The debts of Tsarist Russia to the Entente. Genoa Conference In view of the difficult economic situation

The nationalization carried out by the Bolsheviks also affected foreign capital in Russia in terms of the nationalization of its property and the annulment by the Bolsheviks of all external and internal loans of the tsarist and Provisional governments. The most painful for foreigners were the issues of debts and the nationalization of banks.

The American ambassador reacted almost immediately to the nationalization decrees: “In December 1917, with a series of decrees, the Bolsheviks began their strange financial policy. These decrees declared banking a government monopoly, ordering that all owners of safes in bank vaults should immediately arrive with keys "to be present at the inspection of the safes"; otherwise, all their contents will be confiscated and become the property of the people.” “The diplomatic corps, excluding me, was unanimous in condemning all these decrees…..”

The external pre-war debt of Russia, taking into account mutual claims, was determined in the amount of 4.2 billion gold rubles (excluding German, about 1.1 billion) plus 970 million railway loans, 340 million city loans and 180 million loans land banks. In total, about 5.7 billion. In addition, 3 billion foreign investments in joint-stock and non-joint-stock enterprises were mentioned. The military (1914-1917) external debt of Russia was estimated at about 7.5 billion gold rubles. That is, during the three years of the war, Russia borrowed almost 1.5 times more from abroad than during the previous 20 years of intensive, catching up industrialization. Moreover, if peacetime loans were used mainly for investment purposes, then military loans were used to cover military expenses, that is, they were “eaten up”. During the war, almost a third of all the gold reserves of Russia were exported to "allied" England to secure loans.

“Russia's military spending for the war amounted (to February 1917) to 29.6 billion rubles, orders abroad were almost 8 billion rubles, but, as N. Yakovlev writes, behind the outwardly significant amount of the latter lies a very small return. Russia waged the war to an overwhelming extent through its own production of weapons and equipment. Compared to what was made in Russia, the import of weapons from abroad amounted to: 30% for rifles, less than 1% for their cartridges, 23% for guns of various calibers, about 20% for shells, etc. .

The low effectiveness of allied assistance is explained primarily by the fact that Russian military orders were considered in the Entente countries and the United States as an unfortunate hindrance. They were carried out somehow, the delivery dates were not kept.” For example, Kerensky wrote on July 3, 1917: “Indicate to the relevant ambassadors that the heavy artillery sent by their governments (USA, England, France) is apparently largely defective, since 35% of the guns could not withstand two days of moderate firing (trunks were bursting)...” F. Stepun also writes that he acted mainly in a factory marriage. Or from France, for example, shells began to arrive ... made of cast iron!

Yakovlev continues: “Finally, Western industrialists considered Russian orders as a means of profit. Prices for weapons and equipment were inflated by 25-30% higher than for buyers in Western countries. Large advances, thoughtlessly issued even under Sukhomlinov, tied the Russian departments, which could not do anything with the failure of deadlines, with the supply of low-quality products. As for Russia's loans, as was customary in the usurious practice of Western banks, various commissions were charged from them, and stockbrokers warmed their hands on them. Ignatiev, who had learned quite well the financial cuisine of France during the war years, in the twenties was a witness to the excitement raised in the West about the refusal of the USSR to pay loans until 1917. “When,” wrote A. A. Ignatiev, “ten years after the war, the same Messimi, with whom I experienced the first days of mobilization when I was his Minister of War, tried to burden Soviet Russia with the entire burden of the debts of tsarist Russia, I gave him the following simple answer: “Lend me until the next morning only two of your gendarmes. Having bypassed four Parisian banks with them, I will demand an extract from a Russian account and tomorrow I will bring you a good half of the money left in France from Russian loans.

At the same time, the ease with which the tsarist government threw money abroad for military orders to the detriment of the development of its own industry speaks of such dimensions of corruption that were really tantamount to outright treason. On the other hand, Russian industrialists turned down such prices that, as a result, two English cruisers could be bought for the price of one Russian cruiser.

The provisional government, in order to obtain new loans, confirmed its obligations on royal debts. As a result, the Minister of Finance M. Tereshchenko, in April 1917, admitted: “It is no secret to anyone how dependent both in the military sense and on the issue of funds for the further conduct of the war, we are from our allies and mainly from America” . Western loans were provided to the Provisional Government not for "democratic achievements", but only on condition that Russia continued the war. “There will be no war - there will be no loans,” said I. Ruth. Russian "cannon fodder" in exchange for Western money is not new, but, besides this, after the war, Russia also had to return the same money, and even with interest - excellent business! General Judson had every reason to declare that the comparatively small expenditure on Russia would have paid off tenfold in a war. The United States put forward its terms "on credit" only at the end of May 1917, when Russia and the Russian army, having exhausted their material and spiritual resources, were on the verge of concluding a separate peace with Germany. Accidentally or not? In World War II, everything will repeat itself - Lend-Lease deliveries will reach really significant values ​​only from the middle of 1943, when the territory of the USSR will be basically liberated and the allies will be haunted by the panic fear of a new "separate peace".

In 1917, the Provisional Government received loans. But the money had to be earned, and in June the hungry, ragged, exhausted by three years of war Russian army launched its last offensive in the First World War... Loans to the Provisional Government reached only $125 million - still far from the scale promised US allies. Meanwhile, House noted, "if there is no money, he [Bakhmetev] is sure that the government will not last." As the war continued, the politicians in the Petrograd Soviet moved more and more to the left. House seemed to understand the urgency of the situation. He warned Wilson: "I do not think that our attention to the Russian situation can be excessive, because in case of failure, our difficulties will be huge and numerous."

As a result, a paradoxical and tragic situation developed: Russia, which saved the Entente in 1914-1915, made the biggest contribution to the coalition war, followed the democratic slogans of the "allies", was abandoned by them to the mercy of fate...

The total (military and pre-war) external debt of Russia was determined in the amount of 12-13 billion gold rubles; in addition, foreign investment amounted to about 4-3 billion. That is, Russia's external debt accounted for half of all its spending during the First World War.

