Gorbachev political

• Gorbachev’s political reforms


  • End stagnation from the Brezhnev era
  • End cynicism of the Soviet people
  • Return to a similar model Lenin had adopted
• Gorbachev was the first General Secretary born after the revolution, younger than his predecessors
• Gorbachev appointed young communists to senior positions, e.g., Boris Yeltsin as Head of the Communist Party of Moscow
• Initially focused on economic reforms, but due to failure, believed political reforms were necessary
• Glasnost (openness) introduction


  Hoped writers and intellectuals could criticise Party hardliners and generate support for reforms
• Glasnost introduced at Twenty-Seventh Party Congress


  1986
• Nuclear reactor at Chernobyl explodes, first major test of glasnost

  April 1986
• Local officials attempted to cover up Chernobyl scale initially, Gorbachev did not speak about accident in public for two weeks
• Consequences of Glasnost


  1. Greater freedom of expression in media

  2. Revealed past events and crimes of previous leaders
• The Aral Sea environmental catastrophe was covered up by Soviet leaders in the Brezhnev era
• The Katyn Massacre revealed Soviets, not Nazis, massacred 4000 Polish officers in 1941, undermining WW2 myth and increasing nationalism in Poland
• Yakovlev and Tsipko publicly criticised Lenin and Marx, undermining the Soviet Union regime
• Gorbachev found himself open to criticism, particularly with failing economic reforms
• Gorbachev announced multi-candidate elections for democratisation


  1988
• In Congress of People’s Deputies, 15000 seats would be elected, 750 selected by the Communist Party
• First time since 1921 Soviet people could choose between radicals, moderates, and independents
• First elections for the Congress of People’s Deputies took place

  March 1989
• Several high ranking Communists lost their seats, radicals did well and replaced them
• Boris Yeltsin won 89% of vote in Moscow
• Yeltsin and other radicals formed the IRDG, calling for private property and greater autonomy for republics
• Nationalists used the 1989 election to call for independence
• Gorbachev repealed Article 6, allowing other parties to stand for election

  March 1990
• Resulted in surge of nationalism, e.g., Moscow Democratic Russia (led by Yeltsin) won 85% of seats
• Due to declining power, Gorbachev created the new role of President of Soviet Union
• Gorbachev given emergency powers for 18 months, used to censor press and restore order in non-Russian republics with Soviet troops