OSOAVIAKHIM... People of the older generation of our country pronounce this unusual abbreviation with a special feeling. Many of them are in severe pre-war years"Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction" helped to become stronger, stronger, more resilient.

One of the main and most widespread forms of defense-mass work of that time were military knowledge circles created at enterprises, institutions, schools and universities. Military training centers operated at the district councils of the Society, as well as at factories and institutions. Future aviators, infantry fighters, signalmen, artillerymen, and snipers received serious military training there. It was they who blocked the path of the Nazi invaders and defeated them. On January 23 next year OSOAVIAKHIM will turn 80 years old. On the eve of this event, the editors are beginning a series of publications dedicated to the glorious history of the country's Defense Society, its people who faithfully served the Fatherland, their heroic deeds and achievements in the name of the Motherland.

On January 23, 1927, a joint meeting of the 1st Congress of AVIAKHIM and the 2nd Plenum of the Central Council of the Society for Assistance to Defense (OSO) was held, at which it was decided to unite into a single Union for Assistance to Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction of the USSR (OSOAVIAKHIM)

At a meeting of the presidium of the Central Council of OSOAVIAKHIM, the Society's slogan "OSOAVIAKHIM - the support of peaceful labor and defense of the USSR" was adopted.

The joint meeting of AVIAKHIM and OSO (after the decision was made to merge the two companies) assumed the powers of the 1st All-Union Congress of OSOAVIAKHIM. At the time of unification, the society had more than 2 million members.

The main areas of work of OSOAVIAKHIM were:

1. Extensive agitation and propaganda work among the masses to explain the peace policy of the Soviet Union and mobilize public opinion around tasks related to the existing military danger and the need to prepare the masses for and propaganda work among the masses to defend the country.

2. Military training and retraining of workers in a wide variety of areas: assistance in the militia-territorial construction of the Red Army, mass military training in military knowledge circles, organization and management of shooting sports and military shooting, camps, hikes, field trips and maneuvers, military maritime training, equestrianism and other types up to and including the development of service dog breeding and pigeon breeding. In addition, OSOAVIAKHIM (this abbreviation began to be deciphered as follows: “Society for Assistance to Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction”) took upon itself the retraining of many tens of thousands of military reserve personnel and pre-conscripts.

3. Elimination of air-chemical illiteracy among workers and organization of air-chemical defense and industrial sites, as well as ensuring the safety of the civilian population from air-chemical attack.

4. Dissemination of aviation knowledge, promotion of civil and military aviation, development of aviation industry, organization of flights and air expeditions.

5. Promotion of chemicalization of the country, especially in relation to agriculture - application various types fertilizers and organization of pest control.

6. Research work both in the field of military issues and, mainly, in the field of linking defense issues with the country's economy.

7. Collection of funds and construction of various military-technical equipment for the Red Army.

Chronicle of good deeds of OSOAVIAKHIM. Year 1927:

In the summer, flights around Europe and the Far East were organized and carried out on an ANT-3 aircraft.

On June 9, the Central Council of OSOAVIAKHIM adopted a resolution “On the role of women in the defense of the country.” A section on military work among women has been created.

In July, the first issue of the monthly scientific and technical magazine "Technology" was published air fleet" - an organ of the Air Force Administration, the Central Committee of OSOAVIAKHIM, the Supreme Economic Council, the State Trust for the Aviation Industry, TsAGI, the Air Force Academy and the Air Force Research and Testing Institute.

In response to Chamberlain’s ultimatum and the provocative raids on the Soviet trade mission in England, the Central Council of OSOAVIAKHIM of the USSR created the “Our Answer to Chamberlain” foundation. In total, this fund received over 10 million rubles. During the campaign, a "Defense Week" was held. The number of the Society increased by 600 thousand people.

Members of the society - fans of shooting sports, united in sections, organized new shooting circles, helped in the construction of shooting ranges, shooting ranges, trained shooting athletes and community instructors.

In August-September a large boat trip was made along the Moscow-Baku route. Covered 2800 kilometers in 29 hiking days.

In September-October, All-Union glider competitions were held, at which a record for the flight range of a single-seat glider was set - 15 kilometers.

In November, OSOAVIAKHIM transferred a squadron of “Our Answer to Chamberlain” aircraft consisting of 30 winged aircraft to the Red Army Air Force.

Among the voluntary organizations of the USSR in the late 1920s and 1930s, the Union of Societies of Friends of Defense and Aviation Chemical Construction (Soyuz Osoaviakhim) 1 occupied a prominent place. This multimillion-dollar organization carried out significant work in developing the political activity of the masses and involving them in the public life of the country. At all stages of Osoaviakhim’s activity, its guiding and guiding force was the Communist Party, which, in turn, found its faithful assistant in the person of the Society.

Studying the history of Osoaviakhim during the period of outstanding victories of the Soviet people on the labor fronts of the first five-year plans makes it possible to take a deeper look at individual problems of socialist construction, strengthening the country's defense capability and, most importantly, to show the growth of the creative initiative of the people. The history of this Society is also of great interest due to the fact that there are still no special studies devoted to this topic.

In January 1927, the I All-Union Congress of Aviakhim of the USSR and the 2nd Plenum of the Central Council of the Defense Assistance Society were held in Moscow, where it was decided to unite Aviakhim and OSO due to the commonality of their tasks into the Union of Societies of Friends of Defense and Aviation Chemical Construction of the USSR - Osoaviakhim (OAH). At the same time, it was decided to rename the Aviakhim congress and the OSO plenum into the First All-Union Congress of the Osoaviakhim Society 2. At the congress, the Central Council (CC) was elected. In the first composition of its Presidium, along with prominent party and military figures - P. I. Baranov, A. S. Bubnov, K. E. Voroshilov, S. S. Kamenev, V. V. Kuibyshev, M. N. Tukhachevsky, I S. Unshlikht, V. Ya. Chubar, R. P. Eideman - included workers, peasants and Red Army soldiers 3.

The creation of Osoaviakhim dates back to the time when Soviet Union completed the restoration of the national economy and began to develop

1 In 1920, the Military Scientific Society (VNO) was created, reorganized in 1926 into the voluntary Defense Assistance Society (OSA). In 1923, the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet (ODVF) was founded, and in 1924, the Society of Friends of Chemical Defense and Chemical Industry of the USSR (Dobrokhim USSR). In 1925, ODVF and Dobrokhim merged into the Society of Friends of Aviation Chemical Defense and Industry of the USSR (Aviakhim USSR).

2 "Collection of materials of the 1st All-Union Congress of Aviakhim, the 2nd Plenum of the Central Council of OSO and the 1st All-Union Congress of OSOaviakhim January 17 - 24, 1927." M. 1927, pp. 308, 309.

3 Central State Archive October revolution, government bodies and government bodies of the USSR (TsGAOR USSR), f. 8355, op, 1, d. 4, l. 1. Later, S. M. Budyonny and Ya. I. Alksnis were added to the Presidium (ibid., fol. 12 vol.). In the early years, the chairman, and later the honorary chairman of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim, was the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, which testified to the great importance that the Communist Party attached to this organization.

return to the construction of socialism. However, solving this problem was associated with enormous difficulties, primarily due to the insufficient level of development of the country's economy, the small number of highly qualified personnel, and limited financial capabilities. All this put before Communist Party with all the urgency of the issue of mobilizing all available reserves. Serious tasks were set for Osoaviakhim. The organization had to not only carry out military work among the working people, but also assist in the development of a number of mainly lagging or new sectors of the national economy. The purpose of the society was expressed in its slogan: “Osoaviakhim is the support of peaceful labor and defense of the USSR” 4.

Characteristic feature society as a voluntary organization of workers was that the activities of all its links were built, as a rule, on a public basis. The work of sections under the Central, as well as republican, regional, provincial and other councils of Osoaviakhim 5 was organized according to this principle.

At one of the meetings of the Presidium of the Central Council of the OAH, which took place shortly after the congress, it was decided to periodically hear reports from sections and local organizations. The report of the agricultural section was heard first (April 2, 1927). Speakers during the debate indicated that the main areas of work of the section should be: strengthening the fight against agricultural pests, increasing the production of mineral fertilizers. At the meeting, it was decided to “as soon as possible initiate a petition to the government on the need to take urgent measures to guarantee a reduction in prices for mineral fertilizers...” 6 .

On May 9, 1927, the Presidium reviewed the work of the chemical-scientific-industrial section and noted its success in developing measures to restore 23 chemical laboratories of higher education. educational institutions countries. The section's initiative to attract public attention to the issues of increasing industrial production of mineral fertilizers was also approved. At the meeting it was emphasized that one of the important tasks of the section is to attract scientific forces, as well as workers, to its work in order to develop the chemical industry, who, moreover, “thanks to our section ... can develop scientifically and, interested accordingly, they begin to deal with the theoretical side of this matter" 7.

