M. Gorbachev: years of government

Development of a lesson on a topic

« Internal policy of M.S. Gorbachev". Grade 9

Goals:educational - get acquainted with the main events of domestic politics, personalities of the times of M.S. Gorbachev;

developing - be able to characterize historical facts, compare the internal political courses of the rulers of Russia in the twentieth century with the policy of M.S.

Gorbachev, to characterize the activities of political personalities, determining their contribution to the development of the history of a given period of time; know the main historical events taking place during perestroika, political figures;

educational- form an idea of ​​the complexity and importance of the historical processes taking place during the time of M.S. Gorbachev.

Equipment: map "Political map of the world", "USSR in the late 20th century", portraits of the rulers of the 20th century, handout "Political personalities of the times of M.S. Gorbachev".

Concepts and terms of the lesson: state acceptance, inflation, privatization, perestroika, farmer.

Lesson type: combined.

During the classes.

Organizing moment (greeting students; explaining the goals and objectives of the lesson). (5 minutes)

Checking homework (students complete the tasks of the test,(Appendix 1) and then, together with the teacher, the quality of the work performed is checked and graded). (7 min)

Studying and fixing a new topic. (25 min).

1. “Rulers of the 20th century” (students line up portraits of the rulers of Russia in the 20th century in chronological order on the board and complete assignments).(Appendix 2.3) .

- "So, we once again remembered the names and important events of the twentieth century" - the words of the teacher.

2. "The country after the death of L.I. Brezhnev" (teacher's story about the main events and rulers of Russia after 1982).

3. “Politics and economy of the country after the death of L.I. Brezhnev” (students receive cards with tasks for question No. 2 of the topic).(Appendix 4).

After checking the assignment on the cards, the teacher changes clothes to perform ditties about M.S.'s politics. Gorbachev(Appendix 5), warning the students in advance about listening carefully and identifying important provisions regarding the politics and economics of the times of perestroika.

Students should note the following provisions: perestroika, perestroika stagnation, democrat, Belovezhskaya Pushcha, coupons, acceleration.

4. "Main events of domestic policy" (teacher's story about important historical facts occurring within the country).

5. “Internal policy of MS Gorbachev” (students complete the tasks of the historical dictation).(Appendix 6).

Events, like historical phenomena, cannot arise and develop without the activity of a person, the teacher explains. So let's find out who lived and worked during the reign of MS Gorbachev?

6. "Personalities in the fate of the country" (examination with the help of additional questions, jointly by the teacher of portraits).(Appendix 7.8).

IV. Reflection.

The teacher takes out and opens a large folder called Menu.

Imagine that you guys are in the Perestroika restaurant. Dishes of the institution are the main events of this period of time. What dish would you order if you come here again? What dish did you not like? Why? What dish aroused your greatest interest?

V. Homework.

Report on Gorbachev;

Characteristics of the internal policy of MS Gorbachev;

Card assignments.(Appendix 9).

Appendix 1.

Which ruler's rule is characterized by the policy of "developed socialism"?

Stalin I.V.

Khrushchev N.S.

Brezhnev.L.I.

Who carried out collectivization and industrialization in the country?

Stalin I.V.

Khrushchev N.S.

Brezhnev.L.I.

Which of them came to power as a result of a conspiracy and a coup?

Stalin I.V.

Khrushchev N.S.

Brezhnev L.I.

Who first introduced the position of "General Secretary of the Party"?

Lenin V.I

Stalin I.V.

Brezhnev L.I.

Under which of the rulers did the “apogee of Stalinism” take shape?

Lenin V.I

Stalin I.V.

Brezhnev L.I.

Test Keys:

1c; 2a; 3c; 4b; 5c;

Criteria for assessing knowledge on the test:

5 points - "5";

4 points - "4";

3 points - "3";

2 points - "2".

Appendix 2

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

Appendix 3

Questions about illustrations.

Under what serial number is the portrait of Stalin I.V. depicted? (No. 3).

Which one of them ruled first? (Nikolai Romanov, No. 5).

Which of them ruled fourth in a row? (Khrushchev N., No. 2).

Who ruled second after Nicholas? (Lenin V.I., No. 4).

Appendix 4

What measures did Andropov propose to take to restore order in the state?

Card #2 .

What is the state of the economy after the death of Leonid Brezhnev? Causes of crisis and stagnation.

Card number 3.

What are the reasons for the aggravated political situation in Russia?

Card number 4.

Why did the economic reform not produce the expected results?

Appendix 5

"Chatushki about the policy of Gorbachev M.S."

1. A beggar is crying under the window.
Filed a Soviet thousand.
Threw a thousand on the sand.
Asks for a piece of bread .

2. We don't drink vodka at all.
We don't eat meat.
We turn on the TV
And listen to ads.

3. Why are these cows?
They don't give us milk? -
“So after all, they are talking about perestroika
They don’t sing tales in a barn.”

