USSR in the years of perestroika. Perestroika in the USSR

After Chernenko's death in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. By that time, the USSR was already on the verge of a deep crisis, both in the economy and in the social sphere. The efficiency of social production was steadily declining, and the arms race was a heavy burden on the country's economy. In fact, all spheres of society needed to be updated. The difficult situation of the USSR was the reason for perestroika, as well as changes foreign policy countries. Modern historians distinguish the following stages of perestroika:

• 1985 - 1986
• 1987 - 1988
• 1989 - 1991

During the beginning of perestroika from 1985 to 1986. there were no significant changes in the organization of government of the country. In the regions, power, at least formally, belonged to the Soviets, and at the highest level, to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. But, during this period, statements about publicity and the fight against bureaucracy were already heard. Gradually, the process of rethinking international relations began. The tension in relations between the USSR and the USA has significantly decreased.

Large-scale changes began somewhat later - from the end of 1987. This period is characterized by unprecedented freedom of creativity, the development of art. Authorial journalistic programs are broadcast on television, magazines publish materials promoting the ideas of reforms. At the same time, the political struggle is clearly intensifying. Serious transformations in the sphere of state power begin. So, in December 1988, at the 11th extraordinary session of the Supreme Council, the law “On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution” was adopted. The law made changes to the electoral system by introducing the principle of alternativeness.

However, the most turbulent was the third period of perestroika in the USSR. In 1989, Soviet troops were completely withdrawn from Afghanistan. In fact, the USSR ceases to support socialist regimes on the territory of other states. The camp of the socialist countries is collapsing. The most important, significant, event of that period is the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany.

The party is gradually losing real power and its unity. A fierce battle between the factions begins. Not only the situation in the USSR, but also the very foundations of the ideology of Marxism, as well as the October Revolution of 1917, are criticized. Many opposition parties and movements are being formed.

Against the backdrop of a tough political struggle during this period of Gorbachev's perestroika, a split begins in the sphere of the intelligentsia, among artists. If some of them were critical of the processes taking place in the country, then the other part provides comprehensive support to Gorbachev. Against the backdrop of political and social freedom unprecedented at that time, the volume of financing, both art and science, education, and many industries is significantly reduced. Talented scientists in such conditions leave to work abroad, or turn into businessmen. Many research institutes and design bureaus cease to exist. The development of knowledge-intensive industries slows down, and later stops altogether. Perhaps the most striking example of this can be the Energiya-Buran project, within the framework of which a unique reusable space shuttle Buran was created, which made a single flight.

The financial situation of the majority of citizens is gradually deteriorating. Also, there is an aggravation of interethnic relations. Many cultural and politicians they begin to say that perestroika has become obsolete.

The consequences of perestroika are extremely ambiguous and multifaceted. Undoubtedly, the receipt by society of social and political freedoms, publicity and the reform of the planned distribution economy are positive aspects. However, the processes that took place during the period of perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991 led to the collapse of the USSR and the aggravation of interethnic conflicts that had been smoldering for a long time. The weakening of power, both in the center and in the regions, a sharp decline in the standard of living of the population, undermining the scientific base, and so on. Undoubtedly, the results of perestroika and its significance will be rethought by future generations more than once.

• The subject and method of the history of the national state and law
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• Formation of the state and law of the Russian Federation. The collapse of the USSR (mid-1980s - 1990s)
  • The policy of "perestroika" and its main content
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  • The collapse of the USSR
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  • The formation of the state apparatus of the new Russia
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The policy of "perestroika" and its main content

In March 1985, a change in the party leadership took place in the USSR. New leader M.S. Gorbachev, in assessing the situation in the country, combined optimism with elements of criticism. The latter was quite appropriate. Unfavorable trends appeared in the development of the economy. Over the past ten years, the pace economic development decreased markedly. Growth in the national economy occurred mainly due to extensive methods. The production apparatus was old and needed a significant upgrade. The country was lagging behind the Western states technologically more and more. The state of affairs in the agro-industrial sector was not easy.

Supplying the population with food was accompanied by considerable difficulties. The needs of citizens in industrial goods were not fully satisfied. Since the early 1980s statistics showed the stagnation of incomes of the population. Stagnant phenomena were found in economic and social relations. There was an expectation of change in society, although there were no signs of a revolutionary situation. Socio-economic reforms are overdue. But what were they supposed to be? There was no clarity and unanimity in the country on this issue. New strategies: acceleration and restructuring. The decisive choice was made by the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, held in April 1985. The plenum proposed a versatile and ambitious program aimed at achieving a new qualitative state of society. It included the highest world level of labor productivity, the improvement of social relations, the improvement of people's lives, the activation of the entire system of political and social institutions, the deepening of socialist democracy, and self-government of the people. However, in the report of M.S. Gorbachev at the plenum of the Central Committee, the achievement of a new qualitative state of society was not correlated with such traditional tasks as improving developed socialism or building communism.

It was clear that the announced approach of a new stage of social development would require many efforts and a long time. For these reasons, the Plenum of the Central Committee concentrated its main attention on more immediate and concrete economic problems. Of the various possible ways to resolve them, this party body has chosen a significant acceleration of the development of the national economy on the basis of the intensification of the economy, scientific and technological progress, the restructuring of the structural and investment policy, and the improvement of organization. At the same time, mechanical engineering was chosen as the key means of achieving the expected results, the pace of development of which was supposed to increase by 1.5-2 times over the upcoming 12th five-year plan.

The XXVII Congress of the CPSU, held in February-March 1986, confirmed the directions of reforms chosen by the April plenum of the Central Committee, at the same time expanding and concretizing many of its guidelines. In particular, the congress made an acceptance of the need to open up space for the initiative and creativity of the masses, the further development of democracy, the self-government of the people, the strengthening of the rule of law, the expansion of publicity, and the psychological restructuring of cadres. In principle, the planned measures fit into the usual Soviet standards for improving society and did not include any new recipes for bringing the economy to new frontiers.

Since June 1986, the acceleration strategy was suddenly reoriented towards the policy of "perestroika". The new term reflected the need for versatile transformations that served the purpose of eliminating the inhibitory factors of a subjective and objective nature on the path to accelerating socio-economic development. M.S. Gorbachev began to intensively introduce into the public consciousness the idea that perestroika is a revolution "from above", and the CPSU is its avant-garde. At the same time, criticism began of the existing social order, which often received the name "barracks socialism". The ideas of "popular socialism", "socialism with human face», « more socialism”, the use of NEP ideas in modern conditions, the “mixed economy”, the “Swedish” model of socialism.

The first year and a half of perestroika led to some growth in the industrial production, but these were far from the expected results. Moreover, the financial situation of the country has worsened. The anti-alcohol campaign and the fall in world oil prices reduced budget receipts. The budget deficit was covered by loans and unsecured emission. Wage growth outstripped the increase in labor productivity. Deductions to the accumulation and development fund were reduced.

Analysis of the current situation led the party leadership to the conclusion that the implementation of the tasks of perestroika was hampered by the inertia and bureaucracy of the state and party apparatus.

In January 1987, the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU adopted an important resolution, which emphasized the decisive dependence of the success of perestroika on personnel policy, on how quickly and deeply the party apparatus becomes aware of the need for revolutionary changes in society. Given the inertia of the party and state apparatus, it was proposed to use a significant expansion of democracy, accountability of elected officials, glasnost, criticism (especially from below) and self-criticism, ensuring the rights of citizens, increasing the role of the court and the independence of judges, the influx of new forces into the leadership corps, and the revitalization of the work of the Soviets. This plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU gives impetus to a decisive renewal of the middle and top cadres of the leading cadres of party and Soviet bodies. A number of prominent leaders were removed from the Politburo and the Central Committee. In 1986-1989 82% of the first secretaries of district committees and 91% of the first secretaries of regional committees were replaced.

The absence of the desired economic results was the result not so much of the influence of the subjective factor (the rigidity of the leading cadres) as of the influence of many objective circumstances. The June 1987 plenum of the Central Committee dealt with the issues of their elimination. He decided to decentralize planning, sharply expand the boundaries of the independence of enterprises, transfer them to full cost accounting and self-financing, achieve widespread use of collective contracts, introduce self-management of the work collective, and establish a direct dependence of the level of its income on work efficiency. These measures were designed to promote the development of enterprises in accordance with the laws of the economy. In turn, the planning and economic departments were obliged to manage the economy on the basis of economic methods.

In April 1989, on the same principles, the restructuring of economic relations and management in the agro-industrial complex began.

The economic results of 1987 were worse than in the previous year. Inflationary processes have begun. The state budget deficit has increased. There was a hidden increase in prices under the guise of improving the quality of goods. The cost of many types of goods turned out to be higher than their value.

In 1988-1989 the financial and economic situation in the USSR continued to be difficult. In 1989, the promised turn for the better in the national economy did not happen: 30% of industrial enterprises did not fulfill their production plan. The emerging private sector of the economy exploited the socialist sector at the expense of the difference between free and state prices. Economic processes went against "perestroika".

