Nikita Khrushchev made his famous speech on the debunking of the personality cult.
Kuibyshev - the city of mysticism and faith in God
Atheism ... Godlessness ... 1956 ... The events in the USSR in Kuibyshev proved to many supporters of the absence of heavenly powers that their views were erroneous. Zoe's Stand is a miracle that shook the entire city. Important events in the USSR in 1956 did not always become public knowledge. For example, only the residents of Kuibyshev, the internal affairs bodies and the church knew about "Zoya's standing". What happened on the evening before the New Year in an ordinary Soviet family? The girl wanted to meet New Year with friends, dancing, etc. Mother discouraged her from such a celebration, because the Nativity Fast was not over yet. It is clear that the youth of that time did not respect the church order. Mother went to church to pray, and the party started at home. Girlfriends came with their young people, but Zoya's boyfriend Nikolai was a little late. It turned out that she had no one to dance with. The girl took in her hands the image of St. Nicholas, saying: "I will dance with this Nicholas!" Almost immediately after that, a glow appeared in the room, the girl turned to stone in the literal sense of the word. The peculiarity of this fact was that she did not die, because the palpitations were felt. A pilgrimage literally began from all over the city to Zoya's house, so they set up a police guard there. Church dignitaries also came and read prayers over Zoya. "Zoe's Stand" lasted 128 days and ended on May 6, 1956 at Easter. After this event, atheism in Kuibyshev ended - people began to go to church, pray and undergo baptism. The year 1956 was marked by such a sensation.
Events in the USSR: football
Football went on as usual. The USSR Championship was already held in several divisions. This year, the geography of the championship participants has expanded at the expense of teams from remote Soviet republics and teams from the Far East. In the major league, the standings at the end of the season are undoubtedly headed by the capital's clubs. Spartak became the champion with 34 points. Moscow “Dynamo” lagged behind by 6 points, and CDSA - by as much as 9 points. Who do you think became the best non-Moscow club? Right! Dynamo (Kiev) took 4th place in the tournament. "Trudovye Rezervy" (Leningrad) and "ODO" (Sverdlovsk) took off in the first league.
Football events in the USSR in 1956 were not limited to the championship. Summer Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia. The main favorites of the football tournament, despite the participation of the German, British, Yugoslav teams (all these countries sent young people), were the national teams of the USSR and Bulgaria. In addition to these teams, several openly weak national teams took part in the tournament. The Soviet team played 5 matches (4 wins and a draw). In the tournament, our players passed the German youth, Indonesia (we had to replay with them), Bulgaria. In the final, they beat the Yugoslavian team with a score of 1: 0.
Labor law transformations
The significant events of 1956 are not limited to football, the Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the opening of a station in Antarctica. Important changes were adopted in the labor legislation. On May 26, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the establishment of a six-hour working day for persons aged 16 to 18" was signed. On July 14, 1956, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Law "On State Pensions", which provided for a slight increase in pensions to persons entitled to them, as well as the possibility of assigning pensions to collective farm workers if they had a passport and the opportunity to confirm their seniority.
Treaty with Japan
Let's talk about what happened in the USSR in 1956 yet. From foreign policy events, it is worth recalling the reconciliation with Japan. Until now, in wide circles of the public it is believed that the Second World War not officially completed, because the successors of the USSR did not sign a peace treaty with Japan. October 19 Soviet and Japanese diplomats held negotiations, as a result of which a Declaration on the end of the state of war between states was signed. The countries restored diplomatic relations and exchanged ambassadors.
Development of virgin lands
As we have already noted, many events in the USSR in 1956 left a significant mark on history. The development of virgin lands is one of them. In the Central Asian republics, many lands were not cultivated, which could potentially become sown. To do this, they had to be processed. In 1956, the Council of Ministers issued a resolution "On the development of virgin lands". The trip to the development of virgin lands has become the most popular Komsomol route in the country. Already in 1956, more than 50 thousand people attended these works for the benefit of the Soviet homeland.
Aircraft construction
In 1956, Soviet engineers surprised the whole world with a new model of a passenger liner. This is a TU-104 jet aircraft. This model was demonstrated at air shows. The liner made its first regular flight on the route "Moscow - Omsk - Irkutsk". Fast, convenient and inexpensive - main principle in the work of Aeroflot. Soviet engineers never ceased to amaze the world with new achievements all the time.
Conclusion
Probably, the most intense important moments turned out to be February 1956. Event in the USSR No. 1, of course, which determined the development trends of the state for years to come. Many resolutions of the Council of Ministers and the Presidium of the Supreme Council, issued in 1956, implemented the decisions adopted at the congress. 1956 became one of the most important and fruitful years in the history of the USSR.
"Tbilisi events" or the "Tbilisi Demonstrations" of March 1956 were the first major protest since 1924. These were not so much the consequences of dissatisfaction with something, as the consequences of a misunderstanding of the "party line" and the inability of the party leadership to correctly explain what was happening.
