Unit 5 - Collapse of the Soviet Union

Question 1

Why was the Command Economy an underlying Economic Weakness?

Answer 1

Seemingly inefficient. America was 6% more productive than soviet farms

Question 2

Why was the Arms Race an Underlying Economic Weakness?

Answer 2

From 1945 the soviet economy had to compete in an arms race, producing evermore sophisticated weapons at a huge expense. In the 1970s, annual growth averaged 2% by 1980 this dropped to 0.6%. 1965-85 (12-17% spending on arms).

Question 3

Why were lack of incentives an underlying Economic Weakness?

Answer 3

From 1945-80, the SU was increasingly egalitarian. The difference between the rich and the poor was much smaller than the west. In 1970, the richest 10% of Americans were 7 times wealthier than the bottom 10%. In Russia, the richest 10% were only 3 times wealthier than Russia’s poor.

Question 4

Why was waste an underlying Economic Weakness?

Answer 4

The quality and proportion that was used in a production was irrelevant. Therefore, although large amounts of goods were produced, they were often wasted.

Question 5

Why was the failure to modernise an underlying Economic Weakness?

Answer 5

Soviet agriculture lacked more sophisticated machinery. This meant that more labour was required. In the 1960s, 25.4% of soviet workers were employed in farms, compared to just 4.6% in America.

Question 6

What was the Novosibirsk Report?

Answer 6

The Novosibirsk Report (published in 1983) found that the economy was on its way to collapse. Politburo members either didn’t understand or ignored it

Question 7

How did the economy contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union? (Initial Reforms / Acceleration)

Answer 7

Acceleration - did very little to address the fundamental weaknesses of the soviet economy. Acceleration meant a huge increase in investment which was designed to modernise the soviet economy and therefore make it more efficient. Gorbachev predicted that the new investment would lead to a 20% increase in industrial production in the next 15 years. Acceleration failed due to the already weak economy. Acceleration was financed from borrowing from western countries. As a result government debt rose from $18.1 billion in 1981 to $27.2 billion in 1988.

Question 8

How did the economy contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union? (Initial Reforms / Anti-Alcohol Campaign)

Answer 8

Gorbachev followed the policy of Andropov and attacked alcoholism. However, while this had some initial success - alcohol accounted for 15% of household spending so tax to a hit and people began to create their own moonshine.

Question 9

How did the economy contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union? (Initial Reforms / 12th Five Year Plan)

Answer 9

Poor investment in agriculture - Agricultural sector was swallowing vast sums of investment that were not leading to improvements in productivity.

Product quality - The focus remained on quantity over quality. Quality was usually always poor

Equipment - Equipment was out of date and prone to breaking down. Factories became unproductive due to this

Old technology - Soviet industry was slow to use new technology. Imports of foreign technology were a drain on valuable foreign exchange, which was often used to import food

Construction project bias - investment was heavily skewed to construction projects. These tended to lead to overspends and sucked in far more investment than originally intended

Opposition - The party and state economic planning apparatus opposed reforms. The military opposed the change in investment from military to other sectors

Question 10

Failures of Perestroika

Answer 10

Perestroika faced too much opposition to succeed - reforms were often undermined by officials. In some cities the reforms were ignored.

It created a large gap of standard of living between rich and poor - Co-operatives were able to shop around for a buyer who would offer good prices. Richer city authorities benefitted while poorer cities were devoid of adequate food

Perestroika helped organised crime and corruption thrive - corrupt government officials demanded bribes to continue to operate. Criminal gangs also saw the potential for extortion

Little benefit for people - Shops were emptied, a wave of hoarding by the population began

Distribution of goods - Food production showed a small increase in it’s growth rate from 1-2% during the period 1986-87

Too much of the old system remained for perestroika to work - Foreign companies keen to invest were turned away due to the endless bureaucracy that made the process slow

Reforms were too expensive - oil prices fell. USSR had become more reliant on oil exports for its economy

Question 11

Gorbachev’s Initial Political Reform

Answer 11

Defining functions over party and state - Gorbachev took both the role of president (head of state) and General secretary (leader of the party) and he mirrored this situation through the parties

Shifting power over from party to the soviets - He gave more finance to the soviets to give them resources to support their roles and deputies were elected every 5 years instead of 2

Streamlining the party - Departments of the committee of the communist party were reduced from 20-9. By 1988 Gorbachev had created ‘superministries’ to coordinate economic planning.

