AREA 6 : MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, 1985 – 1991

Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union in 1985. Within 6 years he was swept from power and communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

1964 – 1985: The old guard takes charge

You will not be directly examined on these years in the exam however it is important that you appreciate that these years saw the triumph of old style and rather unimaginative communism.

• Khrushchev was succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev (1964 - 1982). Brezhnev was a conservative ruler who did not favour reform.
• There was no return to Stalinist terror but there was a renewed censorship of literature (Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Soviet Union) and national minorities were once again forced to abandon their ancient traditions and learn Russian language and culture.
• The arts found greater restrictions placed on them again. Yet the educational reforms had created a new class of Soviet citizen – literate and willing to question. There was a growing demand among the young for Western culture. However dissidents were alleged to have mental illnesses and sent to asylums. These included writers, poets and scientists.
• Brezhnev also showed he was not willing to tolerate opposition in Eastern Europe by sending in troops to crush freedom movements in Czechoslovakia (1968). Yet the demands for freedom in these countries grew throughout the 70s and 80s.
• When he first became leader Brezhnev decided to spend vast sums on the arms race but in the 1960s Brezhnev wanted to reduce spending on the arms race and so he tried to establish good relations with the West through detente. He met US President Nixon and treaties were signed to limit spread of weapons. In 1972 one of these treaties, known as SALT1, was signed and the USA rewarded Russia by sending it vast amounts of grain.
• However by the time he died relations had deteriorated because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
• Corruption was widespread during this time.  Brezhnev promoted members of his own family to senior posts. His daughter and her lover and his sons were all involved in corruption. In 967 Brezhnev appointed Yuri Andropov in charge of the KGB and Andropov set out to eradicate corruption but was unable to attack Brezhnev, his family or his friends.
• Russia was facing economic stagnation, the country was desperate for reform, it was engaged in a new arms race with America, the war in Afghanistan was a disaster and unpopular, as well as a huge drain on the economy, and the countries of Eastern Europe were demanding greater freedom and independence. Many of the Soviet troops sent to Afghanistan were conscripts, unprepared for the fighting that they were exposed to. People in Russia saw their sons and brothers dying in a foreign war.

• Industry was hopelessly inefficient. 40% of factories were working at a loss. 15% of the economy was on the Black Market. 10% of workers were drunk at any one time.

• There were permanent food shortages. 30% of government spending went into agriculture, but the Soviet Union could still  only produce 65% of the wheat it needed. In agriculture there was little incentive for peasants to work hard and no money for investment in new machinery, fertilisers and technology.

• 20,000,000,000 roubles every year were spent on subsidies to keep prices down as price rises could lead to unrest among the population.

• In 1981 Brezhnev, at the Twenty-sixth Party Congress, listed the reasons for the lack of success of the Tenth Five Year Plan, these included, lack of skilled labour, alcoholism, absenteeism and lack of effort on the part of civil servants.

• His successor, Andropov, was known as an enemy of corruption and promised reform but he fell ill and died not long after becoming leader. Chernenko took his place. He was seventy-two and in poor health. He made few public appearances after becoming seriously ill in July 1984. Then in 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev, at the age of 53, became leader and everything was to change.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, 1985-91

PROBLEMS IN 1985

Mikhail Gorbachev became leader in 1985. He was seen by the West as a man who would change the Soviet Union and transform it into a more western style country with economic, political and social reforms. He was also seen as the man most likely to end the Cold War with the West. In 1984 he had met Mrs Thatcher, who described him as a man with whom she could do business. Expectations in the west were, therefore, high.

Yet he faced enormous problems when he came to power and was clearly unaware of just how extensive the problems were:

(a)   POLITICAL

·        From 1917 to 1982 the Soviet Union had only had 4 real leaders. This had led to a sense of political stability. From 1982 to 1985 there were 4 different leaders – this led to a sense of political instability.

·        In the 1960s and 1970s criticism of the Soviet system had grown as writers and intellectuals had begun to criticise the system from inside the Soviet Union. Brezhnev had replied by arresting them and sending many of them to mental hospitals.

·        There was widespread corruption within the Communist Party. Many of the top officials turned a blind eye to the corruption of members of their families. Brezhnev’s daughter and son-in-law, for example, were involved in fraud and corruption. Many ordinary Russians were aware of the corruption and despised their political leaders.

·        The old guard of Stalinist leaders were dying out and being replaced by younger, more liberal leaders. They wanted to radically change the Soviet Union as quickly as possible.

·        Yet Gorbachev wanted the Communist Party and the Soviet Union to survive.

