The significance of perestroika in history. Who benefited from perestroika in the USSR?

Perestroika- the general name for the totality of political and economic changes carried out in the USSR in 1986-1991. During perestroika (from the second half of 1989 - after the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR), the political confrontation between the forces advocating the socialist path of development and parties and movements linking the future of the country with the organization of life on the principles of capitalism, as well as on issues of the future appearance of Soviet Union, relationships between union and republican bodies of state power and administration.

By the beginning of the 1990s, perestroika ended with an aggravation of the crisis in all spheres of society, the elimination of the power of the CPSU and the collapse of the USSR.

Term

On April 8, 1986, M. S. Gorbachev visited Togliatti, where he visited the Volzhsky Automobile Plant. At his speech in Togliatti, Gorbachev used the word “perestroika” for the first time to denote the socio-political process. The term was picked up by the media and became the slogan of the outbreak new era in USSR. Gorbachev’s subsequently published speech was entitled “Restructure faster, act in a new way”:

1985-1989

Background

In March 1985, M. S. Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

At the April Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in 1985, Gorbachev’s supporters became full members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee: Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee E.K. Ligachev and N.I. Ryzhkov, Chairman of the KGB of the USSR V.M. Chebrikov; candidate member of the Politburo - Marshal of the Soviet Union, Minister of Defense S. L. Sokolov. A “Gorbachev majority” is emerging in the Politburo.

Gorbachev's opponents were gradually removed from the Politburo: G. V. Romanov (July 1985), N. A. Tikhonov (October 1985), V. V. Grishin (December 1985), D. A. Kunaev (January 1987), G. A. Aliev (October 1987), V. I. Dolgikh (September 1988), P. N. Demichev (September 1988), M. S. Solomentsev (September 1988).

They were replaced by proteges of the new General Secretary: A. N. Yakovlev, who was one of the most staunch supporters of reforms, V. A. Medvedev, A. I. Lukyanov, B. N. Yeltsin (Yeltsin was subsequently expelled from the Politburo on February 18 1988). During 1985-1986, Gorbachev renewed the composition of the Politburo by two-thirds, 60% of the secretaries of regional committees and 40% of the members of the CPSU Central Committee were replaced.

Domestic policy

At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee on April 23, 1985. Gorbachev announced plans for broad reforms aimed at a comprehensive renewal of society, the cornerstone of which was called “acceleration of social economic development countries".

At a Politburo meeting in April 1986, Gorbachev first announced the need to hold a Plenum on personnel issues. Only there it was possible to make a fundamental decision to change personnel policy. In June 1986, at a meeting with secretaries and heads of departments of the CPSU Central Committee, Gorbachev said: “Without a “small revolution” nothing will come of it in the party, because real power lies with the party bodies. The people will not carry around an apparatus that does nothing for perestroika.”

At the XXVII Congress of the CPSU (February-March 1986), Gorbachev stated: “The issue of expanding glasnost is of fundamental importance for us. This is a political issue. Without glasnost there is and cannot be democracy, political creativity of the masses, their participation in governance.” The media began to gain more freedom in describing existing problems. The editors-in-chief were replaced in a number of newspapers and magazines, which subsequently acted most in opposition (“New World”, “Moscow News”, “Arguments and Facts”). Since the end of 1986, previously prohibited materials began to be published. literary works, films that were on the shelves were shown (the first of them was Tengiz Abuladze’s film “Repentance”).

In May 1986, the V Congress of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR opened, at which the entire board of the Union was unexpectedly re-elected. According to this scenario, changes subsequently occurred in other creative unions.

On September 4, 1986, the Glavlit of the USSR issued Order No. 29c, in which censors were instructed to focus on issues related to the protection of state and military secrets in the press, and to inform party bodies only about significant violations in the ideological sphere.

By a resolution of the CPSU Central Committee of September 25, 1986, it was decided to stop jamming the broadcasts of some foreign radio stations (Voice of America, BBC) and increase the jamming of others (Svoboda, Deutsche Welle). On May 23, 1987, the Soviet Union finally stopped jamming radio programs from the Voice of America and some other Western radio stations. The jamming of foreign radio stations in the USSR was completely stopped on November 30, 1988.

In 1987, an Interdepartmental Commission headed by Glavlit of the USSR began its work, which began revising publications with the aim of transferring them from special storage departments to “open” funds.

The policy initiated by the 27th Congress was first called “perestroika” in June 1986. Now it included not only the initially proclaimed acceleration of the country's economic development, but also deeper economic, political and social reforms. The new terminology reflected the deep and comprehensive nature of the changes that had begun.

Despite the individual steps mentioned, there were no serious changes in the life of the country in 1985-86. did not have. The starting point for truly radical reforms should be considered the Plenum on personnel issues, held in January 1987. Its preparation began in the fall of 1986. After much debate and agreement, the final text of Gorbachev’s report at the Plenum included a statement about the need for elections across the entire party vertical from several candidates (the usual practice was to approve candidates proposed from above). In addition, it was stated that party functionaries are obliged to systematically report on the work they have done to those who elected them.

On January 27, 1987, the long-prepared Plenum opened. Gorbachev made a report “On perestroika and personnel policy of the party.” It identified the following areas:

• the beginning of the transformation of the CPSU from a state structure into a real political party (“We must decisively abandon administrative functions that are unusual for party bodies”);

• promotion of non-partisans to leadership positions;

• expansion of “intra-party democracy”;

• changing the functions and role of the Soviets, they were supposed to become “genuine authorities on their territory”;

• holding elections to the Soviets on an alternative basis (elections since 1918 have been a vote for a single candidate for each seat).

Alternative elections to local Soviets took place in the summer of 1987 in many electoral districts, for the first time in the history of the USSR.

In Gorbachev’s speech at the January Plenum, a lot of space was also devoted to publicity. At the same time, he stated that “the time has come to begin developing legal acts that guarantee transparency.” He said: “We should not have areas closed to criticism. The people need the whole truth... We need more light now, more than ever, so that the party and the people know everything, so that we don’t have dark corners where mold would grow again.”

On January 23, 1988, the Pravda newspaper published an article by V. Ovcharenko, “Cobras over Gold,” which presented materials from an investigative team that had been investigating the so-called Cotton Case in Uzbekistan since 1983. Moreover, we were not talking about ordinary cotton growers, but about the highest elite of the party and state leadership of the republic. The article in Pravda became a signal for other Soviet newspapers. There is practically not a single newspaper left, both in the center and locally, that does not expose the corruption of the local party leadership.