Clampdown on corruption - He began to remove corrupt officials from their positions. For example, Brezhnev’s son in law was sent to prison for 12 years

Question 12

Glasnost

Answer 12

means openness. Gorbachev repeatedly called for truth from the communist party. This initially meant a commitment to openness about the state of the soviet economy (in order to gain support for his reforms - Perestroika). He wanted to provoke public discussion and thereby challenge government and party bureaucrats who were resistant to reform. His aim was to mobilise support for his policies through the media.

However, as Gorbachev looked for support against “party hardliners”, Glasnost led to greater liberalisation in the media and led to individual voices being heard and criticism being aired.

It curtailed censorship and invited an examination of the Soviet system.

“We say that Soviet Society should have no zones closed to criticism” Gorbachev June 1987

Question 13

Reasons for Political Reform

Answer 13

• Gorbachev felt that the economy needed to reform if the Soviet Union was not just to remain a great military and industrial power, but to survive/
• The over-centralised method of planning and management was inefficient and created distortions.
• Strong Resistance to change -> in the party and in the state apparatus.
• Resistance was in those who held strong ideological beliefs.
• Wanted to deal with corruption, nepotism and poor relations with regional level agencies in each republic.

Question 14

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station - April 1986

Answer 14

• Chernobyl convinced Gorbachev that Glasnost was essential
• The Nuclear disaster was covered up by the Soviet system, delayed evacuation, cost lives.
• The plant had been badly designed and managed.

Question 15

Glavlit - June 1986

Answer 15

• The state censorship body.
• From 1986, it was instructed to relax its rules.
• The leading edge of Glasnost is sharpened by newspapers and magazines and then by writers and novelists.
• Old records became available.

Question 16

Impact of Glasnost

Answer 16

What started as Getting new ideas and re-engaging the population turned into an open attack on corrupt practices and politicisation of the population.

Question 17

Criticism of current Government due to Glasnost

Answer 17

Aral Sea Crisis in Uzbekistan (soviet irrigation projects, 60 years of intensive agriculture and pollution by the Soviet authorities).

Chernobyl

Criticism of local leaders being replaced with Russians.

Question 18

Criticism of System / History due to Glasnost

Answer 18

Stalin’s Crimes - Famine of 1930 the katyn massacre. Whole system was based on terror and murder.

Stalin in WW2 “Great Patriotic War” seen as a genocide of their people.

Realisation of how widespread alcoholism, prostitution and drug use were, infant mortality and life expectancy figures were low.

Question 19

Criticism of Economy due to Glasnost

Answer 19

Government lazy, corrupt and promotes the black market.

Verge of collapse and the government don’t know how to fix it

Question 20

Democratisation

Answer 20

• Gorbachev had committed to creating a democracy in the Soviet Union in 1986.
• In the 1988 party conference he set out his plans for ‘Socialist Democracy’.

Question 21

Did democracy go too far?

Answer 21

• Gorbachev wanted to make forms to the Soviet Union that would help his new economic policies and Glasnost.
• However, moderate communists were against these reforms and were making things difficult. Gorbachev wanted to introduce democracy but he also wanted to damage the positions of these moderates.

Question 22

Failures to reform the Party

Answer 22

1) Increasing division within the party
2) Groups began to form factions (informally as they were still banned)
3) Both reformers and conservatives were alienated.
4) There was support to move towards pluralism and Article 6 was abolished.
5) Attack on his own authority (how he was appointed - less legitimate)

Question 23

Problems Democratisation caused for Gorbachev

Constitutional Reform

Answer 23

• Weakened the communist Party

- He needed a strong central authority in order to push through his economic reforms and maintain order.

Question 24

Reasons for a New Constitution

Answer 24

Yeltsin - Strip the communist party of its leading role

Gorbachev - Would give him new powers to deal with the Soviet Union’s growing economic and political problems.

