1. Prerequisites for reforms
1.1. Economic. By the mid-80s. crisis phenomena developed in the socio-economic system of the USSR. The Soviet economy has finally lost its dynamism. There was a drop in industrial growth and labor productivity. A crisis situation has developed in the consumer market and finance (including in connection with a drop in world oil prices in the early 1980s). In recent decades, the USSR and Russia in its composition have lagged sharply behind in terms of world indicators of agricultural productivity. The residual principle of financing the social sphere, science and culture was practiced.
Stagnation in the economy was combined with a large share of military spending in the budget (45% of funds were spent on the military-industrial complex), a fall in living standards, which caused an objective need for radical reforms.
1.2. Political situation. In 1965-1985. completed the folding of the basic institutions of the Soviet bureaucratic system. At the same time, its ineffectiveness and depravity as a result of such traits as corruption, protectionism, etc. became more and more clearly manifested. Degradation of the ruling elite of society - the nomenklatura, which was a stronghold of conservatism - took place. Society faced the phenomenon gerontocracy, when aging, sick leaders are in power.
Yu.V. Andropov, who took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee after the death of Brezhnev (November 1982), tried to launch the fight against corruption, renew the system by cleansing it of decayed elements of the nomenclature and strengthening discipline in society. But these undertakings took on the character of a traditional Soviet campaign, and after Andropov's death, in February 1984, they were scrapped altogether. The highest post in the state was taken by a close ally of Brezhnev, 73-year-old K.U. Chernenko, who died in March 1985
Nevertheless, the leadership of the country recognized the need for changes. Yu.V. Andropov and, to some extent, K.U. Chernenko tried to carry out certain urgent transformations (limiting general planning, changing the pricing system, etc.), but these attempts ended in vain. The young party leaders who came to power in April 1985 - M.S. Gorbachev, E.K. Ligachev and others combined a commitment to the communist idea and methods of management and a desire to transform a socialist society.
1.3. Social... A crisis has emerged in the social sphere. Real income per capita in the early 1980s (compared to 1966-1970) decreased by 2.8 times. Gradually, despite the development of science and technology, the quality of health care deteriorated - the USSR ranked 50th in the world in terms of infant mortality.
The remaining equalizing and deficit distribution system in the lower part of the social pyramid came into conflict with the protected system of privileges of the layer of managers. Alienation from political power, means of production, and in fact from civil rights has led to social apathy in society, deformation of morality, and a decline in morality.
The tightening of ideological control and the persecution of dissidents turned into the development of the dissident movement, despite its small number, which received a wide resonance abroad.
1.4. Foreign policy. The Cold War dealt a blow to the idea of natural allies, bringing to the fore the concept of an evil empire in the United States, and the thesis of bloody imperialism in the USSR. The Cold War, the prevailing bipolar system led by the USSR and the United States, resulted in rivalry between the two countries and a continuous, exhausting arms race.
By the mid-80s. the economic inconsistency of the great-power claims of the Soviet Union became obvious. His allies were mainly the underdeveloped states of the third world.
The impotence of Soviet military power was also demonstrated by the stalled Afghan adventure. All this took place against the background of the increasing economic and technological lag of the USSR from the developed countries, in which by that time the transition to an information (post-industrial) society was being carried out, i.e. to resource-saving technologies and science-intensive industries (microelectronics, computer science, robotics).
2. Reform of the political system
2.1. Perestroika tasks. The entry of the USSR into the era radical transformations date back to April 1985 and is associated with the name of the new General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M.S. Gorbachev (elected to this post at the March Plenum of the Central Committee).
The new course proposed by Gorbachev was to modernize the Soviet system, introduction structural and organizational changes in economic, social, political and ideological mechanisms.
In the new strategy, personnel policy acquired particular importance, which was expressed, on the one hand, in the fight against negative phenomena in the party and state apparatus (corruption, bribery, etc.), on the other hand, in the elimination of political opponents of Gorbachev and his course (in Moscow and the Leningrad party organizations, the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union republics).
2.2. Reform ideology. Initially (since 1985) the strategy was to improve socialism and accelerate socialist development. At the January 1987 Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and then at the XIX All-Union Party Conference (summer 1988) M.S. Gorbachev set forth a new ideology and strategy of reforms. For the first time, the presence of deformations in the political system was recognized and the task was to create a new model - socialism with a human face.
The ideology of perestroika included some liberal democratic principles(separation of powers, representative democracy (parliamentarism), protection of civil and political human rights). At the 19th party conference, for the first time, the goal of creating in the USSR was proclaimed civil (legal) society.
2.3. Democratization and glasnost became essential expressions of the new concept of socialism. Democratization affected the political system, but it was also seen as the basis for the implementation of radical economic reforms.
2.3.1. At this stage of perestroika, publicity, criticism of the deformations of socialism in the economy, politics, the spiritual sphere. Many works of both theorists and practitioners of Bolshevism, once declared enemies of the people, and figures of the Russian emigration of various generations, became available to the Soviet people.
2.3.2. Democratization of the political system. Within the framework of democratization, the political pluralism... In 1990, the 6th article of the Constitution was abolished, which consolidated the monopoly position of the CPSU in society, which opened up the opportunity for the formation of a legal multi-party system in the USSR. Its legal basis is reflected in the Law on Public Associations (1990).
In 1989-1991. were the main party-political parties and blocs were formed... The crisis of the CPSU led to an ideological split in the party and the formation of the CPSU (b) ( N.A. Andreeva), The Russian Communist Workers' Party ( V. A. Tyulkin), the movement Labor Russia ( V. I. Anpilov), The Communist Party of the RSFSR (I. Polozkov, then G.A. Zyuganov ) and etc ... Social Democratic Parties: Social Democratic Party of Russia ( O. Rumyantsev, V. Sheinis), Socialist Party of Workers ( L.S.Vartazarova), People's Party of Free Russia ( A.V. Rutskoy) and etc. Liberal the spectrum of political forces was represented by the Democratic Russia movement ( E.T. Gaidar), The Democratic Party of Russia ( N.I. Travkin), The Republican Party of the Russian Federation ( V.N. Lysenko) and etc. Right-wing and conservative: Christian Democratic Party of Russia ( A. Chuev), The Monarchist Party, the Peasant Party of Russia, etc. National patriotic: Russian National Cathedral (General A.N. Sterligov), The Russian National Union ( S.N.Baburin), Liberal Democratic Party ( V.V. Zhirinovsky) and etc. Radical-nationalist: National Patriotic Front Memory ( D.D.Vasiliev), All-Russian public patriotic movement Russian National Unity ( A.P. Barkashov), National Republican Party ( N.N. Lysenko) and etc.
2.4. Changes in the system of government... To determine the legislative policy in the country, they again returned to the tradition of convening the Congresses of People's Deputies as the country's highest legislative body. The congress formed the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (in fact, parliament). On the basis of the 1988 law on changing the electoral system, the principle of alternative elections of people's deputies of the USSR was introduced. The first alternative elections were held in the spring of 1989. After that, the first congress of people's deputies took place in May-June 1989, at which he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev... Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR became B.N. Yeltsin.
In 1990, the institution of the presidency was introduced in the USSR. The III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR in March 1990 elected Mikhail Gorbachev President of the USSR. V December 1991 presidential elections were held in most of the union republics. On June 12, 1991, B.N. Yeltsin.
2.5. The results of democratization. In the results of political transformations and the ambiguity of assessments of their results in society, a struggle unfolded around the content, pace and methods of reforms, accompanied by an increasingly acute struggle for power.
In the fall of 1988, a radical wing emerged in the camp of reformers, in which the role of leaders belonged to HELL. Sakharov, B.N. Yeltsin and others. Radicals challenged Gorbachev's power and demanded the dismantling of the unitary state. After the spring elections of 1990, forces that were opposition to the leadership of the CPSU - representatives of the movement came to power in Moscow and Leningrad in local councils and party committees Democratic Russia(leader- E. T. Gaidar). 1989-1990 became a period of intensification of the activities of informal movements, the organization of opposition parties.
Gorbachev and his supporters tried to restrict the activities of the radicals. Yeltsin was expelled from the leadership. But, having created an opportunity to eliminate the hegemony of the CPSU, Gorbachev and his associates did not realize the impossibility of returning to the old. By the beginning of 1991, Gorbachev's centrist policies were increasingly aligned with those of the Conservatives.
3. Economic reforms
3.1. Acceleration strategy and methods of its implementation... The key concept in the reform strategy of M.S. Gorbachev was acceleration production of means of production, social sphere, scientific and technological progress. The priority task of economic transformations was recognized as the accelerated development of mechanical engineering as the basis for the rearmament of the entire national economy. The emphasis was placed on strengthening production and performance discipline (measures to combat drunkenness and alcoholism); product quality control (Law on State Acceptance).
3.2. Economic reform of 1987 Economic reform, developed by renowned economists - L. Abalkin, A. Aganbegyan, P. Bunich and others, was carried out in accordance with the concept self-supporting socialism.
Reform project provided for:
Expanding the independence of enterprises on the principles of self-financing and self-financing;
A gradual revival of the private sector of the economy, primarily through the development of the cooperative movement;
Rejection of the monopoly of foreign trade;
Deep integration into the global market;
Reducing the number of line ministries and departments, between which it was supposed to establish partnerships;
Recognition of equality in the countryside of the five main forms of management (collective farms, state farms, agricultural complexes, rental cooperatives, farms).