In December 1986, A.D. Sakharov and his wife E.G. Bonner were released from exile in Gorky. In February 1987, 140 dissidents were released from prison by pardon. They immediately became involved in public life. The scattered, small dissident movement, which ended its active existence in 1983, was revived again under the slogans of the democratic movement. Several dozen informal, gradually politicized, weakly organized organizations appeared (the most famous of them was the Democratic Union formed in May 1988, which held two anti-communist rallies in Moscow in August-September 1988), the first independent newspapers and magazines.

In 1987-1988, such previously unpublished and banned works as “Children of Arbat” by A. N. Rybakov, “Life and Fate” by V. S. Grossman, “Requiem” by A. A. Akhmatova, “Sofya Petrovna” by L. were published. K. Chukovskaya, “Doctor Zhivago” by B. L. Pasternak.

In 1987, the first non-state television associations were created, such as NIKA-TV (Independent Television Information Channel) and ATV (Association of Authors' Television). As a counterbalance to the dry, official program “Vremya”, nightly editions of TSN appeared. The leaders in this regard were the youth programs “12th Floor” and “Vzglyad”, programs of Leningrad Television.

In 1987, in the film by Sergei Solovyov “Assa”, the song of the rock group “Kino” appears, “We are waiting for changes” to the words of Viktor Tsoi, which became a kind of unofficial anthem of the times of perestroika.

The most important event of 1988 was the XIX All-Union Party Conference of the CPSU, held in June-July. For the first time since the 1920s, delegates actually expressed independent opinions, sometimes allowing themselves to criticize the actions of the party leadership, and this was broadcast on television. The conference, on Gorbachev’s initiative, decided to reform the political system. A fundamental decision was made on alternative elections of deputies to Soviets at all levels. Everyone should have the opportunity to be nominated as candidates.

But at the same time, measures were outlined to preserve the role of the CPSU in the country. Previously, the supreme body of legislative power was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, elected by the population in territorial and national-territorial districts. Now the Supreme Council was to be elected by the Congress of People's Deputies, ? who in turn were to be elected by the population. The remaining 750 people were to be elected by “public organizations,” with the largest number of deputies chosen by the CPSU. This reform was formalized into law at the end of 1988.

The party conference also decided to combine the positions of the head of the party committee and the chairman of the Council at the appropriate level. Since this leader was elected by the population, such an innovation was supposed to bring energetic and practical people to leadership positions in the party, capable of solving local problems, and not just dealing with ideology.

Nationalism and separatism

Conflict in Almaty

In December 1986, after the Kazakh D. Kunaev was removed from the post of first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan and the Russian G. Kolbin was appointed in his place, riots occurred in Almaty. Demonstrations of Kazakh youth who opposed Kolbin (since he had nothing to do with Kazakhstan) were suppressed by the authorities.

Azerbaijan and Armenia

In August 1987, Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijan SSR and constituting the majority of the population in this autonomous region sent to Moscow a petition signed by tens of thousands of people to transfer the autonomous region to the Armenian SSR. In October 1987, protest demonstrations took place in Yerevan against incidents with the Armenian population of the village of Chardakhlu, north of Nagorno-Karabakh, where the First Secretary of the Shamkhor District Committee of the CPSU M. Asadov came into conflict with the village residents in connection with their protests against the replacement of the director of the state farm. Armenian by Azerbaijani. Adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev Abel Aganbegyan speaks out in defense of the idea of ​​​​resubordinating Karabakh to Armenia.

On February 13, 1988, the first rally takes place in Stepanakert, at which demands are made for the annexation of NKAO to Armenia. The Board of Directors created in NKAO, which included the heads of large enterprises in the region and individual activists, decides to hold sessions of city and district Councils, and then convene a session of the regional Council of People's Deputies. On February 20, an extraordinary session of people's deputies of the NKAO appeals to the Supreme Councils of the Armenian SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR and the USSR with a request to consider and positively resolve the issue of transferring the NKAO from Azerbaijan to Armenia. On February 21, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee adopted a resolution according to which the demand for the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh into the Armenian SSR is presented as adopted as a result of the actions of “extremists” and “nationalists” and contrary to the interests of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR. The resolution is limited to general calls for the normalization of the situation, the development and implementation of measures for the further socio-economic and cultural development of the autonomous region.

On February 22, near the Armenian settlement of Askeran, a clash with the use of firearms occurs between groups of Azerbaijanis from the city of Agdam, heading to Stepanakert “to restore order,” and the local population. 2 Azerbaijanis died, at least one of them at the hands of an Azerbaijani policeman. More massive bloodshed was avoided that day. Meanwhile, a demonstration is taking place in Yerevan. The number of demonstrators by the end of the day reaches 45-50 thousand. The Vremya program touches on the topic of the decision of the regional Council of the NKAO, where it is called inspired "extremist and nationalist persons". This reaction from the central press only increases the indignation of the Armenian public. On February 26, a rally is taking place in Yerevan, in which almost 1 million people participate. On the same day, the first rallies begin in Sumgayit. On February 27, Deputy Prosecutor General of the USSR A.F. Katusev, who was then in Baku, appeared on television and reported on the death of two Azerbaijanis in a skirmish near Askeran that occurred on February 22.

On February 27-29, the Armenian pogrom takes place in the city of Sumgait - the first massive outbreak of ethnic violence in modern Soviet history. According to official data from the USSR Prosecutor General's Office, 26 Armenians and 6 Azerbaijanis died during these events (Izvestia, 03/03/1988). Armenian sources indicate that these data are underestimated. Hundreds of people were injured, huge numbers were subjected to violence, torture and abuse, and many thousands became refugees. There was no timely investigation into the causes and circumstances of the pogroms, identification and punishment of provocateurs and direct participants in the crimes, which undoubtedly led to an escalation of the conflict.

The resolutions of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU, adopted in March 1988 regarding the interethnic conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug, did not lead to stabilization of the situation, since the most radical representatives of both conflicting sides rejected any compromise proposals. The majority of members of the regional Council of People's Deputies and the regional party committee supported the demands for the transfer of NKAO from Azerbaijan to Armenia, which were formalized in the relevant decisions of the sessions of the regional council and the Plenum of the regional party committee, headed by G. Poghosyan. In NKAO (especially in Stepanakert), a massive ideological indoctrination of the population unfolded - daily crowded marches, rallies, strikes by collectives of enterprises, organizations, educational institutions region with demands for separation from Azerbaijan.

