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Perestroika in the USSR causes the course of the consequences. Foreign policy of the USSR in the years of perestroika. Prerequisites and main reasons for perestroika

By the mid-1980s, the USSR found itself in a deep economic, political and social crisis.

Labor productivity in the USSR in 1986 was one third of the US, in agriculture- less than 15% to the US level. In terms of the volume of goods and services consumed per capita, the USSR occupied 50-60th place in the world.

According to official figures, in 1989, 41 million people in the USSR had an income below the subsistence level - 78 rubles. In the USA, where the poverty threshold is an annual income of $ 11,612 for a family of 4, in 1987 there were 32.5 million people (A joke was widely circulated at that time - there is nothing in the USSR, but everything is cheap, everything is in the West, but very expensive). In terms of infant mortality, the USSR was in 50th place in the world, after Mauritius and Barbados, according to medium duration life - in 32nd place.

In March 1985, after the death of K. Chernenko, General Secretary The Central Committee of the CPSU was elected the youngest member of the Politburo M.S. Gorbachev. In April 1985, under his leadership, the next Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU was held, from which the period of major political, economic, ideological and social upheavals in the largest country in the world begins. This period lasted 7 years and went down in history as "Perestroika". There are four distinct periods in the history of perestroika.

Stage 1 - March 1985-January 1987. This stage was held under the slogans - "acceleration" and "more socialism."
Stage 2 - 1987-1988 The slogans "more democracy" and "glasnost" became the leitmotif of this stage.
Stage 3 - 1989-1990. The period of "confusion and vacillation". It is characterized by a split in the former camp of perestroika, a transition to an open political, national confrontation.
Stage 4 - 1990-1991 This stage was marked by the collapse of the world socialist system, the political bankruptcy of the CPSU and the collapse of the USSR. At the April Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1985, a course was proclaimed to "accelerate the socio-economic development" of the USSR on the basis of the advanced development of mechanical engineering.

In 1986 in economic life an innovation appeared - state acceptance (state acceptance). It was assumed that the reception finished products enterprises will be carried out by an independent state commission. The results were very deplorable (at the end of 1987, 15-18% of industrial output did not pass state acceptance).

In the social sphere, several campaigns were launched: the total computerization of schools, the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism, and unearned income.

Particularly wide resonance was caused by the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism" issued in 1985. The result of its implementation was a sharp increase in the price of vodka and a reduction in the time for the sale of alcoholic beverages in stores. The results were not long in coming, huge queues appeared in stores for alcohol, people switched to moonshine (in 1987, 1.4 million tons of sugar or the annual budget of its consumption by Ukraine with 50 million people was spent on making moonshine). Drunkenness has gone off the streets and into the family.

In the political field, the 27th Congress of the CPSU, held in 1986, limited itself to calls for the improvement of socialist democracy. The failure of all undertakings was revealed already at the beginning of 1987.

In January 1987, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU was held, which marked the beginning of significant changes in the economic and political life of the USSR, which can rightly be called reforms.
The development of economic reforms was determined by two trends: the expansion of the independence of state enterprises and the expansion of the scope of the private sector of the economy. In 1986, the Law on Individual labor activity, which legalized private entrepreneurial activity in 30 types of production of goods and services, mainly in the field of handicrafts and consumer services. In the USSR, for the first time in many decades, officially permitted "private traders" appeared.

In 1987, the Law on the State Enterprise was adopted, according to which state enterprises were transferred to self-support, self-sufficiency and self-financing, could independently conclude supply contracts with partners, and some large enterprises were allowed to enter the foreign market.

In 1988, the Law "On Cooperation in the USSR" was adopted. Finally, in 1989, land leases were allowed for a period of 50 years.

All these concessions to "capitalism" were carried out according to the principle - one step forward, two steps back. Private traders and cooperators were heavily taxed (65%); by 1991, no more than 5% of the able-bodied population was employed in the cooperative sector; in the countryside, 2% of the land and 3% of livestock were in the hands of tenants.
In the political field, in parallel, M. Gorbachev introduced a new concept into the political lexicon - glasnost, by which sweetness understood "healthy" criticism of existing shortcomings, greater awareness of the population and some weakening of censorship. The main permitted object of criticism was "Stalinism", the main ideal was "a return to the Leninist norms of party and state life." As part of this campaign, party leaders N. Bukharin, A. Rykov, G. Zinoviev, L. Kamenev were rehabilitated.

Previously banned works by Grossman, Platonov, Rybakov, Dudintsev, Pristavkin, Granin, Mandelstam, Galich, Brodsky, Solzhenitsyn, Nekrasov, Orwell began to be published. Koestler. The programs “The Twelfth Floor”, “Look”, “The Fifth Wheel”, “Before and After Midnight” appeared on television.
In 1987, the first political changes began, at first timid and half-hearted. The January Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU sanctioned such innovations in the social and political life of the country as alternative elections for heads of enterprises and secret ballot in the election of secretaries of party committees.

