Glasnost and Gorbachev’s reforms of the Party

What were the long-term structural problems within the government and Party?

Under Brezhnev it had become huge and unmanageable:

• Competition between different branches of administration had lead to corruption and nepotism.

• It had become a gerontocracy

• Relations between the central planning apparatus in Moscow and at regional level in each republic was poor

What was the Soviet Governments response to the Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986?

A wave of radioactive fallout had drifted over much of Northern Europe but no official announcement was made by the Soviet government until it was forced to respond after scientists in Scandinavia picked up readings of unusually high radioactivity in their air space.

How did the Soviet governments slow response to the Chernobyl incident impact the local people?

An evacuation of people living in toxic areas was delayed adding to the human cost of the accident increasing cases of leukaemia and birth deformities

What was the international impact of Chernobyl for the Soviet government?

It reflected the weaknesses of the Soviet Union to the world: the power plant used outdated equipment, it had a poor record of health and safety and its deficiencies were covered up by secrecy and evasion

Gorbachev’s international reputation was damaged.

What was Glasnost?

Gorbachev’s policy of openness that encouraged the population to put forward new ideas and show initiative.

It allowed the public access to information and transparency within the party and government allowing them to criticise freely without consequences.

What response did Glasnost generate?

Instead of producing support for Gorbachev glasnost resulted in a wave of criticism against the Party

What was the impact of Glasnost by 1989?

There were over 60,000 informal groups and clubs holding meetings, organising demonstrations and calling for political reform

How did free media lead to open criticism of the Gorbachev and the government?

• Newspapers began to criticise Stalin and admit problems in the Soviet economy (eg Repentance, a film that was critical of Stalin’s Terror was released)

• Criticism of Gorbachev began to grow (that he reformed too little or too slow)

• Campaigns began to grow for independence in republics

What Massacre became public knowledge under glasnost?

The Katyn Massacre→The murder of over 4,000 Polish army officers in April and May 1940. They were buried in a mass grave at Katyn forest in Western Russia, which was discovered in April 1943 by German troops. The Soviet government accused the German army of having carried out the massacre, a lie that continued until 1991. The massacre had been carried out by Soviet troops under Stalin’s orders

What environmental disaster gained publicity due to glasnost?

Under Brezhnev the rivers that emptied into the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan were diverted to irrigate the expansion of the area where cotton was grown.The Aral sea began to shrink. The soil contained a concentration of salt and toxic substances from pollution that created an uninhabitable desert. The climate of the area became hotter and drier. This scandal added to the growing criticism of the Party

Gorbachev’s attempted reforms of the Party

How did Gorbachev attempt to define the functions of Party and state?

The lines between Party and state had been blurred largely due to the nomenklatura system. It was often the case that the personnel of one organisation held an equivalent position in another.

Gorbachev attempted to separate Party and state at the 19th conference of the Communist Party June 1988 but little was done to get individual officials to choose one over the other.

Gorbachev’s attempted reforms of the Party

How did Gorbachev attempt to shift power from the Party to the Soviets?

More finance was allocated to the Soviets in order to give them resources to support their role. Deputies of the Soviets were to be elected for 5 years rather than 2 to give them greater security in their post.

Gorbachev’s attempted reforms of the Party

How did Gorbachev try to streamline the Party?

The departments of the Central Committee of the Communist Party were reduced from 20 to 9 and 6 new commissions were created.

In November 1985 Gorbachev had created ‘superministries’ to co-ordinate economic planning and five ministries were merged to create one ‘superministry’ for agriculture.

Gorbachev’s attempted reforms of the Party

How did Gorbachev clampdown on corruption? Give examples

• Brezhnev son-in law Yuri Churbanov was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment

• December 1986→ Dinmukhamed Kunayev was removed from the position of First Secretary of the Party in Kazakhstan on the grounds of corruption

Gorbachev’s attempted reforms of the Party

Why was the clampdown on corruption unpopular with some?

It caused a lot of resentment within the Party.

The replacement of Kunayev with Kolbin, an ethnic Russian, caused riots in support of Kunayev. Order was restored after several hundred protesters were killed.