Russia Theme 5: the fall of the USSR, c.1985–91 Flashcards
what were the long-term economic weaknesses of the USSR when gorbachev became general secretary?
the novosibirsk report of 1983 highlighted the economic weaknesses of the soviet union. there was a crisis in agriculture (that had been growing since stalin’s era) that was arguably caused by inefficiency and lack of flexibility. this was the most pressing issue facing the country, and indicated that the economy required some fundamental reform. many of the oligarchs in the politburo either did not understand the conclusions of the report, or simply chose to ignore them. gorbachev was an exception to this and recognised the need for major reform.
what were gorbachev’s inital reforms and what were their consequences?
G’s first steps in reforming the economy attempted to build on andropov’s ideas. he promoted like-minded reformers into key positions; one of these people was Boris Yeltsin. rivals like romanov were dismissed. the promotion of willing reformers was an attempt to change the conservative attitude of the politburo that had developed throughout the 70s and 80s.
G’s next policy was to take serious measures in combatting alcoholism. 15% of household spending on average was on alcohol, and workers would regularly turn up to work drunk. legal drinking age was raised to 21, alcohol retailers were reduced, vineyards and distilleries were closed and the cost of vodka in shops tripled.
consequences of control on alcohol:
drinking levels began to rise again after moonshine was introduced to illegal markets. tax revenues from alcohol also reduced significantly, and left the government with a shortfall in the budget.w
what were the features and outcomes of the 12th 5 year plan?
5YP12 (1986-90) was the final 5YP. it fell back on traditional soviet methods of central planning and increased investment to increase productivity. focus of investment was in science and engineering. investment was skewed towards construction projects; these tended to lead to extra spending that was not anticipated, and would have been used on equipping the factories.
outcomes:
many factories were seriously under-equipped due to the overspending on construction. as a result these factories had to rely on old equipment that was prone to breaking down, keeping productivity low.
agriculture was taking up huge amounts of investment but productivity was not increasing.
the focus of the plan remained on quantity rather than quality. as a result, goods were often near-unusable. there remained a culture of opposition to change in gosplan, meaning any fundamental reform to the approach taken in the plan was impossible.
the military also opposed serious changes to the economy and rejected any proposals to cut military spending (this was during the ongoing afghan war, and the us developing their “star wars” defence programme.
what was perestroika?
by 1987 G decided that a more fundamental resutructuring of the soviet economy was required for survival. it seemed that the state apparatus (often with highly conservative officials) it would be better to use methods outside the control of the state. in jan 1987 G put forward his idea of perestroika (restructuring). it would involve permitting some market mechanisms into the soviet system, to provide incentives for production. the key reforms were:
encouragement of joint ventures, jan 1987: this allowed foreign firms to establish business in the USSR, usually in partnership with the state. eg moscow got its first mcdonald’s in 1990. gorbachev hoped this policy would open the USSR to more modern technology.
the law on state enterprises, june 1987: allowed a loosening of state controls over wages and prices; as a result the authority of Gosplan was weakened. there was also an element of election of factory managers, and factories could produce what they wanted after state targets had been met.
cooperatives legalised, 1988: allowed small-scale enterprises to be established, which could set their own prices for goods. this created a flourishing sector of cafes, restaurants and small-scale shops. the term “cooperatives” for these businesses appealed to conservatives in the party who feared the dismantling of socialism. therefore this term was used to disguise an increasingly market-based economy.
what was the impact of perestroika?
-growth of food production increased from 1% to 2% over 1986-87, but this was still inadequate for the growing needs of the population and 1/5 of foodstuffs continued to be imported.
-enterprises were often subject to state interference, and devolution of power to managers was often subject to the will of bureaucrats in the area, many of whom wanted to maintain close control over the factories.
-products, especially foodstuffs, were diverted from state shops into cooperatives where prices were much higher. this produced inflation, and also stripped state shops of supplies; had particularly bad impact on pensioners and others who lived on a fixed income.
-cooperatives were able to look for buyers who would offer good prices for goods. this resulted in richer cities buying the stocks of cooperatives, and poorer cities having inadequate supplies of food and other essential products.
-the profits and higher productivity from the cooperatives led to corrupt govt officials demanding bribes in exchange for the cooperatives to be able to continue operating in a certain area.
-food insecurity led to hoarding, leaving shops empty as soon as they restocked. this led to rationing in many regions of the USSR.
-bureaucracy led to foreign companies struggling to set up businesses in the USSR - and many were put off completely. as a result, only small-scale businesses were set up, which had little impact on the economy.
-reforms were often undermined by officials - in some cities they were ignored while in others they were completely sabotaged. eg in leningrad all sausages were removed from shops and warehouses and buried.
overall the reforms had hugely weakened the state apparatus but had not done nearly enough to replace it. as a result the economy was approaching crisis point. G’s promise to improve consumer goods had failed; they were getting worse. strikes were becoming widespread due to unpaid wages and food shortages. wages were increased as a result but this was not a sustainable solution.
what was the state commission on economic reform, what did it suggest and what was the result of the suggestion?
in july 1989, this organisation concluded that a more radical solution was needed. it called for a move to a market-led economy. these recommendations split the politburo; reformers wanted to implement the ideas quickly, while others such as ryhzhkov, wanted a more gradual transition. G hesitated over decision-making. by october of the same year, an advisor suggested the 500 days programme, which was a rapid transition to a market economy. the plan was rejected by the soviet government, but accepted by the russian parliament. divisions between the cerntral government and ASSR administrations caused chaos and the economy collapsed. soviet production then fell by 1/5 between 1990 and 1991.
why did glasnost need introducing and what was it?
the apparatus of party and state had become huge and unmanageable by the time of G. under B the system had developed into departmental blocs with vested interests competing with each other, leading to very little economic progress. alongside this was the increasingly conflicting desires of the central government in moscow, and the regional leadership in each of the ASSRs. G recognised this issue. a reform to this system would provide the opportunity to remove officials who were against reform, as well. these needs led to the policy of glasnost - “openness” that encouraged the population to put forward new ideas and show initiative.
the response to the chernobyl disaster was what convinced G glasnost was essential. the goverment made no statement about the disaster until it was forced to, with scandanavian scientists detecting unnusually high radiation levels in their airspace. evacuation of badly affected areas in the USSR itself was also unnecessarily delayed, leading to further fatalities, higher cases of leukaemia and birth defects.
what was the impact of glasnost?
the policy very quickly developed into open attack on the communist party and its corrupt practices.
-complaints about housing were common
-investigations of soviet history revealed stalin’s mass terror, the famine of the 1930s and the katyn massacre (mass execution of polish prisoners of war).
-WW2 (or the great patriotic war as it was known in the USSR) was investigated, and the mass deaths of soviet citizens.
-environmental issues were discussed, such as the damage done to the aral sea due to government irrigation programmes.
by 1989, much of the population had become more politicised due to glasnost. over 60,000 informal groups had been formed to discuss reform and organise demonstrations. instead of producing support, glasnost led to a huge wave of criticism, much of it against gorbachev personally in his failure to pursue radical reform committedly enough. many reformers were unwilling to defend the party of which they were members, leading to mass resignation.
what were gorbachev’s attempted reforms of the party and their effects?
defining the functions of party and state(regional councils):
G wanted to clearly separate the partly and state systems, which had become highly interlinked. this was party a result of the nomenklatura system, where promotions in the state apparatus were reliant on loyalty to the party. it was often the case that personnel of one organisation would have an equal position in the other. in october 1988 G became president of the USSR as well as GS of the party, mirroring the issue down the ranks; eg first secretaries in ASSRs would usually also be the chairman of the regional soviet. this problem was never resolved.
shifting power from the party to the soviets:
attempted by allocating more finance to the soviets in order to give them the resources to support their role. deputies of the soviets were to be elected for 5 years rather than 2, which gave them more security in their post.
streamlining the party:
departments of the CC and the communist party were reduced from 20 to 9, and 6 new commissions were created. G also created “superministries” to coordinate economic planning. eg 5 ministries were merged to create one superminisrty for agriculture.
clampdown on corruption:
one of the main victims of this reform was B’s son-in-law, Yuri Churbanov, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison. attacks on corrupt party officials were also carried out, but this was a highly precarious process. the best example of this is when Kuyanev (first secretary for Kazakhstan) was removed on grounds of corruption. his replacement was kolbin, an ethnic russian. as a result, kazakhs rioted in support of kuyanev and order was only restored when several hundred rioters were killed. the blame for this situation was placed upon gorbachev’s shoulders.
what were the features and consequences of the move towards democratisation?
-in early 1987 at a CC meeting, G discussed the idea of secret ballots for multiple candidates.
-in june there was a limited experiment with mutiple candidates in elections for local soviets. was a small but significant change from elections involving single candidates proposed by the party.