4. How long will it last
Perestroika stagnation?
Money flows like water
The wallet is always empty.

5. My dear is a democrat,
Playing the harmonica: -
We are free brothers
Hey democracy!

6.In the CIA and the FBI
Now unemployment.
There is no more USSR -
No one to hunt!

7. The Presidents met
In Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
And wondered about the future
On coffee grounds.

8. Perestroika taught
Boil moonshine:
From half a pood - eight liters,
Everything - to the droplet - burns.

9. Now we don’t drink vodka, we don’t eat sugar.
We brush our teeth with a brick, we listen to Gorbachev.

10. Oh, how fast, oh how fast
The grapes ripen.
I loved a communist
And now he is a Democrat!

11. According to coupons - bread and soap,
Without coupons - not a shisha.
Enough without coupons today
Only on the ears noodles!

12. At seven in the morning the rooster sings,
At eight Pugachev.
The store is closed until two
Gorbachev has the key.

13. According to coupons - bitter,
According to coupons - sweet.
What have you done
Head with a patch?

14. Oh, how joyfully we live
We are at the beginning of the month.
And coupons run out
I want to hang myself.

15. Acceleration is an important factor,
But the reactor failed.
And now our peaceful atom
The whole of Europe is cursing.

Appendix 6

"M.S. Gorbachev's Domestic Policy".

Historical dictation.

1. New title for constitutional reform. (President of the USSR).

2. The principle of cultural development. (Principle of publicity).

3. Year of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (1986).

4. Transfer of objects to private ownership. (Privatization).

5. Measures that marked the beginning of the anti-alcohol policy. (Cutting down vineyards).

Appendix 7

"Personalities in the fate of the country". Portraits of the times of M.S. Gorbachev.

Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov (R. , , , , ) - Soviet statesman and party leader. Most of the reign held office (1985-1991). Member with on . Deputy (1974-89) from

. From 1950 to 1975, he worked in engineering and technical positions at the Ural Plant of Heavy Machine Building. Sergo Ordzhonikidze (PO " "): in 1955-1959. shop manager, 1959-1965 chief technologist for welding, in 1965-1970. chief engineer, in 1970-1971. director, in 1971-1975 general director. In 1975-1979. First Deputy Minister of Heavy and Transport Engineering of the USSR .In 1979-1982. first vice chairman . In December 1995 he was elected as a deputy of the second convocation in the Belgorod single-mandate constituency No. 62 from the Power to the People bloc. In the Duma, he headed the deputy group . Chairman of the Executive Committee of the People's Patriotic Union of Russia (NPSR).

In December 1999, he was elected to the State Duma of the third convocation in the same constituency. In September 2003, he was appointed representative of the administration of the Belgorod Region in RF.

Valentin Sergeevich Pavlov ( , G. , - , G. ) - (the only one to hold a position with that title) with on , From 18 to 21 August 1991 - Member .. 1958-59 - Inspector of State Revenues of the Financial Department of the Kalinin District Executive Committee of Moscow;

1959-66 - Economist, Senior Economist, Deputy Head of Department, Deputy Head of the Construction Financing Department of the Ministry of Finance of the RSFSR;

1966-68 - Deputy Head of the Heavy Industry Financing Department of the USSR Ministry of Finance;

1968-79 - Deputy Head of the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance of the USSR;

1979-86 - Head of the Department of Finance, Costs and Prices of the State Planning Committee of the USSR, in 1981-86 a member of the Board of the State Planning Committee of the USSR;

1986 - First Deputy Minister of Finance of the USSR;

1986-89 - Chairman of the USSR State Committee on Prices.

1989-91 - Minister of Finance of the USSR. Reserve Lieutenant. January 14, 1991, after resignation ( ), with the consent of the Supreme Council, appointed Pavlov as his successor as a compromise candidate, a supporter of a market economy within the framework of the socialist choice. Wherein was renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR - the Prime Minister of the USSR .

Boris Karlovich Pugo ( Boriss Pugo ; , - , ) - Soviet party and statesman, first secretary of the Central Committee ( - ), Chairman ( - ), ( - ). Member (1986-1990), candidate member (September - July 1990). Deputy eleventh convocation (1984-1989) from the Latvian SSR , . From 18 to 21 August 1991 - member .

Kryuchkov Vladimir Alexandrovich (b. February 29, 1924), party member since 1944, member of the Central Committee since 1986, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee since September 20, 1989. Born in Volgograd. Russian. In 1949 he graduated from the All-Union Correspondence Law Institute, in 1954 - the Higher Diplomatic School of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He began his career in 1941 as a worker. Since 1943, at the Komsomol work. Since 1946 in the prosecutor's office. In 1954-1959 on diplomatic work in the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the USSR Embassy in Hungary. In 1959-1967. in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the CPSU: referent, head. sector, Assistant Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Since 1967, in the USSR State Security Committee, since 1978, deputy. chairman since 1988 prev. Committee, at the same time since 1990 a member of the Presidential Council of the USSR. General of the Army (1988). Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 11th convocation. During the August events of 1991, he was arrested and was in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison. Later amnestied. Was retired. He died on November 25, 2007 in Moscow at the age of 84.

