Perestroika as a strategy for reforming Soviet society from above. Who benefited from perestroika in the USSR

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Abstract on the topic:

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

Introduction

§one. Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

§2. The progress of perestroika in the USSR

§3. The consequences of perestroika in the USSR

Conclusion

Bibliography

Vveating

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

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

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

§one. Reasons for perestroika in the USSR

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

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

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

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

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

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

§2. The progress of perestroika in the USSR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

§3. The consequences of perestroika in the USSR

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

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

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

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

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

anti-alcohol perestroika glasnost gorbachev

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

Bibliography

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Strategy of "acceleration"

V April 1985, at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, M.S. Gorbachev

M.S. Gorbachev

outlined a strategic course for reform. It was about the need for a qualitative transformation of Soviet society, its "renewal", about profound changes in all spheres of life.

The key word of the reform strategy was “ acceleration". It was supposed to accelerate the development of the means of production, scientific and technological progress, the social sphere and even the activities of party organs.

Terms “ restructuring" and " glasnost b” appeared later. Gradually, the emphasis was shifted from “acceleration” to “perestroika” and it was this word that became symbol course produced by M.S. Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s.

Publicity meant the identification of all the shortcomings that impede acceleration, criticism and self-criticism of performers “from top to bottom”. A restructuring assumed the introduction of structural and organizational changes in economic, social, political mechanisms, as well as in ideology in order to achieve acceleration of social development.

To ensure the implementation of new tasks, a change was made in some of the party and Soviet leaders. N. I. Ryzhkov was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and E. A. Shevardnadze, who had previously been First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, was appointed Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In December 1985, B. N. Yeltsin became secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. A. N. Yakovlev, A. I. Lukyanov advanced to the highest party hierarchy.

In 1985, the task of technical re-equipment and modernization of enterprises was set at the center of economic transformations. For this it was necessary accelerated development of mechanical engineering. This was the main goal in the national economy. The program of "acceleration" assumed the advancing (1.7 times) development of mechanical engineering in relation to the entire industry and its achievement of a world level by the beginning of the 90s. The success of acceleration was associated with the active use of the achievements of science and technology, the expansion of the rights of enterprises, the improvement of personnel work, and the strengthening of discipline in enterprises.

Meeting MS Gorbachev with the workers of the Proletarsky district of Moscow. April 1985

The course proclaimed in 1985 at the April plenum was reinforced in February 1986. on the XXVII Congress of the CPSU.

In the meeting room of the XXVII Congress of the CPSU. Kremlin Palace of Congresses. 1986

There were few innovations at the congress, but the main thing was support Law on labor collectives. The law proclaimed the creation of councils of labor collectives at all enterprises with broad powers, including the selection of executive workers, the regulation of wages in order to eliminate equalization and observe social justice in wages, and even determine the price of products.

At the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, promises were made to the Soviet people: to double the economic potential of the USSR by 2000, to increase labor productivity by 2.5 times and to provide each Soviet family with a separate apartment.

Most of the Soviet people believed the new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU M.S. Gorbachev and enthusiastically supported him.

Course towards democratization

V 1987. began serious adjustments to the reformist course.

perestroika

There have been changes in the political vocabulary of the country's leadership. The word "acceleration" gradually fell out of use. New concepts have emerged, such as democratization”, “command and control system”, “braking mechanism”, “deformation of socialism". If before it was assumed that Soviet socialism was fundamentally sound, and it was only necessary to “accelerate” its development, now the “presumption of innocence” was removed from the Soviet socialist model, and serious internal shortcomings were discovered in it, which needed to be eliminated and a new model created. socialism.

V January 1987. Gorbachev recognized the failure of the reform efforts of previous years, and saw the reason for these failures in the deformations that had occurred in the USSR by the 1930s.

Since it was concluded that deformations of socialism”, it was supposed to eliminate these deformations and return to the socialism that was conceived by V.I. Lenin. This is how the slogan " Back to Lenin”.

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU in his speeches argued that in the "deformation of socialism" there were deviations from the ideas of Leninism. The Leninist concept of the NEP gained particular popularity. Publicists started talking about the NEP as a "golden age" of Soviet history, drawing analogies with the modern period of history. Economic articles on the problems of commodity-money relations, rent, and cooperation were published by P. Bunich, G. Popov, N. Shmelev, L. Abalkin. According to their concept, administrative socialism was to be replaced by economic socialism, which would be based on self-financing, self-financing, self-sufficiency, self-management of enterprises.

But the main, the central theme of the perestroika time in the media was criticism of Stalin and command and control system generally.

This criticism was conducted much more fully and more ruthlessly than in the second half of the 1950s. On the pages of newspapers, magazines, on television, revelations of Stalin's policy began, Stalin's direct personal participation in mass repressions was revealed, a picture of the crimes of Beria, Yezhov, and Yagoda was recreated. The revelations of Stalinism were accompanied by the identification and rehabilitation of more and more tens of thousands of innocent victims of the regime.

The most famous at this time were such works as “White Clothes” by V. Dudintsev, “Bison” by D. Granin, “Children of the Arbat” by A. Rybakov. The whole country read the magazines “New World”, “Znamya”, “October”, “Friendship of Peoples”, “Ogonyok”, which published previously banned works by M. Bulgakov, B. Pasternak, V. Nabokov, V. Grossman, A. Solzhenitsyn , L. Zamyatina.

XIX All-Union Party Conference (June 1988)

At the end of the 80s. transformations affected the structure of state power. The new doctrine of political democracy has received practical implementation in decisions XIX All-Union Party Conference, which for the first time proclaimed the goal of creating a civil society in the USSR and excluding party bodies from economic management, depriving them of state functions and transferring these functions to the Soviets.

At the conference, a sharp struggle developed between supporters and opponents of perestroika on the question of the tasks of the country's development. The majority of deputies supported the point of view of M.S. Gorbachev on the need for economic reform and transformation of the country's political system.

The conference approved the course for the creation in the country rule of law. Specific reforms of the political system to be implemented in the near future were also approved. It was supposed to elect Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, the country's highest legislative body of 2,250 members. At the same time, two thirds of the Congress were to be elected by the population on an alternative basis, i.e. not less than two candidates, and one third of the deputies, also on an alternative basis, were elected by public organizations. The congress, convened periodically to determine legislative policy and adopt higher laws, formed from its midst The Supreme Council, which was supposed to work on a permanent basis and represent the Soviet parliament.

The alignment of political forces in the country began to change dramatically from the autumn of 1988. The main political change was that the previously united camp of supporters of perestroika began to split: radical wing, which quickly gained strength, turned into a powerful movement in 1989, and in 1990 began to decisively challenge Gorbachev's power. The struggle between Gorbachev and the radicals for leadership in the reform process formed the main pivot of the next stage of perestroika, which lasted from autumn 1988 to July 1990.

Ministry of Education

Russian Federation

Vladimir State University

Department of Museology

Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991

Vinogradova E.N.

student of group KZI-108

Head: Mentova L.F.

Vladimir 2008

Introduction

1. The main reasons and goals of perestroika

1.1. Reasons for perestroika

1.2. "We are waiting for changes…"

1.3. Goals of perestroika

2. Main events during the perestroika period

2.1. Chronology of events

2.1. movements

3. Main reforms carried out during perestroika

3.1. Anti-alcohol reform

3.2. Personnel reforms in the government

3.3. Public and social reforms

3.4. Reforms in foreign policy

3.5. Reforms of the political system of the USSR

3.6 Economic reform

4. The crisis of power and the collapse of the USSR

4.1. two presidents

4.2. Revolutionary turn in history

4.3. The collapse of the USSR and the formation of the CIS

5. Results of perestroika

Bibliography

Introduction

For my essay, I chose the topic "Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991." This topic is close to me in that I was born during the period of perestroika, and its events also affected my family. Perestroika is a very high-profile period in the history of the USSR. The policy of perestroika, initiated by part of the leadership of the CPSU headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, led to significant changes in the life of the country and the world as a whole. In the course of perestroika, problems that had accumulated over decades were exposed, especially in the economy and the interethnic sphere. Added to all this were the mistakes and miscalculations made in the process of carrying out the reforms themselves. The political confrontation between the forces advocating the socialist path of development, parties and movements linking the future of the country with the organization of life on the principles of capitalism, as well as on the issues of the future image of the Soviet Union, the relationship between union and republican bodies of state power and administration, sharply escalated. By the beginning of the 1990s, perestroika led to an aggravation of the crisis in all spheres of society and to the further disintegration of the USSR. The attitude of people to this historical stage is ambivalent. Some believe that perestroika is a way out of a difficult situation of stagnation, that changes were necessary, for better or worse, but it was necessary to change the system, its structure, and that changes could not be made due to the complex general state of affairs in international politics and on “internal fronts." Another opinion on this matter is that perestroika is the destruction of the Soviet Union and nothing more than that the leaders were driven by simple selfish considerations, and through all the ranting about the inefficiency of socialism, these selfish considerations were quite clearly visible. The initiators of perestroika wanted to put the money in their own pocket.

The main goal of my project is to try to prove that the consequences of perestroika are really the fruits of Gorbachev's ill-conceived plans, the haste of his actions.

1. The main reasons and goals of perestroika

1.1. Reasons for perestroika

By the beginning of the 1980s, the Soviet economic system had exhausted its possibilities for development and had gone beyond the boundaries of its historical time. Having carried out industrialization and urbanization, the command economy could not further carry out deep transformations covering all aspects of society. First of all, it turned out to be incapable in the radically changed conditions to ensure the proper development of productive forces, protect human rights, and maintain the country's international prestige. The USSR with its gigantic reserves of raw materials, industrious and selfless population lagged behind the West more and more. The Soviet economy was not up to the increasing demands for the variety and quality of consumer goods. Industrial enterprises, not interested in scientific and technological progress, rejected up to 80% of new technical solutions and inventions. The growing inefficiency of the economy had a negative impact on the country's defense capability. In the early 1980s, the USSR began to lose competitiveness in the only industry in which it successfully competed with the West - in the field of military technology.

The economic base of the country ceased to correspond to the position of a great world power and needed urgent updating. At the same time, the enormous growth in the education and awareness of the people in the post-war period, the emergence of a generation that did not know hunger and repression, formed a higher level of material and spiritual needs of people, called into question the very principles underlying the Soviet totalitarian system. The very idea of a planned economy failed. Increasingly, state plans were not carried out and were continuously redrawn, the proportions in the sectors of the national economy were violated. Achievements in health care, education, culture were lost.

The spontaneous degeneration of the system changed the entire way of life of Soviet society: the rights of managers and enterprises were redistributed, departmentalism and social inequality increased.

The nature of production relations within enterprises has changed, labor discipline has begun to fall, apathy and indifference, theft, disrespect for honest work, envy of those who earn more have become widespread. At the same time, non-economic coercion to work persisted in the country. The Soviet man, alienated from the distribution of the produced product, has turned into a performer who works not according to conscience, but under compulsion. The ideological motivation of labor developed in the post-revolutionary years weakened along with the belief in the imminent triumph of communist ideals.

However, in the end, completely different forces determined the direction and nature of the reform of the Soviet system. They were predetermined by the economic interests of the nomenklatura, the Soviet ruling class.

Thus, by the beginning of the 1980s, the Soviet totalitarian system was actually deprived of the support of a significant part of society.

Under the conditions of monopoly domination in society by one party, the CPSU, and the presence of a powerful repressive apparatus, changes could only begin "from above". The top leaders of the country were clearly aware that the economy needed to be reformed, but none of the conservative majority of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU wanted to take responsibility for implementing these changes.

Even the most urgent problems were not solved in a timely manner. Instead of taking any measures to improve the economy, new forms of "socialist competition" were proposed. Enormous funds were diverted to numerous "constructions of the century" like the Baikal-Amur Mainline.

1.2. "We are waiting for changes…"

“We are waiting for changes ...” - these are the words from the leader’s song popular in the 80s. the Kino groups of Viktor Tsoi reflected the mood of the people in the early years of the perestroika policy.

In the early 1980s, without exception, all sections of Soviet society experienced psychological discomfort. An understanding of the need for profound changes was ripening in the public mind, but interest in them varied. The numerically grown and more informed Soviet intelligentsia found it increasingly difficult to put up with the suppression of the free development of culture, the isolation of the country from the outside civilized world. She was acutely aware of the perniciousness of a nuclear confrontation with the West and the consequences of the Afghan war. The intelligentsia wanted genuine democracy and individual freedom.

Most workers and employees associated the need for change with better organization and wages, a more equitable distribution of social wealth. Part of the peasantry hoped to become the true owners of their land and their labor. Rally in Moscow on Manezhnaya Square. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, thousands of rallies were held in many cities of the USSR demanding reforms. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, thousands of rallies were held in many cities of the USSR demanding reforms.

A powerful layer of party and state officials, the military, who were worried about the collapse of the state, were waiting for changes.

