Dissolution Of The Soviet Party And Government example essay topic

During the late 20th century conditions among the Russian people became increasingly tense, resulting in the soviet government attempting to institute various reforms. During the era of Leonid Brezhnev, a period referred to as the "stagnation" emerged. Economically, issues such as the over-centralization of industry, improper distribution of funds, a costly war with Afghanistan, and a system of privileges for a few, plagued the Soviets. Socially, conditions maintained much the same state they had since the communists emerged in power; the people continued to deal with internal repression (Meyer) and strenuous living conditions due to their impoverished state.

For several years the Soviet views toward the United States had become increasingly less hostile, however, when Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan the animosity resumed. Fortunately, a leader appeared who seemed to be able to resolve the problems. After entering office, Gorbachev began making vital reforms. He withdrew forces from Afghanistan, negotiated arms limitation agreements with the U.S., and effectively ended the Cold War. Additionally he instituted the policies of Perestroika and Glasnost, which ultimately led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. At the heart of Gorbachev's motivations was the desire to "give priority to the universal value of mankind and the interests of mankind" (Gorbachev) He therefore instituted Perestroika, a policy of reform which sought primarily to resolve economic problems through a more efficient distribution of funds, including an effort to provide "better wages and benefits" (Gorbachev) Ultimately, Gorbachev found that it would be difficult to reform Russia because of "200 ethnic groups, nationalities, and languages, different religions, different cultures, a lot militarism, heavy industry, and monopoly, a total monopoly of one political party in that country".

It was difficult to reform people who had been around for several generations. Several things stopped Gorbachev from stabilizing and rebuilding the union. The media was correct in asserting that he failed to implement reforms in time to stop conservatives from standing in the way. He faced heavy opposition from the conservatives, the lack of support from members of his own party served to create social disunity and hindered his efforts. Furthermore, he failed to stabilize the consumer market, people had more money due to better wages and benefits but had no products to buy with the money. Therefore there was no circulation of currency.

He could have stabilized the consumer market by taking money from the defense or military sector, but conservatives stood in his way on this. Additionally he was unable to achieve his goal of decentralization. With the new freedoms and independence he introduced for business, Gorbachev introduced Russia to democracy and split the communists into two camps - conservatives known as the "old guard" and the democratic reformers. Neither was happy with Gorbachev, the "old guard" felt that Gorbachev had gone too far with reforms, and the democratic reformers felt he had done too little. Gorbachev successfully started the implementation of Perestroika due to the fact that it had begun inside the communist party of Russia " at the moment the party and country was finaly led by people who were ready to take initiative and responsibility for their reforms" (Gorbachev) He recognized the need for "equal and equitable contribution" and thus began to establish semi-private ownership and profitability in Soviet industry and agriculture (5). Overall, 42% of Russians openly approved of Perestroika (Gorbachev).

Similarly, Glasnost provided freedom of speech and gave more liberty to media and publications. It was Gorbachev's intent to boost the national morale by encouraging the people to become more active in the government and media. Most importantly, he wanted the youth of Russia to become more active in the government. In his song "Radio Silence" Boris Grebenshikov, a Russian rock and roll musician muses; "It's strange I don't feel like I'm a stranger. I feel like I belong here. I feel like I've been waiting for a long time.

And now I can tell you some stories". Generally there was a feeling of relief among the people as media censorship began to disappear. Even the KGB adopted a policy of "openness" and began making many of it's operations public. It exposed the terrible deeds committed during the reign of Stalin, and hosted media conferences with international reporters for the first time. Among the Russian people the sentiment towards the KGB did not become and more friendly, they still preferred to avoid it and not get involved. However, the media began to complain that Gorbachev was moving "too slowly" People actively organized into groups and criticized the government and political actions of the past and present in Russia.

Often they demanded more reform. Conservative opponents continued to fight reform. In 1987, there was a 29.5% decrease in the distribution of anti-soviet materials, but a 9.4% increase in the number of person taking part in their production and distribution. A total of 1312 authors of such material were identified, and estimated 55.6 were "dealt with". (V. Chebrikov) In 1991 a coup was attempted by several conservatives.

This served to illustrate the division of the communist party, and only further estranged it's members from eachother. This disunity and dissatisfaction led to the dissolution of the soviet party and government in Russia. Soon after, Boris Yeltsin was elected as president and Russia adopted a fully democratic government. It is important to note that no leader has yet ended or eliminated any of the reforms made by Perestroika or Glasnost. The Russian people have a high approval rate of the reforms and generally conditions have begun to improve among them.

The sole cost of peace and freedom for the Russians was the dissolution of the soviet party and government, a feat caused by Perestroika and Glasnost.

Bibliography

unavailable, all information was acquired through speeches delivered by Mikhail Gorbachev, Released KGB documents, and historical websites.