On the eve of October 1917, the total (external and internal) state debt of Russia amounted to 60 billion rubles, or seventeen pre-war annual budgets of Russia, including short-term debt on domestic debt - 17 billion rubles. The external debt was 16 billion rubles; of which short-term debt - 9 billion rubles.I. In the event of a “victorious” end to the First World War, Russia, devastated by the war, as the winner, had to pay only Western creditors at once more than four state gold reserves of 1913.

Meanwhile, by 1917, Russia was actually bankrupt, and the main demand of the interventionists, invariably presented to their white "allies" Denikin, Kolchak, Wrangel, was the unconditional return of the debts of the tsarist and Provisional governments. The United States, the main creditor of the Allies, made almost no concessions after the war, with rare exceptions related to special interests ... If the Whites had won, Russia would have had no chance of resurrection ...

For comparison: only Russia's short-term external liabilities in 1917 in the equivalent ratio in terms of GDP (1913) were approximately 4 times higher than all of Russia's external debts in 2000. But at the beginning of the 20th century there were no volumes of oil and gas production comparable to those of 2000, and by 1917 there was only a country devastated by the First World War... and the Far Eastern ports ... The victory of both the Provisional Government and the Whites was tantamount to state suicide ... P. Krasnov rightly wrote about Denikin and the White movement: “What horror and shame! Make Russia an arena of world struggle, expose it to the fate of Belgium and Serbia, bleed it, burn its cities and villages, trample its fields and, hungry, scolded and spat upon, crushed to dust by its own impotence, finish it to the end!

But even if Russia agreed to sacrifice its internal debt and pay off all external debt, it simply did not have the currency to meet its obligations over the next century. The external debt in relation to Russia's exports exceeded the maximum reparations from Germany by more than 40%. Of course, Russia could give away all its gold reserves, but even that would cover no more than 25% of its obligations to foreign creditors.

The reasons for the annulment of external debts by the Bolsheviks and the nationalization of foreign property lie precisely in these premises, and not in ideology, which served only as an external form ...

Firstly, the root cause lies in the failure of the Entente countries to fulfill their allied obligations to Russia.

Thus, by March 1917, British industry produced only about 20-25% of Russian military orders, and not all weapons were delivered to Russia. The same can be said about Japanese and Swedish orders. The first-class American factories "Remington" and "Westinghouse" fulfilled their obligations by only 10%. These cases of non-fulfillment by the allies of their obligations were rather the rule rather than the exception.

N. Yakovlev continues: “Orders for rifles were fulfilled only by 5%, for cartridges - by 1%. Most orders are 10-40% completed. When it came to the concession of weapons and equipment, often defective or obsolete items were sent. "In 1922, the Soviet delegation at the international economic conference in Genoa estimated the damage suffered by Russia as a result of the allies' failure to fulfill their obligations in the field of material and technical assistance at 3 billion rubles." But this is only a relatively small visible part of the question.

The “underwater part of the iceberg” lies in the fact that it was the failure of the allies to fulfill their actual allied obligations that led to a radical overstrain of Russia's forces in the war. The average annual mobilization load of Russia exceeded the levels of England, France and the United States combined. It was the excessive mobilization load that caused both Russian revolutions and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk... This issue was substantiated in detail in the first volume of "Trends", even its financial assessment was made. The amount of the minimum actual debt of the Allies to Russia for the First World War was 1.5 billion pounds. Art., or approximately 14 billion gold rubles. The failure of the Entente countries to fulfill their actual allied obligations to Russia played a decisive role, became the key reason for the ruin of the country and the radicalization of Russian society, which led, among other things, to nationalization and cancellation of debts. It was not an act of seizing someone else's property - it was an act of self-defense, self-preservation...

Secondly, all countries canceled their foreign and domestic debts to some extent during revolutions. For example, the Americans during their revolution refused to pay taxes, duties and use the currency of England (in fact, they renounced their credit obligations to England); during the French Revolution, the French government renounced 2/3 of its public debts; the British government, during its bourgeois revolution, refused to pay all its foreign debts.

The refusal to pay debts was a necessary condition for the successful completion of any revolution, it is they who help break the vicious circle in which a society has found itself in a dead end. Refusal of revolutions at certain stages of the development of society means only its degradation, self-destruction and subjugation... to its destruction. The Bolsheviks, just like the American, British and French revolutionaries in their time, had every right to cancel debts - this right is dictated both by the highest natural laws of the development of human society and by the fundamental principles of democracy that the same West preaches ...

Thirdly, during the war, the economic laws of peacetime cease to operate, otherwise the war turns into a pure business, where money buys life and death, pain and suffering for millions of people, the future of tens and hundreds of millions. And it's all for the profits of creditors? This truth reached the Americans after the Second World War, when they forgave the debts of all their allies. The USA went the same way, came to the same conclusions as the Bolsheviks, only almost 30 years later. And this once again confirms the correctness of the position of the Bolsheviks, who refused to pay their debts. Critics will object: the refusal of debts is not at all the same as their forgiveness. From a lender's point of view, yes. But from the point of view of “democratic, universal values” promoted by the civilized West, such a creditor is no different from an aggressor against whom a war is being waged.

Fourthly, instead of helping the defeated ally, the Entente countries launched an intervention against him, and here the Bolsheviks had another good reason not to pay their debts - counterclaims. They included both direct damage from the removal and destruction of national property, and indirect losses associated with the general economic and human losses occupied by the territories. The total amount of claims presented by the Soviet side at the talks in Genoa for intervention in the Entente countries was determined to be 50 billion gold rubles, or 1/3 of the entire national wealth of Russia.

In this case, the memoirs of N. Lyubimov and A. Erlich about the negotiations between the Soviet and Entente delegations on April 14 and 15, 1922 will be very interesting. Let us quote a rather long excerpt from it:

Lloyd George. In the document presented by Litvinov, an amount of 50 billion gold rubles was named, a value "completely incomprehensible." For such a sum, said Lloyd George, it was not worth going to Genoa. "Allied creditor countries would never recognize any claim that was not based on justice and on the right to indemnify for losses caused to Russia." The British have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, Lloyd George went on to say. The allied governments helped only that of the warring parties in Russia, which supported the allies against Germany. The Western Powers, if brought before a court of justice, could sue Russia for breach of treaty. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was such a violation. All the warring nations suffered enormous losses, and what fell to the lot of Britain was her debt of more than £8 billion. Art.