In their own way, technocrats and the intelligentsia were interested in reforming the Soviet system. The coincidence in time of internal and external factors required a radical change in the conditions of production and management methods. Every day it became obvious: for change, the country's leadership must be updated.

Perestroika was proclaimed by the new general secretary, 54-year-old M.S. Gorbachev, who took over the baton of power after the death of K.U. Chernenko in March 1985. Dressed elegantly, speaking “without a piece of paper”, the Secretary General gained popularity by his external democracy and desire for transformations in a “stagnant” country and, of course, promises (for example, by 2000, each family was promised a separate comfortable apartment).

Since the time of Khrushchev, no one has communicated with the people like this: Gorbachev traveled around the country, easily went out to people, talked informally with workers, collective farmers, and the intelligentsia. With the advent of a new leader, inspired by the plans for a breakthrough in the economy and the restructuring of the entire life of society, people's hopes and enthusiasm revived.

A course was proclaimed to "accelerate" the socio-economic development of the country. With the election of Gorbachev to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the vicious tradition of recent years was finally interrupted. M.S. Gorbachev was elected because the ruling elite could not help but take into account public opinion, which is not officially recognized, but really exists.

1.3. Goals of perestroika

The acceleration strategy, that is, the use of all reserves to increase labor productivity, became the basis of economic programs. It was supposed to concentrate resources for the modernization of production, significantly expand the production of machinery and equipment. However, there was no talk of creating new economic incentives to improve the performance of enterprises. It was planned to achieve the goals set by tightening labor discipline, increasing the responsibility of enterprise managers for economic violations. A system of state acceptance was introduced - non-departmental control over the quality of products. Born in 1931, M. S. Gorbachev belonged to a generation that called itself "the children of the 20th Congress." An educated man and an experienced party worker, Gorbachev continued the analysis of the state of the country begun by Andropov and the search for ways out of the situation.

Various reform options were discussed both in scientific circles and in the depths of the party apparatus. However, by 1985 an integral concept of restructuring the economy had not yet taken shape. Most scientists and politicians were looking for a way out within the framework of the existing system: in transferring the national economy to the path of intensification, creating conditions for the introduction of the achievements of scientific and technological revolution. This point of view was also held at that time by M.S. Gorbachev.

Thus, in order to strengthen the country's position in the international arena, to improve the living conditions of the population, the country really needed an intensive, highly developed economy. Already the first speeches of the new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU showed his determination to begin the renewal of the country.

