What is the policy of perestroika? Who benefited from perestroika in the USSR?

Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991 was a massive change in the economic, political, and ideological life of the country, achieved through the introduction of radically new reforms. The goal of the reforms was the complete democratization of the political, social and economic system that developed in the Soviet Union. Today we will take a closer look at the history of Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991.

Stages

The main stages of Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991:

1. March 1985 - early 1987 The slogans of this stage were the phrases: “acceleration” and “more socialism.”
2. 1987-1988 At this stage, new slogans appeared: “glasnost” and “more democracy.”
3. 1989-1990 The stage of “confusion and vacillation.” The formerly united camp of perestroika split. Political and national confrontation began to gain momentum.
4. 1990-1991 This period was marked by the collapse of socialism, the political bankruptcy of the CPSU and, as a consequence, the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

The beginning of major reforms in the Soviet Union, as a rule, is associated with the coming to power of M. S. Gorbachev. At the same time, some experts consider one of his predecessors, Yu. A. Andropov, to be the “father of Perestroika”. There is also an opinion that from 1983 to 1985, Perestroika experienced an “embryonic period” while the USSR entered the stage of reform. One way or another, due to the lack of economic incentives to work, a ruinous arms race, huge expenses for military operations in Afghanistan, and a growing lag behind the West in the field of science and technology, at the dawn of the 1990s the Soviet Union was in need of large-scale reform. The gap between the government's slogans and the real situation was huge. Distrust of communist ideology grew in society. All these facts became the reasons for Perestroika in the USSR.

The beginning of change

In March 1985, M. S. Gorbachev was elected to the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The following month, the new leadership of the USSR proclaimed a course for the accelerated development of the country in the social and economic sphere. This is where the real Perestroika began. “Glasnost” and “acceleration” will eventually become its main symbols. In society, one could increasingly hear slogans like: “we are waiting for changes.” Gorbachev also understood that changes were urgently needed by the state. Since the time of Khrushchev, he was the first General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee who did not disdain communicating with ordinary people. Traveling around the country, he went out to people to ask about their problems.

Working to implement the set course for the development and implementation of the reforms of Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991, the country's leadership came to the conclusion that sectors of the economy needed to be transferred to new ways of managing. From 1986 to 1989 Laws were gradually issued on state enterprises, individual labor, cooperatives, and labor conflicts. The latter law provided for the right of workers to strike. As part of economic reforms, the following were introduced: state acceptance of products, economic accounting and self-financing, as well as the appointment of directors of enterprises based on the results of elections.

It is worth recognizing that all of these measures not only did not lead to the main goal of Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991 - positive improvements in the economic situation of the country, but also worsened the situation. The reason for this was: the “crudeness” of the reforms, significant budget expenditure, as well as an increase in the amount of money in the hands of the ordinary population. Due to government deliveries of products, communications established between enterprises were disrupted. The shortage of consumer goods has worsened.

"Publicity"

From an economic point of view, Perestroika began with “acceleration of development.” In spiritual and political life, its main leitmotif was the so-called “glasnost”. Gorbachev said that democracy is impossible without “glasnost.” By this he meant that the people should know about all state events of the past and processes of the present. The ideas of replacing “barracks socialism” with socialism with a “human face” began to appear in journalism and statements of party ideologists. During the years of Perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991), culture began to “come to life.” The authorities have changed their attitude towards dissidents. Camps for political prisoners gradually began to close.

The policy of “glasnost” gained special momentum in 1987. The legacy of the writers of the 30-50s and the works of domestic philosophers returned to the Soviet reader. The repertoire of theater and cinematographers has expanded significantly. The processes of “glasnost” found expression in magazine and newspaper publications, as well as on television. The weekly “Moscow News” and the magazine “Ogonyok” were very popular.

Political changes

The policy of Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991 assumed the emancipation of society, as well as its deliverance from party tutelage. As a result, the need for political reforms was put on the agenda. The most important events in the internal political life of the USSR were: the approval of the reform of the state system, the adoption of amendments to the constitution and the adoption of the law on the election of deputies. These decisions became a step towards organizing an alternative electoral system. The Congress of People's Deputies became the highest legislative body. He nominated his representatives to the Supreme Council.

In the spring of 1989, elections of members of the Congress of People's Deputies took place. The legal opposition was included in the congress. It was headed by: the world-famous scientist and human rights activist academician A. Sakharov, the former secretary of the Moscow city party committee B. Yeltsin and the economist G. Popov. The spread of “glasnost” and pluralism of opinions led to the creation of numerous associations, some of which were national.

Foreign policy

During the years of Perestroika, the course of the foreign policy of the Soviet Union radically changed. The government abandoned confrontation in relations with the West, stopped interfering in local conflicts and reconsidered its relations with the countries of the socialist camp. The new vector of foreign policy development was based not on the “class approach”, but on universal human values. According to Gorbachev, relations between states should have been based on maintaining a balance of national interests, freedom to choose development paths in each individual state, and the collective responsibility of countries for resolving global issues.

