And her allies. It seemed that victory over a common enemy should unite the states of Europe and the world, which together withstood the ordeal of a terrible war. However, relations between the USSR and its allies (USA, UK and other countries) only worsened. The leaders of the USSR tried to “protect the country from the pernicious influence of the West,” and the Western powers tried to protect them from the USSR. As a result, the expressions “Iron Curtain” and “Cold War” arose, defining the relations of the most powerful state in Europe with some countries of the world.
Few people remember that the Iron Curtain once really existed. This kind of curtain began to be used in theaters at the end of the 18th century. The fact is that fire-hazardous candles and lamps were then used to illuminate the stage, so fires often occurred in the theater. Iron curtain lowered in the event of a fire on the stage, which through it was tightly separated from the audience, allowing them to safely leave the room. Hardly anyone thought then that the expression “Iron Curtain” would soon acquire political overtones.
For the first time, the expression “iron curtain” was used in a new capacity by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, speaking on March 5, 1946 in the city of Fulton (USA). Summing up political results World War II, he said that “from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain descended on the continent,” implying the politics Soviet Union to limit the influence of capitalist powers.
Before Churchill, this expression was used in the same context by the Minister of Propaganda fascist Germany Joseph Goebbels (February 23, 1945). He stated that if the Soviet Union wins the war with Germany, it will fence off the Eastern and South-Eastern Europe from the rest of it. In the USSR, this expression was also familiar: back in 1930, Lev Nikulin used it in Literaturnaya Gazeta.
Indeed, relations between the USSR and the capitalist countries of Europe and the USA after 1945 deteriorated sharply. The fact is that the states pursued too different policies, not wanting to make any mutual concessions. The Soviet Union tried to expand its sphere of influence in Europe, which was very painful for the United States. Ultimately, the conflict between the two leading powers of the world at that time led to the so-called “Cold War”.
"Cold War"
The expression “Cold War” meant the political conflict between the USSR and the USA in the period from the late 40s to the early 90s of the 20th century. During this period, two superpowers fought for their influence in the world. This was a struggle not only between two states, but also between two ideologies. The main stages of the Cold War are considered to be the arms race, the struggle for dominance in space and the nuclear confrontation between the USSR and the USA.
The United States did not like the growing influence of the USSR in Europe and American politicians tried their best to limit it. A so-called “containment” policy was developed, that is, limiting the spread of communist ideology in Western European countries. It was expressed in economic, financial and military assistance to non-communist regimes. The foundations of the new US foreign policy were outlined by President Harry Truman on March 12, 1947 in the US Congress. Some politicians consider this date to be the official date of the beginning of the Cold War, others are of the opinion that it began after Churchill’s speech in Fulton.
The first stage of the Cold War was left to the Americans. Already in July 1945 (even before the start of the Cold War), the world's first atomic bomb was tested, and in early August the United States demonstrated its military power in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was clear that it was necessary to restore nuclear balance in the world, so work to create atomic bomb in the USSR were accelerated, but it appeared only in 1949. After this, both countries began to actively increase their nuclear potential. In an effort to overtake the enemy, both states spent enormous amounts of money on the production of weapons and military equipment. Over the years of rivalry, technical solutions were found that found application in peaceful life. This is how nuclear power plants, jet passenger planes, the Internet and much more appeared.
At another stage of the Cold War—dominance in space—the competition was fought with varying degrees of success, with the overall advantage of the USSR. The first one was launched in 1957 artificial satellite earth, and in 1961 the first man, Yuri Gagarin, went into space. The first spacewalk was also carried out by Soviet cosmonauts. Having completely lost the first stage of space rivalry, the Americans redeemed themselves a little by being the first to set foot on the surface of the Moon.
However, the main stage of the rivalry took place on the ground. One of the tasks of the Cold War, like a conventional war, was the task of winning over as many people as possible to one’s side. large quantity allies. One of the most notable conflicts on this basis occurred in Germany, which was divided into East and West. Thanks to US support, the latter developed faster in economically, so residents of East Germany (GDR) began to move to West Germany. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was also divided into Western and Eastern parts. To limit the outflow of residents from Soviet-controlled East Germany, the Berlin Wall was erected on August 13, 1961, dividing West and East Berlin. The creation of the Berlin Wall not only allowed the GDR government to stop the outflow of population, but also to create more favorable conditions for the independent development of the republic. In October, the Americans tried to destroy the Berlin Wall, but Soviet intelligence knew about these plans and took countermeasures. An entire regiment of tanks and a battalion of infantry came out against three jeeps, ten tanks and bulldozers from East Germany. As a result, the Americans had to retreat.
With the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR, who proclaimed “socialist pluralism,” the conflict was practically settled. During negotiations between the warring countries, agreements began to be concluded on the reduction of weapons that both countries had accumulated over the years. long years cold war. At the end of the 80s, Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, and East and West Germany became a single state. Economic and political crisis in the USSR it was no longer allowed to fight the USA. On December 26, 1991, the Treaty of Union was terminated, which put an end to the Cold War.
In the end, the United States achieved its goal main goal: destruction of your main enemy in the struggle for influence in the world. The USSR split into several independent states, and even the largest of them, Russia, could no longer dictate its terms to the Americans. In addition, communist countries that were left without the support of the USSR either ceased to exist altogether or found themselves in a deep crisis.
Der eiserne Vorhang (German), the iron curtain (English), le rideau defer (French). This expression was given life by a device previously used in the theater - an iron curtain, which, in order to protect the auditorium from fire, was lowered onto the stage in the event of... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions
- “IRON CURTAIN”, Russia, ROLAN BYKOV FOUNDATION/ROSKOMKINO, 1994, color, 241 min. Retro drama in two films. The film "Iron Curtain" is based on autobiography. The fate of the hero of the film Kostya Savchenko almost completely repeats the post-war fate of the author.... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema
- (iron curtain) The distinction between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and Western Europe. This phrase was first uttered in 1920 by Ethel Snowden, the wife of a British Labor politician, but it was made famous by Winston Churchill who said in March... ... Political science. Dictionary.
Iron curtain- (Iron Curtain), a common name. borders between Eastern Europe. formerly oriented countries Soviet Union, and zap. no one Mr. you. In relation to the countries of the Soviet sphere of influence, this term was first introduced into use... ... The World History
CURTAIN, a, m. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
Iron curtain- wing. sl. Iron curtain separating for fire protection purposes theater stage and the adjacent rooms from the auditorium, was first used in France in Lyon in the late 80s and early 90s of the 18th century. Over the next century... Universal additional practical Dictionary I. Mostitsky
iron curtain- disapproved about policies driven by ideological struggle and aimed at isolating a country or group of countries from external relations and influences. This expression was already encountered in the First World War, on December 23, 1919. J. Clemenceau stated in ... ... Phraseology Guide
1. Publ. Disapproved Barriers (usually deliberately created for ideological reasons) that prevent mutual contacts between different countries and create their political isolation. BMS 1998, 200; TS of the twentieth century, 228; SHZF 2001, 74; Yanin 2003, 106; BTS, 334… Big dictionary Russian sayings
"Iron curtain"- regime of isolation of the socialist camp. The idea belongs to Churchill, who spoke on March 5, 1946 in Fulton (USA) warning about the threat of communist expansion in Europe... Geoeconomic dictionary-reference book
iron curtain- On policies aimed at isolating a country or group of countries from external relations... Dictionary of many expressions
Books
- Roll call across the Iron Curtain. “... One of the most remarkable women of the early 20th century, refined and cultured, imbued with the trends of the Renaissance era,” Nikolai Berdyaev called Evgenia Kazimirovna Gertsyk. The poetess's sister...
- Solutions. My life in politics. When the Iron Curtain Collapsed (set of 2 books), . The publication contains the books “Decisions. My life in politics” by G. Schroeder and “When the Iron Curtain Collapsed” by E. Shevardnadze...
If you ask younger generation, what is the Iron Curtain, difficulties may arise. Of course, when you have not witnessed certain events, it is difficult to imagine them. However, if you ask the same question to people born in the era of the late USSR, the answer will immediately follow. After all, they lived during this period, they know first-hand what the notorious Iron Curtain is. Let's try to uncover the veil of secrecy and tell in more detail why it arose when it ceased to exist, and we will also try to answer the rhetorical question - was it needed at all?
Prerequisites for the appearance of the Iron Curtain
The Second World War ended in 1945 World War. Germany was defeated - fascist troops pursued from all sides - by the Americans and the British from the west, Soviet soldiers from the east. The countries occupied by the Germans at the very beginning of hostilities were liberated, and not by anyone, but by the Red Army. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary - the peoples received their freedom and right to life thanks to Russian soldiers. Of course, the Soviet leadership pursued its own goals in the liberation of these states - it was necessary to create puppet governments that were entirely subordinate to Moscow, but seemingly pursued a policy that was pleasing to the citizens.
For the whole world, these countries were democratic, but in reality they were not. In most cases, the rise to power the right people occurred either through a coup or rigged elections. Soviet agents, " gray cardinals“, who were appointed as advisers, were in fact informers, performers of all the “dirty” work to eradicate dissent in the country. All parties, with the exception of the communist one, were dissolved and their activities were strictly prohibited. Thus, by the end of the 1940s, all Eastern Europe was separated from the rest of Europe by the so-called Iron Curtain.
So what is it?
Of course, this should not be taken literally - there was no metal barrier between the states. The term “Iron Curtain” was first used by the British Prime Minister in a speech in Fulton in 1946. However, in fact, this phrase was used much earlier - after the revolution of 1917 and subsequent Civil War in Russia. The philosopher Vasily Rozanov compared the revolution and the establishment of Soviet power to a theatrical performance, after which an iron curtain falls with a creak and clang. There was some truth in his words.
It was precisely the period of the Civil War that marked the beginning of the isolation of the young Soviet state (it intensified towards the end of the 1930s). In addition, it was believed that the USSR itself contributed to its isolation, since it wanted to develop internally and not depend on external factors. Western countries believed that life Soviet Russia It doesn’t last long, so you shouldn’t waste your time and energy on it.
However, they miscalculated - the USSR not only did not collapse after the end of the Civil War, but also began to develop at a rapid pace, which could not but worry the USA and Great Britain. And the Soviet leadership, trying to show that life in the country was good and comfortable, invited many intellectuals from abroad, offering them housing and benefits. So to speak, they were showing off. But the enemy was no stranger - the United States did everything to suppress the opponent.
In 1944, the country declared its currency - the dollar - the only settlement, and after the death of Franklin Roosevelt, who was always loyal to the USSR and Joseph Stalin in particular, he became president, who stated that there could be no joint decisions with the USSR. Of course, such provocations could not go unnoticed. Russian leadership. And in retaliation, the Iron Curtain fell on the USSR and its friendly countries (read: re-conquered).
What was he like?
To a greater extent, these were restrictions of citizens in one case or another. In 1946, Eastern Europe was called the Eastern Bloc (Soviet), which was subject to Moscow's policies (unofficially, of course). What was it? First of all, there were restrictions on leaving the communist country. It was incredibly difficult to go even on vacation to a capitalist country - in most cases, a person was refused. The same applied to work in the Soviet bloc - foreign journalists were not allowed or were carefully screened, and the diplomatic corps was minimal.
Stalin went further and emphasized in one of his speeches that communism is superior to capitalism in many respects. In response, Churchill made his famous speech in Fulton, USA, where he noted that “all of Eastern Europe, from Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, is hidden behind the Iron Curtain. All the ancient capitals with world history - Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia - were again conquered by Moscow. This is not the liberated Europe we fought for.”
Of course, the USSR benefited from the communization of the liberated countries - the countries supplied raw materials and industrial resources to Moscow. It was especially difficult for those who participated in the war on the side of Germany - Romania and Hungary. They were forced to sign a humiliating armistice agreement with the Soviet leadership. Already poor countries were plundered. Cars and grain were exported in tons to the USSR. Sometimes entire factories were dismantled and moved to Russian territory.
In addition, the Iron Curtain is not only an entry and exit blockade, but also a cultural one. The Soviet Union carefully monitored what information came to citizens, where it came from, and who the source was. Do not think that it was different in the West - countries also sought to protect residents from the pernicious influence of the communist infection. Any contacts with foreign citizens must take place under the control of the authorities. If something didn't happen according to plan - Soviet citizen suffered punishment, and quite severely. Let us at least recall an example of the legendary Soviet actress Zoya Fedorova, who paid for love with her career and health.
In 1945, she met American diplomat Jackson Tate. Got to know each other quite closely. So much so that in January of the following year she gave birth to a daughter from him. Of course, this would be a scandal, and the actress married another (Soviet citizen, of course) so that the child would be registered in his name. However, everything secret becomes clear, and Fedorova was sentenced to 25 years in a camp for “espionage.” The term was reduced, but my health was already compromised. The career was never restored.
If someone was able to overcome the Iron Curtain and go abroad, then the Soviet leadership developed its own response - deprivation of citizenship and the inability to return to the USSR for the rest of their lives. Thus, many cultural figures - writers, poets, directors, actors - became “defectors”. And, of course, the leadership carefully hid the true state of affairs in the country, showing those foreigners coming to the country beautiful picture good, well-fed life in the Soviet Union.
How long could the curtain last? It’s hard to say, but it fell already at the end of the 1980s, when the policy of glasnost was announced in the Union. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and this event could be said to be the turning point that finally destroyed the Iron Curtain. It became a thing of the past with the fall of the USSR, a country that claimed that communism was invincible. However, it only lasted for 70 years. But after so many decades of isolation new Russia got freedom. In all senses.
Was he needed? The question is rhetorical. On the one hand, the USSR developed successfully, relying only on its own strength, people lived in equal (if possible) conditions, not knowing what was happening “over the hill.” But there were also many restrictions. How many broken destinies and broken families happened from behind the Iron Curtain. Therefore, let everyone answer for themselves: was it needed, or is this another whim of the Soviet leadership?
Alexander Podrabinek: On March 5, 1946, the leader of the British Conservatives, Winston Churchill, gave a speech at Westminster College in the American city of Fulton in which he said: “From Szczecin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended on the continent.” Then, from this day, the countdown to the Cold War began, and the term “Iron Curtain” itself entered the international political lexicon and became firmly entrenched in it, denoting a means of self-isolation of the Soviet Union from the free world. True, it should be noted that H.G. Wells wrote about the “Iron Curtain” in 1904 in his science fiction novel “Food of the Gods,” and in 1919, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau spoke about the “Iron Curtain” at the Paris Peace Conference.
The "Iron Curtain" is one of the most striking signs totalitarian regime. Not the only one, but very significant. The ban on leaving the country is a safety net for a totalitarian dictatorship in the event of mass discontent of the people with the existing regime. In the Soviet Union, this system lasted until 1991, when the law “On the procedure for leaving the USSR” was adopted, which abolished the need to obtain exit visas from OVIRs - the visa and registration departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In the Soviet Union, as well as in other countries of the socialist bloc, there was a system of exit visas. That is, in order to travel to another country, it was necessary to obtain not only an entry visa from the embassy of that country, as in many cases this is still necessary now, but also an exit visa from one’s own authorities. It was put in the Soviet foreign passport, and before perestroika to an ordinary person it was almost impossible to get it. This was a privilege of the Soviet and party nomenklatura, and the issue of issuing exit visas to all Soviet citizens was also resolved with it.
The Soviet government considered the intention to emigrate from the country as a betrayal of the homeland. True, this did not bother those who set themselves the goal of leaving the socialist paradise. Few managed to do this legally.
The largest category of Soviet emigrants were Jews declaring their intention to repatriate to their historical homeland in Israel. IN different years it was more difficult or easier to do, but almost always the declaration of intention to repatriate entailed undesirable consequences. What troubles awaited people who applied to leave for Israel?
The head of the Department of Public Relations and Media of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Roman Spektor, tells the story.
Roman Spektor: The first is job loss. And this is probably the worst thing. The second is arrest. This in no way depended on the quality of participation in any movement, and had nothing to do with the category of refusal itself. By that time, the Jews were hostages; nothing depended on their wishes. Some strong KGB authority decided how many Jews were to be released, when and for what reason. The very idea of leave, of course, was a reaction to the desire of Jews to leave the country. At first it was an expressed, deeply tempered Zionist will, which, with heroes such as Yasha Kazakov, now Yasha Kedmi, ignited Jewry around the world, which began to fight for the right of Jews to leave for Israel. Since there was some procedure that depended on the submission, people submitted and fell into two traps. One of them was called a ban on leaving the country due to secrecy at work - these are the so-called “secrets”, the second is the relatives of those who were banned, the category of so-called “poor relatives”. And the number, the region, all this was planned by the authorities only in order to somehow show that, after all, Jews have the right to leave, but there were very few such “lucky ones”. People ended up under arrest and under the Gulag when there was some kind of order; everything worked for us to please some inflated figure, especially when such a department ordered it. Today's Speaker of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, went to jail because he taught Hebrew. But many other people taught Hebrew; why Yulik ended up behind bars is a question that should be addressed not to me, but to those KGB officers who determined this.
A significant number of people who received permission did not go to Israel or used Israeli visas in order to end up in Austria, Germany, American states, and so on. The reverse flow, or re-emigration, as we call it, has always been there. In general, this is a fairly small trickle that did not rise above 7-10%, depending on some circumstances. Since not all Jews were equally ideologically infected and in their behavior the desire for the Promised Land was not so pronounced, in search of a better life they first went to Israel and some other countries, not finding what they needed there. social status without finding it there required work And necessary earnings, they returned, enriched with language and new realities. And the smallest part of them joined the ranks of activists and already established Jewish institutions here in Russia.
Alexander Podrabinek: Another category of legal emigrants were dissidents, or rather, a small part of them, whom the Soviet government released abroad. Why did she do this? Human rights activist Pavel Litvinov reports.
Pavel Litvinov: I think it’s just so that they don’t remain in Russia. It was believed that they less harm will bring to Soviet power abroad that they will be heard less there. They always had a contradiction: on the one hand, they wanted to get rid of dissidents, on the other hand, they did not want there to be an easy way to emigrate, less degree of freedom. There were different periods. When the democratic movement began in 1967-1968, emigration was a pure abstraction, that is, no one left, we did not hear of anyone leaving, no one was returning. Communists could leave, and then not leave, but go, sometimes remain defectors. I remember we said that in principle there should be freedom of emigration, but all this had nothing to do with the matter. Then the KGB decided to use Jewish emigration to push out some of the dissidents. But this was a completely new phenomenon; it began in 1970-71. I think that political emigrants played a big role, I, in particular, together with Valery Chelidze, we published the magazine “Chronicle for the Defense of Human Rights”, republished the “Chronicle of Current Events”, published books. I spoke on Radio Liberty and Voice of America. We corresponded with people in Moscow. Thus, we created additional channels of information, the movement became truly international. I think that it is unlikely that it will return to past practice, but it is impossible to predict; the regime may become so much worse that these will be details of additional fascisation of the regime. This seems unlikely to me.
