M. s. Gorbachev: years of rule. perestroika, glasnost, collapse of the USSR. Gorbachev's foreign policy. “Domestic policy of M. Gorbachev” What are the foreign policy events of the studied period of Gorbachev

Gorbachev's entire domestic policy was imbued with the spirit of perestroika and glasnost. He first introduced the term "perestroika" in April 1986, which at first was understood only as the "restructuring" of the economy. But later, especially after the 19th All-Union Party Conference, the word “perestroika” expanded and began to mean the entire era of change.

Gorbachev’s first steps after his election largely repeated Andropov’s measures. First of all, he abolished the “cult” of his position. In front of television viewers in 1986, Gorbachev rudely interrupted one speaker: “Incline Mikhail Sergeevich less!”

The media again started talking about “restoring order” in the country. In the spring of 1985, a decree was issued to combat drunkenness. The sale of wine and vodka products was halved, and thousands of hectares of vineyards were cut down in the Crimea and Transcaucasia. This led to longer lines outside liquor stores and a more than fivefold increase in moonshine consumption.

The fight against bribery has resumed with renewed vigor, especially in Uzbekistan. In 1986, Brezhnev's son-in-law Yuri Churbanov was arrested and later sentenced to twelve years in prison.

At the beginning of 1987, the Central Committee introduced some elements of democracy in production and in the party apparatus: alternative elections of party secretaries appeared, sometimes open voting was replaced by secret voting, and a system for electing heads of enterprises and institutions was introduced. All these innovations in the political system were discussed by the XIX All-Union Party Conference, which took place in the summer of 1988. Its decisions provided for the combination of “socialist values” with the political doctrine of liberalism - a course towards the creation of a “socialist rule of law” was proclaimed, it was planned to carry out a separation of powers, the doctrine of “Soviet rule” was developed. parliamentarism". For this purpose, a new supreme body of power was created - the Congress of People's Deputies, and the Supreme Council was proposed to be made a permanent "parliament".

The electoral legislation was also changed: elections were supposed to be held on an alternative basis, they were to be made in two stages, and one third of the deputy corps was to be formed from public organizations.

The main idea of the conference was the transfer of part of the party's powers to the government, that is, the strengthening of Soviet authorities, while maintaining party influence in them.

Soon, the initiative to carry out more intensive reforms passed to the people's deputies elected at the First Congress; at their proposal, the concept of political reforms was slightly changed and supplemented. The III Congress of People's Deputies, which met in March 1990, considered it expedient to introduce the post of President of the USSR; at the same time, Article 6 of the Constitution, which secured the monopoly of the Communist Party on power, was abolished, this made it possible to form a multi-party system.

Also, during the policy of perestroika, there was a reassessment at the state level of some aspects of the history of the state, especially with regard to the condemnation of Stalin’s personality cult.

But at the same time, those dissatisfied with the policy of perestroika gradually began to appear. Their position was expressed in a letter to the editors of the newspaper "Soviet Russia" by Leningrad teacher Nina Andreeva.

Simultaneously with the implementation of reforms in the country, a national question appeared in it, which seemed to have been resolved long ago, which resulted in bloody conflicts: in the Baltic states and in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Simultaneously with the implementation of political reforms, economic reforms were also carried out. The main directions of the country's socio-economic development were recognized as scientific and technological progress, technical re-equipment of mechanical engineering and the activation of the “human factor”. Initially, the main emphasis was on the enthusiasm of the working people, but nothing can be built on “naked” enthusiasm, so in 1987 economic reform was carried out. It included: expanding the independence of enterprises on the principles of economic accounting and self-financing, gradually reviving the private sector of the economy, abandoning the foreign trade monopoly, deeper integration into the world market, reducing the number of sectoral ministries and departments, and agricultural reform. But all these reforms, with rare exceptions, did not lead to the desired result. Along with the development of the private sector of the economy, state-owned enterprises, faced with completely new ways of working, were unable to survive in the emerging market.

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At the 27th Party Congress held in February-March 1986, the reform strategy was approved.

1985 is a milestone year in the history of the state and the party. The Brezhnev era is over.
In March 1985, Gorbachev was elected as the new General Secretary. He strengthened his control in the Politburo, secretariat and state apparatus, removing several potential opponents from there and moving the influential Foreign Minister A. A. Gromyko to the honorary post of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Many government ministers and first secretaries of regional party committees were replaced by younger people.

The time has begun for change, for attempts to reform the party-state body. This period in the country's history was called "perestroika" and was associated with the idea of "improving socialism."
The 27th Congress of the CPSU took place in February-March 1986. It approved the reform strategy and adopted a new party program, which included accelerating economic growth and improving the living conditions of the population. At first, Gorbachev was inclined towards administrative policies, such as increasing labor discipline and an anti-alcohol campaign. But later Gorbachev proclaimed a course towards “perestroika” - the restructuring of the economy and, ultimately, the entire socio-political system. However, these reforms did not have sufficient economic justification, were not carefully worked out and were limited by the ideas of Lenin and Bukharin during the NEP (1921–1928).

The first noticeable change in society was the policy of openness (freedom of speech and openness of information). Numerous community groups emerged and engaged in various types of cultural, sports, business and political activities.

Some members of the Politburo, led by E.K. Ligachev, were wary of the reforms, considering them ill-conceived, hasty and harmful to the country. Gorbachev's actions caused a wave of growing criticism among the population. Some criticized him for slowness and inconsistency in carrying out reforms, others for haste; everyone noted the contradictory nature of his policies. Thus, laws were adopted on the development of cooperation and almost immediately on the fight against “speculation”; laws on democratizing enterprise management and at the same time strengthening central planning; laws on reform of the political system and free elections, and immediately on “strengthening the role of the party,” etc.