2. Main events:

2.1. Chronology of events

1985.03.11	March 10 - K. U. Chernenko died. On March 11, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU elected Gorbachev General Secretary.
1985.03.12	First Secretary of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the CPSU B.N. Yeltsin approved as the head of the Construction Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU
1985.04.23	The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU put forward the concept of accelerating socio-economic development.
1985.05.07	Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, the eradication of home brewing".
1985.05.16	Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On strengthening the fight against drunkenness", which marked the beginning of the anti-alcohol campaign (lasted until 1988)
1985.07.01	At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which lasted thirty minutes, MS Gorbachev recommended the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Gromyko for the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, E. A. Shevardnadze, for the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. B. N. Yeltsin and L. N. Zaikov were elected secretaries of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The next day, July 2, the USSR Supreme Council elected A. Gromyko Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council.
1985.07.05	A. N. Yakovlev was appointed head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
1985.07.30	Statement by M.S. Gorbachev on a unilateral moratorium on nuclear explosions.
1985.09.27	The resignation of the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N. A. Tikhonov. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR appointed N.I. Ryzhkov Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
1985.10.17	MS Gorbachev at a meeting of the Politburo proposed a "decision on Afghanistan" - on the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
1985.10.26	Draft new edition of the CPSU Program published
1985.11.14	The Gosagroprom of the USSR was formed on the basis of six ministries. V. S. Murakhovsky was appointed Chairman.
1985.11.19	The first meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev took place in Geneva - not on any of the issues discussed... (19 - 21.11).
1985.11.22	Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On changes in the system of governing bodies of the agro-industrial complex" (the merger of 5 ministries into the State Agrarian Industry).
1985.12.24	The Plenum of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU elected B.N. Yeltsin 1 Secretary of the Moscow City Committee instead of V.V. Grishin.
1986.01.15	MS Gorbachev's statement on the program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons throughout the world.
1986.02.18	B.N. Yeltsin was elected a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. VV Grishin was removed from the Politburo.
1986.02.25	The XXVII Congress of the CPSU opened. He approved a new version of the Program of the CPSU and the "Basic Directions for the Economic and Social Development of the USSR for 1986-90 and for the period up to the year 2000" (a course towards building communism) and the Party Charter. It lasted February 25 - March 6.
1986.04.21	MS Gorbachev announced the readiness of the USSR to agree to the simultaneous dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and NATO.
1986.04.26	The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
1986.05.23	The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On measures to strengthen the fight against unearned income" was aimed at weakening the hidden initial capital in order to eliminate competitors before legalizing private initiative for employees of the apparatus.
1986.08.14	Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On the termination of work on the transfer of part of the flow of the northern and Siberian rivers."
1986.08.31	At night, near Novorossiysk, as a result of a collision with a cargo ship, the passenger steamer Admiral Nakhimov crashed and sank.
1986.10.11	Meeting M.S. Gorbachev and R. Reagan in Reykjavik. "None of the issues discussed ... but already in a friendly atmosphere.
1986.10.31	Conclusion 6 owls. regiments from Afghanistan, as a demonstration of Reagan's readiness to begin to gradually lose ground.
1986.11.19	The USSR Armed Forces adopted the Law of the USSR "On individual labor activity", designed to put under the control of the state. bodies already really existing "underground" private business.
1986.12.16	Replacing D.A. Kunaeva G.V. Kolbin as the 1st secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan caused unrest in Alma-Ata on December 17-18 - the first riots of the perestroika period. On December 16-18, there were unrest in Alma-Ata associated with the resignation of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan D. A. Kunaev and the appointment of GV Kolbin to this position. Three died, 99 people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
1986.12.23	Return of A.D. Sakharov from exile.
1987.01.13	The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On the procedure for creating on the territory of the USSR and the activities of joint ventures with the participation of Soviet organizations and firms of capitalist and developing countries" - gave rise to the formation of each regional committee, state administration. apparatus, at the departments of the Central Committee and other structures of private enterprises, where the state. cash.
1987.01.19	The first demonstrative conflict between MS Gorbachev and BN Yeltsin at a meeting of the Politburo, which discussed the responsibility of the highest party bodies.
1987.01.27	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the issue "On perestroika and personnel policy of the party" (January 27-28). MS Gorbachev put forward the concept of perestroika, political reform, alternative elections, and secret ballot in party elections. A. N. Yakovlev was elected a candidate member of the Politburo.
1987.02.05	It is allowed to create cooperatives for public catering, for the production of consumer goods and for consumer services.
1987.05.	The first unauthorized demonstration of a non-governmental and non-communist organization - the "Pamyat" society in Moscow, a meeting of its leaders with B.N. Yeltsin (first secretary of the Central Committee of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU) - a two-hour meeting of B.N. the center of Moscow with a demand to stop work on Poklonnaya Hill according to an officially approved project and to erect a monument according to the project of the sculptor V. Klykov.
1987.06.20	Beginning of the Crimean Tatar campaign in Moscow (lasted until August).
1987.06.21	First Elections to Local Councils on Alternative Basis (in 0.4 percent of constituencies)
1987.06.25	The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the question "On the Party's Tasks for a Radical Restructuring of Economic Management." Report by N. I. Ryzhkov. In fact, the failure of the course towards "acceleration" was recognized. A. N. Yakovlev was elected a member of the Politburo.
1987.06.30	The USSR Supreme Council adopted the USSR Law "On the State Enterprise (Association)".
1987.07.17	The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted 10 joint resolutions on the restructuring of economic management.
1987.07.23	Sedentary demonstrations of the Crimean Tatars on Red Square.
1987.07.30	The beginning of the deportations of the Crimean Tatars from Moscow.
1987.08.10	Strike of bus drivers in the Chekhov district of the Moscow region
1987.08.11	The Moscow City Council adopted "Temporary rules for organizing and holding meetings, rallies, street processions, demonstrations and other events on the streets, squares, avenues, parks, gardens, squares and other public places in Moscow."
1987.08.23	Rallies were held in the capitals of the Baltic republics on the anniversary of the so-called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which, by the way, no one read in the original.
1987.08.	For the first time, unlimited subscription to newspapers and magazines.
1987.09.12	B. N. Yeltsin sent a letter of resignation to M. S. Gorbachev.
1987.09.28	The Politburo Commission for the additional study of the repressions of the 1930-1940s was formed. (Chairman M.S. Solomentsev).
1987.10.21	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU: Yeltsin spoke at the Plenum with criticism of perestroika; Aliyev removed from the Politburo
1987.10.17	Thousands of environmental demonstrations in Yerevan.
1987.10.21	Speech by Boris N. Yeltsin at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU criticizing the leadership style of E. K. Ligachev and asking for his resignation.
1987.10.24	The first meeting of the editors of the so-called informal publications in Leningrad.
1987.11.02	M.S. Gorbachev's report "October and perestroika: the revolution continues" at the solemn meeting dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution (November 2-3).
1987.11.10	Performances by individual citizens and small groups with leaflets and posters in support of BN Yeltsin in Moscow and Sverdlovsk.
1987.11.11	Plenum of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU: Yeltsin was removed from the post of 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Committee. Instead of him, L. N. Zaikov was elected.
1987.11.14	The collection of signatures began in front of Moscow State University for the return of B. N. Yeltsin and the publication of his speech. By the way, when the speeches were nevertheless published in the "informal" press, nothing so special was found in them - Yeltsin did not say anything special in them, even by those standards.
1987.12.07	Meeting of R. Reagan and MS Gorbachev in Washington. The first agreements have been reached - the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles has been signed.
1988.02.04	Top. the USSR court overturned the 1938 verdict against N.I. Bukharin and others (“anti-Soviet Right-Trotsky bloc”).
1988.02.08	Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions on the procedure for electing councils of labor collectives and holding elections for heads of enterprises.
1988.02.12	The beginning of the rallies in Stepanakert (NKAO) - the Armenian population demonstrated against the Azerbaijani authorities. On February 18, the first Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia appeared in Baku.
1988.02.18	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU: Yeltsin was removed from the Politburo. An aura of a martyr-hero is created around his name.
1988.02.20	Region Council of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region decided to ask the Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan and Armenian SSRs to transfer the NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR.
1988.02.25	Troops entered Yerevan. Armenian pogrom in Sumgayit, 32 people were killed, more than 400 were injured, more than 400 apartments were looted, more than 40 social and cultural facilities were burned.
1988.02.26	Appeal of MS Gorbachev to the peoples of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
1988.02.27	February 27-29- Armenian pogroms in Sumgayit. March 23 The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on measures related to the appeals of the union republics regarding the events in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR.
1988.02.28	In Sumgayit, in response to an attempt to change the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, a pogrom of Armenians took place. 23 people were killed.
1988.03.13	An article by N. Andreeva in "Soviet Russia" - "I can not compromise my principles", declared in other media "a manifesto of anti-perestroika forces." 5th of April a response editorial article "Principles of Perestroika: Revolutionary Thought and Action" was published in Pravda
1988.03.17	In Stepanakert, a demonstration of Armenians demanding the annexation of Karabakh to Armenia.
1988.04.	In Estonia, a national liberation movement called "People's Front in Support of Perestroika" has been created.
1988.05.07	The founding congress of the "Democratic Union" was opened (May 7-9).
1988.05.15	The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began.
1988.05.21	Under pressure from Moscow, the Plenums of the Central Committees of Azerbaijan and Armenia simultaneously dismissed Bagirov and Temurchan.
1988.05.26	The USSR Supreme Council adopted the USSR Law "On Cooperation in the USSR".
1988.05.29	Meeting of MS Gorbachev and R. Reagan in Moscow (May 29 - June 2). The meeting took place against the backdrop of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
1988.06.04	The first small rallies of informals began in Moscow.
1988.06.15	The Armed Forces of the Armenian SSR agreed to the entry of the NKAO into the republic. June 17 - The Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan SSR decided that the transfer of the NKAR from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR was unacceptable. In the regions adjacent to the borders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the forcible displacement of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, respectively, began.
1988.06.22	A mass rally in Kuibyshev against the first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU E. F. Muravyov.
1988.06.28	The 19th All-Union Conference of the CPSU adopted resolutions "On Certain Urgent Measures for the Practical Implementation of the Reform of the Political System of the Country", "On the Progress in Implementing the Decisions of the 27th Congress of the CPSU and the Tasks of Deepening Perestroika", "On the Democratization of Soviet Society and the Reform of the Political System", "On Combating bureaucracy", "On interethnic relations", "On publicity", "On legal reform" (June 28 - July 1).
1988.07.01	Speech by Boris N. Yeltsin at the XIX All-Union Party Conference with a request for political rehabilitation.
1988.07.09	The first meeting of the Moscow People's Front.
1988.07.18	Meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, dedicated to the decisions of the Armed Forces of the Armenian and Azerbaijan SSRs on Nagorno-Karabakh. A resolution was adopted on the impossibility of changing the borders of the republics.
1988.07.20	Order of the Ministry of Communications of the USSR restoring subscription restrictions.
1988.07.28	Decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces "On the procedure for organizing and holding meetings, rallies, street processions and demonstrations in the USSR" and "On the duties and rights of the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in the protection of public order."
1988.09.08	In Kuibyshev, a rally was held, which was attended by up to 70 thousand people, demanding to remove E. Muravyov from the post of the first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU. A week later, E. Muravyov was removed
1988.09.18	Aggravation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. September 21 a special situation has been introduced in the NKAR and Agdam region of Azerbaijan.
1988.09.21	In connection with the aggravation of the situation in the NKAR and the Aghdam region of Azerbaijan, a special situation has been introduced. Refugees arrive in the interior of the republics, catalyzing the protests.
1988.09.30	The plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU adopted a resolution "On the formation of commissions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the reorganization of the apparatus of the Central Committee of the CPSU in the light of the decisions of the 19th All-Union Party Conference", made significant changes in the composition of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU. A. A. Gromyko and M. S. Solomentsev were removed from the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. V. A. Medvedev was introduced, he was entrusted with questions of ideology.
1988.10.01	The USSR Supreme Council elected M. S. Gorbachev Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council instead of the dismissed A. A. Gromyko.
1988.10.	Establish. congresses Nar. front of Estonia October 1-2, Nar. front of Latvia October 8-9 and the Lithuanian Movement for Perestroika ("Sąjūdis") October 22-23 .
1988.10.20	The Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU canceled the decision of the Central Committee of August 14, 1946 “On the magazines Zvezda and Leningrad”. Restored unlimited subscription to newspapers and magazines.
1988.10.30	A demonstration dedicated to the Day of Remembrance (5,000 people) near Minsk towards Kurapaty (a requiem for the victims of Stalinism) was dispersed by force.
1988.11.	Rally in Baku (700,000 people) about the events in Karabakh.
1988.11.16	The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty and amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Estonian SSR, establishing the priority of republican laws. November 26 The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree on the inconsistency of these legislative acts with the Constitution of the USSR.
1988.11.22	Hunger strike of students began on the square near the Government House in Tbilisi (November 22-29).
1988.11.	Aggravation of the situation in Azerbaijan and Armenia. November 23- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on urgent measures to restore public order in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR. December 5-6- Decrees of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On gross violations of the constitutional rights of citizens in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR", "On the unacceptable actions of certain officials of local bodies of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR, forcing citizens to leave their permanent places of residence."
1988.12.01	The USSR Supreme Council adopted the Laws of the USSR "On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the USSR", "On Elections of People's Deputies of the USSR", resolutions "On Further Steps to Implement Political Reform in the Sphere of State Building" and on the appointment of elections for people's deputies. dep. THE USSR.
1988.12.02	Meeting of MS Gorbachev and George Bush in Malta. Declaration that the Cold War is over.
1988.12.05	Decrees of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On gross violations of the constitutional rights of citizens in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR", "On the unacceptable actions of certain officials of local bodies of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR, forcing citizens to leave their permanent places of residence".
1988.12.06	MS Gorbachev's arrival in New York, speech at the session of Gen. UN Assembly (December 6-8). He announces plans to reduce the size of the Soviet army and reduce conventional weapons.
1988.12.07	Earthquake in Armenia - the cities of Spitak, Leninokan, Kirovokan were destroyed. More than 24 thousand people died.
1988.12.30	The abolition of the names of Brezhnev and Chernenko in the names of enterprises, educational institutions, names of streets and settlements.
1989.01.	The first free (although without observing the equality of votes and limited by law in other respects) nomination of candidates for the People's Commissariat began. dep. THE USSR.
1989.01.12	Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the introduction of a special form of government in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region.
1989.02.	District election meetings were held in the country, which acted as a filter for dropping out candidates objectionable to local authorities. The meeting provided for the procedure for adding candidates already nominated in accordance with the law to the lists of candidates.
1989.02.15	The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan has been completed.
1989.03.02	The beginning of the Vorkuta miners' strike.
1989.03.11	Elections have begun. dep. USSR from public organizations, only from those created and registered in the conditions of the total CPSU for public life (March 11-23).
1989.03.12	250,000th rally of the Popular Front of Latvia in Riga with the participation of V. Korotich. Unauthorized rallies in Leningrad and Kharkov, dedicated to the anniversary of the Constituent Assembly.
1989.03.15	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the issue "On the agrarian policy of the CPSU in modern conditions" (March 15-16). 12 people voted against M. S. Gorbachev, 59 voted against A. N. Yakov Lev, and 78 people voted against E. K. Ligachev.
1989.03.26	The first free elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the USSR (the first round of the first relatively free elections). The electoral legislation does not yet guarantee the right: "One person - one vote."
1989.04.	The withdrawal of 50 thousand Soviet soldiers from the GDR and Czechoslovakia.
1989.04.09	The so-called "Bloody Sunday" in Tbilisi: on the night of April 9, 16 people were killed during an operation to oust participants from an unauthorized rally from the square near the Government House in Tbilisi.
1989.04.10	The State Agroprom of the USSR was abolished.
1989.04.25	At the Plenum, 74 members and 24 candidate members of the CPSU Central Committee were withdrawn from the Central Committee of the CPSU. Criticism of the course of MS Gorbachev.
1989.05.22	The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU tried to prejudge the decisions of the Congress of Deputies of the USSR.
1989.05.21	Rally in Luzhniki (Moscow) with the participation of Sakharov and Yeltsin (150,000 people)
1989.05.23-24	Clashes on ethnic grounds in the city of Fergana, Uzbek SSR. Massacre of the Meskhetian Turks.
1989.05.25	The First Congress of Deputies of the USSR (Moscow) began. MS Gorbachev was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. An Interregional Deputy Group was formed (B. N. Yeltsin, A. D. Sakharov, Yu. N. Afanasyev, G. Kh. Popov, and others).
1989.06.01	The Central Asian Military District was abolished.
1989.06.03	Disaster on the railway Chelyabinsk - Ufa and on the gas pipeline. There are hundreds of victims.
1989.06.03	National clashes in Uzbekistan - more than 100 Meskhetian Turks were killed.
1989.07.11	More than 140,000 workers went on strike in Kuzbass. A city strike committee was formed.
1989.07.15	Armed clashes began in Abkhazia between Georgians and Abkhazians.
1989.07.16	Donetsk miners' strike.
1989.09.21	M. S. Gorbachev signed a decree on the abolition of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 20, 1978 on awarding L. I. Brezhnev with the Order of Victory.
1989.09.23	The Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR adopted a law on the sovereignty of the republic.
1989.09.25	The Lithuanian Supreme Soviet declared the accession of the republic to the USSR in 1940 illegal.
1989.11.07	The demonstration in Chisinau turned into riots, the demonstrators blocked the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
1989.11.26	The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a law on the economic independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
1989.11.27	Communist government of Czechoslovakia resigned
1989.12.01	Mikhail Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
1989.12.02	US President Bush and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Gorbachev during an informal meeting off the coast of Malta announce the end of the Cold War.
1989.12.05	A statement was published by the leaders of Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland and the USSR that the entry of troops of their states into Czechoslovakia, undertaken in 1968, was interference in the internal affairs of sovereign Czechoslovakia and should be condemned.
1989.12.07	The Supreme Council of Lithuania abolished Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic (on the leading role of the Communist Party).
1989.12.09	The Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU was formed (Chairman M. S. Gorbachev).
1989.12.12	The II Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (December 12-24) opened. According to the report of A. N. Yakovlev, the congress condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939). The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and the use of military force in Tbilisi on April 9, 1989 were also condemned.
1989.12.19	The 20th Congress of the Lithuanian Communist Party declared its independence from the CPSU. On December 20, the Lithuanian Communist Party split.
1989.12.31	Riots in Nakhichevan, hundreds of kilometers of equipment on the Soviet-Iranian border were destroyed.
1990.01.	The last congress of the PUWP was held, which decided to end the activities of the party and create a new party - the Social Democracy of the Polish Republic.
1990.01.19	The entry of Soviet troops into Baku - 125 people died. The purpose of this military action was to strengthen centrifugal aspirations in Azerbaijan, whose population was only interested in closer cooperation with Russia and did not think about secession.
1990.02.12-13	Mass riots in Dushanbe caused destruction and loss of life.
1990.02.25	A well-organized 300,000-strong anti-communist demonstration took place in Moscow.
1990.03.11	The plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the report of M. S. Gorbachev decided to abandon the constitutional guarantees of the CPSU monopoly on power, proposed to introduce the institution of the presidency of the USSR and nominated M. S. Gorbachev as a presidential candidate.
1990.03.11	The Supreme Council of Lithuania adopted a resolution "On the restoration of the independence of the State of Lithuania" and canceled the validity of the Constitution of the USSR on the territory of Lithuania.
1990.03.12	Extraordinary III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR established the post of President of the USSR and elected MS Gorbachev President of the USSR
1990.03.23	Soviet troops and tanks enter Vilnius.
1990.04.18	Moscow begins an economic blockade of Lithuania.
1990.05.01	Alternative demonstration of democratic and anarchist organizations on Red Square. M. S. Gorbachev left the podium of the Mausoleum.
1990.05.30	BN Yeltsin in the third round of voting was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.
1990.06.12	The First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR ("for" - 907, "against" - 13, abstentions - 9).
1990.06.19	Opening of the Russian Party Conference, renamed on the morning of June 20 into the founding congress of the Communist Party of the RSFSR. Formation of the Russian Communist Party (first secretary of the Central Committee I. K. Polozkov).
1990.06.20	The Supreme Soviet of Uzbekistan adopted the Declaration on the Sovereignty of the Uzbek SSR.
1990.06.23	The Supreme Council of Moldova adopted the Declaration on the Sovereignty of the SSR Moldova.
1990.07.02	The last, XXVII, Congress of the CPSU (held on July 2-13) opened, at which a split actually occurred. The Congress was unable to adopt a new Program, confining itself to a Program Statement.
1990.07.13	The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR declared all branches of the State Bank of the USSR and other banks on the territory of the RSFSR with their assets and liabilities the property of the RSFSR. The State Bank and Sberbank of the RSFSR were formed.
1990.07.16	MS Gorbachev and German Chancellor G. Kohl agreed on the complete unification of Germany and the full membership of a united Germany in NATO.
1990.07.20	The Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania was adopted.
1990.07.21	The Supreme Council of Latvia declared the declaration of the Seimas dated July 21, 1940 "On the entry of Latvia into the USSR" invalid from the moment of its adoption.
1990.07.27	The Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR adopted the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Belarus.
1990.08.01	USSR law on mass media - censorship was eliminated
1990.08.	The Supreme Council of Armenia adopted a declaration on the state independence of the country. "Parade of Sovereignties" in all Union and Autonomous Republics.
1990.08.	Declarations of sovereignty of Turkmenistan, Armenia, Tajikistan
1990.08.30	A reform plan of 500 days (the former 300 days) was proclaimed, a plan for transferring the economy to capitalist rails as soon as possible was sent for agreement with the Government of the USSR. A food crisis is brewing in the country.
1990.09.20	The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR expressed no confidence in the government of the USSR.
1990.10.02	The GDR ceased to exist. In Berlin, the all-German black-red-gold flag was raised.
1990.10.16	MS Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1990.10.24	The Law of the RSFSR "On the Validity of Acts of Organs of the Union of the SSR on the Territory of the RSFSR" came into force. The Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR were given the right to suspend union acts; Decrees of the President of the USSR were subject to ratification.
1990.10.26	Declaration of Sovereignty of Kazakhstan
1990.10.28	3. Gamsakhurdia won the elections to the Supreme Soviet of Georgia (54 percent of the vote, the Communist Party - 29 percent).
1990.10.31	The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a law on the budget, according to which all enterprises in the territory of the RSFSR are obliged to pay tax only to the Russian budget. The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopts a law on control over natural resources on its territory
1990.11.07	Alternative columns of "Democratic Russia" at a demonstration dedicated to the October Revolution.
1990.11.30	Sending humanitarian aid to Russia (mainly from Germany).
1990.12.01	B. Pugo was appointed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (under pressure from the Soyuz parliamentary group)
1990.12.12	State of emergency in South Ossetia
1990.12.12	The United States gave a loan of 1 billion to the USSR for the purchase of food
1990.12.12	KGB Chairman V. A. Kryuchkov in a TV interview called perestroika activists "supported by foreign special services."
1990.12.17	IV Congress of Deputies of the USSR: Gorbachev receives emergency powers (congress until 27.12)
1990.12.20	Shevardnadze resigned from the post of head of the Foreign Ministry.
1990.12.27	G. Yanaev was elected Vice-President
1991.01.12	During the assault on the Press House in Vilnius and a nighttime clash near the TV and Radio Committee, 14 people were killed and more than a hundred were injured.
1991.01.14	V. Pavlov appointed Prime Minister
1991.01.20	OMON Riga stormed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia (5 dead).
1991.01.22	Decree of Prime Minister Pavlov on the withdrawal of banknotes of 50 and 100 rubles. within a limited time period.
1991.01.25	Decree on joint patrols in large cities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Army.
1991.01.26	Expanded the rights of the KGB to combat economic crime
1991.01.30	The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR decided to establish the State Committee of the RSFSR for Defense and Security.
1991.02.09	Lithuanian independence referendum (for 90.5% of votes)
1991.02.19	President of the RSFSR B. Yeltsin demanded the resignation of M. Gorbachev.
1991.03.01	The beginning of the strike movement of miners (will last 2 months) demanding the resignation of Gorbachev.
1991.03.07	Dissolution of the Presidential Council of the USSR - formation of the Security Council composed of conservatives
1991.03.17	All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR. 80 percent of those included in the voting lists took part in the referendum, of which 76 percent supported the preservation of the Union (6 republics boycotted the referendum).
1991.03.31	Georgia independence referendum (independence since 09.04)
1991.04.01	Disbanded the Warsaw Pact (military structures).
1991.04.02	Price reform in the USSR: increased prices for a number of goods
1991.04.09	The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Poland began.
1991.04.10	The Ministry of Justice of the USSR registered the CPSU as a public organization.
1991.04.21	Parliamentary group "Union" demands the introduction of a state of emergency in the country for six months
1991.04.23	In Novo-Ogaryovo signed (preliminarily) a new union treaty (9 republics)
1991.04.24	An attempt was made to remove MS Gorbachev from the post of General Secretary at the joint Plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the CPSU.
1991.05.06	The mines of Siberia were transferred to the jurisdiction of the RSFSR - the strikes were stopped
1991.05.20	New liberal law on leaving the USSR.
1991.06.11	New US credit (1.5 billion) for the USSR for food
1991.06.12	Elections in the USSR: B. N. Yeltsin was elected President of the RSFSR, G. Kh. Popov - mayor of Moscow, A.A. Sobchak - the mayor of Leningrad.
1991.06.28	Disbanded CMEA
1991.06.17	Novo-Ogaryovo: the heads of 9 republics come to an agreement on the draft Union Treaty.
1991.07.01	Vice-President of the USSR G. I. Yanaev, on behalf of the USSR, signed a protocol in Prague on the termination of the Warsaw Pact. Soviet troops withdrawn from Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The Warsaw Pact is dissolved.
1991.07.03	E. A. Shevardnadze sent a statement to the Central Control Commission of the CPSU, in which he announced his withdrawal from the CPSU.
1991.07.20	The President of the RSFSR B. N. Yeltsin issued a decree "On the termination of the activities of the organizational structures of political parties and mass social movements in state bodies, institutions and organizations of the RSFSR."
1991.07.30	Boris N. Yeltsin received George W. Bush at his residence in the Kremlin. The President of the United States was the first foreign guest whom the head of Russia received in the Kremlin in his new capacity.
1991.08.04	MS Gorbachev went on vacation to Foros.
1991.08.15	The Bureau of the Presidium of the Central Control Commission of the CPSU recommended that A. N. Yakovlev be expelled from the CPSU. The next day, he filed for resignation from the party.
1991.08.19	The GKChP was created - the so-called putsch
1991.08.21	Control over the power structures passes to the president of Russia - the USSR actually loses the supreme executive power.
1991.12.08	The Belovezhskaya Accords of the leaders of the three former republics of the USSR legally liquidated the Soviet Union.

