Home Mushrooms Transformation of the political system of the USSR during the years of perestroika. Reform of the political system

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Transformation of the political system of the USSR during the years of perestroika. Reform of the political system

Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991 - large-scale changes in the economic, political, and ideological life of the country, achieved through the introduction of radically new reforms. The goal of the reforms was the complete democratization of the political, social and economic system that had developed in the Soviet Union. Today we will take a closer look at the history of Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991.

Stages

The main stages of Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991:

March 1985 - early 1987 The phrases "acceleration" and "more socialism" became the slogans of this stage.
1987-1988 At this stage, new slogans appeared: "glasnost" and "more democracy".
1989-1990 Stage of "confusion and vacillation". The perestroika camp, which had been united before, split. Political and national confrontation began to gain momentum.
1990-1991 This period was marked by the collapse of socialism, the political bankruptcy of the CPSU and, as a result, the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

The beginning of major reforms in the Soviet Union, as a rule, is associated with the coming to power of MS Gorbachev. At the same time, some experts consider one of his predecessors, Yu. A. Andropov, to be the "father of Perestroika". There is also an opinion that from 1983 to 1985 Perestroika experienced " embryonic period”, while the USSR was entering the stage of reform. One way or another, due to the lack of economic incentives to work, the ruinous arms race, the huge costs of military operations in Afghanistan, and the growing lag behind the West in the field of science and technology, at the dawn of the 1990s, the Soviet Union needed a large-scale reform. The gap between the slogans of the government and the real situation was huge. Distrust of communist ideology grew in society. All these facts became the reasons for Perestroika in the USSR.

The beginning of change

In March 1985, M. S. Gorbachev was elected to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The following month, the new leadership of the USSR proclaimed a course towards the accelerated development of the country in the social and economic spheres. This is where the real Perestroika began. "Glasnost" and "acceleration" as a result will become its main symbols. In society, more and more often one could hear slogans like: "we are waiting for changes." Gorbachev also understood that changes were urgently needed by the state. Since the time of Khrushchev, he was the first General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, who did not disdain communication with the common people. Traveling around the country, he went out to people to ask about their problems.

Working on the implementation of the set course for the development and implementation of the Perestroika reforms in the USSR in 1985-1991, the country's leadership came to the conclusion that the sectors of the economy needed to be transferred to new ways of managing. From 1986 to 1989 laws were gradually issued on state enterprises, individual labor, cooperatives, and labor conflicts. The last law provided for the right of workers to strike. As part of the economic reforms, the following were introduced: state acceptance of products, economic accounting and self-financing, as well as the appointment of directors of enterprises based on the results of elections.

It is worth recognizing that all these measures not only did not lead to main goal Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991 - positive improvements in the economic situation of the country, also worsened the situation. The reason for this was: the "dampness" of reforms, significant budget spending, as well as an increase in the amount of money in the hands of the common population. Due to state deliveries of products, the communications established between enterprises were disrupted. The shortage of consumer goods has intensified.

"Publicity"

From an economic point of view, Perestroika began with "acceleration of development." In spiritual and political life, the so-called "glasnost" became its main leitmotif. Gorbachev declared that democracy is impossible without "glasnost". By this he meant that the people should know about all state events of the past and the processes of the present. The ideas of changing “barracks socialism” to socialism with “human appearance” began to appear in the journalism and statements of party ideologists. Culture during the years of Perestroika of the USSR (1985-1991) began to "come to life". The authorities have changed their attitude towards dissidents. Camps for political prisoners gradually began to close.

The policy of "glasnost" gained special momentum in 1987. The legacy of the writers of the 1930s and 1950s and the works of Russian philosophers have returned to the Soviet reader. The repertoire of theatrical and cinematographic figures has expanded significantly. The processes of "glasnost" found expression in magazine and newspaper publications, as well as on television. The weekly "Moscow News" and the magazine "Spark" were very popular.

Political transformation

The policy of Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991 assumed the emancipation of society, as well as its deliverance from party tutelage. As a result, the question of the need for political reforms was put on the agenda. The most important events in the internal political life of the USSR were: the approval of the reform political system, the adoption of amendments to the constitution and the adoption of a law on the election of deputies. These decisions were a step towards organizing an alternative electoral system. The Congress of People's Deputies became the supreme legislative body of power. He nominated his representatives to the Supreme Council.

In the spring of 1989, elections were held for members of the Congress of People's Deputies. The legal opposition was included in the congress. The world-famous scientist and human rights activist Academician A. Sakharov, the former secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee B. Yeltsin and the economist G. Popov were placed at its head. The spread of "glasnost" and pluralism of opinions led to the creation of numerous associations, some of which were national.

Foreign policy

During the years of Perestroika, the course changed radically foreign policy Soviet Union. The government abandoned confrontation in relations with the West, stopped interfering in local conflicts and revised its relationship with the countries of the socialist camp. The new vector of foreign policy development was based not on a "class approach", but on universal human values. According to Gorbachev, relations between states should have been based on maintaining a balance of national interests, the freedom to choose the paths of development in each individual state, and the collective responsibility of countries for resolving global issues.

Gorbachev was the initiator of the creation of a common European home. He regularly met with the rulers of America: Reagan (until 1988) and Bush (since 1989). At these meetings, politicians discussed disarmament issues. Soviet-American relations were "unfrozen". In 1987, agreements were signed on the destruction of missiles and missile defense. In 1990, politicians signed an agreement to reduce the number of strategic weapons.

During the years of Perestroika, Gorbachev was able to establish trusting relations with the heads of the leading states of Europe: Germany (G. Kohl), Great Britain (M. Thatcher) and France (F. Mitterrand). In 1990, the participants in the European Security Conference signed an agreement to reduce the number of conventional weapons in Europe. The USSR began to withdraw its soldiers from Afghanistan and Mongolia. During 1990-1991, both the political and military structures of the Warsaw Pact were dissolved. The military bloc, in fact, ceased to exist. The policy of "new thinking" brought fundamental changes to international relations. This was the end cold war.

National movements and political struggle

In the Soviet Union, as in a multinational state, national contradictions have always existed. They gained special momentum in conditions of crises (political or economic) and radical changes. Being engaged in the construction of socialism, the authorities paid little attention to the historical features of the peoples. Having announced the formation of the Soviet community, the government actually began to destroy the traditional economy and life of many peoples of the state. The authorities exerted particularly strong pressure on Buddhism, Islam and shamanism. Among the nations Western Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltic states, which joined the USSR on the eve of the Second World War, anti-socialist and anti-Soviet sentiments were very common.

The peoples deported during the war years were strongly offended by the Soviet government: Chechens, Crimean Tatars, Ingush, Karachays, Kalmyks, Balkars, Meskhetian Turks and others. During Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991, there were historical conflicts between Georgia and Abkhazia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, and others.

The policy of "glasnost" gave the green light to the creation of nationalist and national social movements. The most significant of them were: the "People's Fronts" of the Baltic countries, the Armenian committee "Karabakh", the Ukrainian "Rukh" and the Russian community "Memory". The broad masses were attracted to the opposition movement.

The strengthening of national movements, as well as opposition to the allied Center and the power of the Communist Party, became the determining factor in the crisis of the “tops”. Back in 1988, tragic events unfolded in Nagorno-Karabakh. For the first time since the civil war, demonstrations were held under nationalist slogans. They were followed by pogroms in Azerbaijani Sumgayit and Uzbek Fergana. The apogee of national discontent was the armed clashes in Karabakh.

In November 1988, the Supreme Council of Estonia proclaimed the supremacy of the republican law over the all-union law. The following year, the Verkhovna Rada of Azerbaijan proclaimed the sovereignty of its republic, and the Armenian Social Movement began to advocate for the independence of Armenia and its separation from the Soviet Union. At the end of 1989, the Communist Party of Lithuania declared its independence.

1990 elections

At times election campaign 1990, the confrontation between the party apparatus and the opposition forces was clearly expressed. The opposition received the Democratic Russia electoral bloc, which became nothing more than an organizational center for it, and later turned into a social movement. In February 1990, many rallies took place, the participants of which sought the elimination of the Communist Party's monopoly on power.