Gennady Ivanovich Yanaev ( , - ) - Soviet party and statesman, Vice President of the USSR ( - ), member , (1990-91). During was acting the President of the USSR and the de facto leader .

Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov (genus. , village Yazovo ) - and . The last (by date of awarding the title) and the only living ( ). Penultimate ( - ). Participant . Member (August 18-21, 1991). From 2000 to 2010, he headed the Committee in memory of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, and is currently an active member of the presidium of this Committee.Member of the governing bodies of a number of public organizations (including the Forum "Public Recognition"etc.). Consultant to the head of the Military Memorial Center of the Armed Forces of Russia.

Andrey Dmitrievich Sakharov ( , - , ibid) - , academician , one of the founders of the first Soviet . Subsequently, a public figure, and ; , author of the draft constitution for the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia. Laureate . For his human rights activities, he was deprived of all Soviet awards, prizes and was expelled with his wife from Moscow. At the end under pressure allowed Sakharov to return from exile to Moscow, which was regarded in the world as an important milestone in the process of ending the struggle against dissent in the USSR.

Anatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov (R. , G. ) - Soviet party and statesman, Russian politician. The last chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (March 1990 - September 1991), first an associate of the first and last president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, then his opponent. From August 1991 to December 1992 he was in custody on the case , accused of conspiracy to seize power and abuse of power

April - At the April Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Gorbachev puts forward the slogan "acceleration".

May 7 - Resolutions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR on measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism - the beginning of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign.

Mikhail Gorbachev

1986

February 25 - March 6 - The XXVII Congress of the CPSU changes the party program, proclaiming a course towards "improving socialism" (and not towards "building communism", as before); planning to double the economic potential of the USSR by the year 2000 and provide each family with a separate apartment or house (the Housing-2000 program). The Brezhnev period is called here "the era of stagnation". Gorbachev's call for the development of "glasnost".

April 8 - Gorbachev's visit to the VAZ in Togliatti. Here, for the first time, the slogan about the necessity of "perestroika" of socialism is loudly proclaimed.

26 April - Chernobyl disaster. Despite it, crowded May Day demonstrations are held in the cities affected by radiation on May 1st.

December - Return A. Sakharova from Gorky's exile to Moscow.

December 17-18 - Nationalist unrest of Kazakh youth in a predominantly ethnically Russian Alma-Ata ("Zheltoksan").

1987

January - Plenum of the Central Committee "on personnel issues." Gorbachev declares the need for "alternative" elections (from several candidates) for party and Soviet posts.

January 13 - Resolution of the Council of Ministers allows the creation of joint Soviet-foreign enterprises.

February - Resolutions of the Council of Ministers allow the creation of cooperatives for consumer services and the production of consumer goods.

May 6 - The first unauthorized demonstration by a non-governmental and non-communist organization (the Pamyat Society) in Moscow.

June 11 - Decree of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On the transfer of enterprises and organizations of sectors of the national economy to full self-financing and self-financing."

June 30 - Adoption of the law "On the state enterprise (association)" (came into force on January 1, 1988). (Products produced by enterprises after fulfilling the state order can now be sold at free prices. The number of ministries and departments has been reduced. The labor collectives of enterprises are given the right to choose directors and regulate wages.)

August 23 - Rallies in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius on the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

October 21 - Performance B. Yeltsin at the plenum of the Central Committee with criticism of the "slow pace of perestroika" and "the emerging cult of Gorbachev."

November 11 - Yeltsin was removed from the post of First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU (February 18, 1988 was expelled from the Politburo).

1988

February - The session of people's deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region requests the withdrawal of the region from Azerbaijan and its annexation to Armenia. (February 22 - a shootout between Armenians and Azerbaijanis near Askeran with the death of two people. February 26 - a million-strong rally in Yerevan. February 27-29 - an Armenian pogrom in Sumgayit.)

March 1 - Politburo resolution allowing Komsomol bodies to establish commercial organizations.

April 5 - Official response to Nina Andreeva: A. Yakovlev's article "Principles of perestroika, revolutionary thinking and actions" in Pravda. Andreeva's article is called here "the manifesto of anti-perestroika forces."

June 5-18 - All-Union ceremonial events in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Russia.

June 28 - July 1 - XIX Party Conference of the CPSU. Towards the end of it, Gorbachev is pushing through the decision to submit to the next session of the Supreme Council a plan for constitutional reform with the establishment of a new supreme state body - the Congress of People's Deputies. (At the same conference, the famous address E. Ligacheva to Yeltsin: "Boris, you're wrong!")

September 11 - Three hundred thousand "Song of Estonia" rally in Tallinn calling for the independence of Estonia.

September 30 - At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the largest "purge" of the Politburo since Stalin's times takes place.