Actually put the political reforms early XIX All-Union Party Conference (summer 1988). At the conference, M. Gorbachev suggested extending alternative elections to the party apparatus, combining the post of first secretary of the party committee with the post of chairman of the Council of People's Deputies. And, most importantly, at the conference, despite the resistance of part of the party apparatus, the idea of creating a new, two-level system of the highest representative power of the USSR and creating the post of President of the USSR was approved. This reform led to the establishment new system representative power and executive power:

Representative power -> Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR Supreme Soviet of the USSR

Executive power -> President of the USSR

At the Third Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, held in 1990, M. Gorbachev was elected the first and last President of the USSR.

In 1988-1989, with the adoption of a whole package of laws: on the press, on public organizations, on state security in the country, etc. the political climate in the country was significantly liberalized, which, in turn, sharply intensified political life in general and the activities of various kinds of "informal" organizations, in particular. Since 1989, the concepts - the market, political pluralism, the rule of law, civil society, new thinking in foreign policy is firmly registered in the political lexicon.

The elections of deputies to the First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR in 1989, the work of 1-3 congresses clearly showed that the country entered a period of open confrontation between various political forces, which took place against the backdrop of a deepening economic crisis. Social tension was aggravated by systematic shortages of certain goods: in the summer of 1989 - sugar, detergents, in the autumn of 1989 - the tea crisis, in the summer of 1990 - the tobacco crisis.

In the spring of 1990, the government of N. Ryzhkov presented to the public a program for the transition to a market, which provided for an increase in prices for a number of goods. The people reacted to it by sweeping away everything that still remained on the shelves.

In contrast to the program of the Council of Ministers, in the summer of 1990, the 500 Days plan was published, developed under the leadership of S. Shatalin - G. Yavlinsky. The plan provided for during this period to create conditions for the transition to a market economy.

Finally, in the fall of 1990, M. Gorbachev proposed to the Supreme Council his own compromise program for the transition to a market economy, which also did not work. The crisis was growing. M. Gorbachev's authority in the country began to decline rapidly.

The years 1988-1991 were also marked by fundamental changes in the foreign policy of the USSR. As a result of three meetings between M. Gorbachev and US President R. Reagan, agreements were reached on the destruction of medium and short-range missiles, in 1988 the withdrawal began Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

In September 1991, an agreement was reached to cut off supplies of Soviet and American weapons to Afghanistan. In the same year, the USSR took the side of the United States in condemning the aggression of Iraq (its longtime ally) against Kuwait, established diplomatic relations with Israel and South Africa.

At the end of 1989, within almost one month, the communist parties lost power (mostly peacefully) in the countries of Eastern Europe. Impressive proof of the USSR's rejection of its former foreign policy was the refusal of the Soviet leadership to suppress these revolutions by force. Thanks to the support of the USSR, the unification of Germany and the destruction of the Berlin Wall, which became a symbol of totalitarian socialism, became possible.

Historically, the USSR repeated the fate of multinational empires, which naturally came to their collapse.

The collapse of the USSR was also the result of the impact of objective and subjective causes. Among the first group of prerequisites:

The accumulating national contradictions of the Soviet period;

The failure of the economic reforms carried out during the Gorbachev period;

The crisis of communist ideology and the weakening of the role of the CPSU with the subsequent liquidation of its party-political monopoly, which formed the basis of the USSR;

The movement for the national self-determination of the republics, which began during perestroika.

played a role in the destruction of the USSR subjective factor: M.S. Gorbachev's mistakes, his inconsistency in carrying out reforms, the lack of a developed national policy; political choice leaders of the three Slavic republics.

Representatives of local political elites, leaders of national movements also set as one of the main goals the task of gaining republican independence and real sovereignty.

Consequences of the collapse of the USSR had heavy character for the peoples of all former Soviet republics. The political and economic ties between republics that had centuries-old historical and cultural traditions.

Another consequence of the collapse multinational state became aggravated interethnic relations on the territory of the post-Soviet republics, which led to the emergence of territorial conflicts in many regions former USSR(between Azerbaijan and Armenia; Georgia and South Ossetia, later Abkhazia, Ingushetia and North Ossetia, etc.). The ethnic conflict in Tajikistan escalated into a civil war. There was a problem of refugees. A new acute problem was the position of the Russian-speaking population in the national republics.

During the period of perestroika in Soviet society, it was finally destroyed the Soviet communist system. Society has become open to the outside world.

On the wave of democratization in the USSR political pluralism, multi-party system took shape, began to emerge civil society, carried out separation of powers.

At the same time, the reformers in power did not at first envision the expansion and deepening of reforms. But, having started from above, perestroika was picked up and developed from below, which was a guarantee of maintaining and expanding the political course for reforms, which, to some extent, assumed an unmanageable character.

Politics publicity aimed at emancipating the consciousness of tens of millions of people in the USSR, largely determined irreversible nature of change in society and ultimately led to the defeat of the conservative forces in August 1991.

However, the experience of transformations has shown that a democratized socialist socio-economic system cannot exist outside the administrative-command system, which is incompatible with the new political realities. Therefore, the half-hearted, but accelerated economic reforms of the era of M.S. Gorbachev failed, and by the end of the 80s gg. communist reformers finally exhausted their creative potential.

As a result, after the cleansing of socialism from deformations was followed by the collapse of the socialist system itself. Perestroika completed collapse of the USSR and the collapse of the communist system.

Perestroika was destined to be the last in the 20th century. attempt to reform the socialist system.

Various opinions are expressed about the reasons for the collapse of the USSR. What is clear is that it became possible in the conditions of the economic crisis, a sharp weakening of power, the real bearer of which for many years was the CPSU, and the desire of national elites for independence.

The global consequences of the collapse of the USSR will be determined by history.

Conclusion

1980s - early 1990s a period in world history characterized by major changes in international relations, socio-economic and political development. In the capitalist states, a new upsurge of the economy was observed. Against this background, perestroika in the USSR became the central event.

In April 1985, at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, as a strategic goal of the new Soviet leadership headed by M.S. Gorbachev and society as a whole, a course was proclaimed to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country, democratization and glasnost. The goals of perestroika were more clearly defined at the January Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1987). This is “the renewal of all aspects of the life of our society, giving socialism the most modern forms public organization, most full disclosure creative potential of the socialist system. The new domestic and foreign policy of the Soviet leadership significantly changed the situation in society and in the world. As a result of the implementation of the idea of new political thinking in foreign policy, the Soviet Union began to quickly turn from a “closed” country into a country of broad contacts.

In the course of perestroika, the political confrontation between the forces advocating the socialist path of development and parties and movements that link the future of the country with the organization of life on the principles of capitalism, as well as on issues of the future image of the Soviet Union, the relationship between federal and republican bodies of state power and administration, sharply escalated.

The inconsistency and inconsistency of the policy of the Soviet leadership, the difficult socio-economic and political situation in society ultimately led the country to an even deeper crisis. The August events of 1991 ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the removal of President MS Gorbachev from power.

By the early 1990s, perestroika led to an aggravation of the crisis in all spheres of society, the elimination of the power of the CPSU and the collapse of the USSR. The collapse of the USSR led to the creation of the CIS and the collapse of the world socialist system.

Lecture Search

TOPIC 25. THE POLICY OF PERESTROIKA IN THE USSR

1. Alternatives development of the USSR in the first half of the 1980s.

I option: the continuation of the previous course of the Brezhnev leadership - the political course of K. U. Chernenko.

II option: giving a new impetus to the development of the country by tightening domestic and foreign policy - the political course of Yu. V. Andropov.

III option: carrying out large-scale economic and social * transformations while maintaining the leading role of the CPSU and the foundations of the political system - the “second NEP”, the “Chinese version”.

IV option: the convergence of socialism and capitalism into a single social system- the proposals of some dissidents, for example, A.D.

Sakharov.

V option: a complete rejection of the socialist model of social development and the transition to a capitalist social system - was initially not considered by anyone, but was put into practice as a result of the collapse of the perestroika policy.

The concept of restructuring.

- Perestroika is the course of the leadership of the CPSU to reform all aspects of the life of Soviet society within the framework of the socialist system in order to give a new impetus to the development of the country.

- The term "perestroika" was figuratively interpreted by Soviet leaders as a major overhaul of the entire building of Soviet socialism, which has rickety walls, but stands firmly on the foundation of its previous achievements.

- Initially, perestroika was conceived as a policy to combine the advantages of socialism with the values of democracy - "socialism with human face».

- Subsequently, new provisions were introduced into the concept of perestroika, which largely led to the beginning of the liquidation of the socialist social order in USSR.

Chronological framework of perestroika.

1985-1991 years.

Reasons for the policy of perestroika.

- Slowdown in the pace of socio-economic development of the USSR.

- The presence of numerous unresolved problems in all spheres of the life of Soviet society.

- Deterioration international position USSR, the beginning of losing the arms race.

- The beginning of the crisis of the official communist ideology.

- In general, the pre-crisis state of Soviet society.

Initiator and leaders of the perestroika policy.

— The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev acted as the initiator of perestroika.

— The ideologists and leaders of the reforms received the figurative title of “architects of perestroika”:

1) N. I. Ryzhkov - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

2) E. A. Shevardnadze - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR.

3) A. N. Yakovlev - Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU for ideology.

4) B. N. Yeltsin - First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.

- Soviet and party leaders of the middle level, who became the conductors of the policy of perestroika in the field, were called "foremen of perestroika."

The social base of the perestroika policy.

- At first, the concept of perestroika was supported by the majority of the population of the Soviet Union.

- As the reforms were carried out and the situation worsened in the country, resistance to the policy of perestroika began to grow.

- In Soviet society, there was a split in relation to Perestroika, including among the top leadership of the country:

I. Conservative leaders and members of the party, headed by E. K. Ligachev, interpreted perestroika as a departure from the ideals of socialism.

P. The radically minded part of society, mainly the intelligentsia, headed by B. N. Yeltsin, demanded deepening reforms.

III. The continuation of the perestroika policy was advocated by a small layer of the liberal nomenklatura, headed by A. N. Yakovlev.

- As a result, MS Gorbachev pursued an inconsistent course, maneuvering between liberals and conservatives - political Bonapartism.

Characteristic features of the policy of perestroika.

- Carrying out reforms at the initiative of the leadership of the CPSU - "reforms from above."

- Carrying out reforms within the framework of the socialist system.

- Large-scale and depth of reforms - covered all spheres of public life.

- Carrying out reforms without a premeditated plan - the spontaneity of reforms.

— Gradual loss of control over the process of social transformations by the central government.

— The failure of the perestroika policy.

Directions of the policy of perestroika.

Economy

The concept of accelerating socio-economic development.

— Economic reform.

Political sphere

— Personnel revolution.

— Political reform.

spiritual realm

Publicity policy.

Foreign policy

Strategy of new political thinking.

Stages of restructuring.

—Stage 1, 1985-1986, "early restructuring":

1) The course towards accelerating the socio-economic development of the country.

2) Betting on command-administrative methods.

3) Attempts to continue the course of Yu. V. Andropov to restore order in the country.

— Stage II, 1987-1989, the formation of the concept of perestroika:

1) The first stage of economic reform.

2) Political reform.

3) Deployment of the policy of publicity.

4) Proclamation of the policy of new thinking in international relations.

— Stage III, 1990-1991, "late restructuring":

1) The second stage of economic reform, an attempt to move to a regulated market economy.

2) The loss of the CPSU monopoly on power, the formation of political pluralism.

3) Deepening disintegration processes, the beginning of the disintegration of the union state.

The results of the restructuring.

Negative.

— The collapse of the USSR.

- Aggravation of interethnic relations, interethnic conflicts.

- Economic crisis.

- The fall standard of living population.

— Growth of social tension.

— Weakening of the international positions of the USSR and its legal successor Russia.

— Reducing the defense capability of the USSR and the former Soviet republics.

Positive.

— Gaining independence by Russia and other republics of the former USSR.

— Creation of conditions for the transition from a totalitarian regime to a democratic one.

— Creation of conditions for the transition from a command-administrative to a market economy.

— Liquidation of the world system of socialism.

— The end of the Cold War, the reduction of the threat of a new world war.

Reasons for the failure of the perestroika policy.

— Exhaustion of the Soviet totalitarian system of its potential.

— The lack of a well-thought-out program of transformations among the top leadership of the country and the constant adjustment of reforms.

— The inconsistency and mistakes of the Soviet leadership in carrying out reforms.

- Resistance to the policy of Perestroika on the part of the conservative party nomenklatura.

- Weakening of the leading role of the CPSU as the main instrument of management of the multinational Soviet society.

— Loss of people's trust, loss of the social base by the reformers.

- Unjustified hopes for material and financial assistance from the West.

The lessons of perestroika.

- The large-scale transformations planned by the country's leadership should:

1) Be thoughtful, justified and consistent.

2) Have resource support.

3) Conducted by a strong central authority.

4) Have a broad social base, take into account the interests of most social strata.

5) Be designed for a long period, and not for short-term results.

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Reasons for the failure of perestroika under Gorbachev

The political behavior of M. S. Gorbachev must certainly have some universal formula. After all, if a person invades various spheres of life, but equally unsuccessfully, then in addition to the specific causes of failure, there must be a certain fundamental vice, even turning good into evil.

AT good intentions Perhaps no one doubts M. S. Gorbachev, even those who today portray the president as an insidious politician and intriguer, almost a conspirator and a candidate for dictatorship.

Let us recall what MS Gorbachev had to start with. The country trailed behind the world's political socio-economic, scientific and technical processes, gradually turning from a great power into a third-rate state, the power of which is measured mainly by its nuclear missile potential. It was clear that it would be incredibly difficult to bring the country out of stagnation.

Those who take the courage and responsibility to start the process of change need to have not only political wisdom, but also political courage.

MS Gorbachev, of course, understood what a difficult fate he was choosing for himself. His train of thought was correct, and he found an adequate form of expression for them: "Everyone begins perestroika at his place." Among perestroika aphorisms that Mikhail Sergeyevich is so generous with, I consider this formula to be the key one, capable of explaining a lot both in political behavior and in the fate of Gorbachev. He decided to rebuild the party and the country at the same time, trying along the way to mold himself politician new type.

Well, the game was worth the candle, but the implementation of the plan turned out to be beyond the power of Mikhail Sergeyevich. The task was too difficult, and the shackles of the ideas learned in the depths of the old party structures about what constitutes the authority and influence of a political leader fettered thought and action. While MS Gorbachev was ripening for yet another "bold" decision, it was time to change him for something else, sometimes directly opposite. As a result, much was done out of place, late or, conversely, prematurely, with a devastating effect for Gorbachev himself and his political authority. Having overestimated himself and failed to carry out personal restructuring on the necessary scale, MS Gorbachev was bound to find himself in the unenviable role of a universal deceiver. What is it, his fault or trouble?