(b)   ECONOMIC

·        By the 1980s the country was facing a economic disaster as the annual budget deficit was running at 35,000 million roubles – by 1985 the country was virtually bankrupt.

·        Economic corruption was widespread. Top party officials were abusing the system to make money for themselves and their families, whilst the economy declined and ordinary Russians suffered.

·        The Soviet industry had progressed little since Stalin’s industrial reforms. Much of the machinery was out-dated and there were no new practices that allowed it to compete with the west. The Soviet Union was unable to keep up with technological developments such as the microchip and the electronic revolution. Many Russian factories were running at a loss (40%).

·        The country was spending vast fortunes on military commitments. It was fighting a costly war in Afghanistan, was paying subsidies to foreign allies, like Cuba, was spending vast sums on military commitments in Eastern Europe, was spending considerable sums on trying to keep pace with America’s armed forces. Russia could no longer afford such expenditure.

·        People were becoming increasingly discontented as there was a growing shortage of luxury goods. It took the average worker 7 years to save enough for a car and then it was of such poor quality that it was liable to break down. People saw the success and life styles of the West and wanted a share.

·        There were widespread shortages and queuing was a part of everyday life. To overcome the shortages people turned more and more to the black market. The government was spending a fortune on trying to keep prices down (25% of the government’s income). In 1981-82 the gap between grain produced in Russia and the amount needed was 44 million tonnes and it was costing billions of dollars to import this food every year.

·        In 1981 Brezhnev had admitted to party officials that the country was in crisis and identified several reasons:

·                    LACK OF SKILLED LABOUR

·                    ALCOHOLISM

·                    ABSENTEEISM

·                    LACK OF EFFORT BY CIVIL SERVANTS

(C) SOCIAL

·        To escape from their miserable, dreary lives, many Russians turned to alcohol. By 1980 the Soviet Union had the highest alcoholic rate in the world – this led to Russia having the highest absenteeism rate and the most unproductive work force in the world. 10% of the population regularly arrived late at work drunk.

·        Workers had few escapes from the drudgery of life. Their homes were basic and simple. There were few luxuries and it was impossible to escape from the vicious cycle of life. Life expectancy had fallen from 64 in 1964 to 62 in 1980, largely due to alcoholism.

(d)   MILITARY

·        By 1984 the military commitments had crippled the economy

·        Russia had controlled Eastern Europe since 1945 and was spending vast sums on maintaining control of this area against a growing hostility to Soviet rule.

·        The invasion of Afghanistan was bleeding the country dry due to the costly nature of the conflict and the war was increasingly unpopular at home.

·        The Arms Race with America was proving too expensive. As weapons became more sophisticated, so they became more expensive and the Russian economy could not afford such a commitment. The American president, Ronald Reagan, called the Soviet Union an evil empire and was determined to stand up to it. He spent heavily on the military. Russian leaders had felt the need to respond by increasing their expenditure.

To solve these problems dramatic reforms were needed, new high technology was vital and a new co-operative spirit with the West would have to be established. However, the West would be unlikely to offer help without some deal over weapons and a promise of withdrawal from Afghanistan.

GORBACHEV’S STRATEGY

Gorbachev had 5 main aims, which he believed would help transform his country. At no time did he wish to end Communist rule. He wished to maintain the power of the Party whilst transforming the country and solving its problems. He expected communism to become more popular and for the Soviet Union to continue.

1.      END THE COLD WAR – The strain on the Russian economy was unbearable and money was being diverted away from improving the lives of ordinary people. Gorbachev wanted to improve relations with the West, end the arms race, reduce weapons and so have more money to spend on improving the country.

2.      PULL OUT OF AFGHANISTAN – this was Russia’s Vietnam. It was costing a fortune and was a disaster. By pulling out, he would cut the cost and improve relations with the West.

3.      END THE SOVIET UNION’S COMMITMENT IN EASTERN EUROPE – The Soviet union was pouring in vast sums of money to prop up unpopular Communist governments. By pulling out, he would reduce substantially Russia’s military budget.

4.      GLASTNOST : This means “openness”. Gorbachev wanted the Soviet Union to appear an open and friendly society – far removed from image in the West of a Stalinist oppressive society. He wanted to improve relations with the west by being more open. He hoped that the new image would encourage people in the west to invest money and new technology in Russia and thereby rebuild her industry and economy. He also hoped that it would allow ordinary Russians to see what the problems were and that they would then feel involved and want to help the government overcome these problems. Censorship began to be relaxed. Western ideas and music flooded in. The first McDonalds was opened in Moscow. The Orthodox Church was allowed free worship, the KGB had its powers reduced and the Lubyanka was closed. In 1990 free elections were held. Gorbachev even walked round to talk to people in the streets. He hoped that all this would create a better impression in the West and lead to western financial and technical help.