In the summer of 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution “On the concept of transition to a regulated market economy.” Several groups of economists developed their programs, including S.N. Shatalin and G.A. Yavlinsky at the end of August 1990 proposed their radical reform program “500 days”. Under this program, it was supposed to decentralize the economy, then subsequently privatize enterprises, abolish state control over prices, and allow unemployment.

But the Ryzhkov-Abalkin program was accepted for implementation. It was a moderate concept, developed under the leadership of the director of the Institute of Economics of the USSR Academy of Sciences L.I. Abalkin, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N.I. Ryzhkov took part in the development. The public sector was retained in the economy for a longer period with mandatory government control over the private sector. But economic reforms did not lead to improvement; on the contrary, incomes of the population decreased, production decreased, which in turn caused an increase in social discontent. The size of external debt was approaching $70 billion, production was declining by almost 20% per year, and inflation rates exceeded 100% per year. The Soviet budget was heavily dependent on world oil prices, so world oil prices were artificially brought down. To save the economy, the Soviet leadership, in addition to reforms, needed serious financial assistance from Western powers. At a July meeting of the leaders of the seven leading industrialized countries, Gorbachev asked them for help, but no help was provided. In such a situation, a new union treaty was being prepared for signing in the summer of 1991.

Foreign policy

Gorbachev called for “new thinking” in international relations, he tried to improve relations with the West at any cost in order to reduce high military costs.

New thinking was supposed to replace the practice of great power rivalry and argued that universal human values should take precedence over the goals of class struggle. Therefore, Soviet diplomacy began to acquire a more open character, but in essence this meant unilateral concessions on the part of the USSR. Gorbachev spoke of Europeans and the European continent as “our common home,” meaning the new peace-loving nature of Soviet foreign policy. Thanks to the new approach, the public of the European NATO countries (especially Germany), North America and other regions began to treat the USSR with greater trust and goodwill.

The USSR tried to reach new agreements with the United States in the field of arms control. The new Soviet strategic doctrine emphasized its defensive intentions, declaring the goal of “reasonable sufficiency” rather than superiority in weapons. At the same time, the new Soviet leader did not notice that, despite the softening of the USSR's positions on major international problems, the position of Western leaders towards the Soviet Union did not become more compromising. All arms limitation treaties were signed on conditions unfavorable for the USSR. Subsequently, it turned out that the West used the “new Gorbachev thinking” in order to move its military bases to the very borders of Russia.

In July 1985, Gorbachev declared a moratorium on the further deployment of medium-range missiles (SS-20) in Europe. In March 1987, Gorbachev accepted the Western formula of the “zero option”, i.e. complete dismantling of such missiles in Europe. In December 1987, Gorbachev and US President Reagan signed an agreement in Washington on the elimination of all ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5500 km.

In 1987, the socialist system of Eastern Europe began to collapse, and by the fall of 1989, a change of leadership occurred in all Warsaw Pact countries (starting with the formation of a new government in Poland, which led the Solidarity movement). In some countries this happened bloodlessly, in others, like Romania, the regime was overthrown by armed means. There was a "velvet" revolution in Czechoslovakia, popular uprisings in the GDR, Bulgaria and Romania. The Berlin Wall was destroyed and the process of German reunification began. The United States and Germany agreed to make serious concessions, in particular, to discuss the issue of the neutrality of a united Germany, which also meant its withdrawal from NATO. But Gorbachev agreed to the unification of Germany without leaving NATO.

In 1989, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the countries of the socialist bloc began. In February 1990, the military authorities of the Warsaw Pact Organization were abolished, and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe was intensified.

The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan ended on February 15, 1989. The volume of aid to allied countries began to decline, and the USSR's military presence in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Nicaragua ceased. The USSR stopped supporting Libya and Iraq. Relations with South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel have improved.
Gorbachev attempted to normalize relations with China. With the assistance of the USSR, Vietnamese troops were withdrawn from Kampuchea, and Cuban troops were withdrawn from Angola. In July 1986, Gorbachev offered China cooperation in railway construction and sharing of water resources of the Amur River and agreed with the Chinese position on major disputed border issues. The number of Soviet troops stationed along the Chinese border was reduced.

The consequences of the new thinking were that, on the one hand, its main result was the weakening of the threat of a world nuclear missile war. On the other hand, the Eastern bloc ceased to exist, the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations was destroyed, which led to a unipolar world.

Domestic policy.

At the end of 1986, Gorbachev began economic reforms. In a country that had not yet experienced the shock of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a large-scale anti-alcohol campaign was launched. The prices for alcohol were increased and its sale was limited, the vineyards were mostly destroyed, which gave rise to a whole range of new problems - the consumption of moonshine sharply increased (accordingly, sugar disappeared from stores) and all kinds of surrogates - the budget suffered significant losses. Drug use has increased. Food and consumer goods became "scarce" while the black market flourished.

By the fall of 1987, it became clear that, despite attempts at reform, the country's economy was in a deep crisis. The rate of economic growth of the country decreased, and Gorbachev put forward the slogan “accelerate socio-economic development.” To encourage workers, wages were increased, but without increasing production, this money only contributed to the final disappearance of goods and increased inflation.
To secure support from the intelligentsia, Gorbachev returned A.D. Sakharov from exile to Gorky. Sakharov's release was followed by the release of other dissidents, and Jewish "refuseniks" were allowed to emigrate to Israel. A campaign to “de-Stalinize” society was launched. At the end of 1986 and the beginning of 1987, two iconic anti-totalitarian works appeared - an allegorical film by Tengiz Abuladze Repentance and the novel by Anatoly Rybakov Children of Arbat.

Perestroika intensified the growth of nationalism in the periphery. Thus, in the Baltic republics - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - nationalist-minded popular fronts were created, whose leadership demanded economic autonomy, restoration of the rights of national languages and cultures, and stated that their countries were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union.

