political reforms

Question 1

Early political reforms

Answer 1

• replaced senior officials close to Brezhnev with younger communists
• solve manipulation of data (as the nomenklatura would feed false information to the top) through democratisation and openness. Also limit power of traditionalists which would end centralisation

Question 2

Key features of glasnost

Answer 2

• create a civil society through openness of the public sphere
• advance agenda of reform
• invited intellectuals from 1986 to criticise hardliners and support Gorbachev’s reforms
• Feb and Mar 1986: Twenty Seventh Party Congress - vague new priorities (first time since 1961) for the ‘improvement of socialism’ and ‘genuine democracy’
• liberalisation of the media:
  
  • intellectuals would be allowed to criticise the Party
  • radical new editors for Moscow News appointed by Yakovlev, led to criticisms of Stalin published e.g. the film Repentance
  • 1988, press published criticism of Marx and Lenin. Citizens could also listen to foreign radio and read foreign newspapers.
• Communist Party revealed scale of economic problems in the USSR at the June 1988 19th Party Congress

Question 3

Consequences of glasnost

Answer 3

• led to criticism of the entire system and Gorbachev
• groups called for independence from the USSR, party rule was destabilised

Question 4

Nineteenth Party Conference 1988

Answer 4

• multi candidate elections
• shift of power from Party to people
• removed article 6 from the constitution (that the Communist Party is the leading and guiding force of society)
• established Congress of People’s Deputies (1500 elected, remaining 750 appointed by Party)
  
  • undermined power of the Politburo

Question 5

Supreme Soviet reformed

Answer 5

• Gorbachev became Chair of Supreme Soviet
• became partly outside Party control

Question 6

March-April elections 1989

Answer 6

• 80% of seats in Congress of People’s Deputies won by Communists but many major defeats e.g. 5 Central Committee members defeated
• in Moscow, Leningrad opponents won
• radicals did well, Yeltsin won 89% of the vote
  
  • led to Inter-Regional Deputies Group (IRDG) who had radical communist agenda such as more autonomy for republics
• moderate position weakened

Question 7

Republic elections 1990

Answer 7

• anti communist groups did well e.g. Democratic Russia won 85% of seats in Moscow
• gave more authority to anti-Party and nationalist groups (more radical than Gorbachev intended)

Question 8

March 1990

Answer 8

• Gorbachev appointed himself President of the USSR through the Congress of People’s Deputies (majority Gorbachev supporters) but this lacked democratic and popular legitimacy
• led to emergency powers for 18 months to deal with unrest
• crackdown through use of troops, censoring the press, abandoned reforms
• his key supporter Shevardnadze resigned in Dec 1990