Deputy elections in Ukraine, Belarus and the RSFSR were the first truly democratic elections. About 30% of positions in the highest legislative bodies were received by deputies with a democratic orientation. These elections have become an excellent illustration of the crisis in the power of the party elite. The society demanded the abolition of the 6th article of the Constitution of the Soviet Union, which proclaims the supremacy of the CPSU. Thus, a multi-party system began to take shape in the USSR. The main reformers - B. Yeltsin and G. Popov, received high posts. Yeltsin became chairman of the Supreme Soviet, and Popov became the mayor of Moscow.

The beginning of the collapse of the USSR

MS Gorbachev and Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991 are associated by many with the collapse of the Soviet Union. It all started in 1990, when national movements began to gain momentum. In January, as a result of the Armenian pogroms, troops were sent to Baku. military operation, accompanied by a large number of victims, only temporarily distracted the public from the issue of Azerbaijan's independence. Around the same time, Lithuanian parliamentarians voted for the independence of the republic, as a result of which Soviet troops entered Vilnius. Following Lithuania, a similar decision was made by the parliaments of Latvia and Estonia. In the summer of 1990, the Supreme Soviet of Russia and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted declarations of sovereignty. In the spring of the following year, independence referendums were held in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Georgia.

Autumn 1990. MS Gorbachev, who was elected President of the USSR at the Congress of People's Deputies, was forced to reorganize the authorities. Since then, the executive bodies have been directly subordinate to the president. The Federation Council was established - a new advisory body, which included the heads of the Union republics. Then the development and discussion of a new Union Treaty began, regulating relations between the republics of the USSR.

In March 1991, the first referendum in the history of the USSR was held, in which the citizens of the countries had to speak out regarding the preservation of the Soviet Union as a federation of sovereign republics. Six union republics (Armenia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia) out of 15 refused to take part in the referendum. 76% of those polled voted for the preservation of the USSR. In parallel, an All-Russian referendum was organized, as a result of which the post of president of the republic was introduced.

Russian presidential elections

On June 12, 1991, popular elections were held for the first president in the history of Russia. According to the voting results, this honorary post went to B. N. Yeltsin, who was supported by 57% of voters. So Moscow became the capital of two presidents: Russian and all-Union. Reconciling the positions of the two leaders was problematic, especially given the fact that their relationship was far from the most “smooth”.

August coup

By the end of the summer of 1991, the political situation in the country had deteriorated greatly. On August 20, after heated discussions, the leadership of the nine republics agreed to sign an updated Union Treaty, which, in fact, meant the transition to a real federal state. Row state structures The USSR was eliminated or replaced by new ones.

The party and state leadership, believing that only decisive measures would lead to the preservation of the political positions of the Communist Party and stop the collapse of the USSR, resorted to forceful methods of management. On the night of August 18-19, when the President of the USSR was on vacation in the Crimea, they formed the GKChP (State Committee for the State of Emergency). The newly formed committee declared a state of emergency in some parts of the country; announced the dissolution of power structures that are contrary to the 1977 Constitution; hindered the activities of opposition structures; banned gatherings, demonstrations and rallies; took the media under tight control; and finally sent troops to Moscow. AI Lukyanov - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, supported the GKChP, although he himself was not a member of it.

B. Yeltsin, together with the leadership of Russia, led the resistance to the KGChP. In an appeal to the people, they urged them not to obey the illegal decisions of the committee, interpreting its actions as nothing more than an unconstitutional coup. Yeltsin was supported by more than 70% of Muscovites, as well as residents of a number of other regions. Tens of thousands of peaceful Russians, expressing support for Yeltsin, were ready to defend the Kremlin with weapons in their hands. Frightened by the unleashing of a civil war, the GKChP, after three days of confrontation, began to withdraw troops from the capital. On August 21, members of the committee were arrested.

The Russian leadership used the August coup to defeat the CPSU. Yeltsin issued a decree according to which the party should suspend its activities in Russia. The property of the Communist Party was nationalized, and the funds were seized. The liberals who came to power in the central part of the country took away from the leadership of the CPSU the levers of control of law enforcement agencies and the media. Gorbachev's presidency was only formal. The main number of republics refused to conclude the Union Treaty after the August events. No one thought about "glasnost" and "acceleration" of Perestroika. The question of the future fate of the USSR was on the agenda.

final decay

In the last months of 1991, the Soviet Union finally collapsed. The Congress of People's Deputies was dissolved, the Supreme Soviet was radically reformed, most of the union ministries were liquidated, and an inter-republican economic committee was created instead of the cabinet of ministers. The State Council of the USSR, which included the President of the Soviet Union and the heads of the union republics, became the supreme body for managing the internal and foreign policy. The first decision of the State Council was the recognition of the independence of the Baltic countries.

On December 1, 1991, a referendum was held in Ukraine. More than 80% of the respondents spoke in favor of the independence of the state. As a result, Ukraine also decided not to sign the Union Treaty.

December 7-8, 1991 B. N. Yeltsin, L. M. Kravchuk and S. S. Shushkevich met in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. As a result of the negotiations, the politicians announced the termination of the existence of the Soviet Union and the formation of the CIS (Union of Independent States). At first, only Russia, Ukraine and Belarus joined the CIS, but later all the states that were previously part of the Soviet Union, except for the Baltic states, joined it.

Results of Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991

Despite the fact that Perestroika ended disastrously, it nevertheless brought a number of important changes to the life of the USSR, and then of its individual republics.

Positive results of the restructuring:

The victims of Stalinism were fully rehabilitated.
There was such a thing as freedom of speech and views, and censorship became not so tough.
The one-party system was abolished.
There was a possibility of unhindered entry / exit to / from the country.
Military service for undergraduate students has been cancelled.
Women are no longer jailed for adultery.
Rock was allowed.
The cold war has formally ended.

Of course, Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991 also had negative consequences.

Here are just the main ones:

The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves decreased by 10 times, which caused hyperinflation.
The country's international debt has at least tripled.
The rate of economic growth of the country has fallen almost to zero - the state simply froze.

Well, the main negative outcome of Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991. - the collapse of the USSR.

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Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

ON THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA

on the topic: "Reforms in the years of perestroika"

Completed:

student 9 "A" class

gymnasium No. 18

Gubin G.V.

Checked:

Lutsenko T.V.

Krasnodar, 2002

Introduction

1. Acceleration

2. Prohibition

3. Glasnost

4. Political reforms

5. National movements

6. Failed NEP

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The concept of "perestroika" is highly controversial: everyone means by it something that corresponds to their political views. I mean by the word “perestroika” the totality of social and political processes in the period 1985-1991. In terms of the scale of the changes it caused in Europe, and throughout the world, perestroika is rightly compared with such historical events like the French Revolution or October 1917 in Russia. So, the term “perestroika” appeared in our political vocabulary in 1985.

April 1985 marked the beginning of slow, cautious reforms aimed at partially updating the existing system. The changes that took place over the course of about three subsequent years remotely resembled the situation that developed in Russia in the late 1950s. One hundred and thirty years ago, the need for a partial modernization of the regime was recognized as a result of the defeat in Crimean War, which demonstrated to the whole world how far the Russian Empire lagged behind other European powers in the time that had passed since its triumphant victory over Napoleonic France. Now, the reason for the “repair” that began was the lag behind the United States in the space arms race: the inability, for economic reasons, to respond to the “Star Wars” program convinced the ruling circles of the USSR that the competition in the field of high technologies was almost lost (about the imminence of an economic crisis says at least this fact: from 1971 to 1985 there was a negative growth trend in the most important economic indicators).

It was not at all about changing the system - the existing one suited the ruling elite quite well. They only tried to adapt this system to new - primarily international - conditions. On the contrary, in the original project of perestroika, technology was put at the forefront, not the person - he was given the incomprehensible role of the “human factor”.

1. Acceleration

At the April 1985 Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Gorbachev spoke "as the author" of the acceleration strategy, the essence of which was outlined General Secretary according to all the rules of the party-bureaucratic style: “Widely using the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution, bringing the form of socialist management in line with modern conditions and needs, we must achieve a significant acceleration of socio-economic progress” /1/. Gorbachev also spoke about "acceleration" at the 27th Congress of the CPSU in February 1986.