An informal organization is being created - the Krunk Committee, headed by the director of the Stepanakert Construction Materials Plant Arkady Manucharov. Its stated goals are to study the history of the region, its connections with Armenia, and restore ancient monuments. In fact, the committee takes on the functions of an organizer of mass protests. By decree of the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR, the committee was dissolved, but it continued its activities. A movement to support the Armenian population of NKAO is growing in Armenia. A “Karabakh” committee has been created in Yerevan, whose leaders are calling for increased pressure on government bodies with a view to transferring the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug to Armenia. At the same time, calls continue in Azerbaijan for “decisive restoration of order” in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug. Social tension and national enmity between the Azerbaijani and Armenian populations are increasing every day. In summer and autumn, cases of violence in NKAO become more frequent, and the mutual flow of refugees increases.

Representatives of the central Soviet and state bodies of the USSR are sent to NKAO. Some of the identified problems that have been building up in the national sphere for years are becoming public. The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR urgently adopted the Resolution “On measures to accelerate the socio-economic development of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1988-1995.”

In May 1988, on the initiative of the Shusha district committee of the CPSU, the deportation of the Armenian population from Shusha began. June 14, 1988 The Supreme Council of Armenia agrees to the inclusion of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region into the Armenian SSR. On June 17, 1988, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan decides that Nagorno-Karabakh should remain part of the republic: “In response to the appeal of the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR, the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR, based on the interests of preserving the existing national-territorial structure of the country, enshrined in the Constitution of the USSR “, guided by the principles of internationalism, the interests of the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples, other nations and nationalities of the republic, considered the transfer of NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR impossible.”

In July 1988, multi-day strikes by collectives of enterprises, organizations, educational institutions, and mass rallies took place in Armenia. As a result of a clash between protesters and soldiers of the Soviet Army at Yerevan Zvartnots airport, one of the protesters was killed. Catholicos Vazgen I addresses on republican television with a call for wisdom, calm, a sense of responsibility of the Armenian people, and to end the strike. The call remains unheard. Enterprises and organizations have not been operating in Stepanakert for several months, processions and mass rallies are held every day through the streets of the city, the situation is becoming increasingly tense. As Izvestia correspondents report, strong support is coming from Armenia - hundreds of people leave for Yerevan every day and, conversely, come to Stepanakert (for this purpose, an air bridge has been organized between these cities, the number of flights sometimes reaches 4 - 8 per day).

As of mid-July, about 20 thousand people (more than 4 thousand families) left Armenia for Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan is trying to normalize the situation in areas where Azerbaijanis live densely in Armenia. Refugees from Azerbaijan continue to arrive in the Armenian SSR. According to local authorities, as of July 13, 7,265 people (1,598 families) arrived in Armenia from Baku, Sumgait, Mingachevir, Kazakh, Shamkor and other cities of Azerbaijan.

On July 18, 1988, a meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was held, at which the decisions of the Supreme Councils of the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR on Nagorno-Karabakh were considered and a Resolution on this issue was adopted. The Resolution noted that, having considered the request of the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR dated June 15, 1988 for the transfer of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region to the Armenian SSR (in connection with the petition of the Council of People's Deputies of the NKAO) and the decision of the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR dated June 17, 1988 On the unacceptability of the transfer of NKAO to the Armenian SSR, the Presidium of the Supreme Council considers it impossible to change the borders and the national-territorial division of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR established on a constitutional basis.

In September 1988, a state of emergency and curfew were introduced in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and the Agdam region of the Azerbaijan SSR. In Armenia, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR decided to dissolve the Karabakh Committee. However, attempts by party and government bodies to calm the population have no effect. In Yerevan and some other cities of Armenia, calls continue to organize strikes, rallies, and hunger strikes. On September 22, the work of a number of enterprises and urban transport in Yerevan, Leninakan, Abovyan, Charentsavan, as well as the Etchmiadzin region was stopped. In Yerevan, military units, along with the police, are involved in ensuring order on the streets.

In November - December 1988, mass pogroms took place in Azerbaijan and Armenia, accompanied by violence and killings of civilians. According to various sources, pogroms on the territory of Armenia lead to the death of 20 to 30 Azerbaijanis. According to the Armenian side, in Armenia, as a result of crimes on ethnic grounds, 26 Azerbaijanis died in three years (from 1988 to 1990), including 23 from November 27 to December 3, 1988, one in 1989, two in 1990 . At the same time, 17 Armenians died in clashes with Azerbaijanis in Armenia. In Azerbaijan, the largest Armenian pogroms occur in Baku, Kirovabad (Ganja), Shemakha, Shamkhor, Mingachevir, and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. A state of emergency has been introduced in a number of cities in Azerbaijan and Armenia. At this time there was the largest flow of refugees - hundreds of thousands of people on both sides.

In the winter of 1988-1989, the deportation of the population of Armenian villages in rural areas of the AzSSR was carried out - including the northern part of Nagorno-Karabakh (not included in the NKAO) - the mountainous and foothill parts of the Khanlar, Dashkesan, Shamkhor and Gadabay regions, as well as the city of Kirovabad (Ganja) . At the end of these events, the Armenian population of the Azerbaijan SSR is concentrated in the NKAO, Shaumyanovsky district, four villages of the Khanlar region (Getashen, Martunashen, Azad and Kamo) and in Baku (where it decreased from approximately 215 thousand to 50 thousand people during the year) .

Baltics

In the Estonian SSR, on August 23, 1987, about two thousand supporters of Estonian independence gathered in Tallinn’s Hirve Park to commemorate the next anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentropp Pact.

September 26, 1987 in the newspaper of the Tartu city committee of the Estonian Communist Party “Edasi” ( "Forward") a proposal for economic autonomy for Estonia within the USSR was published, which received significant support in society. A corresponding program was developed, called Economically independent Estonia(est. Isemajandav Eesti, abbreviated IME(MIRACLE)).

On April 13, 1988, during a television talk show, Edgar Savisaar proposed the creation of a Popular Front (est. Rahvarinne) - a socio-political movement that was supposed to contribute to the goals of Gorbachev's perestroika. Such a Popular Front was created.

On June 3, 1988, the “Lithuanian Movement for Perestroika” was created in the Lithuanian SSR, which became known as Sąjūdis.

On June 10-14, 1988, over one hundred thousand people visited the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The events of June-September 1988 went down in history as the “Singing Revolution”.

On June 17, 1988, the delegation of the Communist Party of Estonia at the 19th Party Conference of the CPSU made a proposal to transfer additional powers in all spheres of social, political and economic life to republican authorities.

On September 11, 1988, the musical and political event “Song of Estonia” was held at the Song Hall in Tallinn, which brought together about 300,000 Estonians, that is, about a third of the Estonian people. During the event, a call for Estonian independence was publicly voiced.