Gorbachev was the initiator of the creation of a pan-European home. He regularly met with the rulers of America: Reagan (until 1988) and Bush (since 1989). At these meetings, politicians discussed disarmament issues. Soviet-American relations were “unfrozen.” In 1987, agreements were signed on the destruction of missiles and missile defense. In 1990, politicians signed an agreement to reduce the number of strategic weapons.

During the years of Perestroika, Gorbachev was able to establish trusting relationships with the heads of leading European states: Germany (G. Kohl), Great Britain (M. Thatcher) and France (F. Mitterrand). In 1990, participants in the Security Conference of Europe signed an agreement to reduce the number of conventional weapons in Europe. The USSR began to withdraw its soldiers from Afghanistan and Mongolia. During 1990-1991, both the political and military structures of the Warsaw Pact were dissolved. The military bloc essentially ceased to exist. The policy of “new thinking” brought fundamental changes to international relations. This was the end of the Cold War.

National movements and political struggle

In the Soviet Union, as a multinational state, there have always been national contradictions. They gained particular momentum in conditions of crises (political or economic) and radical changes. While building socialism, the authorities paid little attention to the historical characteristics of the peoples. Having announced the formation of the Soviet community, the government actually began to destroy the traditional economy and life of many peoples of the state. The authorities exerted particularly strong pressure on Buddhism, Islam and shamanism. Among the peoples of Western Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltic states, who joined the USSR on the eve of the Second World War, anti-socialist and anti-Soviet sentiments were very widespread.

The peoples deported during the war were greatly offended by the Soviet regime: Chechens, Crimean Tatars, Ingush, Karachais, Kalmyks, Balkars, Meskhetian Turks and others. During Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991, the country had historical conflicts between Georgia and Abkhazia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, and others.

The Glasnost policy gave the green light for the creation of nationalist and ethnic social movements. The most significant of them were: the “Popular Fronts” of the Baltic countries, the Armenian Karabakh Committee, the Ukrainian “Rukh” and the Russian community “Memory”. The broad masses were attracted to the opposition movement.

The strengthening of national movements, as well as opposition to the Union Center and the power of the Communist Party, became the determining factor in the crisis of the “tops”. Back in 1988, tragic events unfolded in Nagorno-Karabakh. For the first time since the civil war, demonstrations took place under nationalist slogans. Following them, pogroms occurred in Azerbaijani Sumgait and Uzbek Fergana. The apogee of national discontent was the armed clashes in Karabakh.

In November 1988, the Supreme Council of Estonia proclaimed the supremacy of republican law over the national law. The following year, the Verkhovna Rada of Azerbaijan proclaimed the sovereignty of its republic, and the Armenian Social Movement began to advocate for the independence of Armenia and its separation from the Soviet Union. At the end of 1989, the Communist Party of Lithuania declared its independence.

Elections of 1990

During the 1990 election campaign, the confrontation between the party apparatus and opposition forces was pronounced. The opposition received the Democratic Russia electoral bloc, which became nothing more than an organizational center for it, and later turned into a social movement. In February 1990, many rallies took place, the participants of which sought to eliminate the Communist Party's monopoly on power.

The parliamentary elections in Ukraine, Belarus and the RSFSR became the first truly democratic elections. About 30% of positions in the highest legislative bodies were given to deputies with a democratic orientation. These elections became an excellent illustration of the crisis in the power of the party elite. The society demanded the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution of the Soviet Union, which proclaimed the supremacy of the CPSU. This is how a multi-party system began to form in the USSR. The main reformers, B. Yeltsin and G. Popov, received high positions. Yeltsin became chairman of the Supreme Council, and Popov became mayor of Moscow.

The beginning of the collapse of the USSR

M. S. Gorbachev and Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991 are associated by many with the collapse of the Soviet Union. It all started in 1990, when national movements began to gain more and more momentum. In January, as a result of the Armenian pogroms, troops were brought into Baku. The military operation, accompanied by a large number of casualties, only temporarily distracted the public from the issue of Azerbaijan’s independence. Around the same time, Lithuanian parliamentarians voted for the independence of the republic, as a result of which Soviet troops entered Vilnius. Following Lithuania, a similar decision was made by the parliaments of Latvia and Estonia. In the summer of 1990, the Supreme Council of Russia and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted declarations of sovereignty. The following spring, independence referendums were held in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Georgia.

Autumn 1990. M. S. Gorbachev, who was elected president of the USSR at the Congress of People's Deputies, was forced to reorganize government bodies. Since then, the executive bodies have been directly subordinate to the president. The Federation Council was established - a new advisory body, which included the heads of the union republics. Then the development and discussion of a new Union Treaty began, regulating relations between the republics of the USSR.

In March 1991, the first referendum in the history of the USSR took place, in which citizens of countries had to speak out regarding the preservation of the Soviet Union as a federation of sovereign republics. Six of the 15 union republics (Armenia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia) refused to take part in the referendum. 76% of respondents voted for preserving the USSR. At the same time, an All-Russian referendum was organized, as a result of which the post of president of the republic was introduced.