3.3. Reform characterized by inconsistency and half-heartedness. In the course of the transformations, there was no reform of the credit, pricing policy, and the centralized supply system.
3.3.1. However, despite this, the reform contributed to the formation of the private sector in the economy... In 1988 were adopted Cooperation Law and Self-Employment Act(ETC). Under the new laws, an opportunity opened up for private activity in more than 30 types of production of goods and services. By the spring of 1991, more than 7 million people were employed in the cooperative sector and another 1 million people were self-employed. The downside of this process was the legalization of the shadow economy.
3.3.2. Industrial democratization. In 1987, the Law on State Enterprise (Association) was adopted. Enterprises were transferred to self-sufficiency and cost accounting, receiving the right to foreign economic activity, the creation of joint ventures. At the same time, most of the manufactured products were still included in the state order and, therefore, were withdrawn from free sale.
According to the Law on Labor Collectives, a system of election of heads of enterprises and institutions was introduced.
3.3.3. Agricultural reform. Changes in agriculture began with the reform of state and collective farms. In May 1988, it was announced that it was advisable to switch to a lease contract in the countryside (under a 50-year land lease agreement with the right to dispose of the products received). By the summer of 1991, only 2% of the land was cultivated on lease terms and 3% of the livestock were kept. In general, no major changes have been achieved in agricultural policy. One of the main reasons was the nature of government food policy. For many years, prices for basic foodstuffs were kept at a low level amid low growth rates in agricultural production, which was facilitated by subsidies for both the producer (up to 80%) and the consumer (1/3 of the Russian budget) of foodstuffs. The budget deficit could not cope with such a load. The law on the transfer of land to private ownership and an increase in personal plots was not adopted.
3.3.4. Economic results showed the inconsistency of the ongoing reforms. Remaining within the framework of the socialist economic system - general planning, resource allocation, state ownership of the means of production, etc. - the national economy of the country, at the same time, has lost the administrative command levers, coercion from the party. At the same time, market mechanisms were not created.
After some early successes with the enthusiasm for renewal, the economic downturn began. Since 1988, there has been a general decline in agricultural production. As a result, the population faced a shortage of food products; even in Moscow, their normalized distribution was introduced. Since 1990, a general decline in industrial production began.
3.4. The program is 500 days. In the summer of 1990, instead of accelerating, a course was proclaimed for the transition to a market economy, scheduled for 1991, that is, by the end of the 12th five-year plan (1985-1990). However, in contrast to the plans of the official leadership for a phased (over several years) introduction of the market, a plan (known as the 500-day program) was developed, aimed at a quick breakthrough in market relations, supported by the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin.
The authors of the next project were a group of economists academician S. Shatalin, G. Yavlinsky, B. Fedorov and others. During the first half of the term, it was planned to transfer enterprises to compulsory lease, large-scale privatization and decentralization of the economy, and the introduction of anti-monopoly legislation. During the second half, it was planned to remove mainly state control over prices, to allow a recession in the basic sectors of the economy, regulated unemployment and inflation in order to drastically restructure the economy.
This project created a real basis for the economic union of the republics, but contained significant elements of utopianism and could lead to unpredictable social consequences. Under pressure from conservatives, Gorbachev refused to support this program.
4. The final stage of restructuring
collapse of the USSR and the communist system
4.1. The beginning of the disintegration process on the territory of the USSR. 4.1.1. National direction this movement was represented by the Popular Fronts of the Union Republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Georgia). During 1989 - 1990. the Baltic republics, and after them other republics of the USSR, including Russia, adopted declarations of national sovereignty.
4.1.2. Simultaneously with the growth of opposition to the union structures of power, crisis of communist ideology followed by the process of the disintegration of the CPSU, lost the function of the mechanism that held the union of the indestructible republics of the free. During 1989-1990. the Communist Parties of the Baltic republics withdrew from the CPSU. In 1990, the Communist Party of the RSFSR was created.
4.1.3. In conditions of an unstable situation and an increase in centrifugal forces, one of the most important tasks of M.S. Gorbachev became the problem of reforming the USSR and the conclusion of a new treaty between the republics. Prior to that, attempts were made to preserve federal power by force (in April 1989 in Tbilisi, in January 1990 in Baku, in January 1991 in Vilnius and Riga).
During 1988-1990. party resolutions were adopted on interethnic relations, on the fundamentals of economic relations of the USSR, union and autonomous republics, as well as on the procedure for resolving issues related to the secession of the union republic from the USSR. In December 1990, the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR adopted a resolution on the general concept of the Union Treaty, which was signed in April 1991 in Novo-Ogarevo (known as the 9 + 1 agreement). This treaty, as well as the subsequent draft agreement on the creation of the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics, provided for the granting of significant rights to the republics and turned the center from a manager into a coordinating one. On March 17, 1991, a referendum was held in the USSR, during which the absolute majority of citizens (76.4%) spoke in favor of keeping the union state in a renewed form.
4.2. August 1991 political crisis The signing of a new union treaty was scheduled for August 20. The day before, on August 19, in order to disrupt the conclusion of an agreement and restore the power of the center and the CPSU, the conservative wing of the leadership of the USSR - G.I.Yanaev(vice president), V.S. Pavlov(Prime Minister who replaced N.I. Ryzhkov), Marshal D.T. Yazov(USSR Minister of Defense), V.A. Kryuchkov(Chairman of the KGB of the USSR), B.K. Pugo(Minister of the Interior) and others announced the creation State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP) and tried to remove Gorbachev from power by conspiracy (August 19-21, 1991).
However, the decisive rejection of the putschists by wide circles of the public and the firm position of the Russian leadership, led by B.N. Yeltsin led to the defeat of the coup. The position of condemnation or non-recognition was also taken by the leaders of most of the Union republics, due to which centrifugal tendencies subsequently accelerated significantly. The bulk of the leadership of the army, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB also did not support the Emergency Committee.
4.3. End of the communist system. On August 23, 1991, after the suppression of the putsch in Moscow, a decree was signed to dissolve the CPSU. M.S. Gorbachev resigned from the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee. The union cabinet of ministers was also dissolved, and in September - the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In November 1991, the Communist Party was banned on the territory of the RSFSR.
4.4. The collapse of the USSR.
4.4.1. The collapse of the communist regime triggered a process separatist tendencies on the territory of the USSR... Immediately after the suppression of the August putsch, three Baltic republics announced their secession from the Union. Other republics also passed laws proclaiming sovereignty, which made them virtually independent from Moscow. Real power in the republics was concentrated in the hands of national presidents.
4.4.2. Belovezhskaya Agreement. Formation of the CIS. December 8, 1991 at the Belarusian meeting of the leaders of the three sovereign republics of Russia (B. N. Yeltsin), Ukraine ( L. N. Kravchuk) and Belarus ( S. Shushkevich), without the participation of M.S. Gorbachev, it was announced about the termination of the existence of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On December 21, in Alma-Ata, eleven former Soviet republics supported the Belovezhsky agreement. On December 25, the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev resigned.
4.4.3. The reasons for the collapse of the USSR. Historically, the USSR repeated the fate of multinational empires, which naturally came to their collapse. The collapse of the USSR was also the result of the impact of objective and subjective reasons.
Among the first group of premises
The accumulating national contradictions of the Soviet period;
Failures of economic reforms carried out during the Gorbachev period;
The crisis of communist ideology and the weakening of the role of the CPSU with the subsequent elimination of its party-political monopoly, which formed the basis of the USSR;
The movement for the national self-determination of the republics, which began during perestroika.
A certain role in the destruction of the USSR was played by subjective factor: M.S.'s mistakes Gorbachev, his inconsistency in the implementation of reforms, the lack of a developed national policy; the political choice of the leaders of the three Slavic republics. Representatives of local political elites, leaders of national movements also set the task of gaining republican independence and real sovereignty as one of their main goals.
4.4.4. Consequences of the collapse of the USSR had a difficult character for the peoples of all the former Soviet republics.
Political and economic ties were broken between the republics that had centuries-old historical and cultural traditions. Most of the difficulties should be attributed to the breaking of cooperation ties.
Another consequence of the collapse of the multinational state was the aggravation of interethnic relations on the territory of the post-Soviet republics, which led to the emergence of territorial conflicts in many regions of the former USSR (between Azerbaijan and Armenia; Georgia and South Ossetia, later Abkhazia, Ingushetia and North Ossetia, etc.) ... The ethnic conflict in Tajikistan escalated into a civil war. The problem of refugees has appeared.
The position of the Russian-speaking population in the national republics has become a new acute problem.
5. Conclusions
5.1. During the perestroika period (1985-1991), Soviet society was finally destroyed the Soviet communist system... Society has become open to the outside world.
On the wave of democratization in the USSR political pluralism, multiparty system took shape, began to emerge civil society, carried out separation of powers.
5.2. At the same time, the expansion and deepening of the reforms were not initially envisioned by the reformers in power. But, starting from the top, perestroika was picked up and developed from below, which was a guarantee of the preservation and expansion of the political course towards reforms, which, to some extent, took on an uncontrollable character.
Politics publicity, aimed at emancipating the consciousness of tens of millions of people in the USSR, largely determined irreversible change in society and ultimately led to the defeat of the conservative forces in August 1991.
5.3. However, the experience of transformations has shown that a democratized socialist socio-economic system cannot exist outside the administrative-command system that is incompatible with the new political realities. Therefore, the half-hearted, but accelerated economic reforms of the era of M.S. Gorbachev failed, and by the end of the 80s. communist reformers have finally exhausted their creative potential.
5.4. As a result, following the cleansing of socialism from deformations was followed by the collapse of the socialist system itself.
5.5. Restructuring ended with the collapse of the USSR and the collapse of the communist system.
1. Perestroika is a period in the history of the USSR, during which cardinal transformations took place in the life of Soviet society, the result of which was the rejection of the socialist path of development and the collapse of the USSR.
Perestroika in the USSR is closely related to the activities of M.S. Gorbachev, a professional party functionary, elected on March 11, 1985 as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The course for perestroika was officially announced on April 23, 1985 at the April Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee.
2. Initially, the new policy was called not "perestroika", but "acceleration and restructuring", and the term "acceleration" was used much more often.
"Acceleration" meant a sharp increase in labor productivity, economic growth due to the full disclosure of the "economic potential of socialism." The course towards "acceleration and restructuring" was consolidated by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, held in February - March 1986. The XXVII Congress of the CPSU set an unprecedented and almost unrealistic task for the country - in only 15 years (1986-2000) to build in the USSR as many new enterprises and to produce the same amount of products as were produced in all the previous 70 years of Soviet power. Those. to block the first five-year plans, the war years, post-war reconstruction, the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras in terms of the volume of output - to double the entire industrial potential of the USSR in just 15 years. This was the meaning of "acceleration".
If during the years of Stalin's first five-year plans the whole country worked day and night and "lived" by industrialization (which in its scale was much more modest than the plans of M.S.Gorbachev to double the 70-year industrial potential in 15 years), then, having announced the the party soon "forgot" about the daunting task and switched to new affairs. The term "acceleration" soon fell out of circulation and by the end of 1986-1987. from the original "acceleration and restructuring" only the second term remained - "restructuring".
Perestroika lasted 6 years (1985 - 1991) and went through three main stages in its development:
- 1985 - 1988 (up to the 19th party conference) - the search for ways of development, transformation within the existing party-political system;
- 1988 - 1990 - reform of the political system after the 19th party conference, the establishment and strengthening of parliamentarism;
- 1990 - 1991 - the period of disintegration and disintegration of the USSR.
3. Restructuring at the initial stage (1985 - 1988) was expressed in:
- significant renewal and rejuvenation of leaders at all levels (more than 66% of the first secretaries of regional committees (regional leaders), most of the leaders of the union republics and members of the government were replaced);
- the search for ways to "accelerate" economic development (the introduction of cost accounting at enterprises, the election of directors, the revival of cooperation, the advancement of economic program goals - for example, to give each Soviet family a separate apartment by the year 2000);
- pursuing a policy of glasnost - open coverage of the negative aspects of social life, criticism of the activities of I. Stalin and L. Brezhnev, who were blamed for the "deformation" of socialism;
- initiatives in foreign policy, for example, a unilateral ban on nuclear tests, attempts to improve Soviet-American relations.
The achievements of the first stage of perestroika include:
- a real rejuvenation of personnel, the displacement of the most odious figures of the Brezhnev era (V. Grishina, D. Kunaeva, N. Tikhonova, etc.), the promotion of a number of modern-minded leaders (B. Yeltsin, N. Nazarbayev, V. Chernomyrdin, E. Primakov and etc.);
- emancipation of the situation in society, cleansing of a number of outdated dogmas, critical rethinking of the past and present;
- a significant improvement in Soviet-American relations, a decrease in tension in the world.
At the same time, at the first stage of perestroika, a number of serious mistakes were made:
- frequent discrepancy between word and deed;
- lack of a clear plan for transformations, blurred goals, "spontaneity of perestroika";
- insufficient understanding by the leadership of the mentality of the people and the established traditions, inability to correctly assess the people's perception of certain steps;
- the advancement of projectile and deliberately impossible plans;
- inconsistency in the implementation of reforms;
- excessive denigration of the historical past, undermining of moral values;
- neglect of national interests for the sake of Western countries.
These mistakes largely predetermined the crisis of perestroika, which began in 1988 and grew until 1991 - the collapse of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the USSR. The symbols of the perestroika crisis have become:
- “Yeltsin's case” - dismissal and persecution in 1987 - 1988. First Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee B.N. Yeltsin, who predicted the crisis of perestroika at the October 1987 plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU and called for greater consistency and decisiveness in reforms;
- Unimpeded flight in 1987 across the state border of the USSR of the German amateur pilot M. Rust and his landing in the center of Moscow near the Kremlin, which demonstrated the low combat readiness of the Armed Forces;
- the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 (highlighted the criminal negligence of the personnel);
- the fall in the morals of young people; distribution of pornography, drug addiction and prostitution;
- interethnic conflicts (riots in Kazakhstan in 1986, riots in the Baltic states and places of residence of the Crimean Tatars in 1987, armed clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Sumgait in 1988);
- other negative phenomena.
4. An attempt to get out of the incipient crisis was the XIX All-Union Party Conference, held on June 28, July 1, 1988 in Moscow. In fact (both in composition and in the significance of the decisions made) it was an extraordinary congress of the party, but the then leadership did not dare to give this forum the status of a congress and called it a conference (at that time, the conferences of the CPSU in the USSR had long gone out of fashion; the previous, XVIII party conference took place in 1941). The main result of the XIX Party Conference was the adoption of a decision to carry out political reform in the USSR. The political reform consisted of:
- revival and implementation of the Leninist slogan "All power - to the Soviets!";
- transformation of councils from nominal bodies into real authorities at all levels;
- the establishment of a new ("well-forgotten old") political body - the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (revival of the tradition of periodic congresses of councils that took place in 1917-1936);
- holding alternative elections to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, congresses (supreme councils) of the Union republics and other councils at all levels.
The 19th party conference in 1988 was a turning point in the entire perestroika, which changed its course:
- before the 19th party conference, perestroika took place at the level of discussions, but did not affect the existing system of party and state power;
- after the 19th party conference, the first steps began to dismantle the existing system of power, which was no longer inaccessible and independent of the people;
- at the level of the USSR and the union republics, elected parliaments were established, which became new centers of power, alternative to parties.
In pursuance of the decisions of the XIX Party Conference in the fall of 1988, significant amendments were made to the 1977 Constitution of the USSR (the most serious since its adoption). The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was established as the highest organ of state power in the USSR. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR as a government body had the following features:
- consisted of 2,250 deputies;
- a third of the deputies were elected by the people through direct elections from territorial constituencies;
- a third was elected from administrative-territorial and national entities;
- a third was elected from public organizations (parties, Komsomol, trade unions, etc.) without a popular vote;
- the institution of district election commissions, endowed with broad powers, was established. As a result, not everyone could become a candidate for deputy. District commissions, selected by the local bodies of the CPSU, were created in each district and weeded out the unwanted by holding orchestrated "meetings of voters". Of the many who wished, the commissions "nominated" only two candidates (in rare cases - more), previously agreed with the party bodies;
- had a two-tier structure - from its composition the congress elected the Supreme Soviet (a smaller part of the deputies), which worked constantly, and the majority of the deputies gathered 2 times a year at the congress to make especially important decisions.
The elections to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR were held on March 26, 1989. The overwhelming majority of the elected deputies were proteges of the CPSU. The election of deputies from territorial constituencies, despite all the difficulties of the electoral legislation, made it possible for some opposition candidates to “break through” into the number of deputies, among whom were G. Popov, B. Yeltsin, Y. Afanasyev and others. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was held on May 25 - June 9, 1989 in Moscow. The historical significance of this congress was that:
- the first experience of parliamentarism in the USSR was obtained;
- the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was formed (M.S.Gorbachev was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet);
- the congress made it possible for B.N. Yeltsin - the future President of Russia;
- the congress opened for the Soviet people a new galaxy of politicians who significantly influenced the situation in the country in the late 1980s - early 1990s: A. Sobchak, A. Sakharova, G. Popov, and others;
- for the first time in the history of the USSR, an opposition was formed that criticized the CPSU and the Soviet system (originally - “interregional deputy group”, co-chairs - A. Sakharov, B. Yeltsin, G. Popov. Yu. Afanasyev. Yu. Palm).
Subsequently, the congresses of people's deputies became a common event and did not cause such a stir as the 1st congress. The main result of the elections and the holding of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR is the emergence in the country of a second center of power, an alternative to the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Politburo. After the establishment of the Congress of People's Deputies in the USSR, the importance of the CPSU Central Committee, Politburo, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee began to decline. The center of political life moved to parliament.
At the end of the 70s, a serious socio-economic crisis was brewing in Soviet society. Due to his advanced age and chronic diseases, Leonid Brezhnev could no longer lead the state.
He delegated his powers to ministers who, at their own discretion, carried out state policy. Society increasingly felt the backwardness of the USSR from Western countries, but, unfortunately, there was no leader in the state who could initiate reforms.
The main reasons are:
In the mid-1980s, the post of General Secretary of the USSR was taken by Mikhail Gorbachev, who, unlike his predecessors Chernenko and Andropov, was not afraid to start large-scale reform activities.
In 1985, the new leader of the Soviet state announced the course of his policy, which was aimed at a complete renewal of society. The reforms required the support of the population, for this Gorbachev significantly softened censorship, control over the media, and allowed criticizing the actions of the authorities.
The first step towards the reformation of state life was an attempt to reorganize the economy from a planned to a market one. The inconsistency of the economic reform led to a severe crisis: deficit, inflation, lack of jobs became an integral part of the life of the Soviet people.
The changes also affected the political structure of the Soviet state. For the first time in the history of the country, the actual transfer of power from the state executive bodies to the elected parliament to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR took place.
During the perestroika period, the USSR government completely changed its foreign policy priorities. M. Gorbachev and his closest associates understood that without borrowing the experience of European capitalist countries, they would not be able to renew and modernize state socialism.
M. Gorbachev paid an official visit to a number of Western European countries and the USA. As a result of the restoration of dialogue with democratic states, the period of geopolitical confrontation between the socialist USSR and the capitalist Western world, which began at the end of the Second World War, ended.
In 1989, M. Gorbachev initiated the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Republic of Afghanistan, which can be regarded as a compromise step towards rapprochement with the West. At the end of the Cold War, the FRG and the GDR were united, which had been at enmity with each other for many decades.
M. Gorbachev, initiating fundamental changes in the system of state power, ignored the historical pattern: the existence of any empire is possible only under conditions of a harsh despotic regime.
The period of perestroika, which began with slogans of social and political renewal, ended with the granting of the Union republics the right to make their own political decisions, which inevitably led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communist ideas.
In the mid-80s. in the USSR, radical changes took place in ideology, public consciousness, political and state organization, and profound changes began in property relations and social structure. The collapse of the communist regime and the CPSU, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the formation in its place of new independent states, including Russia itself, the emergence of ideological and political pluralism, the emergence of a civil society, new classes (including capitalist) - these are just some of the new realities modern Russian history, the beginning of which can be dated March - April 1985
V April 1985, at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, M.S. Gorbachev
M. S. Gorbachevoutlined 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 bodies.
Terms " restructuring" and " glasnost b ”appeared later. Gradually, the emphasis was shifted from “acceleration” to “restructuring” and it was this word that became symbol course produced by M.S. Gorbachev in the second half of the 80s.
Publicity meant identifying all the shortcomings that impede acceleration, criticism and self-criticism of the performers "from top to bottom". A restructuring suggested the introduction of structural and organizational changes in economic, social, political mechanisms, as well as in ideology in order to achieve the acceleration of social development.
To ensure the implementation of new tasks, a replacement of part of the party and Soviet leaders was carried out. N. I. Ryzhkov was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and E. A. Shevardnadze, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, who had previously been First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia. In December 1985, Boris N. Yeltsin became the secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. A. N. Yakovlev and A. I. Lukyanov were promoted to the highest party hierarchy.
In 1985, the center of economic transformations was given the task of technical re-equipment, modernization of enterprises. For this it was necessary accelerated development of mechanical engineering... This is how the main goal in the national economy was formulated. The “acceleration” program assumed the outstripping (1.7 times) development of mechanical engineering in relation to the entire industry and its achievement of the world level by the beginning of the 90s. The success of the 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.
M.S. Gorbachev's meeting with the workers of the Proletarsky district of Moscow. April 1985
The course announced in 1985 at the April plenum was reinforced in February 1986 year... on the XXVII Congress of the CPSU.
In the conference room of the XXVII Congress of the CPSU. Kremlin Palace of Congresses. 1986 year
There were few innovations at the congress, but the main thing was support Of the Labor Collectives Act... The law proclaimed the creation at all enterprises of work collective councils with broad powers, including the choice of managers, the regulation of wages in order to eliminate equalization and the observance of social justice in wages and even the determination of the price of products.
At the 27th Congress of the CPSU, promises were made to the Soviet people: to double the economic potential of the USSR by 2000, increase labor productivity by 2.5 times and provide each Soviet family with a separate apartment.
Most of the Soviet people believed the new General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M.S. Gorbachev and enthusiastically supported him.
V 1987 year... serious adjustments to the reform course began.
Restructuring
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 earlier it was assumed that Soviet socialism is fundamentally healthy, and it is only necessary to “accelerate” its development, now the “presumption of innocence” has been removed from the Soviet socialist model, and serious internal shortcomings have been discovered in it, which needed to be eliminated and a new model created. socialism.
V January 1987... Gorbachev acknowledged 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 “ deformation of socialism”, It was supposed to eliminate these deformations and return to that socialism, which 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. Lenin's concept of the NEP gained particular popularity. Publicists started talking about NEP as the “golden age” of Soviet history, drawing analogies with the modern period of history. Economic articles on the problems of commodity-money relations, rent, 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 cost accounting, self-financing, self-sufficiency, and self-management of enterprises.
But the main, the central theme of perestroika time in the media was criticism of Stalin and command and control system generally.
This criticism was carried out much more fully and more mercilessly than in the second half of the 50s. On the pages of newspapers, magazines, on television, exposure of Stalin's policies began, Stalin's direct personal participation in mass repressions was revealed, and the picture of the crimes of Beria, Yezhov, and Yagoda was recreated. The exposure of Stalinism was 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 Novy Mir, Znamya, Oktyabr, Druzhba Narodov, Ogonyok, which published previously prohibited works of M. Bulgakov, B. Pasternak, V. Nabokov, V. Grossman, A. Solzhenitsyn , L. Zamyatina.
In the late 80s. transformations affected the structure of state power. The new doctrine of political democracy was put into practice in decisions XIX All-Union Party Conference, where for the first time 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 was proclaimed.
At the conference, a sharp struggle broke out between supporters and opponents of perestroika on the issue of the tasks of the country's development. Most of the 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 the rule of law... Specific reforms of the political system were also approved, to be implemented in the near future. It was supposed to elect Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, the highest legislative body of the country with 2,250 members. Moreover, two thirds of the Congress were to be elected by the population on an alternative basis, i.e. of at least two candidates, and another third of the deputies, also on an alternative basis, were elected by public organizations. The congress, convened periodically to determine legislative policy and the adoption of 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 in the fall of 1988.The main political change was that the previously united camp of perestroika supporters began to split: radical wing, which quickly gained strength, turned into a powerful movement in 1989, and in 1990 began to vigorously 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 the fall of 1988 to July 1990.
In the mid-80s. The USSR found itself in a deep economic, social and political crisis. There was an urgent need to update all aspects of social life, economic foundations, political structure, and the spiritual sphere. These changes could begin only if politicians of a new formation came to power.
In March 1985 (after the death of K.U.Chernenko), at an extraordinary Plenum of the Central Committee, the youngest member of the political leadership, M.S. Gorbachev. He did not strive to change the socio-political system, believing that socialism had not exhausted its possibilities. At the April 1985 Plenum, Gorbachev proclaimed a course to accelerate the country's socio-economic development.
Measures of technical re-equipment of heavy industry and activation of the "human factor" were envisaged. The rights of enterprises were expanded, elements of cost accounting and material incentives were introduced. To improve the quality of products, it was controlled by the state. The priority was given to the development of the social sphere. Individual and cooperative activities were permitted. In the countryside, the equality of all forms of management was recognized - state farms, collective farms, agricultural enterprises, rental collectives and farms.
The Politburo was renewed (a number of its members - adherents of the Brezhnev policy - were removed from its membership). At the same time, the Politburo was divided into comrades-in-arms, renovation partocrats and reformers.
In foreign policy, Gorbachev succeeded in carrying out a new concept. Rejecting the idea of class struggle, he won the sympathy of the world community, putting forward the position of the interconnection of all world phenomena.
However, the top management was not clear about the depth and scale of the crisis that had come. The campaign against drunkenness and unearned income did not bring results.
The failure of the economy has exacerbated the crisis in the socio-political and spiritual spheres. Dissident sentiments prevailed among the intelligentsia. Seeing how the party was losing its positions, the leadership of the CPSU began liberal transformations in the ideological field.
Gorbachev recognized the possibility of each member of society to have their own ideological attitudes and principles and to present them in the media. Thanks to the policy of publicity, censorship over the media was softened, the publication of previously banned literature was allowed, access to archives was opened, and special depositories in libraries were eliminated. The leader of human rights activists A.D. was returned from exile. Sakharov.
The attempt to modernize socialism was unsuccessful. The first stage of reforms caused only a short-term revival in the economy. But in 1988, a decline in production in agriculture and industry began.
The Kremlin leadership was criticized both by the orthodox Marxist wing of the CPSU and by the liberal reformers. The leaders of the union republics expressed their dissatisfaction with Gorbachev's policies.
By 1990, it became clear that the idea of perestroika had exhausted itself. An authorized and encouraged private initiative turned into a money laundering campaign, and a huge number of substandard goods appeared.
Glasnost turned into a debunking of the CPSU, a fall in its authority and, as a result, the emergence of anti-communist parties, the development of nationalist movements. The central government began to lose the ability to govern the country. A political crisis was brewing.
The political reform of 1988 was an attempt to give impetus to perestroika. The new supreme body of legislative power was approved by the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. The Supreme Soviets of the USSR and the republics were formed from among the deputies. In March 1989 M.S. Gorbachev.
