Historical interpretations: What explains the fall of the USSR, c. 1985–91? Flashcards
(48 cards)
1
Q
What were the long term economic weaknesses of the Soviet economy?
A
- From 1928 until the late 1980s the Soviet economy was essentially a command economy.
- One major problem was that the Soviet economy failed to create incentives for hard work or innovation. From 1945 to 1980 the Soviet Union was increasingly egalitarian – the difference between the richest and the poorest was much smaller than in the West.
- A second problem was waste. Gosplan, the State Planning Committee, measured and rewarded production. The quality of production was irrelevant, as was the proportion that was actually used. Therefore, although large amounts of goods were produced, they were often waste.
- Next, the Soviet economy had never been fully modernised. This was a particular problem in agriculture. Although there were too many tractors, Soviet agriculture lacked more sophisticated machinery.
- The Soviet economy also struggled due to the arms race with the US. From 1945, Russia produced ever more expensive missiles, nuclear bombs, tanks and fighter planes.
- A final chronic problem was centralisation. The economy was controlled by government administrators. In farming, for example, the government set the timetable for planting and harvesting. As a result, farmers could not use their expertise to adjust the schedule to take weather conditions into account.
2
Q
What were the three aims of Perestroika?
A
- Rationalisation, 1985–86: This was a period of initial economic reforms. Led by the Communist Party, the reforms were designed to stimulate economic modernisation, higher rates of economic growth and higher levels of production.
-
Reform, 1987–March 1990: Gorbachev initiated reforms intended to introduce market forces into the Soviet economy. At the same time he initiated
political reforms designed to build support for greater economic change. - Transformation, March 1990–August 1991: During this stage of perestroika Gorbachev began to abandon the fundamental aspects of the system such as single-party rule and the command economy.
3
Q
What was the economic initiative of acceleration and why did it fail?
A
- In essence, acceleration meant a huge increase in investment which was designed to modernise the Soviet economy and therefore make it more efficient.
- Acceleration failed. A major reason was the decline in the global **price of oil88. The oil price fell from $70 a barrel in 1981 to $20 a barrel in 1985. As a result, Soviet oil revenues dropped by more than two-thirds.
- Therefore Gorbachev financed acceleration from borrowing from Western countries.
- Therefore the investment did not lead to greater growth. Increasing levels of debt meant that the government was spending more and more money on interest payments. Consequently, there was less money for further modernisation or to produce consumer goods.
4
Q
What was the 1987 Law on State Enterprise in relation to partial market reform and why did it fail?
A
- It was intended to devolve power from central government to factory management. For example, factory managers were allowed to set the prices for their production.
- This reform failed in two ways.
- Firstly, very little power was actually devolved as Gosplan found new ways of maintaining central control.
- Secondly, the ability to charge higher prices meant that the government had to pay more for goods, which further increased government debt.
5
Q
What was the 1987 Law on Co-operatives in relation to partial market reform?
A
- The 1988 Law on Co-operatives made it legal to set up large-scale private companies. By 1990 nearly 200,000 private companies, or co-operatives, had been set up across the USSR. Many co-operatives were successful. In the first year, the turnover of the co-operatives increased from 29.2 million roubles to 1.04 billion roubles.
- Moreover, the incomes of co-operative members were between two and three times higher than people employed by state enterprises.
6
Q
What were the problems with the market due to Perestroika?
A
- From 1987 to 1990 Gorbachev’s economic reforms created a partial market. Gorbachev hoped that he could combine the best features of the market with the best features of planning and in so doing revive the economy.
- However, markets require prices that accurately reflect the true value of goods and services. The Communist Government subsidised prices – allowing consumers to buy goods at a price well below the market rate.
- Initially, the new co-operatives could sell goods at a price of their choosing. But these were more expensive than state prices, making them unpopular.
- The government responded by imposing low prices on the co-operatives. This ‘price capping’ made production uneconomic .
7
Q
Why did partial market reform create economic chaos?
A
- The reforms undermined the central planning system, while at the same time failing to create an effective market alternative. As a result, there was no effective way of distributing goods, and shortages of essential goods increased.
- Although Soviet farms had produced 218 million tons of grain, there was no longer an effective distribution system.
8
Q
How did Gorbachev’s economic reforms fail?
A
- Government figures showed that between 1986 and 1990 GDP had shrunk by four per cent, although the official figures are likely to underestimate the drop. This was the worst economic performance in Soviet history.
- The economic chaos had political consequences. Price rises led to widespread dissatisfaction with the Communist Government:
- Gorbachev’s approval rating dropped from 52 per cent in December 1989 to 21 per cent in November 1990.
