Kommersant-History No. 2 (147) – Picture of the day – Kommersant

Kommersant-History No. 2 (147) – Picture of the day – Kommersant

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Do you know whom officials in the Brezhnev era feared more than Leonid Ilyich himself and KGB chairman Yu. V. Andropov?

The main ideologist of the CPSU and the second person in the party – M. A. Suslov. He led the meetings of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU, at which all current issues were resolved, including personnel. And the comrade who caused his discontent could instantly lose his position, along with the privileges that accompanied it. After all, the word of M. A. Suslov has always been decisive. They recalled that the head of the Secretariat simply dismissed the cunning people who claimed that they had already agreed on the resolution they needed with L. I. Brezhnev: “I will agree” – and really agreed on his own version.

And if it came to any question unfamiliar to him, he immediately asked: “How was it done before?” And he supported the draft decision only if the speaker clearly explained how the result useful for the cause was achieved. So the Kremlin comrades, like their colleagues from Staraya Square, had to go to the archives. Or at least ask for help on issues of interest from there.

Later, after the death of M. A. Suslov and the beginning of perestroika, this approach was called the foundation of stagnation. But it must be admitted that the analysis of the past made it possible to avoid serious miscalculations and mistakes. And who knows how events could have developed if in 1979 the aged second person in the party had not actually been pushed aside from resolving the issue of bringing Soviet troops into Afghanistan. After all, the archives have accumulated a lot of extremely interesting and useful materials about this country. About what – in the material “And what a trump card was given in the hands of history”.

When introducing various restrictions on fellow citizens, it is not harmful to recall what hasty decisions led to, such as the ban on beards, introduced after the return of Peter I from Europe on August 26, 1698*. All the details are in the article of our regular column “Forgotten Life”: “Horror seized the Orthodox”.

About what kind of revelations led to intradepartmental squabbles, especially in spiritual matters – publication “Godless deeds I did not dare to hide”.

And before recruiting convicts into the troops, it is worth familiarizing yourself with how this process was carried out in the past and what results it sometimes led to. About this – text “According to sentences, they were appointed to military service”.

A study of the history of the question could be of great use in creating a mass movement of schoolchildren. And not according to ceremonial-anniversary publications, but according to archival documents and old, but quite accessible publications. A story about such a past and valuable experience is in the article “Premises to take away”.

About them, the eternal problems that have already been tried many times and with varying degrees of success, and for which it is worth running to the archives – this issue of the monthly Kommersant-History.

Evgeny Zhirnov, Head of the Historical and Archival Service of the Kommersant Publishing House


Content

“Horror seized the Orthodox” / How a simple-looking ban shook the whole of Russia

“Godless deeds I did not dare to hide” / How they fought for control over the Russian church

“According to sentences, they were appointed to military service” / When criminals were forbidden to be sent to the troops

“Premises to take away” / Which Soviet children were offered to be called “wolf cubs”

“And what a trump card was given in the hands of history” / Why the Asian autocrat was valuable to the country that destroyed the monarchy

“In total, 132,105 prisoners of war died” / Why the death rate of prisoners reached 3-4% per day

*All dates before February 1, 1918 are given according to the old style.

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