October 1 - In addition to the head of the party, Gorbachev was also elected head of state - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (instead of the deposed A. Gromyko).

November 16 - Proclamation of "sovereignty" (the supremacy of local laws over the laws of the USSR) of one of the union republics - Estonia. (The first such example. Then Lithuania will do the same in May 1989, Latvia in July 1989, Azerbaijan in September 1989, Georgia in May 1990, Russia, Uzbekistan and Moldova in June 1990, Ukraine and Belarus in July 1990, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Tajikistan in August 1990, Kazakhstan in October 1990, Kyrgyzstan in December 1990.)

December 1 - The adoption by the Supreme Council of the law "On the Election of People's Deputies of the USSR", which amends the 1977 Constitution of the USSR. (Two-thirds of people's deputies should be elected by the population, a third - by "public organizations". The upcoming Congress of People's Deputies should elect a new Supreme Soviet of the USSR.)

November - December - Massive Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani in Armenia.

1989

March - The first elections to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.

March 18 - The 30,000th gathering of the Abkhaz people in the village of Lykhny demands the withdrawal of Abkhazia from Georgia and its restoration in the status of a union republic.

Night of April 9 - Troops disperse a rally in Tbilisi, gathered in protest against the Abkhazian events.

May 25 - June 9 - The First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. Election of Gorbachev Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Creation at the congress of the "Interregional Group" under the slogans of the struggle for democracy. Booing by the majority of the congress speaker A. Sakharov.

May - June - Fights between Uzbeks and Meskhetian Turks in the Fergana region.

Summer - Miners' strikes cover most of the country's coal regions.

August 11 - The creation in Tiraspol of the "Joint Council of Labor Collectives" in order to prevent the adoption of a law on the official status of only the Moldovan language in Moldova - the beginning of the Transnistrian conflict.

August - The magazine "New World" begins the publication of "The Gulag Archipelago" by A. I. Solzhenitsyn.

October 29 - The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopts amendments to the Constitution of Russia, which establishes the republican Congress of People's Deputies (900 deputies from territorial districts in proportion to the population and 168 from individual regions and national entities).

November 10 - The South Ossetian Autonomous Region proclaims itself an autonomous republic within Georgia.

December 12-24 - II Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. The democratic minority demands the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution of the USSR on the "leading and guiding role of the CPSU" in the state.

1990

January 13-20 - Armenian pogrom in Baku. Entering the city of army units to stop it ("Black January").

February - Mass rallies in Moscow demanding the repeal of Article 6 of the constitution.

March 11 - Lithuania proclaims its secession from the USSR. (The first such example. On May 4 and 8, 1990, Latvia and Estonia do the same, on April 9, 1991 - Georgia. The rest of the republics, except for Belarus, leave the USSR after the August coup.)

March 15 - The 3rd Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR cancels the 6th article of the constitution and elects Gorbachev as President of the USSR. (Gorbachev also retains the post of General Secretary of the CPSU. A. Lukyanov becomes Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.)

March - Elections of people's deputies of the Union republics of the USSR.

April 3 - Law "On the procedure for resolving issues related to the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR." It requires holding a referendum in the republic before the release - and a transitional period to consider all contentious issues.

May 24 - Speech by the head of government, N. Ryzhkov, in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a report on the concept of transition to a regulated market economy, including the forthcoming price reform. Listening to his speech on TV, people immediately rush to the shops, sweeping food off the shelves.

August 30 - Declaration on the state sovereignty of Tatarstan (the first such example from not a union, but already an autonomous republic?).

September 18 - in "Komsomolskaya Pravda" and "Literaturnaya Gazeta" published an article by A. I. Solzhenitsyn "How can we equip Russia? » It foreshadows the imminent collapse of communism and suggests ways for the further development of the country.

October 9 - Adoption of the law "On public associations", giving the right to create political parties.

October - The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopts the "Basic Directions for the Stabilization of the National Economy and the Transition to a Market Economy."

November 7 - A. Shmonov's assassination attempt on Gorbachev during a demonstration in honor of the anniversary of the October Revolution.

December - The IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR calls a referendum on the preservation of the USSR as a "renewed federation of equal sovereign republics." Introduction of the post of vice-president of the USSR (G. Yanaev was elected to him). December 20 - E. Shevardnadze's statement at the congress about the "impending dictatorship" and his resignation from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

December 26 - Replacement of the former Council of Ministers (subordinate to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) by the Cabinet of Ministers (subordinate to the President of the USSR).

Gorbachev at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, 1992

1991

January 22 - "Pavlov's Monetary Reform": withdrawal from circulation of 50 and 100-ruble bills with their replacement with smaller or new ones, but not more than 1000 rubles per person and only for three days (January 23-25). Ban on withdrawing from bank accounts more than 500 rubles a month per person. With the help of this reform, 14 billion rubles were withdrawn from circulation.