Alexander Podrabinek: Ethnic Germans and Pentecostals achieved some success in their struggle to leave the country, but overall, for most Soviet citizens, the border remained closed. However, there is no lock that cannot be broken craftsmen. Fleeing across the border was dangerous, but not uncommon.
The simplest method was used by “defectors” - people who did not return from the West from tourist trips And business trips. It should be noted that defectors are a concept older than Soviet power. Also in early XIX centuries after the victory over Napoleon, more than 40 thousand lower ranks became defectors and remained in the West Russian army. Alexander I even wanted to return them to Russia forcibly, but nothing worked out.
Among the Soviet "defectors" we can name the following: famous people, such as world chess champion Alexander Alekhine and USSR chess champion Viktor Korchnoi, director Alexei Granovsky, singer Fyodor Chaliapin, geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky, Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva, ballet dancers Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev, historian Mikhail Voslensky, actor Alexander Godunov, pianist Maxim Shostakovich, Soviet ambassador to the UN Arkady Shevchenko, film director Andrei Tarkovsky, prize-winner Olympic Games and three-time world champion hockey player Sergei Fedorov, writer Anatoly Kuznetsov. This is one of the most famous.
And there were also many people who, at their own peril and risk, fled from the Soviet paradise in a variety of ways. Oceanographer Stanislav Kurilov, who was allowed to explore by the Soviet authorities depths of the sea exclusively in the territorial waters of the USSR, took a ticket for an ocean cruise from Vladivostok to the equator and back without visiting any ports. This did not require an exit visa. On the night of December 13, 1974, he jumped from the stern of the ship into the water and, with fins, a mask and a snorkel, without food, drink or sleep, swam about 100 km to one of the islands of the Philippine archipelago in more than two days. After an investigation by Philippine authorities, he was deported to Canada and received Canadian citizenship. And in the Soviet Union, Kurilov received a sentence in absentia to 10 years in prison for treason.
Vladimir Bogorodsky, who sat with me in the same camp in the early 80s, and who was not given permission by the Soviet authorities to repatriate to Israel, told how he spat on legal ways emigrate and simply crossed the Soviet-Chinese border. He demanded that the Chinese give him the opportunity to fly to Israel or meet with American diplomats in Beijing, but the Chinese communists turned out to be no better than the Soviet ones. They offered him an alternative: either stay in China or return to the Union. So, instead of Israel or America, Volodya spent three years in Shanghai, and then relations between Moscow and Beijing warmed up, the fugitive was brought to the Soviet-Chinese border and handed over to Soviet border guards. He received three years in a camp for illegally crossing the border and was happy that he did not receive 15 years for treason.
The plane has always been the fastest and most convenient means of transportation. Including from the socialist camp to the free world. Brave souls, one way or another involved in aviation, fled abroad on planes, usually military ones.
Most of these escapes took place after the Second World War, but there were cases before. For example, on May 1, 1920, four planes from the 4th Fighter Group of the First Aviation Squadron of the Red Army took off from the Slavnoe airfield near Borisov to scatter leaflets over the territory of Poland, against which the Bolsheviks were then fighting. Only three fighters returned. Former lieutenant colonel of the tsarist army Pyotr Abakanovitch flew his Nieuport 24 bis to the Poles, landing at the airfield in Zhodino. Then he served in air force Poland, was involved in plane crashes twice, was in the resistance during World War II, fought the Nazis, participated in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and after the war continued to fight the communist regime in Poland. In 1945 he was arrested, in 1946 he was sentenced to death, but then he was replaced death penalty life imprisonment. In 1948, he died in Wronki prison from beatings by a guard.
In 1948, a Yak-11 training aircraft was hijacked to Turkey directly from the flight school in Grozny. It must be assumed that the cadet entered training to become a military pilot, already having clear intentions.
In the same 1948, pilots Pyotr Pirogov and Anatoly Barsov flew on a Soviet military aircraft Tu-2 from the Kolomyia airbase to Austria. The American occupation authorities in Germany granted them political asylum. A year later, Anatoly Barsov, for unknown reasons, returned to the USSR, where six months later he was shot.
On May 15, 1967, pilot Vasily Epatko flew on a MiG-17 from a Soviet air base in the GDR to West Germany. He did not land, but ejected near the city of Augsburg. He later received political asylum in the United States.
On May 27, 1973, aircraft technician Lieutenant Evgeny Vronsky took off on a Su-7 combat aircraft from the Grossenhain Group airbase Soviet troops in Germany. Having minimal piloting skills acquired on a simulator, Vronsky flew the entire flight in afterburner mode and did not even retract the landing gear after takeoff. After crossing the German border, Vronsky ejected. His car fell into a forest near the city of Braunschweig and soon the plane wreckage was returned Soviet side, and Lieutenant Vronsky received political asylum.