Russian presidential elections

On June 12, 1991, popular elections were held for the first president in Russian history. According to the voting results, this honorary post went to B. N. Yeltsin, who was supported by 57% of voters. So Moscow became the capital of two presidents: Russian and all-Union. Coordinating the positions of the two leaders was problematic, especially given the fact that their relations were far from the smoothest.

August putsch

By the end of the summer of 1991, the political situation in the country had greatly worsened. On August 20, after heated discussions, the leadership of nine republics agreed to sign an updated Union Treaty, which, in essence, meant a transition to a real federal state. A number of government structures of the USSR were eliminated or replaced with new ones.

The party and state leadership, believing that only decisive measures would lead to the preservation of the political positions of the Communist Party and stopping the collapse of the USSR, resorted to forceful methods of control. On the night of August 18-19, when the President of the USSR was on vacation in Crimea, they formed the State Emergency Committee (GKChP). The newly formed committee declared a state of emergency in some areas of the country; announced the disbandment of power structures that violate the 1977 Constitution; interfered with the activities of opposition structures; banned meetings, demonstrations and rallies; took tight control of the media; and finally sent troops into Moscow. A.I. Lukyanov, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union, supported the State Emergency Committee, although he himself was not a member of it.

B. Yeltsin, together with the Russian leadership, led the resistance to the CGPP. In their appeal to the people, they called on them not to obey the illegal decisions of the committee, interpreting its actions as nothing other than an anti-constitutional coup. Yeltsin was supported by more than 70% of Muscovites, as well as residents of a number of other regions. Tens of thousands of peaceful Russians, expressing support for Yeltsin, were ready to take up arms in defense of the Kremlin. Fearing the outbreak of a civil war, the State Emergency Committee, after three days of confrontation, began to withdraw troops from the capital. On August 21, committee members were arrested.

The Russian leadership used the August putsch to defeat the CPSU. Yeltsin issued a decree according to which the party must suspend its activities in Russia. The property of the Communist Party was nationalized and funds were seized. The liberals who came to power in the central part of the country took away the levers of control over the security forces and the media from the leadership of the CPSU. Gorbachev's presidency was only formal. The majority of the republics refused to conclude the Union Treaty after the August events. Nobody thought about “glasnost” and “acceleration” of Perestroika. The question of the future fate of the USSR was on the agenda.

Final disintegration

In the last months of 1991, the Soviet Union finally collapsed. The Congress of People's Deputies was dissolved, the Supreme Council was radically reformed, most of the union ministries were liquidated, and instead of the Cabinet of Ministers, an inter-republican economic committee was created. The State Council of the USSR, which included the President of the Soviet Union and the heads of the union republics, became the highest body for managing domestic and foreign policy. The first decision of the State Council was to recognize the independence of the Baltic countries.

On December 1, 1991, a referendum was held in Ukraine. More than 80% of respondents were in favor of state independence. As a result, Ukraine also decided not to sign the Union Treaty.

On December 7-8, 1991, B. N. Yeltsin, L. M. Kravchuk and S. S. Shushkevich met in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. As a result of the negotiations, politicians announced the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the CIS (Union of Independent States). At first, only Russia, Ukraine and Belarus joined the CIS, but later all states that were previously part of the Soviet Union, except the Baltic states, joined it.

Results of Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991

Despite the fact that Perestroika ended disastrously, it still brought a number of important changes to the life of the USSR, and then its individual republics.

Positive results of perestroika:

1. The victims of Stalinism were completely rehabilitated.
2. Such a concept as freedom of speech and views appeared, and censorship became less strict.
3. The one-party system was eliminated.
4. There is now the possibility of unhindered entry/exit into/from the country.
5. Military service for students undergoing training was cancelled.
6. Women are no longer jailed for adultery.
7. Rock was allowed.
8. The Cold War formally ended.

Of course, Perestroika in the USSR of 1985-1991 also had negative consequences.

Here are just the main ones:

1. The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves decreased by 10 times, which caused hyperinflation.
2. The country's international debt has at least tripled.
3. The rate of economic growth of the country fell almost to zero - the state simply froze.

Well, the main negative result of Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991. - collapse of the USSR.

In the mid-80s. The USSR found itself in a deep economic, social and political crisis. There was an urgent need to update all aspects of social life, economic foundations, political structure, and the spiritual sphere. These changes could begin only if politicians of a new formation came to power.

In March 1985 (after the death of K.U. Chernenko), at an extraordinary Plenum of the Central Committee, the youngest member of the political leadership, M.S., was elected General Secretary of the CPSU. Gorbachev. He did not seek to change the socio-political system, believing that socialism had not exhausted its possibilities. At the April Plenum of 1985, Gorbachev proclaimed a course to accelerate the country's socio-economic development.

Measures were envisaged for the technical re-equipment of heavy industry and the activation of the “human factor”. The rights of enterprises were expanded, elements of self-financing and material interest were introduced. To improve the quality of products, it was controlled by the state. Priority was given to the development of the social sphere. Individual and cooperative activities were allowed. In the countryside, the equality of all forms of management was recognized - state farms, collective farms, agricultural complexes, rental collectives and private farms.