You can account for the military and other factors that have weakened Russia's economy, Lloyd George said, but you can't discount financial aid given to it by individuals such as British farmers. There is practically no point in dealing with the other proposals of the Allied experts set out in the London Memorandum (March 1922) “until the Russian delegation comes to an agreement on Russian debts ...” Lloyd George continued: the British government is incompetent to agree to any reduction in private, individual debt claims. Another thing is the state claims against Russia, where it would be possible to reduce the amount of debt and to reduce part of the overdue or deferred interest.”

G. Chicherin. The British Prime Minister's opinion that Soviet counterclaims are unfounded is erroneous. The Russian delegation could prove that the counter-revolutionary movement, until the moment of support from abroad, was powerless, defeated and lost all significance. He, Chicherin, remembers how on June 4, 1918, representatives of the Entente countries made a statement that the Czechoslovak detachments stationed in Russia should be regarded as "the army of the Entente itself", under the protection and responsibility of the allied governments. The Soviet government has at its disposal an agreement between Admiral Kolchak, Great Britain and France, an act on the subordination of General Wrangel to Kolchak and other official documents. “During these counter-revolutionary events, enormous damage was caused - up to 1/3 of the national wealth of Russia - caused by invasion and intervention, and the allied governments are entirely responsible for this damage,” Chicherin said categorically. Indemnification for damages caused by governmental action is now a principle of international law, already recognized in the case of the Alabama... 1865) with the North. (Lyubimov N. N., Erlikh A. N. S. 54.)]

The question of war debts was raised here. “And what did Russia gain from the war?!” Chicherin exclaimed. If we had received Constantinople, we would have handed it over to the current, from the point of view of Soviet Russia, the only legitimate government of Turkey. And the population of Eastern Galicia would determine its own will. In essence, the war debts concerned only the Allies who profited from the war. Russia, on the other hand, suffered more significant losses from the war than any other state. 54% of the losses of the Entente fall on Russia. The Russian government spent 20 billion gold rubles on the war, the profits from which went exclusively to the other side ... The Allied Powers sought to crush the new Russia that emerged from the revolution, and failed. Thus, they freed the new Russia from any obligations to the Entente ...

Then MM Litvinov took the floor on the issue of claims by private individuals, former owners of nationalized enterprises, and on other grounds. It is practically impossible to separate private debts from government debts. In France and England, Litvinov said, there were many advocates of intervention who wanted to take "their property" by force. For example, Leslie Urquhart, who helped Admiral Kolchak overthrow Soviet power. And now he, Urquhart, says that "he is not responsible, but he wants his money back." If he had done this five years ago, the situation would have been different, and now it is too late. Although the Russian delegation mentioned the figure of 50 billion gold rubles, it does not insist on paying this amount, continued M. M. Litvinov ... L. B. Krasin raised the question of returning Russia in kind to various courts; for example, our country has already received twelve icebreakers from the British government ...

(After a break) Lloyd George, without any special prefaces ... declared that the allied creditor states represented in Genoa could not accept any obligations in connection with the claims made by the Soviet government; no concessions can be made to the Soviet government either on debts or financial obligations .... the question of reducing the military debt, deferring the payment of interest on financial claims and canceling part of the overdue or deferred interest of the creditor states "due to the difficult economic situation of Russia" ready to consider and decide favorably ... Further, the allied powers agreed to consider first the question of debts, and then - the restoration of Russia. The question of the return of property "in kind" should not be confused with questions about debts ...

G. Chicherin replied: “We need to resume the work of the first (political) commission and subcommission. There is no reason to blame the Russians as "scapegoats" for the break in work. Part III of the London Memorandum of Experts is not about debt, but about the future, which should be discussed.” Lloyd George: “British bankers will not discuss the future until the past is properly settled. A special subcommittee should also be set up to discuss a number of legal issues.”

“Be frank, Mr. Lloyd George,” G. Chicherin concluded with a bitter smile. “The Entente wanted to crush the new Russia. She didn't succeed. We are quits.” Lloyd George replied to G. V. Chicherin: “If a neighbor has a contention between two parties, we support the one that goes with us and refuse to compensate the other party for damages.”

Ultimately, the issue of debts was settled to one degree or another with all countries except the United States. But the story of royal debts did not end there. In the 1990s, the Yeltsin government paid $400 million in compensation to French investors for the tsarist debts annulled by the Bolsheviks, and at the beginning of the 21st century, European countries demanded recognition of the "debts of the tsarist government" from Russia when it joined the Council of Europe.

Russia is a debtor. According to official data, Russia's external public debt at the beginning of 1999 amounted to $158.8 billion. According to some estimates, on the eve of the crisis, the debt of private Russian borrowers amounted to $54 billion, including $29 billion from banks and $25 billion from enterprises. the amount of Russian liabilities exceeded $212 billion.

Russia inherited a significant part of the debt from the Soviet Union. The debt of the USSR was mainly formed in 1985-1991, increasing from 22.5 in 1985 to 96.6 billion dollars at the beginning of 1992. The rapid growth of external debt was due, firstly, to economic conditions, and above all falling oil prices on the world market. The Soviet economy, based on the petrodollar "recharge", was unable to rebuild, and large external loans were required to pay for imports. Secondly, the ill-conceived liberalization of foreign economic activity. Within its framework, in April 1989, the union ministries received the right, on behalf of the state, to issue credit guarantees to enterprises. Because the Soviet Union had been meticulous in its debt-servicing schedule until 1990, international banks and other Western creditors were willing to lend it new loans.

After the collapse of the USSR, the problem of distributing debt among the union republics arose. As a criterion for the section, an indicator was adopted that took into account the population, national income, exports and imports on average for 1986-1990. The share of Russia was 61.3%. In second place by a wide margin (16.3%) was Ukraine. This indicator was extended to external assets, including property abroad and the debt of foreign states to the Soviet Union.

However, it soon became clear that only Russia was fulfilling its debt obligations to one degree or another. But due to the principle of joint and several liability laid down in the agreement, claims could be brought against Russia. In this regard, Russia offered to take responsibility for the entire debt of the USSR, subject to the transfer of rights to foreign assets to it. Based on this principle, a compromise was reached, which satisfied the parties concerned. In April 1993, the West officially recognized Russia as the only state responsible for the debts of the USSR.

