The Cold War was seen as one of the most interesting and that is why Historians always keep talking about it as it formed the base for politics today. This short article will take you back forty years to examine the reasons for the fall of the USSR.
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USSR was at its peak of power at the same time there was relative calm in the Cold War under the Carter Presidency. However, the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan was a big failure which militarily and economically weakened the Soviet Union. With the death of Brezhnev in 1982, the crisis in the USSR grew both economically and politically. The Polit Bureau of the
Communist Party couldn’t no longer exert power and control in the
country. Laws during that period couldn’t bring the required reforms that could bring the country back alive.
Mikhail Gorbachev took control of the Communist Party
in 1985. He decided to restructure the Soviet’s economic and political policy
through a policy decision called Perestroika which means
restructuring in Russian language. He introduced this policy in his speech
while he was visiting Togliatti, a city in the USSR. In a nutshell, Perestroika
lasted from 1985 until 1991. April 26, 1986, saw the worst ever industrial
accident the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident.
Precursor to the same he made a notable speech in Leningrad
which is the city of St Petersburg admitting that the Soviet economy was
underperforming than expected. Alexander Yakovlev was made the close aide and
main in-charge of the execution of Perestroika. There was also a parallel
policy named Glasnost which stood for openness and transparency.
For Perestroika, he decided to provide freedom to economic
enterprises and decentralise the control of the role of government. This was
also backed by his intention to reduce the influence of the Communist Party in the USSR
economy. He also wished to improve the Soviet economy through modernisation
and the adoption of the latest technology. The real intention of this was not to turn the USSR into a capitalist or market economy but to improve its planned socialist system.
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Credits- Britannica Kids
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The Legal process involved in Perestroika
In June 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev presented a basic thesis at
the Communist Party Plenary Session, regarding the changes the proposed policy
changes. In July, the Supreme Soviet of USSR passed the State of Enterprise
law which gave freedom for the enterprise to determine the output based on
consumer demand. In May 1988, the Law of Cooperatives was passed which gave
cooperative business ownership in the country and encouraged more radical
reforms. At the 1988 June Party Conference, he proposed to convert Perestroika to a
democratic revolution. Legal changes were proposed to bring democracy at the
local level and empower local leaders while top power still vested with the
Supreme Soviet.
Challenges
in the implementation of Perestroika and Glasnost
There were also a few apprehensions within the Communist Party and the
Bureaucracy against the new proposed reforms. The party and officials felt that
this Perestroika would loosen their grip on society. All these reforms also
didn’t change anything much in the USSR since there was no consensus on how they could execute the same and get the expected outcome.
The economic system and also bureaucracy failed to implement the required
policies which also led to the failure of perestroika. There was no proper
political will to convert the intentions into required actions.
In 1988, elections to the USSR Congress of People’s Deputies
were followed by the political rift between Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.
This led to anger against Gorbachev and his failed Perestroika policy. Gorbachev
later turned out to be a weak leader unable to control the uprising against him
which led to the downfall of the reforms. He had to admit his mistakes as well as
failed to understand the overall system he was working on.
Outcomes of Perestroika
Four years of Perestroika didn’t see any substantial
economic growth or reduction in unemployment. Economic stagnation and shortage
of goods dominated the Soviet economy. Shortage of essential items like food
grains, dairy, meat, etc. were also reported in the country. This also prompted
black markets to prop up which wasn’t expected by any of the policymakers. The
policy also didn’t bring any pro-labour reforms which people wanted in their
country.
Perestroika did have political and social implications in
addition to economic effects. The local elections in USSR saw, the Communist
Party losing several of the seats. The non-Russian nationalists dominated the
elections and led to regionalism within the USSR. The Internal conflicts inside
grew within the country. For example, the debate over Nagorno-Karabakh, the
Balkan states, etc. Internal voices grew against Moscow’s dominance
in USSR politics and neglect of regional aspirations. The need for more
reforms didn’t see anything substantial in the country.
After Yeltsin became the Chairman of Supreme
Soviets and thus declared Russia an independent Sovereign state after
the breakup of the USSR.
Did
Perestroika cause any changes in the USSR?
From the facts we obtained and the opinions of experts during the Cold War do show that Perestroika did contribute to the weakening of Moscow’s
control over the society and later on led to the collapse of the USSR. The fall can
be attributed to how the reforms and policy changes brought in by Mikhail
Gorbachev and his economic advisor. The Communist Party leader’s
bureaucratic establishment especially those opposing Gorbachev and his policies
didn’t take anything seriously and believed that it would weaken their power,
leading to poor implementation of policies even though they had good intentions. Economic instability and political dissatisfaction continued in the country.
The economic outcomes did cause other social and political
instability. The policy of Glasnost and also later on the announcement of
elections in the country showed the anger and perception at the local level against
the Communist party and the leadership of the country. The elections did become
a tipping point for the local population to react and which also empowered
local leaders to take charge. This showed how much the Russian leadership
failed to accommodate regional voices or bring together everyone.
Amidst the internal strives, we can see how Cold War
intensity was reduced through talks between Ronald Reagan and Michael
Gorbachev, which weakened the USSR’s bargaining position at the international
level. In 1988-89, we also witnessed the USSR's withdrawal from Afghanistan which
can be understood as a result of internal struggle and also how the USSR itself
surrendered to the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. This was later
followed by the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The elections also gave local leaders to encourage
separatism and regional emotions which provoked the rise of smaller nations
within the USSR. That led to the ultimate fall of the USSR as a single entity and
breaking into smaller nation-states.
Implications for today
Even though the collapse of the USSR hardly holds any value today, there are several lessons we can learn from this chapter in history. There is no doubt that the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster was a significant cover-up by the Soviet regime. This has emphasised the need for transparency and accountability from the ruling dispensation. The Right to Information is seen today as an important right given to people across the world.
Perestroika and Glasnost even though brought with good intentions, indirectly to the downfall of the USSR. Proper policy analysis is required besides having good intentions. Both these policies led to instability taken advantage of by local separatist groups in various parts of the country notably in the constituent states. This indicates the fragile state of the USSR as well as the current state of countries today. Many of them remain extremely volatile due to the lack of human development, separatist movements, and the condition of politics and policy.
Lastly, no regime in any country can survive without the legitimacy of the public. As soon they lose legitimacy states become fragile and collapse. Hence, nation-states across the world should prioritise gaining confidence over other methods to secure the state.
References
Perestroika: Economic
Growth and the USSR’s Final Decade by Sylvia Baker (2016, August)
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1111554/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Facts
from New York Times Report (1987, June)
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/world/new-struggle-in-the-kremlin-how-to-change-the-economy.html?pagewanted=1
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, March 16).
Mikhail Gorbachev. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev
and https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia/The-Gorbachev-era-perestroika-and-glasnost
BBC: Perestroika- A policy that changed the world (2015,
March)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31733045
Reuters. (2021, April 26). Unsealed Soviet archives reveal cover-ups at Chernobyl plant before disaster. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/unsealed-soviet-archives-reveal-cover-ups-chernobyl-plant-before-disaster-2021-04-26/
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