theme 5: fall of the USSR 1985-91 Flashcards
when did Gorbachev become general secretary
1985
Twenty-Seventh party congress
February 1986
Gorbachev attacks Brezhnev era as years of stagnation
when was the Chernobyl nuclear incident
April 1986
twelfth five year plan launched
1986
when were the laws on state enterprises enacted
1987
Plenum of the Central Committee
October 1987
Yeltsin attacks Gorbachev’s reforms
when was Yeltsin dismissed as first secretary in Moscow
November 1987
when was the legislation of co-operatives
January 1988
When was Yeltsin removed from the Politburo
February 1988
when was the nineteenth party congress?
June 1988
Principle of multi-candidate elections agreed
when were popular fronts formed in the Baltic republics
October 1988
When did Armenia announce its control over Nagorno-Karabakh
November 1988
when was the election to Congress of People’s deputies
March 1989
When were there demonstrations in Tbilsi, Georgia
April 1989
when was Gorbachev elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet
May 1989
when was the 500 days Programme put in place?
October 1989
Called for rapid transition to a market economy
when was the fall of the Berlin Wall?
November 1989
When was article 6 repealed
March 1990
opened the way for new political parties to be established
When did Lithuania declare independence from the USSR
March 1990
When did Yeltsin reign from the communist party?
July 1990
when did Georgia declare independence
April 1991
when did Yeltsin become president of Russia
June 1991
when was the coup by the gang of 8
August 1991
when did the Soviet Union recognize the Baltic states as independent
August 1991
when did Yeltsin reject Gorbachev’s new Union Treaty
November 1991
when was the USSR dissolved
December 1991
The Novosibirsk Report of 1983
aka “for internal use only”
by economic sociologist Tatyana Zaslavskaya
Drew attention to growing crisis in agrivulture caused by state inefficiency and inflexibility
Most Politburo members ignored it, except Gorbachev who was aware that reform was needed
Gorbachev removes opposition
1985: removes Grigory Romanov (leading rival), replaces with Ligachev and Ryzhkov
1986: Yeltsin and Yakelov promoted to central comittee
alcohol spending in 1980s (stat)
alcohol accounted for 15% of a household’s spending
Gorbachev quote on excessive alcohol use
April 1985 “we can’t build communism on vodka”
many turned up to work drunk
methods & goals of the 12th five year plan (1986-90)
methods: increased investment, controlled by central planning
goals: accelerate growth of economy, especially focusing on science and research (mainly engineering)
weaknesses of the 12th five year plan
- investment geared towards construction projects which often lead to over spending
- Soviet industry used out of date tools and machinery –> unproductive
- soviet industry was slow to use new technology and used most foreign exchange to import food
- agricultural sector needed vast sums of investment
- focus remained on quantity over quality
why didn’t Gorbachev’s policy of acceleration actually help the economy?
Didn’t address the fundamental problems that caused issues
Opposition to change from within the state and economic planning apparatus meant real change was hard to make