2.2. movements

In the USSR, imitation of the West is becoming very popular, and new informal movements are emerging that find a wide response among people. Among such groups that originated in the Soviet Union, one can name "Kino", "Aquarium", "Alisa", "Zoo", the first punk group "AU", also performer A. Bashlachev, better known as Sash-Bash. And the Ministry of Culture immediately puts them on the blacklist of banned groups. In addition, many films in the USSR are shelved. But the more they are banned, the more popular they become. V. Tsoi’s album “Head of Kamchatka” and the song from this album “Trolleybus that goes to the east”, which tells about a trolleybus with a rusty engine that drags everyone away from the west, became especially relevant.

In 1986, the Red Wave album was released with a circulation of 10,000 copies, consisting of two records, on which four underground groups of the USSR were recorded. "Kino" takes the whole side, completing it with the song "Trolleybus". One copy of the album was personally sent to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU M. Gorbachev.

August 15, 1990 V. Tsoi mysteriously dies in a car accident. A year later, the August putsch takes place, during which a two-day musical marathon "Rock on the Barricades" is held. Later, Yeltsin will award the musicians with medals for services during the days of the August coup. By this time, criminal case No. 480 about an accident involving Tsoi V.R. will close. According to official figures, he fell asleep and lost control. This will be confirmed by the driver of Ikarus, and in two months the driver will be killed under unknown circumstances.

In general, the government did not support the imitation of Western culture. Here is an excerpt from the memoirs of A. Rybin, the soloist of the Garin and Hyperboloids group, about the Beatles concert: “A Zhiguli car with a blue stripe on the body and a white inscription “Police” was slowly driving behind the crowd. Having driven fifty meters behind the walking Beatles, the car said in a stern male voice:

Stop singing immediately!

The crowd laughed. Tsoi and I also smiled - this car set painfully crazy requirements.

Stop singing immediately, I said! - said the car, describing

an arc on the right flank of the crowd, driving onto the lawn.

Of course, no one stopped singing - on the contrary, they shouted even louder - this hatred or, perhaps, fear of the rock and roll of a small police car was painfully funny.

I order everyone to disperse!!! yelled the frenzied car.

Twist and Shout! - shouted in the crowd.

I repeat - everyone disperse immediately!

Even if those walking in the crowd had such a desire, there was nowhere to disperse - everyone seemed to disperse anyway. We walked to the subway, there was only one road in this direction. But no one had a desire to go somewhere else - for what reason, in fact, and where? Tsoi and I stood at the door of the Jubilee, looked at all this and laughed, but laughed, however, not for long.

GET OFF THE BUS AND START WORKING! I ORDER TO WORK HARD, QUICKLY, EXACTLY AS TEACHED!

Of the two buses that were lost in the parking lot near the Sports Palace, people in blue shirts began to pour onto the lawn. They were dressed like ordinary policemen, but they were distinguished by remarkable quickness and ability to fight, as we saw after a few seconds.

Most of those walking in the crowd did not pay attention to the last order and did not see this attack - the police, or rather, some special fighters approached them from behind, from the back. Professional hand-to-hand combat was running at them, but now, when the back rows fell on the lawn under

stabs in the back, panic began and, knocking each other down, the Beatles rushed to the carriageway of the street. The fighters pursued them, kicking those who were already lying along the road, and overtook the fleeing, knocked them down with blows to the back, on the back of the head, under the knees, on the kidneys ... ambush time. Well, at least no one got under the wheels - the cars crashed directly into the crowd, wedging it into three liquid streams. Some people were already being dragged to the buses, apparently those who still tried to defend the HONOR AND Dignity of a SOVIET CITIZEN, as the policemen themselves said when drawing up the protocol.

3. Major reforms

3.1. Anti-alcohol reform

The initial stage of the activities of the new leadership of the country, headed by M.S. Gorbachev is characterized by an attempt to modernize socialism, to abandon not the system, but its most ridiculous and cruel sides. It was about accelerating the socio-economic development of the country. At that time, the concept of restructuring the economic mechanism was put forward, which consisted in expanding the rights of enterprises, their independence, introducing cost accounting, and increasing the interest of labor collectives in the final result of their work. In order to improve the quality of products, state acceptance was introduced. Elections of heads of enterprises began to be held.

The initial idea of the reform was very positive - to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed per capita in the country, to begin the fight against drunkenness. But as a result of too radical actions, Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign and the subsequent abandonment of the state monopoly led to the fact that most of the income went into the shadow sector.

In the 90s, a lot of start-up capital was put together by private traders on "drunk" money. The treasury quickly emptied. The most valuable vineyards were cut down, as a result of which entire sectors of industry disappeared in some republics of the USSR, for example, in Georgia. The growth of drug addiction, substance abuse and moonshining, as well as multibillion-dollar budget losses.

3.2. Personnel reforms in the government

In October 1985, N.I. was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Ryzhkov. In December 1985, B.N. became the secretary of the Moscow city party committee. Yeltsin. E.A. became Minister of Foreign Affairs instead of Gromyko. Shevardnadze. A.N. Yakovlev and A.I. Lukyanov. In fact, 90% of the old Brezhnev apparatus was replaced by new cadres. Almost the entire composition of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was replaced.

3.3. Public and social reforms

At this time, the general democratization of life in the country began. The political persecution has stopped. Weakened the oppression of censorship. Such prominent people as Sakharov, Marchenko, etc. returned from prisons and exile. The policy of glasnost, initiated by the new Soviet leadership, dramatically changed the spiritual life of the people. Increased interest in print media, radio, television. In 1986 alone, newspapers and magazines acquired more than 14 million new readers. The policy of glasnost paved the way for true freedom of speech, press, and thought, which became possible only after the collapse of the communist regime.

Soviet society embraced the process of democratization. In the ideological sphere, Gorbachev put forward the slogan of glasnost. This meant that no events of the past and present should be hidden from the people. Glasnost is the keyword of perestroika, it allowed the dumb masses to say whatever they want, to criticize anyone, including especially Gorbachev himself, the man who gave them freedom.

3.4. Reforms in foreign policy

During the meeting M.S. Gorbachev with US President Ronald Reagan in November 1985, the parties recognized the need to improve Soviet-American relations and improve the international situation as a whole. The START-1,2 treaties have been concluded. By a statement dated January 15, 1986, M.S. Gorbachev put forward a number of major foreign policy initiatives:

Complete elimination of nuclear and chemical weapons by the year 2000.

Strict control over the storage of nuclear weapons and their destruction at the sites of liquidation.

The USSR abandoned the confrontation with the West and offered to end the Cold War. In 1990, Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to easing international tension. During his visit to India, the Delhi Declaration on the Principles of a Nuclear-Free and Non-Violent World was signed.

3.5. Reforms of the political system of the USSR

The struggle for political reform and the methods of carrying it out unfolded at the 19th All-Union Party Conference in the summer of 1988. By that time, the opponents of perestroika had become more active. Back in March 1988, in the newspaper of the Central Committee of the CPSU “Soviet Russia”, an article by a teacher from one of the Leningrad universities Nina Andreeva “I can’t give up principles”, directed against democratic reforms, calling back to

Lenin and Stalin. At the congress there were also attempts by conservatives to change the opinion of the majority of delegates in their favor, but they did not lead to anything. On December 1, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted 2 laws "On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the USSR" and "On the Election of People's Deputies of the USSR." According to the first of them, the supreme authority becomes

Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, consisting of 2250 deputies. The meeting was to be held once a year. It elected the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The second law determined the procedure for the election of people's deputies of the USSR. The new laws had many shortcomings, but were a significant step forward towards liberation from totalitarianism and the one-party system. On March 26, 1989, the elections of people's deputies of the USSR were held. In May - June 1989, the 1st Congress of People's Deputies began its work. It included the Interregional Deputy Group (Sakharov, Sobchak, Afanasiev, Popov, Starovoitova), the Soyuz Deputy Group (Blokhin, Kogan, Petrushenko, Alksnis), the Life Deputy Group and others.

The final stage in the field of reforms of the political system can be called the III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, at which Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR, and some amendments were made to the Constitution.

3.6. economic reform

By the middle of 1990. The Soviet leadership decided to introduce private ownership of the means of production. The dismantling of the foundations of socialism began. The President was offered several economic programs for the transition to a market economy. The most famous of them was the program called "500 days", created under the guidance of a young scientist G. Yavlinsky. The government of the USSR also proposed its program. The programs differed mainly in the degree of radicalization and determination. 500 days aimed at a quick and decisive transition to the market, the bold introduction of various forms of ownership. The government program, without denying the need for a transition to market relations, sought to stretch this process for a long time, leaving a significant public sector in the economy, pervasive control over it by the central bureaucratic bodies.