The Politburo was renewed (a number of its members - adherents of Brezhnev's policies - were removed from its composition). At the same time, the Politburo was divided into comrades-in-arms, party-renovationists and reformers.

In foreign policy, Gorbachev managed to implement a new concept. Having abandoned the idea of ​​class struggle, he won the sympathy of the world community by putting forward the position of the interrelation of all world phenomena.

However, senior management was unclear about the depth and scale of the crisis. Campaigns to combat drunkenness and unearned income did not bring results.

The failure of the economy exacerbated the crisis in the socio-political and spiritual spheres. Dissident sentiments dominated among the intelligentsia. Seeing how the party was losing its position, the leadership of the CPSU began liberal reforms in the ideological field.

Gorbachev recognized the possibility of each member of society to have their own ideological guidelines and principles and present them in the media. Thanks to the policy of glasnost, censorship over the media was relaxed, the publication of previously prohibited literature was allowed, access to archives was opened, and special storage facilities in libraries were eliminated. The leader of human rights activists A.D. was returned from exile. Sakharov.

The attempt to modernize socialism was not successful. The first stage of reforms caused only a short-term recovery in the economy. But in 1988, production in agriculture and industry began to decline.

The Kremlin leadership was criticized both by the orthodox Marxist wing of the CPSU and by liberal reformers. The leaders of the union republics expressed dissatisfaction with Gorbachev's policies.

By 1990, it became clear that the idea of ​​perestroika had exhausted itself. Permitted and encouraged private initiative turned into a money laundering campaign, and a huge number of low-quality goods appeared.

Glasnost resulted in the dethronement of the CPSU, the decline of its authority and, as a consequence, the emergence of anti-communist parties and the development of nationalist movements. The central government began to lose the ability to govern the country. A political crisis was brewing.

The political reform of 1988 was an attempt to give impetus to perestroika. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was approved as the new highest body of legislative power. The Supreme Soviets of the USSR and republics were formed from among the deputies. In March 1989, M.S. became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Gorbachev.

In March 1985, M.S. became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Gorbachev, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR - N.I. Ryzhkov. The transformation of Soviet society began, which was to be carried out within the framework of the socialist system.

In April 1985, at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, a course was proclaimed to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country (policy " acceleration"). Its levers were to be the technological re-equipment of production and increasing labor productivity. It was supposed to increase productivity through labor enthusiasm (socialist competitions were revived), the eradication of alcoholism (anti-alcohol campaign - May 1985) and the fight against unearned income.

“Acceleration” led to some economic recovery, but by 1987 a general decline in production began in agriculture, and then in industry. The situation was complicated by the huge capital investments required to eliminate the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (April 1986) and the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

The country's leadership was forced to make more radical changes. Since summer 1987 perestroika proper begins. The program of economic reforms was developed by L. Abalkin, T. Zaslavskaya, P. Bunich. The NEP became the model for perestroika.

The main content of perestroika:
In the economic sphere:

1. State-owned enterprises are being transferred to self-financing and self-sufficiency. Since defense enterprises were unable to operate in the new conditions, a conversion is being carried out - transferring production to a peaceful basis (demilitarization of the economy).
2. In rural areas, the equality of five forms of management was recognized: state farms, collective farms, agricultural complexes, rental collectives and private farms.
3. To control product quality, state acceptance was introduced. The directive state plan was replaced by state orders.

In the political sphere:

1. Internal party democracy is expanding. Internal party opposition arises, associated primarily with the failures of economic reforms. At the October (1987) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, B.N., criticized the indecisiveness in pursuing the policy of reforms and methods of change. Yeltsin. At the XIX All-Union Conference of the CPSU, a decision was made to ban uncontested elections.
2. The state apparatus is being significantly restructured. In accordance with the decisions of the XIX Conference (June 1988), a new supreme body of legislative power is established - the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and the corresponding republican congresses. Permanent Supreme Soviets of the USSR and republics were formed from among the people's deputies. The Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M.S. Gorbachev (March 1989), Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR - B.N. Yeltsin (May 1990). In March 1990, the post of president was introduced in the USSR. The first president of the USSR was M.S. Gorbachev.
3. Since 1986, the policy “ publicity" And " pluralism", i.e. In the USSR, a kind of freedom of speech is artificially created, presupposing the possibility of free discussion of a range of issues strictly defined by the party.
4. A multi-party system is beginning to take shape in the country.

In the spiritual realm:

1. The state weakens ideological control over the spiritual sphere of society. Previously prohibited literary works known to readers only from “samizdat” - “The Gulag Archipelago” by A. Solzhenitsyn, “Children of the Arbat” by B. Rybakov, etc. – are freely published.
2. Within the framework of “glasnost” and “pluralism,” round tables are held on certain issues in the history of the USSR. Criticism of Stalin’s “cult of personality” begins, attitudes towards the Civil War are revised, etc.
3. Cultural ties with the West are expanding.