Economy

By the mid-80s, all the problems of the planned economy that existed in the USSR worsened. The artificially caused shortage of consumer goods, including food, has intensified. A sharp decline in oil export revenues has led to a shortage foreign currency for imports, including consumer goods. Budget revenues from oil exports decreased by 30% in 1985-1986. According to a number of authors, the USSR's lag in the development of knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy was increasing. Thus, A. S. Narignani wrote in 1985: “The situation in Soviet computer technology seems catastrophic. ... The gap separating us from the world level is growing faster and faster... We are close to the point that now we will not only not be able to copy Western prototypes, but will generally be unable to even keep track of the world level of development.”

At the April 1985 Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, the economic and social problems existing in the USSR were openly announced for the first time. According to M. S. Gorbachev, the country was in a pre-crisis state. The situation was especially difficult in agriculture, where production losses amounted to about 30%. During the procurement and transportation of livestock, 100 thousand tons of products were lost annually, fish - 1 million tons, potatoes - 1 million tons, beets - 1.5 million tons. At the April Plenum, emphasis was placed on technical re-equipment and modernization of production, accelerated development above all mechanical engineering as the basis for the re-equipment of the entire national economy (the so-called “acceleration”).

The “Intensification-90” program adopted in 1986 provided for the accelerated development of the consumer goods sector by 1.7 times compared to other branches of mechanical engineering and, to a certain extent, was a continuation of previous reforms. At the same time, imbalances in investment policy led to the undermining of non-priority industries.

In addition, several poorly thought-out decisions were made during the initial period of perestroika. In May 1985, the Decree of the CPSU Central Committee “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism” was issued. This decision was aimed at resolving both social and economic problems, primarily labor discipline, and was supposed to contribute to the growth of labor productivity and its quality. It was planned to reduce the production of vodka and other alcoholic beverages by 10% per year. By 1988, the production of fruit and berry wines was to be discontinued. These measures led to a decrease in mortality in the country, their economic effect was negative and was reflected in more than 20 billion losses in budget revenues, but several million lives were saved.

At the beginning of 1986, the XXVII Congress of the CPSU took place, at which a number of economic and social programs were adopted, providing for new investment and structural policies. In addition to “Intensification-90”, it was planned to implement such long-term programs as “Housing-2000” and others.

On November 19, 1986, the USSR Law “On Individual Labor Activity” was adopted. On February 5, 1987, the USSR Council of Ministers issued a resolution “On the creation of cooperatives for the production of consumer goods.” On May 26, 1988, the USSR Law “On Cooperation in the USSR” was adopted, which allowed cooperatives to engage in any types of activities not prohibited by law, including trade.

On January 13, 1987, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 48, which allowed the creation of joint ventures with the participation of Soviet organizations and firms from capitalist and developing countries.

On June 11, 1987, Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 665 “On the transfer of enterprises and organizations in sectors of the national economy to full self-financing and self-financing” was adopted. On June 30, 1987, the USSR Law “On State Enterprise (Association)” was adopted, redistributing powers between ministries and enterprises in favor of the latter. Products produced after the government order was completed could be sold by the manufacturer at free prices. The number of ministries and departments was reduced, and self-financing was introduced into all sectors of the national economy. However, granting labor collectives of state-owned enterprises the right to elect directors and granting enterprises the power to regulate wages led to the dependence of enterprise directors on the decisions of labor collectives and an increase in wages that was not ensured by the availability of an appropriate volume of goods on the consumer market.

One of the positive results of economic transformations was the cessation of the decline in the growth rate of national production and labor productivity in the mid-80s. This was largely determined by the growth of investments, which, however, was accompanied by an increase in the budget deficit, which in 1985 amounted to 17-18 billion rubles, and in 1986 almost tripled. The deficit was partly caused by a decrease in foreign exchange earnings, the ongoing Afghan war, the Chernobyl tragedy and losses from the anti-alcohol campaign, but the main reason for the reduction in budget revenues was the gradual decline in the share of profits of enterprises and organizations allocated to the state (the corresponding figure decreased from 56% in 1985 to 36% in 1989-1990).

Even more radical reforms were planned for the period after the 19th Party Conference in 1988.

Foreign policy

Having come to power, M. S. Gorbachev set a course for improving relations with the United States. One of the reasons for this was the desire to reduce exorbitant military spending (25% of the USSR state budget).

However, his first meeting with US President Ronald Reagan in Geneva in the fall of 1985 ended with a less-than-binding solemn Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Nuclear War. On January 15, 1986, the “Statement of the Soviet Government” was published, containing a program for nuclear disarmament by the year 2000. The USSR called on the leading countries of the world to join the moratorium on nuclear tests observed by the Soviet Union since the summer of 1985 and to gradually reduce various types of nuclear weapons.

Soviet policy in Afghanistan was subject to some adjustments, where the USSR replaced the country's leadership in May 1986. The new PDPA General Secretary M. Najibullah proclaimed a course towards national reconciliation and adopted a new Constitution, according to which he was elected president of Afghanistan in 1987. The Soviet Union sought to strengthen the position of the new leadership in order to subsequently begin the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country.

In October 1986, a meeting between Soviet and American leaders took place in Reykjavik, which marked the beginning of a new foreign policy course for the USSR. M. S. Gorbachev proposed to R. Reagan to eliminate all medium-range missiles, while the Soviet Union made greater concessions than the United States. Although the initiative of the Soviet leadership was not supported by the American side, this statement had a great international resonance.

In 1987, the Warsaw Pact countries developed a new, purely defensive military doctrine, providing for the unilateral reduction of weapons to the limits of “reasonable sufficiency.” Resistance to the new course in foreign policy by individual representatives of the military leadership was prevented by a purge in the army after the unimpeded landing on May 28, 1987 of the plane of German citizen Matthias Rust on Red Square. On May 30, 1987, Army General D. T. Yazov became the new Minister of Defense, replacing S. L. Sokolov in this post.

The main ideas of the new foreign policy course were formulated by Gorbachev in his book “Perestroika and New Thinking for Our Country and for the Whole World,” published in 1987. According to Gorbachev, all ideological and economic differences between the world systems of socialism and capitalism must give way to the need to protect universal human rights. values. In this process, leading countries must sacrifice their interests in favor of smaller countries, the common goals of peace and détente, due to the fact that mutual goodwill is needed to survive in the nuclear age.

