"Be Ready for Work and Defense" complex as the basis of physical education of children and youth in the 1930s in Crimea

Based on the analysis of archival documents, the process of introducing the "Be Ready for Work and Defense" physical education complex into the work of educational institutions of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1930s. The study used general theoretical, historical and pedagogical research methods. The database of research sources was compiled by the office documentation of the Crimean authorities of physical culture and sports of the specified period from the funds of the State Archive of the Republic of Crimea. It has been established that the main objectives of the "Be Ready for Work and Defense" complex in the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, as well as throughout the country, were to introduce pioneers and schoolchildren to a healthy lifestyle, physical improvement, mass physical education and sports, as well as to help young men prepare for military service. Since 1934, the introduction of the complex through the Soviet secondary school, pioneer and sports organizations acted as a guide to the initiatives of the Soviet leadership in the field of mass physical culture and the patriotic movement. At the same time, rather harsh administrative measures to involve young people in passing the standards of the "Ready for Work and Defense" and "Be Ready for Work and Defense" complexes, with significant personnel and material difficulties, often led to falsifications, overestimation of coverage rates for movement participants and other negative consequences, which were constantly being fought. In many ways, these shortcomings were offset by the enthusiasm of teachers, schoolchildren, and youth. From 1935 to 1940, the cities and districts of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic saw a steady increase in the quantitative indicators of the coverage of Crimean pioneers and schoolchildren with the "Be Ready for Labor and Defense" complex. The material base for preparing for standards and the level of teacher training were improved. By the end of the 1930s, the types of tests that make up the content of "Be ready for Work and Defense" were used as the basis for physical education programs for schoolchildren and all extracurricular mass physical education and sports work, and the standards of the complex formed the basis for the requirements for assessing school performance in physical education. Such increased attention to physical education complexes was due to the increased mass military and physical training of the population to protect themselves from external threats on the eve of the approaching war. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References