Already by the beginning of the 1970s, it became clear to specialists that the economy of the USSR as a whole could not compete with the economy of the "capitalist world": the USA, Western Europe, and Japan. On May 14, 1975, the Director of the Economics and Mathematics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician N.V. Fedorenko. He told the stunned intelligence officers that the normal development of the economy is possible only if two-thirds of the increase in annual production is due to scientific and technological progress, and one-third due to other factors (cash investments - investments, labor discipline, and so on) while in the USSR the opposite is true. Other sad figures were also given: manual labor in industry is 60%, in agriculture - 80%, in transport - 50%. This statistic has changed little by the early 1980s. years. But in the rest of the world began to occur global change. Political scientist F.M. Burlatsky, one of the ideologists of perestroika, wrote: “It seems that we are still not deeply imbued with the consciousness of that majestic (and perhaps formidable) process that, like ocean waves, rolls over the globe. We are talking about a technological revolution, or rather, a new technological revolution” /2/. The connoisseur and theorist of the technological revolution, the American scientist O. Toffler, assessed the global upheaval that had begun in the world as follows: “In the period of the“ first wave ”, the agricultural civilization, the most important form of ownership, was land. During the "second wave" the most important property is no longer land. These are buildings, factories, machines, means of industrial production. The main property in the period of the "third wave" is information ... Therefore, there is nothing more harmful than control, censorship, excessive secrecy. Therefore, freedom of information for the first time becomes not just a political or philosophical issue, but specifically an economic issue: How many rubles does a Russian person have in his pocket. Information becomes the central problem of economic development. This forces us to reconsider our ideology - both bourgeois and Marxist" /3/.

However, none of the leaders of the USSR was going to revise the Marxist ideology. The lag of the economy worried them because it could not but affect the combat capability of the army and navy. According to the Americans themselves, the United States waged "simultaneously two wars: in the field of armaments - with the Soviet Union, in the field of industry - with Japan." So, the most important task - to accelerate economic development through the scientific and technological revolution - was set. Members of the Politburo and the Council of Ministers began to think about how to implement it: “... where to start progress? In chemistry? In aviation? In metallurgy? It was decided to start with mechanical engineering. In this really important industry they began to heavily invest money from the budget, strengthened control over the quality of products (the so-called "State Acceptance Committee" was created) - but nothing helped. Economics and science still did not find common language. Since there was absolutely no competition between enterprises of the state economy, their management simply did not have an incentive to implement on their conveyors the latest technology- the money regularly came from the treasury, regardless of how the factories and factories worked. The "acceleration" never happened.

2. "No alcohol law"

In May 1985, a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR appeared: “The Party and the Soviet state set a qualitatively new, responsible task of great political significance: to create an atmosphere of intolerance for drunkenness everywhere with a united front, to eradicate it” / 4 /. In the "fight against drunkenness" that Gorbachev and his team led, the violent nature of "revolutions from above" was clearly manifested, when good undertakings are put into practice by the bureaucracy in such a way that it turns into evil. The authors of the decree reasoned: “Why do workers and peasants work poorly? - because they drink a lot of vodka. Let's reduce the number of alcoholic beverages produced, close some wine shops, restaurants, bars, and then the population will drink less and work better.” Within a year in the USSR "a dry law regime was actually established." The results were stunning: drug consumption increased, huge queues lined up at the doors of shops, and the “shadow economy” instantly mastered the underground production of extremely low-quality alcoholic beverages that were sold “from under the counter”, increasing the capital of organized crime (in 87-88 years it is openly referred to in the press as the “mafia”). The hopes of the people in the "good king" began to gradually melt away.

3. Glasnost

Having suffered serious setbacks in the transformation of the economy, the "revolutionaries from above" have achieved impressive success in implementing the policy of glasnost. When in the 60s of the 19th century the government of Alexander II the Liberator fought against the resistance of conservative serf nobles and officials, it also pursued a policy of "glasnost", allowing journalists and writers to expose individual abuses. Gorbachev's advisers, who had studied the history of "revolutions from above" well, decided to use this experience. Since 1986, more and more criticism of bribe-takers, idlers, and even outright criminals from among the party-state bureaucracy has appeared on the pages of newspapers and magazines. Of course, "glasnost" had clear boundaries. One could criticize: L.I. Brezhnev and his associates; impossible: the CPSU as a whole, socialism, the ruling leadership of the party and the state. The new general secretary and his "team" actively tried to use the "ideological weapon" - the mass media - against their opponents. In 1987, the novel by A.B. Rybakov "Children of the Arbat", telling about the events of the 34th year: the murder of S.M. Kirov, internal party intrigues and the beginning mass repression. This is clear evidence that the "team" has largely returned to Khrushchev's policies. Even at the dawn of its history, the Bolshevik Party gave great influence to propaganda. For decades, all crises and difficulties in the country's development were explained by the communists as two main reasons: "the heavy legacy of the tsarist regime" and "the intrigues of world imperialism." In 1987, it was no longer possible to explain the trampling of the economy as a “heavy legacy” allegedly left by the Romanov dynasty. Blaming all the troubles on the "capitalist encirclement" also became uncomfortable: Soviet diplomats were in difficult negotiations with the United States and leading European states to limit the arms race. It was then that the main idea of glasnost was formulated: Stalin, having appropriated unlimited power, perverted Lenin's ideas, exterminated the principled communists devoted to the cause of Lenin, as a result of which socialism, although it was built, had many shortcomings. Now we have to correct these shortcomings. At the same time, the term "perestroika" arose. The Soviet intelligentsia enthusiastically accepted the policy of glasnost. Many scientists, writers, and publicists considered it their civic duty to expose "Stalin's crimes." A lot is written about the tragedy of 37-38 in 87-89 in the newspapers Moskovsky Komsomolets, Arguments and Facts, Izvestia, Pravda; in the magazines "Spark", "New World", "Friendship of Peoples", "Star", "October", "Neva". Censorship weakened every year, the forbidden topics became less and less. The Central Committee of the CPSU instructs the prosecutor's office to complete the rehabilitation of those repressed party and statesmen, which Khrushchev did not have time or was afraid to justify. By the 1990s, the turn of the “worst enemy of the Soviet government” A.I. Solzhenitsyn, whose statements were quoted by leading politicians from the rostrum of the Congress of People's Deputies. Bukharin and Rykov, who were against the abolition of the NEP in 29, were released; Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky. During perestroika, Soviet viewers were able to see previously inaccessible foreign films, as well as Soviet films banned in the 70s, for example, T. Abuladze's painting "Repentance", calling on viewers to abandon the legacy of the communist era. Exhibitions of immigrant artists and sculptors, such as E. Neizvestny, M. Shemyakin, opened. Solzhenitsyn's previously banned book The Gulag Archipelago, In the First Circle, and others were published. Leaders of banned musical movements emerged from the underground. The most popular rock groups were Kino, Alisa, Aquarium, DDT. Religious life in the country revived. In the 88th year, the millennium of the adoption of Christianity in Russia was widely celebrated. After that, the persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the USSR, not only followers of Orthodoxy began to operate freely, but also Muslims, Buddhists and representatives of various sects.

4. Political reforms

In order to rally the party and increase its role in society, Gorbachev tried to start reforming the CPSU. At the 27th congress, held in February-March 1986, a new version of the party program and its new charter were adopted. Certain provisions of the charter proclaimed greater freedom in party life. Gradually, Gorbachev and his comrades-in-arms came to the conclusion that such ambitious tasks of rebuilding the country as they had set could only be achieved through the expansion of freedom and democracy in the life of the whole society. In 1987, at the January plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the tasks of "further democratization of Soviet society" and "improvement of the Soviet electoral system" were set, it was proposed to hold elections of party and state leaders on an alternative basis /5/. However, it soon became clear that the new course was not approved by all the top party leaders. Tough speeches by the conservatives were also made at the 19th conference of the CPSU, held in the summer of 1988. Many criticized the policy of "glasnost", called the speeches of journalists "slander". There were demands to curtail the program of democratization, to strengthen the party's control over society. “Perestroika is the only possible way to strengthen and develop socialism, to solve urgent problems of social development… Perestroika is our destiny, the chance that history gives us. It cannot and must not be missed,” said M.S. Gorbachev, speaking at XIX All-Union conference of the CPSU /6/.

But the majority of the conference delegates nevertheless supported Gorbachev and agreed to carry out new, much more radical reforms. Recent changes primarily affected the higher organs state power. On December 1, 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the laws "On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the USSR" and "On Elections of People's Deputies of the USSR." Henceforth, the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was considered the highest authority in the Soviet Union. He met once a year. In the intervals between convocations of the Congress, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR worked, the members of which were individual deputies of the Congress. The composition of the Supreme Council was to be renewed every year by 1/5.

In January 1989, the election campaign began in the USSR, and on March 26, elections were held that became the most democratic in the history of the Soviet Union. Many public figures who spoke with opposition views and criticized the omnipotence were delegated to the Congress. communist party(B.N. Yeltsin and A.D. Sakharov).

5. National movements

The leaders of the CPSU have always maintained that the national question in the USSR has been resolved once and for all: there are no oppressed nations and there is no restriction on the rights of individuals of any nation or people. It was not only said that such unity was achieved by cruel means: the traditions and religions of all the peoples of the USSR without exception were declared "reactionary survivals", "nationalism" and ruthlessly eradicated. When the power of the state weakened, the contradictions driven deep after the formation of the USSR in 1922 immediately came out. The most important problem now faced by the new Soviet leadership was the nationalist movement. In 1986, unrest took place in Alma-Ata, where young people took to the streets of the city under slogans that were called "nationalist". The demonstrators were dispersed, and the media reported on the riots staged by "hooligan elements." At that time, no one in the leadership of the USSR could assess the depth of the emerging crisis. Then followed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, which ultimately accelerated the collapse of the Soviet Union. In these republics, the creation of the so-called "popular fronts" began, advocating the secession of the republics from the USSR. As the economic situation continued to worsen over the vast expanse of the country, it became more and more difficult for the Gorbachev government to prove to the agitated peoples the benefits of their life as part of the USSR. In addition, local organized crime and former party leaders, who felt that there was an opportunity to get rid of Moscow's control, supported and financed some national movements. perestroika glasnost political reform

6. Failed NEP

In 1987, one of the most popular ideas was the idea of reviving the NEP. The failure of the policy of "acceleration" prompted the leadership of the USSR to listen to such opinions. Gorbachev, Ryzhkov and their chief economic consultant L.I. Abalkin decided to try to combine socialism and the market. Since 1989, all state-owned enterprises have switched to self-financing and self-financing. This meant that the management of factories, factories, collective farms and state farms from now on had to look for a market for their products and decide for themselves how to dispose of the profits. But the state retained the right to place among industrial and agricultural enterprises the so-called "state order", which is mandatory for execution. Back in the 86th year in the USSR it was allowed to create cooperatives (private enterprises) in the field of food, consumer services, workshops, canteens, cafes, restaurants. True, the taxes that cooperators had to pay reached 65% of the income received /7/. The capitals of the "shadow economy" immediately rushed into the cooperative movement. The first Soviet millionaires appeared (Artem Tarasov). However, high taxes encouraged entrepreneurs to hide their income. Many of them began to buy goods from state-owned enterprises and then resell them at inflated prices. At the same time, a flow of goods from abroad poured into the country, with which Soviet industry could not compete. In the USSR, an unusual economic situation developed: almost everything could be bought in private stores, but at prices that were unaffordable for the majority of the population. The counters of the state trading network were empty every day. The lines continued to grow. State revenues fell. In 1988-89 the budget deficit reached 100 billion rubles. The Soviet Union was not ready for the market / 8 /

Conclusion

Having considered the main economic and political transformations in the era of perestroika, we can begin to consider its results and results, what Gorbachev sought, and what we actually got. By the end of 1991, there was a hybrid of the bureaucratic and economic market in the country (the former prevailed), there was an almost complete (precisely due to the fundamental legal uncertainty regarding formal property rights) nomenklatura capitalism. The ideal form for bureaucratic capitalism dominated - the pseudo-state form of activity of private capital. In the political sphere - a hybrid of the Soviet and presidential forms of government, the republic is post-communist and pre-democratic.

The new independent Russia faced very difficult and large-scale tasks. The first and most urgent was economic reform, designed to bring the country out of the crisis and provide Russians with a decent standard of living. The only way for this was seen in the economy - the transition to market methods of management, the awakening of the entrepreneurial initiative of private owners.

It was necessary to continue the process of forming a free democratic society, successfully launched by "perestroika". There was already real freedom of speech in the country, which grew out of the policy of “glasnost”, a multi-party system was taking shape, elections were held on an alternative (from several candidates) basis, and a formally independent press appeared. But the predominant position of one party remained - the CPSU, which actually merged with the state apparatus. The Soviet form of organization of state power did not provide for the generally recognized separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches. It was necessary to reform the state-political system of the country, which turned out to be quite within the power of the new Russian leadership.

By the end of 1991, the Soviet economy was in a catastrophic situation. The fall in production accelerated. The national income compared to 1990 has decreased by 20%. The state budget deficit, i.e., the excess of government spending over income, was, according to various estimates, from 20% to 30% of gross domestic product (GDP). The growth of the money supply in the country threatened to lose state control over the financial system and hyperinflation, i.e. inflation over 50% per month, which could paralyze the entire economy /10/.

The accelerated growth of wages and benefits, which began in 1989, increased unsatisfied demand, by the end of the year most goods disappeared from state trade, but were sold at exorbitant prices in commercial stores and on the "black market". From 1985 to 1991, retail prices nearly tripled, and government price controls were unable to stop inflation. Unexpected interruptions in the supply of various consumer goods to the population caused "crises" (tobacco, sugar, vodka) and huge queues. A normalized distribution of many products (according to coupons) was introduced. People feared a possible famine /11/.

Serious doubts arose among Western creditors about the solvency of the USSR. The total external debt of the Soviet Union by the end of 1991 amounted to more than 100 billion dollars, taking into account mutual debts, the net debt of the USSR in convertible currency in real terms was estimated at about 60 billion dollars. Until 1989, external debt service (repayment of interest, etc.) took 25-30% of the amount of Soviet exports in convertible currency, but then, due to a sharp drop in oil exports Soviet Union to acquire the missing currency had to sell the gold reserves. By the end of 1991, the USSR could no longer fulfill its international obligations to service its foreign debt. Economic reform became inevitable and vital /12/.

List of used literature

Materials of the April Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. M., Politizdat, 1985.

F. Burlatsky. Notes of a contemporary. M., 1989.

O. Toffler. Informatics and ideology. Translation from English. M., 1992.

Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On strengthening the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism", M., 1985.

Materials of the January Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. M., Politizdat, 1987.

Law of the USSR "On cooperatives", M., 1986.

History of Russia and its neighbors. Avanta plus, 1999.

Yegor Gaidar "The State and Evolution", 1998.

S. Ryabikin " recent history Russia (1991-1997)"

Mikhail Geller "The Seventh Secretary: 1985-1990"

12. Mikhail Geller "Russia at the Crossroads: 1990-1995"

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Perestroika: gender reforms and their results

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 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).

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.

In 1989, the elections of people's deputies of the USSR were held - the first elections of the supreme body of power of the USSR, in which voters were given a choice between several candidates. Discussion of pre-election programs (including on TV debates) was a real breakthrough towards freedom of speech and real political struggle.

At this time, a group of contenders for political leadership, the so-called. "Foremen of Perestroika". They advocated the elimination of the CPSU monopoly on power, the market economy, and the expansion of the independence of the republics. Among them, the most famous were G. Popov, Yu. Afanasiev, A. Sobchak, G. Starovoitova, I. Zaslavsky, Yu. Chernichenko.

On the very first day of the Congress, he elected Gorbachev Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. On the last day of the Congress, being in a relative minority, the radical deputies formed the Interregional Group of People's Deputies (co-chairs of the group: A. D. Sakharov, B. N. Yeltsin, Yu. N. Afanasiev, G. Kh. Popov, V. Palm) . They advocated further acceleration of political and economic transformations in the USSR, for an even more radical reform of Soviet society, and in relation to their opponents - deputies who voted in accordance with the line of the CPSU Central Committee, they used the stable phrase "aggressive-obedient majority".

On it, the radical minority, which, after the death during the days of the Congress of A. Sakharov, was headed by Boris Yeltsin, demanded the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution of the USSR (which stated that “ The CPSU is the leading and guiding force in the state). In turn, the conservative majority pointed to destabilizing, disintegration processes in the USSR and, consequently, to the need to strengthen the powers of the center (the Soyuz group).

In February 1990, mass rallies were held in Moscow demanding the repeal of Article 6 of the USSR Constitution.

Under these conditions, during the break between the II and III Congresses of People's Deputies of the USSR, Gorbachev agreed to the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution, at the same time initiating the question of the need for additional powers of the executive branch.

On March 1990, the III Congress of People's Deputies repealed Article 6 - adopted amendments to the Constitution of the USSR allowing for a multi-party system, introduced the institute of presidency in the USSR and elected M.

S. Gorbachev (as an exception, the first President of the USSR was elected by the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, and not popularly).

In March 1990, elections were held for people's deputies of the union republics (elections to the Supreme Soviets of the Baltic republics were held earlier, in February 1990) and to local Soviets of people's deputies.

On June 12, 1990, with 907 votes "For" with only 13 votes "Against", the First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the "Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the RSFSR". It proclaimed that “In order to ensure political, economic and legal guarantees of the sovereignty of the RSFSR, it is established: the completeness of the power of the RSFSR in resolving all issues of state and public life, with the exception of those that it voluntarily transfers to the jurisdiction USSR; the supremacy of the Constitution of the RSFSR and the Laws of the RSFSR throughout the entire territory of the RSFSR; acts of the USSR that conflict with the sovereign rights of the RSFSR shall be suspended by the Republic on its territory”.

This marked the beginning of the "war of laws" between the RSFSR and the Union Center.

On June 12, 1990, the Law of the USSR "On the press and other mass media" was adopted. It forbade censorship and guaranteed freedom for the media.

The process of "sovereignization of Russia" led to the adoption on November 1, 1990 of the "Decree on the economic sovereignty of Russia."

During the period under review, various parties were formed.

Most of the parties operated on the territory of one union republic, which contributed to the strengthening of the separatism of the union republics, including the RSFSR. Most of the newly formed parties were in opposition to the CPSU.

The CPSU experienced a serious crisis during this period. It has different political directions. The XXVIII Congress of the CPSU (July 1990) led to the exit from the CPSU of the most radical members, headed by Boris Yeltsin.

The membership of the party in 1990 decreased from 20 to 15 million people, the communist parties of the Baltic republics proclaimed themselves independent.

The IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR announced a referendum on the preservation of the USSR as a "renewed federation of equal sovereign republics." For this purpose, a law on the nationwide vote (referendum) of the USSR was adopted. The congress approved constitutional changes that gave Gorbachev additional powers.

There was an actual resubordination to the President of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR. The post of Vice-President was introduced, for which the Congress elected G. I. Yanaev. Instead of V. V. Bakatin, B. K. Pugo became the Minister of Internal Affairs, E. A. Shevardnadze was replaced as Minister of Foreign Affairs by A. A. Bessmertnykh.

New political thinking

Gorbachev's coming to power did not initially portend anything new in the field of foreign policy.

He traditionally declared the need to combat the military threat, strengthen the socialist community, and support national liberation movements. Foreign policy began to change after the change of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR(instead of A.

A. Gromyko this post in July 1985 was taken by E. A. Shevardnadze). Were determined main directions of foreign policy: normalization of relations with Western countries (primarily with the United States); the beginning of bilateral arms reductions; ending the armed confrontation with the US and its allies in Asia, Africa, Latin America (unblocking regional conflicts).

In 1987

took shape completely new foreign policy concept Soviet leadership, called " new thinking". She assumed rejection of the idea of splitting the world into two systems; recognized the integrity and indivisibility of the world; rejected the use of force to solve world problems; declared the priority of universal human values over class, national, ideological, etc.

These ideas were formulated in book Gorbachev " Perestroika and new thinking for our country and for the whole world ", but they were not new: they were put forward even earlier by prominent scientists and politicians I. Kant, M. Gandhi, A. Einstein, B. Russell and others. The merit of Gorbachev was that he was the first of the Soviet leaders put these ideas into the basis of the foreign policy of the state.

Soviet-American relations. The beginning of nuclear disarmament.

In November 1985, the first meeting between MS Gorbachev and US President R. Reagan took place. She put down the beginning of a new thaw in relations between East and West. Negotiations between the leaders of the two countries have since become annual and have brought significant results.

Already in 1987

The USSR and the USA signed the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, which created a special danger for the European allies of the USA.
In 1988-1989 ideological principles began to have less and less influence on Gorbachev's foreign policy. Having no real success in the economy, he sought to achieve popularity within the country and in the world through "breakthroughs" in foreign policy.

And this forced them to make serious unilateral concessions to the West. According to the Americans themselves, each controversial issue was resolved in such a way that "the Russians yielded 80%, and the Americans - only 20%." This allowed the United States to put forward more and more new conditions, with which Gorbachev was forced to agree.. Soon the USSR expressed its readiness to a much greater extent than the United States to reduce its military presence in European countries and to destroy a greater number of conventional weapons.

In the summer of 1991, the USSR and the USA signed the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START), which provided for a 40% reduction in the most powerful types of offensive weapons.
Breakthrough in relations with the West occurred during a meeting between Gorbachev and the new US President George W.

Bush (senior) in Malta at the end of 1989 where the Soviet leader announced that the Brezhnev doctrine is dead ".

This meant that the USSR would not be military force hinder change in countries of Eastern Europe and within the country in relation to the union republics. The United States immediately stepped up its efforts to destroy the socialist community.
Summer 1991

Bush put forward "six conditions" to Gorbachev on which the West agreed to further cooperate with the USSR: democracy, the market, federation, a change in the USSR's policy in the Middle East, as well as in Africa, and the rejection of the modernization of Soviet nuclear missile forces. For the first time, the Americans set conditions not only in the sphere of international politics, but also demanded changes in the domestic policy of the Soviet Union. In parallel, to push Gorbachev in this direction, they began to conduct direct negotiations with the leaders of the union republics.

In the autumn of 1991, the contacts of the West with the leaders of the union republics were so strong and trusting that even the denunciation of the Union Treaty of 1922 was the first to be known from the "Belovezhskaya troika" by US President Bush, and only then by Soviet President Gorbachev.
The collapse of the socialist system. Changes in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe began in 1987.

Under pressure from Gorbachev, there was a partial renewal of their leadership, democratization. In 1989, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Warsaw Pact states began, which caused a wave of not only anti-socialist, but also anti-Soviet sentiments in them.

Soon, during the elections and "velvet revolutions" there was a change of leadership in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania. At the end of 1989, the regime of N. Ceausescu in Romania was overthrown by force of arms.

The most serious changes took place in the GDR, where, after the resignation of E. Honecker (October 1989), the Berlin Wall fell and calls for German reunification began to grow.
The leadership of the FRG was ready to make serious concessions to ensure German unity.

The US and the FRG agreed to discuss the question of the neutrality of a united Germany (which also included its withdrawal from NATO).

But no one asked them to. In the summer of 1990, Gorbachev agreed to the unification of Germany and its stay in NATO. He believed that, meeting the wishes of the West, he would strengthen his shaky position in the USSR . But the "collapse" of the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in the spring of 1991 hit Soviet interests even harder and intensified criticism of Gorbachev's policy inside the country.
Relations with third world countries. The main among the regional problems remained for the USSR war in Afghanistan.

She needed to be stopped at all costs. In April 1988, an agreement was signed on the termination of American military assistance to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and the beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from there. On February 15, 1989, the withdrawal of almost 100,000 troops from this country was completed.

Soviet soldiers and officers (a total of 620 thousand Soviet servicemen went through the war in this country, of which 14.5 thousand were killed, 53.7 thousand were wounded).
The military presence of the USSR in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nicaragua ceased.