At the end of 1987, the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region held mass demonstrations at which they demanded unification with Armenia. They were supported by a powerful popular movement in Armenia itself. The Armenian government formally demanded independence for Nagorno-Karabakh, but the Azerbaijani authorities categorically rejected these demands. In Georgia, a conflict broke out between Georgians and the Abkhaz and Ossetian minorities, who did not want to be part of the republic and demanded autonomy and inclusion in Russia.

Under these conditions, disagreements within the party leadership intensified. They were often portrayed simplistically as a clash between reformers and conservatives. But the conflict was much deeper. T.N. the so-called conservatives (which included Ligachev and Ryzhkov) believed that more order, discipline, and more efficiency were needed. They advocated the fight against corruption, but the basic parameters of the Soviet state and its economy had to be preserved. The radical wing (led by A. Yakovlev) called for the establishment of market relations and decentralization of production in the country, for the radical democratization of the state and society, i.e. to extremely drastic reforms. B.N. Yeltsin, secretary of the Moscow party organization, called for the elimination of “privileges.” And although the conflict between Gorbachev and Yeltsin became increasingly obvious, Gorbachev saw him as a potential ally in the fight against those who did not support his ideas for reform.

The clash between the two groups reached its climax after the publication on March 13, 1988 in the main party newspaper Pravda of an article by Nina Andreeva, which argued that perestroika endangered socialism and Stalin’s achievements were unfairly belittled. Andreeva’s theses were sympathized with by many in the Politburo. For some time it seemed that Gorbachev might lose control of the apparatus, but on April 5, Pravda published a “refutation” written by a group of authors headed by A.N. Yakovlev. Andreeva’s letter was called an “anti-perestroika manifesto” and the course towards perestroika was confirmed.

Political reform.

In an attempt to seize the initiative, Gorbachev convened a party conference in June 1988. The conference approved proposals to democratize the political institutions of the Soviet Union and make perestroika irreversible. In October, the Supreme Soviet elected Gorbachev as head of state.
In the fall of 1988, Gorbachev intensified the Soviet Union's peace initiatives on a wide range of international issues.

Elections and coup.

On March 26, 1989, elections of delegates to the First Congress of People's Deputies were held. The campaign aroused great interest among the population and was marked by heated discussions. In the Baltic republics, the popular fronts won. Yeltsin was elected a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (initially he did not receive votes; Aleksei Kazannik lost his place in the Supreme Council to Yeltsin), although in Moscow he received a majority of votes.

Against this background, the growth of nationalism continued in the country and numerous interethnic clashes occurred in Kyrgyzstan (Osh), Uzbekistan (Fergana), Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, the Baltic states, etc.
At the end of March 1989, Abkhazia announced its secession from Georgia. In Tbilisi, informal organizations began multi-day unauthorized protests. In April, the political situation sharply deteriorated, the rally took on an anti-Soviet orientation, and demands were made for Georgia to secede from the USSR. On April 8, 1989, the Criminal Code was supplemented with a new article 11.1 on criminal liability for public calls for the overthrow or change of the Soviet state system. But the processes could no longer be stopped. On April 9, troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense dispersed the demonstrators using tear gas and sapper shovels; As a result of the stampede, about 20 people died.

At a meeting of the party's Central Committee on April 25, Gorbachev postponed elections to local councils from the fall of 1989 to the beginning of 1990, so that the apparatus would not face a new defeat.

The First Congress of People's Deputies was convened at the end of May 1989. It elected a new Supreme Council and approved Gorbachev as its chairman. Radical reformers won a political victory at the congress: Article 11.1 was abolished; a commission was created to investigate the events in Tbilisi, and some prominent conservatives were accused of corruption. The discussions, which lasted two weeks, were broadcast live on television and captured the attention of the entire country.

At the same time, more than 300 delegates of the Congress of People's Deputies formed an opposition bloc called the Interregional Deputy Group. This group, whose leadership included Yeltsin and Sakharov, developed a platform that included demands for political and economic reforms, freedom of the press and the dissolution of the Communist Party.

In July 1989, hundreds of thousands of miners in Kuzbass and Donbass went on strike, demanding higher wages, improved working conditions and economic independence of enterprises. Faced with the threat of a general strike, Gorbachev agreed to the miners' demands. They returned to work, but retained their strike committees.

In domestic politics, especially in the economy, signs of a serious crisis have appeared. The shortage of food and everyday goods has increased. Since 1989, the process of disintegration of the political system of the Soviet Union was in full swing.

As a result of elections in February-March 1990, coalitions of radical democrats came to power in Moscow and Leningrad. Yeltsin was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.

By 1990 the economy was undergoing a serious recession. Demands for economic and political autonomy on the part of the republics and a weakening of the power of the center grew. The output of vital types of products decreased, the harvest was harvested with great losses; There was a shortage of even such everyday goods as bread and cigarettes.

Gorbachev was unable to overcome these difficulties. In February 1990, the Communist Party renounced its monopoly on power. In March, the Supreme Soviet amended the constitution, introducing the post of president, and then elected Gorbachev as president of the USSR for a five-year term. The 28th Congress of the CPSU in July was held in discussions, but did not adopt a serious reform program. Gorbachev, who was losing real power, began to irritate the population more and more with endless empty discussions about perestroika against the backdrop of a rapidly collapsing economy and the union state. Yeltsin and other members of the opposition defiantly left the ranks of the party.

At the beginning of 1991, without prior notice, new banknotes of 50 and 100 rubles were introduced into circulation to replace the old banknotes, prices in state stores were doubled. These measures undermined the population's last trust in the state.