On September 6, 1976, senior lieutenant Viktor Belenko fled on a MiG-25 plane to Japanese island Hokkaido. After examining the plane American specialists The plane, disassembled, was returned to the Soviet Union. After this escape, a button appeared in the missile launch system from the fighter that released the lock on firing at friendly aircraft. She received the nickname "Belenkovskaya".
But they fled from the Soviet Union not only on military planes. In 1970, 16 Jewish refuseniks from Leningrad planned to hijack an AN-2 civilian plane, having bought all the tickets for this flight. The plane was supposed to land in Sweden, but all participants in the operation were arrested by the KGB at the airfield, that is, before they had time to do anything. Ultimately, all were sentenced to long prison terms.
What the Jewish refuseniks failed to do, Cuban refugees managed to do 30 years later. On September 19, 2000, 36-year-old pilot Angel Lenin Iglesias with his wife and two children took off on exactly the same AN-2 from the airport in the Cuban city of Pinar del Rio. All the other passengers and the co-pilot were also relatives of Iglesias. There were a total of 10 people on board. The plane headed for Florida, but it ran out of fuel and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. One of the passengers died during a hard landing on water. The rest were picked up by a passing Panamanian freighter, which took the rescued to Miami.
The joint Russian-French film "East-West" tells about the fate of a family who returned from emigration to the Soviet Union and faced the realities of the Stalinist dictatorship. Prototype main character became Nina Alekseevna Krivosheina - a Russian emigrant of the first wave, the wife of the White Guard officer Igor Krivoshein, who was imprisoned under the Nazis in Buchenwald, and under the Communists - in the Gulag. Unfortunately, the authors of the film did not bother to mention in the credits that the script was written based on Nina Krivosheina’s book “Four Thirds of Our Life.” Nina Alekseevna's son Nikita Krivoshein, a former Soviet political prisoner sentenced to a camp term in 1957 for an article in the French newspaper Le Monde condemning the Soviet invasion of Hungary, remembers his fellow prisoners who tried to escape from the Soviet Union.
Nikita Krivoshein: I knew Vasya Saburov, who served in the border troops, got off the tower on the Turkish border and went to Turkey. Then he ended up in the United States. Then they told him that his homeland forgives him and cannot live without him, he returned and received 10 years. I knew Leva Nazarenko, a resident of Minsk, who took the train, went to the Batumi station, had breakfast and walked to the Turkish border. There he was met by two shepherd dogs. He received 10 years. I knew a Moscow student who, in those days it was possible, agreed with the Scandinavian crew that they would take him on board the plane. But being a good son, before leaving he said to his father: “Dad, goodbye. I want to go to Scandinavia this way.” Dad played Pavlik Morozov in reverse and immediately called where he should. The plane was grounded in Riga, and he received 10 years. Here are a few examples; there are many more such examples, starting with the Solonevich brothers, who managed to escape from Solovetsky camps and relocate to Finland, and then to Latin America, not to mention the countless defectors.
Alexander Podrabinek: In the early 1990s, with the collapse of the international communist system, the Iron Curtain also collapsed. Departure became free, exit visas were abolished, those who wanted emigrated, others were free to travel to other countries to visit, study, work or relax during their vacation. Article 27 of the Russian Constitution, which states that “everyone can freely travel outside the Russian Federation,” did not remain only on paper - it actually acted and guaranteed the right to freedom of movement.
The clouds began to gather a few years ago. In 2008, the country issued regulations prohibiting free travel abroad for certain categories of persons - debtors under administrative fines and taxes, alimony defaulters, defendants in lawsuits. In all these cases, the legislation already had mechanisms for collection and enforcement - from seizure of property to administrative and criminal cases. The issue of “closing the border” for a citizen began to be decided by a judicial act, but not in a court hearing with a fair competition between the parties, but personally by a bailiff. For example, in 2012, bailiffs banned 469 thousand citizens from leaving the country. In the first quarter of 2014, 190 thousand Russians, mostly bank debtors, were banned from leaving the country.
Behind all these decisions looms the shadow of the Soviet Union: the authorities regard travel abroad as a gift to citizens, and not as their inalienable right. Indeed, why does a person who has monetary debts before organizations or citizens, cannot temporarily travel abroad, say, for treatment or to visit a dying relative? Will he definitely become a defector? Will he run away from debt and ask for political asylum? What else could our government suspect him of? Is it that he will spend money on himself that he could return to pay off debts? How does this look from the point of view of the law and the right of citizens to freedom of movement?
Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov shares his impressions.