The work of the Society developed especially widely after the May events of 1927, when, in response to the provocative actions of the British government towards the USSR, the Soviet people, driven by a high sense of patriotism, demonstrated enormous mobilization readiness. On June 8, the Central Council of Osoaviakhim addressed an appeal “To all members of Osoaviakhim, to all workers USSR". "At this moment,” the document said, “when conservatives are gathering the forces of capitalism hostile to the Soviet Union, the workers and peasants of our country must, without deviating from the tasks of peaceful socialist construction, show exceptional attention and energy.”

4 Ibid., l. 27. It should be emphasized that defense tasks were not the leading ones in the work of Osoaviakhim. Suffice it to say that the Presidium of the Central Council did not approve the initially presented project, in which military motives prevailed over civilian ones, as the emblem of the society (ibid., d. 6, l. 127).

5 Initially, sections were created under the Central Council: propaganda and propaganda, agricultural, chemical, scientific and industrial, aviation and industrial, air law, military research, aerial chemical defense, small arms, sports (ibid., pp. 2 vol. -3). Each section had subsections (51 in total): 24 members of the Presidium and 47 members of the Central Council worked in the sections (ibid., d. 4, l. 71).

6 Ibid., no. 6, pp. 78 - 84.

7 Ibid., no. 4, l. 25; d. 6, pp. 113 - 114.

" in organizing the self-defense of the USSR... By surrounding the strongholds of socialist construction with an impregnable wall, joining the ranks of the multimillion-dollar Osoaviakhim, creating a special fund to strengthen the technical base of the Soviet defense, the working people of our country will make the USSR invincible" 8 .

The next day, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Council, it was decided to launch the “Our Answer to Chamberlain” campaign, the continuation of which was to become “Defense Week”. The idea of ​​the campaign was expressed in the slogans: “In the struggle for peace, strengthen the defense of the Soviet Union!”, “Proletarians and peasants, be vigilant!”, “We will strengthen the technical base of the Soviet defense, we will create the Foundation “Our answer to Chamberlain!” 9.

The campaign became widespread. As a result, several thousand new cells, circles and detachments were created; the number of the organization increased by 600 thousand members 10. The “Our Answer to Chamberlain” fund received about 11 million rubles; With money raised by the population, 100 aircraft were built and transferred to the state 11. The campaign significantly increased the interest of the workers and peasant masses in issues of military training. In this regard, Osoaviakhim was faced with the task of conducting defense work more systematically, consolidating the best methods and forms of mass military training of workers. Sections for military training were created under the Central Council, as well as at the republican, regional, provincial and district councils of Osoaviakhim.

Speaking about the results of the first “Defense Week”, it should be noted that it was carried out more successfully in the city than in the countryside. The disunity of individual farms, as well as the fact that the campaign coincided with the height of field work, did not make it possible to attract the broad masses of the rural population to it. Therefore, the Presidium of the Central Council made a decision according to which the tasks put forward by “Defense Week” to the peasantry were to be the basis for work in the villages in the fall, on the “Harvest Day” holiday 13.

In October 1927, the Joint Plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks approved the draft theses “On directives for drawing up a five-year plan for the national economy.” Among the various sectors of the economy, the development of which was supposed to be given special attention, was the chemical industry 14 . In a speech delivered during the drawing of the 1st All-Union Aviation Lottery of Osoaviakhim, V.V. Kuibyshev said: “Do you remember

9 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 4, l. 38.

10 Ibid., pp. 63 - 64.

11 Ibid., l. 72; "Osoaviakhim - to the delegate of the V All-Union Congress of Soviets." M. 1929, p. 10.

12 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 4, pp. 85 - 86. In particular, the following tasks for the military training of workers were put forward to society: general guidance on carrying out mass forms of defense work in the country; carrying out military work among the population liable for military service (pre-conscription conscripts, variable composition of territorial units, etc.); management of the training of reserve command personnel, as well as military knowledge circles (ibid., pp. 86 - 87). How quickly Osoaviakhim was able to establish itself in this area of ​​​​activity is evidenced by the order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR dated December 31, 1928, according to which those liable for military service who had undergone military training in society circles received a number of benefits during their military service ("On Guard", 25 January 1929). The increasing complexity of tasks and the increase in requirements for military training made it necessary, along with military knowledge circles, to organize a system of training centers and Osoaviakhim camps with an advanced training program.

13 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, no. 5, pp. 2 - 5. It was proposed to continue the campaign in the village under the slogans: “Strengthening agriculture strengthens the defense of the USSR”, “Peasant, by joining Osoaviakhim and helping to strengthen the defense of the USSR, you are protecting your harvest from enemies!” Subsequently, the “Defense Week” and then the “Decade of Defense” became traditional events of the society and were held annually for a number of years.

14 See “CPSU in resolutions and decisions of congresses, conferences and plenums of the Central Committee.” Ed. 7. Part II, pp. 402 - 403.

those, comrades, terrible years the devastation that we had to endure as a result of the world and civil war - the years of blockade and intervention. Then we had to, at all costs, and first of all, raise the fuel industry... Then metal came next, and mechanical engineering emerged from it as an area to which the attention of all workers was attracted... Then comes electrification... And now we have come close to the moment when we must say that the chemical industry must be put on the same level as these most important industries, and Osoaviakhim has the exceptional merit that it has helped to highlight the importance of the chemical industry in the consciousness of our entire public opinion" 15 .

The society really contributed a lot to the development of the chemical industry. Osoaviakhim carried out work to promote chemical knowledge among the population; attracting general attention, including scientific organizations and individual scientists, to the issues of building the chemical industry, developing research work and training specialists; development of problems of sales and consumption of semi-finished products of the chemical industry; restoration of a plant for the extraction of bromine, arsenic, sulfur, titanium and tanning materials for the leather industry, etc. 16.

Osoaviakhim paid great attention to promoting the use of mineral fertilizers in agriculture. Back in 1925, Aviakhim organized 4,200 experimental sites in four provinces of the RSFSR (Moscow, Tambov, Voronezh, Tomsk) and in Ukraine. In 1926, Aviakhim spent 30 thousand rubles on these activities, and the People's Commissariat of Agriculture - 13 thousand rubles 17. The following year, Osoaviakhim, together with the People's Commissariat for Agriculture, launched propaganda for the use of mineral fertilizers in twenty-eight provinces of the country 18. But there were very few mineral fertilizers. In 1927, their production was only 20 - 25% of the pre-war level. Therefore, Osoaviakhim’s initiative to develop the production of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers was very great importance 19 .

Osoaviakhim organized a number of expeditions to combat agricultural pests. An experimental expedition of the Society and the People's Commissariat of Agriculture worked in Kazakhstan to combat locusts. The success of its activities had a great influence on farmers, who were clearly convinced of the importance of chemistry for agriculture. Scientific circles abroad also became interested in the work of the expeditions. At the request of the French embassy, ​​Osoaviakhim provided him with some data on the work carried out. Similar requests were received from other countries 20 .

The year 1927 was marked by other serious successes of Osoaviakhim. In July - August, the Society, together with Sovtorgflot, organized an air expedition from Vladivostok to Wrangel Island, and then south to Irkutsk. They wrote about this flight then that it “does not pursue any noisy records, but has as its goal only

15 "Aviation and Chemistry", 1927, N 6, pp. 1 - 2.

16 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, he. 1, d. 4, pp. 25 - 26; "Aviation and Chemistry", 1930, N 1, pp. 1 - 2, 27.

17 "Aviation and Chemistry", 1927, N 8, p. 24.

19 "Aviation and Chemistry", 1927, N5, p. 27. In mid-1928, a meeting was held at the Central Council of the Union of Osoaviakhim of the USSR, which heard and discussed reports by D.N. Pryanishnikov on the importance of potash fertilizers for agriculture and V.P. Kochetov on the results of field experiments on the use of potash fertilizers and on ways of their introduction into agriculture. A decision was made to provide assistance to Osoaviakhim in the development of salt deposits in the Verkhne-Kama region, in the implementation of experimental research work on the use of potassium salts in agriculture (TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 12, pp. 130 - 131 vol.).

20 "Aviation and Chemistry", 1927, N 6, p. 24; N 9, pp. 4 - 6.

supply of provisions and medicines for a small colony of this extreme northern outpost of the USSR." 21 However, its significance in fact went far beyond the scope of its objectives. The expedition proved the possibility of establishing air communication between Irkutsk and Yakutsk 22 and thereby made a significant contribution to the study of the northern regions of the country.

Later, a whole series of flights was carried out, among which it should be noted the outstanding flight of pilots S. A. Shestakov and D. V. Fufaev on the ANT-3 aircraft along the Moscow - Tokyo - Moscow route. The distance of 22 thousand km was covered in 153 flight hours. The average speed - 1000 km per day - was a record for a flight over such long distances 23. The Soviet-designed aircraft passed the test with honor.