Question 25

Gorbachev creating the new presidency (Constitutional Reform)

Answer 25

Increase his power - hoped democratisation would give him a power base independent of the Party and the Supreme Soviet - they got powers from the party but Gorbachev couldn’t control this.

Question 26

Why was Yeltsin a threat to Gorbachev? (Constitutional Reform)

Answer 26

Yeltsin was a threat to Gorbachev because Yeltsin’s popularity had been increasing since the election of 1989 and it was possible he could win the election over Gorbachev. Gorbachev overcame this problem by deciding the president could be appointed by the Congress of People’s Deputies where he had a majority of support. This was a problem as it meant that Gorbachev lacked democratic legitimacy.

Question 27

Why was Gorbachev given emergency powers? (Constitutional Reform)

Answer 27

Gorbachev was given emergency powers to deal with the economic crisis and the growing unrest in the republics. This led to Gorbachev misusing his power and criticised by radicals for abandoning reform and introducing a new form of dictatorship.

Question 28

Intended Consequences of the 1989 Elections

Answer 28

• Candidates forced to engage in debates in order to win votes.
• Communist won 80% of the votes
• The election weakened the position of the moderates

Question 29

Unintended Consequences of the 1989 Elections

Answer 29

• Radicals did well. Yeltsin won 89% of the vote in Moscow. He had an anti-communist agenda which promoted introduction of private property and greater autonomy (ruling by themselves) for republics.
• Nationalists (who wanted to break up the Soviet Union) began to use elections to campaign for independence. In some cases resulting in violence (Georgia).
• Yeltsin emerged as popular enough to rival Gorbachev. His desire to replace the Soviet Union with truly independent states was incredibly popular with nationalists.
• Inter-regional Deputies Group established by radical nationalists (including Yeltsin) to embrace anti-communist policy.

Question 30

How did the Republic elections 1990 show democratisation backfired on Gorbachev?

Answer 30

Anti-communist trends were obvious in the March 1990 election in the republics. In Moscow, Democratic Russia 85% of seats. In Leningrad, Democratic Elections 90%. Another new anti-communist group took 80% of the seats.

Gorbachev had assured that democratisation would strengthen the radicals within the communuist Party. However, Soviet elections weakened the whole of the Party - including the authority of anti-party and nationalist groups. Consequences of democratisation like glasnost, were much more radical than Gorbachev anticipated.

Question 31

How did Gorbachev try to create a Genuine Democracy? Proposals for a “Socialist Democracy”

Answer 31

Between 1920-1988 citizens had no choice of candidates for local soviets and single candidates were appointed by the Communist Party. Gorbachev changed this by introducing multi-candidate elections to strip communist party’s power and independent candidates. Led to a considerable shift from the party’s leadership to the Soviet people.

Wasn’t a complete democracy: Multi candidate elections would not allow people to vote for different parties. 1500 of the congress of people’s deputies would be elected . Remaining 750 were appointed to the party (not elected).

Question 32

Gorbachev’s aim in creating a genuine democracy

Answer 32

Hoped Soviet people would back the radicals and provide a mandate for further reforms.

Question 33

Changes made to the Supreme Soviet (Gorbachev trying to create a Genuine Democracy)

Answer 33

Allowed to meet twice a year for 3 months session (instead of once a year). Gorbachev appointed himself chair of the Supreme Soviet. The reform weakened the party -> meant for the first time since 1921 the Supreme Soviet was (partly) independent of the party’s leadership

Question 34

Existing Nationalism: Control by the Government

Answer 34

• There were economic benefits. E.g. From 1953 economic planners targeted investment in poorer regions (typically Non-Russian Republics). (Economic incentive)
• Important organisations like the secret police were always dominated by Russians who kept strict control E.g. Andropov’s KGB kept nationalists under constant surveillance. (Repression)
• The Soviet Union was not a nation but in the 1920s (and again after Stalin’s death) citizens were encouraged to put loyalty to the Soviet Union over loyalty to the Soviet Union over loyalty to their republic. ‘Soviet Nationalism’ was dubbed superior as it encouraged equality and took pride in their super power status. (Repression)
• During Stalin’s purges, a generation of leaders were wiped out. Therefore talented people from each republic could gain powerful and well paid positions. They tended to be loyal as they owed their position to the Soviet System (Political incentive / Repression)
• Brezhnev’s social contract was important to controlling the republics. He transformed areas by modernising them in return for obedience and invested in education to give non-Russians employment opportunities. (Economic & Political Incentives).

