Gorbachev's Early Political Reforms, 1985-86 Flashcards
1
Q
- What was Gorbachev’s first priority as General Secretary? (1)
- Why did he want to do this? (2)
- What was Gorbachev’s problem with the Soviet economy? (1)
- Why was accurate information difficult to obtain? (1)
A
- To replace the senior officials who had been close to Brezhnev.
- To end the stagnation of the Brezhnev era.
To heighten his own authority through patronage. - Too highly centralised.
- Due to the official manipulation of economic data
2
Q
- What was Gorbachev’s first political reform, and between which years did this take place? (2)
- Why did this become an increasingly important initiative from 1986? (1)
- Who did Gorbachev invite to criticise hardliners and support his reforms? (2)
A
- Glasnost, 1986-88.
- Due to opposition within the CP from Communist hardliners.
- Writers and intellectuals.
3
Q
- What event was held in Feb and March 1986?
- What did the new programme commit the CP to? (2)
- What did Gorbachev link to Glasnost? (1)
- What were the issues with this new programme? (2)
A
- 27th Party Congress.
- A systematic & all-round improvement of Socialism, including genuine democracy.
- Democratisation.
- Few signs of genuine openness, and no detailed proposals for reaching new goals.
4
Q
- What was the second way Gorbachev tried to achieve Glasnost? (1)
- What did newspapers start to publish? (2)
- What did Yakovlev permit the publication of? (1)
- Give an example of this (2) - What did Gorbachev also authorise? (1)
- What was this a signal of? (1)
A
- Liberalisation of the media.
- Accounts that showed scale of Stalin’s atrocities.
Stories that admitted problems in Soviet economy. - Books, plays and films by anti-communist intellectuals.
- 1986 film Repentance, which was highly critical of Stalin’s terror. - The release of dissidents from prison.
- Wanted to work with intellectuals outside of CP to promote reform.
5
Q
- What happened to Glasnost in 1987-88? (1)
- What/who did Aleksandr Tsipko attack in his furthered criticisms in 1988? (2)
- What did senior party officials admit at the 19th Party Congress of June 1988? (3)
- What was the effect of this? (1)
A
- It was extended.
- The foundations of Soviet communism, including Marx and Lenin.
- The scale of problems facing USSR, including inadequacies in healthcare & education, and poverty in rural populations.
- It shook the public’s faith in communist rule.
6
Q
- What did Gorbachev hope Glasnost would do? (1)
- What did Glasnost allow Gorbachev and others like him to do? (2)
- What was Gorbachev criticised of doing?
- What did revelations of Stalin’s terror lead some people to do? (1)
- What did groups in Soviet republics begin to demand? (1) - Fundamentally, what did Glasnost do? (1)
- Why? (1)
A
- Benefit him at expense of opponents.
- Allowed them to criticise CP moderates and aspect of govt which weren’t working.
- Reforming too slowly or too little.
- Question the foundations of the communist system.
- Independence from the Soviet Union. - Destabilised party rule.
- Because it permitted profound criticism of the Party that Gorbachev had not anticipated.