By 1990, the idea of ​​perestroika had practically exhausted itself. It was not possible to stop the decline in production. Attempts to develop private initiative—the movements of farmers and cooperators—resulted in the flourishing of the “black market” and deepening shortages. “Glasnost” and “pluralism” - the main slogans of perestroika - lead to a decline in the authority of the CPSU and the development of nationalist movements. However, since the spring of 1990, the Gorbachev administration has been moving to the next stage of political and economic transformation. G. Yavlinsky and S. Shatalin prepared the “5oo days” program, which provided for relatively radical economic transformations with the aim of a gradual transition to the market. This program was rejected by Gorbachev under the influence of the conservative wing of the CPSU.

In June 1990, a resolution was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on a gradual transition to a regulated market economy. Gradual demonopolization, decentralization and denationalization of property, the establishment of joint stock companies and banks, and the development of private entrepreneurship were envisaged. However, these measures could no longer save the socialist system and the USSR.

Already in the mid-80s, the collapse of the state was actually planned. Powerful nationalist movements emerge. In 1986, pogroms of the Russian population took place in Kazakhstan. Interethnic conflicts arose in Fergana (1989), in the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan (1990). Since 1988, the armed Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict began in Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1988-1989 Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia, and Moldova are leaving the control of the center. In 1990 they officially proclaimed their independence.

June 12, 1990 The 1st Congress of Soviets of the RSFSR accepts Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Federation.

The President of the USSR enters into direct negotiations with the leadership of the republics on concluding a new Union Treaty. To give legitimacy to this process, in March 1991, an all-Union referendum was held on the issue of preserving the USSR. The majority of the population spoke in favor of preserving the USSR, but under new conditions. In April 1991, negotiations between Gorbachev and the leadership of 9 republics began in Novo-Ogarevo (“Novo-Ogarevo process”).

By August 1991, it was possible to prepare a compromise draft of the Union Treaty, according to which the republics received significantly greater independence. The signing of the agreement was scheduled for August 22.

It was the planned signing of the Union Treaty that provoked the speech State Emergency Committee (August 19–August 21, 1991 d), who tried to preserve the USSR in its old form. The State Committee for a State of Emergency in the Country (GKChP) included Vice-President of the USSR G.I. Yanaev, Prime Minister V.S. Pavlov, Minister of Defense D.T. Yazov, Minister of Internal Affairs B.K. Pugo, KGB Chairman V.A. Kryuchkov.

The State Emergency Committee issued an order for the arrest of B.N. Yeltsin, elected on June 12, 1991, President of the RSFSR. Martial law was introduced. However, the majority of the population and military personnel refused to support the State Emergency Committee. This sealed his defeat. On August 22, the members were arrested, but the signing of the agreement never took place.

As a result of the August putsch, the authority of M.S. was completely undermined. Gorbachev. Real power in the country passed to the leaders of the republics. At the end of August, the activities of the CPSU were suspended. December 8, 1991 The leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (B.N. Yeltsin, L.M. Kravchuk, S.S. Shushkevich) announced the dissolution of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) - “ Bialowieza Accords" On December 21, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan joined the CIS. December 25 M.S. Gorbachev resigned from the post of President of the USSR.

Foreign policy of the USSR In 1985-1991

Having come to power, the Gorbachev administration confirmed the traditional priorities of the USSR in the field of international relations. But already at the turn of 1987-1988. fundamental adjustments are made to them in the spirit of “ new political thinking».

The main content of the “new political thinking”:

1. Recognition of the modern world as unified and interdependent, i.e. rejection of the thesis about the split of the world into two opposing ideological systems.
2. Recognition as a universal way of resolving international issues is not a balance of power between the two systems, but a balance of their interests.
3. Rejection of the principle of proletarian internationalism and recognition of the priority of universal human values.

The new foreign policy course required new personnel - the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a symbol of successful Soviet foreign policy, A.A. Gromyko was replaced by E.A. Shevardnadze.

Based on the principles of “new thinking,” Gorbachev determined three main directions of foreign policy:

1. Reducing tensions between East and West through disarmament negotiations with the United States.
2. Resolution of regional conflicts (starting with Afghanistan).
3. Expanding economic ties with all states regardless of their political orientation.

After summit meetings (almost annually), the USSR and the USA signed agreements on the destruction of medium- and shorter-range nuclear missiles (December 1987, Washington) and on the limitation of strategic offensive weapons (START-1, July 1991, Moscow).

At the same time, the USSR unilaterally decided to reduce defense spending and the size of its own armed forces by 500 thousand people.

The Berlin Wall has been destroyed. At a meeting with German Chancellor G. Kohl in February 1990 in Moscow, M. S. Gorbachev agreed to the unification of Germany. On October 2, 1990, the GDR became part of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In the countries of the socialist community, from the summer of 1988 to the spring of 1990, a series of popular revolutions took place (“ Velvet revolutions"), as a result of which power transfers peacefully (with the exception of Romania, where bloody clashes took place) from the communist parties to democratic forces. The forced withdrawal of Soviet troops from military bases in Central and Eastern Europe begins. In the spring of 1991, the dissolution of the CMEA and the Department of Internal Affairs was formalized.