In the period between these two economic reforms, a grandiose political reform was launched. It was approved by the XIX All-Union Conference of the CPSU in the summer of 1988. The modernization of the political structure was supposed to give a new impetus to the development of the economy. But even on the eve of the party conference M.S. Gorbachev announced a "new political thinking", the core of which was the priority of "universal human values".

The Party Conference called for the revival of intra-Party democracy in full measure, a clear delineation of the functions of state and party bodies, leaving the latter to solve only the tasks of political leadership. Measures were outlined for the democratization of Soviet society and its political system, a radical increase in the role of the Soviets, the fight against bureaucracy, the modernization of national relations, the development of publicity and the implementation of legal reform. The party conference set the task of building a law-based state in the USSR.

First political reform. It has been implemented for about a year and a half since the end of 1988. It has expanded democracy and greatly increased the role of the Soviets in the management of society's affairs. On the basis of the elections, new representative bodies of the USSR and the union republics were created, and one of them - the Supreme Soviet of the USSR - became a permanent state body. And although most of the seats in it belonged to members of the ruling party, the leading role of the CPSU was greatly weakened. A very influential and well-organized inter-regional deputy group was created in its composition, which took an opposition position in relation to the CPSU, although it also included communists. It had its own program, which included such provisions as a market economy, a multi-party system, freedom to leave the USSR, and freedom of the press.

The democratization of the regime changed the course of socio-political processes. "Perestroika" as a revolution "from above", carried out by the central government, has ceased to be such. The development of events began to take on an increasingly spontaneous character, largely beyond the control of the authorities. Party committees after the XIX All-Union Party Conference were at a loss and practically stopped their work. The new management mechanism did not take shape, since the Soviets, especially in the Union republics, behaved inertly in the political niche vacated for them. On the contrary, the anti-socialist and nationalist forces sharply intensified and the initiative began to gradually pass to them. Glasnost as a means of "perestroika" has become an instrument of criticism of socialism. Since 1989, the latter has acquired a frontal and intense character and contributed to the penetration of bourgeois ideals into the public consciousness. The leading organs of the CPSU did not wage any struggle against these phenomena.

Second political reform. At the beginning of 1990, protests took place in the country demanding further democratization. The Democrats called them the "February Revolution" of 1990. The authorities were forced to carry out a second political reform: to eliminate the leading role of the CPSU, constitutionally consolidate private property, and introduce the post of President of the USSR.

A significant success of the anti-socialist forces and an indicator of their influence was their independent demonstration on May 1, 1990 on Red Square in Moscow under anti-socialist and anti-Soviet slogans. The CPSU itself was in crisis. M.S. Gorbachev was able to convince the party to revise the fundamental provisions of the current Program of the CPSU, which in fact means the rejection of the former socialist doctrine. The policy statement of the XXVIII Congress (July 1990) "Towards Humane, Democratic Socialism" included such installations as a multistructural economy, a variety of forms of ownership, a regulated market, civil society, and separation of powers. The goals of the CPSU were indicated very vaguely. It was declared to be the party of "socialist choice and communist perspective", which presupposed the continuation of the search for this path and a very wide freedom of maneuver.

The recognition of private property and the planned privatization of national wealth no longer left any doubt about the bourgeois orientation of Russia's social development. The unsuccessful putsch of August 19-21, 1991, carried out by a number of top officials of the Union leadership, caused the “August Revolution” in Russia, which led to the leadership of bourgeois-oriented leaders and became the direct cause of the collapse of the USSR.

In addition to solving domestic political problems, perestroika also included international aspects. Moreover, improvement international position The USSR was seen as a necessary condition for the realization of the idea of ​​perestroika. Therefore, since 1986, the foreign policy activity of the Soviet state has sharply increased, aimed at bringing international detente closer. Mutual understanding was reached with the US and other leading Western countries. An agreement was signed between the USSR and the USA on the elimination of medium and shorter range missiles. The Paris Treaty with the participation of the USSR stopped the conventional arms race. The Soviet Union stopped the incomprehensible and devastating war in Afghanistan and withdrew its troops from there. The USSR agreed in 1990 to the liquidation of the GDR and the incorporation of its population and territory into the FRG. The Cold War ended with the defeat of the USSR by the end of perestroika.

The policy of perestroika in the USSR was the impetus for carrying out similar transformations in the socialist states of Europe. The processes of social transformation went quickly and the communist regimes in this region soon collapsed. Pro-bourgeois forces came to power. The Warsaw Pact Organization and CMEA were disbanded in the summer of 1991.

The policy of "perestroika" as a way to improve socialism ended in complete failure. Its finale led to the revival of capitalism. Such an unexpected result requires an assessment of the policy of "perestroika" and the production of an analysis of the reasons that led to this particular result.

Assessment of perestroika processes. In the political literature, the assessment of the policy of "perestroika" is characterized by a wide range of opinions, including those with directly opposite views on the problem. There are many intermediate positions between these polar points of view.

Supporters of the bourgeois path of Russia's development give "perestroika" a high appraisal and consider it a "great revolution". Politicians and scientists of socialist orientation, as well as some other authors, declare perestroika "the greatest tragedy", "catastrophe", "catastrophe", "treason". "Architect of perestroika" M.S. Some call Gorbachev "an outstanding world leader", "the best German", "a man of the decade", others see him as "Manilov", "a would-be reformer" and even a "traitor", "Judas", "Herostratus".

In order to understand this kaleidoscope of opinions, it is necessary to find out the undeniably positive and undeniably negative results of this policy, and then compare them with each other and strike a balance.

"Perestroika" caused such positive change, as the democratization of the political system and political regime, pluralism, publicity, the elimination of the remnants of totalitarianism, the reality of most constitutional rights, and above all individual freedom, wide access to imported goods on the domestic market. It demilitalized the country, contributed to the elimination of the threat of a world war, and Russia's fuller involvement in the world market.

Negative moments"perestroika" is much larger, and they are often larger than many of its pluses. Perestroika caused a great crisis that had tormented Russia for about 15 years. There was a destruction of the economy and the social sphere of the country, a multiple drop in the living standards of the population, a decrease in the social protection of citizens, an increase in unemployment and social tension in connection with the formation of antagonistic classes, increased crime and moral degradation, bloody conflicts on the territory of the USSR and its collapse. There is a decline in the role of Russia in international relations, an increase in its economic dependence on developed countries West. "Perestroika" did not bring closer the solution of the most pressing economic problems - the restructuring of the national economy and the modernization of the country's technopark.

As you can see, the overall result is not in favor of a positive assessment of "perestroika" 1 V.V. Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, in his message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation called the incident "a real drama" for the Russian people (see: Rossiyskaya gazeta. 2005. April 26)..

Let us now analyze the reasons that led perestroika to the finale that actually took place. As a starting point for further reasoning, one should take the idea that this policy was not sufficiently scientifically substantiated, although, given the huge scale of the proposed or actual changes, such developments were absolutely necessary. She did not have a clear plan, was superficial and at certain moments resembled hasty improvisations. The difficulties that arose in the course of its implementation were not always correctly assessed, and the proposed means of overcoming were erroneous or controversial.

Let's start with a statement of the main socio-economic problems of Soviet society in the mid-1980s. There are several of them: a reduction in the growth of the gross domestic product, an economy weighed down by military spending, a stagnation in the living standards of the population, an incorrect price policy. All of them are closely interconnected and interdependent. The decline in GDP growth was the result of insufficient introduction of new technologies. This problem could be solved through a structural reform of the national economy, primarily industry.

Funds for these purposes could be obtained by reducing military spending. Growth of GDP, a greater orientation of the economy towards the production of consumer goods would cause an increase in living standards. But the primary measure was the price reform, since the existing pricing policy created an imbalance, distortions and was the cause of a number of economic absurdities. However, all these problems could be solved within the framework of the existing economy and did not require a formational shift.

M.S. Gorbachev decided to change the socio-economic situation in the USSR through the accelerated development of mechanical engineering, directing huge investments into this sector. The choice of this vector of change is controversial and poorly justified. Indeed, why did it have to start not with agriculture, as China did? Or why not with the development of science-intensive technologies, which have led to the effective development of the economy in a number of advanced Western countries? Moreover, they were widely represented in the military sector of the economy. And in general, why make a responsible decision about the ways of further development of society just a month after coming to power? It seems that there are traces of haste.

Despite large injections into the economy in the conditions of maintaining the old price parity, the success was insignificant. Hopes were not justified, as there were no strong incentives for manufacturers. Moreover, the more production volumes increased, the more losses grew for many enterprises. Analysis of the situation by M.S. Gorbachev in January 1987 at the plenum of the Central Committee, turned out to be erroneous: mainly leading cadres were blamed for the lack of proper results. M.S. Gorbachev overestimated the inhibitory influence of leaders on the course of social processes and did not see any miscalculations in the sequence of his actions to carry out "perestroika". A three-year personnel reshuffle began, which led to a complete renewal of the leadership core. Access to power was given to workers who did not have sufficient training and experience.