With the assistance of the Soviet Union, Vietnamese troops were withdrawn from Kampuchea, and Cuban troops from Angola. This removed the last obstacles to resolving the issue of normalizing relations with China. In 1989, Gorbachev visited the PRC, during which the normalization of bilateral relations was announced.
Under US pressure, the Soviet Union was forced not only refuse to support the regimes in Libya and Iraq, but also approve the military actions of Western countries during the crisis in the Persian Gulf in the summer of 1990 g., and also join the blockade of Libya. Removal of ideological barriers in foreign policy contributed to the establishment of relations between the USSR and South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel.

Results and consequences of the "new thinking" policy".

The policy of "new thinking" had conflicting results and consequences.
On the one hand, its main result was the weakening of the threat of a world nuclear missile war. Not only in the East, but also in the West, they began to talk about the end of the Cold War.

Increased contacts between ordinary people. The reduction process has begun and the destruction of not only ordinary, but also nuclear weapons. The situation has improved in a number of regions where for many years the US and the USSR supported the warring political forces - in Afghanistan, Indochina, the Middle East, East and South-West Africa, and Central America.

Democratic changes have taken place in a number of countries, where free elections were held for the first time in many years, a diversified economy was created, and spiritual emancipation set in.

However, "new thinking" had a downside..

Only one winner emerged from the Cold War - the West, led by the United States. Its other member - The USSR and the "Eastern bloc" - not only was defeated, but also ceased to exist. This led to the collapse of the bipolar system international relations on which the stability of the world was based for many years.

The temptation for the US to take advantage of this new situation to strengthen its position in the world was too great not to be seized. They began to reckon less with not only the former Soviet republics, but also with the UN.
As a result the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations itself was under threat ( the main role in solving the key problems associated with the formation of a new model of the Defense Ministry is played by the two superpowers of the USSR and the USA.) And this, in turn, was fraught with the threat of a new redistribution of the world into "spheres of influence".

As history shows, this has never happened without a war.

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Political transformations in the period of "perestroika".

Area Changes economic life, the need for reform, together with the deteriorating situation of the people, brought to life a wave of criticism.

The ideas of democratization were opposed to the over-centralized socio-political structure. Democratization affected ideology, culture and politics. The search for alternative solutions in the process of development led to criticism of the existing party-state foundations and past history. The atmosphere of glasnost made it possible to learn about the tragic pages of the past, about corruption and bribery in the upper echelons of power. For the first time, the public learned that in 1985, 2,080,000 deaths were committed.

crimes, and in 1990 - 2787 thousand, while 1269 thousand were convicted in 1985, and in 1990 - 820 thousand people. 5 (*) 0 The number of convicts turned out to be comparable to the period of the 1930s, that is, the years of political repressions.

By 1988, the aggravation of the internal ideological struggle was clearly indicated. Irreconcilable political positions were put forward in the press, from officially conservative to anti-Sovietism and nationalism.

Anti-communism became widespread. Ideological vacillations also gripped the political leadership. People's attitudes towards religion and Western spiritual values were changing.

In the conditions of sharp criticism of the deformations of socialism, a split occurs in the political leadership.

M.S. Gorbachev, A.N. Yakovlev and some others came to the conclusion that it was necessary to abandon the leading role of the Communist Party, to abolish the constitutional guarantees of this role. In June 1988, this provision was made in the report of M.S. Gorbachev at the XIX Party conferences. For the first time in the history of the party, a report was made without a preliminary discussion in the Central Committee, but the conference approved the provisions of the report.

This event has become a milestone. The refusal of the ruling party from the leadership, the preservation of its only ideological, educational function meant a transition to a radical change in the political system.

The conference proclaimed the task of building a democratic state based on the rule of law. The main directions of political reform were identified: - the rejection of the monopoly of the party and the transition to a multi-party system; - the formation of Soviets on an alternative democratic basis and the assertion of their sovereignty; — democratization of public authorities; — expansion of glasnost and pluralism in the ideological sphere ; - restructuring of national relations on a democratic basis.

———————————————————— The provisions of the conference were not unanimously accepted in the party itself. In January 1989, at the Plenum of the Central Committee, a third part of the Central Committee was "resigned", disagreeing with the decisions of the conference. Significantly increased exit from the ranks of the party. If in 1989 140 thousand people left the ranks of the CPSU, then in 1990 - 2.7 million people. Withdrew from the CPSU most of composition of the communist parties of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, organizing independent parties of social democratic orientation.

The communist parties of Georgia, Armenia, Moldova actually ceased to exist. The last XXVIII Congress of the CPSU (1990) showed the inability of the party to exert a decisive influence on the life of the country.

After the XIX Party Conference, laws were adopted that played a decisive role in reforming the political system, including the law "On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the USSR", which eliminated Article 6 on the leading role of the CPSU, as well as the law "On the Election of People's Deputies", which approved the election of deputies Councils on an alternative basis .

The highest bodies of state power were subject to change. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR became the supreme representative body of power, which elected the bicameral Supreme Soviet, which acted permanently. The post of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was introduced. The Committee of Constitutional Supervision was created.

In March 1989, the first alternative elections in the history of Soviet power were held.

At the I and II Congresses of People's Deputies, parliamentary factions were formed. III Congress (March 1990) for the first time in the history of the country introduced the post of President of the USSR as the head of the executive branch, M.S. Gorbachev was elected. The introduction of presidential rule was a measure to strengthen the shaky political system.

The abolition of the 6th article of the Constitution of the USSR contributed to the revitalization of the activities of new political parties. The Democratic Union proclaimed itself the first opposition CPSU party in May 1988.

Since April 1988, Popular Fronts have emerged, the first national organizations that were of a mass nature: the People's Front of Estonia, the People's Front of Latvia, Sąjūdis (Latvia). Later, similar organizations arose in all the union and autonomous republics. 1989 was the year of the emergence of many parties. The newly formed parties reflected all the leading directions of political life.

The ultra-liberal direction was represented by the "Democratic Union", advocating a change in the model of social development. The same wing includes: "Russian Christian Democratic Movement", "Christian Democratic Union of Russia", "Christian Democratic Party of Russia", etc.

The first representatives of the liberal direction were the "Democratic Party of the Soviet Union", "Democratic Party", "Liberal Democratic Party" and three constitutional democratic parties.

In May 1990, the largest party of the liberal camp, the Democratic Party of Russia, was formed, and in November, the Republican Party of the Russian Federation. In October 1990, on the basis of the movement of voters "Democratic Russia" (created during the elections of people's deputies of the USSR in the spring of 1989), a mass socio-political organization of the same name took shape, uniting parties, public organizations and movements of a liberal orientation.

The social democratic direction was represented by two main organizations: the Social Democratic Association and the Social Democratic Party of Russia.

In June 1990, the "Socialist Party" was founded. The anarchist trend was reflected in the activities of the "Conference of Anarcho-Syndicalists" and the "Anarcho-Communist Revolutionary Union".

Many of these parties were small, did not have a solid organizational structure and social base, and subsequently disintegrated.

Political pluralism also affected the largest political force - the CPSU.

In 1990 - early. In 1991, five directions were identified in it: social democratic, "Democratic movement of communists", centrist, "Marxist platform in the CPSU", traditionalist. Each of them offered its own version of reforms.

On the basis of the CPSU, parties of a socialist orientation (People's Party of Free Russia, Socialist Party of Workers), pro-communist orientation (All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Russian Communist Workers' Party) were created.

Since the autumn of 1990, the formation of political parties began, acting from the positions of the right-wing radical reorganization of society: the Russian National Democratic Party, etc.

The organizations of Russian state traditionalism (monarchists) and revolutionary socialist traditionalism, the Unity group, and others held themselves apart.

In the autumn of 1991, religious and political organizations arose: the Russian Christian Democratic Movement, the Islamic Renaissance.

With all the variety of parties and movements, two directions, communist and liberal, turned out to be at the center of the political struggle. The liberals (democrats) advocated fundamental reforms, while the communists supported the preservation of the old order.

New political parties and movements that emerged in the country were a reaction to the deepening economic crisis and the search for a way out of this situation.