In May 1989, M. S. Gorbachev paid a visit to Beijing. After this, cross-border trade was restored, and a series of important agreements on political, economic and cultural cooperation were signed.

Despite some successes, in practice, the “new thinking” became a policy of unilateral concessions to the USSR and led to the collapse of its foreign policy. Left without old allies and without acquiring new ones, the USSR quickly lost the initiative in international affairs and entered the wake of the foreign policy of the NATO countries.

The deterioration of the economic situation of the Soviet Union, noticeably aggravated due to a decrease in supplies through the former CMEA, prompted the Gorbachev administration to appeal in 1990-1991. for financial and material support from the G7 countries.

49. Perestroika in the USSR: its causes and consequences (1985-1991). Economic reforms of perestroika.

In March 1985, after the death of Chernenko, at an extraordinary plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, M.S. Gorbachev was elected General Secretary.

The new Soviet leadership was aware of the need for reforms in order to improve the economy and overcome the crisis in the country, but it did not have a pre-developed scientifically based program for carrying out such reforms. The reforms began without comprehensive preparation. Gorbachev's reforms were called the “perestroika” of Soviet society. Perestroika in the USSR lasted from 1985 to 1991.

Reasons for the restructuring:

Stagnation in the economy, growing scientific and technological lag behind the West.

Low standard of living of the population: constant shortage of food and industrial goods, rising “black market” prices.

A political crisis, expressed in the decay of leadership and its inability to ensure economic progress. Merging of the party-state apparatus with businessmen of the shadow economy and crime.

Negative phenomena in the spiritual sphere of society. Due to strict censorship, there was a duality in all genres of creativity: official culture and unofficial (represented by “samizdat” and informal associations of the creative intelligentsia).

Arms race. By 1985, the Americans announced that they were ready to launch nuclear weapons into space. We did not have the means to launch weapons into space. It was necessary to change foreign policy and disarm.

The purpose of perestroika: improve the economy, overcome the crisis. M.S. Gorbachev and his team did not set a goal to turn towards capitalism. They only wanted to improve socialism. So, reforms began under the leadership of the ruling CPSU party.

In April 1985 at the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee an analysis was given of the state of Soviet society and declared a course to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. The main attention was paid to scientific and technological progress (STP), technical re-equipment of mechanical engineering and activation of the “human factor”. M.S. Gorbachev called for strengthening labor and technological discipline, increasing the responsibility of personnel, etc. To improve the quality of products, state acceptance was introduced - another administrative control body. The quality, however, did not improve radically.

An anti-alcohol campaign began in May 1985, which was supposed to ensure not only “universal sobriety”, but also increased labor productivity. Sales of alcoholic beverages have decreased. Vineyards began to be cut down. Speculation in alcohol, moonshine brewing, and mass poisoning of the population with wine substitutes began. Over the three years of this campaign, the country's economy lost 67 billion rubles from the sale of alcoholic beverages.

The fight against “unearned income” began. In fact, it boiled down to another attack by local authorities on private farms and affected a layer of people who grew and sold their products in markets. At the same time, the “shadow economy” continued to flourish.

In general, the country's national economy continued to work according to the old pattern, actively using command methods, relying on the enthusiasm of workers. Old methods of work did not lead to “acceleration”, but to a significant increase in accidents in various sectors of the national economy. The term “acceleration” disappeared from the official vocabulary within a year.

pushed to rethink existing orders disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986.

After the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the government decided that it was necessary to rebuild and begin economic reforms. The economic reform program took a whole year to develop. Famous economists: Abalkin, Aganbegyan, Zaslavskaya presented a good Peconomic reform project approved in the summer of 1987. The reform project included the following:

Expanding the independence of enterprises on the principles of self-financing and self-financing.

Gradual revival of the private sector in the economy (initially through the development of the cooperative movement).

Recognition of equality in rural areas of the five main forms of management (collective farms, state farms, agricultural complexes, rental cooperatives, farms).

Reducing the number of line ministries and departments.

Refusal of the monopoly of foreign trade.

Deeper integration into the global market.

Now it was necessary to develop and pass laws for these economic reforms.

Let's see what laws were adopted.

In 1987, the “Law on State Enterprise” was adopted. This law was supposed to come into force on January 1, 1989. It was envisaged that enterprises would be given broad rights. However, the ministries did not give enterprises economic independence.

The formation of the private sector in the economy began with great difficulty. In May 1988, laws were passed that opened up the possibility of private activity in more than 30 types of production of goods and services. By the spring of 1991, more than 7 million people were employed in the cooperative sector. And another 1 million people are self-employed. True, this led not only to the entry of new free entrepreneurs into the market, but also to the actual legalization of the “shadow economy.” Every year the private sector laundered up to 90 billion rubles. per year (in prices before January 1, 1992). Cooperatives did not take root here because cooperators were taxed at 65% on profits.

Agricultural reforms began late. These reforms were half-hearted. The land was never transferred to private ownership. Rented farms did not take root, since all rights to allocate land belonged to collective farms, which were not interested in the emergence of a competitor. By the summer of 1991, only 2% of the land was cultivated under lease conditions and 3% of the livestock was kept. As a result, the food issue in the country was never resolved. The shortage of basic food products led to the fact that even in Moscow their rationed distribution was introduced (which has not happened since 1947).

As a result, laws that met the dictates of the times were never adopted. And the implementation of the adopted laws was extended over a long period of time. In general, the economic reforms of perestroika were inconsistent and half-hearted. All reforms were actively resisted by the local bureaucracy.

Outdated enterprises continued to produce products that no one needed. Moreover, a general decline in industrial production began.

There was no reform of credit, pricing policy, or centralized supply system.

The country found itself in a deep financial crisis. Inflation growth reached 30% per month. Foreign debts exceeded 60 billion (according to some sources 80 billion) US dollars; Huge sums were spent to pay interest on these debts. The foreign exchange reserves of the former USSR and the gold reserves of the State Bank were by that time depleted.

There was a general shortage and the flourishing of the “black” market.

The standard of living of the population has fallen. In the summer of 1989, the first workers' strikes began.

As economic reforms failed, Gorbachev began to focus on the transition to a market economy. In June 1990, a decree “On the concept of transition to a regulated market economy” was issued, and then specific laws. They provided for the transfer of industrial enterprises to lease, the creation of joint-stock companies, the development of private entrepreneurship, etc. However, the implementation of most measures was postponed until 1991, and the transfer of enterprises to lease extended until 1995.

At this time, a group of economists: academician Shatalin, deputy. Chairman of the Council of Ministers Yavlinsky and others proposed their plan for the transition to the market in 500 days. During this period it was planned to carry out the privatization of state-owned enterprises of trade and industry, and to significantly reduce the economic power of the Center; remove government control over prices, allow unemployment and inflation. But Gorbachev refused to support this program. The socio-economic situation in the country was continuously deteriorating.

In general, under the influence of perestroika, significant changes occurred in all spheres of society. Over the 6 years of perestroika, the composition of the Politburo was updated by 85%, which was not the case even during the period of Stalin’s “purges”. Ultimately, perestroika got out of the control of its organizers, and the leading role of the CPSU was lost. Mass political movements emerged and the “parade of sovereignties” of the republics began. Perestroika, in the form in which it was conceived, was defeated.

Politicians, scientists, and publicists have several points of view on the results of perestroika:

Some believe that perestroika made it possible for Russia to begin to develop in line with world civilization.

Others see that as a result of perestroika, the ideas of the October Revolution were betrayed, a return to capitalism occurred, and a huge country fell apart.

Experts' opinions about the reasons for Perestroika vary in many ways, but experts agree on one thing - the need for change had matured long before the start of Gorbachev's reforms. Not everyone agrees that Gorbachev was the initiator of Perestroika. From the point of view of some, he was just a pawn in the hands of Western elites.

Finish what you started

According to former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov, the idea of ​​Perestroika first came from Yuri Andropov. The Soviet leader stated that fundamental problems had accumulated in the economy that needed to be urgently resolved. However, the death of the General Secretary interrupted his endeavors.
One of the first trends of Perestroika was the rejuvenation of the Soviet Politburo. The frail party elders began to gradually give way to young, energetic cadres, among whom the main ideologist of change, Gorbachev, came. However, at first the new Secretary General did not think about global changes.
In April 1985, at the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Gorbachev confirmed the continuity of the party’s course and its general line, aimed “at improving the society of developed socialism.” The Secretary General either truly believed or was deceiving that our country “has ascended to the heights of economic and social progress, where the working man has become the master of the country, the creator of his own destiny.”

Historian Vladimir Potseluev is sure that such words were intended for the still strong conservative environment. Knowing the true state of Soviet society, Gorbachev nevertheless cautiously introduced the idea of ​​small economic changes. He still operated with old nomenklatura theses, such as: “The main content of the modern era is the transition from capitalism to socialism and communism.”
On the other hand, Gorbachev truly believed that reforms could not only eliminate the imbalance in Soviet society, but also bring it to a new level of social prosperity. Thus, the ideologists of Perestroika, discussing the country’s development plan for the next 15 years, were going to provide each family with a separate apartment or house, which would be a clear indicator of the growth of the well-being of the Soviet people.
Gorbachev was determined to use the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution to bring the forms of socialist economic management “in line with modern conditions and needs.” He stated that the country must achieve “a significant acceleration of socio-economic progress. There is simply no other way."
It is known that Gorbachev came up with the idea of ​​conducting shock socio-economic therapy back in 1987, i.e. five years before Yeltsin and Gaidar used it. However, in the late 1980s, this proposal did not go beyond the inner circle and did not receive wide publicity.

