Who is such a great helmsman?

Flipping through the old numbers of the Soviet periodicals one can find the phrase "great helmsman". Find out what it means, this article will help.

Prehistory

For the first time such an expression occurs in Christian literature. In particular, John Chrysostom, who lived at the turn of 4-5 centuries, in his treatise "Conversations on the book of Genesis" calls the great helmsman of the Most High, and his ship is the Church.

As for the word "pilot", in Russian it is an archaic marine term corresponding to the modern concept of "helmsman".

Joseph Stalin

In September 1934 the expression "great helmsman" was used in one of the editorials of the newspaper Pravda. The article was devoted to the passage along the Northern Sea Route of the icebreaker "Fedor Litke" from Vladivostok to Murmansk. In the note the text of the telegram of the ship's crew was given, in which it was said: "Victory is won ... thanks to ... the collective who conducted the work ... on the basis of ... the instructions of the great helmsman ... Comrade Stalin". The application of such a title to Joseph Vissarionovich in the sailors' environment is fully justified, as it was consonant with their profession.

At the same time, sailors hardly knew about the treatise of John Chrysostom and quite by accident called Stalin the epithet that the famous Byzantine theologian used against God.

Whatever it was, the phrase "Great Helmsman" was firmly rooted in Soviet journalism and began to constantly meet in newspapers and magazines. From there it migrated into the vocabulary of party functionaries, who began to use it actively, speaking in the stands of congresses and meetings.

Chinese Helmsman Mao Zedong

In the late 40s of the last century, the personality cult of the leader of the Chinese Communist Party began to form in China. At the same time, local propagandists took over from their Soviet colleagues the title of "Great Helmsman" and began to use it as applied to Mao Zedong.

Youth

Mao Zedong, the great helmsman of China, was born in 1893. He received a decent education at that time, and during the years of college students in Beijing he got acquainted with local Marxists. In 1920, he finally determined his political views, choosing communism. A year later, Mao became one of the participants in the constituent congress of the Communist Party of China.

Way to the top

In 1928, Mao Zedong creates a strong Soviet republic in the west of Jiangxi Province. Later, in the autumn of 1931, thanks to the active actions of the communists, 10 districts in the central part of the country are under the control of the Chinese Red Army and partisans. This made it possible to create a new state there. It became known as the Chinese Soviet Republic, Mao Zedong himself became head of the Council of People's Commissars . He took an active part in the anti-Japanese struggle, and managed to drive out the conservative Kuomintang government, which marked the end of the Civil War.

October 1, 1949 Tiananmen Mao Zedong proclaims the formation of the PRC with its capital in Beijing. He himself is the chairman of the government of the new state.

China under Mao

In the early years of the PRC's existence, the great helmsman placed great hopes on the economic and technical assistance of the Soviet Union and in many ways imitated the leader of the peoples, Josef Stalin.

Between 1950 and 1956, Mao gradually carried out agrarian reforms, with the help of which he hoped to solve the problem of the country's food supply. Nevertheless, in 1957-1958 an economic crisis broke out in China. Then Zedong put forward a program known as the "big leap". He sent huge labor resources for the construction of artificial reservoirs, as well as the creation of agricultural communes and industrial enterprises in the Chinese village.

Great Helmsman: Holodomor

In 1958, Mao Zedong issued an order to mercilessly destroy all sparrows, because he believed that they had pitted grain on the fields and "stood in the way of China's economic development."

To fulfill the task set by the great helmsman, thousands of people were mobilized. They waved flags and beat the drums, scaring away the birds from landing. The poor birds flew for so long that they were exhausted, until they died from exhaustion. As a result, their numbers have plummeted in China, and in some regions sparrows have disappeared altogether.

In the first few months after the campaign against sparrows and other pests began, a small increase in the yield of cereals was recorded, but after the invasion of the locust began , which, having lost its main enemy, bred incredibly. As a result, a terrible famine began, thousands of cases of cannibalism were recorded.

To remedy the situation, China was forced to buy grain abroad urgently, and sparrows were "pardoned" and even forced to import these birds from abroad.

The Cultural Revolution

As was to be expected, Mao's "Great Leap" partially failed, and it was necessary to change the "Yenan model" to an individual incentive system. Such a deviation from their principles was not to the liking of the leader of the Chinese Communists. At the same time, in the early 1960s, the great helmsman was seriously concerned about the trends in the sphere of economy and politics in China itself. In addition, he believed that the CCP itself is becoming increasingly conservative, and revisionism has penetrated into its heart.

Having swum across the Yangtze River

Mao Zedong was an extraordinary person in all respects. For example, he was very fond of swimming on Chinese rivers. At the same time, since many representatives of the ruling elite could not boast of the same excellent sports form as their leader, it did not do without tragedies. In particular, when the Great Helmsman swam across the Yangzi in 1966, at the age of 73, almost dumping a world record, the commander of the Guangzhou Military District drowned, and one of the party leaders on the beach was bitten by a snake. The purpose of this widely advertised event was to show that Chairman Mao is still full of strength and capable of dealing with all opponents of the Cultural Revolution.

Last years

To "improve" the Communist Party, he took a number of steps. In particular, detachments of the "Red Guards" were formed-young people from the workers 'and peasants' milieu who had to fight those who had retreated from the communist path. Also, Mao became the initiator of large-scale repressions, the victims of which were millions of people.

The "Cultural Revolution" was completed in 1968. One of the reasons was Mao's fears about the possible introduction of Soviet troops into the PRC, reinforced by events in Czechoslovakia.

The great helmsman Mao ordered to disband the units of the Red Guards and instructed the army to take control of the situation in the country.

In the period from 1969 to 1970, Zedong tried to restore the defeated Communist Party. By that time, his health had already been severely eroded. Despite this, he tried with all his might to maintain a balance between the party factions, trying to prevent a split.

Mao died on September 9, 1976 after 2 severe heart attacks, at the 83rd year of life. More than a million people came to his funeral.

Now you know who at different stages of history was called such an original epithet - the great helmsman. Mao Zedong and Stalin were named so for many years and waged the ships of the states headed by them, to their great goal - communism. Although the concept of equality and fraternity, close to Christianity, lay at the basis of this ideology, the leaders of the USSR and China, in the opinion of the majority in our country, were deprived of mercy and brought a lot of suffering to their peoples.