On February 25, 1956, Khrushchev read his famous lecture on the personality cult. Stalin was accused of excesses and some emphasis was placed on his Georgian origin.
... And all this was done under the “brilliant” leadership of Stalin - “the great son of the Georgian people,” as the Georgians liked to call their fellow countryman. (Movement in the hall.)
In his report, Khreshchev says nothing against the Georgian SSR, and on the contrary, he argues that there can be nothing anti-Soviet in Georgia. But the very fact of discussing Georgia in the context of this report looked suspicious in those years. The air smelled of an anti-Georgian campaign. Meanwhile, a whole generation of Stalinists had already been raised in Georgia, for whom the cult of Stalin became a kind of legal version of nationalism.
In 1956, what was happening looked scary. Everyone remembered the deportation of Meskhetians, Armenians, Greeks, Balkars and Chechens. Everyone understood that any people could be evicted to Siberia just like that, for no apparent reason - like the Armenians in 1949. People were very much intimidated.
On March 5, mourning events were usually held, but this time they did not happen - which greatly surprised the population. Then people themselves went to the monument to Stalin on the Kura embankment with wreaths and flowers. Now this monument does not exist, in its place there is just a round flower bed. But it all happened here.
On March 6 at 16:00, Mzhavanadze addressed the party leadership and read out a closed letter about the cult of personality to them. It was information for internal use, but in the form of rumors, it immediately began to spread throughout the city. The rallies immediately take on a more massive and aggressive character.
On March 8, almost 3,000 people gathered - mostly students. The protesters began to formulate requirements for the government. These were a kind of proposals for the development of Stalinism, which were more than inappropriate in those days: they demanded to declare March 9 a non-working day, to raise a balloon with a portrait of Stalin, to restore the Stalin Prize, to return the constitution to the name "Stalinist", to call May 9 the day of Stalin's victory, and so on. Further. At the same time, it was proposed to rename the city of Samtredia to Dzhugashvili.
On the same day, the protesters decided to talk with Zhu Te, who is in Tbilisi, the Chinese marshal and deputy of Mao Tse Tung, and went to him in Krtsanisi. Police and soldiers tried to stop the crowd at the Maidan and then at the Ortachal hydroelectric station, but there were too few of them, and the crowd broke through to Krtsanisi. Zhu De went to the protesters, said "Long live the party of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin!", Promised to continue the conversation the next day - and fled to Moscow.
Students searched all over the city for Mzhavanadze, but he avoided talking and promised to clarify everything, but did not explain. At one meeting, he nevertheless appeared, but with his knowledge of the Georgian language, this gave rather the opposite effect. ( Shevardnadze later recalled: “At first, when he spoke at the rally, this calmed people to some extent, but the trouble is that Mzhavanadze hardly spoke Georgian. He spoke, said a few words. This caused laughter. there was no point in his presence. ")
Nothing criminal happened, but the leadership realized that day that unarmed soldiers could not do anything. And it was decided to arm them.
On March 9, the rally continued, and already 30 or 40 thousand people gathered. Someone decided to send a telegram to Molotov and the people went to the House of Communications on Rustaveli Avenue (opposite the Tbilisi Hotel). What happened next is not entirely clear. According to one version, the crowd rushed to storm the House of Communications. According to the other, only a few people went to the House, who were seized, and the crowd rushed to free them. And then the soldiers opened fire with machine guns. They shot from the windows of the House of Communications along Rustaveli Avenue in front of the hotel, in front of the Gymnasium and the Kashveti Temple. Professor Nurbey Gulia later recalled how he hid from bullets behind the monument to Ninoshvili (standing to this day to the left of the National Gallery) and then ran down through the Alexander Garden.
On this day, 15 people died, and another 7 died later in the hospital. 200 or 300 people were arrested, including three dozen party communists and more than a hundred Komsomol members.
The unrest also took place in Kutaisi, where Eduard Shevardnadze, at that time the head of the Kutaisi Komsomol, was staying. Several thousand people gathered, Shevardnadze made explanations several times, and as a result, the matter did not come to the shooting.
Mzhavanadze had the opportunity to relieve tension if he had communicated with the people before March 9. After the shooting, he had to make some efforts to calm the people down. The death toll was underestimated, the party's position was gently explained, and serious unrest was avoided. Khrushchev swore at Mzhavanadze very strongly, but did not punish his personal friend. But the second secretary (Mikhail Georgadze), although he made some efforts (participated in negotiations with Zhu De), was removed. In Georgia, they disliked Khrushchev and the first dissidents began to appear.
The March riots among the students were attended by the future fighters against the Soviet regime - Gamsakhurdia and Kostava. They came under surveillance and were arrested in December of that year. And the father of Gamsakhurdia that year completed his famous novel "The Hand of the Great Master".
On the building of the House of Communications, on the wall facing the 1st grammar school, there is now a black memorial plaque in memory of those events.
Thanks to the team of authors from the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces and the published book "The secrecy stamp has been removed", it became possible to speak openly about the events that took place several decades ago outside the USSR, and about the role of our compatriots in these events.