Russian public debt is divided into internal and external in accordance with the currency of obligations. Ruble debt is considered internal, debt in foreign currency - external.

if non-residents are admitted to the domestic financial market, then debt can be classified according to another criterion: domestic debt is debt to residents, external debt to non-residents. From the point of view of the balance of payments, the state of the foreign exchange market, the second classification is preferable.

Taking into account the GKO-OFZ owned by non-residents, as well as the external debt of Russian private legal entities, the ratio between the "old" Soviet debt and the "new" Russian debt will be approximately 50:50. In terms of structure and conditions, Russian debt differs from Soviet debt for the worse; it is overwhelmingly not amenable to restructuring. Therefore, the legacy of the "old" debt cannot be considered as the main cause of the debt crisis experienced by Russia.

Russia is one of the three largest debtors among countries with emerging markets (Mexico, Brazil, Russia). However, the absolute amount of debt says little about a country's solvency.

For a long period of time, Russia was forced to borrow money to cover the budget deficit. In Art. The Budget Code defines state borrowings of the Russian Federation as loans and credits attracted from individuals and legal entities, foreign states, international financial organizations, for which debt obligations arise as a borrower or a guarantor of repayment of loans (credits) by other borrowers.

Public debt consists of the debt of past years and newly arisen debt. The Russian Federation is not responsible for the debt obligations of the national-territorial entities of the Russian Federation, if they were not guaranteed by the Government of the Russian Federation. The form of debt obligations of the national-state and administrative-territorial entities of the Russian Federation and the conditions for their issue are determined independently on the ground.

Depending on the currency in which loans are issued, the Budget Code of the Russian Federation divides them into two groups: internal and external. The groups also differ from each other in terms of types of loan instruments, terms of placement, composition of creditors.

Lenders for internal loans are mainly individuals and legal entities that are residents of this state, although a certain part of them can also be acquired by foreign investors. Domestic loans are issued in national currency. To raise funds, securities are issued that are in demand on the national stock market. Various tax incentives are used to further encourage investors.

Budget Code in Art. 89 defines state domestic borrowings as "loans and credits attracted from individuals and legal entities, foreign states, international financial organizations, for which debt obligations of the Russian Federation arise as a borrower or a guarantor of repayment of loans (credits) by other borrowers, denominated in the currency of the Russian Federation."

Foreign loans are placed on foreign stock markets in the currency of other states. When placing such loans, the specific interests of investors in the country of placement are taken into account. Budget Code in Art. 89 defines state external borrowings of the Russian Federation as "loans and credits attracted from individuals and legal entities, foreign states, international financial organizations, for which debt obligations of the Russian Federation arise as a borrower or guarantor of repayment of loans (credits) by other borrowers, denominated in foreign currency."

Internal loans of the Russian Federation. In the Law on the federal budget of the Russian Federation for 2006, the maximum amount of the state internal debt as of January 1, 2007 is set at 1,148.7 billion rubles.

Prior to the mid-1990s, loans from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation were used to finance the federal budget deficit. In 1995, a decision was made to stop the practice of lending by the Central Bank to the Government of the Russian Federation, and the entire burden of covering the budget deficit was transferred to the financial market. However, already in 1998, the legislature was forced to make a decision to provide loans from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to cover the budget deficit. Similar decisions were made in the Laws on the federal budget for 1999 and 2000. In particular, the Law on the Federal Budget for 2000 provides for covering intra-annual gaps between current revenues and expenditures of the federal budget to allow the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to purchase government securities during their initial placement in the amount of 30 billion rubles.

Sub-federal government loan. Like the Russian Federation, subjects of the Russian Federation can enter into credit relations as borrowers, creditors and guarantors. In quantitative terms, borrowing activities predominate.

Loans of subjects of the Russian Federation. According to the RF BC (Article 90), government borrowings of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, municipal borrowings are loans and credits attracted from individuals and legal entities, for which debt obligations arise, respectively, of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or a municipality as a borrower or guarantor of repayment of loans (credits) by other borrowers, denominated in the currency of the liability.

The totality of debt obligations of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation forms the state debt of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Debt obligations of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation may exist in the form (Article 99 of the BC):

• * credit agreements and contracts;
• * government loans of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, carried out by issuing securities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation;
• * contracts and agreements on the receipt by the subject of the Russian Federation of budget loans from the budgets of other levels of the budget system of the Russian Federation;
• * agreements on the provision of state guarantees of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation;
• * agreements and contracts, including international ones, concluded on behalf of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, on the prolongation and restructuring of debt obligations of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation of previous years.

Debt obligations of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation cannot exist in other forms, with the exception of those listed above.

Subjects of the Federation have acquired the right to borrow funds in accordance with Law No. 4807-1 of 1993 from other budgets, from commercial banks, or to issue loans for investment purposes. The same Law provided that the maximum ratio of the total amount of loans, credits, other debt obligations of the relevant budget and the volume of its expenditures would be established additionally. Such a measure is quite justified, since the experience of the developed countries of the West gives us numerous examples of the bankruptcy of certain territories, including such large cities as New York. However, for a long time, the borrowing activities of territories within our state were not legally limited.

Since the beginning of the XXI century. Russia is refusing to widely use budget credits. On the one hand, this is explained by the fact that in practice the system of budget crediting has not justified itself. Loans were not repaid in a timely manner, and interest on them was not paid. On the other hand, commercial banks began to lend more actively to enterprises, interest rates on loans began to decline, and the critical importance of budget loans disappeared.

For these reasons, the conditions for budget lending are beginning to tighten, and its volumes and areas of use are curtailing. A requirement is introduced according to which budget loans by legal entities that are not state or municipal enterprises are received only if the borrower provides security for the fulfillment of the obligation to repay the loan. The only security methods are bank guarantees, guarantees, pledge of property in the amount of at least 100% of the loan provided.

A prerequisite for granting a budget loan is a preliminary check of the financial condition of the borrower. The purposes for which a budget loan should be granted, the conditions and procedure for granting are determined upon approval of the budget for the next financial year.

Today, the recipients of loans provided from the federal budget? are mainly the budgets of other levels, and the policy of budgetary lending pursued by the Russian Federation is concentrated on two basic directions?