- The number of strikes increased.
9
Q
What was the ‘500 Day Programme’?
A
- It proposed widespread privatisation and complete marketisation in less than two years.
- Gorbachev initially supported the proposals, but under pressure from senior hardline communists he backed down.
- He remained committed to an economic transformation, but was persuaded that it should happen at a slower pace.
- Ultimately, radical reform continued during 1991. However, the government did not adopt an overall plan, largely because of Gorbachev’s refusal to act decisively.
10
Q
What reforms were made in 1991 to step towards a freee market?
A
- The Supreme Soviet introduced private property as an important step towards a free market economy. As a result, the Soviet people could own land and factories in a way that had been impossible since the 1920s.
- In April, a law was passed to allow citizens to trade stocks and shares. Again, this reform was designed to revitalise the economy through the introduction of market forces.
11
Q
How did the Soviet economy collapse by 1991?
A
- Oil production fell by 9 per cent, while steel and tractor production both fell by 12 per cent. An official government report stated that the Soviet economy was moving beyond crisis to catastrophe.
- By the summer of 1991, the Soviet Government and the republican governments were effectively bankrupt.
12
Q
Why was political reform problematic?
A
- Crucially, any policy which weakened the authority or discipline of the Party risked weakening the Soviet Union, as the Communist Party held the Union together.
- True democracy could lead to the fall of Communism.
- In essence, the Soviet people became increasingly aware of the corruption of Party officials. Nonetheless, in general terms, the Soviet people tolerated the government as the Party was improving living standards year on year.
13
Q
What were Gorbachev’s political objectives?
A
- He wanted to end the stagnation of the Brezhnev
period, including the corruption of senior members
of the Party. - He also wanted to end the cynicism and apathy of the Soviet people.
- He wanted to open up debate within the Party, allow intellectuals more freedom of expression and allow the public to have more access to information.
14
Q
What were Gorbachev’s early political reforms?
A
- Gorbachev’s first priority as General Secretary was to replace the senior officials who had been close to Brezhnev. He appointed young communists, who supported reform, to senior positions.
- He hoped that democratisation would limit the power of traditionalists and therefore speed up economic reform. He also hoped that democratisation would end strict centralisation by passing some power to the people.
- Gorbachev hoped openness would help economic recovery by ending the distortion of economic information.
15
Q
What programme did the Twenthy-Seventh Party Congress set out?
A
- Gorbachev’s new programme committed the Party to the ‘systematic and all round improvement of socialism’, including ‘genuine democracy – power exercised for the people and by the people’.
- However, there were few signs of genuine openness at the Party Congress. Nor did Gorbachev set out detailed proposals for achieving the Party’s new goals.
16
Q
What was the result of Liberalisiation of the media?
A
- Newspapers began to publish accounts of the scale of Stalin’s atrocities, as well as stories that admitted problems in the Soviet economy. Yakovlev permitted the publication of previously banned books, plays and films by anti-communist intellectuals.
- Gorbachev also authorised the release of dissidents from prison. Indeed, in December 1986 he invited Andrei Sakharov to Moscow from exile in Gorky to support political reform.
17
Q
How was glasnost extended between 1987 and 1988?
A
- Initially, the media had criticised Stalin. However, in 1988 Aleksandr Tsipko, supported by Yakovlev, went much further, publicly criticising Marx and Lenin. Tsipko’s criticisms attacked the foundations of Soviet Communism.
18
Q
What were the consequences of glasnost?
A
- Fundamentally, glasnost destabilised party rule because it permitted profound criticism of the Party that Gorbachev had not anticipated.
- Moreover, groups in the Soviet republics began to demand not merely reform, but independence from the Soviet Union.
19
Q
What did Gorbachev introducing multi-candidate elections to the Supreme Soviet lead to?
A
- From 1989 onwards, Soviet citizens had the right to vote in elections where there was a choice of Communist Party candidates. Independent candidates could also stand for election.
- In multi-candidate elections 1500 of the Congress of People’s Deputies would be elected.
- The remaining 750 would be appointed by the Communist Party and other official organisations.
- Equally, multi-candidate elections did not allow citizens to vote for different political parties.
- Gorbachev hoped that the Soviet people would back radical candidates and in so doing provide a mandate for further reform.
20
Q
How was the election of 1989 was an important step in reducing the power of the Communist Party?
A
- As a result of the election, the communists won 80 per cent of the seats in the Congress of People’s Deputies.
- Yeltsin won with 89 per cent of the vote in Moscow.
- Soon after the election a group of newly elected deputies, including Yeltsin and Sakharov, formed the Inter-regional Deputies’ Group (IRDG), which embraced a radical anti-communist agenda including the introduction of private property and greater autonomy for the republics.
21
Q
How did the election of 1989 have consequences on Gorbachev?
A
- Nationalists who wanted to break up the Soviet Union used the election to campaign for independence. In Georgia, these campaigns resulted in violence.
- Yeltsin emerged from the election as a popular figure and a rival to Gorbachev. Indeed, Yeltsin’s desire to replace the Soviet Union with a loose confederation of truly independent states was extremely popular with nationalists across the Soviet Union, and therefore a threat to the Soviet Union.
22
Q
What were the anti-communist trends seen in the Republic elections of 1990?
A
- In Moscow, for example, a group called Democratic Russia won 85 per cent of the seats.
- Similarly, in Leningrad the group Democratic Elections 90, another new anti-communist group, took 80 per cent of the seats.
23
Q
Why did Gorbachev create the Presidency as Constitutional reform?
A
- First, he wanted to increase his power. Democratisation had weakened his position. He had hoped that democratisation would give him a power base independent of the Party.
- However, while democratisation had given the Supreme Soviet new authority, Gorbachev was **not able to control88 the new institution.
- Therefore he decided to set up a new position, President of the Soviet Union, which would be independent of the Party and the Supreme Soviet.
24
Q
Why did Gorbachev’s Presidency lack legitimacy?
A
- Gorbachev decided that the President would be appointed by the Congress of People’s Deputies, where he had a majority of support.
- While this ensured Gorbachev’s appointment as President, it meant that Gorbachev lacked democratic legitimacy, unlike his rivals who, like Yeltsin, had been elected to their positions.
25
Why was the way Gorbachev used his powers as President problematic?
- Following his appointment Gorbachev was given **emergency powers for 18 months** in order to deal with the economic crisis and with growing unrest in the republics.
- On occasion, Gorbachev used his new powers to **censor the press, or to use Soviet troops to restore order**, particularly in the non-Russian republics. As a result, Gorbachev was criticised by radicals for abandoning reform and introducing a new form of **dictatorship**.
26
How did the Soviet Union keep nationalism at bay between 1917-85?
- First, each republic had its **own government system**. Republican governments tended to be dominated by people of each republic. These people owed their power and wealth to the Soviet system and therefore they tended to be **loyal**.
- While governments were dominated by local people other important organisations were not. The **secret police and the army were always dominated by Russians and kept under strict central control**. Therefore the Soviet Government was always ready to deal with unrest through terror or military action.
27
Why did the idea of 'Soviet nationalism' not work?
- Soviet nationalism’ was unpopular in many of
the non-Russian republics because, it was based on **Russian values and traditions**.
- Therefore non-Russians were expected to renounce their existing customs, traditions and language and assimilate by adopting Russian customs. In that sense, ‘Soviet nationalism’ was based on the assumption of **Russian superiority and the inferiority of other cultures**.
28
How did cadre change and anti-corruption campaigns lead to an increase in nationalism?
- Andropov and Gorbachev both argued that effective government was more important than **representative government.** Rather they argued that all government posts should go to the best candidates.
- In practice this meant that Andropov and Gorbachev **replaced existing leaders** in the non-Russian republics with Russians.
- The economic change happened at the same time that Gorbachev was **replacing local leaders with Russians**. The economic decline became associated with the new Russian leadership, whereas economic growth was associated with the previous generation of local leaders.
- As the economy declined, the **inequalities between the new privileged Russian leaders** and the people they ruled became obvious.
29
30
How did Glasnost lead to a rise of nationalism?
- It exposed the ways in which Stalin’s government had **persecuted non-Russian people**.
- It allowed Soviet people to see **how much higher
Western standards of living** were than those within the
Soviet Union. The Soviet economy had improved living standards compared to the 1920s or 1930s. However, compared to the West living standards were still poor. Therefore Glasnost undermined the perception that the Soviet Union had benefited people in the republics.
- It allowed **nationalist groups to publish material** that demanded greater autonomy.
31
How did the Sinatra Doctrine lead to an increase in nationalism?
- Gorbachev rejected the Brezhnev Doctrine in August 1989, renouncing the Soviet Union’s ‘right’ to intervene in the affairs of other socialist countries. Rather, he argued that different countries could all follow their own path to Communism.
32
How did communism fall across Europe in 1989?
- In Poland and Hungary new leaders won democratic elections; in Czechoslovakia and East Germany there were peaceful revolutions against communist rule. The destruction of the Berlin Wall, which began on 9 November 1989, symbolised the end of Soviet control of Eastern Europe.
33
How did Democratisation aid nationalists?
- Many nationalists gained majorities in several of the republic’s parliaments in the elections of 1990. These elections led to the first major nationalist challenge to the Soviet Union since 1921.
- Yeltsin took this process further by insisting, in May 1990, that laws made by the Russian parliament were legally superior to Soviet laws
- Further evidence that nationalism was on the rise in Russia was the re-emergence of the old Russian flag and the double headed eagle – the symbol of the old Russian monarchy.
34
What was the Tblisi massacre and what consequences did it have?
- On 9 April 1989 Georgian nationalists protested against the rights of the Abkhazian minority. On this occasion Soviet troops attempted to restore order by force. Consequently, Soviet forces **killed 19 Georgian protestors** and wounded thousands more.
- The massacre led to concern among nationalists in all of the republics that the Soviet Government was prepared to use **lethal force to stop nationalism**.
- The government refused to take responsibility for the killings and blamed local military leaders. As a result, military commanders became increasingly **unwilling to use force against protestors**.
35
How was Russian nationalism spurred on?
- The Soviet Union and Soviet leaders were blamed for the onset of the economic crisis. Therefore, from 1988 there was a growing demand for a change that put Russia first.
- Nationalism also flourished among groups established to protect national monuments. Protecting national monuments and traditional buildings was part of a bigger movement to protect Russian culture and re-evaluate the past. Indeed, some Russians began to argue that **Tsarism had been a better system than Communism**. Moreover, as the economic and political crisis deepened a minority of Russians began to back **extremist movements which were openly anti-Semitic and nationalistic**.
36
What were the results of the referndum proposed by Gorbachev to propose a reformed union?
- Six of the republics, including the Baltic republics, refused to participate. However, **76 per cent of voters** in the remaining nine republics backed a new union.
- On the basis of the referendum, Gorbachev reached a provisional agreement in April 1991. The so-called **9+1 agreement** was designed to establish a federation of independent states with a single president.
- In June 1991, Russia took another step away from the Soviet Union by electing its own president. Yeltsin won the election with 57 per cent of the vote, beating the communist candidate who only gained 16 per cent.
37
What were the reasons for the Coup happening?
- Gorbachev’s new Union Treaty did not have the support of hardliners in the Party. Gorbachev’s conservative opponents thought that the new treaty allowed the republics to have too much power.
- The plotters stated that their goal was to stop the break-up of the Soviet Union and to restore law and order.
38
What consequences did the Coup have?
- Gorbachev’s position weakened. His statement following the coup indicated that he was significantly out of touch with majority opinion.
- Moreover, the coup further weakened the Party as it showed that senior Party figures wanted to reverse democratisation.
- Yeltsin’s authority grew. He emerged as the defender of democracy. His actions following the coup won him even greater support.
- The coup led to the break-up of the Soviet Union. Consequently, the coup destroyed the treaty establishing a Union of Sovereign States.
- The coup led to the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Eleven of the 15 former Soviet republics joined the CIS on 21 December 1991.
39
Why are Gorbachev's reforms an important cause of the break-up of the Soviet Union?
- In 1985 extensive reform was **not necessary**. The Soviet Union was experiencing decline, not a crisis. Therefore Gorbachev played an important role in the fall of the Soviet Union because he introduced reform in spite of the fact that he was not under immediate pressure to do so.
- Gorbachev’s reforms themselves **created the crisis** that led to more reforms and the ultimate break-up of the Union.
- Gorbachev was prepared to embrace more **radical reforms** as time went on.
- By 1990 Gorbachev was prepared to abandon the essential features of Soviet Communism, the very features that **held the Soviet Union together.**
40
Why is Gorbachev westernising the USSR a factor leading to the collapse?
- Gorbachev endorsed a number of Western values that previous leaders had rejected. First, he embraced the **importance of human rights**.
- Gorbachev also embraced **pluralism** by allowing Soviet citizens to form their own groups and stand for election. Pluralism was a step towards Western multi-party politics and a step away from the single-party state. Indeed, in March 1990 Gorbachev removed Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution.
- Finally, Gorbachev also renounced violence as a method for holding together both the Soviet Union and the **Eastern Bloc.**
41
What were Gorbachev's mistakes?
- Gorbachev’s fundamental miscalculation was to believe that reform could save the Soviet Union. The aim of perestroika was to revive the Soviet system, to unleash its potential. However, the reforms ultimately **created a crisis from which the Soviet Union could not recover**.
- Gorbachev failed to anticipate the effects of glasnost, the extent to which revelations about the past would **undermine the claims of the Communist Party**.
- Moreover, he set competing goals and his policies were often **inconsistent**.
- Gorbachev was also **inconsistent in his approach to the Communist Party**. From 1985 to 1990 he sided with the radical reformists in the Communist Party, whereas in 1990 and 1991 he tended to side with conservatives and resist more radical reforms
- Finally, Gorbachev **failed to win over the Communist Party**. The Party was the only institution that was strong enough to introduce reform. However, in practice the Party resisted reform and therefore hampered Gorbachev’s programme.
42
Why did China succeed when the USSR couldn't?
- China embraced **market reform more quickly and comprehensively than the Soviet Union**. Gorbachev’s economic reforms were slow and inconsistent.
- The Chinese Communist Party was prepared to be **more flexible** than the Soviet Communist Party. Therefore economic reform in China had a high degree of support from the Communist Government. Soviet Union, by contrast, the majority of communists, including Gorbachev, were committed to the command economy and viewed markets with suspicion.
- Communist leaders in China introduced **economic reform without increasing political freedom**. The lack of political reform meant that China continued to be politically stable during the reform process. Therefore when perestroika led to economic chaos, the government, which had been weakened by political reform, was not strong enough to retain control.
43
Why was Yeltsin popular among Soviet citizens?
- Yeltsin made a name for himself in **1986 at the Twenty-Seventh Party Congress** by denouncing the privileges of Party leaders and advocating a renewed focus on equality.
- Between 1986 and 1988 Yeltsin’s **attacks on the leadership** made him popular with many Soviet people who hated the privileges of senior Party officials.
- Consequently, during the 1989 Soviet elections Yeltsin **won a massive victory** in Moscow, gaining 89 per cent of the vote.
- From this point, Yeltsin was important as he was the **leading opponent of Gorbachev**.
44
How did Yeltsin become an important figure in 1990s?
- During 1990 there were elections to soviets in all of the Soviet republics. Consequently, Yeltsin became **Chair of the Russian Congress of People’s Deputies**, Russia’s new parliament, in May 1990.
- A month later in June, the Congress declared Russia’s sovereignty. Russia’s declaration was more significant as Russia contained **75 per cent of the Union’s population**.
- These moves towards Russian power led to the **‘war of laws’**, a series of disputes between the Russian Government and Soviet authorities about who had the right to rule Russia.
- Yeltsin publicly resigned from the Communist Party in July 1990. Yeltsin’s resignation was part of a mass exodus from the Party: during 1990 Party membership dropped from **19.2 million members to 16.5 million**.
45
What were Yeltsin's attitudes towards nationalism?
- Yeltsin embraced nationalism. By emphasising the rights of Russia, Yeltsin weakened the Soviet Union, which was Gorbachev’s power base.
- Yeltsin attempted to consolidate his own power base in Russia by being elected Russian President. From then on Gorbachev had to accept a secondary role in Russia and was forced to begin renegotiating the relationships between the republics.
- Not only did Yeltsin embrace Russian nationalism, he also supported the growth of nationalism in other Soviet republics.
46
What was Yeltsin's new elite?
- Yeltsin’s rise to power, and the growing power of Russia over the Soviet Union, led to the emergence of a new elite at the expense of the old Soviet elite.
- At the same time Yeltsin’s new government had relatively few **‘new men’**, people who had no government experience at all.
- The vast majority of Yeltsin’s new government, almost **70 per cent**, had held middle-ranking positions in Gorbachev’s government. Only around **13 per cent** of Yeltsin’s new government had been elected to any of Gorbachev’s new democratic institutions.
- In this sense, Yeltsin was able to contribute to the fall of the USSR because he had the support of a **‘counter elite’**.
47
How did Yeltsin try to break up the communist party after the Coup?
- At the end of August the Communist Party was suspended across the Soviet Union.
- In early November Yeltsin banned the Party in Russia, and seized all of its money and property.
- Yeltsin published extensive evidence of Party corruption seized from Communist Party files.
- In November Yeltsin announced that Russia was taking control of the Soviet oil and gold industries.
48
What is the perspective that believes Yeltsin chose not to save the Union?
- Gorbachev simply did not have the authority to revive the negotiations to create a new Union after the coup. Yeltsin, by contrast, was more popular than ever and therefore could have tried to revive the Union.
- Yeltsin’s choice to abandon the Union was partly **political decision**, as it was one way to defeat Gorbachev. However, it was also a decision that Yeltsin thought was **best for Russia**.
- Equally, he believed that he had a better chance of establishing **democracy on a national scale**, than he had across the whole Union. In this sense, he chose to build Russia rather than save the Union.
