Perestroika 1985-1991 in the USSR: a description, causes and consequences

Perestroika (1985-1991) in the USSR was a large-scale phenomenon in the political, economic and public life of the state. Some people believe that its conduct was an attempt to prevent the collapse of the country, others, on the contrary, think that it pushed the Union to collapse. Let's find out what constituted perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991). Briefly try to characterize its causes and consequences.

Prehistory

So, with what did perestroika begin in the USSR (1985-1991)? We will study the reasons, stages and consequences later. Now we will focus on those processes that preceded this period in the history of our country.

Like almost all phenomena in our life, the restructuring of 1985-1991 in the USSR has its own background. Indicators of the well-being of the population in the 70s of the last century reached a level unprecedented until then. At the same time, it should be noted that this period of time includes a significant reduction in the rates of economic growth, for which in the future MS Gorbachev received the name "stagnation era" from the light hand of MS Gorbachev.

Another negative phenomenon was a rather frequent shortage of goods, the reason for which the researchers call the shortcomings of the planned economy.

To a large extent, the slowdown in industrial development was helped by the export of oil and gas. Just at that time the USSR became one of the world's largest exporters of these natural resources, which was facilitated by the development of new deposits. At the same time, the increase in the share of oil and gas in the country's GDP placed the economic indices of the USSR in a significant dependence on world prices for these resources.

But the very high cost of oil (because of the Arab countries' embargo on deliveries of "black gold" to Western countries) helped to smooth out most of the negative phenomena in the economy of the USSR. The welfare of the country's population was constantly rising, and most ordinary citizens could not even imagine that soon everything could change. Yes, even so cool ...

At the same time, the country's leadership headed by Leonid Brezhnev could not or did not want to fundamentally change something in the management of the economy. High indicators only covered the abscess of economic problems that had accumulated in the USSR, which threatened to break through at any time, it is only necessary to change external or internal conditions.

It was the change in these conditions that led to the process that is now known as Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991.

Operation in Afghanistan and sanctions against the USSR

In 1979, the USSR launched a military operation in Afghanistan, which was officially presented as an international aid to the brotherly people. The introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan was not approved by the UN Security Council, which served as a pretext for the United States to apply a number of economic measures against the Union, which were sanctioned, and to incline the countries of Western Europe to support some of them.

True, despite all the efforts, the United States government failed to get European countries to freeze the construction of a large-scale gas pipeline Urengoy - Uzhgorod. But even those sanctions that were imposed could significantly damage the economy of the USSR. And the war in Afghanistan itself also required considerable material costs, and also contributed to an increase in the level of discontent among the population.

It was these events that were the first forerunners of the economic collapse of the USSR, but only war and sanctions were clearly not enough to see all the fragility of the economic basis of the Land of Soviets.

The fall in oil prices

While the cost of oil kept within $ 100 per barrel, the Soviet Union could not pay much attention to the sanctions of Western countries. Since the 1980s, there has been a significant decline in the global economy, which has contributed to a drop in the cost of oil due to a drop in demand. In addition, in 1983, OPEC countries abandoned fixed prices for this resource, and Saudi Arabia significantly increased the volume of raw materials. This only contributed to the further continuation of the collapse of prices for "black gold". If in 1979, $ 104 was requested for a barrel of oil, then in 1986 these figures fell to $ 30, that is, the cost decreased almost 3.5 times.

This could not have a positive impact on the economy of the USSR, which even in Brezhnev's time fell into a significant dependence on oil exports. In conjunction with the sanctions of the US and other Western countries, as well as the flaws in the ineffective management system, a sharp drop in the value of "black gold" could lead to the collapse of the entire economy of the country.

The new leadership of the USSR, headed by Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who became the leader of the state in 1985, understood that it was necessary to significantly change the structure of economic management, as well as carry out reforms in all spheres of life in the country. It was the attempt to introduce these reforms and led to the emergence of such a phenomenon as perestroika (1985-1991) in the USSR.

Reasons for restructuring

What exactly were the causes of perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991)? We briefly discuss them below.

The main reason that prompted the country's leadership to think about the need for significant changes - both in the economy and in the socio-political order in general - was the understanding that in the current conditions the country faces an economic collapse or, at best, a significant decline in all indicators. Of course, none of the leaders of the country thought about the reality of the collapse of the USSR in 1985.

The main factors that served as an impetus to understanding the full depth of the maturing economic, managerial and social problems were:

1. Military operation in Afghanistan.
2. The introduction of sanctions measures against the USSR.
3. The fall in the price of oil.
4. Imperfection of the management system.

These were the main reasons for Perestroika in the USSR in 1985-1991.

Start rebuilding

How did the restructuring of 1985-1991 in the USSR begin?

As it was said above, initially very few people thought that the negative factors that existed in the economy and public life of the USSR could actually lead to the collapse of the country, therefore, initially the restructuring was planned as a correction of individual deficiencies of the system.

The beginning of perestroika can be considered March 1985, when the Party's General Secretary elected a comparatively young and promising member of the Politburo Mikhail Gorbachev. At that time he was 54 years old, which for many will seem not so little, but compared to the previous leaders of the country, he was really young. Thus, Leonid Brezhnev became general secretary at the age of 59 and was on this post until his death, which overtook him at the age of 75. Those who occupied the post of the country's most important state post, Yu. Andropov and K. Chernenko, became general secretaries in 68 and 73 years respectively, but could live only slightly more than a year after they came to power.

This state of affairs indicated a considerable stagnation of cadres in the higher echelons of the party. The appointment by the Secretary-General of such a relatively young and new person in the party leadership, like Mikhail Gorbachev, was to some extent influence the solution of this problem.

Gorbachev immediately made it clear that he was going to conduct a number of changes in various areas of activity in the country. However, it was not yet clear how far this would go.

In April 1985, the Secretary General announced the need to accelerate the economic development of the USSR. It was the term "acceleration" that most often referred to the first stage of perestroika, which lasted until 1987 and did not involve fundamental changes in the system. His task was only the introduction of some administrative reforms. Also, the acceleration involved an increase in the pace of development of machine building and heavy industry. But as a result, the actions of the government were not given the desired result.

In May 1985, Gorbachev said that it's time to rebuild everything. It was from this statement that the term "perestroika" occurred, but its introduction into widespread use refers to a later period.

I stage of restructuring

It is not necessary to consider that all the goals and tasks that were to be solved by restructuring in the USSR (1985-1991) were originally named. The stages can be conditionally divided into four time intervals.

The first stage of perestroika, which was also called "acceleration," can be considered the time from 1985 to 1987. As mentioned above, all innovations then were mostly administrative in nature. Then, in 1985, an anti-alcohol campaign was launched, the purpose of which was to reduce the level of alcoholism in a country that had reached a critical level. But in the course of this campaign a number of unpopular actions were taken in the people, which can be considered "excesses". In particular, a huge number of vineyards was destroyed, an actual ban on the presence of alcoholic beverages was introduced at family and other celebrations held by party members. In addition, the anti-alcohol campaign led to a shortage of alcoholic beverages in stores and a significant increase in their value.

At the first stage, the fight against corruption and unearned income of citizens was also declared. To the positive moments of this period, it is necessary to attribute a significant infusion of new personnel into the party leadership, who wanted to implement really meaningful reforms. Among these people can be identified B. Yeltsin and N. Ryzhkov.

The Chernobyl tragedy, which occurred in 1986, demonstrated the inability of the existing system not only to prevent a catastrophe, but also to effectively combat its consequences. The emergency situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was hidden for several days by the authorities, which endangered millions of people living near the disaster zone. This indicated that the country's leadership is acting by old methods, which, naturally, did not please the population.

In addition, the reforms that have been carried out so far have shown their inefficiency, as economic indicators continued to fall, and the society grew increasingly discontent with the policy of leadership. This fact helped Gorbachev and some other representatives of the party elite to realize that half-measures are indispensable, but radical reforms are needed to save the situation.

Goals of restructuring

The situation described above contributed to the fact that the country's leadership could not immediately determine the specific goals of restructuring in the USSR (1985-1991). The table below shows them briefly.

Sphere	Objectives
Economy	The introduction of elements of market mechanisms to improve the efficiency of the economy
Control	Democratization of the management system
Society	Democratization of society, glasnost
International relationships	Normalization of relations with countries of the Western world

The main goal that faced the USSR during the years of restructuring in 1985-1991 was the creation of an efficient mechanism for governing the state through systemic reforms.

II stage

It was precisely the tasks described above that were basic for the leadership of the USSR during the perestroika of 1985-1991. At the second stage of this process, the beginning of which can be considered 1987.

It was at this time that censorship was substantially relaxed, as expressed in the so-called glasnost policy. It provided for the admissibility of discussion in the society of those who had previously either been suppressed or were prohibited. Undoubtedly, this was an essential step towards the democratization of the system, but at the same time there were a number of negative consequences. The flow of open information, to which the society, which had been behind the Iron Curtain for dozens of years, was simply not ready, promoted a radical revision of the ideals of communism, ideological and moral decay, the emergence of nationalist and separatist sentiments in the country. In particular, in 1988, the interethnic armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began.

Also, some types of individual entrepreneurial activities were allowed, in particular in the form of cooperatives.

In foreign policy, the USSR made significant concessions to the United States in the hope of lifting sanctions. Gorbachev's meetings with US President Reagan were quite frequent, during which agreements on disarmament were reached. In 1989, Soviet troops were finally withdrawn from Afghanistan.

But it should be noted that at the second stage of perestroika the tasks of building democratic socialism were not achieved.

Restructuring in the III stage

The third stage of perestroika, which began in the second half of 1989, was marked by the fact that the processes taking place in the country began to get out of the control of the central government. Now she had to adjust to them only.

A parade of sovereignties was held around the country . The republican authorities proclaimed the priority of local laws and regulations before the all-Union ones if they were in conflict with each other. And in March 1990, Lithuania announced its withdrawal from the Soviet Union.

In 1990, a presidential post was introduced, to which the deputies elected Mikhail Gorbachev. In the future, it was planned to conduct the election of the president through popular direct voting.

At the same time, it became clear that the old format of relations between the republics of the USSR can no longer be maintained. It was planned to reorganize it into a "soft federation" called the Union of Sovereign States. The 1991 patch , whose supporters wanted to preserve the old system, put an end to this idea.

Post-restructuring

After the suppression of the putsch, most of the republics of the USSR announced their withdrawal from the composition and proclaimed independence. And what is the result? What was the result of perestroika? The disintegration of the USSR ... 1985-1991 were spent in failed efforts to stabilize the situation in the country. In the autumn of 1991, an attempt was made to transform the former superpower into a confederation of SSG, which ended in failure.

The main task, which was at the fourth stage of perestroika, also called post-perestroika, was the liquidation of the USSR and the design of relations between the republics of the former Union. This goal was actually achieved in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha at a meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Most of the other republics joined the Belovezhsky agreements later.

By the end of 1991, the USSR had already formally ceased to exist.

Results

We studied the processes that took place in the USSR during perestroika (1985-1991), briefly focused on the causes and stages of this phenomenon. Now it's time to talk about the results.

First of all, it is necessary to say about the collapse, which was perestroika in the USSR (1985-1991). The results for both the ruling circles and the country as a whole were disappointing. The country broke up into a number of independent states, in some of them armed conflicts began, a catastrophic economic decline occurred, the communist idea was completely discredited, and the CPSU was liquidated.

The main goals, which were set by perestroika, were never achieved. On the contrary, the situation has worsened even more. The only positive moments can be seen only in the democratization of society and in the emergence of market relations. During the perestroika of 1985-1991, the USSR was a state that could not withstand external and internal challenges.