The President gave preference to the government's program. Its implementation began in January 1991 with the exchange of 50 and 100 ruble bills in order to withdraw money acquired illegally from the point of view of the authorities, as well as to reduce the pressure of the money supply on the consumer market. The exchange took place in a short time. There were long queues at the savings banks. People had to prove the legitimacy of their savings. Instead of the planned 20 billion rubles, the government received only 10 billion rubles from this operation. On April 2, 1991, prices for foodstuffs, transport, and utilities were increased by 2-4 times. There was a drop in the living standards of the population. According to the UN, by the middle of 1991, the USSR ranked 82nd in the world on this indicator. The official decision of the Soviet leadership on the transition to a market economy allowed the most enterprising and energetic people to create the country's first legal private business firms, trade and commodity exchanges. A layer of entrepreneurs appeared and began to be realized in the country, although the existing laws did not allow them to expand their activities in the production of goods. The bulk of private capital found its application in trade and money circulation. The process of privatization of enterprises was extremely slow. On top of that, there was the emergence of unemployment, crime, racketeering. 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. Failures in the economy increasingly undermined the position of the communist reformers led by Gorbachev.

We can conclude that as a result of his reforms, the world has changed dramatically and will never be the same again. It is impossible to do this without courage and political will. Mikhail Gorbachev can be treated differently, but there is no doubt that he is one of the biggest figures in history.

4. crisis of power

4.1. two presidents

In the fall of 1990, Gorbachev, elected by the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, was forced to reorganize the state authorities. The executive bodies now began to report directly to the president. A new advisory body was established - the Federation Council, whose members were the heads of the Union republics. The development and, with great difficulty, the coordination of the draft of a new union treaty between the republics of the USSR began.

In March 1991, the first referendum in the history of the country was held - the citizens of the USSR had to express their opinion on the issue of preserving the Soviet Union as a renewed federation of equal and sovereign republics. It is indicative that 6 out of 15 union states (Armenia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova) did not take part in the referendum. But 76% of those participating in the vote were in favor of preserving the Union. In parallel, the All-Russian referendum was also held - the majority of its participants voted for the introduction of the post of president of the republic.

On June 12, 1991, a nationwide presidential election was held. B. Yeltsin became them. After these elections, Moscow turned into the capital of two presidents - the All-Union and the Russian. It was difficult to reconcile the positions of the two leaders, and personal relations between them did not differ in mutual disposition.

Both advocated reforms, but at the same time they looked at the goals and ways of reforms differently. Gorbachev relied on the Communist Party, and Yeltsin relied on the forces in opposition to the CPSU. In July 1991, Yeltsin signed a decree banning the activities of party organizations at state-owned enterprises and institutions. The events unfolding in the country testified that the process of weakening the power of the CPSU and the collapse of the Soviet Union was becoming irreversible.

Representatives of the party and state leaders, who believed that only decisive action would help preserve the political positions of the CPSU and stop the collapse of the Soviet Union, resorted to forceful methods. They decided to take advantage of the absence of the President of the USSR in Moscow, who was on vacation in the Crimea.

Early in the morning of August 19, television and radio informed citizens that, due to Gorbachev's illness, the execution of duties was temporarily assigned to Vice-President Yanaev and that a state committee on the emergency situation of the State Emergency Committee was formed "to govern the country and effectively implement the state of emergency." This committee consisted of 8 people. Gorbachev found himself isolated in a state dacha. Military units and tanks were brought into Moscow, and a curfew was announced.

The House of Soviets of the RSFSR, the so-called White House, became the center of resistance to the GKChP. In an address to the citizens of Russia, President Yeltsin and the acting chairman of the Supreme Council Khasbulatov called on the population not to obey the illegal decisions of the State Emergency Committee, qualifying its actions as an unconstitutional coup. Tens of thousands of residents of the capital expressed their support for Yeltsin.

Fearing the unleashing of a civil war, Yanaev and his associates did not dare to storm the House of Soviets. They began the withdrawal of troops from Moscow and flew to the Crimea in the hope of reaching an agreement with Gorbachev, but the President of the USSR had already returned to Moscow, along with Vice President Rutskoi, who had flown in "to the rescue". Members of the GKChP were arrested. Yeltsin signed decrees on the suspension of the activities of the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR and the publication of communist-oriented newspapers. Gorbachev announced the resignation of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and then issued decrees that actually stopped the activities of the party and transferred its property to state ownership.

4.3. The collapse of the USSR and the formation of the CIS

The last months of 1991 became the time of the final collapse of the USSR. The Congress of People's Deputies was dissolved, the Supreme Soviet was radically reformed, and most of the union ministries were liquidated. The supreme body was the State Council of the USSR, which included the President of the USSR and the heads of the union republics. The first decision of the State Council was the recognition of the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania was the first of the union republics to declare independence and secession from the Soviet Union. On December 1, a referendum was held in Ukraine, and the majority voted for the independence of the republic. On December 7-8, 1991, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine Yeltsin and Kravchuk and the chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus Shushkevich, having met in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, announced the termination of the existence of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States of the CIS as part of the three republics. Subsequently, the CIS included all the former republics of the USSR, with the exception of the Baltic ones.

So, perestroika reached a dead end, which led the government to a crisis. As a result, the USSR collapsed, and Gorbachev, being in a hopeless situation, easily evaded the answer, simply removing himself from the powers of the president, because the USSR no longer existed.

5. The results of perestroika

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. The paralysis of the central government and, as a result, the weakening of state control over the national economy, the progressive disintegration of production ties between enterprises of different Union republics, the increased autocracy of directors, the short-sighted policy of artificially increasing the incomes of the population, as well as other populist measures in the economy - all this led to an increase in 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.

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 a 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.

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". Between 1985 and 1991, retail prices almost tripled, government price controls could not 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.

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 servicing (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 external debt. Economic reform became inevitable and vital.

Among the many accusations brought against Gorbachev, perhaps the most important is indecisiveness. The policy of perestroika, initiated by part of the leadership of the CPSU headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, led to significant changes in the life of the country and the world as a whole.

In the course of perestroika, problems that had accumulated over decades were exposed, especially in the economy and the interethnic sphere. Added to this were the mistakes and miscalculations made in the process of implementing the reforms themselves. The political confrontation between the forces advocating the socialist path of development and the parties, movements that link the future of the country with the organization of life on the principles of capitalism, as well as on issues of the future image of the Soviet Union, the relationship between federal and republican bodies of state power and administration, sharply escalated.

By the beginning of the 1990s, perestroika led to an aggravation of the crisis in all spheres of society and to the collapse of the USSR.

conclusions

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.

MS Gorbachev announced the need to get out of the stagnation and began the process of "perestroika". Perestroika led to significant changes in the life of the country and the world as a whole (glasnost, political pluralism, the end of the Cold War). During perestroika, numerous facts of the monstrous crimes of the Stalinist regime were made public. In memory of the mass repressions of Soviet people near Magadan in the 1990s. a monument created by the famous sculptor Ernest Neizvestny was erected. In April 1986, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which led to a colossal environmental disaster.

Gorbachev was one of the first in the Soviet party leadership to realize the need for global changes in the life of the country, but how to implement them, how to reform the huge clumsy colossus called the Soviet Union, he had a rather vague idea, so many of his undertakings were doomed.

Following the political collapse of the Soviet empire, the collapse of the single economic space of the once united country began.

Some modern scholars argue that perestroika was basically a seizure of property by the Soviet bureaucratic elite, or nomenklatura, who were more interested in "privatizing" the state's vast fortune in 1991 than in preserving it. The fact is that the Soviet elite actually had a minuscule compared to what the elite of the poor banana republics has, and compared to what the elite of developed countries owns. Therefore, already in the Khrushchev era, part of the elite set a course to change the Soviet system. They were supported by the shadow government. Their goal is to turn from managers into owners of state property. To talk about the collapse of reforms is to mislead people. Nobody planned to create any free market economy.

Other researchers believe that it was not the bureaucratic elite, but the mafia part of the domestic secret service and the national elites with the support of the intelligentsia (some researchers see here similarities with the French Revolution).

The ideologists of perestroika themselves, who are already retired, have repeatedly stated that perestroika did not have any clear ideological basis. However, some activities since at least 1987 cast doubt on this view. While at the initial stage the common expression “more socialism” remained the official slogan, an implicit change in the legislative framework in the economy began, threatening to undermine the functioning of the previous planned system: the actual abolition of the state monopoly on foreign economic activity, a revision of the approach to the relationship between state bodies and industrial enterprises. One of the turning points in the economic program of “perestroika” can also be considered the USSR Law “On Cooperation” of May 26, 1988, which explicitly stated that “foreign currency earnings received by cooperatives ... are not subject to withdrawal and can be accumulated for use in subsequent years." This meant a fundamental break with former Soviet practice, in the same year the concept of “radical economic reform” appeared, and contradicted many previous laws and regulations, the massive abolition of which began around the same time.

It is difficult to call a steady change in the legislative base in one direction accidental. But then it was still very problematic to openly announce to the population about their plans, since the “equalizing psychology” and the “soviet worldview” remained practically universal, so a coordinated, multifaceted and consistent campaign to discredit all aspects of life in the USSR begins a little later than this period. The line of constructive criticism was easily crossed. Basically, it consisted of numerous revealing publications in the most popular or serious Soviet publications of that time, which can be briefly described with the phrase “it’s impossible to live like this”, forcing ridiculous and irrational fears by voicing them in authoritative sources (for example, the frankly delusional “theory” that The Black Sea is about to explode due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide in it). All the major social institutions and subsystems of the Soviet Union, one after another, were subjected to devastating, often unfair criticism (“Aviation destroys its own in Afghanistan at the slightest attempt to encircle”, “the Soviet police are the most cruel and corrupt in the world”, the syringe scandal in Elista, when they “infected » several dozen newborns, who, as it turned out later, were already infected, housing and communal services, bureaucracy, etc.). In many ways, the strength of these publications lay in the authority of the source, their irrefutability and long-term dominance in the information space.

Attention is drawn not only to the fact that the generation of Russians who grew up and socialized already in the post-Gorbachev era assesses perestroika much more positively than the generation of their fathers and grandfathers. The younger the respondents, the fewer among them those who believe that it was a mistake to start perestroika.

Nevertheless, Gorbachev's merits as a state and political figure are undeniable. Gorbachev was the first and last president of the USSR.

List of used literature

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. Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On strengthening

fight against drunkenness and alcoholism”, M., 1985.

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

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

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

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

9. Mikhail Geller "The Seventh Secretary: 1985-1990"

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

11. N.V. Zagladin "History of the Fatherland", M., Russian word, 2003.

12. O.V. Volobuev "Russia and the World", M., Bustard, 2005.

Perestroika (1985-1991) in the USSR was a large-scale phenomenon in the political, economic and social life of the state. Some people believe that its holding was an attempt to prevent the collapse of the country, while others, on the contrary, think that it pushed the Union to collapse. Let's find out what was perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991). Briefly try to characterize its causes and consequences.

Background

So, how did perestroika begin in the USSR (1985-1991)? We will study the causes, stages and consequences a little later. Now we will focus on those processes that preceded this period in national history.

Like almost all phenomena in our life, the perestroika of 1985-1991 in the USSR has its own prehistory. In the 70s of the last century, the indicators of the well-being of the population reached an unprecedented level in the country. At the same time, it should be noted that a significant decrease in the rate of economic growth belongs to this period of time, for which in the future this entire period, with the light hand of MS Gorbachev, was called the “era of stagnation”.

Another negative phenomenon was a rather frequent shortage of goods, the cause of which, researchers call the shortcomings of the planned economy.

To a large extent, the slowdown in industrial development was offset by the export of oil and gas. Just at that time, the USSR became one of the world's largest exporters of these natural resources, which was facilitated by the development of new deposits. At the same time, the increase in the share of oil and gas in the country's GDP made the economic indicators of the USSR significantly dependent on world prices for these resources.

But the very high cost of oil (due to the embargo of the Arab states on the supply of "black gold" to Western countries) helped smooth out most of the negative phenomena in the economy of the USSR. The well-being of the country's population was constantly increasing, and most ordinary citizens could not even imagine that everything could change soon. And so cool too...

At the same time, the country's leadership, headed by Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, could not or did not want to fundamentally change something in the management of the economy. High figures only covered up the abscess of economic problems that had accumulated in the USSR, which threatened to break through at any moment, as soon as external or internal conditions changed.

It was the change in these conditions that led to the process that is now known as Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991.

Operation in Afghanistan and sanctions against the USSR

In 1979, the USSR launched a military operation in Afghanistan, which was officially presented as international assistance to the fraternal people. The introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan was not approved by the UN Security Council, which served as a pretext for the United States to apply a number of economic measures against the Union, which were of a sanctions nature, and to persuade the countries of Western Europe to support some of them.

True, despite all efforts, the US government failed to get the European states to freeze the construction of the large-scale Urengoy-Uzhgorod gas pipeline. But even those sanctions that were introduced could cause significant damage to the economy of the USSR. And the war in Afghanistan itself also required considerable material costs, and also contributed to an increase in the level of discontent among the population.

It was these events that became the first harbingers of the economic collapse of the USSR, but only war and sanctions were clearly not enough to see the fragility of the economic basis of the Land of Soviets.