• ??? loans are allocated primarily to cover cash gaps;
• ??? Significant steps are being taken to streamline arrears and minimize them.

External government loans. In accordance with the Budget Code (Article 122), “State loans provided by the Russian Federation to foreign states, their legal entities and international organizations are loans (loans) for which foreign states, their legal entities and international organizations have debt obligations to the Russian Federation as a lender??. Such government loans form the external assets of the Russian Federation.

The debt obligations of foreign states to the Russian Federation as a creditor form the debt of foreign states to the Russian Federation.

External government loans and debts to Russia on them are usually divided into three groups?

• 1) the debt of foreign states (except for the CIS countries);
• 2) debt of the CIS countries;
• 3) the debt of foreign commercial banks and firms (to the USSR or the Russian Federation).

We want to clearly establish in the program that the proletarian state must necessarily be defended not only by the proletarians of this country, but also by the proletarians of all countries ... Then we must stipulate another tactical issue: the right to red intervention. This question is a touchstone for all communist parties. Everywhere there are cries of red militarism. We must establish in the program that every proletarian state has the right to red intervention. The Communist Manifesto says that the proletariat must conquer the whole world, but this cannot be done with the flick of a finger. Here you need bayonets and rifles. Yes, the spread of the Red Army is the spread of socialism, proletarian power, revolution. This is the basis for the right of red intervention under such special conditions that it only facilitates the implementation of socialism purely technically.

Document No. 2. From V.I. Lenin of the Soviet delegation in Genoa.

... Try to move Krasin's formula: "All countries recognize their public debts and undertake to compensate for the damages and losses caused by the actions of their governments." If this fails, go for a break, while declaring with certainty that we are ready to recognize private debts, but not wanting to play hide and seek, we indicate that we consider them covered, like the entire amount of our obligations in general, by our counterclaims ...

Document No. 3. From the statement of the Soviet delegation at the first meeting of the Genoa Conference. April 10, 1922

The Russian delegation, which represents a government that has always supported the cause of peace, welcomes with particular satisfaction the statements of previous speakers that, first of all, peace is needed ... It considers it necessary, first of all, to declare that it has come here in the interests of peace and the general restoration of the economic life of Europe, which war and the post-war five-year plan. remaining on the point of view of the principles of communism, the Russian delegation recognizes that in the current historical era, which makes possible the parallel existence of the old and the emerging new social order, economic cooperation between the states representing these two property systems is imperatively necessary for the general economic recovery ... The Russian delegation came come here not to propagate their own theoretical views, but for the sake of entering into business relations with the governments and commercial and industrial circles of all countries on the basis of reciprocity, equality and full and unconditional recognition ... Meeting the needs of the world economy and the development of its productive forces, the Russian the government is consciously and voluntarily ready to open its borders to international transit routes, to provide for cultivation millions of acres of the most fertile land, the richest forest, coal and ore concessions, especially in Siberia, as well as a number of other concessions, especially in Siberia, as well as a number of other concessions throughout the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ... The Russian delegation intends during the future work of the conference to propose a general reduction in armaments and support all proposals aimed at alleviating the burden of militarism, with the condition of reducing the armies of all states and supplementing the rules of war with the complete prohibition of its most barbaric forms, such as poisonous gases, air warfare, and others, and in particular the use of means of destruction directed against the civilian population.

Document No. 4. Resolution of the Allied delegations at the Genoa Conference outlining the conditions imposed on Russia. April 15, 1922

1. The allied creditor states represented at Genoa cannot assume any obligations with respect to the claims made by the Soviet Government. 2. In view, however, of Russia's difficult economic situation, the creditor states are inclined to reduce Russia's military debt to them in percentage terms, the size of which must be determined subsequently. The nations represented in Genoa are inclined to take into account not only the question of deferring the payment of current interest, but also of deferring the payment of a part of the interest that has expired or is in arrears. 3. Nevertheless, it must finally be established that no exceptions can be made to the Soviet government regarding: a) Debts and financial obligations assumed in respect of citizens of other nationalities; b) regarding the rights of these citizens to the restoration of their property rights or to compensation for the damage and losses incurred.

Document No. 5. From the agreement between the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and Germany. April 16, 1922

Article I. ... a) The RSFSR and the German State mutually renounce compensation for military expenses, as well as compensation for military losses ... Equally, both Parties renounce compensation for non-military losses caused to citizens of one Party through the so-called exceptional military laws and violent measures of state bodies the other Party. C) Russia and Germany mutually refuse to reimburse their expenses for prisoners of war ... Article II. Germany renounces claims arising from the fact that up to now the laws and measures of the RSFSR have been applied to German citizens and their private rights, as well as to the rights of the German State and Lands in relation to Russia, as well as claims arising in general from the measures of the RSFSR or its bodies in relation to German citizens or their private rights, provided that the government of the RSFSR will not satisfy similar claims of other states. Article III. Diplomatic and consular relations between the RSFSR and the German State are immediately resumed... Article IV. Both Governments further agree that for the general legal status of citizens of one Party in the territory of the other and for the general regulation of mutual trade and economic relations, the principle of the greatest should apply. 1919

Civil war ignited throughout Europe; the victory of communism in Germany is absolutely inevitable; in a year in Europe they will forget about the struggle for communism, because all of Europe will be communist; then the struggle for communism will begin in America, perhaps in Asia and on other continents.

Document No. 6. From the annual report of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR to the VIII Congress of Soviets for 1919-1920. December 22-29, 1920

The term that had elapsed since the last Congress of Soviets was the year of the triumph of the so-called "peaceful offensive" of Soviet Russia. Our policy of constant, systematic coming forward with peace proposals and constant attempts to make peace with all our adversaries, however, was dubbed by the latter as a peaceful offensive. This policy of unceasing and systematic efforts in favor of peace has borne fruit... At present, peace treaties have been concluded with all our neighbors, except for Poland.... And besides Romania... In January of this year, first the Supreme Economic Council, and then the Supreme Union Council, that is, England. France and Italy officially announced the resumption of commercial relations with Soviet Russia, but not directly with the Soviet Government, but with the cooperatives. At the present time, however, the British Government is proposing to us a draft trade agreement which already completely eliminates the co-operatives from any participation in it... At the present time even France, the most consistent of our opponents.... She recommended that Poland conclude peace with us... The successful military defense of the Soviet Republic was facilitated by the widespread military collapse, and the governments were encouraged to engage in trade relations with it by the growing economic collapse, which made Russia's absence in peaceful, economic circulation even more acutely... Increasing fatigue and need for peace The broad masses of the people exerted strong pressure on the governments of the states directly fighting us, forcing them to succumb to our peaceful policy... The military and economic disintegration of the bourgeois world is accompanied by diplomatic disintegration. The victorious powers ... are powerless to force even small states to submit to their will.