At the end of 1927, a special commission of the Society discussed the plan for a trans-Arctic flight proposed by M. M. Gromov. At a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Council, which considered the issue of trans-Arctic and trans-Atlantic flights, it was noted that flights should have not only propaganda and propaganda, but also scientific and practical significance. “I will understand the purpose of the flight,” said I. S. Unshlikht, “if you say that a scientific expedition is being organized” 24. The trans-Arctic flight along the route Vladivostok - Leningrad was undertaken in the second half of 1928, but it could not be completed due to unfavorable meteorological conditions 25.

At the beginning of May 1929, at the Presidium of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim, the question of the flight was raised Soviet plane"Country of Soviets" to America. The aircraft was designed by the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) under the leadership of A. N. Tupolev and built at one of the aircraft factories 26.

Along with the flight of the "Country of Soviets" plane to America, Osoaviakhim and Russian society Voluntary Air Fleet (Dobrolet) was preparing the ANT-9 aircraft (called “Wings of the Soviets”) for flight to Europe 27 . Pilot M. M. Gromov flew on this plane from July 10 to August 8 along the route Moscow - Berlin - Travemünde - Berlin - Paris - Rome - Marseille - London - Paris - Berlin - Warsaw - Moscow. The purpose of the flight was to test the machine. In 53 flight hours the plane covered more than 9 thousand kilometers. All foreign experts recognized that the machine has high flight qualities 28 .

On August 8, at the ceremonial meeting of the joint Presidium of the Union of Osoaviakhim of the USSR and the RSFSR, dedicated to the return of the Wings of the Soviets aircraft, the outstanding Soviet scientist S.A. Chaplygin spoke, who said: “The aircraft that arrived to us from a long journey is also remarkable in the sense that it is all designed and built in a very short term- for several months on a special assignment... It is necessary to note the amazing insight that engineer Tupolev possesses, and the unusually sensitive and deep understanding of both his plans and all those paths that

21 "Aviation and Chemistry", 1927, N6, p. 4; N 10 - 11, p. 51.

22 Air passenger service between Irkutsk and Bodaibo on the Vitim River opened on August 10, 1928. On August 21, the Mossovet plane made its first mail flight to Yakutsk.

23 "Aviation and Chemistry", 1927, N 10 - 11, p. 5.

24 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 5, l. 45; d. 7, l. 147.

25 Ibid., no. 13, l. 74.

26 Ibid., no. 28, pp. 44 rev., 58.

27 Ibid., l. 60 rev. The ANT-9 aircraft, designed by TsAGI on a special order from Osoaviakhim, was the first Soviet three-engine transport aircraft.

28 "Airplane", 1930, N 1, p. 9.

are needed to implement the main idea on the part of all groups of TsAGI employees" 29.

On August 23, 1929, the twin-engine aircraft "ANT-4" ("Country of Soviets") took off with a crew under the control of pilot S. A. Shestakov. Having covered 20.5 thousand km in 136 flight hours (at an average speed of 150 km/h)..., on November 1, the plane landed at the Curtis Field airfield in New York to the sounds of the Internationale in front of a crowd of twelve thousand. This was the first flight in the history of aviation to America along the eastern route 30.

Foreign press highly appreciated the unprecedented flight. “The Russians,” wrote the American newspaper “The Herald,” “who flew across the Asian continent and along the rugged coast of Alaska, emerged victorious from one of the most daring aviation enterprises... Swamps and forests made landing impossible, and the distances between populated areas were so are great that a flight across the Atlantic Ocean is only half the battle in comparison.” The press also noted the importance of the visit of the "Country of Soviets" plane to America for the establishment of friendly relations between the two states. Thus, the newspaper "Early World" dated November 1, 1929 wrote: "Having reached New York, the Soviet plane established the first official contact between North America and the USSR" 31 .

It is also necessary to note the flight of a flight of Soviet aircraft, organized by Osoaviakhim and carried out from September 4 to 18, 1930 along the route Moscow - Sevastopol - Ankara - Tbilisi - Tehran - Ashgabat - Kabul - Moscow 32.

A remarkable page in the activities of Osoaviakhim is represented by the brilliantly organized and carried out expedition to rescue a group of Italian researchers. On May 23, 1928, this group, led by General Nobile, reached the North Pole on the airship Italia, but crashed on the way back off the northeastern shores of Spitsbergen. Several pilots joined the search for the expedition European countries. The world-famous Norwegian polar explorer R. Amundsen took part in the search, for whom this expedition ended tragically: he died during one of the reconnaissance flights.

Osoaviakhim organized a Committee to assist the Nobile expedition, chaired by I. S. Unshlikht, allocating a large sum of money for this purpose 33 . The society subsidized the expedition to

29 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 28, l. 84.

30 The route ran along the line Moscow - Novosibirsk - Krasnoyarsk-Irkutsk - Khabarovsk - Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka - Aleutian Islands - Alaska - San Francisco - Chicago - Detroit - New York.

The first pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean was the American A. Lindbergh. On May 20, 1927, he flew alone on a Ryan plane from New York and landed in Paris the next day. All attempts by pilots in England, France, and Germany to fly from Europe to America ended in failure at that time (see "Aviation and Chemistry", 1928, No. 1, pp. 19 - 20).

31 See "Aviation and Chemistry", 1930, N 1, p. 24; "Osoaviakhim", 1930, N 1, p. 10.

32 “Aviation and Chemistry”, 1930, N 10, p. 25. Participating in the flight were F. A. Ingaunis (flight chief), F. S. Shirokiy, Ya. A. Shestelya (pilots), I. T. Spirin ( aeronavigator), A. I. Mezinov (engineer), M. E. Koltsov (journalist). Along with testing a new type of aircraft, the purpose of the flight was also to strengthen friendly ties between the peoples of the Soviet Union and the peoples of neighboring eastern states (ibid.).

In addition to carrying out flights, Osoaviakhim also carried out other work in the field of aviation. He was involved in organizing the production of certain types of aircraft and aircraft engines, training pilots and technical personnel by creating aviation schools, and later flying clubs. A serious merit of Osoaviakhim was also the assistance it provided to the state in the construction of airfields and landing sites.

33 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 12, l. 65.

icebreakers "Krasin" and "Malygin", which went out in search of the shipwrecked. Despite enormous difficulties, the ships' voyage ended successfully. Soviet sailors saved most of the Nobile expedition 34 from death in the Arctic ice.

On March 19, 1928, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks heard a report from the party faction of the Presidium of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim of the USSR and adopted a resolution “On the work of Osoaviakhim.” This document noted that the Society had achieved significant success in the field of promoting aviation and chemical construction, and began practical work on military training of workers. At the same time, the resolution pointed out significant shortcomings in the activities of Osoaviakhim, the main of which were: the weakness of the work of grassroots, especially rural, cells; slow asset growth; lack of proper practical activities of the Society to disseminate military knowledge among the peasantry. Attention was also drawn to the insufficiently high level of leadership of Osoaviakhim on the part of local party organizations. The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks outlined ways to eliminate the shortcomings. At the same time, he called for more active participation of party members in the work of Osoaviakhim. “To propose to the party committees,” the resolution said, “to assign comrades to work in the bodies of Osoaviakhim who can actually take an active part in their work, freeing them from other types of party and social workload” 35 . This decision stimulated the activities of the Society. His work became especially intensified after the Soviet government began the socialist restructuring of the village.

In 1929, in connection with the expansion of collective farm construction, Osoaviakhim held a number of events, including “Collectivization Day,” the main goal of which was to involve the broad working masses of both the city and the countryside in the daily work of the socialist reorganization of agriculture 36 . The society participated in the organization of collective farms, many of which were given the name "Osoaviakhim". This began, in all likelihood, with the Osoaviakhim organizations of the Moscow province. Thus, in Myachkovskaya volost, Kolomna district, a cell of the Society in 1929 organized a collective farm, which included more than 30 members. In the village of Cherkichavo in the same district, 13 members of the Osoaviakhim cell took the initiative to create an agricultural artel. “If a year ago,” the newspaper wrote, “we said that Osoaviakhim cells should be created on collective farms, now we have the opposite phenomenon, namely: Osoaviakhim cells have begun to create collective farms” 37.

Without specifically considering the question of how the Society practically carried out the organization of agricultural artels, at the same time we would like to note that Osoaviakhim’s participation in the collectivization of agriculture itself was a completely natural phenomenon; it was explained by the fact that the mass voluntary organization of the country, one of whose tasks was to promote the cause of socialist construction, including in the countryside, could not stand aside in the implementation of this most important socio-economic event.

The successes of the collective farm movement also changed the working conditions of the Society in the countryside. One of the main tasks of the OAH in rural areas was to provide assistance

35 "Party Worker's Handbook". Vol. 7. Part 1. M.-L. 1930, pp. 442 - 443.