The staff of the Institute of Military History prepared and published the All-Russian Book of Memory. Despite the fact that this work is based on the "List of states, cities, territories and periods of hostilities with the participation of citizens of the Russian Federation", which is published in the Appendices to the Federal Law on Veterans of December 16, 1994 and the Law "On Amendments and Additions to The Federal Law "On Veterans" of January 2, 2000, the authors were forced to include in their book the list of names of servicemen who died during the Cuban Missile Crisis and after it in Cuba in 1962-1964. As well as when troops entered Czechoslovakia in 1968 ( these countries, for some unknown reason, do not appear in the List, but the development of events in them significantly influenced the military-political situation in the world).
The authors, whose competence no one doubts, have already come to the conclusion that one of the main directions of Soviet military participation in the events taking place abroad was the participation of our servicemen in hostilities as a result of actions of the country's top political leadership aimed at preserving the unity of the socialist camp , the retention of allies in the Warsaw Pact Organization. In this case, Europe became the theater of the unfolding action, namely Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968).
50-60s in Eastern Europe, and specifically in the countries of the socialist camp, were marked by a number of events that entailed the use of not only political means by the Soviet Union, but also military force.
On May 14, 1955, in response to the formation of the North Atlantic bloc of NATO, the European socialist states signed in Warsaw the "Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance", called the Warsaw Pact.
However, the events in Hungary that took place a year and a half after it was signed, as well as the events in Czechoslovakia that took place more than thirteen years later, were of a pronounced political nature, indicating the presence of certain forces in these countries. The events in 1956 in Hungary and in 1968 in Czechoslovakia also showed the whole world that the Soviet leadership was striving at all costs to preserve the unity of the formed military-political bloc.
The consequence of this was the use in these countries of the Armed Forces of the allied forces, including Soviet Union.
Let's draw some parallels of events:
Hungary 1956, Operation Whirlwind Czechoslovakia 1968, Operation Danube
Prerequisites for the entry of troops:
In Hungary: - XX Congress of the CPSU, where, in addition to exposing the cult of personality, the thesis was proclaimed about the diversity of forms of transition to socialism, which gave support to the reformist forces;
Strengthening opposition protests;
In connection with the events in Poland, the struggle "for the democratization of socialism" - widespread rallies with the threat of escalating into armed clashes, students of the Budapest technical university held a massive demonstration involving tens of thousands of residents demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary and the establishment of more equal relations with the Soviet Union;
Separate groups of radical youth took possession of several warehouses with small arms, an attempt was made to seize the radio building. For the first time, shots rang out.
For Czechoslovakia:
Unprecedented in the history of the communist movement, profound changes in the country. The growing crisis and political conflicts within the CPC at the end of 1967, which led to the dismissal of the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPC A. Novotny and the election of A. Dubchek;
The economic crisis of 1962-1963;
The protracted nature of the political crisis (including the escape of General Ian Cheyne to the United States after a failed military coup attempt);
Dubcek allowed the creation of a number of new political clubs, abolished censorship;
In the area of foreign policy it was decided to conduct a more independent course. The leaders of the CPC included the concept of socialism "with a human face" in the "Program of Action";
The reformist programs of Dubcek's leadership led, from the Soviet point of view, to a dangerous situation in one of the key countries of Eastern Europe;
Refusal of the Czechoslovak delegation to arrive at the meeting of the leaders of Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland and the USSR in Warsaw (July 1968);
Letter of appeal from a group of party and statesmen Czechoslovakia to the governments of the USSR and other countries of the Warsaw Pact with a request for international assistance;
Forecasts at the Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in the Czechoslovak leadership, the reformers will win (September 9, 1968).
Measures taken by the USSR: For Hungary:
October 23, 1956, at a meeting of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, N.S. Khrushchev spoke in favor of the introduction of troops into the Hungarian capital. In a telephone conversation with the Hungarian leadership, he raised the issue of "the desirability of an official written appeal to the government of the USSR" with a request for military assistance;
On October 23, 1956, at 23:00, the Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, Marshal V.D.Sokolovsky ordered the command of the Special Corps to move troops to Budapest, where they were to establish control over key facilities in the capital and restore public order in it. And part of the forces to provide cover for the border of Hungary with Austria - but without opening fire;
With the introduction of troops, the organization of the protection of the buildings of the Central Committee, parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, banks, an airfield and weapons depots began. Armed detachments continued to operate in the city;
Total disarmament of the Hungarian army;
The main garrisons of the Hungarian troops were blocked. For Czechoslovakia:
08/13/1968 in Uzhgorod, a meeting of members of the Military Council with the Minister of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union A.A. terrain. He warned that troops are expected to enter Czechoslovakia in the near future ... It is possible that NATO troops may invade Czechoslovakia from the West, then we will have to act on the basis of the situation .. "
There were all the prerequisites that in August 1968 the world was once again teetering on the brink of a global war.
A grouping of troops was created, which included the formations of the Warsaw Pact countries - the GDR, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria.
