5.3 The roles of Gorbachev and Yeltsin

Question 1

What does an Intentionalist historian believe?

Answer 1

It is the fault of leaders and individuals for the fault of the USSR

Question 2

How does liberalisation relate to Gorbachev?

Answer 2

He implemented Glasnost

Question 3

What does an Eastern historian believe?

Answer 3

It is Gorbachev’s ineffective political, economic or social policy that caused the fall of the USSR

Question 4

What does a Western historian believe?

Answer 4

Gorbachev’s/Yeltsin’s actions are mostly to blame for the fall of the USSR

Question 5

What does a Social Historian believe?

Answer 5

The experience of the population caused the fall of the USSR

Question 6

What does a Structuralist historian believe?

Answer 6

Structures like political, economic and social caused the fall of the USSR

Question 7

What was Gorbachev’s failings? - Lack of Vision

Answer 7

Lack of vision - Gorbachev did not have a clear idea of how to solve the economic problems of the USSR which is shown through his uncoordinated policies to address productivity.

Question 8

What was Gorbachev’s failings? - Naivety

Answer 8

Naivety - Gorbachev failed to foresee the possible consequences of his policies as they resulted in unintended results and the level of resistance from within the Party to his economic reforms was more than he expected. For example, the failure of glasnost led to floodgates of attacks on the party.

Question 9

What was Gorbachev’s failings? - Powerbase

Answer 9

Powerbase - Gorbachev’s measures to reduce the power and role of the Communist Party meant that he was attacking the base of his own power without ensuring an adequate replacement - his position as President of the USSR was a poor substitute.

Question 10

What was Gorbachev’s failings? - Insensitive handling of national minorities

Answer 10

Insensitive handling of national minorities - In the final years of the USSR, Gorbachev made decisions that harmed the relationship between the central government and the government elites in the republics.

For example, he replaced Kunayev with the ethnic Russian, Kolbin, in Kazakhstan in 1986 – this inflamed tensions in the republic.

The Soviet government’s initial response to nationalist demonstrations and Baltic independence illustrated the lack of a clear strategy which resulted in deaths during the Soviet army’s storming of the television tower in Vilnius in January 1991.

Question 11

What was Gorbachev’s failings? Inconsistency

Answer 11

Inconsistency - Gorbachev often gave mixed messages in his speeches for example, in his speech in November 1987 to commemorate the anniversary of the Revolution – he was praising Stalin as an attempt to appeal to the Stalinists in the Party, but this alienated the more liberal reformers.

Critics of Gorbachev accused him of moving position from supporting reform, to withdrawing and giving in to the conservatives in the Party.

This became more obvious during December 1990, when Gorbachev removed reformer Vadim Bakatin from his position as Minister of the Interior and replaced him with hardliner Boris Pugo.

Question 12

What was Gorbachev’s failings? - Indecision

Answer 12

Indecision - At key moments Gorbachev was hesitant and postponed making crucial decisions for example, the Chernobyl nuclear accident, he hesitated for several days before releasing information to the Soviet public and foreign press.

He often made poor choices in personnel that did little to strengthen his position. In May 1990, when Yeltsin stood for Chairman of the Congress of People’s Deputies for the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic), Gorbachev supported Alexander Vlasov, a dull and uninspiring choice which contrasted with the more charismatic Yeltsin.

Question 13

Describe the defence of Gorbachev

Answer 13

Historian Ronald Suny argues that Gorbachev’s error was to attempt economic reform, democratisation and decolonising the republics all at the same time which proved too much for the Soviet state to withstand therefore, put a strain on the system of government, even though the three policies were intrinsically linked - economic reform could not progress without political reform, and this required a reduction in the power of the Communist Party as it posed the chief obstacle to further progress.

Gorbachev was a leader, although his understanding of economic matters was limited, and he had personal charm. Despite the divisions between reformers and conservatives, he still gathered a lot of support for his reforms for much of his time as General Secretary.

Gorbachev avoided using force to impose his will. This was despite the risk that the Soviet Union would descend into a civil war.

The chances of success for Gorbachev’s reforms were undermined by international factors that could not be foreseen such as the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Question 14

How did Yeltsin challenge Gorbachev’s leadership?

Answer 14

Yeltsin was expert at using opportunities to appeal to the public for sympathy and support and establish firmer links with other reformers and critics of Gorbachev. His attack on Gorbachev and his policies at the Central Committee Plenum of 1987 was conducted in an arena that had television coverage. He met with the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, visited striking miners and organised demonstrations to show support for his actions as Chairman of the Russian Congress. In March 1991, 200,000 people gathered in Moscow to support Yeltsin.

Gorbachev’s decision to hold elections for the Congress of People’s Deputies in 1989 gave Yeltsin an opportunity to organise demonstrations in his support and secured 89 % of the vote in the city. This gave him a claim to legitimacy that Gorbachev never had. His election to the People’s Congress gave him a platform to attack Gorbachev and the Soviet government and soon break the hold of the Communist Party over the central Soviet government.

Yeltsin used his election to the Congress of People’s Deputies for the RSFSR in 1990 to attack the central Soviet government. Securing the most votes enabled Yeltsin to be elected chairman of the Congress in May 1990 and become a direct challenge to Gorbachev’s authority.

Question 15

What was the Novo-Ogarevo agreement?

Answer 15

In 1991, Gorbachev and Yeltsin decided to work together to pursue reform.

They joined forces to negotiate and support the Novo-Ogarevo Agreement, which formed the basis of Gorbachev’s Union Treaty of 1991.

Historian Robert Service argues that Yeltsin’s approach was a manoeuvre to keep a weak Gorbachev in power until he was ready to destroy him.

Question 16

What was the August Coup 1991?

Answer 16

Led by conservatives within the Communist Party, the coup was an attempt to preserve the territorial integrity of the Soviet Union and the rule of the Communist Party.

While Gorbachev was on holiday in the Crimea, a State Emergency Committee was formed to take over the running of the country.

At a press conference, Gorbachev’s vice-president Gennady Yanaev announced that Gorbachev was ill (in fact he was being held under house arrest) and a state of emergency would rule in his absence.

A series of repressive measures was introduced, including a ban on strikes and demonstrations. Tanks were ordered onto the streets of Moscow to uphold law and order.

Question 17

What were the impact of the August Coup 1991?

Answer 17

Yeltsin’s stand against the plotters greatly enhanced his reputation as a defender of freedom and reform. His demand that Gorbachev be released from house arrest and returned to his position as President of the USSR had the advantage of making his stance seem less like he was using the coup as an opportunity for self-seeking publicity.

Yeltsin quickly introduced a series of measures that speeded up the collapse of the Soviet Union. He launched a programme of market reform in the economy. By the summer of 1991, the monopoly of the Communist Party had been legally ended, and Yeltsin and other reformers from the Communist Party were free to establish the Democratic Reform Movement as a political party. In November he banned the Communist Party of the Soviet Union within Russia.

Yeltsin then undermined the new Union Treaty. In its place, Yeltsin organised the Commonwealth of Independent States, a much looser arrangement that required no central Soviet government. When this was implemented in December 1991, the Soviet Union was no more.