Further, without proper preparation and subsequent adjustment, a responsible decision is made on the complete transfer of industrial and agricultural enterprises to economic accounting and self-sufficiency. This move was misguided and contributed to the collapse of the economy. Many enterprises have become debtors due to lack of working capital.

Since the end of 1989, the authorities announced the entry of the USSR economy into the "socialist market". Even if all other necessary conditions were present, a normal market could not arise, since there was no competitive mechanism in the conditions of exit from the planned economy. In addition, government orders, which replaced planned targets, practically did not differ from the latter. The creation of a market economy at this stage was more declarative than a real step.

However, the state has lost control over the growth of wages and prices. This caused inflation, led to the fall of the role of the ruble, the aggravation of the deficit and rampant speculative capital. Since 1990, a noticeable drop in production volumes has begun. Ill-considered actions of M.S. Gorbachev unleashed an economic crisis in the country.

The CPSU and its leader M.S. Gorbachev began "perestroika" in conditions of enthusiasm and full support for the ideas of renewal by the population. At the same time, the society was determined to achieve quick results, as M.S. promised. Gorbachev. However, they did not appear; moreover, the economic situation worsened. Therefore, the policy of "perestroika" began to cause disappointment and mistrust. The social base of this course was sharply reduced. In such an environment, in order to maintain his rating, M.S. Gorbachev decided to carry out a radical political reform, enshrined in the decisions of the XIX All-Union Conference of the CPSU.

It was necessary for the creation of a democratic political regime, but it began to be implemented out of time, in the conditions of a growing economic crisis and at a rapid pace. In addition, the "new thinking" assumed softer methods of state leadership. As a result, the authorities lost the necessary control over economic and political processes, the degree of state leadership of society fell sharply, development began to acquire a spontaneous character, which largely led to the collapse of "perestroika".

M.S. Gorbachev spent a lot of energy on fighting his opponents within the party and the state apparatus, on "dismantling the braking mechanism", on suppressing the resistance of counter-perestroika forces. However, he did not pay due attention to the real danger from the forces of bourgeois revenge, which, by their actions, caused the tragic end of the policy of "perestroika".

These forces are heterogeneous in their sources, but the essence is as follows:

1. the shadow economy and criminal capital that surfaced at the end of perestroika in connection with the liberalization of the regime;
2. international pressure ("world behind the scenes");
3. the bourgeois degeneration of a part of the CPSU, primarily within its leading core (the Central Committee of the CPSU objectively contributed in many ways to the restoration of capitalism in Russia).

However, the main reason for the collapse of perestroika is associated with such a subjective fact as the personality of M.S. Gorbachev. He, by his own admission, delivered in a speech at a seminar at the American University in Turkey, had the goal of his life to "destroy communism, the unbearable dictatorship over the people." However, for the time being, he hid this way of thinking from the members of the CPSU and the citizens of the country, but at the same time he remained at the head of the party, which set as its goal the construction of communism.

To achieve his goal, he "had to replace the entire leadership of the CPSU and the USSR, as well as the leadership in all socialist countries." His ideal at that time "was the path of the social democratic countries." In the light of this recognition, the meaning of those personnel changes that began with the January 1987 plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU becomes more understandable. And is it any wonder that perestroika was defeated.