In addition to M. S. Gorbachev himself and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR E. A. Shevardnadze, a major role in the development and implementation of the concept of “new thinking” was played by A. N. Yakovlev, who since September 1988 held the position of Chairman of the CPSU Central Committee Commission on International Affairs politicians.

Since 1987, the intensity of the confrontation between the USA and the USSR began to decline sharply, and in the next 2-3 years the confrontation completely subsided. However, the weakening of the confrontation was achieved largely due to the compliance of the Soviet leadership. M. S. Gorbachev and his entourage made significant concessions when concluding the Short-Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (signed on December 8, 1987 at a meeting between R. Reagan and M. S. Gorbachev in Washington); their passivity contributed to the overthrow of communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in the second half of 1989; in particular, they did not interfere with the unification of Germany.

1989-1990

Domestic policy

In March 1989, elections were held for the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, the first elections of the highest authority of the USSR in which voters were given a choice between several candidates. Discussion of election programs (including on television debates) became a genuine breakthrough towards freedom of speech and real political struggle.

The First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR opened on May 25, 1989. On the very first day of the Congress, it elected Gorbachev Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The meetings of the congress were broadcast on television, and many citizens of the USSR closely followed them.

On the last day of the Congress, in a relative minority, radical deputies formed the Interregional Group of People's Deputies (group co-chairs: A. D. Sakharov, B. N. Yeltsin, Yu. N. Afanasyev, G. Kh. Popov, Anatoly Sobchak, V. Palm ). They advocated accelerating political and economic transformations in the USSR, for a radical reform of Soviet society, and in relation to their opponents - deputies who voted in accordance with the line of the CPSU Central Committee - they used the stable phrase “aggressively obedient majority.”

On December 12 - 24, 1989, the Second Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR took place. At it, the radical minority, which was headed by Yeltsin after the death of Sakharov during the Congress, demanded the abolition of Article 6 of the USSR Constitution, which stated that “the CPSU is the leading and directing force” in the state. In turn, the conservative majority pointed to the destabilizing disintegration processes in the USSR and, consequently, to the need to strengthen the powers of the center (the “Union” group).

In 1989, the first significant miners' strike in the USSR began in the city of Mezhdurechensk.

In February 1990, mass rallies were held in Moscow demanding the abolition of Article 6 of the USSR Constitution. Under these conditions, Gorbachev, during the break between the Second and Third Congresses of People's Deputies of the USSR, agreed to the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution, while simultaneously raising the issue of the need for additional powers of the executive branch. The III Congress on March 15, 1990 abolished Article 6, adopted amendments to the Constitution allowing a multi-party system, introduced the institution of the presidency in the USSR and elected M. S. Gorbachev as President of the USSR (as an exception, the first President of the USSR was elected by the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, and not by popular vote) .

In March 1990, elections were held for people's deputies of the union republics (elections to the Supreme Councils of the Baltic republics took place earlier, in February 1990) and for local Councils of People's Deputies.

With the adoption of the “USSR Law of 09.10.1990 No. 1708-1 on public associations”, it became possible for official registration of organizations other than the CPSU political parties, the first of which were the DPR, SDPR and RPRF registered by the Ministry of Justice of the RSFSR on March 14, 1991.

In the RSFSR, unlike other republics, a two-tier system of legislative bodies was created, similar to that existing at the level of the Union - people's deputies at the Congress elected a permanent Supreme Council from among themselves. In the elections of people's deputies of the RSFSR, supporters of radical reforms, united in the “Democratic Russia” bloc, achieved significant success. The number of deputies who at the Congresses of People's Deputies of the RSFSR in 1990-91 voted in support of radical reforms in at least 2/3 of cases was 44% (in some important votes - more than half), and the share of conservative communists was 39- 40%.

On May 14, 1990, the First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR opened. On May 29, after voting three times, he elected B. N. Yeltsin Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR (B. N. Yeltsin received 535 votes, A. V. Vlasov - 467 votes).

On June 12, 1990, with 907 votes in favor and only 13 votes against, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the “Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the RSFSR.” It declared that “to ensure political, economic and legal guarantees of the sovereignty of the RSFSR, the following is established: the full power of the RSFSR in resolving all issues of state and public life, with the exception of those that it voluntarily transfers to the jurisdiction of the USSR; the supremacy of the Constitution of the RSFSR and the Laws of the RSFSR throughout the territory of the RSFSR; the validity of acts of the USSR that conflict with the sovereign rights of the RSFSR is suspended by the Republic on its territory.” This marked the beginning of a “war of laws” between the RSFSR and the Center.

On June 12, 1990, the USSR Law “On the Press and Other Media” was adopted. It prohibited censorship and guaranteed freedom for the media.

The process of “sovereignization of Russia” leads on November 1, 1990 to the adoption of the Resolution on the Economic Sovereignty of Russia.

During the period under review, various parties were formed. Most parties operated on the territory of one union republic, which contributed to the strengthening of separatism in the union republics, including the RSFSR. The majority of the newly formed parties were in opposition to the CPSU.

The CPSU was experiencing a serious crisis during this period. The XXVIII Party Congress (July 1990) led to the withdrawal of its most radical members, led by Yeltsin. The size of the party in 1990 decreased from 20 to 15 million people, the Communist parties of the Baltic states declared themselves independent.

The IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR approved constitutional changes that gave Gorbachev additional powers. There was an actual resubordination to the President of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR. The post of Vice-President was introduced, to which the Congress elected G.I. Yanaev. Instead of V.V. Bakatin, B.K. Pugo becomes the Minister of Internal Affairs, E.A. Shevardnadze as Minister of Foreign Affairs was replaced by A.A. Bessmertnykh.

Economy

In 1989, a new Government of the USSR was formed, headed by N.I. Ryzhkov. It included 8 academicians and corresponding members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, about 20 doctors and candidates of science. The new Government initially focused on the implementation of economic reforms and fundamentally different management methods. In this regard, the structure of the Government changed significantly and the number of line ministries was significantly reduced: from 52 to 32, that is, by almost 40%.

In May 1990, N.I. Ryzhkov spoke at a meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a report on the economic program of the Government. Ryzhkov outlined the concept of transition to a regulated market economy developed by the “Abalkin Commission”. It included price reform. This speech led to an emergency situation in Moscow trade: while Ryzhkov was speaking in the Kremlin, everything in the city was sold out: a month's supply of vegetable and butter, a three-month supply of pancake flour, 7-8 times more grain than usual was sold, instead of 100 tons of salt - 200 .

A wave of rallies swept across the country demanding not to raise prices. Mikhail Gorbachev, who repeatedly promised that prices in the USSR would remain at the same level, distanced himself from the government program. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR postponed the implementation of the reform, inviting the Government to finalize its concept.