Question 35

Existing Nationalism: Reasons nationalism surged under Gorbachev

Answer 35

• There were opportunities to rise up in Government in each republic. Each government had its own Government System and Governments tended to be dominated by people of each republic (Georgia dominated by Georgians etc).
• Brezhnev encouraged some forms of national expression e.g. Education books and newspapers in your own language, Folk art/music exhibitions allowed in each republic and ‘Trust in Cadres’ policy allowed local elites to consolidate their control over the communist parties in their republic. This also encouraged tolerance of nationalism.
• ‘Soviet Nationalism’ was unpopular in most non-Russian republics because it forced them to renounce their own cultures and traditions in favour of Russian ones. In this sense it was implied Russia was superior to other cultures.
• Under Brezhnev - Those who made the most of their opportunities could get good jobs - These benefits relied on the economy being strong. When it began to decline it threatened the standard of living of those people and therefore the Soviet Union.
• Gorbachev did not understand the weakness of Soviet Nationalism. He seemed to genuinely believe that Soviet citizens had renounced their national identity. The resurgence of nationalism took him by surprise.

Question 36

Nationalist Resurgence

Answer 36

In 1985, Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union - a collection of republics.

Eastern Bloc countries were “allies” and were heavily controlled but not part of the Soviet Union.

In reality, all Soviet republics were governed centrally by Moscow. In this sense they could be considered Soviet colonies (part of an empire).

Majority of the government was made up of slavs.

The Soviet Union was a large empire that was composed of many different cultures and ethnic groups. Throughout the period there had been a developing relationship between the smaller republics and its largest republic (Russia). -> These Nationalist movements led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Question 37

Common Trend with Nationalism

Answer 37

Years: Began in the late 80s
Eastern Europe and began in republics

Cause: Long standing oppression
- Cultural Expression / National Identity

Method: Elections - Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, (Eastern Europe). Baltic States (Ukraine)

Question 38

Exceptions with Nationalism

Answer 38

Baltic States - Lithuania declares independence.
Ethnic Clashes - Armenia.
Central Asian Republics - used violence but Gorbachev was increasingly hesitant.

Question 39

General Facts about Nationalism

Answer 39

• Yeltsin was a nationalist. Not necessarily against communism but was against the Soviet Union. He used these ideas to gain popularity. He dissolved the Soviet Union in favour of a more independent system.
• Nationalism was a focus point for countries in the Baltic States. They had been annexed by the Soviet Union after the Nazi-Soviet pact and had been occupied since independence qas called for first here.
• The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was not welcomed by Gorbachev but he was true to his word and did not interfere. The Soviet empire had become difficult to finance and any resistance to democratic call for communism’s collapse came from within the economy.
• The violence in the Central Asian republics is not viewed as overly important to the collapse of the Soviet Union as calls for independence were not very strong. However, the way that violence was dealt with did have larger effects.

Question 40

East Germany and Nationalism

Answer 40

Was an artificial state. When Gorbachev encouraged reform in October 1989, mass demonstrations began and pressure became unstoppable. The east German leader refused to sanction widespread repression. On the 9th of November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell

Question 41

Poland and Nationalism

Answer 41

1989 - communist government yielded to pressure from the independent worker’s organisation and lobbying from the pope to allow open elections. Solidarity (non-communist party) won in the general election. Gorbachev seemed to approve of events.

Question 42

Czechoslovakia and Nationalism

Answer 42

November 1989, communist party had to respond to public demonstrations calling for reform. Civic forum emerged to coordinate the campaign to get rid of the communist government. Reforms were introduced and by December an opponent to communism was elected president (velvet revolution)

Question 43

Hungary and Nationalism

Answer 43

Pressure for reform came from the party. Kadar (soviet hardliner) was sacked. 1989 - the government (full of reformers) decided to allow other political parties to contest elections. These were voted into power.