March 17 - Referendum "on the preservation of the USSR as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics." (Gived an ambiguous result: on the one hand, more than three-quarters of the participants were in favor of preserving the USSR in an updated form, but, on the other hand, in a number of republics, additional questions about their sovereignty were submitted for the same vote - and the majority of participants supported it. Six union republics: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova - refused the referendum altogether.)

April 23 - The first meeting of representatives of the nine union republics in Novo-Ogaryovo on the reform of the USSR. Beginning of the development of the Union of Sovereign States (USS) project.

June 12 - Yeltsin is elected president of the RSFSR. (For the establishment of the post of republican president, the majority of the inhabitants of Russia voted in a referendum on March 17, 1991.)

September 5 - Law of the USSR "On the organs of state power and administration of the USSR in the transitional period." Creation on its basis of the State Council of the USSR consisting of the President of the USSR and senior officials of the ten union republics. At its first meeting, on September 6, it recognizes the independence of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

October - Based on the law of September 5, 1991, a new Supreme Soviet of the USSR is created from deputies from 7 union republics and observers from 3 union republics. (Former SC ceased meetings on 31 August 1991.)

November - Gorbachev leaves the CPSU, banned by Yeltsin.

November 14 - The leaders of seven of the twelve union republics (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev declare their intention to conclude an agreement on the creation of the SSG on December 9.

December 1 - Presidential elections and a referendum in Ukraine, during which more than 90% of voters are in favor of independence.

December 5 - Yeltsin's meeting with Gorbachev to discuss the prospects for the SSG in connection with the proclamation of Ukraine's independence. Yeltsin's statement that "without Ukraine, the union treaty loses all meaning."

December 8 - Belovezhskaya treaty on the dissolution of the USSR and the creation of the CIS from three states: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

December 21 - Alma-Ata Declaration on the accession of seven more republics to the CIS. Decree of the Council of CIS Heads of State on lifelong benefits to Gorbachev in the event of his resignation.

December 25 - In a televised address to the population, Gorbachev announces his voluntary resignation from the post of President of the USSR. The next day, the end of the existence of the USSR is announced.

Gorbachev's entire domestic policy was imbued with the spirit of perestroika and glasnost. He first introduced the term "perestroika" in April 1986, which at first was understood only as the "restructuring" of the economy. But later, especially after the XIX All-Union Party Conference, the word "perestroika" expanded and began to denote the entire era of change.

Gorbachev's first steps after his election largely followed those of Andropov. First of all, he abolished the "cult" of his position. In front of TV viewers in 1986, Gorbachev rudely cut off one speaker: "Let's persuade Mikhail Sergeyevich!"

The media again started talking about "putting things in order" in the country. In the spring of 1985, a decree was issued to combat drunkenness. The sale of wine and vodka products was halved, and thousands of hectares of vineyards were cut down in the Crimea and Transcaucasia. This led to an increase in queues at liquor stores and more than five times the consumption of moonshine.

The fight against bribery has resumed with renewed vigor, especially in Uzbekistan. In 1986, Brezhnev's son-in-law Yury Churbanov was arrested and later sentenced to twelve years in prison.

At the beginning of 1987, the Central Committee introduced some elements of democracy in production and in the party apparatus: alternative elections of party secretaries appeared, sometimes open voting was replaced by a secret one, and a system of electing heads of enterprises and institutions was introduced. All these innovations in the political system were discussed at the XIX All-Union Party Conference, which took place in the summer of 1988. Its decisions provided for the combination of "socialist values" with the political doctrine of liberalism - a course was proclaimed towards the creation of a "socialist legal state", it was planned to carry out the separation of powers, the doctrine of the "Soviet parliamentarism". For this, a new supreme body of power was created - the Congress of People's Deputies, and it was proposed to make the Supreme Council a permanent "parliament".

The electoral legislation was also changed: the elections were supposed to be held on an alternative basis, to make them two-stage, one third of the deputies to be formed from public organizations.

The main idea of ​​the conference was the transfer of part of the power of the party to the government, that is, the strengthening of Soviet authorities, while maintaining party influence in them.

Soon, the initiative for more intensive reforms passed to the people's deputies elected at the 1st Congress, at their suggestion, the concept of political reforms was somewhat changed and supplemented. The III Congress of People's Deputies, which met in March 1990, considered it appropriate to introduce the post of President of the USSR, at the same time, Article 6 of the Constitution, which secured the Communist Party's monopoly on power, was canceled, which allowed the formation of a multi-party system.

Also, in the course of the perestroika policy, a reassessment of some moments in the history of the state took place at the state level, especially regarding the condemnation of the personality cult of Stalin.

But at the same time, dissatisfied with the policy of perestroika gradually began to appear. Their position was expressed in her letter to the editors of the newspaper "Soviet Russia" Leningrad teacher Nina Andreeva.