In June 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Resolution “On the concept of the transition to a market economy,” and in October 1990, “The main directions for stabilizing the national economy and the transition to a market economy.” The documents provided for gradual demonopolization, decentralization and denationalization of property, the establishment of joint-stock companies and banks, and the development of private entrepreneurship.

In December 1990, the government of N.I. Ryzhkov was dismissed. The Council of Ministers of the USSR was transformed into the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, headed by Prime Minister V.S. Pavlov. But the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers in 1991 boiled down to a twofold increase in prices from April 2, 1991 (they, however, remained regulated), as well as to the exchange of 50- and 100-ruble banknotes for banknotes of a new type (Pavlov’s Monetary Reform). The exchange was carried out over only 3 days on January 23-25, 1991 and with serious restrictions. This was explained by the fact that shady businessmen allegedly accumulated huge sums in large banknotes.

The USSR economy in 1991 was experiencing a deep crisis, which was expressed in an 11% decline in production, a 20-30% budget deficit, and a huge external debt of $103.9 billion.

Nationalism and separatism

Armenia and Azerbaijan

On May 27, 1990, an armed clash occurred between Armenian “self-defense units” and internal troops, resulting in the death of two soldiers and 14 militants.

middle Asia

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

Chronology of events

1985

• May 7, 1985 Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, eradicate moonshine.”

1986

• May 23, 1986 Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers “On measures to strengthen the fight against unearned income.”
• On November 19, 1986, the USSR Supreme Council adopted the USSR Law “On Individual Labor Activity”.

1987

• May 6, 1987 The first unauthorized demonstration of a non-governmental and non-communist organization - the Memory Society in Moscow.
• On June 25, 1987, the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee considered the issue “On the party’s tasks for a radical restructuring of economic management.”
• June 30, 1987 The USSR Law “On State Enterprise (Association)” was adopted.
• July 30, 1987 The “Law on the procedure for appealing to the court against unlawful actions of officials” that infringe on the rights of a citizen was adopted
• August 1987 For the first time, unlimited subscription to newspapers and magazines.

1988

• March 13, 1988 Article by N. Andreeva in “Soviet Russia” - “I cannot compromise on principles”
• May 26, 1988 The law “On Cooperation in the USSR” was adopted.
• June 28 - July 1, 1988 XIX All-Union Conference of the CPSU, which adopted resolutions “On some urgent measures to practical implementation reform of the country’s political system”, “On the progress of implementing the decisions of the XXVII Congress of the CPSU and the tasks of deepening perestroika”, “On the democratization of Soviet society and reform of the political system”, “On the fight against bureaucracy”, “On interethnic relations”, “On openness”, "On legal reform."
• July 28, 1988 Decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces “On the procedure for organizing and holding meetings, rallies, street processions and demonstrations in the USSR” and “On the duties and rights of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs when protecting public order.”
• September 5, 1988 The trial of Yu. M. Churbanov and others began (September 5 - December 30).
• September 30, 1988 - At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, the largest “purge” of the Politburo since Stalin’s times takes place.

1989

• January 1989 The first free nomination of candidates to the people's office began. dep. THE USSR.

1990

• Spring 1990 The “Law on Property in the USSR” was adopted

Events after perestroika

International changes

• Withdrawal of medium- and short-range missiles from Europe
• Nuclear weapons reduction
• Collapse of the USSR
• Collapse of the socialist camp and the Warsaw Pact (according to the Protocol on the complete termination of the Treaty on July 1, 1991)
• Unification of Germany followed by withdrawal of Soviet troops
• End of the Afghan War with the withdrawal of Soviet troops (February 15, 1989)
• Restoration of diplomatic relations with Albania (July 30, 1990) and Israel (January 3, 1991)

Introduction of democratic freedoms

• Freedom of speech.
• Glasnost, abolition of censorship.
• Pluralism of opinions.
• Freedom of movement of citizens abroad.
• Introduction of pluralism of power and abolition of the one-party system.
• Allowing private entrepreneurship and private property.
• Ending the persecution of Russian Orthodox Church and other religious organizations.

National conflicts, wars and incidents

• Zheltoksan
• Karabakh war
• Sumgayit pogrom
• Khojaly massacre
• Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
• South Ossetian conflict
• Civil War in Georgia
• Civil war in Tajikistan
• Chechen conflict
• Transnistrian conflict
• Ossetian-Ingush conflict
• in Uzbekistan (conflict with Meskhetian Turks)
• in Kyrgyzstan (conflict in Fergana)

Changes in the economy and domestic life

• Anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR 1985-1987.
• The spread of cooperatives, and subsequently the introduction of free enterprise
• USSR miners' strike in 1989
• Currency reform of 1991 (Pavlovsk reform)
• Washing out of goods from stores, and subsequently hyperinflation
• Reducing the country's gold reserves tenfold
• Economic growth fell from +2.3% in 1985 to a recession (decline) of -11% in 1991
• Devaluation of the national currency from 0.64 rubles per US dollar to 90 rubles per US dollar
• Increase in external debt at least three times,

Changes in the CPSU

• Withdrawal of “elders” from the Politburo (09/30/1988)
• Withdrawal of “elders” from the CPSU Central Committee (04/24/1989)

Disasters

Since the beginning of perestroika in the USSR, natural and man-made disasters have received great public attention, although sometimes with serious delays due to attempts by party structures to hide information:

• July 10, 1985 - Tu-154 of Aeroflot airlines (flight Tashkent-Karshi-Orenburg-Leningrad), entering a tailspin, crashed near the city of Uchkuduk (Uzbekistan). 200 people died. This is the largest plane crash in terms of the number of victims that occurred on the territory of the USSR.
• April 26, 1986 - Chernobyl accident - several dozen died from radiation, 200 thousand people were displaced
• August 31, 1986 - shipwreck of the steamship Admiral Nakhimov 423 dead
• December 7, 1988 - Earthquake in Spitak 25,000 dead
• June 3, 1989 - Train accident near Ufa 575 dead
• April 7, 1989 - sinking of the nuclear submarine "Komsomolets" 45 dead

Terrorist attacks

On March 8, 1988, the Ovechkin family hijacked a Tu-154 plane flying from Irkutsk-Kurgan-Leningrad.

Criticism

There are several versions of why perestroika did occur. Some scholars argue that perestroika was largely a breeding ground for property grabs by the Soviet elite, or nomenklatura, who were more interested in "privatizing" the state's vast fortune in 1991 than in preserving it. Obviously, actions were carried out from both one side and the other. Let us dwell in more detail on the second catalyst for the destruction of the Soviet state.