We are waiting for changes...". These words are from the leader's song popular in the 80s. the Kino groups of V. Tsoi reflected the mood of the people in the first years of the perestroika policy. She was proclaimed the new general secretary, 54-year-old M. S. Gorbachev, who took over the baton of power after the death of K. U. Chernenko in March 1985. Dressed elegantly, speaking “without a piece of paper,” the Secretary General won popularity with his external democracy, the desire for transformations in a “stagnant” country and, of course, promises (for example, each family was promised a separate comfortable apartment by 2000), no one since Khrushchev’s time he communicated with the people in this way: Gorbachev traveled around the country, easily went out to people, talked in an informal setting with workers, collective farmers, and the intelligentsia. With the advent of a new leader, inspired by the plans for a breakthrough in the economy and the restructuring of the entire life of society, people's hopes and enthusiasm revived.
A course was proclaimed to "accelerate" the socio-economic development of the country. It was assumed that in industry the core of this process would be the renewal of mechanical engineering. However, already in 1986, Gorbachev and other members of the Politburo were faced with the fact that "acceleration" was not happening. The course for the priority development of mechanical engineering failed due to financial difficulties. The budget deficit increased sharply (in 1986 it tripled compared to 1985, when it was 17-18 billion rubles). This phenomenon was caused by a number of reasons: the “deferred” demand of the population for goods (money was not returned to the treasury, and part of it was circulated on the black market), the fall in prices for exported oil (revenues to the treasury decreased by a third), loss of income as a result of anti-alcohol campaign.
In this situation, the "top" came to the conclusion that all sectors of the economy must be transferred to new methods of management. Gradually, in 1986 - 1989, in the course of economic transformations, state acceptance of products, self-financing and self-financing, and the election of directors of enterprises were introduced; The laws on the state enterprise, on individual labor activity and cooperatives, as well as the law on labor conflicts, which provided for the right of workers to strike, came into force.
However, all these measures not only did not lead to an improvement in the economic situation in the country, but, on the contrary, worsened it due to the half-heartedness, lack of coordination and ill-conceived reforms, large budget expenditures, and an increase in the money supply in the hands of the population. Production ties between enterprises for state deliveries of products were disrupted. The shortage of consumer goods increased. At the turn of the 80-90s. more and more empty store shelves. Local authorities began to introduce coupons for some products.
Glasnost and the evolution of the state system. Soviet society embraced the process of democratization. In the ideological sphere, Gorbachev put forward the slogan of glasnost. This meant that no events of the past and present should be hidden from the people. In the speeches of party ideologists and journalism, the idea of ​​a transition from “barracks socialism” to socialism “with a human face” was promoted. The attitude of the authorities towards dissidents has changed. Returned to Moscow from Gorky (as Nizhny Novgorod was called) Academician A. D. Sakharov, exiled there for critical remarks about the war in Afghanistan. Other dissidents were released from places of detention and exile, and camps for political prisoners were closed. During the renewed process of rehabilitation of the victims Stalinist repressions N. I. Bukharin, A. I. Rykov, G. E. Zinoviev, L. B. Kamenev and other political figures “returned” to our history, who were not honored with this under N. S. Khrushchev.
The processes of glasnost and de-Stalinization were clearly manifested in newspaper and magazine publications, and television programs. The weekly Moscow News (editor E. V. Yakovlev) and the magazine Ogonyok (V. A. Korotich) enjoyed great popularity. Criticism of the dark sides of Soviet reality, the desire to find a way out of the crisis for society permeated many works of literature and art, both new and those that were previously banned by the authorities, and now have become the property of a wide audience. The novels “Children of the Arbat” by A. N. Rybakov, “Life and Fate” by V. S. Grossman, the works of A. I. Solzhenitsyn (The Gulag Archipelago, etc.) published in his homeland, films by T. E. Abuladze "Repentance", M. E. Goldovskaya "Solovki Power", S. S. Govorukhina "You can't live like that."
The emancipation of society from party tutelage, the critical assessments of the Soviet state system that were expressed in the conditions of glasnost, put the question of political transformations on the agenda. Important events in domestic political life were the approval by the participants of the XIX All-Union Party Conference (June 1998) of the main provisions of the reform of the state system, the adoption by the Supreme Council of amendments to the constitution, as well as the law on the election of people's deputies. The essence of these decisions boiled down to the transition from the nomination of one candidate for deputies to one seat in the authorities to the system of elections on an alternative basis. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR became the supreme body of legislative power, which nominated members of the Supreme Soviet from among its members. However, only two-thirds of the deputies of the congress were elected on the basis of universal suffrage, another third was nominated by public organizations, primarily the CPSU. The elections of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR in two rounds were held in the spring of 1989, at the end of May it began its work. A legal opposition formed within the congress: an Interregional Deputy Group was created. It was headed by the world famous scientist, leader of the human rights movement, academician A. D. Sakharov, former first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee and candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU B. N. Yeltsin, scientist-economist G. Kh. Popov.
Under the conditions of political pluralism, simultaneously with the appearance of active opposition in the Supreme Council, various socio-political movements were born, almost all of whose representatives at first came out under the slogans of "renewal of socialism." At the same time, tendencies disturbing for the communist authorities were also outlined in their activities. They were primarily associated with the growth of social discontent and nationalist sentiments.
In the USSR, as in any other multi-ethnic state, national contradictions could not but exist, which always manifest themselves most clearly in conditions of economic and political crises and radical changes. In the Soviet Union, these contradictions were exacerbated by a number of circumstances. Firstly, while building socialism, the Soviet government did not take into account the historical characteristics of the peoples - the traditional economy and way of life were destroyed, Islam, Buddhism, shamanism, etc. were attacked. Secondly, in the territories that were annexed to the USSR on the eve of the Great Patriotic War and which twice (immediately after joining and after liberation from Nazi occupation) were “cleansed” from hostile elements, manifestations of nationalism were very strong, anti-Soviet and anti-socialist sentiments were widespread (the Baltic states, Western Ukraine, to some extent Moldova). Thirdly, the grievances of the peoples deported during the Great Patriotic War, returned to their native places (Chechens, Ingush, Karachays, Balkars, Kalmyks), and even more so not returned (Germans, Crimean Tatars, Meskhetian Turks, etc.) .). Fourthly, there were long-standing historical conflicts and claims of various kinds (for example, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh sought to secede from the Azerbaijan SSR, the Abkhazians advocated the transfer of autonomy from the Georgian SSR to the RSFSR, etc.). During the years of “perestroika”, mass national and nationalist social movements arose, the most significant of which were the “popular fronts” of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Armenian committee “Karabakh”, “Rukh” in Ukraine, Russian society"Memory".
New Thinking and the End of the Cold War."Perestroika" was closely connected with a radical change in the course of Soviet foreign policy - the rejection of confrontation with the West, the cessation of intervention in local conflicts and the revision of relations with socialist countries. The new course was dominated not by a “class approach”, but by universal values. This approach received its theoretical justification in the book by M. S. Gorbachev “Perestroika and new thinking for our country and for the whole world”. It spoke of the need to create a new international order, designed to change post-war international relations. It should be based on respect for the balance of national interests, the freedom of countries to choose the paths of development, the joint responsibility of the powers for deciding global problems modernity. Gorbachev advocated the concept of a "common European home" in which there would be a place for both capitalist and socialist countries.
MS Gorbachev regularly met with US Presidents: with R. Reagan (in 1985 - 1988) and George W. Bush (since 1989). At these meetings, Soviet-American relations were "thawed" and questions of disarmament were discussed. Gorbachev negotiated from the standpoint of reasonable sufficiency in matters of defense and the program he put forward for a nuclear-free world.
On 8 1987, an agreement was signed on the elimination of medium-range missiles - the Soviet SS-20 and the American Pershing-2 and cruise missiles. The American and Soviet sides promised to honor the ABM treaty as it was signed in 1972. In 1990, an agreement was signed on the reduction of strategic arms.
In order to build confidence, 500 tactical nuclear warheads were unilaterally removed from the countries of Eastern Europe.
On November 9, 1989, the inhabitants of Berlin, confident that the USSR would not interfere in all-German affairs, destroyed the Berlin Wall, a symbol of divided Germany and Europe. After the unification of Germany, the USSR agreed to the entry of this, already a single state into NATO. In 1990, the participants of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe signed an agreement on the reduction of conventional arms in Europe.
The Soviet leadership realized the need to withdraw troops from Afghanistan (more than 100 thousand) and in 1988 undertook to do this within 9 months. In mid-February 1989, the last Soviet military units left Afghan soil. In addition to Afghanistan, Soviet troops were also withdrawn from Mongolia. After the "velvet revolutions" in Eastern European countries, negotiations began on the withdrawal Soviet troops from Hungary and Czechoslovakia, they were being withdrawn from the GDR. In 1990-1991 the dissolution of the military and political structures of the Warsaw Pact. This military bloc ceased to exist. The result of the policy of "new thinking" was a fundamental change in the international situation - the "cold war" ended. However, many concessions Western states, which Gorbachev went for, were not sufficiently thought out (mainly in their concrete implementation), and this did not correspond to the national interests of the country.
Power crisis. After the publication in the summer of 1988 of a decree on meetings, rallies, processions and demonstrations against the backdrop of a sharp deterioration in the economic situation in the country, mass miners' strikes began. Gradually, dissatisfaction with the too slow pace of transformations grew in society; in the eyes of society, the conservative wing in the leadership of the CPSU seemed to be the culprit for the “slipping” of reforms.
After the collapse of the communist regimes in the countries of Eastern Europe, the hopes of the opposition for the implementation of radical changes in the Soviet Union increased. If the opposition “at the top” consisted of the Interregional Deputy Group and democratically minded intellectual circles, then the broad masses of residents were involved in the opposition movement “from below”. major cities, the population of a number of union republics in the Baltic states, Transcaucasia, and Moldova and Ukraine. The political awakening of Russia was facilitated by the March 1990 elections of people's deputies at all levels. The opposition between the party apparatus and the opposition forces was clearly marked in the election campaign. The latter received an organizational center in the person of the electoral bloc "Democratic Russia" (later it was transformed into a social movement). February 1990 became a month of mass rallies, the participants of which demanded the elimination of the CPSU monopoly on power.
The elections of people's deputies of the RSFSR became the first truly democratic ones - after the election campaign to the Constituent Assembly of 1917. As a result, about a third of the seats in the highest legislative body of the republic were received by deputies of democratic orientation. The results of the elections in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus demonstrated the crisis of power of the party elite. Under pressure from public opinion, the 6th article of the Constitution of the USSR, which proclaimed the leading role of the CPSU in Soviet society, was canceled, and the formation of a multi-party system began in the country. Supporters of the reforms B. N. Yeltsin and G. Kh. Popov occupied high posts: the first was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, the second - the mayor of Moscow.
The most important factor in the crisis of the "top" was the strengthening of national movements that led the struggle against the allied (in the terminology of their representatives - imperial) Center and the authorities of the CPSU. Back in 1988, tragic events unfolded in Nagorno-Karabakh and, as they said then, around it. There were the first demonstrations under nationalist slogans since the civil war, pogroms (Armenians in Azerbaijani Sumgait - February 1988, Meskhetian Turks in Uzbek Fergana - June 1989) and armed clashes (Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia) on ethnic grounds. The Supreme Council of Estonia proclaimed the supremacy of republican laws over all-union laws (November 1988). In both Azerbaijan and Armenia, by the end of 1989, national passions were running high. The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan declared the sovereignty of its republic, and the Armenian Social Movement was created in Armenia, which advocated independence and secession from the USSR. At the very end of 1989, the Lithuanian Communist Party declared its independence in relation to the CPSU.
In 1990, national movements developed in an ascending fashion. In January, in connection with the Armenian pogroms, troops were sent to Baku. The military operation, which was accompanied by mass casualties, only temporarily removed the issue of Azerbaijan's independence from the agenda. At the same time, the Lithuanian parliament voted for the independence of the republic, and troops entered Vilnius. Following Lithuania, similar decisions were made by the parliaments of Estonia and Latvia, in the summer the declarations of sovereignty were adopted by the Supreme Soviets of Russia (June 12) and Ukraine (July 16), after which the "parade of sovereignties" covered other republics. In February-March 1991 independence referendums were held in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Georgia.
Two presidents. In the autumn of 1990, M. S. Gorbachev, elected President of the USSR by the Congress of People's Deputies, was forced to reorganize the state authorities. The executive bodies now began to report directly to the president. A new advisory body was established - the Federation Council, whose members were the heads of the union republics. The development and, with great difficulty, the coordination of the draft of a new Union Treaty between the republics of the USSR began.
In March 1991, the first referendum in the history of the country was held - the citizens of the USSR were to express their opinion on the issue of preserving Soviet Union as a renewed federation of equal and sovereign republics. It is indicative that 6 (Armenia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova) out of 15 union republics did not take part in the referendum. No less significant is the fact that 76% of those who participated in the vote were in favor of preserving the Union. In parallel, the All-Russian referendum was also held - the majority of its participants voted for the introduction of the post of president of the republic.
On June 12, 1991, exactly one year after the adoption of the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the RSFSR, the nationwide elections of the first president in the history of Russia were held. It was Boris N. Yeltsin, who was supported by more than 57% of those who took part in the vote. After these elections, Moscow turned into the capital of two presidents - the All-Union and the Russian. It was difficult to reconcile the positions of the two leaders, and personal relations between them did not differ in mutual disposition.
Both presidents advocated reforms, but at the same time they looked differently at the goals and ways of reforms. One of them, MS Gorbachev, relied on the Communist Party, which was in the process of splitting into conservative and reformist parts. In addition, the party ranks began to melt - about a third of its members left the CPSU. Another president, B. N. Yeltsin, was supported by forces in opposition to the CPSU. It is natural that in July 1991 Yeltsin signed a decree prohibiting the activities of party organizations at state enterprises and institutions. The events unfolding in the country testified that the process of weakening the power of the CPSU and the collapse of the Soviet Union was becoming irreversible.
August 1991: a revolutionary turn in history. By August 1991, drafts of two important documents had been developed - the new Union Treaty and the program of the CPSU. It was assumed that the ruling party would take a social democratic position. The draft Union Treaty provided for the creation on a new basis of the Union of Sovereign States. It was approved by the heads of 9 republics and Soviet President Gorbachev. It was planned that the program would be approved at the upcoming Congress of the CPSU, and the signing of the Union Treaty would take place on August 20. However, the draft treaty could not satisfy either the supporters of a federation closed to the center, or the supporters of further sovereignization of the republics, primarily the Russian radical democrats.
Representatives of the party and state leaders, who believed that only decisive action would help preserve the political positions of the CPSU and stop the collapse of the Soviet Union, resorted to forceful methods. They decided to take advantage of the absence of the President of the USSR in Moscow, who was on vacation in the Crimea.
Early in the morning of August 19, television and radio informed citizens that, in connection with the illness of M. S. Gorbachev, the duties of the President of the USSR were temporarily entrusted to Vice-President G. I. Yanaev and that “to govern the country and effectively implement the state of emergency” State Committee state of emergency (GKChP). This committee included 8 people, including Vice President, Prime Minister V. S. Pavlov, and power ministers. Gorbachev found himself isolated in a state dacha. Military units and tanks were brought into Moscow, and a curfew was announced.
The House of Soviets of the RSFSR, the so-called White House, became the center of resistance to the GKChP. In the appeal “To the Citizens of Russia”, President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin and Acting Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR R.I. Khasbulatov called on the population not to obey the illegal decisions of the State Emergency Committee, qualifying the actions of its members as an unconstitutional coup. The support of Muscovites gave the leadership of Russia steadfastness and determination. Tens of thousands of residents of the capital and a considerable number of visiting citizens came to the White House, expressing their support for Yeltsin and their readiness to defend the seat of Russian state power with arms in hand.
The confrontation between the State Emergency Committee and the White House lasted three days. Fearing the unleashing of a civil war, Yanaev and his associates did not dare to storm the House of Soviets. On the third day, the demoralized representatives of the State Emergency Committee began to withdraw troops from Moscow and flew to the Crimea, hoping to negotiate with Gorbachev. However, the President of the USSR managed to return to Moscow together with the Vice-President of the RSFSR A. V. Rutskoi, who had flown in “to the rescue”. Members of the GKChP were arrested.
Yeltsin signed decrees on the suspension of the activities of the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR and the publication of communist-oriented newspapers. Gorbachev announced the resignation of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and then issued decrees that effectively stopped the activities of the party and transferred its property to state ownership.
The collapse of the USSR and the creation of the CIS. The last months of 1991 became the time of the final disintegration of the USSR. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was dissolved, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was radically reformed, most of the allied ministries were liquidated, and a powerless inter-republican economic committee was created instead of the cabinet of ministers. The supreme body in charge of internal and foreign policy state, became the State Council of the USSR, which included the President of the USSR and the heads of the union republics. The first decision of the State Council was the recognition of the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Meanwhile, in the localities, the republican authorities began to resubordinate to themselves the branches of the national economy and state structures that were previously under the jurisdiction of the federal Center.
It was supposed to sign a new Union Treaty and create not a federation, but a confederation of sovereign republics. But these plans were not destined to come true. On December 1, a referendum was held in Ukraine, and the majority of those who took part in it (more than 80%) spoke in favor of the independence of the republic. Under these conditions, the leadership of Ukraine decided not to sign a new Union Treaty.
On December 7-8, 1991, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine B.N. Yeltsin and L.M. Kravchuk and the chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus S.S. Shushkevich, having met in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, not far from the border Brest, announced the termination of the USSR and the formation as part of the three republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Subsequently, the CIS included all the former Soviet union republics, with the exception of the Baltic ones.

perestroika- the general name for the reforms and new ideology of the Soviet party leadership, used to denote large and controversial changes in the economic and political structure USSR, initiated by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU M. S. Gorbachev in 1986-1991.

In May 1986, Gorbachev visited Leningrad, where at a meeting with the party activists of the Leningrad city committee of the CPSU, he first used the word "perestroika" to refer to the socio-political process:

“Apparently, comrades, we all need to reorganize. Everyone".

The term was picked up by the media and became the slogan of the new era that began in the USSR.

For your information,(because in many textbooks since 1985):

"Legally" the beginning of perestroika is considered 1987, when at the January plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU perestroika was declared the direction of development of the state.

Background.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. By that time, the USSR was already on the verge of a deep crisis, both in the economy and in the social sphere. The efficiency of social production was steadily declining, and the arms race was a heavy burden on the country's economy. In fact, all spheres of society needed to be updated.

Characteristics of the pre-perestroika administrative system: strict administrative and directive tasks, a centralized system of material and technical supply, strict regulation of the activities of enterprises and organizations. Management of the economy as a whole, and each of its branches, each enterprise, large or small, was carried out mainly by administrative methods with the help of targeted directive tasks. The command-and-order form of government alienated people both from labor itself and from its results, turning public property into a draw. This mechanism, as well as the political system, was personified in the people who reproduced it. The bureaucratic apparatus maintained a system that allowed its ideas to occupy profitable positions, to be "at the top", regardless of the actual state of affairs in the national economy.

The April (1985) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU proclaimed a new strategy - the acceleration of the socio-economic development of the country. By the mid-1980s, the imminent need for change was clear to many in the country. Therefore, proposed in those conditions by M.S. Gorbachev's "perestroika" found a lively response in all strata of Soviet society.

If we try to defineperestroika , then in my opinion,"perestroika" - this is the creation of an effective mechanism for accelerating the socio-economic development of society; comprehensive development of democracy strengthening discipline and order respect for the value and dignity of the individual; renunciation of command and administration, encouragement of innovation; a turn to science, a combination of scientific and technological achievements with the economy, etc.

Restructuring tasks.

The entry of the USSR into the era of radical transformation dates back to April 1985 and is associated with the name of the new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU M.S. Gorbachev (elected to this post at the March Plenum of the Central Committee).

The new course proposed by Gorbachev involved the modernization Soviet system, introduction of structural and organizational changes in economic, social, political and ideological mechanisms.

In the new strategy, personnel policy acquired particular importance, which was expressed, on the one hand, in the fight against negative phenomena in the party and state apparatus (corruption, bribery, etc.), on the other hand, in the elimination of political opponents of Gorbachev and his course (in the Moscow and Leningrad party organizations, in the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union Republics).

The ideology of reform.

Initially (beginning in 1985), the strategy was to improve socialism and accelerate socialist development. At the January 1987 Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and then at the XIX All-Union Party Conference (summer 1988) M.S. Gorbachev laid out a new ideology and strategy for reform. For the first time, the presence of deformations in the political system was recognized and the task was to create a new model - socialism with a human face.

The ideology of perestroika included some liberal democratic principles (separation of powers, representative democracy (parliamentarism), protection of civil and political human rights). At the 19th Party Conference, the goal of creating a civil (legal) society in the USSR was proclaimed for the first time.

Democratization and Glasnost became the essential expressions of the new concept of socialism. Democratization touched the political system, but it was also seen as the basis for the implementation of radical economic reforms.

At this stage of perestroika, publicity and criticism of the deformations of socialism in the economy, politics, and the spiritual sphere were widely developed. The Soviet people have access to many works by both theoreticians and practitioners of Bolshevism, declared at one time enemies of the people, and figures of the Russian emigration of various generations.

Democratization of the political system.

Within the framework of democratization, political pluralism took shape. In 1990, Article 6 of the Constitution was canceled, which secured the monopoly position of the CPSU in society, which opened up the possibility for the formation of a legal multi-party system in the USSR. Its legal basis was reflected in the Law on Public Associations (1990).

In the autumn of 1988, a radical wing emerged in the camp of reformers, in which the role of leaders belonged to A.D. Sakharov, B.N. Yeltsin and others. The radicals disputed power with Gorbachev and demanded the dismantling of the unitary state. After the spring elections of 1990 to local councils and party committees, forces in opposition to the leadership of the CPSU - representatives of the Democratic Russia movement (leader - E.T. Gaidar) also came to power in Moscow and Leningrad. 1989-1990 became a period of revitalization of informal movements, the organization of opposition parties.

Gorbachev and his supporters tried to limit the activities of the radicals. Yeltsin was ousted from leadership. But, having created the opportunity to eliminate the hegemony of the CPSU, Gorbachev and his associates did not realize the impossibility of returning to the old. By the beginning of 1991, Gorbachev's centrist policy increasingly coincided with the position of the conservatives.

Economic reforms.

Acceleration strategy and methods of its implementation.

The key concept in the reform strategy of M.S. Gorbachev was the acceleration of the production of means of production, the social sphere, and scientific and technological progress. The priority task of economic reforms was recognized as the accelerated development of mechanical engineering as the basis for the re-equipment of the entire national economy. At the same time, emphasis was placed on strengthening production and performance discipline (measures to combat drunkenness and alcoholism); product quality control (Law on state acceptance).

Economic reform 1987

The economic reform, developed by well-known economists - L. Abalkin, A. Aganbegyan, P. Bunich and others, was carried out in accordance with the concept of self-supporting socialism.

The reform project included:

Expanding the independence of enterprises on the principles of cost accounting and self-financing;

Gradual revival of the private sector of the economy, primarily through the development of the cooperative movement;

Renunciation of the monopoly of foreign trade;

Deep integration into the global market;

Reducing the number of sectoral ministries and departments between which it was supposed to establish partnerships;

Recognition of equality in the countryside of the five main forms of management (collective farms, state farms, agro-combines, rental cooperatives, farms).

The implementation of the reform was characterized by inconsistency and half-heartedness. In the course of the transformations, there was no reform of credit, pricing policy, or a centralized supply system. However, despite this, the reform contributed to the formation of the private sector in the economy. In 1988, the Law on Cooperation and the Law on Individual Labor Activity (ITA) were adopted. The new laws opened the possibility for private activity in more than 30 types of production of goods and services. By the spring of 1991, more than 7 million people were employed in the cooperative sector and another 1 million people were self-employed. The reverse side of this process was the legalization of the shadow economy.

Industrial democratization.

In 1987, the Law on the State Enterprise (Association) was adopted. Enterprises were transferred to self-sufficiency and self-supporting, receiving the right to foreign economic activity, the creation of joint ventures. At the same time, most of the manufactured products were still included in the state order and, therefore, were withdrawn from free sale.

Under the Law on Labor Collectives, a system of electing heads of enterprises and institutions was introduced.

Agricultural reform.

Changes in agriculture began with the reform of state farms and collective farms. In May 1988, it was announced that it was expedient to switch to a lease contract in the countryside (under a land lease agreement for 50 years with the right to dispose of the resulting products). By the summer of 1991, only 2% of the land was cultivated on lease terms and 3% of the livestock was kept. In general, no major changes were achieved in agricultural policy. One of the main reasons was the nature of government food policy. For many years, prices for basic foodstuffs were maintained at a low level with low growth rates of agricultural production, which was facilitated by subsidizing both the producer (up to 80%) and the consumer (1/3 of the Russian budget) of food. The deficit budget could not cope with such a load. No law was passed on the transfer of land to private ownership and the increase in household plots.

The economic results showed the inconsistency of the ongoing reforms. Remaining within the socialist economic system- general planning, distribution of resources, state ownership of the means of production, etc. - the national economy of the country, at the same time, lost its administrative-command levers, coercion on the part of the party. At the same time, market mechanisms were not created. After some initial successes, driven by the enthusiasm for renewal, the economic downturn began. Since 1988, there has been a general decline in agricultural production. As a result, the population faced a shortage of food products, even in Moscow their rationed distribution was introduced. Since 1990, a general reduction in industrial production has begun.

500 days program.

In the summer of 1990, instead of accelerating, a course was proclaimed for the transition to a market economy, scheduled for 1991, that is, by the end of the 12th five-year plan (1985-1990). However, in contrast to the plans of the official leadership for a phased (over several years) introduction of the market, a plan was developed (known as the 500 days program), aimed at a quick breakthrough in market relations, supported by the opposition to Gorbachev, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin.

The authors of the next project were a group of economists academician S. Shatalin, G. Yavlinsky, B. Fedorov and others. During the first half of the term, it was planned: the transfer of enterprises to forced lease, large-scale privatization and decentralization of the economy, the introduction of antimonopoly legislation. During the second half, it was supposed to remove mainly state control over prices, allow a recession in the basic sectors of the economy, regulated unemployment and inflation in order to drastically restructure the economy. This project created a real basis for the economic union of the republics, but contained significant elements of utopianism and could lead to unpredictable social consequences. Under pressure from conservatives, Gorbachev withdrew his support for this program.

Let's analyze the restructuring in stages.

Stages of restructuring:

The initial period was characterized by the recognition of some ("individual") shortcomings of the existing political and economic system of the USSR and attempts to correct them with several major administrative campaigns - Acceleration of the development of the national economy, an anti-alcohol campaign, "the fight against unearned income", the introduction of state acceptance, a demonstration of the fight against corruption. No radical steps have yet been taken during this period; outwardly, almost everything remained the same. The bulk of the old cadres of the Brezhnev draft were replaced with a new team of managers.

By the end of 1986 - the beginning of 1987, the Gorbachev team came to the conclusion that the situation in the country could not be changed by administrative measures and made an attempt to reform the system in the spirit of democratic socialism. This step was facilitated by two blows to the Soviet economy in 1986: a sharp drop in oil prices and the Chernobyl disaster. The new stage was characterized by the beginning of large-scale reforms in all spheres of the life of Soviet society (although some measures began to be taken as early as the end of 1986, for example, the Law "On individual labor activity"). In public life, a policy of publicity is proclaimed - mitigation of censorship in the media. In the economy, private entrepreneurship in the form of cooperatives is legalized, and joint ventures with foreign companies are being actively created. In international politics, the main doctrine is "New Thinking" - a course towards the rejection of the class approach in diplomacy and the improvement of relations with the West. Part of the population (mainly young people and intellectuals) is euphoric from the long-awaited changes and unprecedented freedom by Soviet standards. At the same time, during this period, general instability began to gradually increase in the country: the economic situation worsened, separatist sentiments appeared on the national outskirts, and the first interethnic clashes broke out (Karabakh).

Third stage(June 1989-1991) (late rebuilding)

The final stage, during this period, there is a sharp destabilization of the political situation in the country: after the First Congress of People's Deputies, the confrontation between the Communist Party and the new political groups that emerged as a result of the democratization of society begins. Initially initiated at the initiative from above, in the second half of 1989 the changes get out of control of the authorities. Difficulties in the economy develop into a full-blown crisis. The chronic commodity shortage reaches its climax: empty store shelves become a symbol of the turn of the 1980s-1990s. Perestroika euphoria in society is replaced by disappointment, uncertainty about tomorrow and mass anti-communist anti-Soviet sentiments.

Since 1990, the main idea is no longer "improving socialism", but building democracy and a market economy of the capitalist type. In 1990-91. The USSR is essentially no longer a socialist country: private property is being legalized, cooperation is beginning to take the form of Western-style business, and at the same time, state-owned enterprises, factories, plants, combines, and farms are beginning to close. There are such social phenomena as mass poverty and unemployment. Pricing is still centralized, but at the beginning of 1991, two financial sector reforms were carried out - monetary and price, due to which huge masses of the population find themselves below the poverty line. In Russia and other republics of the Union, separatist-minded forces come to power - a "parade of sovereignties" begins. The logical result of this development of events was the elimination of the power of the CPSU and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Summing up, it should be noted that the Soviet nomenklatura began the "revolutionary perestroika" with well-thought-out goals. In the process of redistribution of property and privileges, the following happened:

1. the merger of some of the representatives of all nomenclatures,

2. The "new" nomenklatura brought the division of property to the destruction of the Center and the collapse of the USSR,

3. The new political elite lifted all restrictions on financial and economic activity, as it met its social interests.

If we briefly characterize the situation that has arisen, it should be noted that the transition to a new state in the country was carried out not by the bourgeois-democratic, but by the criminal-bureaucratic way. Nomenklatura privatization and bureaucratic liberalization created a kind of fusion, vaguely reminiscent of market relations. As a result, already in 1992, such phenomena as low efficient production, lack of incentives for economic activity, and structural imbalances began to appear. All this actually paralyzed the country's ability to normal development. The measures taken within the framework of the policy of "perestroika" led to the undermining of the financial system, the imbalance of the economy, the formation of a shortage of goods and laid the material foundations for the collapse of the USSR. With the end of the “perestroika” policy, the question of where Russia was going was already clear. Russia has entered a phase of economic and social regression. Thanks to the so-called. "perestroika" Russia turned out to be thrown back decades in its development. The country was faced with a situation where, in the sphere of the economy, the backlog developed into a stage of destruction of the industrial and agricultural potential, historically established ties and infrastructure. Goods of domestic producers began to disappear from the domestic market. Scientific and technological progress was blocked. As a result of the state of the economy, Russia in the early 1990s found itself in an exceptionally difficult position. In essence, the sources of economic development were seriously destroyed, large-scale investments were suspended; curtailed high-tech production; scientific research activity, material and experimental base of fundamental sciences, etc. have been significantly reduced. The life support system found itself in an extremely difficult situation, the domestic food and industrial supply was noticeably reduced; serious damage was caused to transport, telecommunications and other systems; housing and communal services fell into decay; began to form an orientation towards elite expensive medical care, paid higher education and much more. Everything that was discussed above, like many other things, was the result of "perestroika", which gave rise to the negative dynamics of the development of the Russian economy.

Here are a few examples, for information: in the agricultural sector, funding, sown areas, livestock, production of mineral fertilizers, machinery, etc. are declining. The physical volume of Russian GDP to the beginning. 1992 was less than 20% of the US GDP. By the beginning of 1992, Russia closed the third ten countries in terms of total GDP and moved into the group of developing countries in terms of its per capita calculation. Losses incurred due to the destruction of research and production, design and other teams, if they are recoverable, then only in the long term. The consequences of the resulting restructuring are also evidenced by the data cited by American experts: the country's gold reserves have decreased 11 times, the ruble has decreased against the dollar by more than 150 times, oil exports have more than halved. During Gorbachev's tenure in power, the external debt increased 5 times.