Their emergence showed that the former one-party political system collapsed, the levers of power that had developed over decades ceased to function, society entered into a deep political crisis. Three trends in socio-political development were clearly identified: a) reformist-democratic .. Represented by democratic parties, this trend reflected the desire for a Western European-style society with its democratic institutions and freedoms and a market-capitalist economy.

b) national-patriotic. This trend manifested itself in a multinational country and was expressed in the formation of nationalist parties and movements, including Russian ones. This was facilitated by religious, regional, cultural and national differences between the peoples of the USSR, which became contradictions in the conditions of economic and political crisis. c) traditional communist. . The socialist way of life formed over decades with many elements of communist distribution, the preservation of the remnants of the almost 20 million Communist Party and the 1.5 million party apparatus contributed to the manifestation of this trend.

Thus, the five-year plan of "perestroika" led to profound changes in the political superstructure on the basis of a multi-party system and pluralism, and inevitably gave rise to a sharp political struggle.

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In March 1985, after the death of Chernenko, M.S. Gorbachev was elected the new general secretary. He was born in the Stavropol Territory in 1931. and then party work. In 1970, he headed the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Party, and in 1978 became Secretary of the Central Committee for Agriculture. In 1980, Gorbachev was elected a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

Under Yu.V. Andropov, Gorbachev was engaged not only in agriculture, but also in a wide range of issues of both domestic and foreign policy. Despite the resistance of the conservatives, he became the second person in the party under K.U. Chernenko.

Having come to power, M. Gorbachev proclaimed the course of "Perestroika" in all spheres of society and received all possible support, since the need for reforms became obvious.

Why did economic reforms fail to achieve their goal?

The main stages of economic reforms.

system by accelerating NT progress.

1987-1988 The transition from administrative methods to economic

cal while maintaining centralized management

niya. Economic reform in 1987.

1989-1990 The course for the transition to the market. government acceptance

"radical-moderate" option.

Inconsistency and delay in implementation

institute of reform. Deepening economic crisis and

exacerbation of social tension.

The first steps in the economy were a continuation of the course of Yu. Andropov. AT light industry and on the railway transport they experimented with cost accounting. It was announced acceleration STP, but funding in this area has not increased. M. Gorbachev relied on "human factor" and called for strengthening labor discipline. In 1985

under the leadership of N. Ryzhkov, the development of a new economic strategy began.

At the April 1985 Plenum of the Central Committee, the task was put forward " accelerating the socio-economic development of the country". M. Gorbachev hoped to solve it based on the "human factor." In May 1985, the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism began. The production of alcohol decreased by 15 times. But this also had negative consequences - by 67 billion.

rubles, revenues to the country's budget decreased, if vineyards were cut down, self-brewing spread and, as a result, sugar reserves decreased.

A course towards accelerating the socio-economic development of the country.

The largest economists of that time participated in its creation. The concept was based on the preservation of a planned economy. At the same time, it was assumed:

introduce cost accounting and self-financing,

revive the private sector

renunciation of the monopoly of foreign trade,

integration into the global economy,

reduction of ministries and departments,

closure of unprofitable enterprises.

The second stage of economic reform 1987-1988.

June Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1987) approved the main directions

restructuring in the economy

The law remained on paper.

The “legalization of the “shadow economy” has begun.

The situation in the national economy continued to worsen.

Hostility and mistrust of public opinion.

Perestroika focused primarily on solving social problems. It was supposed to reduce the share of manual labor by 3 times, increase wages by 30%, increase the incomes of peasants, and develop social and cultural institutions in the countryside.

But due to the growing economic difficulties, these plans were not implemented. True, wages increased by 2.5 times, but an acute commodity hunger began in the country, even in major cities cards were introduced.

Strikes swept across the country in 1989.

The cause of the crisis is the inconsistency of policy.

Options for the transition to a market economy

The course for the transition to the market - 1990.

Shatalin S.S.

Ryzhkov N.I.

Yavlinsky G.A.

Abalkin L.I.

(500days -1.5years) (Step-by-step transition to the market - 6years)

In the late 1980s, food production in the USSR sharply decreased. More than 2000 tons of gold were spent on the purchase of food abroad, external debt increased sharply. Under these conditions, G. Yavlinsky and S. Shatalin began developing a transition program - yes, to the “500 days” market. The central authorities did not dare to implement it, and then the authorities of the RSFSR invited Shatalin's team. By the summer of 1991, the economic situation in the country had aggravated to the limit.

In 1986

At the 17th Congress of the CPSU, a draft was considered new edition party program. The task of building communism was declared untimely, the goal was to improve the socialist society. Labor collectives should have become the “primary cells of democracy”, but in the conditions of an administrative economy this was not feasible. The economy was to be transferred to the path of intensive development. For the first time, the leadership announced the need for "glasnost".

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 assumed the modernization of the Soviet system, the introduction of structural and organizational changes in economic, social, political and ideological mechanisms.

In the new strategy, particular importance was acquired personnel policy 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 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.

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.

Democratization of the political system.

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.

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 framework of the socialist economic system - universal 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 the future and massive 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. FROM domestic market domestic goods began to disappear. 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; an orientation towards elite expensive medical care, paid higher education, and much more began to take shape. 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 to the 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.

Acceleration. "No alcohol law". Publicity. political reforms. national movements.

Reforms in the years of perestroika

Introduction

The concept of "perestroika" is highly controversial: everyone means by it something that corresponds to their political views. I mean by the word “perestroika” the totality of social and political processes in the period 1985-1991. In terms of the scale of the changes it caused in Europe, and throughout the world, perestroika is rightly compared with such historical events as the Great French Revolution or October 1917 in Russia. So, the term “perestroika” appeared in our political vocabulary in 1985.

April 1985 marked the beginning of slow, cautious reforms aimed at partially updating the existing system. The changes that took place over the course of about three subsequent years remotely resembled the situation that developed in Russia in the late 1950s. One hundred and thirty years ago, the need for a partial modernization of the regime was recognized as a result of the defeat in the Crimean War, which demonstrated to the whole world how far the Russian Empire had lagged behind other European powers since its triumphant victory over Napoleonic France. Now, the reason for the “repair” that began was the lag behind the United States in the space arms race: the inability, for economic reasons, to respond to the “Star Wars” program convinced the ruling circles of the USSR that the competition in the field of high technologies was almost lost (about the imminence of an economic crisis says at least this fact: from 1971 to 1985 there was a negative growth trend in the most important economic indicators).

1. Acceleration

At the April 1985 Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Gorbachev spoke "as the author" of the acceleration strategy, the essence of which was outlined by the General Secretary in accordance with all the rules of the party-bureaucratic style: "Widely using the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution, bringing the form of socialist management in line with modern conditions and needs , we must achieve a significant acceleration of socio-economic progress” /1/. Gorbachev also spoke about "acceleration" at the 27th Congress of the CPSU in February 1986.

Already by the beginning of the 1970s, it became clear to specialists that the economy of the USSR as a whole could not compete with the economy of the "capitalist world": the USA, Western Europe, and Japan. On May 14, 1975, the Director of the Economics and Mathematics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician N.V. Fedorenko. He told the stunned intelligence officers that the normal development of the economy is possible only if two-thirds of the increase in annual production is due to scientific and technological progress, and one-third due to other factors (cash investments - investments, labor discipline, and so on) while in the USSR the opposite is true. Other sad figures were also given: manual labor in industry is 60%, in agriculture - 80%, in transport - 50%. This statistic has changed little by the early 1980s. years. But in the rest of the world, global changes began to occur. Political scientist F.M. Burlatsky, one of the ideologists of perestroika, wrote: “It seems that we are still not deeply imbued with the consciousness of that majestic (and perhaps formidable) process that, like ocean waves, rolls over the globe. We are talking about a technological revolution, or rather, a new technological revolution” /2/. The connoisseur and theorist of the technological revolution, the American scientist O. Toffler, assessed the global upheaval that had begun in the world as follows: “In the period of the“ first wave ”, the agricultural civilization - the most important form of ownership was land. During the "second wave" the most important property is no longer land. These are buildings, factories, machines, means of industrial production. The main property in the period of the "third wave" is information ... Therefore, there is nothing more harmful than control, censorship, excessive secrecy. Therefore, freedom of information for the first time becomes not just a political or philosophical issue, but specifically an economic issue: How many rubles does a Russian person have in his pocket. Information becomes the central problem of economic development. This forces us to reconsider our ideology – both bourgeois and Marxist” /3/.