Vadim Prokhorov: Article 27 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, namely its first part, guarantees freedom of exit and entry from the Russian Federation. In development this provision Constitution adopted a federal law on the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation. This law establishes in Article 15 whole line the grounds on which the departure of Russian citizens from the Russian Federation may be limited. What are these reasons? There are 7 reasons listed there. The first basis is access to information constituting a state secret or top secret information. The second basis is completion of urgent military or alternative civilian service. The third ground is being charged or suspected of committing a crime; from my point of view, the most obvious ground for restricting travel; in general, this is quite fair. The fourth basis is those held in places of deprivation of liberty by a court verdict until the completion of their sentence. The fifth is the most slippery, delicate basis, as having certain obligations of a civil law nature, usually imposed by a court decision, including debt obligations, credit obligations, unfulfilled obligations. The sixth reason is when they knowingly provided false information when applying for a passport. And finally, the seventh thing is employees serving in the body Federal service security, respectively, until the end of the contract. These are the grounds on which travel may be restricted. If we look in more detail at these grounds, it is clear that there is a certain conflict between the constitutional norm, which allows free entry and exit from the country, and the requirements federal law, which allow the corresponding departure to be limited. Some reasons seem quite logical to me. For example, those in custody or those suspected or accused of committing crimes. Another thing is how our law enforcement and judicial system works is a separate matter. But in general, criminals or potential criminals should be appropriately restricted in their travel until the issue is resolved. The most slippery ground is those who have civil obligations, that is, do not comply with relevant court decisions, evade, including maliciously, paying alimony, and so on. There really is some elusive balance here, because on the one hand there is a constitutional right to entry and exit. Why is it necessary to limit a person in this? On the other hand, I, for example, as a practicing civil lawyer, understand perfectly well that, unfortunately, the legal and economic situation in Russia is such that people often quite deliberately evade fulfilling their civil obligations. There is really a problem here, whether it is possible to limit the constitutional right of a citizen to leave by protecting the rights of his claimants, his creditors. It seems to me that the question is not obvious; it does not have a clear answer, from my point of view. It is necessary to protect constitutional rights, on the one hand, on the other hand, unfortunately, the level of legal awareness of society is such that for some reason debts are often not considered debts. Yes, the restriction on travel, as a kind of debt trap, can be called differently.
Alexander Podrabinek: Perhaps this debt collection system is really effective. Just as effective, for example, is a torture inquiry against arrested criminals - under torture they quickly betray their accomplices. Even more effective is the blackmail of their loved ones who are arrested by fate - few people here will resist confessing to the crimes they have committed, and even those not committed. However, the general question is: is it possible to protect the rights of some citizens while violating the rights of others? And if it is possible, then to what extent, and where is the border that cannot be crossed in a rule-of-law state?
In 2010, a ban on leaving the country affected FSB employees. They were allowed to travel abroad only by special decision and only in the event of the death of close relatives or urgent treatment, which was impossible in Russia. Exact number FSB employees are unknown to the public, but according to various estimates this is at least 200 thousand people.
In April 2014, internal departmental orders prohibited employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Federal Drug Control Service, the Prosecutor's Office, the Federal Bailiff Service, the Federal Migration Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from traveling to most countries. emergency situations. That is, those who are usually classified as the “power bloc”. In total, this is approximately 4 million people. And no matter what, these are also citizens of Russia, who have the same constitutional rights as everyone else.
Why the authorities needed such measures against the support of their regime is not entirely clear. Regulatory acts these have not been published, there are no official comments. Some believe that this is a kind of revenge by the heads of security agencies, many of whom were subject to Western sanctions in connection with Russia’s intervention in the events in Ukraine. Others believe that this is only the first step towards a total travel ban for all Russian citizens. A sort of sign of politeness for society: we start with our own, and then it will be your turn!
Former Soviet political prisoner Nikita Krivoshein, who lives in France, does not believe in the return of the Iron Curtain.
Nikita Krivoshein: I read that restrictions are being imposed on civil servants, certain categories of civil servants, people working in defense industry, having access to state secrets, but the same restrictions may not be the same, but similar restrictions still exist in France for similar categories. I read that restrictions are being introduced for alimony defaulters and people who have not paid off loans - this already seems ridiculous to me, but one way or another I am convinced that the resorts of Turkey and Spain will not be empty.
Alexander Podrabinek: The assumption that the Iron Curtain may well return and cover the continent again is not as absurd as it may seem at first glance. In neighboring Belarus, for example, some oppositionists have been prohibited from leaving the country for several years.
After the seizure of Crimea this year, everyone who wanted to retain Ukrainian citizenship and did not want to take Russian citizenship suddenly became foreigners. Now they must obtain a residence permit and cannot spend more than 180 days a year at home. To the leader Crimean Tatars, former Soviet dissident and political prisoner Mustafa Dzhemilev Russian authorities Entry into Russia and Crimea was generally banned. Now he cannot return to his home in Bakhchisaray, to his family and to his homeland, which he and his people managed to defend under Soviet rule.
So, the prototype of the future “Iron Curtain” operates in both directions: someone is not allowed out of here, as always, and someone is not allowed here.