Conclusion.

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

The policy of perestroika and glasnost, announced by the country's leadership headed by M. S. Gorbachev, led from the mid-80s. to a sharp aggravation of interethnic relations and a genuine explosion of nationalism in the USSR. These processes were based on underlying causes, rooted in the distant past. The authorities did not study interethnic and national problems in the country, but fenced themselves off from reality with ideological guidelines about a “close-knit family of fraternal peoples” and a new historical community created in the USSR - the “Soviet people” - the next myths of “developed socialism”.

At the same time, perestroika was of great historical significance.

During the period of perestroika (1985-1991), the system of the totalitarian regime was finally destroyed in Soviet society. Society has become open outside world. In the wake of democratization, political pluralism and a multi-party system took shape in the USSR, and elements of civil society began to take shape.

However, the economic reforms of the era of M.S. Gorbachev failed, and by the end of the 80s. communist reformers finally exhausted their creative potential. As a result, the cleansing of socialism from totalitarianism was followed by the collapse of the socialist system itself. Gorbachev's period of perestroika ended with the collapse of the USSR.

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Abstract on the topic:

"Perestroika in the USSR: causes, course, consequences"

Introduction

§one. Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

§2. The progress of perestroika in the USSR

§3. The consequences of perestroika in the USSR

Conclusion

Bibliography

ATineating

Since the mid 80s. especially since the early 1990s. in Russia, as well as in the USSR as a whole, serious changes began to take place. These changes affected all aspects of the socio-economic and especially political life of Soviet society. They proceeded very quickly, were controversial in nature and had serious consequences for Russia and all the republics that were part of the Soviet Union.

At the same time, the political events that took place in the Soviet Union and its republics were also reflected in the process of world political history.

Perestroika is a very high-profile period in the history of the USSR. The policy of perestroika, initiated by part of the leadership of the CPSU headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, led to significant changes in the life of the country and the world as a whole. In the course of perestroika, problems that had accumulated over decades were exposed, especially in the economy and the interethnic sphere. Added to all this were the mistakes and miscalculations made in the process of carrying out the reforms themselves. The political confrontation between the forces advocating the socialist path of development, 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 image of the Soviet Union, the relationship between union and republican bodies of state power and administration, sharply escalated. By the beginning of the 1990s, perestroika led to an aggravation of the crisis in all spheres of society and to the further disintegration of the USSR.

§one. Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

By the beginning of the 80s. The Soviet Union has reached a new technical level, and new branches of industry have developed (electronics, precision instrumentation, the nuclear industry, etc.). The creation of production, research and production, agro-industrial, inter-collective farm associations has become a mass phenomenon. A unified energy system, transport system, automatic communication system, oil and gas supply were formed and operated. The economic ties of the republics and regions have become closer. However, the administrative-command system of management, the practice of planning and the guardianship of decision-making bodies over enterprises were preserved.

The country's leadership at the congresses of the CPSU repeatedly made decisions aimed at overcoming the dictates of the departmental bureaucracy, at developing economic methods of managing, expanding the independence of the enterprise. However, these decisions remained on paper. There was no transition from extensive to intensive economic development. Scientific - technical process acted sluggishly. As before, progressive changes were held back by the old system of management. Serious deformations have accumulated in planning. Miscalculations were allowed in commodity-money relations. Cooperative forms of farming were underestimated. Weakened economic control over the use of forms of ownership. Gross miscalculations were made in economic policy.

The policy of raising the population's income, increasing its education and improving housing conditions contributed to the development of needs, increased demand for new, better goods and consumer goods. However, the production of consumer goods, the organization of food supply, the development of the service sector, trade, transport, the culture and recreation industry, and medical care were at a low level. In the 60s - the first half of the 80s. there was a deep need for socio-economic renewal, for the development new policy, new priorities. However, this need was not realized. As a result, deformations in economic and social life were intensified.

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

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

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

§2. The progress of perestroika in the USSR

First stage: April 1985-1986 It was initiated by the April plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which proclaimed a course to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country through the intensification of production based on the introduction of scientific and technological progress. Mechanical engineering played a key role in this process. Priority in the development was given to machine tool building, computer technology, microelectronics and instrumentation, improvement of management and planning. For this purpose, a number of new management structures were created: the Bureau of the USSR Council of Ministers for Mechanical Engineering, the State Committee for Computer Science and Informatics, etc. It was decided that it was necessary to create non-departmental control over compliance with standards (in the mid-1980s, only 29% of engineering products met international standards). Enterprises are introducing state acceptance of manufactured products (state acceptance), which by the beginning of 1988 existed at 2,000 enterprises.

Anti-alcohol campaign: On May 7, 1985, the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism" was adopted. In accordance with it, in every work collective it was required to create an atmosphere of intolerance towards drunkenness and violations of discipline. Also, to combat drunkenness, it was planned to annually reduce the production and sale of alcoholic beverages and by 1988 completely stop the production of fruit and berry wines. The anti-alcohol campaign initially met with some success. Alcohol consumption has dropped markedly (according to official data in 1984 per capita consumption was 8.4 liters; in 1985 it was 7.2; in 1987 it was 3.3). Reduced injuries and deaths at work. However Negative consequences turned out to be much more significant. The production of moonshine began everywhere, as a result of which there was a shortage of sugar, and the quality of bread decreased due to the lack of yeast. The lack of alcohol affected industry and medicine. Consumption of surrogate alcohol has increased. (In 1987, the use of chemical fluids, especially antifreeze and methyl alcohol, killed 11,000 people). Decreased budget revenues. For 1985-87 the state was short of more than 37 billion rubles. Under these conditions, in the fall of 1988, the government was forced to lift the restriction on the sale of alcoholic beverages. Increasing labor productivity by strengthening discipline and order in all sectors of the economy. The strengthening of discipline began with a large-scale anti-alcohol campaign.

In the same vein, in May 1986, a resolution was adopted aimed at combating unearned income (requisitions of agricultural products from local markets, demolition of greenhouses and other "self-constructed objects", etc.). Improvements in material incentives for labor and activation social policy. To this end, a number of resolutions were adopted to increase the salaries of scientists, increase pensions and benefits, introduce new benefits for participants in the Great Patriotic War, etc.

In general, the first period of reforms was characterized by the predominance of the administrative approach to solving economic problems. The basic principles of the Soviet economy remained unchanged.

At the second stage of the reforms (1987-1989), the concept of "perestroika" was formed and the first attempts to liberalize the economy were made.

The January (1987) plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU laid the foundation for this. It was decided to introduce self-management in production. It was to be carried out through the creation of councils of labor collectives, which were endowed with decisive powers on a wide range of issues. The plenum recommended introducing the election of managers in production and the reporting of officials to labor collectives.

On January 1, 1988, the law “On a State Enterprise (Association)” came into force: instead of a plan, a “state order” was introduced, after which enterprises were allowed to independently sell their products. From now on, the manufacturer had to build its activities on the basis of full self-financing and self-financing. An indicator of economic activity is profit (!). Enterprises received independence in determining the number work force, setting wages, choosing business partners. The activities of unprofitable and insolvent enterprises could be terminated. The role of the center was to prepare general plan and determining the scope of the state order.

Some changes are taking place in foreign economic policy. Since 1987, a number of ministries and departments have acquired the right to independently carry out export-import operations in the foreign market. The creation in the USSR of mixed (joint) enterprises and associations with the participation of foreign firms was allowed. (Moreover, in the authorized capital, the Soviet part should have exceeded 50%, and the director of the enterprise should have been a citizen of the USSR). By the end of 1988, more than 100 enterprises with joint capital were operating in the country. However, their creation was slow (bureaucratic red tape, high tax rates, lack of legal protection of investments).

On July 1, 1988, the law "On Cooperation in the USSR" was put into effect. Cooperative enterprises, along with state enterprises, were recognized as the main link in the national economy. Cooperatives could operate in agriculture, industry, construction, transport, trade, public catering. According to the Soviet leadership, cooperatives were supposed to contribute to the saturation consumer market goods and services. In mid-1988, laws were passed that allowed private activity in more than 30 types of production of goods and services.

In the countryside, the equality of five forms of management was recognized: collective farms, state farms, agro-combines, rental cooperatives and peasant (farm) farms. Collective farms, according to the new regulation (1988), could independently determine the size of individual plots and the number of livestock in subsidiary plots. Rural residents received the right to lease land for a period of 50 years and fully dispose of the products produced.

In the late 1980s, the structures of state power also underwent transformations. They were initiated by the 19th All-Union Party Conference. It unfolded a sharp struggle between the opinions of supporters and opponents of perestroika on the question of the tasks of the country's development. Most of the delegates supported M. Gorbachev's point of view on the urgent need for economic reform and the transformation of the political system of society.