One of the possible versions is even put forward that the Soviet elite actually had a minuscule amount in comparison with what the elite of the poor banana republics have, and in comparison with what the elite of developed countries owns. Based on this, it is argued that even in Khrushchev’s times, part of the party elite set a course for changing the Soviet system, with the goal of turning from managers into owners of state property. Within the framework of this theory, no one planned to create any free market economy.

Some researchers (for example, V.S. Shironin, S.G. Kara-Murza) see the victory of perestroika primarily as a product of the activities of Western intelligence services, which, with the help of their extensive network of “agents of influence” and external pressure, cleverly exploited the shortcomings and miscalculations in the economic and state building of the USSR for the destruction of the Soviet Union and the entire socialist camp. “Agents of influence” acted according to the scenario described by V. M. Molotov back in the early 1930s: “ they sought to plan individual industries in such a way as to achieve the greatest disproportion between them: they reduced planning assumptions and exaggerated difficulties, invested excessively in some enterprises and retarded the growth of others. By making ineffective expenses and immobilizing capital, ... they hoped to lead the Soviet state to a financial crisis and the breakdown of socialist construction A".

The Soviet way of life developed under the influence of specific natural and historical circumstances. Based on these circumstances, the generations that created the Soviet system determined the main selection criterion - the reduction of suffering. On this path, the Soviet system achieved world-recognized successes; the main sources of mass suffering and fear were eliminated in the USSR - poverty, unemployment, homelessness, hunger, criminal, political and ethnic violence, as well as mass death in a war with a stronger enemy. For this, great sacrifices were made, but already in the 60s, stable and growing prosperity arose. An alternative criterion was the criterion of increased pleasure. The Soviet way of life was created by generations who endured difficult trials: accelerated industrialization, war and reconstruction. Their experience determined the choice. During perestroika, its ideologists convinced the politically active part of society to change their choice - to follow the path of increasing pleasures and neglecting the danger of mass suffering. We are talking about a fundamental change, which is not limited to a change in the political, state and social structure (although it is inevitably expressed in them)

Although this choice was not directly formulated (more precisely, attempts to formulate it were suppressed by the leadership of the CPSU, which determined access to the podium), the statements associated with it were very transparent. Thus, the requirement to make a massive flow of funds from heavy industry to light industry has acquired the character not of an economic decision, but of a principled one. political choice. The leading ideologist of perestroika, A. N. Yakovlev, stated: “ What is needed is a truly tectonic shift towards the production of consumer goods. The solution to this problem can only be paradoxical: to carry out a large-scale reorientation of the economy in favor of the consumer... We can do this, our economy, culture, education, the whole society has long since reached the required starting level».

The reservation that “the economy has long since reached the required level” was not checked or discussed by anyone; it was immediately discarded - it was only about a tectonic shift. Immediately, through the planning mechanism, a sharp reduction in investment in heavy industry and energy was carried out (the Energy Program, which brought the USSR to the level of reliable energy supply, was discontinued). Even more eloquent was the ideological campaign aimed at curtailing the defense industry, created in the USSR precisely on the basis of the principle of reducing suffering.

This change in the criterion for living conditions contradicted the historical memory of the Russian people and the insurmountable restrictions imposed by geographical and geopolitical reality, the availability of resources and the level of development of the country. To agree to such a change was to reject the voice of common sense. (S. G. Kara-Murza, “Manipulation of Consciousness”)

The following statistics support the above theory:

The ideologists of perestroika themselves, who are already retired, have repeatedly stated that perestroika did not have any clear ideological basis. However, some activities dating back to at least 1987 cast doubt on this view. While at the initial stage the official slogan remained the common expression “more socialism,” a latent change in the legislative framework in the economy began, which threatened to undermine the functioning of the previous planned system: the actual abolition of the state monopoly on foreign economic activity (for example, Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers of December 22, 1988 No. 1526 “on approval of the regulations on self-supporting foreign trade organizations...”), revision of the approach to the relationship between government bodies and manufacturing enterprises(USSR Law “On State Enterprise (Association)” dated June 30, 1987).

Methodological approaches to the analysis of perestroika

The Marxist theory of socio-economic formations, as it was interpreted in the USSR, was based on the presence universal scheme development of all countries and peoples, which meant the successive replacement of primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist, socialist, communist formations. Moreover, each subsequent formation was declared more advanced than the previous one. This scheme allowed that certain peoples could bypass or not know this or that social formation, but all of them, in one way or another, moved along a given path. But the transition from socialism to capitalism does not fit into this scheme.

The events that took place in the USSR after 1985 led to the fact that many of those who adhered to the formational approach abandoned it and turned to the search for other theoretical approaches to the historical process. Those who remained faithful to this orthodox Marskyist approach (representatives of the communist and nationalist camps) assessed the historical changes that had taken place as “unnatural” and resorted to explanations designed to prove the “artificial” nature of the collapse of socialism in the USSR. They see the reason for what happened in the machinations of the United States, and the “agents of influence” of the United States in the USSR itself. This theory can be classified as a conspiracy theory due to its failure to acknowledge the real and underlying causes of events.

According to many representatives of Western Marxist thought, the method of replacing the capitalist formation with a socialist one, which was realized in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, does not correspond to the teachings of Marx and is in blatant contradiction with it. A striking example of such an interpretation can be the works of the American socialist Michael Harrington. He wrote that Marx considered the transition from a capitalist formation to a socialist one as possible only if all the material and spiritual prerequisites for this had matured. But the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia grossly violated this fundamental postulate of Marxism and the result was sad: “the socialization of poverty could only establish a new form of poverty.” Instead of overcoming the alienation of workers from the means of property, political power, and spiritual values, the regime that triumphed in Russia imposed new forms of alienation and therefore Harrington defined it as “anti-socialist socialism.” From these assessments, the conclusion is drawn that the collapse of socialism in the USSR is a consequence of an attempt to jump over the historical stages of the replacement of capitalism with socialism, and post-Soviet countries must go through those stages of “maturation” to socialism that the Bolsheviks tried to bypass. Moreover, such a prominent Marxist theorist as Karl Kautsky wrote back in 1918 in connection with the revolution in Russia: “Strictly speaking, the ultimate goal for us is not socialism, but the destruction of every type of exploitation and oppression, regardless of class, gender or race...In this struggle we set the socialist mode of production as our goal because, under modern technical and economic conditions, it is the best way achieving our goal. If it were proven to us that we are mistaken and that the liberation of the proletariat and humanity is achieved in general and even more expediently on the basis of private ownership of the means of production, as Proudhon already thought, then we would reject socialism, without at all rejecting our final goal. Moreover, we would have to do it in her best interests. Democracy and socialism differ not in that the first is a means, and the second is an end; they are both means to the same end."

