CW43+Gorbachev

= Soviet attitudes and policies under Gorbachev =

Elected General-Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 11 March 1985, following the death of Chernenko. He was a relatively young leader of the USSR (54), with a glamorous wife.

The USSR faced enormous social and economic problems. The economy had been propped up by their oil reserves which financed the military and foreign aid programs from the 1950s. But the inefficiencies of the Communist system meant that the real economy was stagnating; corruption was endemic in the party; and living standards were appalling for a so-called super power. The Chernobyl disaster in April 1986 symbolised all that was wrong in the system.

His first actions as leader did not indicate the radical reform that would come: he removed corrupt officials from the party and government; selected a new Foreign Minister (Shevardnadze); and reduced abuse of alcohol with the aim of improving productivity. “We must not change our policy. It is a true, correct and genuinely Leninist policy. We have to raise the tempo, move forward, expose shortcomings and overcome them, and see our future clearly.” (Gorbachev, 11 March 1985) 7 April, he declared an end to missile deployment in Europe.

His radical reform program gradually developed. It was based on glasnost (openness); perestroika (restructuring); democratizastia (democratisation); and novomyshlenie (improved foreign relations).

Historians generally acknowledge three great failures of Gorbachev, which were all significant in the collapse of the Soviet Union: inability to solve the economic problems; failure to deal adequately with nationalist movements; and remaining committed to Afghanistan.

See the Document Studies p.125 and p.126 on the aims of Gorbachev’s policies. See the Document Study p.127 - glasnost and perestroika - and answer the two questions.


 * 27th Party Congress**. The policies of glasnost and perestroika had begun to develop in Gorbachev’s thinking before he became leader. It was at the 27th Party Congress in 1986 that they were officially adopted, though as philosophical ideals rather than detailed initiatives.


 * Glasnost**. The ‘openness’ was intended as an economic policy – to promote open discussion of the economic crisis, which would lead to perestroika. As an economic policy it was a failure, however, ‘openness’ was taken as an invitation to bring into the open previously taboo subjects: the Romanovs; collectivisation; purges; gulags. Banned literature became openly available.


 * Perestroika**. The ‘New Economic Program’ 1987 was an attempt to address the declining economy with limited free market reform. This failed as a result of the entrenched centralised supply system, and the economy continued to decline throughout the late Eighties, resulting in shortages of necessary consumer goods and a burgeoning black market.


 * Reagan**. In a visit to Moscow in 1988, Reagan praised Gorbachev, the USSR was no longer an ‘evil empire’, and Gorbachev was given full credit for the changes. Matlock (2004) credits these comments by Reagan with greatly boosting popular support for Gorbachev’s reforms within the Soviet Union.


 * Eastern Europe**. December 1988, Gorbachev announced the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine. This encouraged a new sense of freedom in Eastern Europe. 4 June 1989, Solidarity and Lech Walesa were elected in Poland and declare independence from Poland. 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall was opened. December 1989, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Rumania had removed their Communist governments.


 * Nationalist movements**. Russia was one of 15 republics within the Soviet Union, each with its own language and culture. ‘Openness’ provided a means for underground nationalist movements to come out into the open and demand greater autonomy. A rising tide of nationalism engulfed the republics from the Baltic States to central Asia. The extent of nationalist sentiment was not realised by Gorbachev. The first state to declare sovereignty was Estonia on 16 November 1988, followed by other republics over the next few years. The Soviet Union did not recognise these declarations and there were bloody crackdowns in some republics (e.g., the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, April 1989).

(Eastern Europe and Nationalist Movements are covered in more detail in “Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR”.)