Questions and tasks:

1. Based on doc. No. 1, I draw the following conclusions about the export of the revolution from Russia: 1 ..., 2 ... etc.

2. Doc. No. 3 contradicts doc. No. 1, because ...

3. Based on doc. Nos. 2 and 4, I can single out the following reasons for the failure of the talks between Russia and Western countries in Genoa: 1…, 2… etc. …

4. On the basis of Doc No. 5, I conclude that the treaty with Germany was beneficial (not beneficial) for Russia, because …

5. Having studied the dock. No. 5, I was convinced of the correct (wrong) opinion when answering the question. No. 4, because ...

6. Based on the above and doc. No. 6, I can draw the following conclusions about the successes and failures of Russian foreign policy in the 20s: 1 ..., 2 ... etc. …

The Russian delegation carefully considered the proposals of the Allied Governments, set out in the annex to the protocol of 15 April; at the same time she asked her Government about this.

the proposed proposals, by recognizing her counterclaims. Nevertheless, the Russian delegation is ready to take one more step in the search for a way to settle the differences and accept paragraphs 1, 2 and For of the said annex, provided* that:

1) war debts and overdue or deferred interest on all debts will be cancelled; 2) Russia will be given sufficient financial assistance to enable it to get out of its current economic situation as soon as possible.

With regard to paragraph 36, subject to the above two conditions, the Russian Government would be ready to return to the former owners the use of nationalized or confiscated property, or, where this would not be possible, to satisfy the just claims of the former owners, or by direct agreement with them, or in accordance with an agreement, the details of which will be discussed and adopted at this conference.

Foreign financial assistance is certainly essential to Russia's economic recovery, and until the prospects for such a recovery open up, the Russian delegation sees no way to impose on their country the burden of debts that could not be paid.

The Russian delegation also wishes to make it clear, although it would seem self-evident, that the Russian Government will not be able to assume any obligations in respect of the debts of its predecessors until it is officially recognized de jure by the Powers concerned.

Hoping that you will find the above proposals a sufficient basis for resuming the discussion, I have the honor to be, sir, your humble servant.

G. Chicherin

Print. by arch. Published in the collection "Materials of the Genoa Conference ...", M. 1922, pp. 168-169.

In the mentioned appendix to the minutes of the April 15 informal meeting of representatives of the RSFSR, Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium at the Genoa Conference, it was said:

"one. The allied creditor states represented at Genoa cannot assume any obligations regarding the claims made by the Soviet Government.

2. In view, however, of Russia's difficult economic situation, the creditor states are ready to reduce Russia's military debt to these states lu in the amount of a certain percentage, which "should be fixed

flax afterwards). The countries represented in Genoa would also be prepared to consider not only deferring the payment of interest on financial claims, but also the cancellation of part of the overdue or deferred interest.

3. However, it must be firmly established that no concessions can be made to the Soviet Government with regard to

a) as debts and financial obligations, the right of claim for which belongs to foreign citizens,

b) and the rights of these citizens to the return of their property and compensation for damage caused to this property, or its loss.

The answers to tasks 1-19 are a number, or a sequence of numbers, or a word (phrase). Write your answers in the answer boxes to the right of the task number without spaces, commas or other additional characters.

1

Arrange historical events in chronological order. Write down the numbers that represent historical events in the correct sequence.

1. uprising led by K.A. Bulavina

2. the first mention of Moscow in the Ipatiev Chronicle

3. the defeat of the Invincible Armada by England

2

Establish a correspondence between events and years: for each position of the first column, select the corresponding position from the second column

3

Below is a list of terms (names). All of them, with the exception of two, refer to events (phenomena) in the history of Russia in the 18th century.

1) palace coup; 2) Slavophiles; 3) possessive peasants; 4) favoritism; 5) redemption payments; 6) colleges.

Find and write down the serial numbers of terms (names) related to another historical period.

4

Write down the term you are talking about.

The name of the territorial community in Ancient Russia, whose members were collectively responsible for the murders and thefts committed within the boundaries of the community; mentioned in Russian Pravda.

5

Establish a correspondence between processes (phenomena, events) and facts related to these processes (phenomena, events): for each position of the first column, select the corresponding position from the second column.

6

Establish a correspondence between fragments of historical sources and their brief characteristics: for each fragment indicated by a letter, select two corresponding characteristics indicated by numbers.

A) “In the second year after the return with the victory of the prince ... [enemies] again came from the western country and built a city on the land of the prince. The prince ... soon went and destroyed their city to the ground, and hanged some of them themselves, took others with him, and others, having mercy, let him go, for he was immensely merciful. In the third year ... the Germans came to Lake Peipus, and the prince met them, and prepared for battle, and they went against each other, and Lake Peipsi was covered with a multitude of those and other warriors ... "

B) “In all the cities of the Muscovite state, such soul-harming was heard near Moscow, and they mourned and wept for it, and they did not kiss the cross in any city, and no one could help. From all the same cities in a single city, in Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod residents ... began to think about how to help the Muscovite state. One of them, Kozma Minin, a Nizhny Novgorodian who trades in meat, Kozma Minin, recommended by Sukhoruk, cry out to all people: “If we want to help the Muscovite state, otherwise we won’t wish our stomachs” ... But everyone in Nizhny Novgorod liked his word, and they decided to send beat the forehead to Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich ... of the Pechersk Monastery of Archimandrite Theodosius, and from all the ranks of all the best people.