Simultaneously with the implementation of reforms in the country, a seemingly long-resolved national question appeared in it, which resulted in bloody conflicts: in the Baltic states and in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Simultaneously with the implementation of political reforms, economic reforms were also carried out. The main direction of the country's socio-economic development was recognized as scientific and technological progress, the technical re-equipment of mechanical engineering and the activation of the "human factor". Initially, the main emphasis was placed on the enthusiasm of the working people, but nothing can be built on "bare" enthusiasm, so in 1987 an economic reform was carried out. It included: the expansion of the independence of enterprises on the principles of cost accounting and self-financing, the gradual revival of the private sector of the economy, the rejection of the monopoly of foreign trade, deeper integration into the world market, the reduction in the number of sectoral ministries and departments, and the reform of agriculture. But all these reforms, with rare exceptions, did not lead to the desired result. Simultaneously with the development of the private sector of the economy, state-owned enterprises, faced with completely new ways of working, were not able to survive in the emerging market.

Only incorrigible romantic idealists could dream of the victory of the world Marxist revolution in the second half of the eighties. With the naked eye, one could be convinced of the inefficiency of the command-administrative economy and the absurdity of its results. The whole world, including countries at much lower stages of development, experienced the problem of selling surplus goods, while the so-called "socialist camp" suffered from their shortage. The USSR, theoretically the richest state, in practice could not feed its own population. At this critical moment, a man who did not look like the previous party leaders came to power. Gorbachev's foreign and domestic policy led in a historically short period of time (only six years) to the destruction of almost everything that was created by three generations of Soviet people. Is the Secretary General to blame for this, or is it just the circumstances?

What kind of man is Gorbachev

For he was young. Accustomed to the slurred speeches of elderly leaders, the citizens of the USSR at first listened with interest to the newly elected General Secretary, marveling, in general, at the usual thing - the ability to speak Russian and without a piece of paper. In 1985, M. S. Gorbachev was only 54 years old, according to party and nomenklatura standards, he was a “Komsomol member”. During the time preceding mastering the highest leadership position, Mikhail Sergeevich managed a lot: to finish school (1950), work as a combine operator, enter the law faculty of Moscow State University, get married (1953), become a member of the CPSU and take the post of secretary of the city committee in Stavropol (1955). It is the last point of the biography that raises questions: many Soviet people did everything previous, but sitting in such a high chair just two years after receiving a diploma is already a Houdini-style trick. Well, okay, maybe the young man (22 years old) really grabbed stars from the sky. In addition, he was not the first secretary, and in order to continue his career, he had to graduate from another university - an agricultural one - and work in the Komsomol.

The choice of a new General Secretary

Mikhail Sergeevich has always "correctly understood" the party's foreign and domestic policy. Gorbachev was noticed, in 1978 he was "taken" to Moscow, where his serious party career began. He becomes the secretary of the Central Committee, so far also not the first and not the general one. Since 1982, the notorious "carriage races" began. Behind the Mausoleum (Brezhnev was taken to the necropolis, then Andropov, then Chernenko, and the question arose of who to put in a responsible post in order to interrupt this mourning marathon. And they chose Gorbachev. He was the youngest applicant.

Early years

Of course, the appointment happened for a reason. They always fight for power, even standing with one foot in the grave. The young and seemingly promising party member was noticed by prominent communist leaders, he was supported by Gromyko himself, and Ligachev and Ryzhkov saw in him the savior of the ideas of the founders.

At first, Mikhail Sergeevich did not disappoint his protégés. He acted within the given framework, strengthened self-supporting relations, agitated for acceleration, in general, for the first two years, both foreign and domestic policy of Gorbachev remained within acceptable deviations from the constantly fluctuating line of the party. In 1987, some changes took place, at first glance insignificant, but in reality they threaten with tectonic shifts. The party allowed some types of private enterprise, limiting it for the time being to the cooperative movement. In fact, it was an undermining of socialist foundations, pure revisionism, a kind of NEP, but the results achieved in the 20s could not be repeated in the 80s. Such an internal policy of Gorbachev did not lead to an improvement in the life of the main part of the population and did not improve economic indicators, but caused a ferment of minds, which led to the undermining of the ideological foundations of the existence of Soviet society.

Instead of filling the market with cheap consumer goods and improving service in public catering, a certain disgrace occurred. Cooperative cafes turned out to be accessible only to the same "cooperatives" and their economic opponents - racketeers (more simply: extortionists). There were no more goods, a relatively small stratum of people with an adventurous temperament managed to adapt to the new conditions. But it was all just flowers...

And in the fight with a green serpent snake wins

Gorbachev dealt the first truly serious blow to Soviet power by issuing an anti-alcohol decree. The stratification into the haves and not, the poverty of the store assortment, rising prices and much more, the population could forgive the talkative general secretary. But he encroached on the habitual way of life for the broad masses, on the natural way of escaping from the gray Soviet reality. Such an internal policy of Gorbachev turned a significant part of the population away from him. There is no doubt that it is necessary to fight drunkenness, but the methods turned out to be completely unacceptable, and there were no more alternative ways of leisure. Of course, video salons appeared (again, cooperative ones), in which all sorts of Emmanuels were played for a moderate fee, “Tender May” sounded from the windows of private “recording studios”, but all this could not compensate for the lack of strong drinks in the store. But moonshiners and sellers of rectified products managed.