The decision to send troops was made at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on August 16, 1968 and approved at a meeting of the leaders of the Warsaw Pact countries in Moscow on August 18, 1968 under the leadership of general secretary Brezhnev L.I.
The forces and means involved in the 1st stage: In Hungary:
290 tanks, 120 armored personnel carriers, 156 guns. The main garrisons of the Hungarian troops are blocked.
On October 29-30, 1956, parts of the special corps were withdrawn from Budapest in an organized manner. However, the Hungarian government continued to insist on the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country, and announced its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact Organization.
10/30/1956 N. S. Khrushchev gave the order to eliminate the rebellion in Hungary. Operation Whirlwind was led by IS Konev. The commanders of the formations received the order to bring in troops from the Minister of Defense G.K. Zhukov.
When the troops of the 2nd stage were sent to reinforce corps units, another division entered Budapest from the territory of the USSR. Two armies from the Carpathian military district: the combined-arms - General Mamsurov and the mechanized - General Babadzhanyan. Their task was to cover the border, prevent possible aggression from the West and thereby provide the rear of the Soviet troops operating in Budapest. Additionally, the following were raised on alert:
Mechanized division of a separate mechanized army stationed in Romania.
In total, five divisions of Soviet troops were raised on alert, consisting of: people - 31,550, tanks and self-propelled guns - ISO, guns and mortars - 615, anti-aircraft guns - 185, armored personnel carriers - 380, motor vehicles - 3930. At the same time, our aviation was put on alert: fighters - 159 and bombers - 122.
For Czechoslovakia:
The first echelon consisted of
Up to 250 thousand, the total number is up to 500 thousand people.
About 5 thousand tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Three fronts have been formed - on the basis of directorates and troops of several military districts and groups of troops.
The date of entry was set for the evening of August 20, 1968. According to the order on the formation of the High Command of Operation Danube, General of the Army I.G. Pavlovsky was appointed Commander-in-Chief.
The combat alert was announced at 23:00. The "Orders for cooperation for the operation" Danube "were developed. Combat vehicles Soviet and Union production without white stripes was subject to "neutralization". In case of resistance, bandless tanks and other military equipment were to be destroyed without warning. When meeting with NATO troops, it was necessary to stop and not shoot without a command.
At 00.00 o'clock on August 21, the troops of the USSR, Bulgaria, Poland, the German Democratic Republic and Hungary from four directions at twenty points from Tsvikov to Nemetsk crossed the Czechoslovak border. Within a day, objects in the areas of Prague and Brno were already under the control of the allied forces. The main efforts were directed at the seizure of the buildings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the government, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, as well as the buildings of the radio station and television. According to a previously developed plan, columns of troops were sent to the main administrative and industrial centers of Czechoslovakia. Formations and units were located in all major cities. Military garrisons of the Czechoslovak army in cities and settlements, warehouses with weapons and ammunition were blocked by the allied forces. Special attention paid to the protection of the western borders of Czechoslovakia, the seizure of airfields, blocking the Czechoslovak military units. The swift and coordinated entry of troops into Czechoslovakia, as well as the establishment of control over Czechoslovak territory, made it possible to minimize the losses of our troops.
A special role belonged to the Commander-in-Chief of the united armed forces of the Warsaw Pact countries, Marshal of the Soviet Union I.I.
Actions of national extremists:
Hungary:
The shelling of our troops, the organization of ambushes, the throwing of bodies of armored personnel carriers and tanks with grenades and Molotov cocktails. Extremists played the main role not only in stirring up national psychosis, but also in creating hotbeds of armed struggle.
By November 11, 1956, the pockets of resistance in Budapest had been suppressed, and Operation Whirlwind ended. For Czechoslovakia:
The construction of barricades on the path of the advancement of tank columns, armored personnel carriers, automobile equipment, throwing them with bottles with a combustible mixture and grenades, shelling from buildings and ambushes, device blockages and their mining. Operation of clandestine radio stations, distribution of leaflets and messages, armed attacks on military personnel, proliferation of weapons and ammunition, attempts to disable communications and transport, water poisoning, destruction of monuments Soviet soldiers in cities and villages of Czechoslovakia.
Irrecoverable losses of soldiers and officers of the USSR in Hungary amounted to 707 people, 1.5 thousand soldiers were injured. A significant number of tanks, armored personnel carriers and other military equipment were knocked out and damaged (the data needs to be clarified).
According to the initial statistics, the irrecoverable losses in Czechoslovakia amounted to 98 people (according to the updated data, the figure is more than 100 people), 87 servicemen were injured, including 19 officers, 87 people died in accidents and died from diseases. More than 10 units of tanks were destroyed, more than 350 units of automobile equipment were damaged (the data needs to be clarified, since on the second day, namely on August 23, at a meeting, the commander of the army, Lieutenant General AM Mayorov, published the figures: 7 military vehicles were set on fire, more than 300 vehicles were damaged, 12 people died, 76 were injured of varying severity).
United Nations response:
Hungary:
The UN has appointed an emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss the issue of the Soviet attack on Hungary. For Czechoslovakia:
On August 21, 1968, a group of countries (USA, England, France, Canada, Denmark and Paraguay) addressed the UN Security Council with a demand to bring the "Czechoslovak question" to a meeting of the UN General Assembly, seeking a decision on the immediate withdrawal of the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries. The situation in Czechoslovakia was also discussed in the permanent council of NATO, where bellicose statements were made. On the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, large-scale maneuvers were deployed with the development of various scenarios for the outbreak of a European war. Facilities mass media West sharply intensified its propaganda campaign. All this affected the attitude of Czechoslovak citizens towards Soviet soldiers. In the town of Kromeriz at the headquarters of 3 MED CHNA, a large number of anti-Soviet leaflets were distributed, calling for armed resistance to the allied forces. However, the task of fulfilling the international duty was completed.
None of the responsible leaders, when considering the issues of "protecting the interests of the Soviet Union," raised questions about the price at which this protection would be achieved. And here and there short notes flashed: "To reward the military. Provide the families of the victims." Basically, all this remained only on paper.
On this, officials, as a rule, consider the case closed, and the event forgotten. But it is not forgotten by the relatives and friends of the victims, who received a "funeral" in peacetime. It should not be forgotten by compatriots, by all of us - fellow citizens of those young people who will never have to grow old, servicemen who gave their lives to fulfill their military duty. After all, a person is alive in the memory of him ...
Direct participants in Operation Whirlwind in Hungary in 1956 draw their own parallels to the events in Hungary and Czechoslovakia:
Kochegura Anatoly Kuzmich, participant of Operation Whirlwind in Hungary, in 1956 - private, shooter of the 8th line of the company of the 3rd battalion of the 112th rifle regiment of the rifle division, pp 33513, Southern Group of Forces. Has a certificate "Participant in the war".
"... On October 23, 1956, we were raised on alarm, in a formed convoy we arrived at the railway station, where T-34 tanks were loaded onto the railway platform, and personnel- "in teplushki". The carriages and the train moved towards the border with Romania. At one of the stations on the territory of Romania, 11 km from the Hungarian border, the train stopped. The unloading of equipment also took place there. We were lined up in divisions. The commander of the rifle company Art. Lieutenant Kondolov, a native of the Stalingrad region, said that we had arrived to provide fraternal assistance to the people of Hungary. The battalion's political commander, Major Korotchenko, and the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tumanov (all of them were front-line soldiers), also spoke in front of the formation, who announced that our mission was to fulfill our international duty. After that, the command was received to receive ammunition. Each of us received 120 rounds of ammunition for the AK-47 assault rifle and two grenades. We were told that on October 23, students of the University of Budapest organized a demonstration demanding the democratization of the social system in the country and the withdrawal Soviet troops from Hungary. Several youth groups seized weapons depots that had been distributed and tried to take over the national radio building. Shooting began. The measures taken by the police were unsuccessful. The wounded and killed appeared.
In Moscow, it was decided to send Soviet troops into Hungary.
As part of the column, we crossed the border, took up positions on a large bridge over the river. Tissou in the city of Szeged. Our company was entrusted with the task of protecting the bridge from mines and putting it out of action by the counter-revolutionaries. Outpost was posted, in the middle of the bridge - 2 tanks and a platoon of soldiers, also 2 tanks on each side and machine guns.
After some time, units of a rifle division from the Odessa Military District under the command of Colonel Dubrovin went across the bridge. In the town of Szeged, all communications were taken under protection, including the post office, telegraph office, radio center, and administrative buildings. In this large city, factories and factories did not work under the influence of counter-revolutionary elements, who intimidated the workers by direct threats, reprisals and murders. The Hungarian army was disintegrated, the soldiers voluntarily left their units. Units of the Hungarian army, with the participation of one regiment, in the absence of ammunition, tried to resist the national extremists in Budapest. The internal troops and the state security also failed to cope with the tasks.
Our soldiers were ambushed, grenades and Molotov cocktails were used.
The border guard with Austria and Yugoslavia was removed. Armed attacks on Soviet servicemen by counterrevolutionaries began. In the town of Beteshyaba, crowds of people organized an armed uprising. Several families of Soviet officers were massacred in Budapest. In those conditions, it was possible to influence only with weapons and tanks.
According to the "special officer" Captain Limarev, a woman of Hungarian nationality who commanded an armed gang was identified and detained.
In the area of the bridge, counter-revolutionaries installed machine guns on the roofs of houses. As a result of shelling from our company, four soldiers and an officer were killed. It happened on the 4th day of my stay. We opened fire, tanks fired several volleys from tank guns.
In addition to fulfilling the main task assigned to us, we were involved in checking passing cars. From the Romanian side, we detained a driver and a car with a group of people transporting a large box filled with banknotes.
In public places, on houses there were inscriptions: "Invaders - get out", "Russians, get out home", etc.
