Perestroika (1985-1991) in the USSR was a large-scale phenomenon in the political, economic and social life of the state. Some people believe that its holding was an attempt to prevent the collapse of the country, while others, on the contrary, think that it pushed the Union to collapse. Let's find out what was perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991). Let's briefly try to characterize its causes and consequences.
Backstory
So, how did perestroika start in the USSR (1985-1991)? We will study the causes, stages and consequences a little later. Now we will focus on the processes that preceded this period in national history.
Like almost all phenomena in our life, perestroika 1985-1991 in the USSR has its own background. In the 70s of the last century, the indicators of the well-being of the population reached an unprecedented level in the country. At the same time, it should be noted that a significant decrease in the rate of economic growth belongs to this period of time, for which in the future this entire period, with the light hand of M. S. Gorbachev, was called the “era of stagnation.”
Another negative phenomenon was the rather frequent shortage of goods,the cause of which researchers call the shortcomings of the planned economy.
To a large extent, the slowdown in industrial development was offset by the export of oil and gas. Just at that time, the USSR became one of the world's largest exporters of these natural resources, which was facilitated by the development of new deposits. At the same time, the increase in the share of oil and gas in the country's GDP made the economic indicators of the USSR significantly dependent on world prices for these resources.
But the very high cost of oil (due to the embargo of the Arab states on the supply of "black gold" to Western countries) helped smooth out most of the negative phenomena in the economy of the USSR. The well-being of the country's population was constantly increasing, and most ordinary citizens could not even imagine that everything could change soon. And so cool too…
At the same time, the country's leadership, headed by Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, could not or did not want to fundamentally change something in the management of the economy. High figures only covered up the abscess of economic problems that had accumulated in the USSR, which threatened to break through at any moment, as soon as external or internal conditions changed.
It was the change in these conditions that led to the process that is now known as Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991
Operation in Afghanistan and sanctions against the USSR
In 1979, the USSR launched a military operation in Afghanistan, which was officially presented as international assistance to the fraternal people. IntroductionSoviet troops in Afghanistan was not approved by the UN Security Council, which served as a pretext for the United States to apply a number of economic measures against the Union, which were of a sanctions nature, and to persuade the countries of Western Europe to support some of them.
True, despite all efforts, the United States government failed to get the European states to freeze the construction of the large-scale Urengoy-Uzhgorod gas pipeline. But even those sanctions that were introduced could cause significant damage to the economy of the USSR. And the war in Afghanistan itself also required considerable material costs, and also contributed to an increase in the level of discontent among the population.
It was these events that became the first harbingers of the economic collapse of the USSR, but only war and sanctions were clearly not enough to see the fragility of the economic basis of the Land of Soviets.
Falling oil prices
As long as the cost of oil was kept within $100 per barrel, the Soviet Union could not pay much attention to the sanctions of Western states. Since the 1980s, there has been a significant decline in the global economy, which contributed to the fall in the cost of oil due to a decrease in demand. In addition, in 1983, OPEC countries abandoned fixed prices for this resource, and Saudi Arabia significantly increased its production of raw materials. This only contributed to the further continuation of the collapse in prices for "black gold". If in 1979 they asked for $104 per barrel of oil, then in 1986 these figures fell to $30, that is, the costdecreased by almost 3.5 times.
This could not have a positive impact on the economy of the USSR, which, back in the Brezhnev era, became heavily dependent on oil exports. In combination with the sanctions of the United States and other Western countries, as well as with the flaws of an inefficient management system, a sharp drop in the cost of "black gold" could lead to the collapse of the entire economy of the country.
The new leadership of the USSR, headed by MS Gorbachev, who became the leader of the state in 1985, understood that it was necessary to significantly change the structure of economic management, as well as to carry out reforms in all spheres of the country's life. It was the attempt to introduce these reforms that led to the emergence of such a phenomenon as perestroika (1985-1991) in the USSR.
Reasons for perestroika
What exactly were the reasons for perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991)? We will briefly discuss them below.