The democratization of public life was one of the tasks of perestroika, its most essential characteristic at that time. It permeated all spheres of society; in the sphere of politics, it assumed a change in the very mechanism of power, a transition from the hierarchical management of society for the working people through a relatively narrow ruling stratum, to the self-government of the working people. In the economic sphere, democratization focused on changing the mechanism for the implementation of public and personal property, so that labor collectives and all workers received real rights as owners of social production and the opportunity to show individual labor initiative.

In 1988 executing the decision of the XIX conference, through the constitutional reform, the structure of the supreme authorities and the electoral system of the country were changed. A new legislative body was established - the Congress of People's Deputies, which met once a year. He elected from among his members the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Chairman. Similar structures were created in the Union republics.

The reform also approved the post of President of the USSR, endowed with broad powers. The President became the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR, appointed and dismissed the military command. The President represented the Supreme Court of the USSR, and then the Congress of People's Deputies for approval and dismissal of the Chairman of the Government of the USSR, the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General, the Chairman of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the USSR and the personnel of the USSR Constitutional Supervision Committee.

As perestroika developed, it became more and more obvious that its fate rested on the state of the political system, the political life of society. The growing attention of the public to the problems of social development showed more and more that without radical changes in public life it is not possible to solve either economic or social tasks. The initial idea of ​​the reformers to preserve the socialist political system and only partially democratize it became more and more utopian.

The differences between the reformers and the emerging social movements, especially the new labor movements, were very serious. A federation of independent trade unions of Russia was formed, a congress of miners announced the creation of a new miners' trade union, similar steps were taken by workers in a number of other industries. The past congress of councils of labor collectives and workers' committees expressed its readiness to share responsibility for the course of economic transformations in the country, to prevent the uncontrolled sale of state property, the transformation of previously all-powerful ministries into new monopolistic associations, concerns and associations.

By that time, the life support system was in an extremely difficult situation, the domestic food and industrial supply was noticeably reduced, serious damage was caused to transport, telecommunications and other systems, housing and communal services fell into decay. An orientation toward elite expensive medical care, paid higher education, and the provision of benefits to various categories of workers began to take shape.

Under these conditions, M. Gorbachev and a team of reformers were looking for different ways out of the crisis. And here an important role was played by the restoration of relations between church and state. Gorbachev had several meetings with the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Pimen, and representatives of other religious denominations. In 1988 jubilee celebrations were held at the state level in connection with the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Russia. New religious communities were registered, spiritual educational institutions were opened, and the circulation of published religious literature increased. The religious buildings that had been taken from them earlier were returned to the believers. The authorities gave permission for the construction of new temples. Church leaders got the opportunity, along with all citizens, to participate in public life, several prominent church hierarchs were elected deputies to the Supreme Council of the country.

The ongoing economic reform did not improve the state of affairs in the national economy; the rate of production growth dropped sharply industrial products. The size of the state budget deficit increased, unemployment grew, mass protests of workers dissatisfied with the economic policy of the state intensified, powerful miners' strikes began.

In relation to agricultural enterprises, party reformers from the very beginning took a tough position, M. Gorbachev's associate A. Yakovlev directly proclaimed that it was necessary to destroy the Bolshevik community - the collective farm.

The informational anti-kolkhoz campaign and hostility towards collective farms peaked in the early 1990s. The agrarian policy of the reformers, based on the destruction of collective farms and state farms, and the planting of farming, has reached a dead end. The failure of the agricultural reform largely deprived Gorbachev of public support, since for many the criterion for evaluating his performance was the availability of food in stores.

The reforms carried out in the country radically affected the armed forces, the reorganization of this institution of the state took place in the context of a tough ideological campaign against the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Considering them the most conservative part of the Soviet state, the ideologists of perestroika sought to disarm them psychologically. Actions were purposefully carried out to destroy the positive image of all the armed forces in the public mind and to undermine the self-respect of the officer corps.

Following its peaceful policy, Soviet government unilaterally announced a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons also suspended the deployment of medium-range missiles in the European part of the country. To the detriment of national interests and without apparent necessity, Soviet troops and military equipment were withdrawn from the territory of the GDR, and the armed forces were reduced by 500 thousand people. The conversion of military production and the transfer of military factories to the production of civilian products, mainly consumer goods, began. Under pressure from the public in February 1989. the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was completed, but for another two years, Afghanistan received assistance with weapons and ammunition. Without preconditions, the withdrawn Soviet troops were quartered in unprepared military camps, as a result, the morale in the troops was rapidly falling.

A real step towards the implementation of political reform and the creation of a law-based state was the reform of the law enforcement system of the USSR. Serious changes that took place in the psychology of the Soviet people could not but affect the activities of the court, the prosecutor's office, state security agencies and the police. In the conditions of building a rule of law state, democratization of public life, harmonization of legislation, a lot has changed in the activities of the internal affairs bodies. The restructuring in the political and economic life of the country contributed to the deterioration of the rule of law and the growth of crime, the registration discipline was significantly weakened, the concealment of crimes from registration and illegal prosecution flourished. By this time in society, there were conditions for the formation of organized crime and banditry.

In 1989-1991 outwardly subtle, but important changes took place in all law enforcement agencies (the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB, the court, the prosecutor's office), this is the departure from the system of most of the qualified personnel. This was prompted by objective reasons: strong pressure from the press, which discredited these bodies, the rapid decrease in wages, which in these bodies cannot be compensated by side earnings, the discrepancy between social guarantees and the standard of living and, most importantly, the squeezing out of the professional core of the Soviet orientation. All this led to a significant increase in crime, violations of public order, a decrease in the level of public safety of the population and an acceleration of the collapse of the USSR.

§3. The consequences of perestroika in the USSR

The consequences of perestroika are extremely ambiguous and multifaceted. Undoubtedly, the receipt by society of social and political freedoms, publicity and the reform of the planned distribution economy are positive aspects. However, the processes that took place during the period of perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991 led to the collapse of the USSR and the aggravation of ethnic conflicts that had been smoldering for a long time. The weakening of power, both in the center and in the regions, a sharp decline in the standard of living of the population, undermining the scientific base, and so on.

The collapse of the USSR was the result of errors in the ruling environment and the impact external factors. Throughout the history of the Soviet state, attempts were made to reform the socialist system, but all the reforms were unfinished. In society, there was a gradual alienation of the people from power, it had no social support. Reforms, even extremely moderate, evolutionary ones, were resisted by real forces, old production relations, the established administrative apparatus, and ossified economic thinking.

The reforms were doomed for another reason as well. Transformations in the country's economy were not supported by transformations in the political and social spheres, the vast majority of resources were directed to the development of the military-industrial complex.

Although it was necessary to develop science-intensive industries, to invest in the field of computer technology. Instead, there was an exorbitant development of heavy industry. In the field of foreign policy, the USSR made colossal expenditures on wars. The Cold War was costly, and the United States set itself the goal of exhausting the Soviet Union with a massive arms race.

Attempts by the leadership of the USSR to give efficiency to the bureaucratic system without significant structural changes, increased demands and control, the fight against individual vices, did not bring the country out of the crisis.

anti-alcohol perestroika glasnost gorbachev

Conclusion

The collapse of the Soviet system was inevitable, since while maintaining the foundations of the old system, the democratization of the old government institutions was reduced only to replacing them with outwardly new, but authoritarian institutions. The democratic Gorbachev regime was never able to overcome the internal conflict with the remaining foundations of the former political system.

All of the above does not detract from the significance of the perestroika that took place. The greatness and at the same time the tragedy of perestroika will be appreciated and studied over time. Ultimately, it was yet another breakthrough attempt, carried out by unusual and therefore ineffective methods.

The history of the state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has come to an end. Numerous reasons for the death of a mighty country are only becoming the subject of study by historians. Mankind knows no other example of the death of a superpower without external military intervention. Utopia came to an end, because the very attempt to create an ideal state was doomed from the very beginning. Many scientists and historians predicted what a terrible price, years later, would have to pay for the experiment started in Russia.

It is naive to believe that Gorbachev or those leaders who met in December 1991. in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, predetermined the collapse of the USSR. The political system has outlived itself. This conclusion was made before 1991.

Bibliography

1. Gorbachev, M.S. Perestroika and new thinking for our country and for the whole world / M.S. Gorbachev. - M.: Politizdat, 1989. - 271 p.

2. Gorbachev, M.S. Persistently moving forward (Speech at a meeting of the activists of the Leningrad party organization on May 17, 1985) / M.S. Gorbachev. - M.: Politizdat, 1985.

3. Batalov E. Perestroika and the fate of Russia.

4. Butenko V. “From where and where we are going", Lenizdat, 1990.

5. J. Boff "History of the Soviet Union"; M: International relationships, 1994

6. "Perestroika and the modern world", otv. ed. T.T. Timofeev; M: International relations, 1989.

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