CLASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES The USSR in the Gorbachev Era: Perestroika, Glasnost, and Upheaval The 1980s were a time of great change in the Soviet Union. The USSR saw the deaths of three of its leaders in quick suc- cession. The country also found itself embroiled in a pro- longed war in Afghanistan, which strained the stagnating So- viet economy. When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed the prem- iership in 1985, he embarked on a series of reforms that would bring new freedoms to Soviet citizens and improve rela- tions with the United States and Western Europe. However, these events would ultimately result in the dissolution of the USSR and the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe at the end of the decade. Perestroika — “ Restructuring” in Russian. It was a By the 1980s, the Soviet Union faced a number of internal problems. Its policy program pioneered by Soviet Premier Mikhail economy had stagnated, its leadership was rapidly aging, and corruption Gorbachev meant to reform the Soviet economy and was eating away at society. A costly war in Afghanistan also complicated political system. Perestroika, which introduced ele- politics at home and abroad. ments of a market economy, has been attributed with hastening the collapse of the USSR. When Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary at the relatively youthful age of 54, he recognized the need to modernize the country. He Glasnost — “ Openness” in Russian. It was a reform embarked on a series of reforms, most notably glasnost and perestroika, policy introduced by Gorbachev that was meant to re- which introduced limited free-market policies and reduce restrictions on duce corruption, loosen restrictions on the media, and freedom of speech. allow more freedom of expression and association. By the late 1980s, Soviet citizens were eagerly exchanging books, mov- ies, and music that had previously been banned. The flow of information Mikhail Gorbachev — Gorbachev led the USSR as ushered in a period of cultural revival and sparked heated public debate General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 about Soviet history, the atrocities of Joseph Stalin, and the effectiveness to 1991 and as the first and last President of the Soviet of communism — the founding philosophy of the USSR. Union from 1990 until the state’s dissolution in Decem- ber 1991. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in While freedom of speech rapidly opened up society, economic reform 1990 for his efforts to end the Cold War. proved sluggish. Perestroika failed to energize the Soviet economy, and shortages of food and basic items became more commonplace. In 1989, the Soviet Union held its first relatively free election since the country’s founding. That same year, communist dictatorships in Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and other Eastern European countries began to collapse. Those events, along with economic discon- tent, awakened nationalist sentiments throughout the Soviet Union, re- sulting in its dissolution in 1991. Updated: June 2017 Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, Cold War tensions ran high. The Soviet war in Afghanistan and US President Ronald Reagan’s hawkish stance toward communism and his commitment to increased defense spending plunged relations between the superpowers to their lowest point in nearly two decades. However, by the end of the 1980s, a series of diplomatic break- throughs and reforms inside the Soviet Union would bring the Cold War to an Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs end and see the development of a new partnership between Moscow and Washington. Gorbachev promised a new era of cooperation when he assumed power. Alt- Although Gorbachev enjoyed widespread hough initially skeptical, the United States under Reagan found a willing part- goodwill in the West, he became increas- ner in the new Soviet premier. The two leaders embarked on a series of bilat- ingly unpopular in the Soviet Union due to eral negotiations that concluded with agreements to reduce both countries’ nu- the worsening economy. He was also clear weapons stockpiles. In 1988 Reagan visited Moscow, where he reversed seen as unwilling to fully implement radical his earlier pronouncement that the USSR was an “evil empire.” reform, preferring incremental changes to the political and economic systems. Reagan’s successor, George H.W. Bush, began his presidency skeptical of the warming relations between the US and the USSR. However, Bush and Gorba- Economic reform and improved foreign chev quickly developed a rapport and continued efforts to improve relations relations brought new Western brands to and sign arms reduction treaties. When the USSR began to crumble, Bush the USSR. McDonald’s, for example, turned his attention to Boris Yeltsin, the charismatic opposition politician who opened its first restaurant in Moscow in would lead Russia to independence. 1990. The USSR consisted of 15 union repub- When revolutions broke out in the communist countries of Eastern Europe in lics, all of which are independent states 1989, Gorbachev chose not to intervene with military force. The regimes soon today. Three of them — Estonia, Latvia, crumbled, and the former Soviet satellites held democratic elections that and Lithuania — are now members of the brought new leaders to power. Although Gorbachev opposed NATO member- European Union. ship for a unified Germany, the USSR did not interfere when the Berlin Wall fell The Eastern European countries of the in 1989 and West Germany absorbed the formerly communist East Germany. former Warsaw Pact and the three Baltic states that gained independence from the Soviet Union eventually joined the NATO alliance, much to Moscow’s frustration. The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, allowing East Germans and West Ger- mans to travel freely across the border ahead of official reunification in 1990. The event is remembered as one of the most powerful symbols of the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev’s decision to break with his predecessors and not use Soviet military force to keep Eastern European com- munist regimes in power contributed to the Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in the White House. success of pro-democracy movements in the late 1980s. More resources for USEFUL LINKS educators are available CIA World Factbook: on the Henry M. Jackson School of International BBC Country Page: Studies website. National Geographic: Kyiv Post English News CLASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES By 1991 the Soviet Union was facing growing internal turmoil. The demise of communist regimes in countries bordering the Soviet Union gave momentum to independence groups in the USSR’s 15 republics. Gorbachev’s attempts to bring democratic reform to the Soviet Union and to establish a new treaty that would decentralize power to the republics alarmed hardline members of the Communist Party. Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs On August 19, 1991, a group of hardliners locked Gorbachev in his vacation home on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Explaining that he had fallen ill, Gorbachev announces his resignation on Soviet the hardliners hoped to take control of the Soviet Union and suspend Gorba- television on December 25, 1991. chev’s reforms. The attempted coup quickly collapsed in the face of civil re- sistance and poor organization, and Gorbachev was set free. However, the failed coup served to signal the growing weakness of the Soviet state and to What led to the collapse of the Soviet Union speed up the forces that would unravel the Soviet Union. in 1991? Was its demise preventable? If so, what could Gorbachev have done? A few months later, the leaders of the Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian re- publics met in Belarus where they signed a document declaring that the Soviet Was the dissolution of the Soviet Union a Union had ceased to exist and formed a loose alliance called the Common- good or a bad thing? Discuss the pros and wealth of Independent States. On December 25, 1991, sensing he had lost cons of independence for the 15 union re- control of his country, Gorbachev announced his resignation as president and publics. handed over power to Boris Yeltsin. Instruct students to imagine themselves as The Gorbachev era gave new freedoms to Soviet citizens and brought the Soviet citizens in the 1980s. Ask them to ex- Cold War to a peaceful conclusion, but in the process the USSR collapsed and plain how their lives changed between Gor- the 15 independent states that emerged set out on an uncertain path. bachev’s rise to power and the August coup of 1991. Schmemann, Serge. “The Soviet State, Born of a Dream, Dies.” The New York Times. 26 December 1991. Available: http:// www.nytimes.com/1991/12/26/world/end-of- the-soviet-union-the-soviet-state-born-of-a- dream-dies.html “Glasnost and Perestroika” — video by Cur- riculum Bites from the BBC. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=S9XtYPy4kM8 BOOK Russian independence leader Boris Yeltsin stands atop a tank in Moscow as a show of resistance against an attempted coup by Soviet hardliners. More resources for USEFUL LINKS educators are available CIA World Factbook: on the Henry M. Jackson School of International BBC Country Page: Studies website. National Geographic: Kyiv Post English News CLASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES .