Political

Question 1

The need to reform the party

Answer 1

The whole apparatus of Party and state had become huge and unmanageable, corruption and nepotism under Brezhnev

Question 2

Aim of glasnost

Answer 2

A method of getting new ideas to revitalise the Communist Party and re-engage the population with the Party

Question 3

What did Glasnost reveal?

Answer 3

Investigations of Soviet history revealed details of Stalin’s mass terror, the famine of the 1930s and
the Katyn Massacre.
• Even the more sensitive issue of the Soviet victory in the Second World War was discussed. The
myth of the Great Patriotic War was undermined by revelations of the reckless waste of human lives.
• Environmental issues were a popular topic, promoted by exposés of the damaging impact on the
Aral Sea of government irrigation schemes.

Question 4

What provided urgent justification for glasnost

Answer 4

Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986- No official announcement was
made by the Soviet government .
scientists in Scandinavia picked up readings of unusually high radioactivity in their air space. The
delayed admission meant evacuation of people living in toxic areas was delayed, adding to the human cost of the accident.
The result was an increase in cases of leukaemia and birth deformities.

Question 5

By 1989, the Soviet population was much more politicised due to glasnost. Example

Answer 5

There were over 60,000
Informal groups and clubs holding meetings, organising demonstrations and adding their voices to call for political reform.

Question 6

Consequence of glasnost

Answer 6

glasnost resulted in a Wave

criticism against the Party, much of it directed at Gorbachev for his Weakness in pursuing radical reform

Question 7

Gorbachev’s attempted reforms of the

Party

Answer 7

Defining the functions of Party and state, Shifting power from the Party to the Soviets, Streamlining the Party, a clampdown on corruption

Question 8

Defining the functions of Party and state

Answer 8

Gorbachev sought to separate Party and state- the lines between the two
had become blurred. result of the nomenklatura system (appointments and promotions within the state apparatus had relied on loyalty to the Party.) It was often the case that
the personnel of one organisation held an equivalent position in the
Other.

Question 9

Shifting power from the Party to the Soviets

Answer 9

This was attempted by allocating more finance to the Soviets in
order to give them the resources to support their role. Deputies
of the Soviets were to be elected for five years rather than two, a
move that gave them greater security in their post.

Question 10

Streamlining the Party

Answer 10

The departments of the Central Committee of the Communist
Party were reduced from 20 to nine, and six new commissions
were created. It was accompanied by similar measures to
streamline the state. In November 1985/ Gorbachev had created
superministries’ to co-ordinate economic planning. Five ministries
were merged to create one ‘superministry for agriculture.

Question 11

clampdown on corruption

Answer 11

E.g. Brez’s son-in-law 12yrs prison, December 1986, Dinmukhamed Kunayev was removed from the position of First Secretary of the Party in Kazakhstan on grounds of corruption. (But riots and several hundred killed)

Question 12

When did Gorbachev start to discuss the idea of secret ballots for multiple
candidates.

Answer 12

In early 1987 at a meeting of the Central Committee

Question 13

What happened in June 1987??

Answer 13

there was a limited experiment with multiple candidates in elections for local Soviets. This was a small but
significant break with the practice of elections involving single
candidates proposed by the Party.

Question 14

What did Gorbachev announce at the Nineteenth Party Conference of June 1988?

Answer 14

Gorbachev announced that the principle of multi-candidate elections
would be extended to national level with elections for the
new Congress of People’s Deputies.

Question 15

Why was theCongress of People’s Deputies set up?

Answer 15

The Congress was set up to provide an independent, supervisory role over
the government and was part of Gorbachev’s attempts to separate the functions of Party from state.

Question 16

Why were members of the congress significant?

Answer 16

Members of the Congress were to be allocated to the Party and other
organisations, such as trade unions and the Union of Writers.

Question 17

However, what was the limit of the congress’ power

Answer 17

Communist Party was the only legal

political party

Question 18

When did the elections for the new Congress of People’s Deputies take place?

Answer 18

in March 1989

Question 19

Elections to the new Congress of People’s Deputies impact

Answer 19

It had weakened irretrievably the power of the Communist Party.

Question 20

What did the failure of political reforms lead to

Answer 20

left many reformers convinced that the solution was to move towards pluralism. Pluralism opened the possibility of a multi-party system whereby the Communist Party would have to earn its right to govern.

Question 21

Increasing divisions within the Party.

Answer 21

alienated both liberals’

and conservatives’ in the Party.

Question 22

Alienating reformers.

Answer 22

For the more radical reformers, like
Yeltsin, there was an increasing realisation that the Party would
not carry through the reforms they felt were needed and desired.

Question 23

Where did disagreements between Yeltsin and Gorbachev come to head?

Answer 23

Disagreements between Yeltsin and Gorbachev came to a head
at a Plenum of the Central Committee in October 1987. Yeltsin
openly attacked Gorbachev’s approach to reform as being too
slow. He was subsequently sacked as Party First Secretary in
Moscow and then removed from the Politburo in February 1988.

Question 24

What did alienating conservatives lead to?

Answer 24

In March 1988, the hard-line
communists in the Party attempted to strike back and gain some control over events. While Gorbachev was on a diplomatic trip to Yugoslavia, a letter was published in Sovetskaya.
Letter complained about the constant undermining of the work of Stalin and attacked glasnost for its demoralising impact. Ligachev, who was acting as leader in Gorbachev’s absence,
took the initiative and used the letter as an opportunity to
attack the pace of reform.

Question 25

Why was the consequence of alienating conservatives in 1988 worrying

Answer 25

that the sentiments were supported, not just by die-hard Stalinists but also by some of Gorbachev’ own appointees such as Chebrikov.

Question 26

What was an impact of democratisation for liberals and conservatives in the party

Answer 26

The development of factions

Question 27

Factions

Answer 27

informal groupings started to emerge during the
elections for the Congress of People’s Deputies. Reformers such
as Yeltsin formed an Inter-Regional Group, and conservatives
formed Soyuz. When the Congress met, these groups
formed a sort of unofficial opposition to the government.

Question 28

The abolition of Article 6

Answer 28

end the political monopoly of the Party. Article enshrined the one-party state. Faced with growing criticism from liberals and continued resistance from conservatives, Gorbachev finally repealed it in March 1990. Other political parties could now be established to contest elections.

Question 29

By the end of 1990, the Communist Party was powerless.
Elections to local Soviets had seen Communist candidates
defeated across the country. Examples

Answer 29

In Leningrad the opposition secured
60 percent of the seats. In the non-Russian republics support for national groups grew, especially in the Baltic States. Yeltsin had scored a victory for his newly formed grouping, Democratic Platform in the elections for the Russian Congress of People’s
Deputies.

Question 30

The political vacuum in central government was filled, at least
temporarily, by what and why did this only apply in theory?

Answer 30

the election of Gorbachev to the position of President of the USSR by the Congress of People’s Deputies.
Presidential rule replaced Party rule in theory. In practice,
power had shifted from the centre to the regions.