-in june 1988, G announced that the principle of multi-candidate elections would be extended to a national level with elections for the New Congress of People’s Deputies. this was set up to provide an independent, supervisory role over the govt and was one of G’s attempts to separate the functions of the party from the state. members of the congress would be allocated to supervise the party and other institutions. the party nominated 100 members for its 100 seats, but the trade unions and union of writers gave its members a choice; in some seats, voters had a choice of 12 candidates. however the communist party was the only legal party and as a result could control the nomination process. however it still engaged the public in politics.
while this process was very different to western democracy, it was a significant change in the context of the USSR. after these reforms the power of the communist power was weakened irretrievably.
what were the impacts of gorbachev’s failure to reform the party?
-impact within the party itself:
both the conservative and the liberal branches became alienated with G’s policies. liberals wanted further democratisation and a move to pluralism, while conservative oligarchs thought the reforms had gone too far already. yeltsin openly attacked G’s reforms as being too slow in october 1987; he was subsequently sacked as first secretary in moscow, and then removed from the politburo in feb 1988.
development of factions:
arguments between liberals and conservatives occured within both the politburo and the CC. the impact of democratisation was the opportunity for both sides to appeal to the public for support. although party factions were prohibited, informal groups started to emerge during the elections for congress of people’s deputies. when the congress met, these groups became a sort of unofficial opposition to the government.
abolition of article 6:
article 6 enshrined the one-party system in the soviet constitution; it therefore became a target for activists who were pushing for genuine democratisation. for conservatives in the party, the article was non-negotiable. between criticism from liberals and resistance from conservatives, G finally repealed it in march 1990, ending the communist party’s monopoly on power; other parties could not be established to contest elections.
by the end of 1990, the communist party was powerless; elections to local soviets saw communist candidates defeated across the whole country. in particular in non-russian republics support for national groups grew, especially in the baltics. yeltsin had secured a victory for his newly formed grouping “democratic platform”, in the elections for russian congress of people’s deputies. yeltsin then resigned from the party, no longer being affiliated with socialism. the political vacuum this caused was solved by G becoming the president of the USSR. presidential rule replaced party rule in theory, but in practice power had shifted from the centralised government, to the ASSRs.
what were the consequences of ending the brezhnev doctrine in eastern europe?
the result of the ending of the BD was dramatic and happened quickly. nationalist sentiments had grown in eastern europe due to many governments making reforms similar to those the USSR was making under G. in 1989, hungary adopted a multiparty system and poland elected a non-communist government; these changes were welcomed by G. poland was the first communist government to collapse; there was then a wave of collapses across the continent. hungary, east germany, czechoslovakia and romania all followed.
what was the brezhnev doctrine and why was it ended?
USSR control over eastern europe was enforced by military action under what became known as the B doctrine. it had been formed after soviet intervention in czecheslovakia in 1968 to prevent the czech communist government introducing liberal reforms in response to protests. the threat of intervention played an important role in poland’s respose to protests in 1980-81. in order to avoid a soviet intervention martial law was imposed and the unrest was suppressed.
following chernenko’s death, G as the new GS had the opportunity to meet the leaders of each communist country under the USSR’s sphere of influence. each leader was informed that the USSR would not interfere in their internal affairs; they were free to choose their own path of socialism.
one of the reasons for ending the doctrine was the expense of propping up communist governments: the USSR spent around $40b annually on this process; money that could be used to promote domestic reform. G hoped that satellite states would follow the USSR in its pursuit of reform - he believed this was the path to socialism. there was a much greater focus placed on human rights to promote the interests of all, and armed intervention was seen by G as morally wrong.
what was the impact of the collapse of communist governments in eastern europe?
by the end of 1989, every pro-soviet government in EE had collapsed. G’s reforms were vital in enabling these movements to take place. this trend was to have a further impact on nationalist movements within the USSR. the opportunity for different national groups to assert their independence seemed increasingly possible as the power of the soviet union weakened.
what were the factors encouraging the growth of nationalism within the USSR?
envionmental concerns:
this was particularly important for regions in outlting parts of the USSR, where damage had often been the greatest. soil erosion had ravaged parts of central asia, and industrial pollution was of major concern in the baltics. these issues provided a focal point for people to rally against the moscow government.
insecurity of local party leaders:
these people were often the ones that felt most threatened by G’s reforms. B’s stability of cadres policy left these officials alone, allowing them to build up huge wealth through corruption. it was now in the local leaders’ interests to lend their support to local concerns in a bid to maintain their position. those who were seen as lackeys of moscow became highly unpopular.
culture and language:
by the 1980s the USSR was almost equally divided, between 145 million russians and 141 million non-russians. the non-russian groups involved slavic peoples like estonians, ukrainians etc, and non-slavic groups from central asia and the caucasus. these nationalities often had a strong sense of their own identity through language and cultural heritage.