Question 44

Romania and Nationalism

Answer 44

Demonstrations against government in 1989. Romania’s leader fired upon demonstrators leading to further unpopularity. By December, the leader was forced to flee. He was executed sealing the end of communism.

Question 45

Baltic States and Nationalism.

Answer 45

The breakup of the SU started in the baltic states. These states had been independent in the 1920s and 1930s. Nationalists in these states wanted to return to independence. By 1988 large popular fronts were growing in all three states.

Estonia declared itself sovereign from the SU in November 1988. Estonia didn’t leave the Union but revived the old flag and began to start teaching citizens the estonian language.

Lithuania’s declaration of independence (March 1990) came after the nationalist victories in the election of a new lithuanian supreme soviet. Gorbachev refused to accept this claim but didn’t want to use force due to past events of the Tbilisi massacre. Gorbachev imposed economic sanction but this failed to force Lithuania to accept soviet rule. This led to the death of 14 people in a TV station in January 1991.

Question 46

Russia and Nationalism

Answer 46

Russian nationalism grew from the onset of the economic crisis in the Soviet Union. Concerns for the environment also spurred nationalism. The increasing support for green issues undermined the SU and aided the growth of Russian nationalism. Nationalism also flourished among groups established to protect national monuments.

Question 47

Caucuses / Eastern European Republics and Nationalism

Answer 47

Ukraine had a referendum in 1990 (after the August coup) which led to 90% of Ukrainians voting for independence. As Ukraine contained 20% of the populations of the SU, Gorbachev’s attempts to save the union ended.

On 9 April 1989 Georgian nationalists protested against the rights of the Abkhazian minority. On this occasion, Soviet troops attempted to restore order by force. Soviet forces killed 19 Georgian protestors and wounded thousands more. The killings outraged Georgian nationalists. The massacre led to concerns among nationalists in all of the republics that the Soviet Government was prepared to use force to stop nationalism.

Question 48

Central Asian Republics and Nationalism

Answer 48

1988, 1989 and 1990 Ethnic clashes. Nagomo-Karabakh- Amerians wanted to join the Armenian republic. Led to violence. Soviet Union tried to intervene but made the situation worse.
Soviet authorities were out of control and Azerbaijani nationalists were organising events. This would lead to rallies calling for formal independence. Violent Massacres.

Question 49

Reasons behind Growth of Nationalism - Sinatra doctrine.

Answer 49

Instead of following the Brezhnev doctrine, where the Soviet Union could intervene in the affairs of other eastern European satellite states it had controlled since the late 1940s, Gorbachev abandoned this doctrine in 1989 and argued that different countries could follow their own path to communism. This allowed much greater freedoms.

Question 50

Reasons behind Growth of Nationalism - Cadre changes

Answer 50

Andropov and Gorbachev replaced existing leaders in the non-Russian republics with russians. Moreover, at the top of the soviet government Brezhnev’s appointments from the republics were replaced by russians. Gorbachev’s politburo only had one non-russian. Soviet government became more dominated by Russians at all levels. This created resentment in the non-russian republics.

Question 51

Reasons behind Growth of Nationalism - Glasnost

Answer 51

Exposed how Stalin’s government had persecuted non-russians. Glasnost undermined the perception that the soviet union had benefited people in the republics. It also allowed nationalist groups to publish material that demanded greater autonomy.

Question 52

Causes of the Coup

Answer 52

• The hardliners did not support the Union treaty and wanted to form resistance against it.
• Gorbachev went on holiday, this provided the hardliners a perfect way to overthrow him.

Question 53

Events of the Coup*

Answer 53

Emergency committee
In order to replace Gorbachev’s government an emergency committee was held. It was led by the head of the army, deputy and head of the KGB.
Announcement
The coup leaders announced that Gorbachev had resigned due to poor health.
Gorbachev’s refusal
Even though Gorbachev was under house arrest in his holiday house, he refused to stand down as the President of the USSR.
Stated goals
The plotters said their aim was to restore law and order through preventing the breakup of the Soviet Union
Yeltsin’s reaction
Despite their political conflicts, Yeltsin led the resistance of the coup and demanded for Gorbachev’s return.
Collapse
The soldiers sent to arrest Yeltsin refused, without the support of the army the coup collapsed.