36 "Aviation and Chemistry", 1929, N 10, p. 19.

37 "On Guard", May 28, 1929. In 1930, during the “Decade of Defense” it held, the society contributed to the organization of over 100 collective farms (“On Guard,” January 1, 1931). In 1931, rural Osoaviakhim cells created 531 collective farms (“On Guard,” February 19, 1932).

specific assistance to farms and collective farms in order to strengthen their farms 38 . In turn, state farms and collective farms became the strongholds of the Society in the countryside. Thanks to the collectivization of agriculture, it became possible to hold, for example, such Osoaviakhim events as a review of defense work on collective farms (1930 - 1931), a two-month restructuring of Osoaviakhim's military work in the countryside (1931 - 1932). These events contributed to strengthening the Society's rural units and intensifying their activities.

In the first years of collectivization, a movement arose in the rural organizations of the Society to sow “defense hectares” in excess of the collective farm sowing plan, mainly at the expense of virgin lands. “Hectares of Defense” was one of the forms of the Society’s participation in the struggle to increase the productivity of collective farm fields, for the introduction of mineral fertilizers into agriculture and the fulfillment of agrotechnical requirements. At the same time, they were intended to serve as a material basis for the development of practical work in rural organizations of Osoaviakhim. The society sought to ensure that the “hectares of defense” became exemplary experimental areas; so that the harvest obtained from them is the first to be delivered to grain procurement points and is used primarily as a seed fund. “Hectares of defense” were supposed to be the beginning of the proper organization of land cultivation 39 . Thus, the movement to create “hectares of defense” was a new form of the Society’s activity in agriculture, which became possible only under the conditions of complete collectivization 40.

In the summer of 1929, when Chinese militarists provoked a conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway and organized an attack on the borders of the Soviet Union, the Society intensified its war work. In the Far Eastern organization of Osoaviakhim, which at that time grew from 73 thousand to 100 thousand people 41, external

38 Thus, the 2nd regional congress of Osoaviakhim of the Middle Volga region, in order to provide practical assistance to the cause of “tractorization” and the development of agricultural mechanization, decided to organize a tractor brigade called “Middle Volga Osoaviakhimovets”. ("Collection of resolutions of the 2nd Regional Congress of Osoaviakhim of the Sredneyolzhsky Territory. December 29, 1929 - January 1, 1930." Samara. 1930, pp. 30 - 31). It should be noted that the growth of Osoaviakhim’s ranks in rural areas was mainly due to the socialist sector. Thus, of the peasant members of the OAH on October 1, 1930, no less than 44% were collective farmers, while by this time only 24% of the country's peasant households were covered by collectivization. On January 1, 1931, collective farmers already accounted for 50% of the total number of peasants who joined Osoaviakhim ("Osoaviakhim in the countryside. Decisions of the First All-Union Conference on the work of Osoaviakhim in the countryside." M. 1931, pp. 8 - 9).

39 "Osoaviakhim", 1930, N 10, p. 9; TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 101, l. 116.

40 On October 11, 1929, “On Guard” published a note “We are sowing a hectare of militarization,” which stated that one of the Osoaviakhim cells of the Central Chernozem Region, in response to the provocations of Chinese white bandits on the Chinese Eastern Railway, is sowing a hectare of winter rye for the country’s defense fund and calling for this other OAX cells. Apparently, this marked the beginning of sowing “hectares of defense.” But this event became widespread only starting in 1931, when over 280 thousand “hectares of defense” were sown (Osoaviakhim, 1932, No. 2, p. 4). In the spring of 1932, the society sowed over 200 thousand, in 1933 - 113 thousand, in 1934 - 61 thousand, in 1937 - 33 thousand "defense hectares" ("On Guard" August 4, 1932 ., April 12, 1934, TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 143, pp. 74 - 75). It must be said that in a number of cases, Osoaviakhim cells, thanks to the skillful use of agrotechnical measures, managed to ensure that “hectares of defense” became truly demonstrative areas (see “On Guard,” October 11, 1932, April 12, 1934). However, “hectares of defense” could, in our opinion, play a much greater role as a school of excellence, if not for the sometimes excessive pursuit of society for the quantity of sowing to the detriment of the quality of land cultivation; if the experience of the advanced OAH cells in sowing “hectares of defense” were more widely distributed among other Osoaviakhim cells; if, finally, a general underestimation in the country of the importance of mineral fertilizers in order to increase field yields had not manifested itself (especially sharply in the second half of the 30s). The sowing of “defense hectares” was canceled by a decree of the Central Council of the OAH on April 9, 1939 (TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 161, l. 125).

41 "Osoaviakhim", 1930, N 6, p. 6.

regular plenums and conferences that contributed to the strengthening of local organizations. In a short time, Osoaviakhim formed detachments in which tens of thousands of workers underwent military training. V. the period when the troops of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army under the command of V.K. Blucher fought fighting, these detachments protected internal order in the border strip. Many Osoaviakhim, mainly collective farm, cells, which had former partisans in their ranks, participated in the fight against small gangs and spies who infiltrated across the border 42 . These days, the Far Eastern organization of Osoaviakhim began the construction of airfields and landing sites that were so necessary for the army at that time. Local residents provided enormous assistance in this matter. Thus, one and a half thousand peasants arrived with hundreds of carts from areas located 40 - 50 kilometers from the construction sites. As a result, 12 airfields and landing sites were built in this area in a short time 43.

At the call of the Central Council of the Society in connection with the raid of White Chinese troops on Soviet border A voluntary collection of funds was carried out for the “defense fund”, which by July 1930 exceeded 8 million rubles. In addition, Osoaviakhim, together with trade unions, raised about 8 million more rubles for the “Our Answer to Chiang Kai-shek” squadron 44 .

The Central Council of Osoaviakhim created a special public commission, which collected about 700 thousand rubles. With this money, sick and wounded soldiers were sent to resorts. About 1 million 400 thousand rubles were received for gifts to soldiers of the Special Far Eastern Army through the Central Committee alone 45 .

As the Osoaviakhim magazine reported, during the days of the conflict on the Far Eastern border, the number of members of the Society as a whole increased by 15% 46 .

In February 1930, the Second All-Union Congress of Osoaviakhim took place, which summed up the organization’s activities over the past period and determined the main directions of its work for the future. “The entire international and internal situation of the Soviet Union,” said the congress resolution on the report of the Central Council of the OAH, “puts forward the following main combat tasks for society: 1. Military training of workers; 2. Active participation of members of the Society in the work of industrialization and chemicalization of the country 47 3. Full participation

42 "Osoaviakhim - Special Far Eastern". M. -L. 1930, p. 16.

43 Ibid., pp. 16 - 17.

44 Ibid., pp. 13, 31.

45 Ibid., pp. 12 - 13.

46 "Osoaviakhim", 1930, N 6, p. 6. In 1929, the social and party composition of the members of Osoaviakhim was as follows: there were 1 million 735 thousand workers (34%), peasants - 1 million 635 thousand (32 %), employees - 1 million 170 thousand (23%), party members and candidates - 815 thousand (16%), Komsomol members - 870 thousand (17%), non-party people - 3 million 415 thousand (67 %). (“XVI Congress of the CPSU(b). Report of Osoaviakhim”. M. 1930, p. 15).

47 On April 28, 1928, by resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Committee for Chemicalization of the National Economy of the USSR was created, headed by a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Ya. E. Rudzutak. (For more information about this, see V.S. Lelchuk. Development of the chemical industry and the national economy of the USSR. "Questions of History", 1964, No. 8.) After the organization of the Committee, Osoaviakhim somewhat distanced itself from participation in the chemicalization of the country. This was the reason for the appearance of a letter from Ya. E. Rudzutak, addressed to the II Congress of Osoaviakhim. It said that the huge volume and great responsibility in carrying out the chemicalization of the country prompted the Soviet government to create, along with Osoaviakhim, a special body under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR - the Committee on Chemicalization of the Country, which, however, was not intended to in any way replace Osoaviakhim as a powerful mass organization. “The state of our chemical industry, the problem of chemicalization of agriculture, the matter of training chemical personnel, propaganda of the ideas of chemicalization,” the letter said, “all this requires the mobilization of all social forces of the country, emphasis on all areas of chemicalization work... The campaign for chemicalization in our country, which has the richest reserves of explored and unexplored raw materials, cannot be carried out without the participation in it of the broadest masses of the working people of the Union, and first of all Osoaviakhim" ("Osoaviakhim", 1930, No. 7 - 8, p. 30).

Society in the successful implementation of the tasks of collectivization of agriculture and the elimination of the kulaks as a class; 4. Participation of the Society in the training of new personnel for the builders of socialism" 48.

