If you carefully study a relatively short period of human history, for example, only the last five millennia, it turns out that peace reigned on the planet in total less than three centuries.
Threats to human life
Fifteen thousand wars have been experienced by humanity, and in each of them not only brave (or not so) soldiers died, but also ordinary people who never held weapons in their hands, children, women and the elderly. Moreover, such deaths most often turned out to be accidental, except for cases of targeted genocide. In addition to wars, there were earthquakes, floods, epidemics, massive starvation pestilence and other misfortunes. Then, with the development of science, technology and technology, it was the turn of man-made disasters.
All together, the destructive factors claimed 3.5 billion human lives over the specified period. After the advent of weapons of mass destruction (at first, only chemical weapons), it became clear that civilization was slowly but surely moving along the path indicated by Thomas M althus, successfully protecting the planet from overpopulation by self-destruction.
Each countryseeks to protect its people from destructive factors, this is its main function. In 1932, the history of the development of the civil defense of our Motherland began. This structure was designed to minimize the consequences of an attack by hostile countries on the USSR.
Citizen, you are poisoned
Exercises on protection against the effects of chemical weapons were held until 1932. One of them, which contributed to the escape of an underground millionaire, is described in the famous book "The Golden Calf" by writers I. Ilf and E. Petrov. The probable enemy of the Land of the Soviets at that time were all capitalist states that possessed a certain stock of chemical weapons, so gas masks were taught to put on quickly by everyone, from children to the elderly, and they invented them in different versions, even for animals. In the 1930s, the external threat was concretized, it took on concrete outlines in the face of the Nazis. The history of the creation of civil defense dates back to October 4, 1932, when the Nazis in Germany had not yet come to power. It was clear that the main danger to the civilian population was the air forces of the enemy army, which, undoubtedly, in the event of war, would bomb the cities. The war in Spain, which began four years later, confirmed these fears.
Pre-War Air Defense Teams
Civil defense activities in the early years were carried out by a body called local air defense (LPA). The functions of the organization, subordinate to the People's Commissariat of Defense, includeddevelopment and implementation of measures designed to reduce the damage inflicted on the enemy air force in the event of hostilities. With the personnel and technical means attached to it, this structure was supposed to notify the population about the air raid alarm, give it a release, provide safe shelters, eliminate the consequences of an attack by enemy aircraft and provide assistance to the victims. It was clear to the organs of supreme power (SNK) that these tasks could not be carried out by the forces of the armed forces alone, and if aggression occurred, then the Red Army would have another main goal - to defeat the enemy. The maintenance of the productive and economic potential and the preservation of the lives of the Soviet people must become a matter of the whole people. Therefore, the civil defense plan included the use of both military units of the MPVO, subordinate to the district command of the Red Army, and volunteer formations. Teams were created at enterprises to protect facilities, each housing department had its own self-defense group.
Under the NKVD
The more difficult the international situation became, the more carefully the organization of civil defense was carried out. Millions of Soviet people were involved in the structure, there were 15 volunteers for every large production unit or half a thousand residents of a district in an urban or rural area. They were trained in all the necessary skills to provide medical care, monitor the airspace, as well as competently organize bomb shelters and maintain public order.
About how important the organization of the civildefense, eloquently speaks of the fact that since 1940 the GU MPVO was subordinate to the all-powerful People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR. The efforts of the party and the government have yielded results. By 1941, every enterprise or collective farm in the Soviet Union, all cities and regions had a specific civil defense plan, according to which, in case of war, they had to act. Numerous civil defense exercises have been conducted. Numerous services have been created to ensure, together with the authorities, medical assistance to the wounded, the uninterrupted operation of transport, trade, food supply to the population, communications, and much more.
Soon acquired skills came in handy…
War
From June 1941, the front passed not only along the front line. The rear worked sparing no effort to give the Red Army everything it needed. The German command understood the importance of each factory, each plant for the defense of the USSR. And sent out squadrons of bombers, trying to inflict the most damage on production.
The history of civil defense during the Great Patriotic War deserves a separate study as a unique case of mobilizing all the forces of society to protect their country. Incendiary bombs on the rooftops were extinguished by people of all ages, every resident of the house monitored the blackout, and panic cases were extremely rare even on the most difficult days. The MPVO fighters were able to prevent more than 30,000 accidents and disasters at national economy enterprises, neutralize hundreds of thousands of bombs, put out 90,000 fires, and survived thirty thousand air raids. These effortsequivalent to a mass feat, made an important contribution to the cause of the common Victory. The civil defense of the USSR demonstrated high efficiency, worthy of admiration.
Post-war civil defense
Atomic weapons appeared in 1945. And it was applied right away. The Soviet Union was not ready for a new threat and did not have the necessary number of shelters that could withstand a nuclear explosion. The country's economy experienced serious difficulties associated with the restoration of industrial potential and agriculture after the damage caused by the hostilities and the occupation of a large part of the territory. However, a new problem has prompted a response. The history of civil defense in the post-war years continued the traditions established in the 30s.