Economic situation and its consequences

The West fought communism for a long time, seeing it as a threat to its existence. Actually, in the 80s it was not about ideological confrontation - it was not necessary to hope that the theoretical research of the leaders of the USSR, published in huge circulation, could shake the foundations of a market economy. They were afraid of less refined threats - nuclear missiles, for example, or submarines. At the same time, their leaders did not act very logically: they undermined the economic foundations of the Soviet Union, playing to lower the price of oil and gas. This led to and, as a result, to an increase in the risk of accidents at nuclear facilities. The Chernobyl disaster happened, the war continued in Afghanistan, bleeding the already poor budget. Gorbachev's domestic and foreign policy was briefly characterized during this period as pro-Western. Dissidents were released and received with honor in the Kremlin. Short-range and medium-range missiles, which are so troubling Western Europe, were destroyed (1987 treaty). All this was done involuntarily, but passed off as gestures of goodwill.

Separatism

The expectation of a friendly understanding of the West and its help did not materialize. Gorbachev's domestic politics looked even more pitiful. It can be summed up in one word: helplessness. Separatist sentiments, fueled by foreign intelligence services, have reached their apogee. A series of inter-ethnic conflicts (Tbilisi, Baku, the Baltic States) did not meet with a worthy rebuff - neither ideological, nor, in extreme cases, forceful. Society, exhausted in the fight against poverty, was demoralized. Gorbachev's domestic policy could not be based on internal resources, and it did not receive external material support. As luck would have it, the Soviet Union, which had recently seemed unshakable, was cracking at the seams. Nationalist movements developed rapidly in Ukraine, Moldova, the Central Asian republics and within the RSFSR. The leadership of the country limply looked at all this bacchanalia, shrugging and commenting verbosely on the ongoing bloodshed.

perestroika

Gorbachev's domestic policy was briefly defined by himself with the words "perestroika" and "democratization". Any foreman knows that it is impossible to change the load-bearing structures of a building if people live in it, but the general secretary thought otherwise. And bricks flew on their heads ... Enterprises that had been working for decades suddenly turned out to be unprofitable. The state even managed to extract gold at the mines at a loss. The ominous specter of unemployment loomed over the country. Calls "to do their work conscientiously for everyone in their place" sounded too abstract. The dissatisfaction of the population grew and seized more and more broad masses of the public - from staunch supporters of socialism, indignant at unprecedented ideological concessions, to adherents of liberal values, who complained about the lack of freedoms. By the end of the eighties, a systemic crisis had matured, in which Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev himself was largely to blame. The internal policy pursued by him turned out to be ineffective and contradictory.

Successes in foreign policy

In 1989, there is a unification of power in one person. The General Secretary also heads the Supreme Council, trying to somehow take control of the activities of the people's deputies, who are too "naughty". This action was not crowned with success, the strong-willed qualities of the leader, who became the next year the President of the USSR (actually self-named), were clearly not enough.

Both domestic and foreign policy of Gorbachev suffered from illogicality and inconsistency. Briefly, it can be defined as the maintenance of claims to superpower status without the means of actually confirming this status.

Soviet troops are leaving Afghanistan, but the backbone of the economy has already been broken, and this does not save the situation. Nevertheless, Mikhail Sergeyevich has a lot of foreign friends - presidents, prime ministers and persons of royal blood. They find the Soviet president a pleasant conversationalist, a nice person, at least that's how they characterize him during interviews. Such is Gorbachev's domestic and foreign policy; briefly, it can be defined as the desire to be pleasant in all respects.

Concessions to the West

The authority of the USSR in the world is rapidly declining, not only the United States, but also small countries that border the Soviet Union and have recently treated the great neighbor, at least with caution, are no longer taking into account the opinion of the Soviet leader.

Notorious to the East began in the late Gorbachev years. The weakening of the positions of the Union in the international arena turned away from it former satellites around the world, and especially Eastern European ones. The lack of resources forced the Soviet leadership to first cut and then completely stop aid to regimes pursuing an anti-imperialist (or anti-American) policy. There was even a new term: "new thinking", with an emphasis on the first syllable, as if it were a question of some kind of mouse. At least that's how Gorbachev himself pronounced it. Domestic and foreign policy (a table of events preceding the collapse of the world socialist system is presented below) is bursting at the seams ...

Such was (as Gorbachev understood it) domestic and foreign policy. The table of achievements in the field of state reforms looks no less depressing:

There are few examples in the history of the USSR that led to such devastating consequences as Gorbachev's domestic policy. The table clearly shows that in all three main areas of reform, the result was unsuccessful.

