Theme 5 Flashcards
What was gorbachev’s early reform called?
Acceleration
Why were Gorbachev’s early reforms unsuccessful?
Tweaking the system didn’t change anything fundamental
Command economy was not tackled
When did Gorbachev come to power
1985
What were the 3 key features of Gorbachev’s acceleration?
Reformists promoted to politburo and central committee I.e. Yeltsin
Reinforced anti alcohol campaign
Five year plan 12
What happened with the anti alcohol campaign reenforced by Gorbachev’s acceleration ?
Why wasn’t it successful?
Legal drinking age raised to 21
Closed down some distilleries
Moonshine market grew
Tax revenue is lost
Which key reformist was promoted in Gorbachev’s acceleration?
Yeltsin
What happened with five year plan 12 and why was it unsuccessful ?
Super ministries set up to reduce waste
Central planning -> greater production
Focus on science + research
It was unable to bring change
Problems with the command economy!!!
Govt still went into deficit 2.4%->6.2% (1984-1985h
What were the 2 economic policies Gorbachev implemented
Acceleration
Perestroika
What does perestroika mean?
Restructuring
What were the three main features of Perestroika?
Joint ventures
Law on state enterprises 1987
(Loosened state control over wages)
Co-operatives legalised 1988
How did joint ventures (in perestroika) lead to the fall of the ussr ?
They were too complex
They were only 3000 by 1987 so it had no real impact
Excessive Bureaucracy surrounded it! This meant Gorbachev had to take drastic political reform to try to stop this
What was the law on state enterprises (1987) (perestroika)
And how did it lead to the fall of the ussr?
Weakened GOSPLAN’s power by loosening state controls over wages and prices and produce
Led to inflation as workers gave themselves higher wages
There was a 13% increase in urban wage
This created economic chaos reducing Gorbachev’s popularity to decline
How did co operatives being legalised (1988) (perestroika) lead to the ussr fall?
Caused inflation as there was no limit on pricing in state shop
It also gave opportunity for party officials to take bribes as coops needed permission from them to open
How did party officials undermine perestroika ?
Leningrad - city administration withdrew all sausages from shops and warehouses and buried them to create a shortage
They took bribes for people to open co ops
How did Perestroika lead to party opposition?
Radical reformists promoted in acceleration demanded complete free market
Hardliners were angry as they thought there was too much reform
What was the consequence of Perestroika with food?
Inflation caused by co ops and law on state enterprises 1987 meant that 26/55 districts in Russia had meat rationing
What event prompted Glasnost and why?
1986 Chernobyl
Plant explosion causing radioactive fallout across Europe
No announcement by government until they were forced to acknowledge it after it was discovered by Scandinavian scientists
Delayed response meant people weren’t evacuated quickly enough causing increase in birth deformities
This convinced Gorbachev needed to be more far reaching and radical. Hence Glasnost
What were Gorbachev’s main 2 political reforms ?
Glasnost
Democratisation
What was the hope and reality with Glasnost and criticism?
Hoped party officials blocking reforms would be criticised
In reality other things were criticised which turned people against communism itself
I.e. War attrocities 14,000 young poles killed under Beria
It also gave people a platform to campaign for independence
It allowed Yeltsin to rise and criticise
How did Gorbachev attempt to define roles and shift roles of of party vs state? How did this fail?
Attempt to separate party and state (19th party congress)
Deputies of the soviets were elected for 5 years rather than 2 giving better job security
Also Gorbachev made himself president of the Soviet as well as general secretary of the party
In hope he could ignore party officials blocking his reforms more and pass reform through the state
However he was seen as a hypocrite for not being democratically elected and ended up taking power away from his own power base (the party) reducing his own power
Evidence of Gorbachev’s attack on corruption?
Brezhnev’s son in law was given 12 years in prison for diamond smuggling
What were the 3 main democratisation changes?
Secret ballots
1987
Multiple candidates in Soviets! 1988 19th party congress
(Still had to be communist party)
Multiple candidates nationally
-allow yeltsin’s comeback !
ELECTIONS!!
What was article 6? What did abolishing it mean?
Article 6- made ussr a one party state
Reversing it in 1990 meant that other parties could run
fundamental change
How did Yeltsin do in the 1989 elections?
Won 89% of the vote in Moscow
How did Gorbachev’s men do in the 1989 elections ?
Give members of central committee don’t get elected
What did Glasnost mean Yeltsin could fight for?
Reduction of communist party power
Independence
What congress did Gorbachev set up?
Congress of people’s deputies
Which conservatives criticised Gorbachev for changing too much and when ?
Ligachev 1988
Yeltsin 1987
Why was Gorbachev so surprised by the consequences of ending the Brezhnev doctrine?
He believed in soviet nationalism.
He believed his own propaganda and believed soviet nationalism (mainly Russian culture) was entrenched in the system
He was surprised by the explode of nationalism
When was the end of the Brezhnev doctrine ended ?
1989
But told satellite state leaders about end of intervention in 1985
What happened with the satellite states when the Brezhnev doctrine was ended ?
One by one they declared independence
What happened with East Germany in terms of independence ?
1989
1 million people protest
End of BD meant Gorbachev didn’t intervene
1991- Germany is one country
What happened with Poland and independence?
1979 - pope visits and tells people not to be afraid
Strikes around the country
Free trade union “solidarity wins elections because of Glasnost and reversal of article 6
Mazowiecki becomes first non communist PM In Eastern Europe
End of BD= no intervention
What happened with birth rate that increased demand for independence?
By 1980’s
145 million Russians
141 million non Russians
Birth rate increased in non Russian arenas with different cultures
This increased demand for independence
Which republic was the first to declare independence ?
What were the consequences of this?
Lithuania declared independence 1990
Gorbachev declared it illegal and imposed economic sanctions but did not invade and these sanctions were lifted in the summer
However 14 protestors killed in attack he said he didn’t order
Baltic states not included in Gorbachev’s reform of union 1991
Which environmental concern prompted nationalism in the ussr ?
Chernobyl explosion 1986
After the explosion, more information became accessible and Russians , Central Asia and Baltic states were worried their areas were becoming polluted
What happened in the republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia?
How did it contribute to the fall of the ussr ?
Karabagh was controlled by Azerbaijan even though it had an Armenian majority.
This prompted protests and violent outbreaks
Soviet government intervened by directly enforcing central control which didn’t please any of the sides
This caused more violence and demands for independence
Armenia left the SU as part of Gorbachev’s reformed union
What happened with nationalism in Georgia ?
How did it contribute to the fall of the ussr ?
Protests 1989
Soviet troopers used force killing 19 protestors
This was unsuccessful at prevented nationalism movement. It caused outrage of nationalists all over the ussr
Military were blamed so military became unwilling to use force. This is Tbilisi syndrome. Government could no longer rely on military support
What was Gorbachev’s key election mistake ?
Embracing democracy then not standing for election
How did Yeltsin encourage the non Russian republics and Russia to gain independence
@ republics “take as much sovereignty as possible”
He also made law that Russian parliament laws were superior to soviet laws giving Russia more independence
