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When was Civil Defense created? History of civil defense. Civil defense of the USSR: history of creation

civil defense is a system of measures to protect the population, material and cultural values ​​not only from wartime dangers, but also from the dangers arising during emergency situations natural, man-made and terrorist in nature.

Well-known words from childhood “ civil defense» are closely related to everything related to the safety of human life in conditions of constant risk of extreme and military threats. In such situations, the population of any country would not be able to feel confident in quick recovery stability when there is no specially developed counteraction regime.

In our country, the date of official recognition of this field of activity is October 4, 1932. This is the date of publication by the Council of People's Commissars of the first normative Regulations, and 2017 is the year of the 85th anniversary.

Formation and development

Everyone who lives in the 21st century should know why the history of the development of civil defense in Russia began with the implementation of anti-aircraft actions and how the foundations of competent human behavior in extraordinary situations were born. After all, this century is subject to environmental, man-made, interethnic, interethnic and other potential dangers.

Humanity has been at war throughout its entire conscious history of existence. According to historians, about 15 thousand wars have taken place over the last five and a half millennia alone. During the same period, only 292 years were short periods of relatively peaceful life for the planet.

Evolution and technological progress, in addition to objective benefits, also expose the civilian population to danger. Statistics of civilian deaths throughout the 20th century indicate that if in the First World War their percentage was five, then during the Second World War the figure increased tenfold, and during the hostilities in Vietnam reached 90%.

Why did national functions become general civil functions?

The state has at all times assumed the responsibility to carry out defensive actions in the event of threats from foreign invaders. As the variety of weapons, as well as strategic and tactical technologies, improved and grew, the need arose to involve the civilian population in participation in defensive activities. And, if in Ancient Rome Emperor Augustus recruited his guard from professional warriors, not trusting the local population, which he considered “corrupt” by culture, then the 20th century made its own adjustments to this issue.

In Great Britain during the First World War, the concept of “civil defense” was already used, because the efforts of military units were clearly not enough.

The development of aviation has put Soviet state Before the need for the operation of special points in which citizens were provided with instructions on what to do in order not to be poisoned by poisonous gases, the provision of anti-gas liquid and protective masks was organized. The prerequisites for the further formation and development of future civil defense centers were laid in 1915 in pre-revolutionary Petrograd, and continued in 1918.

Not only Petrograd became an outpost of defense activities in which the civilian population took part. The Odessa Military District took important steps. With the advent of balloons, aerial surveillance service points were formed in many places to inform citizens about the approaching danger and the need to take action.

The young USSR Civil Defense solves the most pressing problems!

After the release of the “Regulations” of 1932, the history of the development of civil defense in Russia in the world community began to gain momentum.

Even then, the objectives of this type of activity were the following:

• organizing training for the population on what to do during bombings (firefighting, shelter in, first aid medical care);
• preparation of fuel reserves for children's institutions;
• studying the possibilities of evacuating disabled citizens;
• organization of restoration activities of public utilities, removal of rubble;
• mastering the basics;
• burial of bodies

Many features were added with the outbreak of World War II. At its beginning, more than 200 legislative acts aimed at improving the structure of the MPVO were approved by the government together with the State Defense Committee. For example, a Decree issued in early July 1941 calling for universal compulsory training of the population in the field of local air defense. This document became important step formation and development of civil defense in our country.

The main activities of the MPVO were the elimination of fires, necessary help wounded, warning the population about imminent air raids. During the defense of Moscow (1941-1942), people included in the MPVO defused about 40 thousand incendiary bombs, eliminated over 2 thousand fires and 3 thousand major accidents, and rescued a large number of people from the rubble. In Moscow alone, the MPVO forces numbered 650 thousand people.

Stages of post-war activity

The Russian civil defense organization has undergone significant changes in July 1961, when the nuclear missile threat became real. The scale of operation has increased to a national level, and the structure of action has spread to all territories of the country. It was necessary to decide what measures would facilitate the effective evacuation and rescue of people in cases where weapons of mass destruction would be used.

The government reacted constructively to all socio-political changes. March 1976 was the year of the reformation “Regulations on Civil Defense of the USSR”. The scale of activity took on a wide scope; a restructuring was carried out in ministries and local departments, as a result of which new departments were formed, designed to solve the problems of uninterrupted functioning of all economic sectors even in a war situation.

The tragedies in Chernobyl and Spitak required the active participation of all structural units of the USSR Civil Defense in a situation of extreme extremes and subsequent consideration of methods of cooperation with representatives foreign countries who have similar experience. Regulatory acts and recommendations for further optimization of the industry’s activities were intensively modified, just as the industry itself was changing.

Special literature was published and UGP (national training) was in full swing. Finally, in 1987, a Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued. "On measures for radical restructuring." As a consequence, another important step: the organization of regional and regional permanent emergency commissions that regulate the issues of special mobile units and formations, always ready to take emergency measures.

At the present stage

The further formation and development of civil defense correlates with the development of the country’s general political system. The collapse of the Union coincides with the liquidation of the existing formation and the subsequent emergence of Civil Defense Russian Federation. 1996 becomes the time of implementation of measures to form the system in its new appearance. The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “Issues of Civil Defense of the Russian Federation” provides information on the control indicators of the number and composition of troops, determines the possibilities of additional staffing, and provides for measures to destructure and update the ideological content of activities.

Structural changes have radically changed the status of civil society: from a structure with a corrective orientation, it becomes a controlling structure.

Further changes in tactics and strategy for resolving military conflicts (the emergence of high-precision infrasonic weapons, drones, robotic sea vessels, and so on) became the impetus for subsequent transformations in the Russian Civil Defense system.

Today's prospects and challenges further development These activities are defined by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 696.

IN last years Russia is especially actively cooperating with the International Civil Defense Organization in such areas as collecting and analyzing data on large-scale emergencies, monitoring and forecasting potential threats, and distance learning for specialists.

You can download a summary on this topic.

Main goals

According to Art. 2 of the Federal Law of February 12, 1998 No. 28 Federal Law “On Civil Defense” identifies 15 main tasks in the field of civil defense:

1. Training the population in ways to protect themselves from dangers arising during military operations or as a result of these actions.
2. Warning the population about dangers arising during military operations or as a result of these actions.
3. Evacuation of the population, material and cultural assets to safe areas.
4. Providing shelters and funds to the population personal protection.
5. Carrying out activities on light camouflage and other types of camouflage.
6. Carrying out emergency rescue operations in the event of dangers to the population arising during military operations or as a result of these actions, as well as due to emergencies of a natural and man-made nature.
7. Priority provision to the population affected by military operations or as a result of these actions, including medical care, including first aid, urgent provision of housing and taking other necessary measures.
8. Fighting fires that arose during military operations or as a result of these actions.
9. Detection and designation of areas subjected to radioactive, chemical, biological and other contamination.
10. Disinfection of the population, equipment, buildings, territories and carrying out other necessary measures.
11. Restoring and maintaining order in areas damaged during military operations or as a result of these actions, as well as due to natural and man-made emergencies.
12. Urgently restore the functioning of essential public services in war time.
13. Urgent burial of those killed in wartime.
14. Development and implementation of measures aimed at preserving objects essential for the sustainable functioning of the economy and the survival of the population in wartime.
15. Ensuring the constant readiness of the country's civil defense system.