Now let's try to figure it out: who supported MS Gorbachev in such a situation? Very few.

The CPSU - to the extent that MS Gorbachev, being in power, will try to prevent political genocide against the party.

So called democratic forces- to the extent that it is able to restrain the aggressiveness of the conservative movement, which builds its policy on the use of growing difficulties, which today are considered by many to be the result of the amateurish actions of the "democrats".

Professional, creative, youth, women's unions and mass organizations - to the extent that they share the positions of the democratic or conservative wing.

Church - insofar as MS Gorbachev does not prevent the growth of its activity and influence among the population.

Public opinion - only to the extent that it fears that the policy of the one who can replace Gorbachev will be even more destructive.

Numerous groups of "non-formalists" - to the extent that they believe that, until they finally take shape, it will be better if the reins of government remain in the hands of MS Gorbachev.

And who was against Gorbachev? The same forces, but now depending on what programs they have to bring the country out of the crisis, since absolutely everyone is convinced that MS Gorbachev will not be able to do this. The process of destruction of his political image, the fall of authority and influence has become irreversible. Too many mistakes and miscalculations have been made over the past six years, and unverified political moves have been made.

In this situation, only the fear of the “Rights” that the “Lefts” will win, and the fear of the “Lefts” that the “Rights” will win, helps MS Gorbachev to stay in power. There is practically no political center capable of attracting at least some forces to itself in the country. The situation is unique, in fact, a dead end. Gorbachev's own attempts to find a way out of it are obviously doomed. Those who did not understand this before are beginning to realize now, after the process of forming a new presidential rati has begun, together with which MS Gorbachev has already promised to resign if the situation cannot be stabilized, to achieve changes for the better.

This statement only indicates that the president is politically disoriented and, it seems, demoralized. Otherwise, he would have to know that in the foreseeable future, neither he nor anyone else will be able to do something that could be considered as a stabilization of the situation, and even more so as a radical turn for the better. The development of events is out of control, and in the current situation, no one will be able to predict what next "bomb" will explode on the country's political training ground. But whatever happens, the blame for it will be placed on MS Gorbachev, on the Cabinet of Ministers that he is forming. Whoever enters it, it is certainly clear that there will not be a single really noticeable person who knows his political worth. I do not rule out that it was precisely for these reasons that A. N. Yakovlev and E. A. Shevardnadze, as well as some authoritative experts from the team of presidential advisers, distanced themselves from the president.

By mid-1990, the Soviet leadership decided to introduce private ownership of the means of production. The dismantling of the foundations of socialism began. The President was offered several economic programs for the transition to a market economy. The most famous of them was the program called “500 days”, created under the guidance of a young scientist G. Yavlinsky. The government of the USSR also proposed its program. The programs differed mainly in the degree of radicalization and determination. 500 days aimed at a quick and decisive transition to the market, the bold introduction of various forms of ownership.

The government program, without denying the need for a transition to market relations, sought to stretch this process for long time, leave a significant public sector in the economy, pervasive control over it by the central bureaucratic bodies. The President gave preference to the government's program. Its implementation began in January 1991, with the exchange of 50 and 100 ruble bills in order to withdraw money acquired illegally from the point of view of the authorities, as well as to reduce the pressure of the money supply on the consumer market.

The exchange took place in a short time. There were long queues at the savings banks. People had to prove the legitimacy of their savings. Instead of the planned 20 billion rubles, the government received only 10 billion rubles from this operation. On April 2, 1991, prices for foodstuffs, transport, and utilities were increased by 2-4 times. There was a drop in the living standards of the population.

According to the UN, by the middle of 1991, the USSR ranked 82nd in the world on this indicator. The official decision of the Soviet leadership on the transition to a market economy allowed the most enterprising and energetic people to create the country's first legal private business firms, trade and commodity exchanges.

A layer of entrepreneurs appeared in the country and began to be realized, although the existing laws did not allow them to expand their activities in the production of goods.

Perestroika: causes of failure.

The bulk of private capital found its application in trade and money circulation. The process of privatization of enterprises was extremely slow.

On top of that, there was the emergence of unemployment, crime, racketeering. By the end of 1991, the Soviet economy was in a catastrophic situation. The fall in production accelerated. The national income compared to 1990 has decreased by 20%. The state budget deficit, i.e., the excess of government spending over income, was, according to various estimates, from 20% to 30% of gross domestic product (GDP). The growth of the money supply in the country threatened to lose state control over the financial system and hyperinflation, i.e. inflation over 50% per month, which could paralyze the entire economy. Failures in the economy increasingly undermined the position of the communist reformers led by Gorbachev.

The anti-alcohol campaign can be attributed to the undoubted evidence of a failure in the economy. The initial idea of the reform was very positive - to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed per capita in the country, to begin the fight against drunkenness. But as a result of too radical actions in this direction anti-alcohol campaign led to disastrous results:

1. Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign and the subsequent abandonment of the state monopoly led to the fact that most of income went into the shadow sector. In the 90s, a lot of start-up capital was put together by private traders on "drunk" money. The treasury quickly emptied.