Falling oil prices

As long as the cost of oil was kept within $100 per barrel, the Soviet Union could not pay much attention to the sanctions of Western states. Since the 1980s, there has been a significant decline in the global economy, which contributed to the fall in the cost of oil due to a decrease in demand. In addition, fixed prices for this resource were abandoned in 1983, and Saudi Arabia significantly increased its production of raw materials. This only contributed to the further continuation of the collapse in prices for "black gold". If in 1979 they asked for $104 per barrel of oil, then in 1986 these figures fell to $30, that is, the cost decreased by almost 3.5 times.

This could not have a positive impact on the economy of the USSR, which, back in the Brezhnev era, became heavily dependent on oil exports. In combination with the sanctions of the United States and other Western countries, as well as with the flaws of an inefficient management system, a sharp drop in the cost of "black gold" could lead to the collapse of the entire economy of the country.

The new leadership of the USSR, headed by M. S. Gorbachev, who became the leader of the state in 1985, understood that it was necessary to significantly change the structure of economic management, as well as to carry out reforms in all spheres of the country's life. It was the attempt to introduce these reforms that led to the emergence of such a phenomenon as perestroika (1985-1991) in the USSR.

Reasons for perestroika

What exactly were the reasons for perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991)? Let's look at them briefly below.

The main reason that prompted the country's leadership to think about the need for significant changes - both in the economy and in the socio-political structure as a whole - was the understanding that under the current conditions, the country is threatened with economic collapse or, at best, a significant decline in all indicators. Of course, no one among the leaders of the country even thought about the reality of the collapse of the USSR in 1985.

The main factors that served as an impetus for understanding the full depth of the urgent economic, managerial and social problems were:

Military operation in Afghanistan.
The introduction of sanctions against the USSR.
Falling oil prices.
Imperfection of the control system.

These were the main reasons for Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991.

Start of perestroika

How did perestroika 1985-1991 start in the USSR?

As mentioned above, initially few people thought that the negative factors that existed in the economy and public life of the USSR could actually lead to the collapse of the country, so the restructuring was originally planned as a correction of individual shortcomings of the system.

March 1985 can be considered the beginning of perestroika, when the party leadership elected a relatively young and promising member of the Politburo, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, as General Secretary of the CPSU. At that time, he was 54 years old, which for many will seem not so little, but compared to the previous leaders of the country, he was really young. So, L. I. Brezhnev became General Secretary at the age of 59 and remained in this post until his death, which overtook him at 75 years old. Yu. Andropov and K. Chernenko, who actually held the most important state post in the country after him, became general secretaries at 68 and 73, respectively, but were able to live only a little more than a year each after coming to power.

This state of affairs spoke of a significant stagnation of cadres in the higher echelons of the party. The appointment of such a relatively young and new person in the party leadership as Mikhail Gorbachev as the General Secretary should have to some extent influenced the solution of this problem.

Gorbachev immediately made it clear that he was going to carry out a number of changes in various fields of activity in the country. True, at that time it was not yet clear how far this would all go.

In April 1985, the Secretary General announced the need to accelerate the economic development of the USSR. It was the term “acceleration” that most often referred to the first stage of perestroika, which lasted until 1987 and did not involve fundamental changes in the system. Its tasks included only the introduction of some administrative reforms. Also, the acceleration assumed an increase in the pace of development of engineering and heavy industry. But in the end, the actions of the government did not give the desired result.

In May 1985, Gorbachev announced that it was time for everyone to rebuild. It is from this statement that the term "perestroika" originated, but its introduction into wide use belongs to a later period.

I stage of restructuring

The first stage of perestroika, which was also called "acceleration", can be considered the time from 1985 to 1987. As mentioned above, all innovations then were mainly of an administrative nature. Then, in 1985, an anti-alcohol campaign was launched, the goal of which was to reduce the level of alcoholism in the country, which had reached a critical point. But in the course of this campaign, a number of unpopular measures among the people were taken, which can be considered "excesses". In particular, a huge number of vineyards were destroyed, a virtual ban on the presence of alcoholic beverages at family and other celebrations held by party members was introduced. In addition, the anti-alcohol campaign led to a shortage of alcoholic beverages in stores and a significant increase in their cost.

At the first stage, the fight against corruption and unearned income of citizens was also declared. The positive aspects of this period include a significant injection of new personnel into the party leadership who wanted to carry out truly significant reforms. Among these people, B. Yeltsin and

The Chernobyl tragedy that occurred in 1986 demonstrated the inability of the existing system not only to prevent a catastrophe, but also to effectively deal with its consequences. The emergency situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was hidden by the authorities for several days, which endangered millions of people living near the disaster zone. This indicated that the country's leadership was acting by old methods, which, of course, did not please the population.

In addition, the reforms carried out until then proved to be ineffective, as economic indicators continued to fall, and dissatisfaction with the leadership's policies grew in society. This fact contributed to the realization by Gorbachev and some other representatives of the party elite of the fact that half measures are not enough, but cardinal reforms must be carried out in order to save the situation.

Goals of perestroika

The state of affairs described above contributed to the fact that the country's leadership was not immediately able to determine the specific goals of perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991). The table below briefly characterizes them.

The main goal that faced the USSR during the years of perestroika in 1985-1991 was the creation of an effective mechanism for governing the state through systemic reforms.

II stage

It was the tasks described above that were basic for the leadership of the USSR during the perestroika period of 1985-1991. at the second stage of this process, the beginning of which can be considered 1987.

It was at this time that censorship was significantly mitigated, which was expressed in the so-called glasnost policy. It provided for the admissibility of discussing in society topics that were previously either hushed up or banned. was a significant step towards the democratization of the system, but at the same time had a number of negative consequences. The flow of open information, for which society, which was behind the Iron Curtain for decades, was simply not ready, contributed to a radical revision of the ideals of communism, ideological and moral decay, and the emergence of nationalist and separatist sentiments in the country. In particular, in 1988 an inter-ethnic armed conflict began in Nagorno-Karabakh.

It was also allowed to conduct certain types of individual entrepreneurial activities, in particular, in the form of cooperatives.

In foreign policy, the USSR made significant concessions to the United States in the hope of lifting sanctions. Gorbachev's meetings with American President Reagan were quite frequent, during which agreements on disarmament were reached. In 1989, Soviet troops were finally withdrawn from Afghanistan.

But it should be noted that at the second stage of perestroika, the tasks set for building democratic socialism were never achieved.

Perestroika at stage III

The third stage of perestroika, which began in the second half of 1989, was marked by the fact that the processes taking place in the country began to get out of control of the central government. Now she was forced to adapt to them only.

The country passed Republican authorities proclaimed the priority of local laws and regulations over the all-Union, if they were in conflict with each other. And in March 1990, Lithuania announced its withdrawal from the Soviet Union.

In 1990, the presidential office was introduced, to which the deputies elected Mikhail Gorbachev. In the future, it was planned to conduct the election of the president by direct popular vote.

At the same time, it became clear that the former format of relations between the republics of the USSR could no longer be maintained. It was planned to reorganize it into a "soft federation" under the name of the year, whose supporters wanted the conservation of the old system, put an end to this idea.

post-perestroika

After the suppression of the putsch, most of the republics of the USSR announced their withdrawal from its composition and declared independence. And what is the result? What did the restructuring lead to? passed in unsuccessful efforts to stabilize the situation in the country. In the fall of 1991, an attempt was made to transform the former superpower into a SSG confederation, which ended in failure.

The main task that stood at the fourth stage of perestroika, which is also called post-perestroika, was the liquidation of the USSR and the formalization of relations between the republics of the former Union. This goal was actually achieved in Belovezhskaya Pushcha at the meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Later, most of the other republics joined the Belovezhskaya Pushcha agreements.

By the end of 1991, the USSR even formally ceased to exist.

Results

We have studied the processes that took place in the USSR during the period of perestroika (1985-1991), briefly dwelled on the causes and stages of this phenomenon. Now it's time to talk about the results.

First of all, it must be said about the collapse that perestroika suffered in the USSR (1985-1991). The results both for the leading circles and for the country as a whole were disappointing. The country broke up into a number of independent states, armed conflicts began in some of them, a catastrophic decline in economic indicators occurred, the communist idea was completely discredited, and the CPSU was liquidated.

The main goals set by perestroika were never achieved. On the contrary, the situation worsened even more. The only positive moments can be seen only in the democratization of society and in the emergence of market relations. During the perestroika period of 1985-1991, the USSR was a state that was unable to withstand external and internal challenges.

Ministry of Education

Russian Federation

Vladimir State University

Department of Museology

Perestroika in the USSR 1985-1991

Vinogradova E.N.

student of group KZI-108

Head: Mentova L.F.

Vladimir 2008

Introduction

1. The main reasons and goals of perestroika

1.1. Reasons for perestroika

1.2. "We are waiting for changes…"

1.3. Goals of perestroika

2. Main events during the perestroika period

2.1. Chronology of events

2.1. movements

3. Main reforms carried out during perestroika

3.1. Anti-alcohol reform

3.2. Personnel reforms in the government

3.3. Public and social reforms

3.4. Reforms in foreign policy

3.5. Reforms of the political system of the USSR

3.6 Economic reform

4. The crisis of power and the collapse of the USSR

4.1. two presidents

4.2. Revolutionary turn in history

4.3. The collapse of the USSR and the formation of the CIS

5. Results of perestroika

Bibliography

Introduction

The main goal of my project is to try to prove that the consequences of perestroika are really the fruits of Gorbachev's ill-conceived plans, the haste of his actions.

1. The main reasons and goals of perestroika

1.1. Reasons for perestroika

Thus, by the beginning of the 1980s, the Soviet totalitarian system was actually deprived of the support of a significant part of society.

1.2. "We are waiting for changes…"

A powerful layer of party and state officials, the military, who were worried about the collapse of the state, were waiting for changes.

1.3. Goals of perestroika

2. Main events:

2.1. Chronology of events

1985.03.11	March 10 - K. U. Chernenko died. On March 11, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU elected Gorbachev General Secretary.
1985.03.12	First Secretary of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the CPSU B.N. Yeltsin approved as the head of the Construction Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU
1985.04.23	The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU put forward the concept of accelerating socio-economic development.
1985.05.07	Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism, the eradication of moonshine."
1985.05.16	Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On strengthening the fight against drunkenness", which marked the beginning of the anti-alcohol campaign (lasted until 1988)
1985.07.01	At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which lasted thirty minutes, MS Gorbachev recommended the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Gromyko for the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, E. A. Shevardnadze, for the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. B. N. Yeltsin and L. N. Zaikov were elected secretaries of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The next day, July 2, the USSR Supreme Council elected A. Gromyko Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council.
1985.07.05	A. N. Yakovlev was appointed head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
1985.07.30	Statement by M.S. Gorbachev on a unilateral moratorium on nuclear explosions.
1985.09.27	The resignation of the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N. A. Tikhonov. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR appointed N.I. Ryzhkov Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
1985.10.17	MS Gorbachev at a meeting of the Politburo proposed a "decision on Afghanistan" - on the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
1985.10.26	Draft new edition of the CPSU Program published
1985.11.14	The Gosagroprom of the USSR was formed on the basis of six ministries. V. S. Murakhovsky was appointed Chairman.
1985.11.19	The first meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev was held in Geneva - on none of the issues discussed ... (19 - 21.11).
1985.11.22	Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On changes in the system of governing bodies of the agro-industrial complex" (the merger of 5 ministries into the State Agrarian Industry).
1985.12.24	The Plenum of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU elected B.N. Yeltsin 1 Secretary of the Moscow City Committee instead of V.V. Grishin.
1986.01.15	MS Gorbachev's statement on the program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons throughout the world.
1986.02.18	B.N. Yeltsin was elected a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. VV Grishin was removed from the Politburo.
1986.02.25	The XXVII Congress of the CPSU opened. He approved a new version of the Program of the CPSU and the "Basic Directions for the Economic and Social Development of the USSR for 1986-90 and for the period up to 2000" (a course towards building communism) and the Party Charter. It lasted February 25 - March 6.
1986.04.21	MS Gorbachev announced the readiness of the USSR to agree to the simultaneous dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and NATO.
1986.04.26	The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
1986.05.23	The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On measures to strengthen the fight against unearned income” was aimed at weakening the hidden initial capital in order to eliminate competitors before legalizing private initiative for employees of the apparatus.
1986.08.14	Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On the termination of work on the transfer of part of the flow of the northern and Siberian rivers."
1986.08.31	At night, near Novorossiysk, as a result of a collision with a cargo ship, the passenger steamer Admiral Nakhimov crashed and sank.
1986.10.11	Meeting M.S. Gorbachev and R. Reagan in Reykjavik. “None of the issues discussed… but already in a friendly atmosphere.
1986.10.31	Conclusion 6 owls. regiments from Afghanistan, as a demonstration of Reagan's readiness to begin to gradually lose ground.
1986.11.19	The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Law of the USSR "On individual labor activity", designed to put under the control of the state. bodies already really existing "underground" private business.
1986.12.16	Replacing D.A. Kunaeva G.V. Kolbin as the 1st secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan caused unrest in Alma-Ata on December 17-18 - the first riots of the perestroika period. On December 16-18, there were unrest in Alma-Ata associated with the resignation of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan D. A. Kunaev and the appointment of GV Kolbin to this position. Three died, 99 people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
1986.12.23	Return of A.D. Sakharov from exile.
1987.01.13	The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the procedure for the creation on the territory of the USSR and the activities of joint ventures with the participation of Soviet organizations and firms of capitalist and developing countries” gave rise to the formation of each regional committee, state administration. apparatus, at departments of the Central Committee and other structures of private enterprises, where the state. cash.
1987.01.19	The first demonstrative conflict between MS Gorbachev and BN Yeltsin at a meeting of the Politburo, which discussed the responsibility of the highest party bodies.
1987.01.27	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the issue "On perestroika and personnel policy of the party" (January 27-28). MS Gorbachev put forward the concept of perestroika, political reform, alternative elections, and secret ballot in party elections. A. N. Yakovlev was elected a candidate member of the Politburo.
1987.02.05	It is allowed to create cooperatives for public catering, for the production of consumer goods and for consumer services.
1987.05.	The first unauthorized demonstration of a non-governmental and non-communist organization - the "Memory" society in Moscow, a meeting of its leaders with B.N. Yeltsin (first secretary of the Central Committee of the MGK CPSU) - a two-hour meeting of B.N. the center of Moscow with a demand to stop work on Poklonnaya Hill according to an officially approved project and to erect a monument according to the project of the sculptor V. Klykov.
1987.06.20	Beginning of the Crimean Tatar campaign in Moscow (lasted until August).
1987.06.21	First Elections to Local Councils on Alternative Basis (in 0.4 percent of constituencies)
1987.06.25	The plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the question "On the tasks of the party for a radical restructuring of economic management." Report by N. I. Ryzhkov. In fact, the failure of the course towards "acceleration" was recognized. A. N. Yakovlev was elected a member of the Politburo.
1987.06.30	The USSR Supreme Council adopted the USSR Law "On the State Enterprise (Association)".
1987.07.17	The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted 10 joint resolutions on the restructuring of economic management.
1987.07.23	Sedentary demonstrations of the Crimean Tatars on Red Square.
1987.07.30	The beginning of the deportations of the Crimean Tatars from Moscow.
1987.08.10	Strike of bus drivers in the Chekhov district of the Moscow region
1987.08.11	The Moscow City Council adopted "Temporary rules for organizing and holding meetings, rallies, street processions, demonstrations and other events on the streets, squares, avenues, parks, gardens, squares and other public places in Moscow."
1987.08.23	Rallies were held in the capitals of the Baltic republics on the anniversary of the so-called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which, by the way, no one read in the original.
1987.08.	For the first time, unlimited subscription to newspapers and magazines.
1987.09.12	B. N. Yeltsin sent a letter of resignation to M. S. Gorbachev.
1987.09.28	The Politburo Commission for the additional study of the repressions of the 1930-1940s was formed. (Chairman M.S. Solomentsev).
1987.10.21	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU: Yeltsin spoke at the Plenum with criticism of perestroika; Aliyev removed from the Politburo
1987.10.17	Thousands of environmental demonstrations in Yerevan.
1987.10.21	Speech by Boris N. Yeltsin at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU criticizing the leadership style of E. K. Ligachev and asking for his resignation.
1987.10.24	The first meeting of the editors of the so-called informal publications in Leningrad.
1987.11.02	M.S. Gorbachev’s report “October and perestroika: the revolution continues” at the solemn meeting dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution (November 2-3).
1987.11.10	Performances by individual citizens and small groups with leaflets and posters in support of BN Yeltsin in Moscow and Sverdlovsk.
1987.11.11	Plenum of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU: Yeltsin was removed from the post of 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Committee. Instead of him, L. N. Zaikov was elected.
1987.11.14	The collection of signatures began in front of Moscow State University for the return of B. N. Yeltsin and the publication of his speech. By the way, when the speeches were nevertheless published in the "informal" press, nothing so special was found in them - Yeltsin did not say anything special in them, even by those standards.
1987.12.07	Meeting of R. Reagan and MS Gorbachev in Washington. The first agreements have been reached - the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles has been signed.
1988.02.04	Top. the USSR court overturned the verdict of 1938 against N.I. Bukharin and others (“anti-Soviet bloc of rights and Trotskyists”).
1988.02.08	Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions on the procedure for electing councils of labor collectives and holding elections for heads of enterprises.
1988.02.12	The beginning of the rallies in Stepanakert (NKAO) - the Armenian population demonstrated against the Azerbaijani authorities. On February 18, the first Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia appeared in Baku.
1988.02.18	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU: Yeltsin was removed from the Politburo. An aura of a martyr-hero is created around his name.
1988.02.20	Region Council of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region decided to ask the Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan and Armenian SSRs to transfer the NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR.
1988.02.25	Troops entered Yerevan. Armenian pogrom in Sumgayit, 32 people were killed, more than 400 were injured, more than 400 apartments were looted, more than 40 social and cultural facilities were burned.
1988.02.26	Appeal of MS Gorbachev to the peoples of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
1988.02.27	February 27-29- Armenian pogroms in Sumgayit. March 23 The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on measures related to the appeals of the union republics regarding the events in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR.
1988.02.28	In Sumgayit, in response to an attempt to change the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, a pogrom of Armenians took place. 23 people were killed.
1988.03.13	An article by N. Andreeva in "Soviet Russia" - "I can not compromise my principles", declared in other media "a manifesto of anti-perestroika forces." 5th of April a response editorial article "Principles of Perestroika: Revolutionary Thought and Action" was published in Pravda
1988.03.17	In Stepanakert, a demonstration of Armenians demanding the annexation of Karabakh to Armenia.
1988.04.	In Estonia, a national liberation movement called the "People's Front in Support of Perestroika" was created.
1988.05.07	The founding congress of the "Democratic Union" was opened (May 7-9).
1988.05.15	The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began.
1988.05.21	Under pressure from Moscow, the Plenums of the Central Committees of Azerbaijan and Armenia simultaneously dismissed Bagirov and Temurchan.
1988.05.26	The USSR Supreme Council adopted the USSR Law "On Cooperation in the USSR".
1988.05.29	Meeting of MS Gorbachev and R. Reagan in Moscow (May 29 - June 2). The meeting took place against the backdrop of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
1988.06.04	The first small rallies of informals began in Moscow.
1988.06.15	The Armed Forces of the Armenian SSR agreed to the entry of the NKAO into the republic. June 17 - The Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan SSR decided that the transfer of the NKAR from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR was unacceptable. In the regions adjacent to the borders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the forcible displacement of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, respectively, began.
1988.06.22	A mass rally in Kuibyshev against the first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU E. F. Muravyov.
1988.06.28	The 19th All-Union Conference of the CPSU adopted resolutions “On Certain Urgent Measures for the Practical Implementation of the Reform of the Country’s Political System”, “On the Implementation of the Decisions of the 27th Congress of the CPSU and the Tasks of Deepening Perestroika”, “On the Democratization of Soviet Society and the Reform of the Political System”, “On Combating bureaucracy”, “On interethnic relations”, “On publicity”, “On legal reform” (June 28 - July 1).
1988.07.01	Speech by Boris N. Yeltsin at the XIX All-Union Party Conference with a request for political rehabilitation.
1988.07.09	The first meeting of the Moscow People's Front.
1988.07.18	Meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, dedicated to the decisions of the Armed Forces of the Armenian and Azerbaijan SSRs on Nagorno-Karabakh. A resolution was adopted on the impossibility of changing the borders of the republics.
1988.07.20	Order of the Ministry of Communications of the USSR restoring subscription restrictions.
1988.07.28	Decrees of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces "On the procedure for organizing and holding meetings, rallies, street processions and demonstrations in the USSR" and "On the duties and rights of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in protecting public order."
1988.09.08	In Kuibyshev, a rally was held, which was attended by up to 70 thousand people, demanding to remove E. Muravyov from the post of the first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU. A week later, E. Muravyov was removed
1988.09.18	Aggravation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. September 21 a special situation has been introduced in the NKAR and Agdam region of Azerbaijan.
1988.09.21	In connection with the aggravation of the situation in the NKAR and the Aghdam region of Azerbaijan, a special situation has been introduced. Refugees arrive in the interior of the republics, catalyzing the protests.
1988.09.30	The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU adopted a resolution "On the formation of commissions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the reorganization of the apparatus of the Central Committee of the CPSU in the light of the decisions of the 19th All-Union Party Conference", made significant changes in the composition of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU. A. A. Gromyko and M. S. Solomentsev were removed from the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. V. A. Medvedev was introduced, he was entrusted with questions of ideology.
1988.10.01	The USSR Supreme Council elected M. S. Gorbachev Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council instead of the dismissed A. A. Gromyko.
1988.10.	Establish. congresses Nar. front of Estonia October 1-2, Nar. front of Latvia October 8-9 and the Lithuanian Movement for Perestroika (Sąjūdis) October 22-23 .
1988.10.20	The Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU canceled the decision of the Central Committee of August 14, 1946 “On the magazines Zvezda and Leningrad”. Restored unlimited subscription to newspapers and magazines.
1988.10.30	A demonstration dedicated to the Day of Remembrance (5,000 people) near Minsk towards Kurapaty (a requiem for the victims of Stalinism) was dispersed by force.
1988.11.	Rally in Baku (700,000 people) about the events in Karabakh.
1988.11.16	The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty and amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Estonian SSR, establishing the priority of republican laws. November 26 The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree on the inconsistency of these legislative acts with the Constitution of the USSR.
1988.11.22	Hunger strike of students began on the square near the Government House in Tbilisi (November 22-29).
1988.11.	Aggravation of the situation in Azerbaijan and Armenia. November 23- Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on urgent measures to restore public order in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR. December 5-6- Decrees of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On gross violations of the constitutional rights of citizens in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR”, “On the unacceptable actions of certain officials of local bodies of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR, forcing citizens to leave their permanent places of residence”.
1988.12.01	The USSR Supreme Council adopted the USSR Laws "On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the USSR", "On Elections of People's Deputies of the USSR", resolutions "On Further Steps to Implement Political Reform in the Sphere of State Building" and on the appointment of elections for people's deputies. dep. THE USSR.
1988.12.02	Meeting of MS Gorbachev and George Bush in Malta. Declaration that the Cold War is over.
1988.12.05	Decrees of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On gross violations of the constitutional rights of citizens in the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR", "On the unacceptable actions of certain officials of local bodies of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR, forcing citizens to leave their permanent places of residence."
1988.12.06	MS Gorbachev's arrival in New York, speech at the session of Gen. UN Assembly (December 6-8). He announces plans to reduce the size of the Soviet army and reduce conventional weapons.
1988.12.07	Earthquake in Armenia - the cities of Spitak, Leninokan, Kirovokan were destroyed. More than 24 thousand people died.
1988.12.30	The abolition of the names of Brezhnev and Chernenko in the names of enterprises, educational institutions, names of streets and settlements.
1989.01.	The first free (although without observing the equality of votes and limited by law in other respects) nomination of candidates for the People's Commissariat began. dep. THE USSR.
1989.01.12	Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the introduction of a special form of government in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region.
1989.02.	District election meetings were held in the country, which acted as a filter for dropping out candidates objectionable to local authorities. The meeting provided for the procedure for adding candidates already nominated in accordance with the law to the lists of candidates.
1989.02.15	The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan has been completed.
1989.03.02	The beginning of the Vorkuta miners' strike.
1989.03.11	Elections have begun. dep. USSR from public organizations, only from those created and registered in the conditions of the total CPSU for public life (March 11-23).
1989.03.12	250,000th rally of the Popular Front of Latvia in Riga with the participation of V. Korotich. Unauthorized rallies in Leningrad and Kharkov, dedicated to the anniversary of the Constituent Assembly.
1989.03.15	Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the issue "On the agrarian policy of the CPSU in modern conditions" (March 15-16). 12 people voted against M. S. Gorbachev, 59 voted against A. N. Yakov Lev, and 78 people voted against E. K. Ligachev.
1989.03.26	The first free elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the USSR (the first round of the first relatively free elections). The electoral legislation does not yet guarantee the right: "One person - one vote."
1989.04.	The withdrawal of 50 thousand Soviet soldiers from the GDR and Czechoslovakia.
1989.04.09	The so-called "Bloody Sunday" in Tbilisi: on the night of April 9, 16 people were killed during an operation to oust participants from an unauthorized rally from the square near the Government House in Tbilisi.
1989.04.10	The State Agroprom of the USSR was abolished.
1989.04.25	At the Plenum, 74 members and 24 candidate members of the CPSU Central Committee were withdrawn from the Central Committee of the CPSU. Criticism of the course of MS Gorbachev.
1989.05.22	The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU tried to prejudge the decisions of the Congress of Deputies of the USSR.
1989.05.21	Rally in Luzhniki (Moscow) with the participation of Sakharov and Yeltsin (150,000 people)
1989.05.23-24	Clashes on ethnic grounds in the city of Fergana, Uzbek SSR. Massacre of the Meskhetian Turks.
1989.05.25	The First Congress of Deputies of the USSR (Moscow) began. MS Gorbachev was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. An Interregional Deputy Group was formed (B. N. Yeltsin, A. D. Sakharov, Yu. N. Afanasyev, G. Kh. Popov, and others).
1989.06.01	The Central Asian Military District was abolished.
1989.06.03	Disaster on the railway Chelyabinsk - Ufa and on the gas pipeline. There are hundreds of victims.
1989.06.03	National clashes in Uzbekistan - more than 100 Meskhetian Turks were killed.
1989.07.11	More than 140,000 workers went on strike in Kuzbass. A city strike committee was formed.
1989.07.15	Armed clashes began in Abkhazia between Georgians and Abkhazians.
1989.07.16	Donetsk miners' strike.
1989.09.21	M. S. Gorbachev signed a decree on the abolition of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 20, 1978 on awarding L. I. Brezhnev with the Order of Victory.
1989.09.23	The Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR adopted a law on the sovereignty of the republic.
1989.09.25	The Lithuanian Supreme Soviet declared the accession of the republic to the USSR in 1940 illegal.
1989.11.07	The demonstration in Chisinau turned into riots, the demonstrators blocked the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
1989.11.26	The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a law on the economic independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
1989.11.27	Communist government of Czechoslovakia resigned
1989.12.01	Mikhail Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
1989.12.02	US President Bush and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Gorbachev during an informal meeting off the coast of Malta announce the end of the Cold War.
1989.12.05	A statement was published by the leaders of Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland and the USSR that the entry of troops of their states into Czechoslovakia, undertaken in 1968, was interference in the internal affairs of sovereign Czechoslovakia and should be condemned.
1989.12.07	The Supreme Council of Lithuania abolished Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic (on the leading role of the Communist Party).
1989.12.09	The Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU was formed (Chairman M. S. Gorbachev).
1989.12.12	The II Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (December 12-24) opened. According to the report of A. N. Yakovlev, the congress condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939). The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and the use of military force in Tbilisi on April 9, 1989 were also condemned.
1989.12.19	The 20th Congress of the Lithuanian Communist Party declared its independence from the CPSU. On December 20, the Lithuanian Communist Party split.
1989.12.31	Riots in Nakhichevan, hundreds of kilometers of equipment on the Soviet-Iranian border were destroyed.
1990.01.	The last congress of the PUWP was held, which decided to end the activities of the party and create a new party - the Social Democracy of the Polish Republic.
1990.01.19	The entry of Soviet troops into Baku - 125 people died. The purpose of this military action was to strengthen centrifugal aspirations in Azerbaijan, whose population was only interested in closer cooperation with Russia and did not think about secession.
1990.02.12-13	Mass riots in Dushanbe caused destruction and loss of life.
1990.02.25	A well-organized 300,000-strong anti-communist demonstration took place in Moscow.
1990.03.11	The plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the report of M. S. Gorbachev decided to abandon the constitutional guarantees of the CPSU monopoly on power, proposed to introduce the institution of the presidency of the USSR and nominated M. S. Gorbachev as a presidential candidate.
1990.03.11	The Supreme Council of Lithuania adopted a resolution "On the restoration of the independence of the State of Lithuania" and canceled the validity of the Constitution of the USSR on the territory of Lithuania.
1990.03.12	Extraordinary III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR established the post of President of the USSR and elected MS Gorbachev President of the USSR
1990.03.23	Soviet troops and tanks enter Vilnius.
1990.04.18	Moscow begins an economic blockade of Lithuania.
1990.05.01	Alternative demonstration of democratic and anarchist organizations on Red Square. M. S. Gorbachev left the podium of the Mausoleum.
1990.05.30	BN Yeltsin in the third round of voting was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.
1990.06.12	The First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR ("for" - 907, "against" - 13, abstentions - 9).
1990.06.19	Opening of the Russian Party Conference, renamed on the morning of June 20 into the founding congress of the Communist Party of the RSFSR. Formation of the Russian Communist Party (first secretary of the Central Committee I. K. Polozkov).
1990.06.20	The Supreme Soviet of Uzbekistan adopted the Declaration on the Sovereignty of the Uzbek SSR.
1990.06.23	The Supreme Council of Moldova adopted the Declaration on the Sovereignty of the SSR Moldova.
1990.07.02	The last, XXVII, Congress of the CPSU (held on July 2-13) opened, at which a split actually occurred. The Congress was unable to adopt a new Program, confining itself to a Program Statement.
1990.07.13	The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR declared all branches of the State Bank of the USSR and other banks on the territory of the RSFSR with their assets and liabilities the property of the RSFSR. The State Bank and Sberbank of the RSFSR were formed.
1990.07.16	MS Gorbachev and German Chancellor G. Kohl agreed on the complete unification of Germany and the full membership of a united Germany in NATO.
1990.07.20	The Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania was adopted.
1990.07.21	The Supreme Council of Latvia declared the declaration of the Seimas dated July 21, 1940 "On the entry of Latvia into the USSR" invalid from the moment of its adoption.
1990.07.27	The Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR adopted the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Belarus.
1990.08.01	USSR law on mass media - censorship was eliminated
1990.08.	The Supreme Council of Armenia adopted a declaration on the state independence of the country. "Parade of Sovereignties" in all Union and Autonomous Republics.
1990.08.	Declarations of sovereignty of Turkmenistan, Armenia, Tajikistan
1990.08.30	A reform plan of 500 days (the former 300 days) was proclaimed, a plan for transferring the economy to capitalist rails as soon as possible was sent for agreement with the Government of the USSR. A food crisis is brewing in the country.
1990.09.20	The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR expressed no confidence in the government of the USSR.
1990.10.02	The GDR ceased to exist. In Berlin, the all-German black-red-gold flag was raised.
1990.10.16	MS Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1990.10.24	The Law of the RSFSR "On the Validity of Acts of Organs of the Union of the SSR on the Territory of the RSFSR" came into force. The Supreme Soviet and the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR were given the right to suspend union acts; Decrees of the President of the USSR were subject to ratification.
1990.10.26	Declaration of Sovereignty of Kazakhstan
1990.10.28	3. Gamsakhurdia won the elections to the Supreme Soviet of Georgia (54 percent of the vote, the Communist Party - 29 percent).
1990.10.31	The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a law on the budget, according to which all enterprises in the territory of the RSFSR are obliged to pay tax only to the Russian budget. The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopts a law on control over natural resources on its territory
1990.11.07	Alternative columns of "Democratic Russia" at a demonstration dedicated to the October Revolution.
1990.11.30	Sending humanitarian aid to Russia (mainly from Germany).
1990.12.01	B. Pugo was appointed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (under pressure from the Soyuz parliamentary group)
1990.12.12	State of emergency in South Ossetia
1990.12.12	The United States gave a loan of 1 billion to the USSR for the purchase of food
1990.12.12	KGB Chairman V. A. Kryuchkov in a TV interview called perestroika activists "supported by foreign special services."
1990.12.17	IV Congress of Deputies of the USSR: Gorbachev receives emergency powers (congress until 27.12)
1990.12.20	Shevardnadze resigned from the post of head of the Foreign Ministry.
1990.12.27	G. Yanaev was elected Vice-President
1991.01.12	During the assault on the Press House in Vilnius and a nighttime clash near the TV and Radio Committee, 14 people were killed and more than a hundred were injured.
1991.01.14	V. Pavlov appointed Prime Minister
1991.01.20	OMON Riga stormed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia (5 dead).
1991.01.22	Decree of Prime Minister Pavlov on the withdrawal of banknotes of 50 and 100 rubles. within a limited time period.
1991.01.25	Decree on joint patrols in large cities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Army.
1991.01.26	Expanded the rights of the KGB to combat economic crime
1991.01.30	The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR decided to establish the State Committee of the RSFSR for Defense and Security.
1991.02.09	Lithuanian independence referendum (for 90.5% of votes)
1991.02.19	President of the RSFSR B. Yeltsin demanded the resignation of M. Gorbachev.
1991.03.01	The beginning of the strike movement of miners (will last 2 months) demanding the resignation of Gorbachev.
1991.03.07	Dissolution of the Presidential Council of the USSR - formation of the Security Council composed of conservatives
1991.03.17	All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR. 80 percent of those included in the voting lists took part in the referendum, of which 76 percent supported the preservation of the Union (6 republics boycotted the referendum).
1991.03.31	Georgia independence referendum (independence since 09.04)
1991.04.01	Disbanded the Warsaw Pact (military structures).
1991.04.02	Price reform in the USSR: increased prices for a number of goods
1991.04.09	The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Poland began.
1991.04.10	The Ministry of Justice of the USSR registered the CPSU as a public organization.
1991.04.21	Parliamentary group "Union" demands the introduction of a state of emergency in the country for six months
1991.04.23	In Novo-Ogaryovo signed (preliminarily) a new union treaty (9 republics)
1991.04.24	An attempt was made to remove MS Gorbachev from the post of General Secretary at the joint Plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the CPSU.
1991.05.06	The mines of Siberia were transferred to the jurisdiction of the RSFSR - the strikes were stopped
1991.05.20	New liberal law on leaving the USSR.
1991.06.11	New US credit (1.5 billion) for the USSR for food
1991.06.12	Elections in the USSR: B. N. Yeltsin was elected President of the RSFSR, G. Kh. Popov - mayor of Moscow, A.A. Sobchak - the mayor of Leningrad.
1991.06.28	Disbanded CMEA
1991.06.17	Novo-Ogaryovo: the heads of 9 republics come to an agreement on the draft Union Treaty.
1991.07.01	Vice-President of the USSR G. I. Yanaev, on behalf of the USSR, signed a protocol in Prague on the termination of the Warsaw Pact. Soviet troops withdrawn from Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The Warsaw Pact is dissolved.
1991.07.03	E. A. Shevardnadze sent a statement to the Central Control Commission of the CPSU, in which he announced his withdrawal from the CPSU.
1991.07.20	The President of the RSFSR B. N. Yeltsin issued a decree "On the termination of the activities of the organizational structures of political parties and mass social movements in state bodies, institutions and organizations of the RSFSR."
1991.07.30	Boris N. Yeltsin received George W. Bush at his residence in the Kremlin. The President of the United States was the first foreign guest whom the head of Russia received in the Kremlin in his new capacity.
1991.08.04	MS Gorbachev went on vacation to Foros.
1991.08.15	The Bureau of the Presidium of the Central Control Commission of the CPSU recommended that A. N. Yakovlev be expelled from the CPSU. The next day, he filed for resignation from the party.
1991.08.19	The GKChP was created - the so-called putsch
1991.08.21	Control over the power structures passes to the president of Russia - the USSR actually loses the supreme executive power.
1991.12.08	The Belovezhskaya Accords of the leaders of the three former republics of the USSR legally liquidated the Soviet Union.

2.2. movements

Stop singing immediately!

The crowd laughed. Tsoi and I also smiled - this car set painfully crazy requirements.

Stop singing immediately, I said! - said the car, describing

an arc on the right flank of the crowd, driving onto the lawn.

Of course, no one stopped singing - on the contrary, they shouted even louder - this hatred or, perhaps, fear of the rock and roll of a small police car was painfully funny.

I order everyone to disperse!!! yelled the frenzied car.

Twist and Shout! - shouted in the crowd.

I repeat - everyone disperse immediately!

GET OFF THE BUS AND START WORKING! I ORDER TO WORK HARD, QUICKLY, EXACTLY AS TEACHED!

stabs in the back, panic began and, knocking each other down, the Beatles rushed to the carriageway of the street. The fighters pursued them, kicking those already lying along the road, and overtook the fleeing, knocked them down with blows to the back, on the back of the head, under the knees, on the kidneys ... ambush. Well, at least no one got under the wheels - the cars crashed directly into the crowd, wedging it into three liquid streams. Some people were already being dragged to the buses, apparently those who still tried to defend the HONOR AND Dignity of a SOVIET CITIZEN, as the policemen themselves said when drawing up the protocol.

3. Major reforms

3.1. Anti-alcohol reform

3.2. Personnel reforms in the government

3.3. Public and social reforms

3.4. Reforms in foreign policy

Complete elimination of nuclear and chemical weapons by the year 2000.

Strict control over the storage of nuclear weapons and their destruction at the sites of liquidation.

3.5. Reforms of the political system of the USSR

3.6. economic reform

4. crisis of power

4.1. two presidents

4.3. The collapse of the USSR and the formation of the CIS