King of Botswana. Africa: African countries

October 30, 1961 – significant date in history Cold War. On this day, the Soviet Union tested the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in history, which later received the unofficial name “Tsar Bomba”.

The AN602 bomb (or “product 602”), detonated over the test site on Novaya Zemlya, was intended by the Soviet leadership to clearly show the West that the days of its superiority in nuclear weapons were in the past. The power of the thermonuclear device was monstrous - it was 57 megatons (according to other sources 58) in TNT equivalent.

In addition to propaganda purposes, the tests also had a very practical significance: Soviet scientists needed to experimentally test their theoretical calculations related to the design of thermonuclear ammunition and the calculation of the power of their explosion. As a result of this “experiment,” it was proven that the power of thermonuclear weapons is unlimited.

Initially, they wanted to increase the power of the ammunition to 100 megatons, but then physicists had concerns about excessive radioactive contamination that such a charge could lead to. Therefore, it was decided to reduce the power of the bomb by half. Khrushchev himself later joked that they planned to explode 100 megatons, but were afraid for the windows in Moscow.

Almost immediately after the tests, AN602 received another unofficial name - “Kuzka’s Mother”, in honor of catchphrase Secretary General Khrushchev, which he threw from the UN rostrum. Then Nikita Sergeevich promised to “bury imperialism” and show the United States “Kuzka’s mother.” Soon it was clearly demonstrated to the Americans on Novaya Zemlya.

The best domestic minds worked on the creation of the Soviet Tsar Bomba: Trutnev, Sakharov, Babaev, Adamsky, Smirnov. The project was led by the famous Kurchatov, its implementation began in 1954.

History of creation

The atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki opened new era in the history of mankind and at the same time they gave rise to a period of intense confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States, which entered the history books under the name of the Cold War. From that moment to this day, the power and status of any state is determined not only by the size of its armed forces and the level of economic development, but also by the presence of nuclear weapons.

The United States did not have a monopoly on the nuclear bomb for long. Thanks to the brilliant work of intelligence, by 1949 the Soviet Union managed to create its first nuclear charge and conduct its successful tests.

In 1953 Soviet army received the first aviation nuclear bomb RDS-3, which theoretically could be used to strike US territory.

However, in the early 60s the main problem The USSR was not in the number of nuclear warheads, but in the means of delivering nuclear weapons. Those that were available could not be guaranteed to provide a sufficiently powerful retaliatory strike against the adversary. At that time, rocket technology was just taking its first steps, and the main means of delivering nuclear weapons was strategic aviation. The Americans were significantly ahead of the USSR in this area. In addition to a significant fleet of strategic bombers, the United States also had a large number of military bases near the Soviet borders, where it could station its aircraft. The USSR did not have anything like this, so the bet was placed on the superiority of Soviet nuclear weapons over American analogues. Roughly speaking, the military took the route of increasing the power of the bombs, hoping that if anything reached enemy territory, it would fly in earnest. Even one Soviet bomber breaking through the air defense cordons could destroy a large American city or industrial area.

Around the mid-50s, work began on the creation of thermonuclear weapons in the USA and USSR. At the end of 1952, the Americans successfully tested the first hydrogen bomb, and eight months later the Soviet Union acquired similar weapons. It should be noted that soviet bomb had a more advanced design and could be used in practice.

Thermonuclear weapons fit perfectly into the Soviet concept of “asymmetric retaliatory strike,” because their power was theoretically unlimited. At the end of the 50s, work began in the Soviet Union on several projects of thermonuclear ammunition of monstrous power, as well as means of their delivery. For example, in 1960, a resolution of the Council of Ministers was issued on the start of the development of the N-1 intercontinental missile with a take-off weight of 2.2 thousand tons and a thermonuclear warhead of 75 tons. It is difficult to accurately indicate its power; we can only say that the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba weighed 26.5 tons. Around the same time, Chelomei was developing the UR-500 missile with a 150-megaton warhead. However, all these projects were so expensive and technically complex that they remained on paper.

There is a legend that when Khrushchev saw the project of the UR-500 missile system and estimated its approximate cost, he asked the designer: “What are we going to build? Communism or silos for your missiles? After this, the program was discontinued.

We can also mention the project of a giant torpedo with a multi-megaton warhead, which was planned to be blown up off the coast of America, thereby causing a devastating tsunami. The author of this project was the future laureate Nobel Prize Academician Sakharov. However, this idea was also not realized.

The creation of such monstrous thermonuclear monsters required mandatory practical testing. Moreover, for testing a sample of similar power was needed. Scientists needed to test their theoretical calculations, and the military needed to try to use such ammunition in practice in order to understand how to cause the greatest damage to a potential enemy.

Work on a super-powerful thermonuclear device began in the mid-50s. This project was carried out by specialists from NII-1011 (Chelyabinsk-70), today it is RFNC-VNIITF. At the same time, OKB-156 was working on creating a carrier aircraft for such an unusual ammunition. Initially, the bomb weighed 40 tons, which was categorically rejected by aircraft manufacturers. In the end, nuclear scientists promised to reduce the weight of the product by half.

In 1958, for political reasons, the superpower bomb project was canceled.

There is a legend that the Soviet “Kuzkina Mother” was developed in record time short time(112 days). This is not entirely true.

In 1960, the international situation deteriorated again and the Soviet leadership decided to resume the superbomb program. This project was transferred to KB-11 and the final part of the creation of the Tsar Bomba actually took 112 days. However, the AN602 product was based on developments made in the period from 1954 to 1958 at NII-1011. Although, it should be noted that many significant changes were made to the ammunition at the completion stage.