In the referendum on March 17, 76% of the votes were cast in favor of preserving the USSR. However, the governments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova, instead of a union-wide referendum, held their own referendum on leaving the Union.

In June, direct presidential elections were held in the Russian Federation, which Yeltsin won. By the end of June, Gorbachev and the presidents of the nine republics where a union-wide referendum was held developed a draft union treaty that provided for the transfer of most powers to the republics. The official signing of the agreement was scheduled for August 20, 1991.

On August 19, Gorbachev, who was in Crimea, was placed under house arrest at his residence in Faros. The Vice President, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the leaders of the army and the KGB and some other senior party and state officials announced that because of Gorbachev’s “illness” a State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP) was being introduced.

The population of the capital supported Yeltsin, some units of the army and the KGB also went over to his side. On the third day, the coup failed and the conspirators were arrested.

After the collapse of the coup, Yeltsin issued a decree dissolving the Communist Party, confiscating its property and transferring basic government functions in Russia to the president. Taking advantage of the putsch, most presidents of other republics did the same and announced their withdrawal from the Union.

In the fall of 1991, the last period in the history of the Soviet Union began. Manufacturing was virtually paralyzed, and Republican parties and governments fractured into factions, none of which had a compelling political or economic program. Interethnic conflicts began. The country's leadership has lost all levers of governing the country. The Soviet Union ceased to exist on December 8, 1991.

April - At the April Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Gorbachev puts forward the slogan of “acceleration”.

May 7 - Resolutions of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers on measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism - the beginning of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign.

Mikhail Gorbachev

1986

February 25 – March 6 – The XXVII Congress of the CPSU changes the party program, proclaiming a course towards “improving socialism” (and not towards “building communism”, as before); planning to double the economic potential of the USSR by the year 2000 and provide each family with a separate apartment or house (the Housing 2000 program). The Brezhnev period is called here “the era of stagnation”. Gorbachev's call for the development of "glasnost".

April 8 – Gorbachev’s visit to VAZ in Tolyatti. Here for the first time the slogan about the need to “restructure” socialism is loudly proclaimed.

26 April - Chernobyl disaster. Despite it, crowded May Day demonstrations are held on May 1 in cities exposed to radiation.

December – Return A. Sakharova from Gorky's exile to Moscow.

December 17-18 – Nationalist unrest of Kazakh youth in the predominantly Russian ethnic Alma-Ata (“Zheltoksan”).

1987

January – Plenum of the Central Committee “on personnel issues”. Gorbachev declares the need for “alternative” elections (from several candidates) for party and Soviet posts.

January 13 – Resolution of the Council of Ministers allows the creation of joint Soviet-foreign enterprises.

February - Resolutions of the Council of Ministers allow the creation of cooperatives for consumer services and the production of consumer goods.

May 6 – The first unauthorized demonstration of a non-governmental and non-communist organization (the Memory Society) in Moscow.

June 11 – Resolution of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the transfer of enterprises and organizations in sectors of the national economy to full self-financing and self-financing.”

June 30 – Adoption of the law “On State Enterprise (Association)” (came into force on January 1, 1988). (Products produced by enterprises after fulfilling government orders can now be sold at free prices. The number of ministries and departments has been reduced. Work collectives of enterprises are given the right to elect directors and regulate wages.)

August 23 – Rallies in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius on the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

October 21 – Performance B. Yeltsin at the plenum of the Central Committee with criticism of the “slow pace of perestroika” and the “emerging cult of Gorbachev.”

November 11 - Yeltsin was removed from the post of first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU (February 18, 1988 expelled from the Politburo).

1988

February – The session of people's deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug requests the withdrawal of the region from Azerbaijan and its annexation to Armenia. (February 22 – shootout between Armenians and Azerbaijanis near Askeran with the death of two people. February 26 – million-strong rally in Yerevan. February 27-29 – Armenian pogrom in Sumgait.)

March 1 – Politburo resolution allowing Komsomol bodies to establish commercial organizations.

April 5 – Official response to Nina Andreeva: A. Yakovlev’s article “Principles of Perestroika, Revolutionary Thinking and Action” in Pravda. Andreeva’s article is called here “a manifesto of anti-perestroika forces.”

June 5-18 – All-Union ceremonial events in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus'.

June 28 – July 1 – XIX Party Conference of the CPSU. At the end of it, Gorbachev is pushing through a decision to submit to the next session of the Supreme Council a plan for constitutional reform with the establishment of a new highest state body - the Congress of People's Deputies. (At the same conference, the famous address E. Ligacheva to Yeltsin: “Boris, you’re wrong!”)

September 11 – Three hundred thousand people rally “Song of Estonia” in Tallinn calling for the independence of Estonia.

September 30 – At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, the largest “purge” of the Politburo since Stalin’s times takes place.

October 1 - In addition to the head of the party, Gorbachev was also elected head of state - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (instead of the removed A. Gromyko).

November 16 – Proclamation of “sovereignty” (the supremacy of local laws over the laws of the USSR) of one of the union republics - Estonia. (The first such example. Then Lithuania will do the same in May 1989, Latvia in July 1989, Azerbaijan in September 1989, Georgia in May 1990, Russia, Uzbekistan and Moldova in June 1990, Ukraine and Belarus in July 1990, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Tajikistan in August 1990, Kazakhstan in October 1990, Kyrgyzstan in December 1990.)

December 1 – Adoption by the Supreme Council of the law “On Elections of People’s Deputies of the USSR”, amending the 1977 Constitution of the USSR. (Two thirds of people’s deputies should be elected by the population, a third by “public organizations”. The upcoming Congress of People’s Deputies should elect a new Supreme Soviet of the USSR.)

November – December – Massive Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani ones in Armenia.

1989

March - First elections to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.