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Throughout history, the civilian population has faced various dangers, including those associated with military operations. Over the past five and a half millennia, about 15 thousand wars have raged on earth, in which more than 3.5 billion people died. Weapons are constantly being improved. Scientific and technological progress led to the emergence of weapons of mass destruction: on April 22, 1915, for the first time in the history of wars German army Chemical weapons were used in the form of a chlorine gas attack, killing 5 thousand French and Belgian soldiers. And the development of aviation made it possible to destroy people and objects, as well as deliver toxic substances deep behind enemy lines. There was a need to carry out measures and create units that provide direct protection to the population.
Air defense emerged in Russia in February 1918, when Petrograd was under threat of an enemy attack. In addition to the deployment of anti-aircraft batteries, aviation and searchlight units, special points were opened in the city where the population could receive protective masks, anti-gas liquid and leaflets with instructions on how to avoid poisoning by poisonous gases. First aid courses have begun. On March 8, 1918, in the appeal “To the population of Petrograd and its environs,” for the first time in history, the rules of behavior of the population during raids by enemy aircraft were set out. Some measures will now seem naive to us, for example, the advice to cover windows with pillows during a gas attack, but in general the system of protecting the population was thoughtful and logical.
October 4, 1932 By resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the “Regulations on the air defense of the territory of the USSR” were approved. This act marked the beginning of the creation of local air defense of the USSR
(MPVO). In this regard, October 4, 1932 is considered to be the birthday of local air defense - the basis of the future civil defense system of the USSR.
Years of the Great Patriotic War showed humanity an unprecedented case of the unity of our entire people in the pursuit of Victory. This was also manifested in the activities of the MPVO, whose forces included primarily women, adolescents and the elderly. In Leningrad alone, by the end of 1942, about 1.5 thousand women commanded various formations and units in the MPVO system.
The tasks of the MPVO included not only extinguishing fires and organizing shelter for the population in air-raid shelters, but also a lot of hard and not very pleasant work - collecting firewood for hospitals and kindergartens, organizing the evacuation of the disabled population, providing assistance to victims of bombings and burying the bodies of the dead. There was a serious threat of the use of chemical weapons and MPVO fighters trained the population in the use of gas masks, ensured their distribution, and were ready to carry out decontamination. They were also involved in restoration work and clearing out rubble. It’s hard to imagine that all this fell on the shoulders of teenagers, women and the elderly. When liberating enemy-occupied territories, a new, even more dangerous task arose - clearing mines from fields and structures.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War before Soviet people The task arose of eliminating the consequences of fascist aggression. A new battle has unfolded in the country - for creation. The organs and forces of the MPVO made their contribution to it. Special pyrotechnic detachments of anti-aircraft defense took part in complete mine clearing of the territory of the USSR. One of the most important tasks of the MPVO during this period was local assistance in the restoration National economy. MPVO forces restored destroyed schools, hospitals, kindergartens, theaters, libraries, sections of the metro, sewerage and electricity supply structures.
On the night of October 5-6, 1948, one of the most destructive earthquakes known to world history occurred on the territory of the Turkmen SSR. The experience gained by the MPVO forces in eliminating the consequences of the earthquake was great importance for further improvement of MPVO in solving peacetime tasks aimed at carrying out rescue, emergency recovery and other urgent work in the disaster zone.
In the 50s, with the advent of nuclear missile weapons, a qualitatively new stage in improving anti-aircraft defense began. At that time, the government authorities, anti-aircraft defense forces and the population were not ready to operate in hotbeds of nuclear destruction. However, the danger of an armed attack from a potential enemy has increased sharply. The existing MPVO at that time did not meet the new requirements, since the local nature of its activities and the limited number of special forces and means did not make it possible to reliably protect the population and ensure the stability of the entire national economy in the event of an enemy attack. The question arose about other, more advanced ways and means of protecting the population and national economy of the country. It became obvious that without major measures to protect the country's rear it is impossible to ensure its readiness for defense in the conditions of a nuclear missile war. We have already discussed the creation of a set of means that would not only protect people, but also ensure the functioning of the state’s vital system in conditions of the use of weapons of mass destruction.
In 1961, on the basis of the MPVO, a new national national defense system was created in the country - the Civil Defense of the USSR. In terms of their importance, civil defense issues have reached the strategic level and have acquired primary importance.
According to the adopted Regulations “On Civil Defense of the USSR,” civil defense was a system of national defense measures carried out in advance, in peacetime, in order to protect the population and national economy of the country from nuclear missile, chemical, and bacteriological weapons, and to carry out rescue and urgent emergency restoration work in lesions and was built on the territorial production principle. Its purpose clearly outlined the temporary boundaries of the use of civil defense - in the event of the use of nuclear missile, chemical, and bacteriological weapons. How can we explain this lag from the prospects for the potential purpose of civil defense? After all, we already know that the Geneva Convention of 1949 recognized civil defense as protecting the population, including from disasters, only in wartime. Apparently, the reason for this can be found in the following:
there was distrust between the leading countries of the world and the opposing military blocs (NATO and the Warsaw Pact), the established world was moving into a state cold war;
each of the leading countries of these blocs already had weapons of mass destruction and means of delivering them;
civil defense has already been part of the state structure of many leading countries as a necessary part of defense, as one of the advantages in relation to other countries;
the geophysical phenomena of the planet and the biosphere have not yet been included in the systems of means of combat;
the successes of defensive thinking of Soviet leaders, demonstrated during the Great Patriotic War, continued to dominate the leaders of the 60s as a result of the most promising thinking and proven methodology;
In the strategic plan, civil defense was faced with the task, together with the country’s active air defense system, to counter the concept of “unacceptable damage” in a future war, the meaning of which was that in order to defeat the enemy in a nuclear war, it is enough to destroy 25-30% of its population and 50- 70% production capacity, concentrated in the most major cities.