2. Cutting down the most valuable vineyards, as a result of which the disappearance of entire sectors of industry in some republics of the USSR (Georgia, etc.)

3. Growth of drug addiction, substance abuse, home brewing

4. Multi-billion budget losses

Summing up the above, it should be said about why, in our opinion, perestroika failed. There are several reasons for this:

1. Starting perestroika, MS Gorbachev intended, first of all, to carry it out in the party. And this was his fatal mistake.

2. He promised to crush political and economic totalitarianism, open the way for economic recovery and improve the well-being of the people. In the sixth year of perestroika, the main links of the command-administrative system were largely preserved. At best, in a slightly modified form.

3. Even before perestroika, Mikhail Sergeevich, being the initiator of the development of another program - food, promised by 1990 to provide an abundance of agricultural products and goods. But until now, no one knows where the billions of rubles spent on the implementation of the "abundance program" disappeared.

4. At the dawn of perestroika, MS Gorbachev assured that it would lead to prosperity for every republic included in the Union. Now the USSR has turned into a conglomerate of warring republics. In many regions, it actually came to a civil war.

5. And finally, Mikhail Sergeevich, starting perestroika, declared his commitment to the ideals of freedom, humanism, democracy, and human rights. However, instead of democratic bodies of power, people got a president who, the less he achieves, the more powers he demands for himself. Laws were replicated by dozens and were not enforced. A powerful wave of crime has swept the country.

The only law that allowed Soviet people breathe a sip of freedom, the Press Law is also under threat. At the suggestion of the president, everyone wanted to suspend its action or, in any case, limit it. Premonitions and moods this intention gave rise to gloomy, basically anti-Gorbachev. The skeptics, who at the dawn of perestroika wrote the lines: "Comrade, believe me, it will pass, the so-called glasnost, and then the state security will remember our names," gloated. Once again, M. S. Gorbachev made an unforgivable mistake, speaking about the flaws not so much of his political consciousness, but of his ordinary, everyday one - a genie released from a bottle cannot be driven back by force.

However, in both of his incarnations, with a shyness between reformism and retrograde, with a step forward and two steps back, he was still a man, as if he had come from another world, and not from the provincial Stavropol Territory. After the old general secretaries, exhausted by illnesses, ignorant leaders "from the peasants", a man appeared before the country and the world, who, against the background of the rest of the elders there, looked, despite his early baldness, almost a boy.

Yes, even with a university education, overwhelmed by ideas and wanting to change something. Society, accustomed to semi-underground, semi-dissident conversations in the kitchen, was surprised to find that Gorbachev, who at the age of 49 became a member of the Politburo, whom we considered either an outstanding careerist or an intelligent peasant, not touched by insanity, speaks for hours without a piece of paper and, as we believe, that you can't live like this anymore. He travels all over the country, talks to people, violating all the canons of the Soviet protocol and the prohibitions of the security service, does not hide his love for his wife, who almost always travels with him.

This was quite enough to fall in love with almost the entire country, weaned from normal life, accustomed to fear and despise the authorities. He gave people hope and freedom.

There are many reasons for the fact that almost universal adoration has been replaced by an equally unanimous hostility. Well, it is clear now that Gorbachev did not want to lead the USSR to the victory of "capitalist" labor! And no matter what was said today, he did not even think about Social Democracy.

Perhaps he was thinking about Dubcek, about the kind of socialism that could not be built in Czechoslovakia. Most likely, in the process of reforms, political and economic, at some point he realized with horror that the system is unreformable and the crossing of the Soviet administrative machine with elements of democracy is impossible due to the resistance of the old, but still powerful party structures, due to weakness and the passivity of society. Due to the fact that practice inexorably proved that socialism "with a human face" is impossible, and his old university friend Zdenek Mlynarzh was wrong, real socialism happens only with the totalitarian face of the Gulag and total deficit. Due to the fact that his only political competitor, created by himself, Boris Yeltsin understood all this and, resolutely rejecting the old dogmas, was not afraid to break with the party apparatus and rely on the "street".

Gorbachev only wanted to open the floodgates and initially tried to control democratization and dose glasnost. And at times he behaved like a typical provincial party boss of the Khrushchev-Brezhnev era. So it was after Chernobyl disaster when the authorities followed the principle: "if you don't tell anyone anything, no one will know." And when he threatened to fire the editor of Arguments and Facts, who dared to print a political rating that was not very flattering for Gorbachev. And when he gave a scolding to Moskovsky Novosti, which published an obituary for the "anti-Soviet" Viktor Nekrasov. However, it became increasingly difficult to cope with pressure within society.

The dam broke.