The development of a carrier aircraft for the AN602 was also a very difficult task. The designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau had to make serious changes to the power circuit of the Tu-95 aircraft, remodel its cargo compartment, and also change the suspension and ammunition release devices. The bomber designed for this mission was named Tu-95B. After the project was suspended, it was transported to a military airfield in Uzin, where it was used as a training tool.

The Tsar Bomba was intended to have a three-stage design. A nuclear charge with a yield of 1.5 megatons was used as the first stage. Its main function was to launch the second stage thermonuclear reaction, the power of which was 50 megatons. She, in turn, initiated the detonation of the third 50-megaton stage. Thus, a munition with a yield of 101.5 megatons was initially conceived.

Already during the implementation of the project, it was decided to abandon the third stage. The danger of radioactive contamination of territories outside the test site was too great, and they also did not want to cause too much damage to Novaya Zemlya, the future site of the Tsar Bomba explosion. So the bomb's power was reduced to 55 megatons, and lead plates were placed instead of the third stage.

To protect the aircraft crew from the damaging effects of the explosion, the AN602 was equipped with three parachutes at once. The area of ​​the main parachute was more than 1.6 thousand square meters. meters. He should have allowed the bomber, after completing its mission, to move to a safe distance from the explosion site. A special reflective coating was applied to the fuselage of the aircraft.

The Tsar Bomba itself had a characteristic streamlined teardrop shape with four stabilizers in the tail section. Its weight was 26.5 tons, its length was 8 meters, and its largest diameter was 2.1 meters.

On October 17, 1961, Nikita Khrushchev, during the opening of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, told the audience that the USSR has thermonuclear bomb with a capacity of 100 megatons and is about to detonate a 50-megaton charge. After such a statement, nothing could stop the tests. The UN officially appealed to the Soviet leadership to abandon the explosion, but it was ignored.

AN602 tests and their results

The Tsar Bomba test was scheduled for October 30, 1961. On the morning of this day, a Tu-95B with AN602 on board took off from the Olenya airfield in the Murmansk region and headed for New Earth. The crew consisted of nine people, the bomber was accompanied by a Tu-16A laboratory aircraft.

About two hours later, the Tu-95 reached its intended point above the Dry Nose training ground. AN602 was dropped from a height of 10 thousand meters. The explosion occurred after 188 seconds, during which time the bomber managed to retreat 39 km. The shock wave caught up with it at a distance of 115 km, causing strong vibration, although it did not cause much harm to the car.

The force of the Tsar Bomba explosion exceeded the expected one (51.5 Mt) and amounted to 58.5 Mt.

The duration of the flash was 65-70 seconds, the height of the “mushroom” exceeded 67 km, and the diameter of its cap was 95 km. The light radiation from the explosion could cause serious burns (third degree) at a distance of 100 kilometers.

The explosion caused a seismic wave that circled the planet three times. Thousands of witnesses stated that they felt a tangible blow, even being a thousand from its epicenter.

Sound wave reached Dikson Island (800 km). Some sources report that windows in buildings on the island were broken by the blast wave.

The severe ionization of the atmosphere generated by the explosion caused interference with radio communications within a radius of hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter. They lasted about an hour.

Radioactive contamination of the site was insignificant. Within a few hours, a group of testers landed on it and took the necessary measurements.

After the success of the test, the commander and navigator of the Tu-95V received the titles of Heroes, eight people from the bomb development team became Heroes of Socialist Labor, several dozen scientists and designers received Lenin Prizes.

By the way, immediately after the test, scientists proposed several projects for creating even more powerful thermonuclear ammunition (300, 500 Mt). However, the military spoke out categorically against such ideas. An exploded 50-megaton bomb had already burned out an area the size of Paris, so why make even more powerful devices? And the mass of such ammunition made their practical use almost impossible.

If we talk about the results of the tests on Novaya Zemlya, the main one, of course, was propaganda. The USSR clearly showed all ill-wishers that it was better not to joke with it. Fifty megatons is a lot good way cool down too hot heads. Tests of AN602 very quickly brought results: literally a few months later in Moscow, an agreement was signed between the USA, USSR and Great Britain banning any tests of nuclear weapons on land, on water and in space. This international document is still being implemented today.

The explosion also had important practical significance. In essence, AN602 was a large test bench with the help of which Soviet scientists and designers tested their theoretical calculations. And there was no other way to do it. In addition, the Soviet military received invaluable information regarding the use of ammunition of such power. In fact, due to its significant dimensions, the Tsar Bomba was not very suitable for practical use.

It should also be understood that the Soviet Union was not developing super-powerful ammunition out of a good life. To be honest, the main element of the Soviet “asymmetric response” strategy, of course, was intimidation. The Tu-95 simply could not deliver AN602 to the United States: due to the significant mass of ammunition, it simply would not have reached the target. After the improvement of domestic intercontinental missiles, the need for super-powerful nuclear charges disappeared; it was much more profitable to deliver a dozen warheads with relatively small charges to enemy territory than one multi-megaton monster.

50 years ago, on October 30, 1961, an epoch-making event took place at the test site on Novaya Zemlya in the USSR - a bomb with 58 megatons of TNT equivalent was detonated. This is more than has been used in the entire history of mankind, including previous atomic and hydrogen bombs. And, most likely, that explosion will remain a world record for all subsequent times. Not because there are technical and physical limitations on the power of the explosion, but because such power is completely meaningless.