The congress adopted the new charter of Osoaviakhim. Y. L. Avinovitsky, Y. I. Alksnis, P. I. Baranov, SM were elected to the Presidium of the Central Council of the OAH. Budyonny, Ya. B. Gamarnik, S. S. Kamenev, V. V. Kuibyshev, L. P. Malinovsky, K-A. Mekhonoshin, R. A. Muklevich, N. A. Semashko, N. M. Shvernik, I. S. Unshlikht, R. P. Eideman and others 49.

The Osoaviakhim workers quickly responded to the appeal of the XVI Conference of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (April 1929) “To all workers and toiling peasants of the Soviet Union” to develop competition in all areas of construction, in factories, factories, mines, railways, on state farms, collective farms, Soviet institutions 50.

One of the specific forms of socialist competition is the Osoaviakhim strike brigades, which combined the struggle to fulfill and exceed production plans with the successful implementation of defense work. Soon, along with the brigades, shock shops and communes named after Osoaviakhim were created. By the beginning of 1931, in Dnepropetrovsk, for example, there were 55 shock Osoaviakhim brigades, numbering 1,730 people, in Odessa - 200 shock defense workshops, brigades and communes, in Kiev - over 100 brigades and communes, which united 7 thousand people. Osoaviakhim strike brigades were also created on collective farms 51. In total, by the end of 1933, there were 4,500 shock defense brigades in the country 52. The call of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim “Not a single Osoaviakhim member outside the strike brigades, not a single striker outside the ranks of Osoaviakhim” becomes the slogan of the Society. In February 1932, the Leningrad plant "Krasnaya Zarya" challenged the Moscow Electric Plant, the Kharkov Tractor Plant, the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant, as well as the shock workers of Dneprostroy to socialist competition. A few days later, at the Moscow Electric Plant, a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of Osoaviakhim with the Osoaviakhim activists of Moscow was convened, which supported the challenge of "Red Dawn" and decided to strengthen the most important link of the Society - the cells, calling on them to fight for the transformation of every enterprise, state farm, collective farm, MTS into a fortress defense 53.

The challenge of the Krasnaya Zarya plant was soon taken up by dozens of enterprises in the country, many of which by the end of 1932 had achieved serious success in the competition. On April 14, 1934, for high production indicators and well-organized defense work, the Central Council of Osoaviakhim was the first to award the title of “plant - fortress of defense” to the Moscow Electric Plant. The secretary of the party committee and the chairman of the board of the Osoaviakhim enterprise were awarded the highest award of the Society - the badge of honor "For active defense work" (ZAOR) 54.

Covering the multifaceted activities of Osoaviakhim, one cannot help but dwell on its research and inventive work. All sections of the OAH took a certain part in this work, but the leading role was played by the research section - NIS (later the sector) and the Committee for the Promotion of Invention 55. In 1932, after checking the work of Osoaviakhim by a commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, it was recognized that

48 "Osoaviakhim", 1930, N 7 - 8, p. 14.

49 Ibid., pp. 29, 31.

50 See "CPSU in resolutions and decisions of congresses, conferences and plenums of the Central Committee." Ed. 7th. Part II, p. 617.

51 "Osoaviakhim", 1931, N 1, p. 8.

52 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 70, l. 111.

53 "Osoaviakhim", 1932, N 5 - 6, pp. 16 - 17.

54 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, no. 81, pp. 35 - 36.

55 P.I. Baranov was elected Chairman of the Committee (ibid., no. 4, pp. 32, 33).

it is appropriate to reorganize the NIS into the Permanent Military Scientific Conference (PVNS) 56.

The research section at the Central Academy of Academy of Arts and its successors carried out significant work to attract both individual scientists (academicians S. I. Vavilov, N. D. Zelinsky, professors B. I. Zbarsky, V. V. Tugarinov and many others), and and scientific (military and civilian) institutions, as well as the general public, to develop problems related to strengthening the country's defense 57, to study the history of the Civil War 58 and a number of other activities. In 1933, the scientific community of Osoaviakhim, together with workers and engineering personnel of some enterprises, was occupied with the problem of equipping the Osoaviakhim-1 stratospheric balloon with equipment 59 .

Back in 1931, a section of jet engines was created under the Central Council of the Society, on the basis of which the Study Group later arose jet propulsion(GIRD), which played a major role in organizing the first practical work on the production of missiles in the USSR. The founder of the GIRD and the head of its leading team involved in the development of the jet engine was the outstanding Soviet scientist and engineer F. A. Tsander 60 . At the beginning of 1933, this brigade began creating the GIRD-X rocket. But F.A. Zander was unable to complete the work: on March 28, 1933, he died. Noting the great merits of the scientist, the Presidium of the Central Committee of Osoaviakhim decided to name the GIRD after F.A. Zander, widely publicize the work he had done in the field of jet propulsion, and also publish his scientific works 61 .

After the transfer of the GIRD to departmental bodies, its functions were transferred to the Stratospheric Committee under the Central Committee of Osoaviakhim, in which the rocket group worked. The Committee organized a rocket test station as a base for experimental work on rocket technology, as well as a laboratory for practical training 62 . Over the course of two years, several designs of parachute balloons, meteorological rockets, joints and regenerations of spacesuits for high-altitude flights, automatic devices for obtaining air samples and spectrography in the stratosphere were created; new methods were developed for studying wind speed and direction at various heights, etc. During the same time, the Committee

56 "Results of the III expanded Plenum of the Central Council of the Union of Osoaviakhim of the USSR. 29.III.-3.IV.1932." M. 1932, p. 60; "From the second to the third congress of Osoaviakhim. Report of the Central Committee of Osoaviakhim of the USSR and the RSFSR to the third All-Union Congress of Osoaviakhim." M. 1936, p. 83. On the basis of the PVNS in 1934, the Military Scientific Committee of the OAH was created (TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 82, l. 77; d. 84, l. 186 - 187).

57 "From the second to the third congress of Osoaviakhim", pp. 83, 84.

58 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, no. 10, pp. 96 - 98. In connection with the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of July 30, 1931 on the publication of “History of the Civil War,” the Presidium of the Central Council of the OAH of the USSR invited all organizations of society to immediately get involved in the work of collecting and processing materials about the civil war (ibid., d. 41, sheet 78 vol., 97).

59 "From the second to the third congress of Osoaviakhim", p. 84.

60 Due to the fact that the activities of the GIRD have received well-known coverage (see, for example, L. Korneev. Enthusiast of interplanetary flights F.A. Tsander. M. 1961; L.P. Borisov, A.N. Sakharov. On the way to space exploration. "Questions of History", 1963, No. 4), we do not dwell on it in detail.

61 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 75, l. 234. For these purposes, the Central Council of the OAH created a commission, which was tasked with collecting all the technical manuscripts of F. A. Zander. As a result of the work done, material was collected that occupied a total of 7,200 pages; of these recorded in German shorthand - 4870, Russian - 137, manuscripts in Russian - 2193 pages (ibid., d. 76, l. 243). However, in those years, the works of F. A. Tsander were not published; they came out later (see F. A. Tsander. The problem of flight using jet vehicles. Interplanetary flights. Collection of articles. Edited and with a foreword by L. K. Korneev 2nd additional ed., M. 1961. This book is not a complete collection of the scientist’s works, since many of his notes have not yet been deciphered).

62 "From the second to the third congress of Osoaviakhim", pp. 85 - 86.

Academicians S.I. Vavilov, V.G. Fesenkov, Professor V.P. Vetchinkin, engineer N.V. Fomin and others took an active part in the work of the Stratospheric Committee. In addition to the stratospheric field, committees for the creation and implementation of aeronautics, groups of geology and hydrogeology, defense biology, transport, etc. were formed under the OAH Central Committee, which put forward and developed a number of important scientific topics 64 .

Only for 1933 - 1935. The society involved about 3 thousand scientists in research work, published 60 research papers, made 250 experimental proposals, some of which were accepted by the People's Commissariat of Defense 65.

The Central Council of Osoaviakhim paid special attention to the implementation of rationalization proposals, calling on its local organizations, if necessary, to seek assistance from party bodies and the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate 66. Already by the 2nd All-Union Congress of Osoaviakhim, held in 1930, the Committee for the Promotion of Invention received over 1 thousand requests for help and 500 proposals, some of them were accepted for implementation 67 .

By 1932, that is, during the five years of its existence, the Committee had carried out a number of important activities related to the organization and development of the invention movement in the USSR. With his direct participation, the All-Union Society of Inventors was created, a new law on invention was issued and the Committee on Invention at the STO was formed; a number of conferences and meetings of inventors were convened; full assistance was provided and direct work was carried out on planning inventions in accordance with the tasks of strengthening the country's defense capability, etc. 68.

The diverse activities that the Society had developed by the early 1930s required great attention and constant operational leadership from the Central Committee of Osoaviakhim. In this regard, the III expanded Plenum of the Central Council of the Union of Osoaviakhim USSR (1932) adopted a resolution on the restructuring of the apparatus of the Central Council. It was decided to have the chairman of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim released and his three deputies also released. R.P. Eideman was elected Chairman of the Central Council, and S.M. Belitsky, M.L. Belotsky, L.P. Malinovsky 69 were elected as deputies.

63 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355. op. 1, no. 108, pp. 33 - 34.

64 "From the second to the third congress of Osoaviakhim", pp. 85 - 87.

65 Ibid., p. 85.

66 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 32, l. 130 rev. The desire to provide assistance to wide circles of the working community who are interested in issues of invention was one of the compelling reasons that prompted the Central Committee of Osoaviakhim to organize a special committee for this purpose. “Very often,” said I. S. Unshlikht at one of the meetings of the Presidium of the Central Committee of Osoaviakhim, “our inventors do not have sufficient knowledge, do not have sufficient training - they do not know how to make mathematical calculations or structural drawings - there is one bare idea - and here the task of the Assistance Committee will have to be to receive the inventor, talk, give explanations, give instructions, direct his work. Why do we want to promote? In order to involve workers and peasants, the broad masses who have good ideas, include them in our public organizations, help them, give them direction" (ibid., d. 6, pp. 167 - 168).

67 "Report to millions. To the 2nd All-Union Congress of Osoaviakhim of the USSR." M. 1930, p. 37.

68 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, d. 58, l. 171; d. 42, l. 76; no. 69, pp. 79 - 80; No. 687, pp. 17 - 18.

69 “Results of the III expanded Plenum of the Central Council of the Union of Osoaviakhim of the USSR. 29.III - 3.IV.1932,” pp. 60, 76. Before this, the chairman of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim was I. S. Unshlikht, who combined this position with work in party and state apparatus.

During the period of reconstruction of the national economy, the need for qualified personnel increased; including in the field of defense. Even the IX Congress of the Komsomol (1931) obliged every Komsomol member to master a minimum of general and one type of special, mainly military, knowledge. Guided by the instructions of the congress, Komsomol and public defense organizations launched joint work on military training for young people. In 1934, in honor of the upcoming X Congress of the Komsomol, Komsomol members of the Far East, Ukraine, and Leningrad issued an appeal: every member of the Komsomol must pass a military-technical exam. The Central Committee of the Komsomol, the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, the Central Council of Osoaviakhim and other public organizations supported this initiative and adopted a resolution “On the public military-technical examination of Komsomol members.” To guide the work, a Central Headquarters was created, headed by the Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee P. S. Gorshenin; Local headquarters were organized headed by secretaries of Komsomol organizations 70 .

The Military Technical Examination (MTE) turned into a mass movement of Komsomol members and youth for a concrete study of the fundamentals of military affairs. The first round of VTE was held in 1934. Considering the enormous success of the event, the Central Committee of the Komsomol and the Central Council of Osoaviakhim in April 1935 decided to organize a second round. As a result, in two years, 1,259 thousand “Voroshilov shooters” of 71 first stage were trained, 28 thousand - second stage, 2,855 pilots, 20 thousand people made parachute jumps from an airplane, 1,345 thousand passed the “Ready for PVHO” standards. , 1624 thousand people mastered the basics of topography, etc. 72.

The military-technical examination and a whole series of other massive military-defense events conducted by the Society together with other organizations at a time when the danger of a new world war was increasing, contributed to the preparation of the Soviet people for the defense of their Motherland.

The Society's work to prepare the population for air and chemical defense is becoming especially widespread. In the first years of Osoaviakhim’s activity, it was not yet widespread. In 1931, only 100 thousand people were enrolled in education. After the II Plenum of the Central Council of the OAH (1931), which called for increasing the scope of the Society’s work in this area, Osoaviakhim began organizing air defense sites and military chemical training centers; self-defense groups, chemical squads in rural areas, etc. began to be created. As a result, by 1934 - 1935. about 1,800 thousand people became familiar with the basic knowledge of chemical protection 73 .

Beginning in 1935, the next step after the elimination of “chemical illiteracy” was passing the “Ready for PVC” standards. In the same year, the first PVHO clubs were created in the country (in Minsk, Kharkov, Odessa, Ivanovo). The previously existing operational extermination stations, which were primarily engaged in the fight against agricultural pests, are being reorganized into decontamination units. On the initiative of Osoaviakhim, all-Union military chemical competitions are held. As noted above, one of the merits of Osoaviakhim was the training of flight and technical personnel, who in 1928 - 1932. They studied mainly in aviation schools (there were about 20 of them during this period). The III and IV Plenums of the Osoaviakhim Central Committee set the Company the task of more widely practicing on-the-job training of flight personnel.

70 TsGAOR USSR, f. 8355, op. 1, no. 81, pp. 20, 20 rev., 24 - 27.

The second half of the 1930s was characterized by the further development of the Company's mass defense activities. At the same time, the decisive importance here was the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated August 8, 1935 “On Osoaviakhim,” which stated that the Society must abandon the desire to cover all types of defense work to the detriment of its quality and concentrate attention on military training of young people, assistance to reserve command personnel in improving their military qualifications (training of junior commanders and mid-level reserve command personnel was withdrawn from the jurisdiction of Osoaviakhim), development of aviation and shooting sports, anti-aircraft and chemical training of workers. “All other functions performed by Osoaviakhim that are not specified by this resolution,” the document noted, “must be immediately liquidated.” In order to improve the party leadership of Osoaviakhim, responsibility for the state of work in the Company was assigned to the second secretaries of the regional committees, regional committees, city committees and district committees of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks 76 .

The decision of the party and government determined new stage in the activities of Osoaviakhim. Until now, OAH, due to the lack of material resources and qualified personnel in the country, has carried out significant work on a voluntary basis in various fields of science and the national economy. By the mid-1930s, as a result of the strengthening of the state's economy, there was no longer an urgent need for this. In the context of the aggravation of the international situation, Osoaviakhim was called upon to focus on the mass preparation of the working people of the USSR to defend their Fatherland from a possible attack from imperialist states.

In 1936, the Central Council of the USSR Academy of Academy of Arts and the Central Committee of the Komsomol adopted a resolution on the development of competition between regional, regional, republican organizations of Osoaviakhim and the Komsomol in the training of pilots, glider pilots, PVHO badges, “Voroshilov shooters” of the second stage and snipers. This competition was a continuation of the preparation of young people to pass the military-technical exam, but at the same time it also had its own characteristics: it was held with the aim of further increasing the special knowledge of young people.

In the activities of Osoaviakhim, along with major successes, there were also serious shortcomings. These include the not entirely clear practical work in a number of local organizations, poor records of members of the Society, etc. These shortcomings were to a certain extent due to difficulties associated with the growth of Osoaviakhim. But these difficulties in the work of the Society were aggravated by the climate of Stalin’s personality cult, a climate in which the development of socialist democracy, creative activity and initiative of the masses was hampered.

The organization suffered great damage as a result of unjustified repressions. On May 21, 1937, Pravda published an editorial “To decisively improve the work of Osoaviakhim,” which, in the spirit of the time, stated that “enemies of the people often make their way to the leadership of Osoaviakhim...”. On the same day, a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim was held, at which, among others, the issues raised in the newspaper were considered. At this meeting in last time chaired by R. P. Eideman 83. A few days later, he, like many other members of the Presidium of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim, was arrested. On May 31, the Presidium elected its member, Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee P. S. Gorshenin 84, as chairman of the OAH Central Committee.

During the first three months of 1938 alone, the central flying club of the OAH received more than 600 complaints from flight technicians dismissed from local flying clubs 85 .

In November 1938, during a new wave of unjustified repressions, he was removed from the Presidium as an “enemy of the people”; and the chairman of the Central Council of the OAH, P. S. Gorshenin, was removed from his post 86. On January 15, 1939, the Presidium of the Central Council of Osoaviakhim approved P. P. Kobelev as chairman of the Central Council of the OAH of the USSR and the RSFSR 87 .

For many years no congresses of Osoaviakhim were convened. The II Congress of the OAH, as noted above, was held in 1930. The Third Congress, which was supposed to be convened in 1936, never took place. IN last years Before the war, no plenums of the Central Council were convened. This situation caused legitimate concern among Osoaviakhim employees. On April 7, 1940, the Chairman of the Central Committee of the OAH P.P. Kobelev sent a letter to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In recent years, it said, leadership has been

But, despite all this, the conditions of a socialist society and the leadership of the Communist Party ensured the further development of the organization. This is evidenced, in particular, by its numerical growth. So, if on January 1, 1939 there were over 9 million 56 thousand members in Osoaviakhim, then on January 1, 1940 - already over 12 million 89 thousand, and on April 1, 1940 - more than 13 million. 344 thousand members 90 . Noting these achievements of Osoaviakhim on the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the Central Council of the OAH wrote: “One cannot think that this growth is caused only by the improvement of the work of Osoaviakhim. It is more correct to consider these figures rather as a reflection of that powerful patriotic upsurge among the broad masses of the working people, that unprecedented increased desire of the masses to master military knowledge, which is observed in all cities and villages of the Soviet Union" 91.