March 18 – a 30,000-strong gathering of the Abkhaz people in the village of Lykhny demands the withdrawal of Abkhazia from Georgia and its restoration to the status of a union republic.

Night of April 9 - Troops disperse a rally in Tbilisi, gathered to protest against the Abkhaz events.

May 25 – June 9 – First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. Election of Gorbachev as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The creation of an “Interregional Group” at the congress under the slogans of the struggle for democracy. The majority of the congress booing the speaker A. Sakharov.

May - June - Fighting between Uzbeks and Meskhetian Turks in the Fergana region.

Summer - Miners' strikes cover most of the country's coal regions.

August 11 – The creation in Tiraspol of the “United Council of Labor Collectives” in order to prevent the adoption of a law on the official status of only the Moldovan language in Moldova - the beginning of the Transnistrian conflict.

August - The New World magazine begins publishing “The Gulag Archipelago” by A. I. Solzhenitsyn.

October 29 - The Supreme Council of the RSFSR adopts amendments to the Constitution of Russia, which establishes the Republican Congress of People's Deputies (900 deputies from territorial districts in proportion to the population and 168 from individual regions and national entities).

November 10 – The South Ossetian Autonomous Region proclaims itself an autonomous republic within Georgia.

December 12-24 – 2nd Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. The democratic minority demands at it the abolition of Article 6 of the USSR Constitution on the “leading and directing role of the CPSU” in the state.

1990

January 13-20 – Armenian pogrom in Baku. Deployment of army units into the city to stop it (“Black January”).

February - Mass rallies in Moscow demanding the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution.

March 11 – Lithuania declares its secession from the USSR. (The first such example. On May 4 and 8, 1990, Latvia and Estonia did the same; on April 9, 1991, Georgia did the same. The remaining republics, except Belarus, left the USSR after the August putsch.)

March 15 – The III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR abolishes Article 6 of the constitution and elects Gorbachev as President of the USSR. (Gorbachev also retains the post of General Secretary of the CPSU. A. Lukyanov becomes Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.)

March – Elections of people's deputies of the Union republics of the USSR.

April 3 – Law “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the secession of a union republic from the USSR.” It requires a referendum to be held in the republic before the exit - and a transition period to consider all controversial issues.

May 24 – Speech by the head of government, N. Ryzhkov, at the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a report on the concept of the transition to a regulated market economy, including the upcoming price reform. Listening to his speech on TV, people immediately rush into stores, sweeping food off the shelves.

August 30 – Declaration of state sovereignty of Tatarstan (the first such example from not a union, but already an autonomous republic?).

September 18 - Komsomolskaya Pravda and Literaturnaya Gazeta published an article by A. I. Solzhenitsyn “How can we develop Russia? “It foreshadows the imminent collapse of communism and suggests ways for the country’s further development.

October 9 – Adoption of the law “On Public Associations”, giving the right to create political parties.

October - The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopts the “Main Directions for Stabilizing the National Economy and the Transition to a Market Economy.”

November 7 – Assassination attempt by A. Shmonov on Gorbachev during a demonstration in honor of the anniversary of the October Revolution.

December – The IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR calls a referendum on the preservation of the USSR as a “renewed federation of equal sovereign republics.” Introduction of the post of Vice-President of the USSR (G. Yanaev was elected). December 20 – E. Shevardnadze’s statement at the congress about the “impending dictatorship” and his resignation from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

December 26 – Replacement of the former Council of Ministers (subordinate to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) by the Cabinet of Ministers (subordinate to the President of the USSR).

Gorbachev at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, 1992

1991

January 22 – “Pavlov’s Currency Reform”: withdrawal of 50 and 100 ruble bills from circulation and replacing them with smaller or new ones, but not more than 1000 rubles per person and only for three days (January 23-25). A ban on withdrawing more than 500 rubles per month from bank accounts per person. With the help of this reform, 14 billion rubles were withdrawn from circulation.

March 17 – Referendum “on the preservation of the USSR as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics.” (Given an ambiguous result: on the one hand, more than three quarters of the participants were in favor of preserving the USSR in an updated form, but, on the other hand, in a number of republics additional questions about their sovereignty were put to the same vote - and the majority of participants supported it. Six union republics: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova - refused the referendum altogether.)

April 23 – The first meeting of representatives of nine union republics in Novo-Ogaryovo on the issue of reform of the USSR. Beginning of development of the project of the Union of Sovereign States (USS).

June 12 – Yeltsin is elected president of the RSFSR. (The majority of Russian residents voted for the establishment of the post of republican president in a referendum on March 17, 1991.)

September 5 – Law of the USSR “On bodies of state power and administration of the USSR in the transition period.” The creation on its basis of the State Council of the USSR consisting of the President of the USSR and senior officials of ten union republics. At its first meeting, on September 6, it recognizes the independence of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

October - Based on the law of September 5, 1991, a new Supreme Council of the USSR is created from deputies from 7 union republics and observers from 3 union republics. (The former Supreme Court ceased sitting on August 31, 1991.)

November - Gorbachev leaves the CPSU, banned by Yeltsin.

November 14 – The leaders of seven of the twelve union republics (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev announce their intention to conclude an agreement on the creation of the GCC on December 9.

December 1 – Presidential elections and referendum in Ukraine, during which more than 90% of voters support independence.

December 5 – Yeltsin meets with Gorbachev to discuss the prospects of the GCC in connection with the declaration of independence of Ukraine. Yeltsin’s statement that “without Ukraine, the union treaty loses all meaning.”

December 8 – Treaty of Belovezhskaya on the dissolution of the USSR and the creation of the CIS from three states: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

December 21 – Alma-Ata Declaration on the accession of seven more republics to the CIS. Resolution of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS on lifelong benefits for Gorbachev in the event of his resignation.