5.      PERESTROIKA : This means “economic restructuring”. Gorbachev wanted to end central control of the economy from Moscow and wanted to introduce some elements of capitalism. Workers would be allowed to set up co-operatives and small family run businesses would be encouraged. The State monopolies would be broken down. Factories would be free to set own targets, prices and wages. He wanted to encourage enterprise and competition as these were seen as the basis of successful capitalist western countries. Without some desperate economic restructuring, the Soviet Union was heading for economic catastrophe.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF GORBACHEV’S REFORMS

1.      MILITARY

·        There was some success : the Soviet Union and the USA agreed in the INF treaty of 1987 to destroy many of their nuclear weapons but in 1988 the government was unable to pay the wages of the soldiers in the Red Army.

·        In 1989 Gorbachev withdrew the Red Army from Afghanistan

·        Between 1989 and 1991 the Communist countries of Eastern Europe collapsed as Russia withdrew her military support, in part due to the lack of money to pay for the army.

·        All this saved Russia a vast sum of money and helped to end the Cold War in 1990

·        BUT many Russians now believed that Russia was a weaker country and that she had surrendered her empire for nothing – these moves had made Gorbachev unpopular in Russia, but a hero overseas. However, the withdrawal of Red Army troops from Eastern Europe led to Soviet republics demanding and end to Russian control. There was a growing demand for independence and the break up of the Soviet Union.

2.      SOCIO-ECONOMIC

·        He introduced the “Law on Enterprise” which gave factories greater freedom to set prices and wages. However Gorbachev had no real plan on how to improve the economy and underestimated the scale of the problem. 24,000 of the 46,000 state enterprises were making a loss; 30% of output came from the blackmarket and 10% of workers were alcoholics. Fiddling with the system would not be enough and led to some disastrous results:

(a)    Prices and wages now shot up causing massive inflation as there were no longer any controls on these.

(b)   As workers came to realise that higher wages only led to higher prices, they became less enthusiastic to co-operate with new ideas. Shortages became more serious,

(c)    The greater freedom led to increased criticism of Gorbachev. He was booed by the crowd at a May Day parade in Red Square. People felt only a small majority were benefiting whilst most ordinary Russians were worse off.

·        The Soviet Union had set up COMECON in 1949 to control the economies of Eastern Europe – they had a market in which to buy cheap materials and sell their goods. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe closed these markets and led to collapse in Soviet trade and dramatic rise in unemployment.

·        For the first time since 1945 rationing was introduced – this added to Gorbachev’s unpopularity. People also resented his stylist wife who spent lots of money on fashion.

·        YET : He introduced a new constitution that gave citizens more democratic rights and he relaxed censorship and religious freedom allowed. Led to western ideas, music and companies entering but increased opposition to him.

·        Gorbachev hoped his friendship with the west would encourage the G7 to help him out financially, but they failed to so do.

·        There were now western items like McDonalds and pop CDs, but there were not enough to satisfy demand and people complained about the lack of such items.

·        Natural disasters also weakened his plans. Russia was hit by the disaster at Chernobyl and an earthquake in Armenia. Vast sums of money had to be diverted to help solve these problems.

3.      POLITICAL

·        Once he stopped supporting Communist governments in Eastern Europe, they collapsed and the Soviet Union lost control over this area. Between 1989 and 1991 all six major east European countries declared independence from the Soviet Union.

·        The KGB was weakened and finally abolished but Gorbachev had been forced to re-introduce some censorship to deal with the unrest.

·        The Soviet Union was made up of 15 separate states, with Russia being the most powerful and largest. He allowed them to run their own affairs – this encouraged independence movements and by 1991 they had broken away from the Soviet union, causing the country to disintegrate. States like Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were now independent. Gorbachev refused to use force to make these countries stay part of the Soviet Union. They eventually formed a loose coalition known as the CIS.

·        By 1990 many had turned against Gorbachev. In 1990 free elections saw the communists do badly and Boris Yeltsin emerged as the leader of the political anti-communist opposition. Yeltsin set out to undermine Gorbachev. The reformers thought Gorbachev was too slow; the hardliners thought he was destroying Russia. In 1991 there was a coup against him and he was arrested. Although the coup failed, it destroyed his power base and led to Boris Yeltsin emerging as the real power. Yeltsin was seen as the man who had saved Russia from the coup by organising popular resistance to the coup. Gorbachev was forced to resign in December 1991.

·        By 1992 the Soviet Union had ceased to exist and there was no such country at the Olympic Games.

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