During the pre-war years, the Society trained tens of thousands of various specialists in the field of aviation; among his pupils there were wonderful Soviet aircraft designer A. S. Yakovlev. Hero of the Soviet Union N.P. Kamanin wrote: “I and many of my comrades who worked in the North were raised by Osoaviakhim. Before going to aviation school, we underwent extensive training in Osoaviakhim organizations” 92 . More than 38 million citizens of the country have mastered the “Ready for PWW” standards. Osoaviakhim's lotteries gave the country more than 1 billion 183 million rubles 93 . Undoubtedly, all this contributed to strengthening the power of the Motherland on the eve of difficult trials during the war.

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L. P. BORISOV, OSOAVIAKHIM. HISTORY PAGES.. Update date: 07/10/2016. URL: https://site/m/articles/view/OSOAVIAHIM-PAGES-HISTORY-1927-1941-YEARS (access date: 01/26/2020).

A voluntary defense organization was created in the RSFSR - Military Scientific Society.

1926 The military scientific society was renamed Society for Assistance to the Defense of the USSR.

January 23, 1927 Official creation date OSOAVIAKHIM A.

February 10, 1927 The 1st conference of the Moscow city organization OSOAVIAKHIM took place.

1931 The All-Union Physical Culture Complex “Ready for Labor and Defense of the USSR” (GTO) has been introduced in the country.

Badges “Voroshilov shooter” and “Young Voroshilov shooter”

• 1932 The “Voroshilov Shooter” badge was approved. At the Moscow Aviation Plant No. 22, on the initiative of the Osoaviakhim and Komsomol organizations, the first in the country was created public school, which trained pilots and other aviation specialists on the job. It had six sections: flight, glider, aircraft engine, parachute, gliding, aircraft modeling and a group for the design and construction of sports aircraft. The magazine “Voroshilovsky Shooter” begins to be published.
• 1933 On Krasnaya Presnya confectionery factory“Bolshevik” was the first parachute detachment created, which laid the foundation for mass parachuting in the country. At the Krasnaya Manufactory factory, the country’s first women’s parachute sanitary detachment was organized, which included 20 workers of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, the Central Committee of the Komsomol, and the Central Committee of OSOAVIAKHIM, which approved the collective title and badge “Fortress of Defense.” It was awarded to teams of factories and factories that, with the successful implementation of production plans, achieved wide coverage of youth in military affairs and the development of physical education work.
• March 10, 1934 The Central Committee of OSOAVIAKHIM approved a new regulation on the “Voroshilov Shooter” badge, establishing the I and II levels, and in July of the same year - the regulation on the “Young Voroshilov Shooter” badge.
• April 1934 The first in the country the title of “Fortress of Defense” was awarded to the electric plant named after. V.V. Kuibyshev, whose Osoaviakhim organization has achieved high performance in its activities.
• Autumn 1934 The country's first Voroshilov Shooters club opened in the Baumansky district. This club had the honor of representing the Defense Society at international competitions for the first time - the teams of the Voroshilov Shooters Club and the team of the Portsmouth Shooting Club of the USA met. The Muscovites won, scoring 207 points more than the American athletes.
• August 13, 1934 Moscow athlete Nina Kamneva made a record parachute jump. She left the plane at an altitude of 3 thousand meters and opened her parachute 200 meters from the ground.
• September 20, 1934 The standards of the complex “Ready for air and chemical defense” were published in the newspaper of the Defense Society “On Guard”.
• November 19, 1935 The Presidium of the Central Council of OSOAVIAKHIM approved the Regulations on the primary organization of OSOAVIAKHIM.
• 1936 The standards “Ready for PCVS” of stage II have been introduced.
• August 1, 1936 PVHO The standards for the “Voroshilov shooter” badge, stage II, had to be completed only with a combat rifle. At the first All-Union shooting competitions of pioneers and schoolchildren - young Voroshilov shooters, Muscovites were first in the team competition.
• January 28, 1937 The Presidium of the Central Committee of OSOAVIAKHIM introduced standards for the collective sign “Ready for PVHO” for primary organizations of the Residential Buildings Society, and at the beginning of next year standards were approved for primary OSOAVIAKHIM organizations of educational institutions. The sign was a wall sign and hung on the facades of buildings. The Institute of Cooperative Trade was the first in Moscow to pass the standards for the collective sign “Ready for PWW”.
• May 8, 1938 Moscow Osoaviakhim worker M. Zyurin set the first world record of Soviet aircraft modellers, officially recognized by the International Aviation Federation (FAI). His model, equipped with a gasoline engine, flew in a straight line for 21 km, 857 meters.
• 1939 In the Moscow city organization of OSOAVIAKHIM there were 23 district organizations of the Society, a record gliding squad, the Rostokinsky district gliding club, Baumansky, Leningradsky, Leninsky, Oktyabrsky, Proletarsky, Sverdlovsky, Stalinsky, Tagansky district flying clubs, the Mosmetrostroy flying club, the city school of PVHO, the city maritime school, city ​​shooting school, Osoaviakhim camps “Cheryomushki”, “Veshnyaki”, “Pushkinskoye”.
• August 27, 1940 The Central Council of OSOAVIAKHIM adopted a resolution “On the restructuring of the military training of members of OSOAVIAKHIM. The transition from the circle system to classes in educational units began. Groups, teams, and detachments were created.
• Early 1941 In Moscow there were more than 4 thousand groups, over 100 teams, about 230 detachments. 81 thousand people were trained there.
• 1939-1940 In the Osoaviakhim organizations of the capital, 3,248 self-defense groups were trained, 1,138 air defense posts, 6 thousand commanders of posts and self-defense groups were created. In 1940, more than 770 thousand city residents were involved in preparations for the PVHO.
• June 1941 In Moscow there were 6,790 primary organizations of OSOAVIAKHIM and 860 thousand members of the Society.
• July 1941 The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution that assigned responsibility to OSOAVIAKHIM for organizing universal compulsory training of the population for air defense.
• September 17, 1941 The Decree of the State Defense Committee “On universal compulsory military training for citizens of the USSR” (from 16 to 50 years old) was issued.
• October-November 1941 Shooting training centers and shooting clubs have been established in Krasnopresnensky, Oktyabrsky, Pervomaisky, Stalinsky, and Tagansky districts.
• January 1942. Shooting training centers were deployed in all regional organizations of the Society. During the year, they trained more than 25 thousand specialists - machine gunners, snipers, tank destroyers, Voroshilov riflemen. Each shooting training center had a summer and winter camp, a combat shooting range with a shooting distance of at least 800 meters, a ski base, training fields, engineering and sapper camps, and teaching and methodological rooms. The main base of the training and shooting centers of the Moscow city organization OSOAVIAKHIM were the Mytishchensky and Rumyantsevsky training grounds, which met the above requirements.
• Early 1943 At the primary organizations of OSOAVIAKHIM, departments, platoons, companies, and battalions began to be created, which became the main organizational form of military training and military education of citizens.
• 1941-1945 During the Great Patriotic War, the following educational and sports organizations of the City Council of OSOAVIAKHIM operated in Moscow: 1st and 2nd rifle training centers, sniper school, naval school, 1st, 2nd and 3rd PVHO schools , 1st and 2nd schools of communications, automoto club, Central School of Communications, House of Radio, parachute and gliding club, cavalry school, service dog breeding club, Mytishchi and Rumyantsevsky training grounds. The Moscow city organization of OSOAVIAKHIM has trained over 383 thousand military specialists, including snipers - 11233, signalmen - 6332, heavy machine gunners - 23005, light machine gunners - 42671, machine gunners - 33102, mortarmen - 15283, tank destroyers - 12906, armor-piercing gunners - 66 8. The service dog breeding club raised, trained and donated 1,825 service dogs to the Red Army. More than 3 million Muscovites have undergone training in chemical and chemical equipment at OSOAVIAKHIM organizations. Osoaviakhim workers in the capital collected 3 million 350 thousand rubles of money, which was used to build a column of KV tanks and more than 1 million rubles for the construction of six IL-2 attack aircraft. The activities of the Moscow city organization of OSOAVIAKHIM during the Great Patriotic War were highly appreciated by the Central Council of the OSO, which awarded it a challenge Red Banner, which was left forever in the capital organization of the Society.
• Beginning of 1945. In Moscow, in the permanent formations of OSOAVIAKHIM, there were 183 companies, consolidated into 41 battalions.
• 1946 The Moscow City Shooting and Sports Club was formed.
• April 1, 1947 The 1st, 2nd and 3rd city flying clubs were created.
• May 20, 1947 The Moscow City Radio Club was created.
• 1947 4 auto and motorcycle clubs have been formed to train specialists for the Armed Forces - Dzerzhinsky, Kiev, Kuibyshevsky, Proletarsky.
• January 16, 1948 By Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 77, OSOAVIAKHIM was divided into three voluntary societies - the Voluntary Society for the Assistance of the Army (DOSARM), the Voluntary Society for the Assistance of Aviation (DOSAV), and the Voluntary Society for the Assistance of the Fleet (DOSFLOT).
• June 27, 28, 29, 1948 The first Moscow city conferences of DOSARM, DOSAV and DOSFLOT took place. The 1st and 2nd naval clubs and the city naval training center operated in Moscow.
• In 1951 A single all-Union union reappeared Voluntary Society for the Promotion of the Army, Aviation and Navy- DOSAAF.