December 25 – In a televised address to the population, Gorbachev announces his voluntary resignation from the post of President of the USSR. The next day the USSR is announced to cease to exist.

Domestic policy: After the death of L. I. Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Yu. V. Andropov, became the head of the party and state apparatus. He was replaced in February 1984 by K. U. Chernenko. After the death of K.U. Chernenko, in March 1985, M.S. Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The activities of the new Secretary General are associated with a period in the life of the country, called “perestroika”. The main task was to stop the collapse of the system of “state socialism”. The reform project developed in 1987 assumed: 1) expanding the economic independence of enterprises; 2) reviving the private sector of the economy; 3) abandoning the foreign trade monopoly; 4) reducing the number of administrative authorities; 5) recognizing the equality of five forms of ownership in agriculture: collective farms, state farms, agricultural complexes, rental cooperatives and farms. Resolution of 1990 “On the concept of transition to a regulated market economy.” Inflationary processes caused by the budget deficit intensified in the country. The new leadership of the RSFSR (Chairman of the Supreme Council - B. N. Yeltsin) developed a program “500 days”, which envisaged the decentralization and privatization of the public sector of the economy. The policy of openness, which was first announced at the XXVI Congress of the CPSU in February 1986, assumed: 1) easing censorship over the media; 2) publication of previously prohibited books and documents ;3) mass rehabilitation of victims of political repression, including the largest figures of Soviet power in the 1920-1930s. Media free of ideological attitudes appeared in the country in the shortest possible time. In the political sphere, a course was taken towards the creation of a permanent parliament and a socialist rule of law state. In 1989, elections of people's deputies of the USSR were held, and the Congress of People's Deputies was created. Parties with the following directions are being formed: 1) liberal democratic; 2) communist parties. In the CPSU itself, three trends have clearly emerged: 1) social democratic; 2) centrist; 3) orthodox-traditionalist.

Foreign policy: Large-scale changes in the internal life of one of the great powers had consequences for the whole world. The changes in the USSR turned out to be close and understandable to the peoples of the world community, which received bright hopes for the long-awaited strengthening of peace on Earth, the expansion of democracy and freedom. Changes have begun in the countries of the former socialist camp. Thus, the Soviet Union brought about profound changes in the entire world situation.

Changes in USSR foreign policy:

1) the process of democratization within the country forced us to reconsider the approach to human rights; a new perception of the world as a single interconnected whole raised the question of the country’s integration into the world economic system;

2) pluralism of opinions and rejection of the concept of confrontation between two world systems led to the deideologization of interstate relations. "New Thinking":

1) On January 15, 1986, the Soviet Union put forward a plan to free humanity from nuclear weapons by the year 2000;

2) The 27th Congress of the CPSU analyzed the prospects for world development based on the concept of a contradictory, but interconnected, essentially holistic world. Refusing bloc confrontation, the congress unequivocally spoke out for peaceful coexistence, but not as a specific form of class struggle, but as the highest, universal principle of interstate relations;

3) the program for creating a universal system of international security was comprehensively justified, based on the fact that security can only be general and can only be achieved through political means. This program was addressed to the whole world, governments, parties, public organizations and movements that are truly concerned about the fate of peace on Earth;

4) in December 1988, speaking at the United Nations, M.S. Gorbachev presented in expanded form the philosophy of new political thinking, adequate to the modern historical era. It was recognized that the viability of the world community lies in the diversity of development, in its diversity: national, spiritual, social, political, geographical, cultural. And therefore, every country should be free to choose the path to progress;

5) the need to renounce one’s own development at the expense of other countries and peoples, as well as taking into account the balance of their interests, searching for a universal consensus in the movement towards a new political order in the world;

6) only through the joint efforts of the world community can we overcome hunger, poverty, mass epidemics, drug addiction, international terrorism, and prevent environmental catastrophe.

The meaning and results of “new thinking” in the foreign policy of the USSR: 1) the new foreign policy brought the Soviet Union to the forefront of building a safe and civilized world order; 2) the “image of the enemy” collapsed, all justification for the understanding of the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” disappeared; 3) the Cold War was stopped, the danger of a global military conflict receded; by February 15, 1989, Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, relations with China were gradually normalized; 4) a convergence of positions began to appear between the USSR, the USA and Western European countries on major international problems and, in particular, on many aspects of disarmament, in approaches to regional conflicts and to ways to solve global problems; 5) the first major steps have been taken towards practical disarmament (the 1987 Agreement on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range Missiles); 6) dialogue and negotiations become the predominant form of international relations.

Collapse of the USSR: By 1990, the idea of perestroika had exhausted itself. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution “On the concept of the transition to a regulated market economy,” followed by a resolution “Main directions for stabilizing the national economy and the transition to a market economy.” Provision was made for the denationalization of property, the establishment of joint stock companies, and the development of private entrepreneurship. The idea of reforming socialism was buried.

In 1991, Article 6 of the USSR Constitution on the leading role of the CPSU was repealed.

The process of forming new parties, mainly anti-communist, began. The crisis that gripped the CPSU in 1989-1990 and the weakening of its influence allowed the Communist Parties of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to secede.

Since the spring of 1990, there has been a process of loss of power of the center over the regions and union republics.

The Gorbachev administration accepts the changes that have occurred as a fact, and all that remains for it is to legislate its actual failures. In March 1990, the 3rd Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR took place, at which M.S. Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR.

Gorbachev raised the question with the leaders of the republics about the need to conclude a new Union Treaty. In March 1991, a referendum was held on the preservation of the USSR, in which 76% of citizens were in favor of its preservation. In April 1991, negotiations between the President of the USSR and the heads of the union republics took place in Novo-Ogarevo. However, out of 15 republics, only 9 took part, and almost all of them rejected Gorbachev’s initiative to preserve a multinational state based on a federation of subjects.