Supporters of the theory of modernization draw attention to the fact that Soviet leaders unwittingly recognized Western civilization as the most advanced, at least technologically and economically, and therefore the USSR tried to copy Western technological and organizational models. During perestroika, it became clear that the possibilities for reform and ensuring progressive development on a socialist basis for the USSR had been exhausted, and as a result, the need arose to borrow capitalist mechanisms, as well as the democratic structure of the state.

In works of art

• The famous Russian emigrant philosopher Alexander Zinoviev wrote the book “Catastroika” in the 1990s, in which he described the process of the collapse of the centuries-old Russian state called the USSR. After the book’s publication, the term “catastrophe” began to be used in the Russian media to refer to perestroika itself.

By the mid-80s, the USSR found itself in a deep economic, political and social crisis.

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

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

In March 1985, after the death of K. Chernenko, the youngest member of the Politburo, M.S., was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Gorbachev. In April 1985, under his leadership, the next Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee 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”. In the history of perestroika, four periods are clearly distinguishable.

• Stage 1 - March 1985-January 1987. This stage took place 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. A period of “confusion and vacillation.” It is characterized by a split in the formerly united camp of perestroika, a transition to 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 CPSU Central Committee in 1985, a course was proclaimed to “accelerate the socio-economic development” of the USSR on the basis of the rapid development of mechanical engineering.

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

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

The Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee, issued in 1985, “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism,” caused a particularly wide resonance. The consequence of its implementation was a sharp increase in prices for vodka and a reduction in the time of sale of alcoholic beverages in stores. The results were immediate: huge queues for alcohol appeared in stores, people switched to moonshine (in 1987, 1.4 million tons of sugar was spent on making moonshine, or the annual budget for its consumption in Ukraine with a population of 50 million). Crime caused by drunkenness has left the streets and entered the family.

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

In January 1987, the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee was held, which marked the beginning of significant changes in the economic and political life of the USSR, which can rightfully be called reforms.
The development of economic reforms was determined by two trends: expanding the independence of state-owned enterprises and expanding the scope of action of the private sector of the economy. In 1986, the Law on Individual Labor Activity was adopted, which legalized private enterprise 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 owners” appeared.

In 1987, the State Enterprise Law was adopted, according to which state-owned enterprises were transferred to self-financing, self-sufficiency and self-financing, could independently enter into 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 made according to the principle of one step forward, two steps back. Private owners and cooperators were heavily taxed (65%); by 1991, no more than 5% of the working-age population was employed in the cooperative sector; in rural areas, 2% of 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 meant “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 being “a return to 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, and Orwell began to be published. Koestler. The programs “The Twelfth Floor”, “Vzglyad”, “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 CPSU Central Committee authorized such innovations in the socio-political life of the country as alternative elections of heads of enterprises and secret voting in the election of secretaries of party committees.

The political reforms themselves were initiated by the 19th All-Union Party Conference (summer 1988). At the conference, M. Gorbachev proposed 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 the creation of the post of President of the USSR was approved. This reform led to the establishment of a new system of 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 of the market, political pluralism, the rule of law, civil society, and new thinking in foreign policy have become firmly established in the political lexicon.

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

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

In contrast to the program of the Council of Ministers, in the summer of 1990 the “500 days” plan, developed under the leadership of S. Shatalin - G. Yavlinsky, was announced. 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, which also did not work. The crisis was growing. M. Gorbachev's authority in the country began to rapidly decline.

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, and in 1988 the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began.

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

At the end of 1989, within almost one month, communist parties in Eastern European countries lost power (mostly peacefully). Impressive proof of the USSR's abandonment of its previous 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.

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, you and I remember that we have a plan for covering any topic: reasons, occasion, course of events and results. The chronological framework of perestroika is 1985 - 1991.

Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

1. 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. Reluctance to change the command-administrative economic system in accordance with new conditions - in domestic politics (“stagnation”).

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

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

The course of events of perestroika in the USSR

To reveal and assimilate the topic, you need to remember a number of processes that were embodied in the era of perestroika in the USSR. The first of them is publicity. Publicity manifested itself in the weakening of censorship, in 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 of the country. The consequence of glasnost was the emergence of many fly-by-night 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 abolished. This led to the split of the CPSU into a number of parties. A noticeable 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 (RCP). The Russian Communist Workers' Party (RCWP) took shape. At the initial stage of their activity, they all saw their main task as returning to communist ideology (taking into account the changes that had taken place in the country), as well as strengthening the role of the state in economic life.

The following process is acceleration of socio-economic development. The essence of acceleration was announced at the April plenum of the Central Committee (Central Committee) of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) in 1985. Acceleration was understood as 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 for now.

In essence, it was about replacing the command-administrative economic system with a mixed one. From the social studies course you should know the signs of all three types of management;). Acceleration led to laws “On the general principles of entrepreneurship in the USSR”, “On cooperatives”, “On state enterprises”. 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 socialist camp, but also led to the growth of nationalist sentiments in the countries of this camp.

In 1989, the Berlin Wall collapsed and Germany began to unite into one state. The Cold War is over. In countries where there were socialist regimes, liberal-democratic regimes are emerging, and there is a breakthrough towards 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.

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

Results of perestroika in the USSR

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

2. The arms race and other prerequisites indicated above led to uncontrollable 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 the “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’s “500 days”, which provides for a transition from a command-administrative system to a market system in 500 days! 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 an everyday level.

A systemic crisis has been brewing in the country for a long time and it has 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 even under I.V. Stalin, when people were accustomed to obey the center, which a priori should have had not only 90% of power and 100% of authority. It is not the fault of the subsequent 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. Of course, I know that now the school curriculum includes topics almost up to 2012. This, in my opinion, is nonsense, because history is events that happened at least 20-25 years ago... Everything else is pure political science and sociology! Well, okay - we'll figure it out.

You, of course, my dear reader, can leave comments on this post and state your point of view on the specified period! Don't forget to subscribe to the following posts on 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 were funny and sad at the same time. But they also help to understand the essence of the era.

— What did your plant do before perestroika?
- Released tanks.
- And now?
— And now we make baby strollers.
- Well, how about they buy it?
— They buy it, only some picky mothers complain that it’s inconvenient to pull the child out through the tower

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