Civil defense developed. During the transformations of 1961-1972, it became noticeable that it had become an independent public service. The Ministry of Defense has virtually withdrawn from participation in civil defense matters. There was a growing need to adopt a law on civil defense and transform it into an independent structure while maintaining the supply of civil defense units through military districts. The Ministry of Defense was in favor of this approach, but the CPSU Central Committee considered it advisable to include Civil Defense within the Ministry of Defense. And so it was done. In the early 1970s, the military-strategic situation changed somewhat. The potential enemy adopted the “concept of the first disarming strike.” Along with strategic offensive forces, medium-range missiles (1000-5500 km) deployed in Western Europe. Their short flight time (10-12 minutes) made them an ideal means of quickly striking selected targets. Civil defense has become one of the most important factors in strategic balance. The current situation required changes in the activities of the USSR Civil Defense.
However, the history of the further development of civil defense showed the need to use civil defense forces to combat the consequences natural Disasters. Forest and peat fires that engulfed the Moscow region in the summer of 1972 forced us to seriously think about the place and role of the civil defense system in peacetime. Life itself began to turn civil defense away from purely defensive measures towards solving peacetime problems. Massive forest fires, natural disasters, major accidents at industrial facilities and transport caused the need to make decisions at the state level that would clarify the tasks of civil defense in peacetime. The beginning of work in this direction dates back to 1974, when the government adopted a decree “On the use of non-paramilitary civil defense forces in peacetime” and was further developed in the 1978 decree “On measures to improve the protection settlements, enterprises and other objects and lands from mudflows, avalanches, landslides and landslides.” But the problem was that the existing formations were not ready to effectively combat the elements.
By the end of the 1980s, the focus on solving civil defense problems only in wartime led to the fact that many people developed a frivolous attitude and, to some extent, distrust of civil defense measures. There was a basis for this. Civil defense did not guarantee, and could not guarantee, absolute protection of the population from modern means defeat and at the same time stood to some extent aloof from the needs of peacetime life. The changes occurring in the structure of sectors of the national economy, which required an expansion of the tasks solved by civil defense in peacetime, were not taken into account in a timely manner. For the first time, they manifested themselves with particular severity during the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986). The experience of this accident showed that the readiness of the civil defense system cannot ensure the implementation of unexpected tasks. Moreover, the conversation turned not only to the participation of civil defense forces in the elimination of emergency situations, but also to the transfer of tasks to prevent and eliminate emergencies from the rank of secondary to the rank of priority. On July 30, 1987, Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 866213 “On measures for a radical restructuring of the civil defense system” was adopted. But the radical restructuring of the civil defense system should be associated not only with the Chernobyl accident. Accelerating the pace and scale of scientific, technical and production activities in modern conditions associated with increasing use in production complex technologies And technical systems. The production volumes of new, dangerous products are increasing sharply. Every year, about a thousand new chemical products entered the market, 4 million tons of hazardous materials were transported, and approximately 290 million tons of industrial waste were generated. Objects containing energy and using hazardous substances are concentrated. In the energy sector alone, about 10 billion tons of fuel equivalent were produced, transported, stored and used annually in the world. The turn of civil defense to solving peacetime problems meant a new qualitative stage in its existence, which turned out to be not easy. The scale of values ​​is changing, and the priority of humanistic and social goals is becoming more and more clear. If earlier they talked about civil defense as one of the most important strategic factors in the country's defense capability, then at the beginning of perestroika they began to talk about the social orientation of its tasks and their humane nature. It should be borne in mind that civil defense at the same time practically prepares itself for action in war conditions.
In addition, the new task required the implementation of a number of specific activities. First of all, those that should be focused on increasing its readiness in peacetime conditions. Yes, one of major decisions at that time it was possible to have two operational plan civil defense: a civil defense plan for wartime and a separate civil defense plan for peacetime in case of possible emergencies associated with the occurrence of natural disasters, major accidents and catastrophes. Civil defense headquarters of regions (territories, ASSR), on whose territory nuclear, chemical and other potentially dangerous facilities are located, should have had an organizational and staffing structure that would ensure the effective implementation of tasks and would eliminate the need for its restructuring in the event of an emergency. It was supposed to change the order of notification. The siren sound should now indicate "ATTENTION ALL". Based on this signal, residents of the relevant areas turn on their televisions and radios and receive voice information on the emergency situation, including specific information about their actions. The nature of evacuation changed. In peacetime, it began to have a wide variety of forms and methods. Now it can be carried out in advance in the event of a threat of accidents, catastrophes and natural disasters, urgently during emergencies and after them. The accumulated fund of protective structures should be used in everyday life for national economic purposes (for control posts, warehouses, industrial premises, social and cultural institutions, classes, etc.). It was supposed to change the principle of creating protective structures. Instead of building protective structures adapted for national economic purposes, it is necessary to erect structures in the underground space of cities, adapted for protective structures.
Radiation and chemical protection in terms of protecting the population should have been carried out by providing the relevant categories of the population with personal protective equipment, timely use of the latter and the introduction of radiation protection regimes. Unlike wartime, in peacetime these funds must be brought as close as possible to the population. At radiation and chemically hazardous facilities and facilities located in areas of possible contamination, protective equipment must be located directly at the personnel’s workplaces. In residential areas falling into areas of possible contamination, protective equipment should be stored in the apartments of the population. For this purpose, the specified funds should either be sold to the population, or provided with them at the expense of nearby potentially dangerous objects or the budgets of local authorities. In previous years, civil defense forces were created, technically equipped and trained mainly to solve wartime tasks, and only some of them were kept on high alert in case of a surprise attack by the enemy. On at this stage a significant part of the forces was already kept in a state of real constant readiness for action in peacetime emergencies. Thus, a small list of examples of proposed and partly implemented reforms in the civil defense system quite clearly shows that issues of civil defense reform are not only an internal, but a national and national task. These issues affect state and social foundations. Moreover, many initiatives come from below. After the earthquake in Spitak (Armenia, 1988), voluntary and full-time rescue units began to be created locally. All these rescue units, created on an initiative basis, were united into a single Union Association of Rescuers. Of particular importance in the development of rescue units of the USSR was Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of November 30, 1990 No. 1201 “Issues of the Association of Rescue Units of the USSR.” By decree, units of the USSR emergency rescue forces were included in the forces involved in eliminating the consequences of natural disasters, accidents, catastrophes and other emergencies.
It is quite clear that protection from peacetime emergencies prevails in people’s minds. Therefore, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the RSFSR of November 19, 1991, on the basis of the State Commission for Emergency Situations under the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR and the Civil Defense Headquarters of the RSFSR, the State Committee for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief under the President of the RSFSR (GKChS RSFSR) was created ). This marked the beginning of the creation in Russia of a modern state system protection of the population and territories from natural, man-made and military emergencies.
In 1993, a major step was taken to improve the country’s civil defense and increase its combat readiness. For these purposes, the Council of Ministers - the Government of the Russian Federation, on March 1, 1993, adopted important resolutions on issues directly related to civil defense: “On staffing the civil defense troops of the Russian Federation”, “On the procedure for using existing radio and television stations for warning and informing the population of the Russian Federation in emergency situations in peacetime and wartime" and "On the creation of local warning systems in areas where potentially dangerous objects are located."
On May 8, 1993, the President of the Russian Federation signed the Decree “On Civil Defense”, in which the general management of civil defense in the Russian Federation was entrusted to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers-Government of the Russian Federation, who ex officio became the head of the country’s Civil Defense. The Chairman of the State Committee for Emergency Situations of Russia was appointed his first deputy.
Management of civil defense in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, regions and cities, in federal bodies executive power, institutions, organizations and enterprises, regardless of the form of ownership, was entrusted to the relevant heads of executive authorities, heads of institutions, organizations and enterprises. They were also given personal responsibility for organizing and implementing civil defense measures, creating and ensuring the safety of accumulated protective equipment and civil defense property in their subordinate territories and facilities.
Came into effect at the beginning of 1998 the federal law"On civil defense." For the first time in Russian history, civil defense problems were regulated by legislation. This made it possible to begin further reorganization of the country’s civil defense in order to increase its readiness to protect the population and territories from the dangers that arise during the conduct of modern wars, as well as in emergency situations of various types in peacetime.
Civil defense forces and means have been repeatedly used in the event of large-scale emergencies. So, when in November 2005 in Chinese province Jilin experienced a series of explosions at a chemical factory, as a result of which about 100 tons of hazardous substances (mainly benzene and nitrobenzene) spilled into the Songhua River and on December 16, the stain reached the Amur River; almost the entire surveillance and laboratory control network of the Khabarovsk Territory was mobilized to carry out monitoring tasks . First of all, the most universal laboratories of Vodokanal, HubEnergo and the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences were involved. In order to prevent the transboundary transfer of hazardous chemical substances Hydraulic engineering work was launched at the water intakes of settlements and the main drinking water supply intake of Khabarovsk. To do this, together with Chinese specialists, the Kazakevichev channel was blocked with a dam, which prevented the entry of polluted water into the Amur channel and further into the water intakes of Khabarovsk. The Penza channel was also blocked and the clean Amur waters went closer to Khabarovsk and diluted the polluted ones. All water intakes in Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Amursk and Nikolaevsk-on-Amur were switched to operating on activated carbon. Technologies and equipment treatment facilities Khabarovsk Vodokanal were prepared to neutralize nitrobenzenes at levels of two MPCs. Subsequently, no excess concentrations of hazardous substances were recorded; drinking water in water supply systems met sanitary standards.
In November 2007, a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation approved the “Regulations on Civil Defense of the Russian Federation,” which determined the procedure for preparing for and conducting civil defense in the Russian Federation, as well as the main civil defense activities aimed at fulfilling civil defense tasks.
The implementation of a set of measures to improve civil defense allowed civil defense forces to effectively carry out a humanitarian operation in August 2008 to provide assistance to the population of South Ossetia who suffered from Georgian aggression. As a result, more than 37 thousand people were evacuated from the conflict zone, and permanent temporary accommodation centers for six thousand people were deployed. To provide assistance to the victims, 11,500 tons of humanitarian cargo were delivered to the conflict zone during the first three days.
During the hot summer of 2010, civil defense forces, including military rescue units, took a direct part in eliminating large natural and forest fires, demonstrating in practice their capabilities to effectively carry out assigned tasks.
In March 2011, due to the difficult situation at Japanese nuclear power plants, including the accident at Fukushima, an observation and laboratory control network was deployed to monitor the radiation situation at Far East.
In modern conditions, civil defense solves a range of tasks aimed at carrying out measures to prepare and protect the population, as well as material and cultural values, from the dangers of peace and war. Through the efforts of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, civil defense has acquired a modern look and continues to develop taking into account changes in the government structure, economic and social spheres Russia, as well as in accordance with the military-political situation in the world.
The control and warning system is currently being improved. Much attention is paid to increasing the protection of facilities critical to national security from threats of a natural, man-made nature, and terrorist manifestations. New means of individual and collective protection are being developed and introduced.
In modern conditions, the state and civil defense are inseparable. On the one hand, it actively participates in ensuring the life and safety of society, on the other hand, it is organized and developed in accordance with the general laws and processes inherent in the state in a given period of time. Today's main distinctive feature civil defense is that it acts as a form of participation of the entire population of the country, authorities state power and local self-government in ensuring the defense capability and functioning of the state, performing defense, social and economic functions.

Throughout history, the civilian population has faced various dangers, including those associated with military operations. Over the past five and a half millennia, about 15 thousand wars have raged on earth, in which more than 3.5 billion people died. Weapons are constantly being improved. Scientific and technological progress led to the emergence of weapons of mass destruction: on April 22, 1915, for the first time in the history of wars, the German army used chemical weapons in the form of a chlorine gas attack, killing 5 thousand French and Belgian soldiers. And the development of aviation made it possible to destroy people and objects, as well as deliver toxic substances deep behind enemy lines. There was a need to carry out measures and create units that provide direct protection to the population.

In Russia, air defense arose in February 1918, when Petrograd was under the threat of an enemy attack. In addition to the deployment of anti-aircraft batteries, aviation and searchlight units, special points were opened in the city where the population could receive protective masks, anti-gas liquid and leaflets with instructions on how to avoid poisoning by poisonous gases.

On October 4, 1932, a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved the “Regulations on the air defense of the territory of the USSR.” This act marked the beginning of the creation of local air defense of the USSR (MPVO). In this regard, October 4, 1932 is considered to be the birthday of local air defense - the basis of the future civil defense system of the USSR. The years of the Great Patriotic War showed humanity an unprecedented case of unity of all our people in the pursuit of Victory. This was also manifested in the activities of the MPVO, whose forces included primarily women, adolescents and the elderly.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people were faced with the task of eliminating the consequences of fascist aggression. A new battle has unfolded in the country - for creation. The organs and forces of the MPVO made their contribution to it. Special pyrotechnic detachments of anti-aircraft defense took part in complete mine clearing of the territory of the USSR.

In the 50s, with the advent of nuclear missile weapons, a qualitatively new stage in improving anti-aircraft defense began. At that time, the government authorities, anti-aircraft defense forces and the population were not ready to operate in hotbeds of nuclear destruction. However, the danger of an armed attack from a potential enemy has increased sharply. The existing MPVO at that time did not meet the new requirements, since the local nature of its activities and the limited number of special forces and means did not make it possible to reliably protect the population and ensure the stability of the entire national economy in the event of an enemy attack. The question arose about other, more advanced ways and means of protecting the population and national economy of the country. It became obvious that without major measures to protect the country's rear it is impossible to ensure its readiness for defense in the conditions of a nuclear missile war. We have already discussed the creation of a set of means that would not only protect people, but also ensure the functioning of the state’s vital system in conditions of the use of weapons of mass destruction.

In 1961, on the basis of the MPVO, a new national national defense system was created in the country - the Civil Defense of the USSR. In terms of their importance, civil defense issues have reached the strategic level and have acquired primary importance.

According to the adopted Regulations “On Civil Defense of the USSR,” civil defense was a system of national defense measures carried out in advance, in peacetime, in order to protect the population and national economy of the country from nuclear missile, chemical, and bacteriological weapons, and to carry out rescue and urgent emergency restoration work in lesions and was built on the territorial production principle.