The process that "started" was akin to an uncontrolled chain reaction. And gradually, everything for which the people fell in love with Gorbachev began to cause only irritation: he doesn’t know how to stop, he speaks like a broken record, and for some reason he drags his wife along with him, and lagged behind life, and surrounded himself with mediocrities like Yanaev. They wanted a clear position and real movement in one direction or another from him. And he offered more and more new compromises that are not permissible in a revolutionary era. He tried to appear centrist, thus masking his fear and indecision. As a result, the nomenklatura hated him, and the Democrats turned their backs on him. The former considered him a traitor to corporate interests. The latter reproached him for abandoning the 500 Days program, despised him for believing in the intimidation of the KGB, and finally could not forgive him for the blood of Tbilisi, Baku and tanks in the Baltics.

In launching the reforms, Mikhail Gorbachev proceeded from the premise that the party-Soviet administrative system is, in principle, quite suitable for building a bright future, it only needs to be slightly repaired, made more flexible, and given "humanity". Gorbachev until the very last moment refused to come to terms with the idea that the Soviet state machine was fundamentally vicious, that no major overhaul, let alone cosmetic, would fix it. He never admitted that his main opponent, who hampered the reforms, which took so much effort and money to fight (the struggle each time ended in another consensus), was not the intelligentsia that took to the streets of Moscow, and the nationalists who were not excited all over the country, and especially not Boris Yeltsin. His opponent was always the nomenklatura apparatus, which saw in any undertaking of the Secretary General a threat to its existence - guaranteed rations and special sanatoriums.

The rigid vertical of the totalitarian regime did not imply feedback, since the very fact of discussion, and even more so of challenging the given order, undermined its foundations.

And most importantly, the Soviet political system absolutely no internal competition. Suitable for managing a society of total unanimity, it began to fall apart as soon as Gorbachev tried to instill in it individual elements democracy.

Historically, the USSR repeated the fate of multinational empires, which naturally came to their collapse.

The collapse of the USSR was also the result of the impact of objective and subjective causes. Among the first group of prerequisites:

— accumulating national contradictions of the Soviet period;

- the failure of the economic reforms carried out during the Gorbachev period;

- the crisis of communist ideology and the weakening of the role of the CPSU with the subsequent liquidation of its party-political monopoly, which formed the basis of the USSR;

- the movement for the national self-determination of the republics, which began in the course of perestroika.

Representatives of local political elites, leaders of national movements also set as one of the main goals the task of gaining republican independence and real sovereignty.

Consequences of the collapse of the USSR were difficult for the peoples of all the former Soviet republics. The political and economic ties between the republics, which had centuries-old historical and cultural traditions, were broken.

Another consequence of the collapse of the multinational state was the aggravation of interethnic relations on the territory of the post-Soviet republics, which led to the emergence of territorial conflicts in many regions of the former USSR (between Azerbaijan and Armenia; Georgia and South Ossetia, later Abkhazia, Ingushetia and North Ossetia, etc.) . The ethnic conflict in Tajikistan escalated into a civil war. There was a problem of refugees. A new acute problem was the position of the Russian-speaking population in the national republics.

During the period of perestroika in Soviet society, it was finally destroyed the Soviet communist system. Society has become open to the outside world.

On the wave of democratization in the USSR political pluralism, multi-party system took shape, began to emerge civil society, carried out separation of powers.

Perestroika was destined to be the last in the 20th century.

The failure of perestroika. The flaws of the system or the mistakes of the leaders?

attempt to reform the socialist system.

The global consequences of the collapse of the USSR will be determined by history.

Conclusion

1980s - early 1990s - a period of world history, which was characterized by major changes in international relations, socio-economic and political development. In the capitalist states, a new upsurge of the economy was observed. Against this background, perestroika in the USSR became the central event.

In April 1985, at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, as a strategic goal of the new Soviet leadership headed by M.S. Gorbachev and society as a whole, a course was proclaimed to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country, democratization and glasnost. The goals of perestroika were more clearly defined at the January Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1987). This is "the renewal of all aspects of the life of our society, the imparting to socialism of the most modern forms of social organization, the most complete disclosure of the creative potential of the socialist system." The new domestic and foreign policy of the Soviet leadership significantly changed the situation in society and in the world. As a result of the implementation of the idea of new political thinking in foreign policy, the Soviet Union began to quickly turn from a “closed” country into a country of broad contacts.

studopedia.org - Studopedia.Org - 2014-2018. (0.001 s) ...

Hello perestroika everyone!Today I decided to complete the topic of the post-war development of the USSR with the topic “perestroika in the USSR”, in which you will learn a lot of new things and systematize your knowledge. After all, systematization is the most important thing in remembering the main historical events for each period ...

So, we remember that we have a plan for the disclosure of any topic: causes, reason, course of events and results. The chronological framework of perestroika is 1985-1991.

Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

1. The systemic socio-economic crisis caused by the arms race in the foreign policy of the USSR, the financial dependence of the socialist countries on Soviet subsidies. Unwillingness to change the command-administrative system of management in accordance with the new conditions - in domestic policy ("stagnation").

2. There were also accompanying prerequisites and reasons for perestroika in the USSR: the aging of the Soviet elite, average age who was within 70 years; omnipotence of the nomenklatura; rigid centralization of production; shortage of both consumer goods and durable goods.

All these factors led to the realization of the changes necessary for the further development of Soviet society. These changes began to be personified by M. S. Gorbachev, who became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU in March 1985.