The most urgent problem of protecting the population became in the middle of the 20th century, after the expansion of the range of delivery vehicles. Nuclear weapons could now be carried not only by strategic bombers, but also by missiles, both ground-based and mobile-based. The history of the creation of civil defense in the USSR officially begins in 1961, it was then that the service received this name instead of MPVO. The renaming was quite expedient due to the expansion of the list of functions of the structure. The subject "GO" is taught in secondary and special educational institutions, in schools, students receive the necessary knowledge in the classroom for NVP (initial military training). In the 70s, mobile units were formed tofulfillment of duties for the protection of the population. A school for civil defense officers is opening in Balashikha near Moscow.
US Civil Defense
In the fifties, our science made a rapid breakthrough, overtaking other countries that considered themselves technologically advanced. This was expressed not only in the space successes of the USSR, but also in the defense field. The Tu-95 and Tu-16 jet and turboprop bombers appeared in service with the Soviet Air Force, capable of reaching the most distant targets at high speed. But the most terrible weapon was intercontinental missiles, and the leadership of the USSR in the issue of their construction at that time was beyond doubt. America has lost its transatlantic invulnerability, the specter of a nuclear "mushroom" has loomed over skyscrapers and farms. The history of US civil defense began precisely in the fifties, and immediately acquired a nationwide character. The territory of the country was divided into ten districts, each with several states. Sirens of training alarms howled over the cities, schoolchildren learned to quickly hide under their desks and run to the shelter. An entire industry has emerged producing bunkers equipped with life support systems for everyone. It should be noted the desire of the American "colleagues" to actively adopt the Soviet experience, both organizational and technical. During the Caribbean crisis, the number of shelters in the United States exceeded that in the USSR; in the event of a conflict, more people could have been saved there, but the damage caused by a nuclear strike still remained completelyunacceptable.
Israel
There is no other country that has such a dramatic history of the creation of civil defense. Briefly, it can be described in two words: "save everyone." Unfortunately, this does not always work out, but the continuous shelling of the territory of the State of Israel with Scud missiles and conventional Grad projectiles, as well as numerous terrorist attacks, could cause a much larger number of civilian casu alties if it were not for effective measures aimed at their protection. The effectiveness of the civil defense service even allowed the Minister of Civil Defense in 2012 to make a statement about the estimated number of casu alties among the population in the event of a full-scale war with Iran and Hamas at the same time. According to him, the number of dead would not exceed half a thousand people. Some experts believe that the words of Matan Vilnai somewhat exaggerate the capabilities of the ministry he heads, but the fact that the civil defense of the population in Israel is well organized is obvious. At the same time, no one in this Middle Eastern country denies the use of Soviet experience in establishing the entire civil defense infrastructure.
In democratic Russia
The history of Russia's civil defense began in 1991, simultaneously with the creation of all organizational, power and law enforcement agencies of the new state. The Civil Defense Department became part of the established State Committee for Emergency Situations and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (GKChS), which was transformed into the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) three years later. Civil defense has become part of the tasks assigned to the structure. Their circle turned out to be wide.
It included, first of all, the fight against natural and man-made consequences of environmental disasters and accidents and the implementation of NAVR (urgent emergency recovery work). The Ministry of Emergency Situations is also engaged in preparing flooded or contaminated zones for the introduction of specialized units, sanitizing the population, equipment, buildings and structures, pyrotechnic works, providing measures for evacuation from dangerous zones and territories, restoring broken communications (roads, airfields, power supply and communication lines, etc.).). Other civil defense measures are also envisaged. If necessary, the Ministry of Emergency Situations performs its functions jointly with units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In September 2011, a Presidential Decree was issued, according to which the Defense Ministry was instructed to create special military units to provide assistance to the population in disaster areas.
At present, the Ministry of Emergency Situations is a powerful organization at the federal level, which has the most modern equipment at its disposal. The technical support is varied, the ministry even has its own aviation, numbering more than fifty aircraft, including small helicopters, and huge aircraft equipped to extinguish large-scale forest fires, and flying hospitals.
Across all continents and at home
The latest history of Russian civil defenseconstantly updated with glorious pages. Rescuers act professionally not only within their native country, but also abroad. Aircraft of the Ministry of Emergency Situations delivered humanitarian aid to different regions of the planet. Rescue cargoes were received by victims of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters. Rescuers also provided invaluable assistance to those who suffered from hostilities. After the terrifying hurricane Katrina, which caused a lot of trouble in 2005, the history of civil defense was replenished with a unique fact. For the first time in history, Russian rescuers operated in the United States, providing assistance to the population. Humanitarian supplies were delivered to America both when Sandy raged (2012) and during the tornado that hit Oklahoma (2013).
Of course, other countries can count on the help of Russian rescuers. But the main priority of our civil defense system is to protect the lives and he alth of our fellow citizens. Among the operations carried out over the past two decades, one can list the actions in Chechnya, and the work to eliminate the plague epidemic in Tuva, and the fight against terrorism in Moscow and other cities. And there were also plane crashes, and a fire in Ostankino, and the Karmadon Gorge, and explosions in the subway. And floods in Krymsk and the Far East. Hundreds of specialists liquidated the consequences of the disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP in 2009. And today, humanitarian convoys are heading to the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
It's hard to list everything. And everywhere at the forefront - the rescuers of the Ministry of Emergencies, the heirs of the glory of MPVOand civil defense troops.