The main reason that prompted the country's leadership to think about the need for significant changes - both in the economy and in the socio-political structure as a whole - was the understanding that under the current conditions the country is threatened with an economic collapse or, at best, a significant decline in all respects. Of course, no one among the leaders of the country even thought about the reality of the collapse of the USSR in 1985.
The main factors that served as an impetus for understanding the full depth of the urgent economic, managerial and social problems were:
- Military operation in Afghanistan.
- Introduction of sanctions againstUSSR.
- Falling oil prices.
- Imperfect management system.
These were the main reasons for Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991
Start of perestroika
How did perestroika 1985-1991 start in the USSR?
As mentioned above, initially few people thought that the negative factors that existed in the economy and public life of the USSR could actually lead to the collapse of the country, so initially the restructuring was planned as a correction of certain shortcomings of the system.
The beginning of perestroika can be considered March 1985, when the party leadership elected a relatively young and promising member of the Politburo, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, as General Secretary of the CPSU. At that time, he was 54 years old, which for many will seem not so little, but compared to the previous leaders of the country, he was really young. So, L. I. Brezhnev became General Secretary at the age of 59 and remained in this post until his death, which overtook him at 75 years old. After him, Y. Andropov and K. Chernenko, who actually held the most important state post in the country, became general secretaries at 68 and 73, respectively, but were able to live only a little more than a year each after coming to power.
This state of affairs spoke of a significant stagnation of personnel in the highest echelons of the party. The appointment of such a relatively young and new person in the party leadership as Mikhail Gorbachev as the General Secretary should have to some extent influenced the solution of this problem.
Gorbachev immediately gaveunderstand that is going to carry out a number of changes in various fields of activity in the country. True, at that time it was not yet clear how far this would all go.
In April 1985, the Secretary General announced the need to accelerate the economic development of the USSR. It was the term "acceleration" that most often referred to the first stage of perestroika, which lasted until 1987 and did not involve fundamental changes in the system. Its tasks included only the introduction of some administrative reforms. Also, the acceleration assumed an increase in the pace of development of engineering and heavy industry. But in the end, the actions of the government did not give the desired result.
In May 1985, Gorbachev announced that it was time for everyone to rebuild. It is from this statement that the term "perestroika" originated, but its introduction into wide use belongs to a later period.
I stage of restructuring
It is not necessary to assume that initially all the goals and tasks that perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991) were to be solved were named. The stages can be conditionally divided into four time periods.
The first stage of perestroika, which was also called "acceleration", can be considered the time from 1985 to 1987. As mentioned above, all innovations then were mainly of an administrative nature. Then, in 1985, an anti-alcohol campaign was launched, the purpose of which was to reduce the level of alcoholism in the country, which had reached a critical point. But in the course of this campaign, a number of unpopular measures among the people were taken, which can be considered "excesses". In particular, a hugenumber of vineyards, a de facto ban on the presence of alcoholic beverages at family and other celebrations held by party members was introduced. In addition, the anti-alcohol campaign has led to a shortage of alcoholic beverages in stores and a significant increase in their cost.
At the first stage, the fight against corruption and unearned income of citizens was also declared. The positive aspects of this period include a significant injection of new personnel into the party leadership who wanted to implement truly significant reforms. Among these people, B. Yeltsin and N. Ryzhkov can be distinguished.
The Chernobyl tragedy that occurred in 1986 demonstrated the inability of the existing system not only to prevent a catastrophe, but also to effectively deal with its consequences. The emergency situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was hidden by the authorities for several days, which endangered millions of people living near the disaster zone. This indicated that the country's leadership was acting by old methods, which, of course, did not please the population.
In addition, the reforms carried out so far proved to be ineffective, as economic indicators continued to fall, and dissatisfaction with the leadership's policies grew in society. This fact contributed to the realization by Gorbachev and some other representatives of the party leadership of the fact that half measures are not enough, but cardinal reforms must be carried out in order to save the situation.
Restructuring Goals
The state of affairs described above contributed to the fact thatthe country's leadership was not immediately able to determine the specific goals of perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991). The table below briefly characterizes them.
| Sphere | Goals |
| Economy | Introduction of elements of market mechanisms in order to increase the efficiency of the economy |
| Management | Democratization of the governance system |
| Society | Democratization of society, glasnost |
| Foreign relations | Normalization of relations with the countries of the Western world |
The main goal that the USSR faced during the perestroika years of 1985-1991 was the creation of an effective mechanism for governing the state through systemic reforms.
II stage
It was the tasks described above that were basic for the leadership of the USSR during the perestroika period of 1985-1991. at the second stage of this process, which can be considered the beginning of 1987.
It was at this time that censorship was significantly mitigated, which was expressed in the so-called glasnost policy. It provided for the admissibility of discussing in society topics that were previously either hushed up or banned. Of course, this was a significant step towards the democratization of the system, but at the same time it had a number of negative consequences. The flow of open information, for which society, which was behind the Iron Curtain for decades, was simply not ready, contributed to a radical revision of the ideals of communism, ideological and moral decay, the emergence of nationalist andseparatist sentiment in the country. In particular, in 1988 an inter-ethnic armed conflict began in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Some types of self-employment were also allowed, in particular in the form of cooperatives.
In foreign policy, the USSR made significant concessions to the United States in the hope of lifting sanctions. Gorbachev's meetings with American President Reagan were quite frequent, during which agreements on disarmament were reached. In 1989, Soviet troops were finally withdrawn from Afghanistan.
But it should be noted that at the second stage of perestroika, the tasks of building democratic socialism were not achieved.
Perestroika at Stage III
The third stage of perestroika, which began in the second half of 1989, was marked by the fact that the processes taking place in the country began to get out of control of the central government. Now she was forced to only adapt to them.
A parade of sovereignties took place across the country. The republican authorities proclaimed the priority of local laws and regulations over all-Union ones if they conflicted with each other. And in March 1990, Lithuania announced its withdrawal from the Soviet Union.
In 1990, the presidential office was introduced, to which the deputies elected Mikhail Gorbachev. In the future, it was planned to elect the president by popular direct voting.
At the same time, it became clear that the former format of relations betweencan no longer be supported by the republics of the USSR. It was planned to reorganize it into a "soft federation" called the Union of Sovereign States. The putsch of 1991, whose supporters wanted the conservation of the old system, put an end to this idea.
Post-perestroika
After the suppression of the coup, most of the republics of the USSR announced their withdrawal from its composition and declared independence. And what is the result? What did the restructuring lead to? The collapse of the USSR… The years 1985-1991 passed in unsuccessful efforts to stabilize the situation in the country. In the fall of 1991, an attempt was made to transform the former superpower into a SSG confederation, which ended in failure.
The main task of the fourth stage of perestroika, which is also called post-perestroika, was the elimination of the USSR and the formalization of relations between the republics of the former Union. This goal was actually achieved in Belovezhskaya Pushcha at the meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Later, most of the other republics joined the Belovezhskaya Pushcha agreements.
By the end of 1991, the USSR even formally ceased to exist.
Results
We studied the processes that took place in the USSR during the period of perestroika (1985-1991), briefly dwelled on the causes and stages of this phenomenon. Now it's time to talk about the results.
First of all, it should be said about the collapse that perestroika suffered in the USSR (1985-1991). The results both for the leading circles and for the country as a whole were disappointing. The country broke up into a number of independent states, insome of them started armed conflicts, there was a catastrophic decline in economic indicators, the communist idea was completely discredited, and the CPSU was liquidated.
The main goals set by perestroika were never achieved. On the contrary, the situation worsened even more. The only positive moments can be seen only in the democratization of society and in the emergence of market relations. During the perestroika period of 1985-1991, the USSR was a state that was unable to withstand external and internal challenges.