The anniversary bomb was named AN602, but in official correspondence of that time it was simply called “product B”.

These markings were forgotten. What remained were “Ivan” (Soviet name), “Big Ivan”, “Tsar Bomba”, “Kuzka’s Mother” - assigned to the bomb in the West.

The development group included many dozens or even hundreds of people, but the main ones were Andrei Sakharov, Viktor Adamsky, Yuri Babaev, Yuri Trutnev, Yuri Smirnov.

Work on the bomb began a long time ago, back in 1954. In 1959, before Khrushchev's trip to America, work was suspended - détente was planned. But on May 1, 1960, the U-2 spy plane of the American pilot Powers was shot down near Sverdlovsk. The Americans were unpleasantly impressed by Khrushchev’s words “we will bury you.” Trust but verify, President Eisenhower decided. Nikita Sergeevich was seriously angry, canceled Eisenhower’s return visit and promised to show America “Kuzka’s mother.” The highest order was received: to speed up the development of the bomb.

At a meeting with the developers and creators of Soviet nuclear weapons, Nikita Sergeevich said: “Let this product hang over the capitalists like the sword of Damocles...”.

In September 1961, the bomb was almost ready. Nikita burned with righteous anger against imperialism. So much so that, despite all the traditional Soviet secrecy, he himself told an American politician about it, who came to see him with his adult daughter. The story about this meeting appeared on September 8, 1961 on the pages of the American newspaper " NY Times,” which reproduced Khrushchev’s words: “Let those who dream of new aggression know that we will have a bomb equal in power to 100 million tons of trinitrotoluene, that we already have such a bomb, and all we have to do is test the explosive device for it.” . The newspaper reported that the politician’s daughter, having heard about Khrushchev’s such intention, burst into tears right in his office.

The Soviet people learned about such an epoch-making event a little later - on October 17, on the first day of the XXII Congress of the CPSU, when Khrushchev, in the report, stopped reading the text, switched to falsetto, nailed his fist and almost shouted: “... I want to say that We are also testing new nuclear weapons very successfully. We will complete these tests soon. Apparently at the end of October. Finally, we will probably detonate a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 50 million tons of TNT. (Applause.) We said that we have a bomb containing 100 million tons of TNT. And that's true. But we will not detonate such a bomb, because if we detonate it even in the most remote places, then even then we can break out our windows. (Stormy applause.) Therefore, we will refrain for now and will not detonate this bomb. But, having detonated the 50-millionth bomb, we will thereby test the device for detonating the 100-millionth bomb. However, as they said before, God grant that we never have to explode these bombs over any territory. (Stormy applause.)"

The stormy applause of the congress delegates showed that the people were awaiting the promised explosion with jubilation as the apotheosis of the struggle for peace.

50 megaton TNT bomb

Why didn’t they detonate 100 megatons, although such a charge was ready? A little about the design of the bomb. "Kuzkina Mother" ("Tsar Bomb") had a three-stage design: the nuclear charge of the first stage (calculated contribution to the explosion power - 1.5 megatons) launched a thermonuclear reaction in the second stage (contribution to the explosion power - 50 megatons), and she, in turn, initiated the nuclear “Jekyll-Hyde reaction” (nuclear fission in uranium-238 blocks under the influence of fast neutrons generated as a result of the thermonuclear fusion reaction) in the third stage (another 50 megatons of power), so that the total estimated power of the bomb was 101 .5 megatons.

Khrushchev named the main reason for refusing such power: there is no place on the territory of the USSR for such a test.

When they began to estimate the scale of damage from a 100 megaton Kuzka mother in an explosion on Novaya Zemlya, equal to a radius of 1000 kilometers, they scratched their heads. Within these limits were the cities of Vorkuta, Dudinka, an important industrial centre Norilsk. And, let’s say, the port of Dikson was located 500 kilometers from the test site. Some village of Drovyanoy was not a pity, but the Norilsk copper-nickel plant was very taken care of.

In general, no matter how they twisted it and tried it, it turned out that there was nowhere to blow up the monstrous mother. Except in Antarctica. But, firstly, there was no equipment and instruments there, and importing them would have been too expensive - it would have been cheaper to burn down Dikson, evaporate the village of Drovyanoy and destroy Norilsk. And secondly, Antarctica was an international territory, and, as they say, the international community would not allow an explosion there.

It’s a pity, but they decided to halve the bomb charge so as not to evacuate the population and equipment of the named cities. The bomb body remained the same, but the charge was halved.

There was another reason. The explosion of the third stage, in which the fission reaction of uranium-238 occurs, would entail extremely high level radioactive contamination, which would make it necessary to evict the entire North, and not only the North. Therefore, about 2 tons of uranium-238 in the third stage were replaced with approximately the same amount of lead. This reduced the estimated total yield of the explosion from more than 100 megatons to 51.5 megatons. Looking ahead, we note that the actual power turned out to be even higher than the calculated one and reached 58 megatons.

What kind of power is this? If such a bomb were detonated over Moscow, then Moscow would simply disappear. Its center would evaporate (namely, it would not collapse, but evaporate), and the rest would turn into small rubble among a gigantic fire. Just as the center of New York would evaporate along with all its skyscrapers. That is, from huge cities there would be a melted smooth surface with a diameter of twenty kilometers, surrounded by small debris and ash.

Test of "Kuzka's Mother"

The bomb was transported from Arzamas-16, where it was assembled, by special train. The train changed direction several times along the way, making wild discounts so that in principle it would be impossible to determine from which station it departed.