1. The events described took place in the 16th century.

2. The prince mentioned in the passage was a member of the Zemsky Sobors.

3. The prince mentioned in the passage received the nickname Donskoy.

4. The described events took place in the XIII century

5. The events described took place in the 17th century

6. The prince mentioned in the passage was nicknamed Nevsky

Write the chosen numbers under the corresponding letters.

7

Which of the following events occurred during the leadership of the USSR N.S. Khrushchev? Choose three events and write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1. entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan

2. the beginning of the campaign against cosmopolitanism in the USSR

3. Execution of a demonstration of workers in Novocherkassk

4. liquidation of machine and tractor stations

5. price liberalization

6. Caribbean Crisis

8

Fill in the gaps in these sentences using the list of missing elements below: for each sentence marked with a letter and containing a gap, choose the number of the element you want.

A) A Soviet intelligence officer, a partisan who, posing as a German officer in Rovno and Lvov, obtained valuable information, destroyed several prominent Nazis - ____________.

B) The operation of the Red Army "Uranus" began in ____________.

C) During the Great Patriotic War, the Nazis failed to capture the city of _____________.

2. Yu.B. Levitan

6. N.I. Kuznetsov

9

Establish a correspondence between events and participants in these events: for each position in the first column, select the corresponding position from the second column.

10

Read an excerpt from a resolution adopted at an international conference and indicate the name of the Chairman of the Soviet Government during the period when this conference was held.

“Allied creditor states ... cannot assume any obligations regarding the claims made by the Soviet government.

In view, however, of Russia's difficult economic situation, the creditor states are inclined to reduce Russia's war debt to them in percentage terms, the size of which is to be determined later. The nations represented in Genoa are inclined to take into account not only the question of deferring the payment of current interest, but also of deferring the payment of a part of the interest that has expired or is in arrears.

11

Fill in the blank cells of the table using the list of missing elements below: for each gap indicated by letters, select the number of the required element.

Missing items:

1. the beginning of the reign in Kyiv of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich

2. the beginning of the Crusades

4. Formation of the Holy Roman Empire

6. Khan Tokhtamysh's campaign against Moscow

7. "Glorious Revolution" in England

9. accession to the Moscow state of Tver

12

Read an excerpt from the annals.

“In the year 6370. And they expelled the Varangians across the sea, and did not give them tribute, and began to rule themselves, and there was no truth among them, and clan stood against clan, and they had strife, and began to fight with each other. And they said: "Let's look for ourselves a prince who would rule over us and dress us in order and according to the law." Went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Those Varangians were called Rus, as others are called Swedes, and others are Normans and Angles, and still others are Goths, like these. The Chud Rus, the Slavs, the Krivichi and all said: "Our land is great and plentiful, but there is no order in it. Come reign and rule over us." And three brothers were chosen with their clans, and they took with them all of Russia, and came first of all to the Slavs. And put the city of Ladoga. And the eldest sat in Ladoga, and the other - Sineus - on the White Lake, and the third - Truvor - in Izborsk. And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed. Two years later, Sineus and his brother Truvor died. And he took all the power alone ... [prince], and came to Ilmen, and set the city over the Volkhov ... and sat down to reign here, and began to distribute to his husbands volosts and cities to set up ”

1. The passage mentions the East Slavic tribal union, which occupied the territory along the middle course of the Dnieper River, with its center in Kyiv.

3. Finno-Ugric tribes are mentioned in the passage.

4. The passage gives the name of the tribal union of the Eastern Slavs, which raised an uprising, during which the son of the prince mentioned in the text was killed.

6. The passage describes an event dated by modern chronology 862

Review the diagram and complete tasks 13-16

13

Fill in the gap in the sentence: "The events indicated in the diagram took place in the year one thousand nine hundred ____________________." Write your answer in a word (combination of words)

14

Indicate the name of the city, indicated on the diagram by the number "4", during the period when the events reflected in the diagram occurred.

15

Indicate the name of the city indicated on the diagram by the number "2"

16

Which statements about this scheme are correct? Choose three sentences from the six offered. Write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1. The city, indicated on the diagram by the number "3", is currently part of Russia

2. The city, indicated on the diagram by the number "5", was liberated from the Nazis in the fall

3. During the hostilities, indicated by arrows on the diagram, the Red Army completely liberated Czechoslovakia

4. The diagram shows the actions of the Red Army during Operation Bagration.

5. The diagram shows the actions of the Red Army during the East Prussian operation.

6. The city, indicated on the diagram by the number "1", was liberated from the Nazis in October.

17

Establish a correspondence between cultural monuments and their brief characteristics: for each position of the first column, select the corresponding position from the second column

Look at the picture and complete tasks 18-19

18

What judgments about this commemorative coin are true? Choose two sentences from the five offered. Write down the numbers under which they are indicated in the table

1. The event to which this coin is dedicated took place less than a year before the abolition of serfdom in Russia.

2. The coin mentions the state body established by Peter I

3. The Russian emperor depicted on the coin was nicknamed the Quietest.

4. This coin was issued in the year when D.A. was the President of Russia. Medvedev.

5. High government posts during the reign of the emperor depicted on the coin were occupied by A.Kh. Benkendorf and S.S. Uvarov.

19

Which of the cultural figures presented below were contemporaries of the event, in memory of which this coin was issued? In your answer, write down two numbers that indicate these cultural figures.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Part 2.

First write down the task number (20, 21, etc.), and then a detailed answer to it. Write your answers clearly and legibly.

From a petition to the king

“Merciful Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhailo Fedorovich of All Russia! Perhaps we, our serfs, for our former service and for blood for our poverty and ruin and for our sovereign services, unceasingly with our eternal royal salary, as it was under the previous sovereigns, and your sovereign decree: lead, sovereign, to set aside those fixed years for five years , and our runaway peasants and little people were led, sovereign, to us, our serfs, to give according to scribes and according to separate books, and according to our fortresses, so that our estates and patrimonies would not become empty, and the rest would be peasants and little people because of us, your serfs , do not come out, and so that we, your serfs, serving your sovereign's unceasing service and paying your sovereign all sorts of taxes, do not completely perish. And they led, sovereign, to the authorities, and to monasteries, and to all kinds of Moscow ranks of people in our fugitive peasants and in little people and in insults to give us, their serfs, on them and on their clerks and peasants court in those cities in which , sovereign, it’s time for us, your serfs, you have to beat the sovereign on them with your forehead. And they led, sovereign, to choose in the cities from the nobles and from the zemstvo people, and led, sovereign, us, their serfs, to judge in the cities according to their sovereign decree and according to their sovereign laid court book, so that you, sovereign, from us, your servants , [annoying requests] were not, but we, your serfs, would not completely die from Moscow red tape and from all kinds of Moscow ranks of strong people and from monasteries, and from all kinds of authorities were not for sale, and so that we, your serfs, from them sales and violence will not perish completely ... "

Indicate, to the nearest half century, the period to which this document relates. Indicate the royal dynasty, the ancestor of which was the ruler mentioned in the document. Name his successor.

Show answer

This text mentions Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, which immediately facilitates the task - there was only one Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich on the Russian throne - the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty, who ruled from 1613 to 1645. The test contains a request from nobles and boyar children to cancel the 5-year term fixed years, during which the nobles could search for fleeing serfs, that is, make the search indefinite. Accordingly, this is the first half of the 17th century. Mikhail Fedorovich is the ancestor of the ruling Romanov dynasty. His successor, as you know, was his son, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (nicknamed "The Quietest"), who ruled from 1645 to 1678.

What measures, which the petitioners expected from the king, are indicated in this passage? Specify any three measures.

Show answer

The response must include:

1. “Tell, sir, to set aside those fixed years for five years, and sir, they led our fugitive peasants and little people, to us, our serfs, to give according to scribes and separate books, and according to our fortresses” - the petitioners asked to cancel the so-called. "Lesson Summers"

2. “And they led, sovereign, to the authorities, and to the monasteries, and to all kinds of Moscow ranks of people in our fugitive peasants and in little people and in insults to give us, their serfs, on them and on their clerks and on the peasants the court in those cities » - i.e. petitioners ask for the transfer of legal proceedings on controversial issues about peasants and lands from the Moscow Orders to the cities at the place of residence of nobles and boyar children.

3. “And they led, sovereign, to choose in the cities from the nobles and from the zemstvo people, and they led, sovereign, us, their servants, to judge in the cities according to their sovereign decree and according to their sovereign laid court book” - in this passage, the desire of the petitioners sounded on the reform of the court (decentralization) and changes in legislation (the participation of elected nobles and zemstvo people in litigation on controversial issues about peasants).

Indicate the name of the code of laws adopted during the reign of the king's successor mentioned in the document. Involving historical knowledge, indicate at least two provisions of this code that determine the position of dependent categories of the country's population.

Show answer

In the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676), the so-called. The Cathedral Code is a code of laws adopted by the Zemsky Sobor in 1649. Among the provisions of this code, which determine the position of dependent categories of the population, it is necessary to indicate:

1) the abolition of school years, i.e. the term for the capture of the departed serfs became indefinite, the peasants were finally enslaved.

2) a ban on the free movement of all categories of the taxable population, townspeople, state and serfs.

In the early 1920s the socio-economic and political situation in the RSFSR remained difficult. Give any two statements that show that with the end of the Civil War, the policy of "war communism" reached a dead end, there was a threat to the existence of Soviet power itself. Specify the congress of the RCP (b), which decided to abandon the policy of "war communism" and the transition to a new economic policy (NEP).

Show answer

Among the provisions proving the ineffectiveness of the policy of War Communism (who does not remember, 1918-1921) at the end of the Civil War, failures can be indicated:

1) Surplus appraisal. The system aimed at procuring food eventually led to a decrease in the profitability of agriculture (due to the disinterest of the peasants in obtaining high yields), as a result, a decline in industrial development, to peasant uprisings (in the Tambov region, in Western Siberia) and in the army (in Kronstadt), as well as to hunger.

2) The fall of industry, the decline in industrial output caused by the fall of the financial system (the abolition of de jure money and the use of the so-called "sovznaki" instead of them, subject to rapid depreciation).

The transition to the NEP policy took place after the Tenth Congress of the RCP(b).

There are debatable problems in historical science, on which different, often contradictory points of view are expressed. Below is one of the controversial points of view that exist in historical science.

"Emperor Alexander III was rightly called the Peacemaker for his foreign policy."

Using historical knowledge, give two arguments that can support this point of view, and two arguments that can refute it. When presenting arguments, be sure to use historical facts.

Write your answer in the following form.

Arguments to support:

Arguments in rebuttal:

Show answer

The response may contain the following arguments to support it:

During the reign of Alexander III (1881-1894), the Russian Empire did not take part in any war.

He sought to resolve all disputes peacefully, for example, relations with England in Central Asia.

The Khanate of Kokand, Kazakhstan, the Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara joined the Russian Empire, and the Turkmen tribes continued to join. In total, during the reign of Emperor Alexander III, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe empire increased by 430,000 square kilometers.

The answer may contain the following arguments in refutation:

Under him, Russia moved closer to France, which later led to the formation of the Entente and the confrontation that led to the First World War. Russian support for France led to a "customs war" between Russia and Germany.

Under him, active penetration into the Far East began (in particular, the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which eventually connected Moscow and Vladivostok), which in the future led to a clash and war with Japan.

Under him, there was a cooling, and then a break in diplomatic relations with Bulgaria, which ultimately led to a weakening of Russian positions in the Balkans (in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia).

You need to write a historical essay about ONE of the periods in the history of Russia:

1) 1054–1132; 2) October 1894 - July 1914; 3) October 1964 - March 1985

The essay must:

Indicate at least two events (phenomena, processes) relating to a given period of history;

Name two historical personalities whose activities are associated with the indicated events (phenomena, processes), and, using knowledge of historical facts, characterize the role of these personalities in the events (phenomena, processes) of a given period of Russian history;

Indicate at least two causal relationships that existed between events (phenomena, processes) within a given period of history.

Attention!

When characterizing the role of each person named by you, it is necessary to indicate the specific actions of this person that significantly influenced the course and (or) result of the indicated events (processes, phenomena).

Using the knowledge of historical facts and (or) the opinions of historians, give one historical assessment of the significance of this period for the history of Russia. In the course of the presentation, it is necessary to use historical terms, concepts related to this period.

Share your results or ask how to solve a particular problem. Be polite guys.