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See what "OSOAVIAHIM" is in other dictionaries:

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The stratostat on which P. F. Fedoseenko, A. B. Vasenko, I. D. Usyskin set a world altitude record of 22 km on January 30, 1934. During the descent there was an accident, the crew died... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

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- (Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Engineering). The Leningrad city organization of the O. was created in 1927 (the Leningrad regional branch in the 1920s was located in the Palace of Labor, in the 1930s on Peter Lavrov Street, 21).... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

- “OSOAVIAHIM 1”, a stratospheric balloon on which P. F. Fedoseenko, A. B. Vasenko, I. D. Usyskin set a world altitude record of 22 km on January 30, 1934. During the descent there was an accident, the crew died... encyclopedic Dictionary

Exist., number of synonyms: 1 society (61) Dictionary of synonyms ASIS. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

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On January 23, 1927, at a joint meeting of the 1st Congress of Aviakhim and the 2nd Plenum of the Central Council of the OSO, it was decided to merge these two organizations into one - Osoaviakhim. Then the joint meeting continued its work as the 1st Congress of Osoaviakhim.

Osoaviakhim arose at a time when the Soviet people, led by the Communist Party, completed the restoration of the national economy and began the extensive construction of socialism.

The country faced great economic difficulties; there were no qualified personnel. There was a threat from a hostile capitalist environment. Therefore, Osoaviakhim was entrusted with the task of developing mass defense work among the working people and assisting in the development of the aviation and chemical industries.

The activities of Osoaviakhim were based on a voluntary basis. The main striking force was the youth. In the cells of Osoaviakhim, tens of millions of young men and women acquired military knowledge. The four-year experience of defense work of Osoaviakhim's predecessors allowed this organization to launch active diversified activities from the very first days of its existence. The social units not only brought military knowledge to the masses, they formed and strengthened the youth physically.

Already in the summer of 1927, Osoaviakhim held a “Defense Week” on an all-Union scale. This was the first major campaign of the society, held under the banner “Our answer to Chamberlain.” As you know, in May 1927, the Conservative government of England broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The hostile attack of the imperialists caused a storm of anger and protest on the part of the working people not only in our country, but also in many countries around the world. The Central Council of Osoaviakhim addressed all members of society and workers with an appeal to strengthen the country's defense capability and acquire military knowledge. The “Our Answer to Chamberlain” fund was established, which ultimately received 11 million rubles. With these funds, 100 combat aircraft were built and transferred to the Air Force.

Various badges were distributed during Defense Week. Here's one of them. A circle, the lower part of which is framed by a cogwheel and a wreath of ears. In the center there is a five-pointed star, a crossed rifle and propeller, a gas mask and a steam locomotive. In the background sea ​​ship, airship and outlines of buildings under construction. Along the edge of the badge is a ribbon with the inscription: “By securing transport, you strengthen the defense of the USSR. Osoaviakhim". There are two known versions of this badge, made of steel and bronze in large and smaller sizes, in different enamel coatings.

The second icon is in the form of an elliptical shield. It shows a line of workers with rifles at the ready. Blast furnaces are visible behind them. At the top is a banner with the slogan “Workers of all countries, unite!” and the stalk of the ear. At the bottom there is a ribbon with the inscription: “Strengthen the defense of the USSR”.

“Defense Week” brought 600 thousand new members into the ranks of the society. In the summer of 1928, Osoaviakhim held the second “Defense Week,” during which badges were also distributed. By this time, Osoaviakhim already had its own badge as a member of the society.

The breast badge of a member of the society is a circle made up of a cogwheel, sickle and ears of corn. In the center across the entire field is a five-pointed star. In the foreground is a crossed rifle and propeller. In the lower left corner there is a hammer and a gas mask. The bottom of the icon is framed by a ribbon with the inscription: "Osoaviakhim USSR". The badge was approved by the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated December 31, 1927. It says: “Give the Union of Societies of Friends of Defense and Aviation Chemical Construction “Osoaviakhim USSR” the exclusive right to manufacture the Osoaviakhim USSR breastplate membership badge according to the model established by it.”

In addition to a single badge for all members of Osoaviakhim, the Central Council of the society established awards for those who distinguished themselves: “For active defense work”, “Strengthen the defense of the USSR” (with a portrait of V.I. Lenin), “OKDVA fighter”, “Drummer of Osoaviakhim”, “For shock equestrian work”, “Activist of Osoaviakhim”.

Of course, each of these badges was issued during a certain period of the society’s activity. The highest award of the society is the sign “For active defense work”. Among the first recipients of this award was S.P. Korolev, later a famous designer spaceships. Sergei Pavlovich began his journey in aviation in Osoaviakhim. In 1930, he graduated from the society's flight school and was engaged in the design and construction of gliders. In 1931, together with other enthusiasts, he organized a group for the study of jet propulsion at the Central Council of Osoaviakhim. This team was the first to create and launch liquid fuel rockets.

Badge "Ready for PVC", USSR

Concluding a brief review of some faleristic materials of Osoaviakhim, one cannot fail to mention the icons “Young Voroshilov Horseman”, “Young Sailor”, “Young Auto Builder”. The society also issued many sports badges dedicated to various competitions and relay races.

Falerists who decided to collect Osoaviakhim badges, expects many difficulties, since time has irretrievably taken away both the icons and archival materials about them. But the work spent on searching and developing the theme “Icons of Osoaviakhim” will bring a lot of joy to those who decide to collect them, as well as to those who will get acquainted with the collected collection.

Osoaviakhim existed for 20 years and left a bright mark on the history of the Motherland. Successful work his contribution to strengthening the defense of the USSR was highly appreciated: By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in January 1947, Osoaviakhim was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In 1948, by decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Osoaviakhim was divided into three independent defense voluntary assistance societies: the army (DOSARM), aviation (DOSAV) and navy (DOSFLOT), which in 1951 merged into one society - DOSAAF.

From notes on faleristics: Badges of the organization "Osoaviakhim"

There are among Osoaviakhimovsky icon about graduating from the sniping school, which was created under the Central Council of the Society and trained excellent master snipers. Those who graduated from this school were awarded diamond shaped badge, in the center of which there is a shooting target, two overhead crossed rifles with optical sights.

The memorable badges of Osoaviakhshma include the badge of the Arctic rescue expedition on the icebreaker "Krasin". The history of this icon is as follows. In the summer of 1928, the airship “Italy” under the command of U. Nobile crashed in the Arctic ice. Dozens of expeditions from six countries were equipped to assist the flight participants. The Soviet Union sent the ships Perseus, Malygin, Krasin and Sedov to search for the Italian expedition. The overall management of the rescue work was entrusted to the Central Council of Osoaviakhim. The icebreaker Krasin managed to save seven people.

Direct participants in the expedition received memorable diamond-shaped silver badges.

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF DEFENSE, AVIATION AND CHEMICAL CONSTRUCTION), a mass voluntary public military-patriotic organization that existed in the USSR in 1927-48. Formed on January 23, 1927 by the merger of Aviakhim and the Society for Assistance to the Defense of the USSR. Main tasks: promoting the development of the aviation industry, disseminating military knowledge and conducting mass defense work among the population. Osoaviakhim had 14 million members, united in 329 thousand primary organizations. They trained 2 million 600 thousand people in 30 military specialties. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, over 400 thousand nurses and sanitary workers were trained, over 98 million people. completed a course in chemical defense. The society did a lot of work on clearing mines and collecting trophy property in the liberated territories, trained over 10 thousand instructors and about 132 thousand miners. In 1947 Osoaviakhim was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In Feb. 1948 Instead of Osoaviakhim, DOSARM, DOSAV and DOSFLOT were formed, which in August 1951 were merged into DOSAAF of the USSR. In 1991, DOSAAF of the USSR was transformed into the Union of Defense Sports and Technical Organizations of Sovereign States (USTO Union), then into DOSAAF of the RSFSR and ROSTO (Russian Defense Sports and Technical Organization).