The question of freedom of movement, the right to leave the country and return is by no means idle. Today for many people it is clear practical significance. One question: should I leave or stay? Another question: if you leave, then when?
From the capitalist countries of the West.
The policy of isolation was reciprocal nature. In the Encyclopedia Britannica and Western journalism, the prevailing opinion is that the “curtain” was erected by the USSR in the course of the policy of self-isolation pursued by its leadership. In Soviet journalism, attention was paid to the West's policy of isolating the USSR.
The term “Iron Curtain” was used in a propaganda sense even before Churchill by Georges Clemenceau (1919) and Joseph Goebbels (1945). As for the isolation of the Soviet state, it began back in 1917-1920. In 1917, the expression was first used by the Russian philosopher Vasily Rozanov, who compared the events of the October Revolution to a theatrical performance, after which a cumbersome iron curtain fell over Russian history “with a clang, a creak.” The beginning of the strengthening of self-isolation of Soviet power dates back to 1934-1939.
The Iron Curtain began to crumble towards the end of the 1980s due to the policies of glasnost and openness carried out in the USSR and Eastern European countries (see European Picnic). The fall of the Iron Curtain was symbolized by the destruction of the Berlin Wall. The official end date of this period was January 1, 1993, when already in the post-Soviet era the law “On the procedure for leaving the USSR” came into force, which actually abolished the permit visa for those traveling to the OVIR and allowed free travel abroad.
Story
One of the first popularizers of the Iron Curtain theory was the German politician Joseph Goebbels. In his article “2000” (“Das Jahr 2000”) in the newspaper “Das Reich” (English) Russian” dated February 23, 1945, he expressed confidence that after the conquest of Germany, the USSR would fence off Eastern and South-Eastern Europe from the rest of it with an “iron curtain”. It is also known that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Third Reich, Schwerin von Krosigg, said on the radio on May 2, 1945: “Through the streets of the not yet occupied part of Germany, a stream of desperate and hungry people, pursued by fighter-bombers, is heading west. They are fleeing from indescribable horror. An iron curtain is approaching from the east, behind which destruction is happening, invisible to the world.” The expression “iron curtain” received its modern meaning thanks to Winston Churchill, who used it in his Fulton speech. At the same time, it is known that he used this expression on June 4, 1945 in a telegram to Harry Truman.
However, it existed before. As early as 1904, in his book The Food of the Gods, H.G. Wells used the phrase “iron curtain” to describe “enforced privacy.”
In relation to Russian history, in the book “Apocalypse of Our Time” (1917), the philosopher Vasily Rozanov (1856-1919) wrote this:
With a clang, a creaking, a squeal, the iron curtain falls over Russian History.
- The show is over.
The audience stood up.
- It's time to put on your fur coats and go home.
We looked around.
But there were no fur coats or houses.
After World War II
The powerful forces behind Harry Truman proclaimed a policy of unbridled anti-communism and war hysteria. This affected everything, and in particular the issue of the repatriation of Soviet citizens. With a roar, the American Iron Curtain descended and cut off our compatriots, who had been brought by an evil fate to West Germany, from their homeland.
In practice, the population of the country was deprived of the opportunity to either travel abroad without the sanction of the authorities, or receive information not authorized by the authorities from outside world(See Gear Jamming). Any contact with foreigners had to be sanctioned by the authorities, even if the Soviet citizen simply wanted to practice his knowledge foreign language. Marriage with a citizen of another country faced many obstacles and was often practically impossible.
Individual attempts to overcome the “Iron Curtain” amounted to “failure to return” from an authorized trip abroad. Attempts to emigrate as a whole family were only possible to travel to Israel and then under a limited quota and after overcoming numerous obstacles (see Refusal) or if one of the spouses was a foreigner. Other reasons for emigration were not considered. In extreme cases, attempts to escape beyond the borders of the USSR led to crimes (see Ovechkin family, Seizure of a bus with children in Ordzhonikidze on December 1, 1988, etc.)
Memory
see also
Notes
- The philosophy of the Cold War matured during the Second World War, or what is behind Churchill’s Fulton speech // RIA Novosti Doctor of Historical Sciences Valentin Falin:
It is somewhat strange that Churchill did not bother to find out the origin of the “Iron Curtain” cliche. Directly in front of the former prime minister, Goebbels cut such a “curtain”, calling on the Germans to resist until coffin board Russian invasion. Under the cover of the same “curtain,” the Nazis tried in 1945 to put together a “saving front of civilizers” against the Russian hordes. And if Churchill had dug even deeper, he would have known that the term “Iron Curtain” first came into use in Scandinavia, where workers in the early 1920s protested against the desire of their rulers to isolate them from the “heretical ideas” coming from the East. - Iron Curtain // Britannica (English)
- On the origin of the term “iron curtain” // Encyclopedic dictionary of popular words and expressions / Author’s compilation. V. Serov. - M.: Lockid Press, 2005.
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