At Olenya station everything was ready. The bomb was placed on a heavy-duty vehicle trailer and, under heavy security, with cover vehicles in front and behind, was delivered to a military airfield in a special building.

Marshal, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Missile Forces Kirill Moskalenko and Minister of Medium Engineering Efim Slavsky arrived for the tests. They specially flew in from Moscow, where they participated in the XXII Congress of the CPSU.

With great precautions, the bomb was suspended from the belly of the Tu-95 using a powerful lift.

All is ready.

Bomb development team member Yuri Smirnov says:

“A mighty roar was heard, and the Tu-95, running heavily along the seemingly endless concrete strip, followed by the Tu-16, rose into the gray, low, overcast sky. We were told that escort fighters soon joined the planes heading for Novaya Zemlya. Once again we found ourselves in the grip of anticipation...

Several people gathered in the room where the State Commission had met the day before. We exchanged humorous remarks. But it seems that everyone was overcome by a poorly concealed tension. From time to time there was news that communication with the pilots was normal and everything was going according to schedule. The critical moment was approaching... There was a message that at a given point the bomb had separated from the plane, the parachute had opened, and the crews were leaving the area of ​​the impending explosion...

Finally they told us that at 11:33 am. Moscow time, communication with the crews and observation points for the experiment was completely interrupted. This meant: the explosion took place.”

The head of the bomb development group, Andrei Sakharov, writes in his Memoirs:

“On the day of the “powerful” test, I was sitting in my office near the telephone, waiting for news from the test site. Early in the morning, Pavlov called (a high-ranking KGB official in charge of the tests, in fact the head of the tests) and reported that the carrier aircraft was already flying over the Barents Sea towards the test site. Nobody was able to work. Theorists were milling around the corridor, coming in and out of my office. At 12 o'clock Pavlov called. In a triumphant voice he shouted:

There is no communication with the test site or with the plane for more than an hour! Congratulations on the victory!

The meaning of the phrase about communication was that a powerful explosion creates radio interference, throwing up great amount ionized particles. The duration of the communication disruption qualitatively characterizes the power of the explosion. After another half hour, Pavlov reported that the height of the cloud was 60 kilometers (or 100 kilometers? Now, 26 years later, I can’t remember the exact number).”

The correct number is about 67 kilometers.

Test Details

The TU-95 aircraft was flown by pilots: ship commander A.E. Durnovtsev, navigator I.N. Klesch, flight engineer V.Ya. Brui. The bomber took off from Olenya airfield and headed for Novaya Zemlya.

The main problem was that the bomber had time to leave the affected area before the bomb exploded. The bomb was detonated at an altitude of 4.2 kilometers, and dropped from a height limit for the TU-95 - 10.5 kilometers. The parachutes opened almost immediately, but the bomb flew down quickly at first (due to the low air density), then its speed began to slow down. In total, the crew had 188 seconds left. The plane, descending and with its engines afterburning at the maximum available speed of about 800 km per hour (these were subsonic bombers), began to move away from the bomb drop site and managed to escape to a distance of 39 kilometers before the bomb exploded. The flash of the explosion, which lasted about a minute, filled the cabin with a blinding white light - the crew put on dark glasses in advance. The temperature on the plane rose. The plane quickly continued to leave, but the shock wave overtook it even faster. And it caught up when the plane flew 115 kilometers. This happened 8 minutes 20 seconds after the nuclear charge was dropped. At the moment of the explosion, a bright flash appeared that lasted about a minute. A white and red fireball grew from behind. That was the real dawn of communism. The shock wave threw the plane down, up, down again. But everything worked out, although the crew received a still classified dose of radiation. It was a monstrous atomic mushroom, never before seen by any earthling...

The commander of the second Tu-16 laboratory aircraft, who managed to escape 205 km when the shock wave arrived, was ordered to return to the mushroom and carry out detailed surveys and measurements. But the closer the plane flew, the greater the horror that gripped the crew. Orange whirlwinds rushed ahead, huge lightning flashed, the mushroom quickly went into the stratosphere and expanded. A giant fiery tornado awaited them, most similar to the entrance to the “fiery Gehenna.” The commander did not dare to approach even closer and turned back, not following the order of the party to come close to the cloud. The Tu-95 commander Andrei Durnovtsev would have done it.

I once had a neighbor in Minsk (or rather, his parents were neighbors) named Volodya, who served at the Novaya Zemlya training ground. Once a year he came to his parents on vacation and told me his impressions of the trials over a bottle. nuclear bombs. Heavy pack ice up to 2 meters thick evaporated in an area fifteen to twenty kilometers in diameter (and it should be taken into account that the explosions were carried out not over the ocean, but over land). Packs of white foam floated on the surface of the water. The testers themselves sat a couple of hundred kilometers away in underground bunkers, and then they were thrown up there, and a low-frequency powerful roar was heard, which chilled the heart, and thoughts about the end of the world naturally came to mind. “At these moments,” Volodya said, “many uttered some words like “Lord, carry me through and save.” But everyone there was atheists, Komsomol members and party members.” There is nothing left of the tanks, buildings and other equipment abandoned for the sake of the experiment closer than 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion...

The Nenets, who were resettled 500 kilometers away during the testing of the Tsar Bomb, saw a bright flash in the sky, then they heard a powerful roar and rumble that they had never heard before. Nenets old people (and old people are considered to be those who manage to live to be 50 years old) said that this roar was made by the local evil spirit Omol, trying to free himself from an underground jug. Local party bodies were instructed not to dissuade them of this error and not to fight the remnants of shamanism in the Nenets tundra.

And then for many days something like the Northern Lights blazed in the sky. The deer that were closer than 500 kilometers from the epicenter lost their fur and died. Rumor has it that less than half of the 15 million herd remains. Again everything was blamed on the wrath of the Nenets unconscious god.

This is how the operators who were on both planes describe this flight.

“It’s scary to fly, one might say, on top of a hydrogen bomb! Will it work? Although it is on fuses, but still... And there will be no molecule left! Unbridled power in her, and what! Zero! Below the plane and somewhere in the distance, the clouds are illuminated by a powerful flash. This is illumination! Behind the hatch, a sea of ​​light just spread out, an ocean of light, and even the layers of clouds were highlighted, revealed... At that moment our plane came out between two layers of clouds, and there, in this gap, from below, a huge bubble ball appeared light orange color! He, like Jupiter - powerful, confident, self-satisfied - slowly, silently creeps up... Breaking through the seemingly hopeless clouds, he grew, grew larger and larger. Behind him, as if into a funnel, the whole Earth seemed to be drawn in. The spectacle was fantastic, unreal... at least unearthly.”

Another cameraman saw a powerful white flash above the horizon, and through big gap felt a dull, heavy blow: “A-ahhh! It’s like they killed the Earth!” - he wrote.

Then, some time after the explosion, they filmed the area of ​​the center of the explosion, the place where the fireball of the explosion (“fireball”) reached a diameter of about 10 km: “The surface of the island was so melted, swept away and licked that not the surface became a skating rink ! There are no traces of any irregularities... We film directly from the air, while circling and hovering... This is the epicenter. The thermonuclear rage raged over this point. Everything has been swept away, licked, cleaned, everything has been melted and blown!”

"Tsar Bomba" effect

On the last day of the party congress, Nikita Sergeevich shone like a polished copper basin. Communists do not waste words. The delegates were delighted. Here it is, a visible sign of communism, the program for the construction of which by 1980 was adopted at the 22nd Congress. Communism cannot be combined with outdated capitalism. They said we’ll bury it, so that’s what will happen. Well, with an amendment, we won’t bury it, but burn it in a crematorium. It's more modern.

On the stage, two “satirical” coupletists Shurov and Rykunin sang cheerfully: “One hundred million tons of TNT, that was enough for us, so that Kondrashka would grab them!” The audience was delighted...

It’s interesting that even now 90 percent of all comments from “ordinary users” about the anniversary of the bomb are filled with pride for the accomplishment, oh, how they were afraid of us then, but now it’s all about... well.

A 20-minute film about the creation of a 50-megaton bomb, its preparation and testing was later shown to the country's top leadership. The film concluded with the narration: “Based on even the most preliminary data, it became obvious that the explosion produced was a record-breaking force.”

The jubilant voice of the announcer lists the deadly effects of the explosion: “The flash was seen at a distance of up to 1000 km, and the shock wave circled the Earth three times! The sound wave generated by the explosion reached Dikson Island and was heard as a strong rumble at a distance of about 800 kilometers. For the first time in the world such enormous power!..” The announcer's voice trembled with happiness.

After the test, the Pravda newspaper said its word of peace: “50 megatons is yesterday atomic weapons. Now even more powerful charges have been created.”

They were not created, but the project actually contained a 150 megaton bomb.

In fact, and theorists understood this well, neither the 100 megaton nor the 50 megaton bombs were and could not be weapons. It was a single product for political pressure and intimidation.

Yes, they had an undeniable political impact. It was under the terrifying effect of the explosion that Khrushchev gave the order to bring missiles to Cuba, which led to the most serious crisis in all the millennia of civilization. The world was on the verge of the Third World Thermonuclear War.

“Kuzka’s Mother” clearly advanced negotiations on a ban on testing atomic weapons in the atmosphere and under water - the damage to the environment, as well as to the living conditions of people and their equipment from such experiments became obvious even to outstanding peace activists. This agreement was signed in 1963.

In general, Khrushchev no longer risked exploding the Tsar Bomba. Instead, they began to show Academician Mstislav Keldysh, President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, who scientifically repeated that Soviet science works exclusively for the good of the world.

Andrey Sakharov

Andrei Sakharov was the first to sign the report on the successful testing of the “product”. At the end of the report there was the phrase: “The successful test result of this product opens up the possibility of designing a product of practically unlimited power.”

And then, inspired by success, Sakharov had a conversation with the head of the 6th Directorate of the Navy, engineer-vice admiral Fomin Pyotr Fomich. He was a major boss and a significant figure: he was in charge of all naval nuclear weapons, and the nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya was subordinate to him. Sakharov shared his secrets with Admiral Fomin. Academician, three times hero of socialist labor Sakharov, came up with a way to effectively deliver a super-powerful charge, albeit 1000 megatons, to a target. He proposed launching a charge on a large torpedo, brought to the enemy’s shores by submarine. And there, off the coast, to explode. Such a charge raises a giant wave that covers the coastal city. Sakharov wrote: “He (Fomin) was shocked by the “cannibalistic nature” of the project and noted in a conversation with me that sailors were accustomed to fighting an armed enemy in open battle and that the very thought of such a mass murder was disgusting to him. I was ashamed and never discussed this project with anyone again.”

Judging by the chronology, it was this reaction of Fomin that became Starting point, impetus for the academician’s increasing repentance. The creation of deadly weapons, the apotheosis of which was the “Tsar Bomba” and the idea of ​​​​an underwater explosion of a very monstrous charge, became the impetus for his further human rights activities.

It seems, however, that the admiral, with such a gesture of peacefulness, simply turned the academician away from a fruitful idea. An underwater nuclear explosion is exactly his department! So, he should offer it to him. This is exactly what happened later. Fortunately, calculations and experiments showed that nothing would have come of this idea.

For example, the earliest settlements at a site in the Tsodilo Hills (northwest of the country) date back to approximately the 18th century BC. e. In the last few centuries BC. e. Some tribes began to turn to livestock farming, using the relatively fertile lands around the Okavango Delta and Lake Makgadikgadi. The pottery of the Bambata culture dates back to the 3rd century - probably Hottentot in origin.

First millennium AD uh

At the beginning of our era, Bantu farmers came to South Africa, and with their arrival the Iron Age began. The first Iron Age sites in Botswana date back to around 190 AD. e. and are probably related to the Bantu peoples of the Limpopo Valley. By 420 AD e. include the remains of small beehive-like houses at a settlement near Molepolole (almost identical to finds at a site near Pretoria); there are similar finds from the 6th century in the north-west, in the Tsodilo hills.

Moritsane culture

Main article: Moritsane

In the 12th century, the spread of the Moritsane culture, associated with the southeast of Botswana, began: its carriers were tribes of the Sotho-Tswana group, who, although they belonged to the Bantu peoples, were engaged in animal breeding rather than agriculture. From a material point of view, this culture also combined features of older Upper Neolithic cultures (like Bambat) and the Bantu culture of the eastern Transvaal (Leidenberg culture). The spread of Moritsane culture is associated with the growing influence of the Kgalagadi chiefdoms.

In the east and center of the country, the leaders of the Toutswe people had great influence, conducting active trade with the eastern coast. This entity later fell under the rule of the Mapungubwe state and later the rulers of Greater Zimbabwe.

XIX century - Bechuanaland

After the end of the Mfecane wars, Tswana chiefs began to strengthen their influence in the region, acting as trade intermediaries between the Europeans in the south and the northern tribes. Especially notable were Sechele, the ruler of the Bakwena who lived around Molepolole and Khama III, the king of the Bamangwato tribe, who owned virtually all of modern Botswana. Khama was an ally of the British, who used his lands to bypass the hostile Boer republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) and the Shona and Ndebele kingdoms. Tensions grew in the region, and in 1885 the Tswana chiefs Khama, Batwen and Sebele appealed to the British Crown for protection. On March 31, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Tswana lands, called Bechuanaland. The northern part of Bechuanaland remained under the control of the English crown, and the southern part was included in the Cape Colony (now part of South Africa; which is why some Tswana speakers now live in South Africa).

German map of South Africa 1905. Bechuanaland is not yet divided into northern (protectorate) and southern parts

The British initially assumed that Bechuanaland, like Basutoland (Lesotho) and Swaziland, would be included in Rhodesia or the Union of South Africa, and therefore even Mafikeng, located in the Cape Colony, became the administrative center of the protectorate. Special programs the development of Bechuanaland was not envisaged; moreover, they provoked a sharp protest from the Tswana leaders, who did not want increased European influence on their lands. The inclusion of the protectorates in the South African Republic was constantly postponed, and in the end, when the National Party began to introduce an apartheid regime in the country, it was decided not to merge these territories into one. In 1951, a joint advisory board, and in 1961, a constitution was adopted that provided for the creation of a legislative assembly that had the right to an advisory vote.

Independence

Great Britain did not want to change its political system until it was convinced that the country could independently develop its economy. In 1964, the colonial administration agreed to the possibility of declaring independence; In 1965, self-government was introduced and the capital was moved from Mafikeng to the rapidly rebuilt Gaborone, and the independent Republic of Botswana was declared in 1966. The first prime minister was Seretse Khama, one of the leaders of the liberation movement and a legitimate contender for the throne of the chief of the Bamangwato tribe. He was re-elected twice more and died in 1980 while serving as president.

The economy of independent Botswana was based on the export of products (in particular, diamond deposits were found in the country); In order to get the maximum benefit from these exports, in 1969 the government achieved changes in the terms of the customs agreement with South Africa.

Notes

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Botswana (English and Tswana Botswana), officially the Republic of Botswana (English Republic of Botswana, Tswana Lefatshe la Botswana) is a state in South Africa. It borders on the south with South Africa, on the west and north with Namibia, on the northeast with Zambia, on the east with Zimbabwe, and has no access to the sea. Geographically, 70% of the country's territory is occupied by the Kalahari Desert.

On September 30, 1966, the British protectorate of Bechuanaland declared independence within the Commonwealth of Nations and changed its name to its modern one. The capital of the country and largest city is Gaborone.

Early history

Hunters and gatherers who spoke Khoisan languages ​​were the first to come to what is now Botswana. For example, the earliest settlements at a site in the Tsodilo Hills (northwest of the country) date back to approximately the 18th century BC. e. In the last few centuries BC. e. Some tribes began to turn to livestock farming, using the relatively fertile lands around the Okavango Delta and Lake Makgadikgadi. The pottery of the Bambata culture dates back to the 3rd century - probably Hottentot in origin.

First millennium AD uh

At the beginning of our era, Bantu farmers came to South Africa, and with their arrival began iron age. The first Iron Age sites in Botswana date back to around 190 AD. e. and are probably related to the Bantu peoples of the Limpopo Valley. By 420 AD e. include the remains of small beehive-like houses at a settlement near Molepolole (almost identical to finds at a site near Pretoria); there are similar finds from the 6th century in the north-west, in the Tsodilo hills.