The course of events of perestroika in the USSR

To uncover and assimilate the topic, you need to remember a number of processes that are embodied in the era of perestroika in the USSR. The first of these is publicity. Publicity manifested itself in the weakening of censorship, in the legalization (legality) pluralism when alternative, other points of view on the development of the USSR began to be recognized in politics. It became possible to freely discuss the political, socio-economic and cultural life countries. The consequence of glasnost was the emergence of many one-day parties, alternative publications, etc.

Glasnost led to the fact that, in March 1990, Article 6 of the USSR Constitution on the leading role of the CPSU in society was canceled. This led to the split of the CPSU into a number of parties. A prominent role in the political life of the country from the first days of its creation was played by the Communist Party of the RSFSR (KPRF) and the Russian Party of Communists (RKP). The Russian Communist Workers' Party (RKRP) took shape. On the initial stage activities, they all saw their main task in returning to the communist ideology (taking into account the changes that had taken place in the country), as well as in strengthening the role of the state in economic life.

The next process is accelerating socio-economic development. The essence of acceleration - was announced at the April plenum of the Central Committee (Central Committee) of the CPSU ( Communist Party Soviet Union) in 1985. Acceleration was understood as a greater integration of science and technology, decentralization of management in the economy, development of the private sector of the economy with the dominance of the public sector so far.

In essence, it was about replacing the command-administrative system of management with a mixed one. From the course of social science you should know the signs of all three types of management;). Acceleration led to the emergence of laws "About general principles Entrepreneurship in the USSR”, “On Cooperatives”, “On the State Enterprise”. However, these measures did not lead to the expected effect.

In foreign policy, perestroika in the USSR during the reign of M.S. Gorbachev led to the so-called "velvet revolutions". The fact is that glasnost and the weakening of censorship revealed not only socio-economic problems and contradictions within the camp of socialism, but also to the growth of nationalist sentiments in the countries of this camp.

In 1989, the Berlin Wall collapsed, Germany began to unite into one state. The Cold War has ended. In countries where there were socialist regimes, liberal-democratic regimes are emerging, there is a breakthrough to market and mixed economic systems. The camp of socialism finally collapsed in 1989-90, when the countries of the socialist camp declared themselves sovereign, the phenomenon of "Parade of sovereignties". The United States issued a medal for victory in the cold war.

The collapse of the USSR occurred December 6, 1991 in Belovezhskaya Pushcha(BSSR) a meeting of the leaders of the three sovereign states of Russia (BN Yeltsin), Ukraine (L. Kravchuk) and Belarus (S. Shushkevich) was held. On December 8, they announced the termination of the union treaty of 1922 and the end of their activities state structures former Union. At the same time, an agreement was reached on the creation of the CIS Commonwealth of Independent States. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist.

The results of perestroika in the USSR

1. The weakening of the command-administrative system of management and an attempt to transform it led to an explosion of political, socio-economic and nationalist contradictions that were formed throughout the entire previous development of the USSR.

2. The arms race and other prerequisites mentioned above led to uncontrolled processes in the internal political development of the USSR.

3. All these factors led to the collapse of the USSR. Also, do not forget that American President Ronald Reagan began to call the USSR - "Evil Empire" 😉

4. Of course, there were also subjective reasons. One of them is the desire to destroy everything at once, which, in my opinion, is characteristic of most Russians. We need everything at once! This psychology was confirmed, in particular, by the program of S.S. Shatalin and G.A. Yavlinsky "500 days", providing for 500 days to move from a command-administrative system to a market one! It is absurd, in my opinion, to blame the collapse of the USSR only on M.S. Gorbachev or exclusively on "American intelligence" - this is a household level.

A systemic crisis has been brewing in the country for a long time, and it manifested itself. Yes, if you have 90% of the power and you want to destroy the system, you will destroy it - and it’s not even a question! But in my opinion, the reasons for the collapse of the USSR were laid down under I.V. Stalin, when people were accustomed to obey the center, which a priori had to have not only 90% of power and 100% of authority. It is not the fault of the further leaders of the USSR that they did not have it.

In general, this is such a difficult topic. I will devote further posts to such related topics at the intersection of history and social science as the development of Russia in the 90s and global problems of our time. I certainly know that now school curriculum includes topics almost up to 2012. This, in my opinion, is nonsense, because history is events that took place at least 20-25 years ago ... Everything else is pure political science and sociology! Well, okay - let's figure it out.

You, of course, my dear reader, can leave comments on this post, express your point of view for the specified period! Do not forget to subscribe to the following posts of the site!

Perestroika jokes

The era of perestroika in the USSR remained in people's memory as the collapse of a great country. And of course, in order to overcome this difficult event, people created jokes that are both funny and sad at the same time. But they also help to understand the essence of the era.

— And what did your plant do before perestroika?
- Produced tanks.
- And now?
— And now we make baby carriages.
- Well, how do they buy?
- They buy, only some picky mothers complain that it is inconvenient to pull a child through the tower

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