When setting combat missions, junior commanders, primarily political officers, were informed of the situation: “In Budapest, our column was fired upon, fire was fired from a residential building. people of 18 years old, there were also quite teenagers ... "
At the end of October, according to the political officer, Khrushchev ordered the elimination of the rebellion in Budapest. Operation Whirlwind began on November 4, several hundred Soviet soldiers and officers were killed in clashes with counter-revolutionaries. Our tanks and vehicles were set on fire in Budapest. The landed assault forces from the Carpathian and Moscow VOs were fired upon by counter-revolutionaries when the paratroopers were still on parachutes in the area of Lake Balaton and the border with Austria.
The fighting took place during October-November 1956. We buried our dead comrades in the same place, on the territory of Hungary, and Romania too.
During the introduction of troops on October 24, as a result of armed terrorist attacks on our soldiers, several dozen Soviet servicemen of the special corps who were in Hungary were killed. At the same time, there was a command - not to open fire first. In the following days, over a hundred of our soldiers were killed.
Our division after the end of hostilities remained in the Southern Group of Forces.
In 1968, I served in the GSVG pn 92846. As head of the secret unit of a mobile missile technical base as part of the 1st Guards. TA. Its formations took part in Operation Danube in Czechoslovakia, and its commander, Lieutenant General K.G. Kozhanov was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Ex officio, I had access to some classified documents about the events in Czechoslovakia. And after the return of units and subunits to the "winter quarters" in the GSVG, I had to communicate a lot with the direct participants in the "Danube" operation. From their stories, the situation seemed to me very familiar and similar to the events in Hungary in 1956, where I personally happened to take part ... "
Ovcharenko Alexey Ivanovich, currently lives in the Rostov region, Aksaysky district, Rassvet (in 1956, senior sergeant, driver-mechanic of T-34, PT-76 tanks, according to the class gradation of the military specialty "Master" , as part of a tank regiment of the mechanized division of the rifle corps of the Carpathian Military District, awarded the medal "For Military Merit", has the certificate "Participant in the war."
In 1953, I was called up for active military service. He ended up serving in Austria, where the troops of the Soviet Army were at that time. After graduating from the tank "training" I served in a tank unit of a tank division in the military specialty of a driver-mechanic of a T-34 tank, on which I served for almost a year under hull number "226".
In 1955, our troops began to withdraw from Austria. Our regiment was redeployed to the territory of the Soviet Union in Transcarpathia as part of a mechanized division.
In 1956, in the summer, we received new equipment, and I mastered the amphibious tank "PT-76", twin-screw with powerful armament at that time.
Approximately in October, we began to prepare for the "demobilization", and after a while, in a solemn atmosphere, parting with the unit's banner took place. And literally three hours later (it was about October 23rd) some movement began in the unit. The officers did not walk in the location, they moved only at a run. And after a while they announced the alarm. Everyone, including me, took their places, as provided and worked out over the years of service. Our crew received the task to enter the disposal of the reconnaissance battalion. At that time I was a driver-mechanic for the commander of the 5th tank company. (I would give a lot for meeting him). Then there was the formation by crews, by subdivisions. The commanders announced that our unit was sent, in accordance with the battle order, to Hungary, to fulfill the international duty of providing fraternal assistance to the Hungarian people and suppressing the counter-revolutionary insurrection.
The situation in the country got out of control, physical reprisals against the communists began, groups of people, led by counterrevolutionaries, seized warehouses with weapons, which were handed out without encountering any obstacles. We received ammunition for small arms and standard ammunition for tank weapons. We handed over personal documents to the foreman.
At midnight on October 24, we left the "winter apartments" in columns in the direction of the state border with Hungary. At dawn, the convoy stopped in a forest near the border, everyone was lined up, the commanders gave briefings and set specific tasks. And the next command: "By car". While on the move, in the direction of the cities of Szolnok, Yasbereni, Debreceni, the commander was informed by radio that there were already killed and wounded among our soldiers who were in the vanguard. When it was already quite light, we noticed through the eyepieces of the panoramas how flashes appeared and disappeared from tall buildings in a certain town. The front-line commander immediately determined that there was an automatic fire. But we had an order: "Don't shoot." And about an hour later, a command from the headquarters came over the radio: "To respond to fire with fire." During a short stop, the communications officer told our company commander that such an order had indeed come from Marshal Konev, Commander-in-Chief of the Warsaw Pact Joint Forces. By that time, part of the armed population had gone to the mountains and forests to conduct guerrilla warfare against us. Some remained in cities and towns for armed resistance. Basically, these were young people, arrogant and armed.
We rarely saw Hungarian troops, military towns were blockaded by our troops. In Buda and Pest, across the bridge, we saw burnt buses and cars. In some places, bursts of automatic weapons were heard. Basically, the shelling was at our troops from the side of counter-revolutionaries who used young people and students.
After some time, already on November 9, our military scouts reported that a group of armed youth rebels would soon arrive on the northern outskirts of Budapest near the village of Chepel to sabotage our soldiers.