The final

The attempted coup d'état, called the putsch, undertaken in August 1991, demonstrated the complete impotence of the supreme power in the face of the formidable realities of the end of the millennium. The domestic policy of MS Gorbachev, weak and inconsistent, soon led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union into fifteen fragments, most of them suffering from the "phantom pains" of the post-communist period. The consequences of concessions in the international arena are still felt today.

Born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Stavropol Territory, in a family of peasants. In his youth, the future head of state worked in the Stavropol Territory Komsomol, and then in the local committee of the CPSU, and in 1973 he ended up in Politburo Central Committee of the CPSU.

March 11, 1985, after the death of the Secretary General Chernenko, Mikhail Sergeevich was proposed for the post of General Secretary, because he spoke well of him Andropov, and associate Brezhnev- Suslov. In addition, the arrival Gorbachev became, in a sense, a departure from the gerontocracy in the leadership of the Soviet Union (the last leaders of the state were all old and sick).

The leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev began tragically (it ended, however, also not in the best way) - on April 26, 1986, the The Chernobyl accident. Chernobyl being at the junction of three Slavic republics - RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR and BSSR - as if it became a symbol of the future split and, as if, was deliberately rigged (now there are many supporters of the theory that the catastrophe was, perhaps by accident, caused by the subversive activities of Western countries in the territory Soviet Union). The cause of the accident is known - a failure in the cooling of a nuclear reactor, its subsequent overheating and explosion. However, the reasons for the failure are still not known for certain. On the eve of the May Day holidays, Gorbachev ordered that the scale of the accident should not be disclosed so that the demonstrations in Kyiv and Minsk would go according to plan, which was an absolutely inhumane act, given the risk to people's health.

In 1987, Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU signed an extremely disadvantageous to the Soviet Union missile elimination treaty medium and short range, in which the Union destroyed three times more nuclear weapons than the United States. The reason for this act is either the short-sightedness of the head of the country, or the fear of the new American missile defense system ( SOI, which turned out to be a bluff). On the other hand, Gorbachev later received the Nobel Prize for Peace and the first ever fee of one million dollars, make one wonder if this was a bribe of an unprecedented scale.

On April 23, 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev initiated a series of large-scale reforms in the economy and domestic policy of the USSR, which later became known as " perestroika". And by January 1987, perestroika had become the official ideology of the Soviet Union.

The main change was the change in the course of socialist development. Gorbachev announced a new democratic socialism and the rejection of building communism. The new socialism has become a mixture Soviet ideology and Western democracy. All were rehabilitated dissidents and other victims of political repression, proclaimed " publicity" and freedom of speech, the possibility of engaging in private business under state control ( cooperatives), and industrial enterprises were transferred to self-financing.

This is where the positive aspects of the restructuring ended. Economic reform was hesitant and inconsistent, often alternating with radical measures. So, Gorbachev himself later recognized the anti-alcohol campaign (or rather its methods) as erroneous. The law on private enterprise turned into a fight with grandmothers selling flowers and seeds in the park on weekends. Cancellation of censorship contributed not only to the emergence of figures with their own vision of the future of the country, but also to the dissemination of literature and the press of frankly obscene content. At the same time, the national policy became more rigid. In 1988, an interethnic conflict arose in Azerbaijan ( Nagorno-Karabakh), conflicts began to brew in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the Baltic states.

The external debt of the USSR, against the backdrop of problems with oil supplies, grew by 1990 to $ 70 billion.

February 15, 1989 from Afghanistan all Soviet troops were withdrawn, and afghan war essentially ended in a draw. According to many historians and political scientists, decisive measures could have resolved the conflict in favor of the Soviet Union two or three years earlier, and the situation that has developed in Afghanistan today could have been prevented.

Gorbachev's foreign policy was characterized by the establishment of friendly relations with the United States and all of Western Europe, however, against the background of the internal crisis, this did not look very positive, and even slightly suspicious. One way or another, it must be admitted that under Mikhail Gorbachev cold war came to an end, and the "stronghold of world socialism" lost in it.

On the other hand, after these events, bipolar world system, has become monopolar with a single superpower- United States of America. The Soviet Union began to lose allies not only among the Eastern European and Asian countries, but also among its own republics (and the Constitution of the USSR did not formally prohibit their withdrawal from the Union).

On March 15, 1990, a new position was created - President of the USSR, which was occupied by Mikhail Sergeevich, which was a psychological turning point in the idea of ​​the Soviet Union as a state.

In 1990, three Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) declared their independence at once. Moreover, Russia itself (RSFSR), by decision of the Secretary General on June 12, 1990, proclaimed its sovereignty. After that, the “parade of sovereignties” began, and the USSR began to gradually fall apart, although many of its citizens did not notice this for a whole year.

The events of August 1991 ( augustovsky putsch) completed the collapse of the greatest state in the world.

December 25, 1991 11 republics of the Soviet Union in Belovezhskaya Pushcha Byelorussian SSR signed Belovezhskaya agreement, according to which the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist.