Topic 5 - Brezhnev and Gorbachev

Brezhnev years: 

Foreign Policy 

Afghanistan 

Prague Spring led to alienating countries in Communist bloc – Romania, Yugoslavia, Brezhnev doctrine destroyed relations with China 

But Détente was a success and slowed down missile production for Strategic weapons 

Helsinki granted recognition to iron curtain boundaries (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, East Germany recognizes) 

Economy 

Central Planning/ Command Economy was inefficient and could not respond to an increasingly complex economy. It stressed quantity over quality and was poor at delivering consumer goods 

Agriculture - High agricultural subsidies (highest in the world in the 1970s) led to economic strain, - 22% of economy. Massive investment in Industry still failed to bring improvements. 

Living standards did improve initially but by mid-70s slowed 

Behind in biotech, technology, I.T.  

Military spending was enormous about 25% of Soviet GNP from 1962-1982 was the Soviet military.  

Low wages, absenteeism, inefficient work practices, (‘you pretend to pay us, we pretend to work’ was a motto) drunkenness rife.  

Social 

Endemic Corruption “Nobody lives just on his wages." His family was grossly corrupt. Allowed ’nests’ to spring up where local party bosses promoted families and protoges. 

Alienated the intelligentsia with his clamp down, as he reduced works allowed to be published. 

Soviet people had become increasingly educated and aware of the outside world and demanded more from their government. 

Political 

Bureaucrats as this had contributed to the dislike of Khrushchev. Allowed  

Moral and living standards declined by 1975 food and petroleum shortages. 

Gorbachev years 

0.What were the aims of Gorbachev’s policies? And what went wrong? 

Glasnost ‘openess’ gave Soviet more freedom to speak out, read what they wanted and criticise the party (but not the role of the party at first) 

Had limits; Stalin was criticised but not Lenin. USSR still had collectivisation/ WWII as successes.  

Freedoms also meant more strikes particularly in mining as workers demanded higher wages. 

Also increased nationalism, in Estonia in ’89 right to veto Russian laws, Baltic States drop Russian language. 19 killed in Georgian demonstrations. 

Economic Policy 

Perestroika meant – ‘rebuilding’ of economy introducing market reforms but not necessarily full free market. Early Lenin (NEP 1922 – 29) or Scandinavian socialism were the original models. 

Vodka drive depleted state revenue 

Raising of retail prices  encouraged hoarding and then inflation. As did co-ops in retail, restaurants. 

By 89 decline in production, meat rationing in over half of the regions, sugar in almost all.  

Law of State Enterprises: elect factory directors (led to excessive wage rises). Factories decided what to produce after state quota, less wage control and set wholesale prices. 

Co-operatives - limit private enterprise in retail sector (create inflation by charging higher prices for goods might have gone to state shops, corrupt as often bribed officials for licences and factories for products) 

1990 economy was in meltdown. Gorbachev refused to let factories and collectives go bankrupt despite rapid deterioration in economy. 1991 output fell 18% and budget deficit ballooned, no major foreign loans. Prices in shops doubled. 

0.Was Gorbachev a failure? 

See essay plan on successes and failures 

0.Was the communist system reformable? 

Should they have done Perestroika without the glasnost, like Deng did in China. This was more successful. However, we can never tell…USSR might have been a different situation than China. 

Problems of growing nationalism breaking up the Soviet Union was made worse by Glasnost. Also, the Communist Party was so corrupt/ against change that it was the real problem, yet it was the only vehicle for reform. 

Vocab words  

Nomenklatura – communist party elite 

Samizdat – self-published, illegal work 

Andropov – leader of Soviet Union 1982 – 84…partial reformer 

Chernenko - leader of Soviet Union 1984 – 85 hardliner 

Glasnost – see above 

Perestroika – see above 

Law on State Enterprises – Decentralises industry – got rid of central planning, factories could now decide what to produce 

Congress of People’s Deputies – first elected body of the Soviet Union – chose who was going to run the party 

Boris Yeltsin – first President of Russia 

Yegor Ligachev – Soviet ‘hardliners’ opposed to reform 

Coup of August 1991 – coup to reverse Gorbachev’s reforms