Gorbachev's foreign policy fully met the national interests. Foreign policy

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.

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Butashevich-Petrashevsky
1847. Petersburg. The "secret society" has been revealed again. A "conspiracy of ideas" has been uncovered, a whole circle of "state criminals" led by an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Vasilievich Butashevich-Petrashevsky. Investigation, trial. And the sentence is the death penalty. But at the last moment, the execution was replaced ...

At party work

Foreign policy

Relations with the West

Official recognition of Soviet responsibility for Katyn

Results of foreign policy

The situation in the Caucasus

Conflict in the Ferghana Valley

The entry of Soviet troops into Baku

Fighting in Yerevan

Baltic conflicts

After resignation

Family, personal life

Awards and honorary titles

Nobel Prize

Literary activity

Discography

Acting activity

In works of culture

Interesting Facts

Nicknames

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev(March 2, 1931, Privolnoye, North Caucasian Territory) - General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (March 11, 1985 - August 23, 1991), the first and last President of the USSR (March 15, 1990 - December 25, 1991). Head of the Gorbachev Foundation. Since 1993, co-founder of CJSC "New Daily Newspaper" (see Novaya Gazeta). He has a number of awards and honorary titles, the most famous of which is the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. Head of the Soviet State from March 11, 1985 to December 25, 1991. Gorbachev's activities as head of the CPSU and the state are associated with a large-scale attempt to reform in the USSR - perestroika, which ended in the collapse of the world socialist system and the collapse of the USSR, as well as the end of the Cold War. Russian public opinion about Gorbachev's role in these events is extremely polarized.

Childhood and youth

Born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky District, Stavropol Territory (then the North Caucasian Territory), into a peasant family. Father - Sergey Andreevich Gorbachev (1909-1976), Russian. Mother - Gopkalo Maria Panteleevna (1911-1993), Ukrainian.

From the age of 13, he periodically combined his studies at school with work at the MTS and on the collective farm. From the age of 15 he worked as an assistant combine operator of a machine and tractor station. In 1948, at the age of seventeen, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor as a noble combine operator. In 1950 he entered Lomonosov Moscow State University without exams. After graduating from the law faculty of Moscow State University in 1955, he was sent to Stavropol to the regional prosecutor's office. He worked as Deputy Head of the Department of Agitation and Propaganda of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Komsomol, First Secretary of the Stavropol City Komsomol Committee, then Second and First Secretary of the Regional Committee of the Komsomol (1955-1962).

In 1953 he married Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko (1932-1999).

At party work

In 1952 he was admitted to the CPSU.

Since March 1962 - party organizer of the regional committee of the CPSU of the Stavropol Territorial Production Collective Farm and State Farm Administration. Since 1963 - head of the department of party bodies of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU. In September 1966 he was elected First Secretary of the Stavropol City Party Committee. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute (in absentia, 1967) as an agronomist-economist. From August 1968 - the second, and from April 1970 - the First Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU.

In 1971-1992 he was a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Gorbachev was patronized by Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich, who contributed to his transfer to Moscow. In November 1978 he was elected Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. From 1979 to 1980 - candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. In the early 80s, he made a number of foreign visits, during which he met Margaret Thatcher and became friends with Alexander Yakovlev, who then headed the Soviet embassy in Canada. Participated in the work of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU on solving important state issues. From October 1980 to June 1992 - Member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, from December 1989 to June 1990 - Chairman of the Russian Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee, from March 1985 to August 1991 - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

During the August coup of 1991, he was removed from power by the State Emergency Committee headed by Vice President Gennady Yanaev and isolated in Foros, after the restoration of legal power, he returned from vacation to his post, which he held until the demise of the USSR in December 1991.

He was elected a delegate to the XXII (1961), XXIV (1971) and all subsequent (1976, 1981, 1986, 1990) Congresses of the CPSU. From 1970 to 1990 he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 8-12 convocations. Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1985 to 1990; Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from October 1988 to May 1989. Chairman of the Commission for Youth Affairs of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1974-1979); Chairman of the Commission for Legislative Proposals of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1979-1984); Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1984-1985); People's Deputy of the USSR from the CPSU - 1989 (March) -1990 (March); Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (formed by the Congress of People's Deputies) - 1989 (May) -1990 (March); Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR 10-11 convocations.

March 15, 1990 Mikhail Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR. At the same time, until December 1991, he was Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

Activities as General Secretary and President

At the pinnacle of power, Gorbachev carried out numerous reforms and campaigns, which later led to a market economy, the destruction of the monopoly power of the CPSU and the collapse of the USSR. The assessment of Gorbachev's activity is contradictory.

Conservative politicians criticized him for economic ruin, the collapse of the Union and other consequences of perestroika.

Radical politicians criticized him for the inconsistency of reforms and his attempt to preserve the former centrally planned economy and socialism.

Many Soviet, post-Soviet and foreign politicians and journalists welcomed Gorbachev's reforms, democracy and glasnost, the end of the Cold War, and the unification of Germany. The assessment of Gorbachev's activities abroad of the former USSR is more positive and less controversial than in the post-Soviet space.

Here is a short list of his initiatives and events directly or indirectly associated with him:

• On April 8, 1986, M.S. Gorbachev in Tolyatti, where he visited the Volga Automobile Plant. The result of this visit was the decision to create an engineering enterprise on the basis of the flagship of the domestic engineering industry - the branch scientific and technical center (STC) of OJSC AVTOVAZ, which was a significant event in the Soviet automobile industry. At his speech in Tolyatti, Gorbachev for the first time distinctly pronounces the word "perestroika", this was picked up by the media and became the slogan of the new era that had begun in the USSR.
• On May 15, 1986, a campaign began to intensify the fight against unearned income, which was understood locally as a fight against tutors, flower sellers, chauffeurs who brought passengers, and sellers of homemade bread in Central Asia. The campaign was soon curtailed and forgotten due to subsequent events.
• The anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR, launched on May 17, 1985, led to a 45% increase in prices for alcoholic beverages, a reduction in alcohol production, cutting down vineyards, the disappearance of sugar in stores due to home brewing and the introduction of cards for sugar, an increase in life expectancy among the population, a decrease in the level of crime committed on the basis of alcoholism.
• Acceleration - this slogan was associated with promises to dramatically increase industry and the well-being of the people in a short time; the campaign led to an accelerated retirement of production capacity, contributed to the start of the cooperative movement and prepared the way for perestroika.
• Perestroika with alternating indecisive and drastic measures and countermeasures to introduce or limit the market economy and democracy.
• Power reform, the introduction of elections to the Supreme Council and local Councils on an alternative basis.
• Glasnost, the actual removal of party censorship of the media.
• The suppression of local ethnic conflicts, in which the authorities took cruel measures, in particular, the forceful dispersal of a youth rally in Alma-Ata, the entry of troops into Azerbaijan, the dispersal of demonstrations in Georgia, the unfolding of a long-term conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the suppression of the separatist aspirations of the Baltic republics.
• The Gorbachev period witnessed a sharp decrease in the reproduction of the population of the USSR.
• Disappearance of products from stores, hidden inflation, the introduction of a rationing system for many types of food in 1989. The period of Gorbachev's rule is characterized by the washing out of goods from stores, as a result of pumping the economy with non-cash rubles, and subsequently hyperinflation.
• Under Gorbachev, the external debt of the Soviet Union reached a record high. Debts were taken by Gorbachev at high interest rates - more than 8% per annum - from different countries. With the debts made by Gorbachev, Russia was able to pay off only 15 years after his resignation. In parallel, the gold reserves of the USSR decreased tenfold: from more than 2,000 tons to 200. It was officially stated that all these huge funds were spent on the purchase of consumer goods. Approximate data are as follows: 1985, external debt - 31.3 billion dollars; 1991, external debt - 70.3 billion dollars (for comparison, total amount Russian external debt as of October 1, 2008 - 540.5 billion dollars, including state external debt in foreign currency - about 40 billion dollars, or 8% of GDP - for more details, see the article Russia's External Debt). The peak of the Russian public debt came in 1998 (146.4% of GDP).

• The reform of the CPSU, which led to the formation of several political platforms within it, and later the abolition of the one-party system and the removal of the constitutional status of the "leading and organizing force" from the CPSU.
• Rehabilitation of the victims of Stalinist repressions, who were not rehabilitated earlier under Khrushchev.
• The weakening of control over the socialist camp (the Sinatra doctrine), which led, in particular, to a change of power in most socialist countries, the unification of Germany in 1990, the end of the Cold War (the latter in the United States is usually regarded as a victory for the American bloc).
• The end of the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
• The introduction of Soviet troops into Baku on the night of January 19-20, 1990, against the Popular Front of Azerbaijan. More than 130 dead, including women and children.
• Concealment from the public of the facts of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986.
• On November 7, 1990, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Gorbachev.

Foreign policy

Relations with the West

Once in power, Gorbachev tried to improve relations with the United States and Western Europe. One of the reasons for this was the desire to reduce exorbitant military spending (25% of the USSR state budget).

During the years of "perestroika", the foreign policy of the USSR underwent serious changes. The reason for this was the slowdown in economic growth and the stagnation of the economy in the first half of the 1980s. The Soviet Union was no longer able to withstand the US-imposed arms race.

During the years of his reign, Gorbachev put forward many peace initiatives. An agreement was reached on the liquidation of Soviet and American medium-range and short-range missiles in Europe. The government of the USSR unilaterally declared a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. However, peacefulness was sometimes regarded as weakness.

As the economic situation in the country worsened, the Soviet leadership considered the reduction of armaments and military spending as a way to solve financial problems, so they did not demand guarantees and adequate steps from their partners, while losing their positions in the international arena.

Foreign policy of the USSR in the second half of the 1980s.

The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the victory of democratic forces in Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the withdrawal of troops from Europe - all this has become a symbol of "the loss of the USSR in the Cold War."

On February 22, 1990, the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, V. Falin, sent a note to Gorbachev, in which he announced new archival finds proving the connection between the sending of Poles from the camps in the spring of 1940 and their execution. He pointed out that the publication of such materials would completely undermine the official position of the Soviet government (about "unproven" and "lack of documents") and recommended that a new position be urgently decided. In this regard, it was proposed to inform Jaruzelsky that no direct evidence (orders, instructions, etc.) was found that allows us to name the exact time and specific perpetrators of the Katyn tragedy, but “based on the aforementioned indications, we can conclude that the death of the Polish officers in the Katyn region - the work of the NKVD and personally Beria and Merkulov.

On April 13, 1990, during a visit to Moscow by Jaruzelsky, a TASS statement about the Katyn tragedy was published, which read:

Gorbachev handed over to Jaruzelsky the discovered milestone lists of the NKVD from Kozelsk, from Ostashkov and from Starobelsk.

On September 27, 1990, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR began a criminal investigation into the murders in Katyn, which received serial number 159. The investigation launched by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR was continued by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and was conducted until the end of 2004; in the course of it, witnesses and participants in the massacres of the Poles were interrogated. On September 21, 2004, the GVP announced the termination of the Katyn case.

Results of foreign policy

• easing international tension;
• the real elimination of entire classes of nuclear weapons and the liberation of Europe from conventional weapons, the cessation of the arms race, the end of the "cold war";
• the collapse of the bipolar system of international relations, which ensured stability in the world;
• the transformation of the United States after the collapse of the USSR into the only superpower;
• the reduction of Russia's defense capability, the loss of Russia's allies in Eastern Europe and the Third World.

Interethnic conflicts and forceful solution of problems

December events in Kazakhstan

December events (kaz. Zheltoksan - December) - youth performances in Alma-Ata and Karaganda that took place on December 16-20, 1986, which began with Gorbachev's decision to remove Dinmukhamed Akhmedovich Kunaev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, who had been in office since 1964, and replace him with one who had not previously worked in Kazakhstan ethnic Russian, Gennady Vasilyevich Kolbin, first secretary of the Ulyanovsk regional party committee. The participants in the speeches protested against the appointment of a person who did not think about the fate of the autochthonous people to this position. The speeches began on December 16, the first groups of young people came to New (Brezhnev) Square in the capital demanding the cancellation of Kolbin's appointment. Telephone communication was immediately cut off in the city, these groups were dispersed by the police. But rumors about the performance on the square instantly spread throughout the city. On the morning of December 17, crowds of young people came out to the L. I. Brezhnev Square in front of the Central Committee building, demanding their rights and democracy. The posters of the demonstrators read "We demand self-determination!", "To each nation - its own leader!", "Do not be the 37th!", "Put an end to the great-power madness!" There were rallies for two days, both times ending in riots. When dispersing the demonstration, the troops used sapper shovels, water cannons, service dogs; it is also stated that reinforcing scrap and steel cables were used. To maintain order in the city, workers' squads were used.

The situation in the Caucasus

In August 1987, the Karabakh Armenians sent a petition to Moscow, signed by tens of thousands of citizens, with a request to transfer the NKAO to the Armenian SSR. On November 18 of the same year, in an interview with the French newspaper L'Humanite, adviser to M. S. Gorbachev, A. G. Aganbegyan, makes a statement: “ I would like to know that Karabakh has become Armenian. As an economist, I believe that he is more connected with Armenia than with Azerbaijan.". Similar statements are made by other public and political figures. The Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh organizes demonstrations calling for the transfer of the NKAR to the Armenian SSR. In response, the Azerbaijani population of Nagorno-Karabakh began to demand the preservation of the NKAR as part of the Azerbaijan SSR. To maintain order, M. S. Gorbachev sent a battalion of motorized infantry of the 160th regiment of internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs to Nagorno-Karabakh from Georgia.

On December 7, 1990, a regiment of internal troops of the USSR from the Tbilisi garrison was introduced into Tskhinvali.

Conflict in the Ferghana Valley

The pogroms of the Meskhetian Turks in 1989 in Uzbekistan are better known as the Fergana events. In early May 1990, a pogrom of Armenians and Jews took place in the Uzbek city of Andijan.

The events of January 1990 in the city of Baku (the capital of the Azerbaijan SSR), ended with the entry of Soviet troops, as a result of which more than 130 people died.

Fighting in Yerevan

On May 27, 1990, an armed clash between Armenian armed groups and internal troops took place, as a result of which two soldiers and 14 militants were killed.

Baltic conflicts

In January 1991, events took place in Vilnius and Riga, accompanied by the use of military force. During the events in Vilnius, units of the Soviet army stormed the television center and other public buildings (the so-called "party property") in Vilnius, Alytus, Siauliai.

After resignation

After the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords (bypassing Gorbachev's objections), and the actual denunciation of the union treaty, on December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head of state. From January 1992 to the present - President of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Research (Gorbachev Foundation). At the same time, from March 1993 to 1996 - President, and since 1996 - Chairman of the Board of the International Green Cross.

On May 30, 1994, Gorbachev was visiting Listyev in the first episode of the Rush Hour program. An excerpt from the conversation:

PSRL, vol. 25, M.-L, 1949, p. 201

After his resignation, he complained that he was “blocked in everything”, that his family was constantly “under the hood” of the FSB, that his phones were constantly tapped, that he could only publish his books in Russia “underground”, in small circulation.

In 1996, he put forward his candidacy for the election of the President of the Russian Federation and, according to the voting results, scored 386,069 votes (0.51%).

In 2000, he became the head of the Russian United Social Democratic Party, which in 2001 merged with the Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR); from 2001 to 2004 - leader of the SDPR.

On July 12, 2007, the SDPR was liquidated (removed from registration) by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

October 20, 2007 became the head All-Russian public movement "Union of Social Democrats".

At the suggestion of the journalist Yevgeny Dodolev, the new US President Obama, some Russian journalists began to compare with Gorbachev.

In 2008, in an interview with Vladimir Pozner on Channel One, Mikhail Gorbachev said:

PSRL, vol. 25, M.-L, 1949, p. 201

PSRL, vol. 25, M.-L, 1949, p. 201

In 2009, in an interview with Euronews, Gorbachev again noted that his plan did not "fail", but on the contrary - then "democratic reforms began", and that Perestroika won.

In October 2009, in an interview with the editor-in-chief of Radio Liberty, Lyudmila Telen, Gorbachev admitted his responsibility for the collapse of the USSR:

PSRL, vol. 25, M.-L, 1949, p. 201

Family, personal life

Spouse - Raisa Maksimovna Gorbacheva(née Titarenko), died in 1999 of leukemia. She has lived and worked in Moscow for over 30 years.

• Ksenia Anatolyevna Virganskaya(1980) - journalist in a glossy magazine.
• First husband - Kirill Solod, the son of a businessman (1981), got married on April 30, 2003 in the Griboedovsky registry office,
• Second husband - Dmitry Pyrchenkov (former concert director of singer Abraham Russo), got married in 2009
• Great-granddaughter - Alexandra Pyrchenkova (October 2008).

• Anastasia Anatolyevna Virganskaya(1987) - a graduate of the journalism faculty of MGIMO, works as chief editor on the website Trendspase.ru,
• husband Dmitry Zangiev (1987), married on March 20, 2010. Dmitry graduated from the Eastern University under the Russian Academy of Sciences, in 2010 he studied at the postgraduate course of the Russian Academy of Civil Service under the President of the Russian Federation, in 2010 he worked in an advertising agency that advertises Louis Vuitton, Max Mara Fashion Group.

Brother - Alexander Sergeevich Gorbachev(September 7, 1947 - December 2001) - military man, graduated from the Higher Military School in Leningrad. He served in the strategic radar troops, retired with the rank of colonel.

Awards and honorary titles

Nobel Prize

"In recognition of his leading role in the peace process, which today characterizes an important part of the life of the international community," on October 15, 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the award, Gorbachev gave a Nobel lecture, in the preparation of which one of his assistants, Vladimir Afanasyevich Zots, took part. (Instead of Gorbachev, the Nobel Prize was received by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kovalev)

Criticism

The reign of Gorbachev was associated with radical changes that led to destruction and unjustified hopes. Therefore, in Russia, Gorbachev was criticized from different positions.

Here are some examples of critical statements related to perestroika and Gorbachev, which can be used to judge the discussions that unfolded on this topic:

• Alfred Rubiks: "We did not intend to seize power"

PSRL, vol. 25, M.-L, 1949, p. 201

• There is also an opinion that Gorbachev acted essentially unethically towards the officers of the Soviet Army. After the agreements in Sochi, Gorbachev hastily unilaterally ordered the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from the GDR. At the same time, the withdrawal took place in unprepared places, in the so-called field towns.

• There is an opinion that Gorbachev conducted politics very naively, without taking into account historical realities. In his memoirs of his reign, Gorbachev writes that the chancellor invited him to visit Germany. “Thus,” Gorbachev is still convinced today, “we sealed our political friendship with personal obligations to be true to the given word, and included an emotional component in politics.” Alla Yaroshinskaya (Rosbalt) argues that Gorbachev relied excessively on the "given word" and the "emotional component", not supported by any serious international documents. In her opinion, today's Russia is still suffering from this.

Literary activity

• "A Time for Peace" (1985)
• "The Coming Century of Peace" (1986)
• Peace Has No Alternative (1986)
• Moratorium (1986)
• "Selected Speeches and Articles" (vols. 1-7, 1986-1990)
• "Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and for the World" (1988)
• "August coup. Causes and Effects (1991)
• “December-91. My position "(1992)
• "Years of Difficult Decisions" (1993)
• "Life and Reforms" (2 volumes, 1995)
• "Reformers are never happy" (dialogue with Zdeněk Mlynář, in Czech, 1995)
• "I want to warn ..." (1996)
• "Moral Lessons of the 20th Century" in 2 volumes (dialogue with D. Ikeda, in Japanese, German, French, 1996)
• "Reflections on the October Revolution" (1997)
• “New thinking. Politics in the Age of Globalization” (co-authored with V. Zagladin and A. Chernyaev, in it. lang., 1997)
• "Reflections on the Past and Future" (1998)
• "Understanding Perestroika... Why It Matters Now" (2006)

In 1991, Gorbachev's wife R. M. Gorbachev personally agreed with the American publisher Murdoch to publish her book of "reflections" with a fee of $3 million. Some publicists believe that this was a disguised bribe, since the publication of the book is unlikely to cover the fee.

In 2008, Gorbachev presented the first 5 books from his own 22-volume collected works at a book exhibition in Frankfurt, which will include all his publications from the 1960s to the early 1990s.

Discography

• 2009 - "Songs for Raisa" (Together with A. V. Makarevich)

Acting activity

• Mikhail Gorbachev played himself in Wim Wenders' feature film So Far, So Close! (1993), and also participated in a number of documentaries.
• In 1997, he appeared in an advertisement for the Pizza Hut pizzeria chain. According to the video, Gorbachev's main achievement as head of state was the appearance of "Pizza Huts" in Russia.
• In 2000, he appeared in an advertisement for the Austrian National Railways.
• In 2004 - "Grammy" for dubbing the musical fairy tale by Sergei Prokofiev "Peter and the Wolf" (Grammy Awards of 2004, "Best Spoken Word Album for Children", together with Sophia Loren and Bill Clinton).
• In 2007, he starred in an advertisement for the manufacturer of leather accessories Louis Vuitton. In the same year, he starred in Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary The Eleventh Hour, which tells about environmental problems.
• In 2009, he took part in the Minute of Glory project (jury member).
• In 2010, he was a featured guest on the Japanese culinary entertainment TV show SMAPxSMAP.

In works of culture

• “He came to give us freedom” - doc/f, Channel One, 2011

Parodies

• Gorbachev's recognizable voice and characteristic gestures were parodied by many pop artists, including Gennady Khazanov, Vladimir Vinokur, Mikhail Grushevsky, Mikhail Zadornov, Maxim Galkin, Igor Khristenko and others. And not only on stage. Here is what Vladimir Vinokur said.

• Gorbachev was also parodied by many KVN players - in particular, members of the KVN team of the DSU in the room "Foros" (to the tune of Vladimir Vysotsky's song "The one who used to be with her").

• The GKChP tried to remove Gorbachev "for health reasons", while he himself left the post four months later "for reasons of principle", although in his last decree he did not indicate the reason for his resignation from the post of head of the Soviet state.
• The text of the USSR constitution did not mention the resignation of the president.
• Military rank - colonel of the reserve (assigned by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR in 1978)
• November 12, 1992 in Grozny in honor of Gorbachev was renamed Revolution Avenue, but due to the deterioration of relations between Chechnya and the central authorities, Gorbachev Avenue was renamed back. Now it bears the name of the dancer Makhmud Esambaev.
• Gorbachev is the only leader of the USSR born after the 1917 revolution.

Nicknames

• "Bear"
• Gorby (English) Gorby) is the familiar and friendly naming of Gorbachev in the West.
• "Tagged" - for a birthmark on the head (retouched in early photographs). It got into one of Nikita Dzhigurda’s songs (“We read books//Tagged Bear//And delve into important matters”), currently this nickname is occasionally used as an allusion to the nickname of the protagonist of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
• "Hunchbacked" (association with the character of the film "The meeting place cannot be changed") or abbreviated "Hunchback". During Gorbachev's rule, the proverbs "The humpbacked grave will correct" and "God marks the rogue" among the broad masses of the people were often pronounced with a double malevolent meaning.
• "Mineral Secretary", "Sokin's son", "Lemonade Joe" - for the anti-alcohol campaign (at the same time, Gorbachev himself claimed: "They tried to make me an inveterate teetotaler during the period of the anti-alcohol campaign").
• G.O.R.B.A.CH.E.V - abbreviation: citizens - wait - rejoice - Brezhnev - Andropov - Chernenko - more - remember (Option: “Citizens - Rejoiced - Early - Brezhnev - Andropov - Chernenko - More - Remember). Another option - “Ready to Cancel the Decisions of Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, If I Survive” - appeared after he came to power, it was immediately noticed that his name contains a chronologically correct listing of the names of the leaders of the USSR, and doubt about the duration of his reign, then people were under impression of a series of funerals of predecessors.
• The first president of the USSR himself deciphered the CIS as "We managed to harm Gorbachev."

One of the most popular Russian politicians in the West during the last decades of the twentieth century is Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev. The years of his reign greatly changed our country, as well as the situation in the world. This is one of the most controversial figures, according to public opinion. Gorbachev's perestroika causes an ambiguous attitude in our country. This politician is called both the gravedigger of the Soviet Union and the great reformer.

Biography of Gorbachev

Gorbachev's story begins in 1931, on March 2. It was then that Mikhail Sergeevich was born. He was born in Stavropol, in the village of Privolnoye. He was born and raised in a peasant family. In 1948, he worked with his father on a combine and received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for success in harvesting. Gorbachev graduated from school with a silver medal in 1950. After that, he entered the law faculty of Moscow University. Gorbachev later admitted that at that time he had a rather vague idea of ​​what law and jurisprudence were. However, he was impressed by the position of the prosecutor or judge.

In his student years, Gorbachev lived in a hostel, at one time received an increased scholarship for Komsomol work and excellent studies, but nevertheless he could hardly make ends meet. He became a party member in 1952.

Once in a club Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich met Raisa Titarenko, a student of the Faculty of Philosophy. They got married in 1953, in September. Mikhail Sergeevich graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 and was sent to work in the USSR Prosecutor's Office for distribution. However, it was then that the government adopted a decree according to which it was forbidden to employ graduates of law schools in the central prosecutor's offices and courts. Khrushchev, as well as his associates, considered that one of the reasons for the repression carried out in the 1930s was the dominance of inexperienced young judges and prosecutors in the bodies, ready to obey any instructions from the leadership. So Mikhail Sergeevich, whose two grandfathers suffered from repression, became a victim of the struggle against the cult of personality and its consequences.

At administrative work

Gorbachev returned to Stavropol and decided not to contact the prosecutor's office anymore. He got a job in the department of agitation and propaganda in the regional committee of the Komsomol - he became the deputy head of this department. Komsomol, and then the party career of Mikhail Sergeevich developed very successfully. Gorbachev's political activity bore fruit. He was appointed in 1961 the first secretary of the local regional committee of the Komsomol. Gorbachev began party work the following year, and then, in 1966, became the first secretary of the Stavropol City Party Committee.

This is how the career of this politician gradually developed. Even then, the main shortcoming of this future reformer appeared: Mikhail Sergeevich, accustomed to selflessly working, could not ensure that his orders were conscientiously carried out by his subordinates. This characterization of Gorbachev, according to some, led to the collapse of the USSR.

Moscow

Gorbachev in November 1978 becomes the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. An important role in this appointment was played by the recommendations of L. I. Brezhnev's closest associates - Andropov, Suslov and Chernenko. Mikhail Sergeevich after 2 years becomes the youngest of all members of the Politburo. He wants to become the first person in the state and in the party in the near future. Even the fact that Gorbachev, in essence, occupied a "penal post" - the secretary responsible for agriculture could not prevent this. After all, this sector of the Soviet economy was the most disadvantaged. Mikhail Sergeevich still remained in this position after Brezhnev's death. But Andropov already then advised him to delve into all matters in order to be ready at any moment to take full responsibility. When Andropov died and Chernenko came to power for a short time, Mikhail Sergeevich became the second person in the party, as well as the most likely "heir" of this general secretary.

In the political circles of the West, Gorbachev was first known for his visit to Canada in 1983, in May. He went there for a week with the personal permission of Andropov, who was General Secretary at that time. Pierre Trudeau, the prime minister of this country, became the first major leader of the West to receive Gorbachev personally and treat him with sympathy. Meeting with other Canadian politicians, Gorbachev gained a reputation in that country as an energetic and ambitious politician who contrasted sharply with his elderly Politburo colleagues. He showed considerable interest in the methods of economic management and the moral values ​​of the West, including democracy.

Gorbachev's perestroika

Chernenko's death opened the way to power for Gorbachev. On March 11, 1985, the Plenum of the Central Committee elected Gorbachev as General Secretary. Mikhail Sergeevich in the same year at the April plenum proclaimed a course towards accelerating the development of the country and perestroika. These terms, which appeared under Andropov, did not immediately become widespread. This happened only after the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, which was held in February 1986. Gorbachev called glasnost one of the main conditions for the success of the upcoming reforms. Gorbachev's time could not yet be called full-fledged freedom of speech. But it was possible, at least, to speak in the press about the shortcomings of society, without touching, however, the foundations of the Soviet system and the members of the Politburo. However, already in 1987, in January, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev declared that there should be no zones closed to criticism in society.

Principles of foreign and domestic policy

The new general secretary did not have a clear reform plan. Only the memory of Khrushchev's "thaw" remained with Gorbachev. In addition, he believed that the calls of the leaders, if they were honest, and these calls themselves were correct, could reach ordinary performers within the framework of the party-state system that existed at that time and thereby change life for the better. Gorbachev was firmly convinced of this. The years of his reign were marked by the fact that for all 6 years he spoke about the need for united and energetic actions, about the need for everyone to act constructively.

He hoped that, being the leader of a socialist state, he could win world prestige, based not on fear, but, above all, on a reasonable policy, unwillingness to justify the country's totalitarian past. Gorbachev, whose years of rule are often referred to as "perestroika", believed that new political thinking should prevail. It should include recognition of the priority of universal human values ​​over national and class values, the need to unite states and peoples to jointly solve the problems facing humanity.

Publicity policy

During the reign of Gorbachev, general democratization began in our country. Political persecution has ceased. The oppression of censorship has weakened. Many prominent people returned from exile and prisons: Marchenko, Sakharov, and others. The policy of glasnost, which was launched by the Soviet leadership, changed the spiritual life of the country's population. Increased interest in television, radio, print media. In 1986 alone, magazines and newspapers acquired more than 14 million new readers. All these, of course, are essential advantages of Gorbachev and his policy.

Mikhail Sergeevich's slogan, under which he carried out all the transformations, was the following: "More democracy, more socialism." However, his understanding of socialism gradually changed. Back in 1985, in April, Gorbachev said at the Politburo that when Khrushchev brought criticism of Stalin's actions to incredible proportions, this only brought great damage to the country. Glasnost soon led to an even greater wave of anti-Stalinist criticism, which during the years of the "thaw" never dreamed of.

Anti-alcohol reform

The idea of ​​this reform was initially very positive. Gorbachev wanted to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed in the country per capita, as well as begin the fight against drunkenness. However, the campaign, as a result of too radical actions, led to unexpected results. The reform itself and the further rejection of the state monopoly led to the fact that the bulk of the income in this area went to the shadow sector. A lot of start-up capital in the 90s was knocked together on "drunk" money by private traders. The treasury quickly emptied. As a result of this reform, many valuable vineyards were cut down, which led to the disappearance of entire sectors of industry in some republics (in particular, in Georgia). The anti-alcohol reform also contributed to the growth of moonshine, substance abuse and drug addiction, and multibillion-dollar losses formed in the budget.

Gorbachev's reforms in foreign policy

In November 1985, Gorbachev met with Ronald Reagan, President of the United States. Both sides recognized the need to improve bilateral relations, as well as to improve the entire international situation. Gorbachev's foreign policy led to the conclusion of the START treaties. Mikhail Sergeevich, with a statement dated 01/15/1986, put forward a number of major initiatives devoted to foreign policy issues. Chemical and nuclear weapons were to be completely eliminated by the year 2000, and strict control was to be exercised during their destruction and storage. All these are the most important reforms of Gorbachev.

Reasons for failure

In contrast to the course aimed at publicity, when it was enough just to order the weakening and then actually abolish censorship, his other undertakings (for example, the sensational anti-alcohol campaign) were a combination with propaganda of administrative coercion. Gorbachev, whose years of rule were marked by an increase in freedom in all spheres, at the end of his reign, becoming president, he sought to rely, unlike his predecessors, not on the party apparatus, but on a team of assistants and the government. He leaned more and more towards the social democratic model. S. S. Shatalin said that he managed to turn the general secretary into a convinced Menshevik. But Mikhail Sergeevich abandoned the dogmas of communism too slowly, only under the influence of the growth of anti-communist sentiments in society. Gorbachev, even during the events of 1991 (the August coup), expected to retain power and, returning from Foros (Crimea), where he had a state dacha, declared that he believed in the values ​​of socialism and would fight for them, heading the reformed Communist Party. It is obvious that he was never able to rebuild himself. Mikhail Sergeevich in many respects remained a party secretary, who was accustomed not only to privileges, but also to power independent of the people's will.

Merits of M. S. Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeevich, in his last speech as president of the country, took credit for the fact that the population of the state received freedom, spiritually and politically liberated. Freedom of the press, free elections, a multi-party system, representative bodies of power, and religious freedoms have become real. Human rights were recognized as the highest principle. A movement towards a new multi-structural economy began, the equality of forms of ownership was approved. Gorbachev finally ended the Cold War. During his reign, the militarization of the country and the arms race, which disfigured the economy, morality and public consciousness, were stopped.

The foreign policy of Gorbachev, who finally liquidated the "Iron Curtain", ensured respect for Mikhail Sergeyevich all over the world. In 1990, the President of the USSR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for activities aimed at developing cooperation between countries.

At the same time, some indecision of Mikhail Sergeyevich, his desire to find a compromise that would suit both radicals and conservatives, led to the fact that transformations in the state economy never began. The political settlement of contradictions, interethnic enmity, which eventually ruined the country, was never achieved. History is hardly capable of answering the question of whether, in Gorbachev's place, anyone else could have saved the USSR and the socialist system.

Conclusion

The subject of supreme power, as the ruler of the state, must have full rights. MS Gorbachev, the leader of the party, who concentrated state and party power in his person, without being popularly elected to this post, in this respect was significantly inferior in the eyes of the public to B. Yeltsin. The latter became, in the end, the president of Russia (1991). Gorbachev, as if compensating for this shortcoming during his reign, increased his power, tried to achieve various powers. However, he did not comply with the laws and did not force others to do so. Therefore, the characterization of Gorbachev is so ambiguous. Politics is, first of all, the art of acting wisely.

Among the many accusations leveled against Gorbachev, perhaps the most significant was that he was indecisive. However, if we compare the significant scale of the breakthrough made by him, and the short period of being in power, this can be argued. In addition to all of the above, the Gorbachev era was marked by the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the holding of the first competitive free elections in the history of Russia, the elimination of the party's monopoly on power that existed before him. As a result of Gorbachev's reforms, the world has changed significantly. He will never be the same again. Without political will and courage, it is impossible to do this. One can relate to Gorbachev in different ways, but, of course, this is one of the largest figures in modern history.

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.

FOREIGN POLICY. "NEW POLITICAL THINKING"

"New Political Thinking". Gorbachev's rise to power did not initially portend anything new in the field of Soviet foreign policy. He traditionally declared the need to combat the military threat, strengthen the socialist community, and support national liberation movements. Two months after his election as head of the country, in May 1985, at the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Warsaw Pact, Gorbachev again lashed out at the West with sharp criticism.

Foreign policy began to change after the change of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR (in July 1985, instead of A. A. Gromyko, this post was taken by the former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, E. A. Shevardnadze). The main directions of foreign policy were determined: the normalization of relations with Western countries (primarily with the United States); the beginning of bilateral arms reductions; ending the armed confrontation with the US and its allies in Asia, Africa, Latin America (unblocking regional conflicts).

In 1987, a completely new foreign policy concept of the Soviet leadership took shape, called "new thinking." It assumed the rejection of the idea of ​​splitting the world into two systems; recognized the integrity and indivisibility of the world; rejected the use of force to solve world problems; declared the priority of universal human values ​​over class, national, ideological, etc. These ideas were formulated in Gorbachev's book "Perestroika and new thinking for our country and for the whole world", but they were not new: they were put forward even earlier by prominent scientists and politicians I. Kant, M. Gandhi, A. Einstein, B. Russell and others. Gorbachev's merit lay in the fact that he was the first of the Soviet leaders to put these ideas at the basis of the state's foreign policy.

Soviet-American relations. The beginning of nuclear disarmament. In November 1985, the first meeting between MS Gorbachev and US President R. Reagan took place. It marked the beginning of a new thaw in relations between East and West. Negotiations between the leaders of the two countries have since become annual and have brought significant results.

Already in 1987, the USSR and the USA signed the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate and Shorter-Range Missiles, which posed a particular danger to the European allies of the United States.

In 1988-1989 ideological principles began to have less and less influence on Gorbachev's foreign policy. Having no real success in the economy, he sought to achieve popularity within the country and in the world through "breakthroughs" in foreign policy. And this forced them to make serious unilateral concessions to the West. According to the Americans themselves, each controversial issue was resolved in such a way that "the Russians yielded 80%, and the Americans - only 20%."

This allowed the United States to put forward more and more new conditions, which Gorbachev was forced to agree to. Soon the USSR expressed its readiness to a much greater extent than the United States to reduce its military presence in European countries and to destroy a greater number of conventional weapons. In the summer of 1991, the USSR and the USA signed the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START), which provided for a 40% reduction in the most powerful types of offensive weapons.

The turning point in relations with the West occurred during a meeting between Gorbachev and the new US President George W. Bush (senior) in Malta at the end of 1989, where the Soviet leader announced that "the Brezhnev doctrine is dead." This meant that the USSR would not interfere with military force in the countries of Eastern Europe and within the country in relation to the union republics. The United States immediately stepped up its efforts to destroy the socialist community.

In the summer of 1991, Bush put forward "six conditions" to Gorbachev on which the West agreed to further cooperate with the USSR: democracy, the market, federation, a change in the USSR's policy in the Middle East, as well as in Africa, and the refusal to modernize the Soviet nuclear missile forces. For the first time, the Americans set conditions not only in the sphere of international politics, but also demanded changes in the domestic policy of the Soviet Union. In parallel, to push Gorbachev in this direction, they began to conduct direct negotiations with the leaders of the union republics. In the autumn of 1991, the contacts of the West with the leaders of the union republics were so strong and trusting that even the denunciation of the Union Treaty of 1922 was the first to be known from the "Belovezhskaya troika" by US President Bush, and only then by Soviet President Gorbachev.

The collapse of the socialist system. Changes in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe began in 1987. Under pressure from Gorbachev, there was a partial renewal of their leadership, democratization. In 1989, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Warsaw Pact states began, which caused a wave of not only anti-socialist, but also anti-Soviet sentiments in them. Soon, during the elections and "velvet revolutions" there was a change of leadership in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania. At the end of 1989, the regime of N. Ceausescu in Romania was overthrown by force of arms. The most serious changes took place in the GDR, where, after the resignation of E. Honecker (October 1989), the Berlin Wall fell and calls for German reunification began to grow.

The leadership of the FRG was ready to make serious concessions to ensure German unity.

The US and the FRG agreed to discuss the question of the neutrality of a united Germany (which also included its withdrawal from NATO). But no one asked them to. In the summer of 1990, Gorbachev agreed to the unification of Germany and its stay in NATO. He believed that, meeting the wishes of the West, he would also strengthen his shaken position in the USSR. But the "collapse" of the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in the spring of 1991 hit Soviet interests even harder and intensified criticism of Gorbachev's policy inside the country.

Relations with third world countries. The war in Afghanistan remained the main among the regional problems for the USSR. She needed to be stopped at all costs. In April 1988, an agreement was signed on the termination of American military assistance to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and the beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from there. On February 15, 1989, the withdrawal of almost 100 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers from this country was completed (in total, 620 thousand Soviet military personnel went through the war in this country, of which 14.5 thousand were killed, 53.7 thousand were wounded) .

The military presence of the USSR in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Nicaragua ceased. With the assistance of the Soviet Union, Vietnamese troops were withdrawn from Kampuchea, and Cuban troops from Angola. This removed the last obstacles to resolving the issue of normalizing relations with China. In 1989, Gorbachev visited the PRC, during which the normalization of bilateral relations was announced.

As the economic situation in the USSR worsened, the volume of gratuitous assistance to the allied regimes significantly decreased, which amounted to 1986-1989 in 1986-1989. 56 billion foreign currency rubles (93.3 billion dollars).

Under US pressure, the Soviet Union was forced not only to withdraw its support for the regimes in Libya and Iraq, but also to approve the military actions of Western countries during the crisis in the Persian Gulf in the summer of 1990, and to join the blockade of Libya.

The removal of ideological barriers in foreign policy contributed to the establishment of relations between the USSR and South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel.

Results and consequences of the policy of "new thinking". The policy of "new thinking" had contradictory results and consequences.

On the one hand, its main result was the weakening of the threat of a world nuclear missile war. Not only in the East, but also in the West, they began to talk about the end of the Cold War. Contacts between ordinary people became more frequent. The process of reducing and destroying not only conventional, but also nuclear weapons has begun.

The situation has improved in a number of regions where for many years the US and the USSR supported warring political forces - in Afghanistan, Indochina, the Middle East, East and South-West Africa, and Central America.

Democratic changes have taken place in a number of countries, where free elections were held for the first time in many years, a diversified economy was created, and spiritual emancipation set in.

At the same time, the "new thinking" also had a downside. Only one winner emerged from the Cold War - the West, led by the United States. Its other participant - the USSR and the "Eastern bloc" - not only suffered a defeat, but also ceased to exist. This led to the disintegration of the bipolar system of international relations, on which stability in the world was based for many years. The temptation for the US to take advantage of this new situation to strengthen its position in the world was too great not to be seized. They began to reckon less with not only the former Soviet republics, but also with the UN.

As a result, the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations itself was under threat. And this, in turn, concealed the threat of a new redistribution of the world into "spheres of influence." As history shows, this has never happened without a war.

What you need to know about this topic:

Socio-economic and political development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Nicholas II.

Domestic policy of tsarism. Nicholas II. Strengthening repression. "Police socialism".

Russo-Japanese War. Reasons, course, results.

Revolution of 1905 - 1907 The nature, driving forces and features of the Russian revolution of 1905-1907. stages of the revolution. The reasons for the defeat and the significance of the revolution.

Elections to the State Duma. I State Duma. The agrarian question in the Duma. Dispersal of the Duma. II State Duma. Coup d'état June 3, 1907

Third June political system. Electoral law June 3, 1907 III State Duma. The alignment of political forces in the Duma. Duma activity. government terror. The decline of the labor movement in 1907-1910

Stolypin agrarian reform.

IV State Duma. Party composition and Duma factions. Duma activity.

The political crisis in Russia on the eve of the war. The labor movement in the summer of 1914 Crisis of the top.

The international position of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

Beginning of the First World War. Origin and nature of war. Russia's entry into the war. Attitude towards the war of parties and classes.

The course of hostilities. Strategic forces and plans of the parties. Results of the war. The role of the Eastern Front in the First World War.

The Russian economy during the First World War.

Workers' and peasants' movement in 1915-1916. Revolutionary movement in the army and navy. Growing anti-war sentiment. Formation of the bourgeois opposition.

Russian culture of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Aggravation of socio-political contradictions in the country in January-February 1917. The beginning, prerequisites and nature of the revolution. Uprising in Petrograd. Formation of the Petrograd Soviet. Provisional Committee of the State Duma. Order N I. Formation of the Provisional Government. Abdication of Nicholas II. Causes of dual power and its essence. February coup in Moscow, at the front, in the provinces.

From February to October. The policy of the Provisional Government regarding war and peace, on agrarian, national, labor issues. Relations between the Provisional Government and the Soviets. The arrival of V.I. Lenin in Petrograd.

Political parties (Kadets, Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks): political programs, influence among the masses.

Crises of the Provisional Government. An attempted military coup in the country. Growth of revolutionary sentiment among the masses. Bolshevization of the capital Soviets.

Preparation and conduct of an armed uprising in Petrograd.

II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Decisions about power, peace, land. Formation of public authorities and management. Composition of the first Soviet government.

The victory of the armed uprising in Moscow. Government agreement with the Left SRs. Elections to the Constituent Assembly, its convocation and dissolution.

The first socio-economic transformations in the field of industry, agriculture, finance, labor and women's issues. Church and State.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, its terms and significance.

Economic tasks of the Soviet government in the spring of 1918. Aggravation of the food issue. The introduction of food dictatorship. Working squads. Comedy.

The revolt of the left SRs and the collapse of the two-party system in Russia.

First Soviet Constitution.

Causes of intervention and civil war. The course of hostilities. Human and material losses of the period of the civil war and military intervention.

The internal policy of the Soviet leadership during the war. "War Communism". GOELRO plan.

The policy of the new government in relation to culture.

Foreign policy. Treaties with border countries. Participation of Russia in the Genoa, Hague, Moscow and Lausanne conferences. Diplomatic recognition of the USSR by the main capitalist countries.

Domestic policy. Socio-economic and political crisis of the early 20s. Famine of 1921-1922 Transition to a new economic policy. The essence of the NEP. NEP in the field of agriculture, trade, industry. financial reform. Economic recovery. Crises during the NEP and its curtailment.

Projects for the creation of the USSR. I Congress of Soviets of the USSR. The first government and the Constitution of the USSR.

Illness and death of V.I. Lenin. Intraparty struggle. The beginning of the formation of Stalin's regime of power.

Industrialization and collectivization. Development and implementation of the first five-year plans. Socialist competition - purpose, forms, leaders.

Formation and strengthening of the state system of economic management.

The course towards complete collectivization. Dispossession.

Results of industrialization and collectivization.

Political, national-state development in the 30s. Intraparty struggle. political repression. Formation of the nomenklatura as a layer of managers. Stalinist regime and the constitution of the USSR in 1936

Soviet culture in the 20-30s.

Foreign policy of the second half of the 20s - mid-30s.

Domestic policy. The growth of military production. Extraordinary measures in the field of labor legislation. Measures to solve the grain problem. Military establishment. Growth of the Red Army. military reform. Repressions against the command personnel of the Red Army and the Red Army.

Foreign policy. Non-aggression pact and treaty of friendship and borders between the USSR and Germany. The entry of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus into the USSR. Soviet-Finnish war. The inclusion of the Baltic republics and other territories in the USSR.

Periodization of the Great Patriotic War. The initial stage of the war. Turning the country into a military camp. Military defeats 1941-1942 and their reasons. Major military events Capitulation of Nazi Germany. Participation of the USSR in the war with Japan.

Soviet rear during the war.

Deportation of peoples.

Partisan struggle.

Human and material losses during the war.

Creation of the anti-Hitler coalition. Declaration of the United Nations. The problem of the second front. Conferences of the "Big Three". Problems of post-war peace settlement and all-round cooperation. USSR and UN.

Beginning of the Cold War. The contribution of the USSR to the creation of the "socialist camp". CMEA formation.

Domestic policy of the USSR in the mid-1940s - early 1950s. Restoration of the national economy.

Socio-political life. Politics in the field of science and culture. Continued repression. "Leningrad business". Campaign against cosmopolitanism. "Doctors' Case".

Socio-economic development of Soviet society in the mid-50s - the first half of the 60s.

Socio-political development: XX Congress of the CPSU and the condemnation of Stalin's personality cult. Rehabilitation of victims of repressions and deportations. Intra-party struggle in the second half of the 1950s.

Foreign policy: the creation of the ATS. The entry of Soviet troops into Hungary. Exacerbation of Soviet-Chinese relations. The split of the "socialist camp". Soviet-American Relations and the Caribbean Crisis. USSR and third world countries. Reducing the strength of the armed forces of the USSR. Moscow Treaty on the Limitation of Nuclear Tests.

USSR in the mid-60s - the first half of the 80s.

Socio-economic development: economic reform 1965

Growing difficulties of economic development. Decline in the rate of socio-economic growth.

USSR Constitution 1977

Socio-political life of the USSR in the 1970s - early 1980s.

Foreign Policy: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Consolidation of post-war borders in Europe. Moscow treaty with Germany. Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Soviet-American treaties of the 70s. Soviet-Chinese relations. The entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan. Exacerbation of international tension and the USSR. Strengthening of the Soviet-American confrontation in the early 80s.

USSR in 1985-1991

Domestic policy: an attempt to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. An attempt to reform the political system of Soviet society. Congresses of People's Deputies. Election of the President of the USSR. Multi-party system. Exacerbation of the political crisis.

Exacerbation of the national question. Attempts to reform the national-state structure of the USSR. Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR. "Novogarevsky process". The collapse of the USSR.

Foreign policy: Soviet-American relations and the problem of disarmament. Treaties with leading capitalist countries. The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Changing relations with the countries of the socialist community. Disintegration of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact.

Russian Federation in 1992-2000

Domestic policy: "Shock therapy" in the economy: price liberalization, stages of privatization of commercial and industrial enterprises. Fall in production. Increased social tension. Growth and slowdown in financial inflation. The aggravation of the struggle between the executive and legislative branches. The dissolution of the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies. October events of 1993. Abolition of local bodies of Soviet power. Elections to the Federal Assembly. The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 Formation of the presidential republic. Aggravation and overcoming of national conflicts in the North Caucasus.

Parliamentary elections 1995 Presidential elections 1996 Power and opposition. An attempt to return to the course of liberal reforms (spring 1997) and its failure. The financial crisis of August 1998: causes, economic and political consequences. "Second Chechen War". Parliamentary elections in 1999 and early presidential elections in 2000 Foreign policy: Russia in the CIS. The participation of Russian troops in the "hot spots" of the near abroad: Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan. Russia's relations with foreign countries. The withdrawal of Russian troops from Europe and neighboring countries. Russian-American agreements. Russia and NATO. Russia and the Council of Europe. Yugoslav crises (1999-2000) and Russia's position.

• Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. History of the state and peoples of Russia. XX century.