Publicity policy

One of the goals of Gorbachev's Perestroika was to achieve a certain degree of openness of the leadership to the people. At the January 1987 plenum, the Secretary General proclaimed the policy of glasnost, which he spoke so much about to the secretaries of the regional party committees. “People, the working people, must know well what is happening in the country, what difficulties, what problems arise in their work,” Gorbachev emphasized.
The Secretary General himself, unlike past Soviet leaders, boldly went out to the people, spoke about current problems in the country, talked about plans and prospects, and willingly entered into discussions with his interlocutors. Gorbachev's former ally Ryzhkov was skeptical about such openness. He noted that Gorbachev was more interested not in the country, but in how he himself looked against its background.
Nevertheless, the policy of glasnost bore fruit. The process of critical rethinking of the past has affected almost all public spheres. The catalyst for glasnost was the films “Agony” by Elem Klimov and “Repentance” by Tengiz Abuladze, the novels “Children of Arbat” by Anatoly Rybakov and “White Clothes” by Vladimir Dudintsev.
One of the manifestations of glasnost was the acquisition of freedoms unthinkable in the “era of stagnation.” It became possible to openly express one's opinion, publish literature banned in the USSR, and return dissidents. In April 1988, Gorbachev received Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Rus' in the Kremlin, which was a turning point in resolving the issues of returning the Church to its property and the adoption of the law on freedom of religion (published in 1990).

Crisis of power

According to historian Dmitry Volkogonov, Perestroika and the subsequent collapse of the USSR were a foregone conclusion. According to him, the last “leader” of the Soviet Union only “outlined in relief the end of the totalitarian system,” which was started by Lenin. Thus, for Volkogonov, the “tragedy of Soviet history,” the final stage of which was Perestroika, which in turn ended with the collapse of the country, was “predetermined by Lenin’s experiment.”
Some researchers see in Perestroika a “post-communist transformation”, which in all respects resembles classical revolutions. Thus, Irina Starodubrovskaya and Vladimir Mau in the book “Great Revolutions: From Cromwell to Putin” compare Gorbachev’s transformations with the socialist revolution of 1917, arguing that they have no fundamental differences in external parameters.

The crisis of power, according to many sociologists, became perhaps the most important reason that prompted the new leadership of the country to radically restructure party structures. The subsequent collapse of the system, from the point of view of some, was due to a confluence of subjective factors and a misunderstanding by party leaders of the essence of the Soviet system. Others claim that attempts to preserve the Soviet system were doomed to failure from the very beginning, since the CPSU, having “usurped power,” turned “into a brake on social development,” and therefore left the historical arena. In other words, no one and nothing could save the USSR from disaster.
Academician Tatyana Zaslavkaya believed that Gorbachev was late with reforms. The country could still have been kept afloat if these transformations had been carried out earlier. By the mid-1980s, in her opinion, the Soviet system had already exhausted all its social resources, and was therefore doomed.

Forward to capitalism!

As historian Alexander Barsenkov notes, the preconditions for Gorbachev’s reforms were based on technological innovations that appeared in developed countries and marked the entry of world civilization into a new era. These new trends required the Soviet leadership to search for an “adequate reaction” to what was happening in order to completely keep up with the progressive public.
Many historians have pointed out that the changes initially took place on a political basis developed in the early 1980s, and only after an increase in economic problems did the Soviet leadership set a course for “priority transformation.”

A number of other researchers see the essence of Perestroika in the transition from a centrally planned economy to capitalist relations. In their opinion, transnational corporations began to create a new world legal order by the mid-1990s. Their goal was to maintain control over natural resources and concentrate them in the hands of the industrial and financial elite of the world. The Soviet party leadership did not remain aloof from these processes.
There is an even bolder assumption that Perestroika was conceived with the active participation of the World Bank and provided for: at the first stage, the initial accumulation of capital through the total sale of national wealth and scarce goods, at the second - the seizure of land and production. It was then that the social status of people in the USSR began to be determined by the thickness of their pockets.
Some economists believe that Perestroika and subsequent reforms of the 1990s did not lead to capitalism, but only helped “to feudalize the country, transferring all past “socialist gains” to a narrow stratum of the highest nomenklatura clan.”

Sabotage of the West

Foreign experts often point out the diversity of Perestroika in the USSR. From the point of view of the Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells, it had four vectors. The first is the “liberation of the countries of the Soviet empire” in Eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War; the second is economic reform; third – gradual liberalization of public opinion and the media; the fourth is “controlled” democratization and decentralization of the communist system. All this could not but lead to the weakening of the foundations of the Soviet state structure, which, according to some Russian experts, was beneficial to the West.

According to one conspiracy theory, the collapse of the USSR was the result of an information and psychological war waged by the United States against the Soviet Union. A large role in this process, based on the statements of conspiracy theorists, was assigned to the fifth column - individual ideologists of the USSR, who “turned scientific communism into a parody of science” and “covered up the country’s Soviet past with black paint.” In order to destroy the most important link in government - the CPSU, the fifth column carried out an intensive campaign to discredit the party, and the “Gorbachev group” organized a “massive change of personnel”, placing its people in key positions in all government bodies.

Publicist Leonid Shelepin emphasizes that with the destruction of the CPSU, the creation of a network structure of democrats began with the active participation of the West. After the dismemberment of the country, its wealth passed into the hands of “an insignificant group of oligarchs,” and the bulk of the population found itself “on the brink of survival.” Thus, the result of Perestroika was a forcibly imposed socio-political system, “imitating the Western one.”