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Political and Economic
What were the economy’s long-term economic weaknesses?
Lack of incentive
Waste
Lack of modernisation
Arms Race
Centralisation
Annual growth in the 1950s
7% pa
Annual growth in the 1970s
2% pa
Annual growth in the early 1980s
0.6% pa
How much richer were the richest in the USSR compared to the poorest?
x3
Why was there a lack of incentive in the USSR?
Small rich-poor divide, lack of promotion/demotion
Arms spending in 1985
17% GDP
Why was there a problem with waste in the economy?
Gosplan set arbitrary, high targets for production so large amounts of goods wasted
What % tractors wasted in 1985?
20%
How much more productive were US farms compared to USSR ones?
x6 more productive
Why was centralisation an economic issue?
Central administrators lacked agricultural knowledge, not adapted to local conditions
Problems with lack of modernisation
Lack of sophisticated machinery, transport and storage facilities so farms/industry less productive
What were the steps of perestroika?
Rationalisation
Reform
Transformation
What was rationalisation?
Attempts to stimulate growth 1985-86
What was reform (during perestroika)?
Mix of free market and command economy 1987-90
What was transformation?
Genuinely free market → single-party rule and command economy abandoned, loss of party control, 1990-91
Reforms during rationalisation
Uskorenie
Anti-alcohol campaign
12th FYP
When was the 12th FYP?
1986-90
Features of the 12th FYP
Focus on construction and modernisation
Quantity over quality
Borrowing from the West = debt
Gosplan and military opposed reforms
Name of the central planning agency
Gosplan
How much revenue was lost during the anti-alcohol campaign?
67 billion
What was uskorenie?
Acceleration, key part of 12th FYP
Huge investment in economy to modernise it, thus increasing efficiency
Why did uskorenie fail?
Decline in global price of oil
Lack of alcohol revenue
Financed by borrowing from Western countries = debt
Drop in oil revenue in 1986
2/3
Govt debt in 1988
$27bn
Reforms during the reform stage of perestroika
Law on State Enterprises
Law on Co-operatives
Gosplan abolished in 1990
Govt subsidised prices
Number of co-operatives by 1990
200,000
Income of co-operatives compared to state enterprises
x2-3 higher
When was the Law on State Enterprise?
1987
When was the Law on Co-operatives?
1988
What was the Law on State Enterprise?
Attempted to devolve power from central govt to factory management, difficult as Gosplan maintained control
What was the Law on Co-operatives?
Legal to set up large-scale private companies
Problems with the reform stage of perestroika
Govt subsidies expensive, meant production uneconomic
Reforms undermined central planning system → no way to distribute goods = food shortages, some rationing
Corruption within co-ops and state
GDP decreased
Drop in G’s approval rating
How much did the economy shrink 1986-90?
4%
Gorbachev’s approval rating 1989 vs 1990
52% → 21%
Reforms during transformation
500-Day Programme (never introduced)
Private property reintroduced
Govt subsidies cut = more chaos
When was the 500-Day Programme proposed?
1990
What was the 500-Day Programme?
Proposed widespread privatisation and marketisation
Hardline pressure meant G backed down
When was private property reintroduced?
January 1991
Consequences of transformation
Huge debt and economic chaos
Attempts to revitalise economy unsuccessful
Oil production fell by 10%
Economic collapse → govt bankrupt by summer 1991
Gorbachev’s initial political reform
Cadre change to replace Brezhnevite officials
When was Glasnost?
1986-88
Initial reforms of glasnost
27th Party Congress
Liberalisation of media
Freedom of speech and expression
Dissidents released from prison
When was the 27th Party Congress?
February 1986
What happened at the 27th Party Congress?
Promised “genuine democracy”
Who was responsible for media liberalisation?
Aleksandr Yakovlev
How was the media liberalised?
Radical editors of Moscow News appointed
Newspapers revealed Stalinist issues
Admitted extent of country’s problems
Anti-Communist books allowed
Which famous dissident was released from exile?
Andrei Sakharov
How was Glasnost extended in 1987?
Criticism of Marx and Lenin
Nineteenth Party Conference
What happened at the 19th Party Conference?
Admission of the scale of problems facing the USSR, proposed a “socialist democracy”
When was the 19th Party Conference?
June 1988
When was democratisation?
1988-90
What were the initial democratic reforms?
Multi-candidate elections to elect some members of the People’s Congress of Deputies
Not multi-party, but multi-candidate → could chose between radicals, moderates and independents
What proportion of the CPD was elected?
2/3
When was the first election with public campaigning?
March-April 1989
What % of CPD seats did the Communists win in 1989?
80%
What % votes did Yeltsin win in Moscow in 1989?
89%
Problems with the 1989 election for Gorbachev
Some senior figures defeated, including 5 Central Committee members
Radicals did well, particularly Yeltsin
IRDG formed
What faction was formed after the 1989 election?
Inter-Regional Deputies Group → embraced a radical anti-communist agenda
When were the first republic elections?
March 1990
What party did particularly well in the republic elections in Moscow?
Democratic Russia, won 85% seats
When did Gorbachev appoint himself President of the USSR?
March 1990
Why did G appoint himself President?
Attempt to increase his power → separate from Party and Supreme Soviet
But lacked Yeltsin’s democratic legitimacy (appointed by CPD not vote)
Gorbachev’s powers as President
Emergency powers to deal with republic unrest → occasionally used censorship/violence, lost moral high-ground