By August 1991, thanks to the efforts of Gorbachev, it was possible to prepare a draft agreement on the formation of the Commonwealth of Sovereign States. The SSG was envisioned as a confederation with limited presidential power. This was the last attempt to preserve the USSR in any form.

The prospect of losing power over the republics did not suit many functionaries.

On August 19, 1991, a group of high-ranking officials (USSR Vice-President G. Yanaev, Prime Minister V. Pavlov, Defense Minister D. Yazov), taking advantage of Gorbachev’s vacation, established the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP). Troops were sent to Moscow. However, the putschists were rebuffed, protest rallies were held, and barricades were built near the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.

The President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin and his team characterized the actions of the State Emergency Committee as an anti-constitutional coup, and its decrees as having no legal force on the territory of the RSFSR. Yeltsin was supported by the Extraordinary Session of the Supreme Council of the Republic convened on August 21.

The putschists did not receive support from a number of military leaders and military units. Members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested on charges of attempting a coup. Gorbachev returned to Moscow.

In November 1991, Yeltsin signed a decree suspending the activities of the CPSU on the territory of the RSFSR.

These events accelerated the process of collapse of the USSR. In August, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia left it. Gorbachev was forced to legally recognize the decision of the Baltic republics.

In September, the 5th Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies decided to terminate its powers and dissolve itself.

On December 8, 1991, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the leaders of three Slavic republics - Russia (B.N. Yeltsin), Ukraine (L.M. Kravchuk) and Belarus (S.S. Shushkevich) announced the termination of the treaty on the formation of the USSR.

These states made a proposal to create the Commonwealth of Independent States - CIS. In the second half of December, the three Slavic republics were joined by other union republics, except the Baltic republics and Georgia.

On December 21, in Almaty, the parties recognized the inviolability of borders and guaranteed the fulfillment of the international obligations of the USSR.

reasons for the collapse of the USSR:

a crisis provoked by the planned nature of the economy and leading to a shortage of many consumer goods;
unsuccessful, largely ill-conceived reforms that led to a sharp deterioration in living standards;
mass dissatisfaction of the population with interruptions in food supplies;
the ever-increasing gap in living standards between citizens of the USSR and citizens of countries in the capitalist camp;
aggravation of national contradictions;
weakening of central government;
the authoritarian nature of Soviet society, including strict censorship, the ban on the church, and so on.

main consequences of the collapse of the USSR:

A sharp decline in production in all countries of the former USSR and a drop in the standard of living of the population;

The territory of Russia has shrunk by a quarter;

Access to seaports has again become difficult;

The population of Russia has decreased - in fact, by half;

The emergence of numerous national conflicts and the emergence of territorial claims between the former republics of the USSR;

Globalization began - processes gradually gained momentum, turning the world into a single political, informational, economic system;

The world has become unipolar, and the United States remains the only superpower.

Date of publication: 2015-02-03; Read: 17218 | Page copyright infringement

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GORBACHEV Mikhail Sergeevich (born March 2, 1931, village of Privolnoye, North Caucasus Territory), Soviet statesman and party leader, Russian public figure; General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1985-91), President of the USSR (1990-91). From a peasant family. During the Great Patriotic War, as a teenager, he and his mother (his father fought at the front) found himself under German occupation. Since 1944, while still a schoolboy, he worked on a combine harvester with his father, who was demobilized after being wounded. For success in harvesting he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1948).

He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University (1955) and by correspondence from the Faculty of Economics of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute (1967).

Since 1952, member of the CPSU (candidate since 1950). Since 1955, in Komsomol work: secretary of the Stavropol city (1956-1958), 2nd and 1st secretary of the Stavropol regional (1958-61) Komsomol committees. Since 1962 in party work: 1st secretary of the Stavropol city (1966-68), 2nd (1968-70) and 1st (1970-1978) secretary of the Stavropol regional committees of the CPSU. Member of the CPSU Central Committee (since 1971), Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (since 1978), member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (since 1980, candidate since 1979). The Central Committee initially oversaw the country's agriculture and food production, but soon began to influence many other areas of the Central Committee's activities. Together with N.I. Ryzhkov and E.K. Ligachev, who were part of the group that analyzed the real state of affairs in the country, he came to the conclusion that there was a serious crisis in the Soviet economy and management system.

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In 1985, at the March plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (re-elected in July 1990 at the 28th Congress of the CPSU). His arrival to govern the country occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing Afghan conflict of 1979-89, the deployment in Western Europe [in connection with the installation in the European part of the USSR of Soviet medium-range missiles - RSD-10 (SS-20)] of the latest American Pershing missiles. 2", whose flight time to the most important strategic objects of the USSR was 5 minutes. This, as well as the US attempts to implement the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program, which threatened the security of the USSR, an unprecedented build-up of the arms race, especially nuclear ones, sharply worsened the general international situation by the mid-1980s.

Initially, Gorbachev, like Yu. V. Andropov, saw a way out of the crisis for the country in restoring order in production, strengthening party discipline, in a significant increase in labor productivity, technological modernization, especially mechanical engineering, in order to maintain military-strategic parity with the United States, significant increase in national income. To provide a real basis for his program, Gorbachev expected to purchase new technologies and consumer goods for foreign currency, 80% of which came from the sale of raw materials and energy resources. This program was called “acceleration of scientific and technological progress.” However, after the US and its allies tightened the technological blockade of the USSR in 1985-86 and the sharp decline in oil and metal prices in August 1985 - April 1986, it became clear that the “acceleration” program had no prospects. The situation with the state budget was complicated by a poorly carried out local attempt in 1985 to eradicate drunkenness at work and in public places. In addition, Gorbachev faced serious problems caused by the reluctance and inability of many leaders of all levels of the party, state and economic apparatus, who emerged under L.I. Brezhnev, to abandon the stereotyped methods of managing people and the economy that had become ineffective. Gorbachev began to carry out a “personnel revolution”: by the end of 1985, a third of the members of the USSR Council of Ministers had been replaced. In an effort to gain public support, in 1985-86 he traveled extensively around the country and spoke frankly with people.

