the fall of the ussr

gorbachev becomes leader of ussr

1985

Chernobyl

12 5YP

1986

Law on enterprises

1987

Yeltsin attacks gorbachev’s reforms

October 1987

Yeltsin dismissed as secretary

November 1987

Co-operatives legalised

January 1988

Yeltsin removed from politburo and start of conservative backlash

February 1988

19th Party congress

June 1988

Popular fronts in the baltics

October 1988

elections to congress of people’s deputies

March 1989

Demonstrations in georgia

April 1989

Gorbachev made chairman of supreme soviet

May 1989

500 day programme

october 1989

Fall of the berlin wall

November 1989

Article 6 repealed and lithuania declaring independence

march 1990

Yeltsin resigns from communist party

July 1990

Georgia declared independence

April 1991

Yeltsin becomes president of russia

June 1991

Coup

august 1991

Rejection of new union treaty

November 1991

Dissolution of the ussr

Dec 1991

Economic problems

Lack of incentives and modernisation, waste, arms race and centralisation

Rationalisation (5)

1985-86,

Uskorenie (acceleration)

anti alcohol campain - loss of 67 bil roubles,

decline in oil - income down 2/3.

Govt debt rose

Reform (6)

1987-march 1990

shift to market driven economy - law on state enterprises

Law on cooperatives - 200,000 by 1990

Income 2-3 x higher than state enterprises

Govt subsidised prices, shortages rose

gdp down 4%

Transformation (5)

March 1990-91

Inflation caused by cut in subsidies

Gorb’s approval down 31% and strikes rose

500 day programme rejected due to hardliners pressuring gorb

reintroduction to private property - jan 1991

Early reforms (1)

replace brezhnevite officials (cadre change)

Glasnost (6)

1986-88

Openness - hardliners opposed

Feb 1986 - 27th party congress - promise of genuine democracy

Liberalisation of the media - stalinist atrocities revealed

Criticism of marx and lenin

foreign radio

Democratisation (7)

1988-90

Multi-candidate elections

2/3 of people’s deputies to be elected

congress elected supreme soviet and gorb became head

party = weakened

1989 CPSU won 80% of seats

Radicals popular - formed IRDG

Constitutional change (3)

CPSY stripped of leading role

Gorb appointed himself president of USSR march 1990

emergency powers for 18 months

things that increased nationalism (4)

cadre change, sinatra doctrine, glasnost, democratisation

unrest (3)

1988- Azerbaijani/ Armenian unrest- soviet rule not good

1989 - Uzbek/ Meshketian unrest - govt unable to restore order or negotiate

April 1989 - Tiblisi - massacre at anti-soviet demonstration

Russian nationalism (3)

economic crisis - put russia first

Environmental concerns - chernobyl

protect russian culture

Baltics (5)

Only a part of the ussr in 1940

1988 - estonia declared sovereignty

March 1990 - lithuania declared independence

Sympathy strikes in ukraine

Yeltsin told soldiers to refuse soviet orders

New Union treaty (4)

Referendum (only 9 states) = 76% favoured new federation

to be signed on 21st of august

Coup - 18 august -21 august

Russia, Belarus and Ukraine formed the cis instead of the new union treaty

Gorbachev (5)

Perestroika not needed, created crisis

westernising = working with west

new thinking = vocabulary

Mistakes = naivety around glasnost and belief in perestroika

China = did not allow political freedom, more radical, more quickly

Yeltsin

Pop. radical for attacking cpsu

encouraged nationalism in other republics

Role in the coup

collapse of the USSR through the CIS