By the end of the 1980s, the focus on solving civil defense problems only in wartime led to the fact that many people developed a frivolous attitude and, to some extent, distrust of civil defense measures. There was a basis for this. Civil defense did not and could not guarantee absolute protection of the population from modern weapons and at the same time stood to some extent aloof from the needs of peacetime life. The changes occurring in the structure of sectors of the national economy, which required an expansion of the tasks solved by civil defense in peacetime, were not taken into account in a timely manner. For the first time, they manifested themselves with particular severity during the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986). The experience of this accident showed that the readiness of the civil defense system cannot ensure the implementation of unexpected tasks. Moreover, the conversation turned not only to the participation of civil defense forces in the elimination of emergency situations, but also to the transfer of tasks to prevent and eliminate emergencies from the rank of secondary to the rank of priority. On July 30, 1987, Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 866213 “On measures for a radical restructuring of the civil defense system” was adopted.

The turn of civil defense to solving peacetime problems meant a new qualitative stage in its existence, which turned out to be not easy. It should be borne in mind that civil defense at the same time practically prepares itself for action in war conditions. In addition, the new task required the implementation of a number of specific activities. First of all, those that should be focused on increasing its readiness in peacetime conditions. Thus, one of the most important decisions of that time was to have two operational civil defense plans at civil defense headquarters: a civil defense plan for wartime and a separate peacetime civil defense plan for possible emergencies associated with natural disasters, major accidents and catastrophes.

After the earthquake in Spitak (Armenia, 1988), voluntary and full-time rescue units began to be created locally. All these rescue units, created on an initiative basis, were united into a single Union Association of Rescuers. Of particular importance in the development of rescue units of the USSR was Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of November 30, 1990 No. 1201 “Issues of the Association of Rescue Units of the USSR.” By decree, units of the USSR emergency rescue forces were included in the forces involved in eliminating the consequences of natural disasters, accidents, catastrophes and other emergencies.
It is quite clear that protection from peacetime emergencies prevails in people’s minds. Therefore, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the RSFSR of November 19, 1991, on the basis of the State Commission for Emergency Situations under the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR and the Civil Defense Headquarters of the RSFSR, the State Committee for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief under the President of the RSFSR (GKChS RSFSR) was created ). This marked the beginning of the creation in Russia of a modern state system for protecting the population and territories from emergencies of a natural, man-made and military nature.
On May 8, 1993, the President of the Russian Federation signed the Decree “On Civil Defense”, in which the general management of civil defense in the Russian Federation was entrusted to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Government of the Russian Federation, who became the head of the country’s Civil Defense. The Chairman of the State Committee for Emergency Situations of Russia was appointed his first deputy. The management of civil defense in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, regions and cities, in federal executive authorities, institutions, organizations and enterprises, regardless of the form of ownership, was entrusted to the relevant heads of executive authorities, heads of institutions, organizations and enterprises. They were also given personal responsibility for organizing and implementing civil defense measures, creating and ensuring the safety of accumulated protective equipment and civil defense property in their subordinate territories and facilities.
At the beginning of 1998, the Federal Law “On Civil Defense” came into force. For the first time in Russian history, civil defense problems were regulated by legislation. This made it possible to begin further reorganization of the country’s civil defense in order to increase its readiness to protect the population and territories from the dangers that arise during the conduct of modern wars, as well as in emergency situations of various types in peacetime. Civil defense forces and means have been repeatedly used in the event of large-scale emergencies.

In November 2007, a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation approved the “Regulations on Civil Defense of the Russian Federation,” which determined the procedure for preparing for and conducting civil defense in the Russian Federation, as well as the main civil defense activities aimed at fulfilling civil defense tasks.

The control and warning system is currently being improved. Much attention is paid to increasing the protection of facilities critical to national security from threats of a natural, man-made nature, and terrorist manifestations. New means of individual and collective protection are being developed and introduced. In modern conditions, the state and civil defense are inseparable. On the one hand, it actively participates in ensuring the life and safety of society, on the other hand, it is organized and developed in accordance with the general laws and processes inherent in the state in a given period of time. Today, the main distinguishing feature of civil defense is that it acts as a form of participation of the entire population of the country, state authorities and local self-government in ensuring the defense capability and functioning of the state, performing defense, social and economic functions.

Inspector of the Emergency Service No. 3 O.V. Lifantiev

In the Soviet Union, the foundation of civil defense - until 1961 it was called local air defense (LAD) - began to be laid in the very first years of the establishment of Soviet power. The first MPVO activities were carried out in Petrograd in March 1918 after the first aerial bombardment of the city by German aircraft. To participate in MPVO events in the years Civil War residents of a number of other large cities were involved when there was a threat of air raids.

Beginning in 1925, the Soviet government issued a number of decrees aimed at creating and strengthening the country's air defense. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a lot of work had been done to prepare the population and cities of the threatened border zone for air defense and chemical defense.

Civil defense (CD) is a system of measures to prepare and protect the population, material and cultural values ​​on the territory of the Russian Federation from dangers arising during military operations or as a result of these actions (Law of the Russian Federation of February 12, 1998 No. 28-FZ “On Civil defense"). Civil defense of Russia is integral part general system of state defense measures carried out in peacetime and wartime. Civil defense activities are aimed both at protecting against modern means of enemy attack, and at carrying out rescue and urgent emergency restoration work at facilities and in hotbeds of destruction in emergency situations in peacetime and war. The main tasks facing civil defense can be formulated as follows:

1) training the population in ways to protect themselves from dangers arising during the conduct of military operations or as a result of these actions;

2) warning the population about the dangers arising during the conduct of military operations or as a result of these actions;

3) evacuation of the population, material and cultural assets to safe areas;

4) providing the population with shelters and personal protective equipment;

5) carrying out measures for light and other types of camouflage;

6) fighting fires arising during military operations or as a result of these actions;

7) restoration and maintenance of order in areas affected by military operations, urgent restoration of the functioning of necessary public services in wartime;

8) development and implementation of measures aimed at preserving objects essential for the sustainable functioning of the economy and the survival of the population in wartime.

At each facility, a regulation on civil defense must be developed, which outlines the tasks of the civil defense of the facility.

An important task of the Civil Defense headquarters is to train and prepare personnel for actions in emergencies. The learning process is multi-level. It includes introductory briefing, familiarization with the characteristics and methods of handling individual and collective protective equipment, conducting drills, etc.

Civil defense (CD) is one of the most important functions of the state, an integral part of defense construction and ensuring the security of the country's population. Its development has a history of almost a century.

March 1918 is considered the beginning of the path of Civil Defense in our country. The appeal “To the population of Petrograd and its environs” issued by the Committee of Revolutionary Defense established the rules of behavior of the population in conditions of an air attack and was the first document defining civil defense measures. The document spoke about the creation of an air defense headquarters, a network of observation posts, units to provide first aid to victims, and rules of conduct in the event of an air attack.

The first voluntary defense organization - the Military Scientific Society (VNO) was created in 1920. Its task was to develop military-scientific problems and widely disseminate military knowledge among the working people.

Taking into account the wide scope of mass defense work and the need to strengthen the military-patriotic education of the population and prepare it for the defense of the country, on July 27, 1926, by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the Military Scientific Society was renamed the Society for Assistance to the Defense of the USSR (OSO).

In March 1923, a massive voluntary Society of Friends of the Air Fleet (ADVF) was created, which set itself the task of actively promoting the development of domestic aviation.

Soon, another defense-mass organization appeared - the Voluntary Society of Friends of Chemical Defense and Industry (Dobrokhim USSR).

Because the Practical activities ODVF and Dobrokhima were closely connected, and already in May 1925 they merged into one organization - AVIAKHIM.

In military knowledge circles, the population mastered small arms, studied hand grenades, and the basics of tactics. In military-technical circles, they studied artillery and machine gun weapons, the design of a tank, a telegraph apparatus, an armored vehicle, and means of protection against chemical weapons. Naval clubs operated successfully. The Society for Assistance to Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction (OSOAVIAHIM) was created on January 23, 1927 at a joint meeting of delegates of the All-Union Congress of AVIAKHIM and participants of the OSO plenum. The main task Society considered the patriotic education of its members and their preparation for the defense of the Motherland.

The second stage in the development of civil defense (1932 - 1941) was a complex of military-political and organizational measures to protect the population and national economy of the country. On October 4, 1932, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted the “Regulations on the Air Defense of the USSR,” which for the first time defined measures and means of directly protecting the population and territories of the country from air danger in the zone of possible action of enemy aviation. This act marked the beginning of the creation of local air defense (LAD), designed to protect the population from enemy air attack. In this regard, October 4, 1932 is considered to be the birthday of the MPVO and the Day of Civil Defense of Russia.

The third stage (1941-1945) covers the years of the Great Patriotic War. The timely creation of the MPVO ensured during the war years the successful solution of the problems of protecting the population and national economic facilities from attack from the air.

The MPVO played an invaluable role during the Great Patriotic War, significantly reducing civilian casualties and preventing the destruction of national economic facilities. Protecting the population from enemy air raids and artillery shelling, the personnel of the medical, emergency and fire fighting services worked, constantly risking their lives. The fight against incendiary bombs was carried out, and assistance was provided to the wounded and those injured under the rubble of buildings.

In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, the MPVO formations neutralized more than 400 thousand air bombs and 3.5 million artillery ammunition.

The fourth stage (1945 - 1961) is the stage of improving anti-aircraft defense, associated with the search for the most effective ways to protect the population and the national economy from the use of weapons of mass destruction. In 1961 it was created with high quality new system– Civil defense, which has become one of the strategic factors in ensuring the functioning of the state in modern war.

Civil defense was fundamentally different from anti-aircraft defense.