Question 54

Role of Gorbachev - New Vocabulary

Answer 54

• Gorbachev embraced the term ‘perestroika’ instead of ‘reform’ as that was associated with Khrushchev’s failures. This new term would avoid arousing opposition
• Gorbachev introduced new words which had previously been used critically. For example, Soviet politicians had traditionally rejected ‘pluralism’, which they associated with the weakness of Western democracy. Gorbachev, however, began to advocate ‘socialist pluralism’. Adding the word socialist allowed Gorbachev to suggest that pluralism was compatible with the values of the soviet union.
• Gorbachev’s willingness to embrace new ideas led to radicals, intellectuals and members of the public advocating for radical alternatives to communism such as freedom of speech, free market economics and democratic elections

Question 55

Key ‘new vocabulary’ words

Answer 55

Glasnost
Perestroika
Uskorenie (acceleration)
Demokratizatsiya (democratisation)

Question 56

Role of Gorbachev - Westernising

Answer 56

• Gorbachev played a role in reorienting Soviet politics towards more western values
• He embraced the importance of human rights. In 1985 he allowed 129 dissidents to move abroad in order to be reunited with their spouses. In 1986, travelling restrictions were eased for all soviet citizens
• Gorbachev embraced pluralism by allowing soviet citizens to form their own groups and stand for election. In March 1990, Gorbachev removed article 6 of the soviet constitution resulting in the communist party losing it’s right to a leading role in soviet society and other parties being legalised
• Gorbachev renounced violence as a method for holding together both the soviet union and the eastern bloc.

Question 57

Role of Gorbachev - Comparison with China

Answer 57

• China embraced market reform more quickly and comprehensively than the Soviet Union. It kept China’s communist party in authority. However Gorbachev’s slow and inconsistent reforms led to dissatisfaction with the soviet communist party
• The Chinese communist party was more flexible than the soviet communist party. Economic reform in China had a higher degree of support from the communist government, however the soviet government was suspicious of market economies
• China introduced economic reform without increasing political freedom. The lack of political reform meant that China continued to be politically stable during the reform process. However, Gorbachev tried to introduce economic and political reform at the same time which could explain the failure.

Question 58

How did Yeltsin capitalise on opportunities to appeal for popular support?

Answer 58

Yeltsin appealed to the public for sympathy and support. He took advantage of his time out of the spotlight by establishing firmer links with other reformers and critics of Gorbachev. He would meet with church leaders and striking miners.

Question 59

How did Yeltsin take advantage of democratisation?

Answer 59

He used his powerful position to his advantage by organising demonstrations in his support. This caused legitimate support and consolidated his position.

Question 60

How did Yeltsin become a direct challenge to Gorbachev’s authority?

Answer 60

Yeltsin was elected chairman of the Congress in May 1990.

Question 61

How did Yeltsin undermine Gorbachev and set the scene for a struggle between Russia and the Soviet Union?

Answer 61

Yeltsin passed a series of measures that undermined Gorbachev and encouraged nationalist movements.

Question 62

How did Yeltsin further reduce the influence of the Soviet Government?

Answer 62

Yeltsin left the Communist Party which meant that any support Yeltsin had brought the party redirected itself to the Russian Congress.

The Russian Congress considered itself above the authority of the Soviet Government.

Question 63

How did Yeltsin benefit from luck?

Answer 63

Gorbachev going on holiday meant he was unable to defend himself and allowed Gorbachev to take the credit instead.
The Coup was unorganised so violence did not break out and he was able to stop it relatively easily.

Question 64

How did Yeltsin use his enhanced position following the coup?

Answer 64

Yeltsin used the coup to create an image that he was a peacemaker and would support Gorbachev despite their political differences. It also created publicity and support from the Russian people.

Yeltsin was able to introduce a series of measures that sped up the collapse of the Soviet Union.