We took a position and began to wait. Taking advantage of the seemingly calm atmosphere, the loader, opening the hatch, got out halfway and wanted to empty the half-empty empty cartridges from the container. At this time, an automatic burst was heard, and he was wounded. We returned fire in the direction of the forest, from where the shooting rang out. And having passed several hundred meters along the way, an explosion thundered. The explosion of a grenade on the tank damaged the "caterpillar", and we asked for support over the radio. Our loader had to be pulled out through the lower hatch and took up defensive positions. I well remembered that the last round must be kept. The tank commander took over the duties of the entire crew. Fortunately, we did not have to wait long, two armored personnel carriers with infantry approached, which dispersed and proceeded to sweep the area.
In the evening, at a kind of halt, the special officer reported that in Budapest that day a soldier blew up a grenade and himself when the crowd surrounded him and wanted to tear him to pieces. In another case, a barrel with the remnants of gasoline was thrown from the roof onto the turret of the tank, since the commander was standing in the hatch. The entire crew was killed. All these events took place in the month of November. On the territory of Hungary, in the area of the village of Alyponemedi near Budapest, we had to bury the dead soldiers and officers of the Soviet Army - our comrades in arms.
Soon we moved to the area of Lake Balaton, where our troops landed. On our armored vehicles, we easily overcame water obstacles.
When the situation began to stabilize, our unit was left in Hungary. So I and my fellow soldiers got a new "winter apartment", where I stayed for another 6 months.
After a while, I said goodbye to the unit's banner for the second time. Now the "demobilization" has really come. Thus, I served three years and eight months. He was awarded the medal "For Military Merit".
The meeting with the dawn of the day when we entered Hungary remained in my memory for the rest of my life.
After 12 years, the whole country became aware of the introduction of our troops into Czechoslovakia. When I read the TASS statement, on the second day I went to the military registration and enlistment office and wrote a statement so that I, as a master of tank driving, would be sent to any tank unit in Czechoslovakia, as a volunteer. A few days later I went to the recruiting office again. Presenting the events in Czechoslovakia, I could not find a place for myself. But I was told to wait, they will call. At that time I was 34 years old, and apparently I was not destined to take part in international assistance to another people.
Fidelity to military duty and oath will remain in me until the end of my days. Feelings of pride in our army and solidarity with participants in military conflicts and local wars, regardless of their age, are inherent and understandable to me, and to people like me ... "
Now let's see how our country lived exactly 60 years ago. And 1956 was, as you know, for the USSR one of the most significant and, pardon the stamp, fateful.
Nikita Khrushchev's closed speech at the XX Congress of the CPSU in February 1956 with the exposure of the "cult of the personality of IV Stalin" caused a shock in the international communist movement and in Soviet society itself. In fact, a course was taken to "de-Stalinize" the USSR and the socialist camp, which would soon lead to a split in the latter.
One of the most visible changes foreign policy course Moscow began to restore relations with socialist Yugoslavia, severed in 1948.
Installation of the R-5M ballistic missile at the launch pad. photo from the archives of the Ministry of Defense, 1956: 
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The USSR was striving upward. Very soon the first will fly into space artificial satellite Earth. Until then, for Soviet people 56th "space" technologies were jet civil aviation.
On September 15, 1956, the Tu-104 jetliner made its first regular flight on the Moscow-Omsk-Irkutsk route:
The slender handsome Tu-104 was a huge technological breakthrough in comparison with the Soviet propeller-driven aircraft fleet of those years. Then they flew all over the USSR on "oldies" Li-2 of pre-war development and post-war IL-14.
The IL-14 aircraft at the Vilnius airport in the photograph by J. Dupakier, 1956: 
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USSR GDP amounted to 9.9% of world GDP. The ecomics continued to develop rapidly.
The 56th turned out to be very favorable for the country's agriculture. It was in this year that great success was marked on the virgin soil - the harvest was a record.
State farm "Urneksky", Kostanay region. Photo by S. Fridland, 1956: 
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Ibid: 
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By 1956, oil production in the USSR had increased by about 10 times compared with 1913. At the same time, the development of Siberian deposits has not even begun yet, the main production was in Baku and the Volga region.
Baku oil workers in the picture of the German photographer Peter Bock-Schroeder, 1956: 
Construction of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station in the photo by S. Fridlyand, 1956: 
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60 years ago, the USSR did not buy electronics and cars in China, but itself laid the foundations of heavy industry there, transferred the latest technologies. The Russians taught the Chinese everything they knew and could.
Chinese trainees at a heavy machine tool plant in Novosibirsk, photo from Fridland, 1956: 
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The Soviet auto industry in 1956 the next (second after the war) "change of generations". New models were born and put on the conveyor, which will remain basic until the middle or even until the end of the 1960s.
PAZ-652, prototype, 1956 (photo by JSC Pavlovsky Bus): 
In April 1956, the production of small-class cars "Moskvich-402" began, quite modern by European standards of that time.
One of these cars has already managed to get into the frame of S. Fridlyand on one of the central Moscow streets, 1956: 
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But the newest Volga GAZ-21 has not yet had time to enter the Soviet roads, because the mass production of this legendary car will begin only next year, 1957, after two years of running-in and fine-tuning.
Typical Soviet traffic of 1956 - continuous "Victory" buses, ZIS buses and MTB trolleybuses (photo by S. Fridlyand): 
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At the service of those who want to boo - epic convertible taxis ZIS-110 (photo by J. Dupakier, 1956): 
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It's hard to believe now, but in 1956 Moscow ended in the south just behind Moscow State University! In place of the current endless reinforced concrete jungle, then endless fields lay.
View of the current Michurinsky Prospect from the main building of Moscow State University, photo by J. Dupakier: 
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Other major cities in the USSR have changed even more since then. For example, Tashkent.
The main avenue of Tashkent in 1956 in the photo by J. Dupakier: 
An aerial photograph by the same author shows what the capital of Uzbekistan was like in 56: 
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It's easy to find the main street of the city, isn't it?
In 1956, in the USSR, the construction of standard five-story buildings by an industrial method began with might and main. The idea was borrowed from France, but the design was redesigned taking into account the specifics of the USSR by the Soviet architect Lagutenko ( here he is in the photo of S. Fridland in 1956).
Tens of thousands of people began to move from barracks and basements to houses that were relatively comfortable at that time, later called "Khrushchevs".
"Housewarming", photo from the magazine "Ogonyok", 1956: 
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Of course, we cannot help but take a look at what the inhabitants of the USSR looked like 60 years ago, what they were wearing.
Vacationers at the Voroshilov sanatorium (Sochi), on the slide of the naval sailor Viktor Trofimovich Laptev, 1956: 
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Ordinary Soviet people came to see the main square of the country (the author of the photograph, Frenchman J. Dupakier, designated them in the caption as "provincials"): 
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Simple Soviet boys in the picture of the German photographer Peter Bock-Schroeder, 1956: 
Kindergarten for a walk in Leningrad, J. Dupakier, 1956: 
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It is only in the film "Hipsters" that the Soviet people of the 1950s dressed in all gray))
Nowadays, few people will remember what the Soviet school uniform looked like 60 years ago. Even those who managed to grow up in the late USSR did not find these white collars.
Moscow schoolchildren in the Central Park of Culture and Leisure. Gorky, J. Dupakier, 1956: 
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Students in the library of Tomsk University, photo by S. Fridlyand, 1956: 
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Odessans in 1956:
Pilgrims in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the city of Zagorsk, 1956: 
Was there freedom of religion in the USSR in 1956?
Muslims praying in the center of Tachent in the photograph by J. Dupakier, 1956: 
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In connection with the end of " Cold war"(more precisely, its first episode), there has been some activation of cultural ties with Western countries. Various delegations became frequent in the USSR, and the Soviet people had much more opportunities for direct contacts.
British models in a circle of enthusiastic admirers. Moscow, 1956:
A little about Soviet trade in 56.
Leningrad, buloshnaya on Nevsky, 6. Photo by J. Dupakier, 1956: 
We simply cannot imagine 1956 without pictures of this Frenchman!))
By the way, for some reason he never caught sight of "kilometer lines" at the shops.
Household goods in Moscow. Photo by J. Dupakier, 1956: 
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Shoe in Moscow. Photo by J. Dupakier, 1956: 
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Notice how stylish the shop signs were then.
Sale of fruits and vegetables at Trubnaya Square in Moscow. Yakov Ryumkin, 1956:
Collective farm market in Tashent. Photo by J. Dupakier, 1956: 
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Now let's jump into the magical world of art.
In 1956, Soviet cinema experienced a new heyday.
In the musical comedy "Carnival Night" by Eldar Ryazanov, the star of Lyudmila Gurchenko, the future legend of Soviet cinema, flashed for the first time:
The film became the leader of the Soviet film distribution in 1956 with a total of 48.64 million tickets sold.
No less strongly remembered the image of the caricatured bureaucrat Ogurtsov:
And children of several subsequent generations will watch the film "The Old Man Hottabych", staged at the Lenfilm studio in 1956 by director Gennady Kazansky based on the fantastic children's story of the same name by Lazar Lagin: 
One of the most daring films of the 56th is the drama "The Forty First" by Grigory Chukhrai, about the love of a red sniper and a White Guard officer with a natural tragic ending:
At the X International Film Festival in Cannes (1957) this film was awarded the prize "For original script, humanism and romance." By the way, it went well in the French box office.
The film "Different Fates" about young Leningraders is interesting for the mass of everyday details. In Leningrad in 1956, there are still wooden platforms:
In the meantime, filming was already underway. " Quiet Don"to be completed next year:
In conclusion, as usual, a little about sports, which in the USSR was invariably given great attention.
On July 31, 1956, the grand opening of the Luzhniki stadium took place. The parade of athletes during the opening ceremony in the photo by Lev Borodulin: 
All series of the project "20th century in color":
1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908,
