Notes for World History
COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM (1)
Gorbachev came to power in 1985. He was determined to transform the country. He intended to achieve this by modernizing and streamlining the Communist Party with new policies of glasnost( openness) and perestroika ( restructuring).
Gorbachev did not want to end communism; he wanted to replace the existing system, which was still basically Stalinist, with a socialist system which was humane and democratic.
Gorbachev’s new policies
- Glasnost: Glasnost was seen in areas such as human rights and cultural affairs. For instance, there was a new freedom in news reporting, anti-Stalin films and novels were allowed.
- Economic affairs : New methods of economic management were applied. For instance, small-scale private enterprises were allowed.
- Political changes : Moves towards democracy within the Party began. For instance, members of local soviets were now to be elected by the people.
COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM (2)
What went wrong with Gorbachev’s policies?
- Opposition from radicals who thought that reforms were not drastic enough and conservatives who felt that reforms were too drastic.
- The economic reforms did not produce results quickly enough.
- Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika encouraged states of Soviet Union to seek independence.
- There was increasing rivalry between Gorbachev and Yeltsin.
The coup of 1991
- As the political and economic crisis deepened, Gorbachev and Yeltsin tried to work together but failed and Yeltsin resigned from the Communist Party.
- Gorbachev was now losing control: many of the republics were demanding independence.
- Georgia declared independence: it seemed that the USSR was falling apart.
- However, soon Gorbachev persuaded the republics to form a new voluntary union in which they would be largely independent of Moscow.
- At this point a group of hardline Communists launched a coup to remove Gorbachev and reverse his reforms.
- However, the coup was poorly organized and the leaders failed to have Yeltsin arrested. Yeltsin called on the people for his support and the coup was defeated.
- Impacts of the coup:
- Yeltsin was seen as a hero and Gorbachev was sidelined. Yeltsin ruled the Russian Federation as a separate republic, introducing a drastic programme to move to a free-market economy.
- When Ukraine, the second largest Soviet republic, voted to become independent, it was clear that the old USSR was finished.
- A new union of republics called Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS) was formed. Although the member states were fully independent, they agreed to work together on economic matters and defence.
- Gorbachev resigned as president of USSR.
COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM (3)
Was the communist system reformable?
- Could Russian communism have survived if Gorbachev had followed different policies? Many believe that it could and that if the USSR had followed the same path as China, it would still be communist today.
- The argument is that both Russia and China needed reform in two areas- the Communist Party and govt, and the economy.
- Gorbachev believed these could only be achieved one at a time, and chose to introduce the political reforms first. The Chinese did it the other way round, introducing economic reforms first. This meant that although the people suffered economic hardship, the govt retained tight control over them, unlike Gorbachev.
The legacy of communism
- Most historians feel that the achievements of communism are outweighed by its ill effects and yet it did not survive for so long by force alone.
- One important achievement was that the system brought benefits in the form of people from ‘lower-class’ backgrounds who had been excluded from such things under the tsarist regime.
- Education and literacy became more widespread.
- Soviet culture was encouraged and so was sports, performing arts, and science.
- The greatest achievement of communism was that it played a vital role in defeating the evil regime of Hitler and the Nazi.
- After Stalin’s death, the system brought a certain stability and an improved standard of living for the majority of its people.
- On the other hand, the Soviet system left behind a whole range of problems. The whole system was rigid and over- centralized and the country was overburdened with its vast military expenditure.