Moritsane culture

In the 12th century, the spread of the Moritsane culture, associated with the southeast of Botswana, began: its carriers were tribes of the Sotho-Tswana group, who, although they belonged to the Bantu peoples, were engaged in animal breeding rather than agriculture. From a material point of view, this culture also combined features of older Upper Neolithic cultures (like Bambat) and the Bantu culture of the eastern Transvaal (Leidenberg culture). The spread of Moritsane culture is associated with the growing influence of the Kgalagadi chiefdoms.

In the east and center of the country, the leaders of the Toutswe people had great influence, conducting active trade with the eastern coast. This entity later fell under the rule of the Mapungubwe state and later the rulers of Greater Zimbabwe.

Around the 9th century, other Bantu tribes, the ancestors of the current Bayeyi and Mbukushu, began to penetrate into the north-west of the country.

XIII-XVI centuries

In the 13th century, the Sotho and Tswana leaders in the Western Transvaal began to gain strength. The Barolong chiefs began to put serious pressure on the Kgalagadi tribes, forcing them to either submit or move further into the desert. By the mid-17th century, the power of the Barolong-Kgalagadi chiefs extended as far as what is now Namibia, and news of their conflicts with the Hottentots (Khoi Khoi) over copper mines reached even the Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony.

The 16th century saw the emergence of the Tswana proper under the rule of the Hurutshe, Kwena and Kgatla dynasties, who founded the kingdom of Ngwaketse at the end of the 17th century, subjugating the Kgalagadi and Barolong tribes. They soon had to face external threats: first they were attacked by tribes that had escaped European influence in the southwest, and later the Tswana had to deal with the consequences of Mfekane. In 1826, clashes occurred between the Tswana and the Kololo, who killed the leader Makabu II. The Tswana managed to drive the Kololo further north, where they settled for a short time. The Kololo reached in the west as far as present-day Namibia (where they were defeated by the Herero), and in the north - as far as the Lozi lands in the upper Zambezi.

XIX century - Bechuanaland

After the end of the Mfecane wars, Tswana chiefs began to strengthen their influence in the region, acting as trade intermediaries between the Europeans in the south and the northern tribes. Especially notable were Sechele, the ruler of the Bakwena who lived around Molepolole and Khama III, the king of the Bamangwato tribe, who owned virtually all of modern Botswana. Khama was an ally of the British, who used his lands to bypass the hostile Boer republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) and the Shona and Ndebele kingdoms. Tensions grew in the region, and in 1885 the Tswana chiefs Khama, Batwen and Sebele appealed to the British Crown for protection. On March 31, 1885, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Tswana lands, called Bechuanaland. The northern part of Bechuanaland remained under the control of the English crown, and the southern part was included in the Cape Colony (now part of South Africa; that is why some Tswana speakers now live in South Africa).

The British initially assumed that Bechuanaland, like Basutoland (Lesotho) and Swaziland, would be included in Rhodesia or the Union of South Africa, and therefore even Mafikeng, located in the Cape Colony, became the administrative center of the protectorate. There were no special development programs for Bechuanaland; moreover, they provoked sharp protest from the Tswana leaders, who did not want increased European influence on their lands. The inclusion of the protectorates in the South African Republic was constantly postponed, and in the end, when the National Party began to introduce an apartheid regime in the country, it was decided not to merge these territories together. In 1951, a joint advisory council was created, and in 1961, a constitution was adopted, which provided for the creation of a legislative assembly with advisory voting rights.

Independence

Great Britain did not want to change its political system until it was convinced that the country could independently develop its economy. In 1964, the colonial administration agreed to the possibility of declaring independence; In 1965, self-government was introduced and the capital was moved from Mafikeng to the rapidly rebuilt Gaborone, and in 1966 the independent Republic of Botswana was declared. The first prime minister was Seretse Khama, one of the leaders of the liberation movement and a legitimate contender for the throne of the leader of the Bamangwato tribe. He was re-elected twice more and died in 1980 while serving as president.

The economy of independent Botswana was based on the export of products (in particular, diamond deposits were found in the country); In order to get the maximum benefit from these exports, in 1969 the government achieved changes in the terms of the customs agreement with South Africa.

After Khama, Vice President Ketumile Masire became president, and was also re-elected twice later. Masire resigned in 1998, and Festus Mogae became the leader of Botswana.

In 2008, Festus Mogae resigned early, giving way to Vice President Ian Khama

Illustration copyright BFI

On October 5, the world premiere of the new British film “A United Kingdom” opens the 60th anniversary London Film Festival.

The London festival is not one of the most famous and prestigious. Here, unlike Cannes, Venice or Berlin, Palm Branches, Golden Lions or Silver Bears are not awarded.

There is almost no red carpet here, no glamor, no paparazzi frenzy.

At the same time, the festival can in no way be called a peripheral or provincial event. The very status of London as a world cultural capital makes the festival attractive both worldwide famous stars, and for world premieres.

The craving for stardom is growing from year to year, which is probably inevitable in our media world.

Here is a far from complete list of stars who are coming to London this year to present their films and for special meetings with the audience: Nicole Kidman, Werner Herzog, Paul Verhoeven, Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson, Michael Fassbender. Although here, too, there is an obvious bias towards directors and actors, not so much of box-office cinema as of “smart” cinema.

British accent

And yet, the main emphasis, the main focus of the LKF is on British cinema.

British cinema has a strange reputation around the world. On the one hand, British actors and directors are frequent guests in Hollywood; some have long become its permanent residents and are scooping up Oscars by the handful. Suffice it to name Anthony Hopkins, Ian McKellen, Daniel Day-Lewis, Michael Caine, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren.

True, they often receive recognition in films that have almost nothing to do with Britain. That is why such achievements, British in theme and spirit, as “The King’s Speech” are so valued here.

There is, on the other hand, cinema that is demonstratively non-Hollywood, non-commercial, which receives worldwide recognition not from the box office, but from its artistic merit or social pathos.

The best example of this is 80-year-old veteran Ken Loach, one of a select cohort of directors to have won the Palme d'Or twice at Cannes, including this year for I, Daniel Blake.

That’s why the LKF so purposefully strives to promote British cinema, traditionally opening and closing the festival with home-produced films.

"United Kingdom" - it would probably be difficult to find a film with a more appropriate title for the opening of the London Film Forum.

Although the name is deceiving. The film is not about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland- the official name of the state.

Dating back to 1948, the love story of the king of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and an ordinary British woman, which exposed the racial and hierarchical prejudices of both colonial England and the African monarchy, only seems to be relegated to the distant past and clearly resonates with modern Western society, which is so painfully experiencing the crisis of multiculturalism.

The festival closes with the film “Shootout” by British artist Ben Wheatley. Its plot outline looks extremely trivial - a clash between gangsters and arms dealers. However, the unique, ironic, surrealist-absurdist style of the 44-year-old director’s previous works (“Death List”, “One! Two! Three! Die!”, “High-Rise”) makes us expect not only exciting and exciting from the new film. but also smart, stylish and highest degree British spectacle.

Among other promising works from British list- painting by Andrea Arnold "American Cutie". Creativity of 55-year-old Arnold - best example following the socially charged, but at the same time aesthetically mature tradition of British cinema. From film to film ("Wuthering Heights", "Red Road", "Aquarium") the director's talent is revealed more and more brightly, and it is no coincidence that her "American Honey" received the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Prizes, juries and competitions

Traditionally, for many decades, the LKF did without competition and, accordingly, without a jury and prizes. It was a classic “festival of festivals”, that is, an event not so much internal as a spectator event.

Here you could see the bright new releases of the year that had already made a splash at other festivals, but had not yet been released in the UK.

The same thing exists now: in the program of LKF-2016, the sensational one at Sundance modern version David Griffith's classic 1915 film The Birth of a Nation. The film is all the more interesting because Griffith’s film, although recognized as a masterpiece of world cinema, is distinguished by overt racism, unthinkable in our politically correct times.

London is also eagerly awaiting "Snowden" - Oliver Stone, a lover of political controversies, has this time chosen a topic that cannot leave anyone indifferent.

"Nocturama" by the Frenchman Bertrand Bonello promises to be politically relevant, but at the same time sharp in form. The author of the provocative "Pornographer" and "House of Tolerance" this time turned the story of a group of terrorists trying to set fire to Paris into elegant radical chic.

However, LKF failed to maintain its non-competitive format. After all, the competition and prizes are the main thing that attracts media interest to the festival.

The number of competitions is growing every year. If recently the LKF made do with one “official” competition, now it has added both a debut competition and a competition documentaries, and a short film competition.

What attracts the most attention, of course, is the main one - official competition. The quality of the films presented there is growing from year to year, and several of this year’s competitors could grace any of the loudest and most prestigious festivals.

Started out as typical representative European arthouse Dutchman Paul Verhoeven (in 1983 he attracted attention with the stylish film "The Fourth Man") moved to America in the mid-80s and became one of the most commercially successful directors in Hollywood ("Robot Cop", "Basic Instinct", "Remember all"). In his new work "She" he again turns to Europe, filming scandalous romance Philippa Giana "Oh!" starring the brilliant Isabelle Huppert.

There are no less expectations from new job François Ozon's "Franz" is a stylish black and white film about the period after the First World War, already drawing comparisons with the famous "The White Ribbon" by Michael Haneke.

After its premiere in Toronto, the film “Moonlight” has already received excellent press on an almost new topic for cinema - about the development of a young homosexual man in an openly homophobic African-American environment in the United States.

What about Russia?

The success of Alexei Popogrebsky's film "How I Spent This Summer", which won Grand Prize The 2010 LFF remained, alas, a single success for Russian cinema in London.

None this year Russian painting not in the competition. Yes and presented Russian cinema The festival is extremely sparse: only two films.

The films are, however, worthy and very interesting. “The Apprentice” by Kirill Serebrennikov became a film version of the director’s play based on the play “(M)the Apprentice” by Marius von Mayenburg, which received five nominations for theater award "Golden mask". And the film itself also did not go unnoticed: it premiered as part of the Un Certain Regard program at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and it was included in the long list of films nominated for the European Film Academy Award.

Ivan Tverdovsky's "Zoology" stands apart - a phantasmagoric parable in the spirit of Gogol's "The Nose" about a quiet, intelligent woman from a provincial town who suddenly discovered she has a long tail. Russian city. The film has already been shown at the Kinotavr festival in Sochi and Karlovy Vary.

The famous Russian documentarian Vitaly Mansky brought his new picture“Relatives” - however, not under the Russian flag. A co-production between Latvia, Germany, Estonia and Ukraine, the work is a reflection on the aftermath of the tumultuous events in Ukraine in 2014. A native of Lvov himself, the director went on a trip to visit his relatives in Lvov, Odessa, Crimea and Donbass.

“An important counterbalance to the simplified approach of both Western and Eastern propaganda,” is how the LKF program characterizes the film.