However, none of the leaders of the USSR was going to revise the Marxist ideology. The economic lag worried them because it could not but affect the combat capability of the army and navy. According to the Americans themselves, the United States waged "simultaneously two wars: in the field of armaments - with the Soviet Union, in the field of industry - with Japan." So, the most important task - to accelerate economic development through the scientific and technological revolution - was set. Members of the Politburo and the Council of Ministers began to think about how to implement it: “... where to start progress? In chemistry? In aviation? In metallurgy? It was decided to start with mechanical engineering. They began to invest heavily in this really important industry from the budget, strengthened control over the quality of products (the so-called “State Acceptance Committee” was created) - but nothing helped. Economics and science still did not find a common language. Since there was absolutely no competition between the enterprises of the state economy, their management simply did not have an incentive to introduce the latest technologies on their conveyors - the money regularly came from the treasury, regardless of how the factories and plants worked. The "acceleration" never happened.

2. "Dry law"

In May 1985, a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR appeared: “The Party and the Soviet state set a qualitatively new, responsible task of great political significance: to create an atmosphere of intolerance for drunkenness everywhere with a united front, to eradicate it” / 4 /. In the "fight against drunkenness" that Gorbachev and his team led, the violent nature of "revolutions from above" was clearly manifested, when good undertakings are put into practice by the bureaucracy in such a way that it turns into evil. The authors of the decree reasoned: “Why do workers and peasants work poorly? Because they drink a lot of vodka. Let's reduce the number of alcoholic beverages produced, close some wine shops, restaurants, bars, and then the population will drink less and work better.” Within a year in the USSR "a dry law regime was actually established." The results were stunning: drug consumption increased, huge queues lined up at the doors of shops, and the “shadow economy” instantly mastered the underground production of extremely low-quality alcoholic beverages that were sold “from under the counter”, increasing the capital of organized crime (in 87-88 years it is openly referred to in the press as the “mafia”). The hopes of the people in the "good king" began to gradually melt away.

3. Glasnost

The CPSU instructs the prosecutor's office to complete the rehabilitation of those repressed party and state leaders whom Khrushchev did not have time or was afraid to justify. By the 1990s, the turn of the “worst enemy of the Soviet government” A.I. Solzhenitsyn, whose statements were quoted by leading politicians from the rostrum of the Congress of People's Deputies. Bukharin and Rykov, who were against the abolition of the NEP in 29, were released; Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky. During perestroika, Soviet viewers were able to see previously inaccessible foreign films, as well as Soviet films banned in the 70s, for example, T. Abuladze's painting "Repentance", calling on viewers to abandon the legacy of the communist era. Exhibitions of immigrant artists and sculptors, such as E. Neizvestny, M. Shemyakin, opened. Solzhenitsyn's previously banned book The Gulag Archipelago, In the First Circle, and others were published. Leaders of banned musical movements emerged from the underground. The most popular rock groups were Kino, Alisa, Aquarium, DDT. Religious life in the country revived. In the 88th year, the millennium of the adoption of Christianity in Russia was widely celebrated. After that, the persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church ceased. In the USSR, not only followers of Orthodoxy began to operate freely, but also Muslims, Buddhists and representatives of various sects.

4.Political reforms

In order to rally the party and increase its role in society, Gorbachev tried to start reforming the CPSU. At the 27th congress, held in February-March 1986, a new version of the party program and its new charter were adopted. Certain provisions of the charter proclaimed greater freedom in party life. Gradually, Gorbachev and his comrades-in-arms came to the conclusion that such ambitious tasks of rebuilding the country as they had set could only be achieved through the expansion of freedom and democracy in the life of the whole society. In 1987, at the January plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the tasks of "further democratization of Soviet society" and "improvement of the Soviet electoral system" were set, it was proposed to hold elections of party and state leaders on an alternative basis /5/. However, it soon became clear that the new course was not approved by all the top party leaders. Tough speeches by the conservatives were also made at the 19th conference of the CPSU, held in the summer of 1988. Many criticized the policy of "glasnost", called the speeches of journalists "slander". There were demands to curtail the program of democratization, to strengthen the party's control over society. “Perestroika is the only possible way to strengthen and develop socialism, to solve urgent problems of social development… Perestroika is our destiny, the chance that history gives us. It cannot and must not be missed,” said MS Gorbachev, speaking at the 19th All-Union Conference of the CPSU /6/.

But the majority of the conference delegates nevertheless supported Gorbachev and agreed to carry out new, much more radical reforms. Recent changes primarily affected the highest bodies of state power. On December 1, 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the laws "On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the USSR" and "On Elections of People's Deputies of the USSR." Henceforth, the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was considered the highest authority in the Soviet Union. He met once a year. In the intervals between convocations of the Congress, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR worked, the members of which were individual deputies of the Congress. The composition of the Supreme Council was to be renewed every year by 1/5.

In January 1989, the election campaign began in the USSR, and on March 26, elections were held that became the most democratic in the history of the Soviet Union. Many public figures who spoke with opposition views and criticized the omnipotence of the Communist Party (B.N. Yeltsin and A.D. Sakharov) were delegated to the Congress.

5.National movements

6. Failed NEP

Conclusion

The new independent Russia faced very difficult and large-scale tasks. The first and most urgent was economic reform, designed to bring the country out of the crisis and provide Russians with a decent standard of living. The economy saw the only way for this - the transition to market methods of management, the awakening of the entrepreneurial initiative of private owners.

During the years of "perestroika" surprisingly little was done to really reform the economic mechanism. The laws adopted by the union leadership expanded the rights of enterprises, allowed small private and cooperative entrepreneurship, but did not affect the fundamental foundations of the command-and-distribution economy. Paralysis of the central government and, as a result, the weakening of state control over the national economy, the progressive collapse of production ties between enterprises of different union republics, the increased autocracy of directors, the short-sighted policy of artificial growth of incomes of the population, due to additional money emission, as well as other populist measures in the economy - all this led to an increase during 1990-1991. economic crisis in the country. The destruction of the old economic system was not accompanied by the appearance of a new one in its place. This task had to be solved by the new Russia /9/. It was necessary to continue the process of forming a free democratic society, successfully launched by "perestroika". There was already real freedom of speech in the country, which grew out of the policy of “glasnost”, a multi-party system was taking shape, elections were held on an alternative (from several candidates) basis, and a formally independent press appeared. But the predominant position of one party remained - the CPSU, which actually merged with the state apparatus. The Soviet form of organization of state power did not provide for the generally recognized separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches. It was necessary to reform the state-political system of the country, which turned out to be quite within the power of the new Russian leadership.

Serious doubts arose among Western creditors about the solvency of the USSR. The total external debt of the Soviet Union by the end of 1991 amounted to more than 100 billion dollars, taking into account mutual debts, the net debt of the USSR in convertible currency in real terms was estimated at about 60 billion dollars. Until 1989, external debt service (repayment of interest, etc.) took 25-30% of the amount of Soviet exports in convertible currency, but then, due to a sharp drop in oil exports, the Soviet Union had to sell gold reserves to purchase the missing currency. By the end of 1991, the USSR could no longer fulfill its international obligations to service its foreign debt. Economic reform became inevitable and vital /12/.

Bibliography

1. Materials of the April Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. M., Politizdat, 1985.

2. F. Burlatsky. Notes of a contemporary. M., 1989.

3. O. Toffler. Informatics and ideology. Translation from English. M., 1992.

4. Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On strengthening the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism", M., 1985.

5. Materials of the January Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. M., Politizdat, 1987.

7. Law of the USSR "On cooperatives", M., 1986.

8. History of Russia and its neighbors. Avanta plus, 1999.

9. Yegor Gaidar "The State and Evolution", 1998.

10.S. Ryabikin "Recent history of Russia (1991-1997)"

11. Michael Geller "The Seventh Secretary: 1985-1990"

12. Mikhail Geller "Russia at the Crossroads: 1990-1995"