For Gorbachev and the leaders who emerged in the mid-1980s, it became increasingly clear that the reasons for the country’s lag and crisis phenomena were systemic in nature: the economic model of a super-centralized planned economy was exhausted. At the 27th Congress of the CPSU (February - March 1986), Gorbachev unveiled a number of measures, which became known as “perestroika”. In the field of state economics, the opportunity opened up to introduce elements of its self-regulation; At the same time, the emergence of a new, private way of life was allowed.

20 ministries and 70 largest state-owned enterprises received the right to establish direct connections with foreign partners and create joint ventures. “Individual labor activity” and the organization of cooperatives for the collection and processing of secondary raw materials were allowed (some of them subsequently grew into large firms). In the political and ideological sphere, Gorbachev emphasized overcoming dogmatism and conservatism and initiated the policy of glasnost (in fact, ideological reform). Since 1986, freedom of speech and press has expanded significantly, and sensitive topics of modern life and the ancient and recent historical past have begun to be openly discussed. It became possible to create informal public organizations and associations. Religious life in the country was freed from the tutelage of state bodies. Dissent is no longer considered a crime. Works of classics of Russian literature that had been hidden for decades in “special storage” (including individual works by I. A. Bunin, V. G. Korolenko, M. Gorky, B. L. Pasternak, etc.) and previously prohibited foreign literature became available to readers. New films dedicated to topical issues were released on screens, and films that had been lying on the shelves for years for censorship reasons were returned to viewers. Theater and television experienced a period of renewal. Archives began to be opened, the works of outstanding representatives of Russian philosophical and historical thought, to which wide access had previously been closed, were published. The cultural contacts of the USSR with other countries expanded significantly. The procedure for entering and leaving the USSR was significantly simplified. An important component of the democratic process was the rethinking of the history of the USSR. On Gorbachev’s initiative, in January 1988, a Commission for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression was formed under the CPSU Central Committee (by mid-1989, it had rehabilitated about 1 million citizens). 140 dissidents were also amnestied. Academician A.D. Sakharov was returned from exile.

The new socio-political situation in the country came into conflict with the usual foundations in the consciousness and behavior of representatives of the party and state nomenklatura, which over time switched to hidden and open resistance to reforms, sometimes taking on the character of sabotage. In response, Gorbachev intensified the process of updating the personnel of the party apparatus: by the beginning of 1987, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee was updated by 70%, the Central Committee - by 40%, the secretaries of city and district committees - by 70%, regional committees - by 60%.

In the summer of 1987 (at the June plenum of the CPSU Central Committee), Gorbachev formulated the basic principles of economic reform, the essence of which was to transfer all state enterprises to self-sufficiency and self-financing, and to expand their independence. In industry, instead of a plan, a state order was introduced for part of the manufactured products and provided for the independent sale of the remaining part by the enterprise. All enterprises received greater freedom to dispose of profits, the right to enter the foreign market themselves, and to carry out joint activities with foreign partners. Work collectives were given the right to elect self-government bodies (enterprise councils), directors at meetings, and lease their enterprises from the state. In addition, the development of the private sector in the service sector and agriculture was envisaged. Collective farmers were given the opportunity to develop collective and family farming, receive land on a long-term (up to 50 years) lease, and independently sell their products at free prices. Thus, economic reform, as conceived by Gorbachev, pursued the goal of overcoming the alienation of a person from the results of his labor and from power.

Economic reform had mixed consequences. A multi-structured economy began to emerge in the country, in which, along with the public sector, a private sector emerged and quickly gained strength, establishing itself not only in the service sector, but also in manufacturing and banking. By the end of 1987, 13.9 thousand cooperatives had emerged, in 1988 there were 77.5 thousand, in 1990 - 245 thousand; by 1990, the volume of sold products of cooperatives amounted to 67.3 billion rubles, or 6.7% of GNP; by the spring of 1991, 7 million citizens, or 5% of the active population, were employed in the cooperative sector. In March 1989, 5 specialized banks (see the article Banks in Russia), created during the banking reform (carried out since June 1987) and existing along with the State Bank of the USSR, switched to full self-financing and self-financing. A network of commercial and cooperative banks began to form (by the beginning of 1990, 224 commercial banks were registered in the USSR), and other market structures arose: exchanges, various intermediary organizations.

However, despite this, general economic processes were then determined in the sphere of the state economy. The heads of state enterprises, now directly dependent on labor collectives, increased wages by reducing production investments and funds for R&D; the cooperatives that arose at the enterprises not only gave scope for the activities of enterprising, economic people, but also served as a cover for pumping non-cash funds into cash, which together it increased the volume of money supply in the market not backed by goods. There was a shortage in trade for a number of essential items, and prices and inflation began to rise. In the agrarian sector, the reform did not produce the expected results: the process of “de-peasantization of the peasantry,” as Gorbachev put it, had gone too far over many decades of Soviet history.

During the same period, the weakening of the totalitarian system, and with it the power of the union leadership, exacerbated interethnic contradictions that had their roots in the past, and also contributed to the manifestation of the national-state ambitions of local elites. At the end of 1987, movements with nationalist overtones began to develop in Georgia. In February 1988, after the request of the regional Council of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug addressed to the Armed Forces of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armed Forces of the Armenian SSR to transfer the region from Azerbaijan to Armenia, the first bloody interethnic conflicts occurred - in Karabakh and Sumgait.

Reforming the political system was difficult. In 1988, differences in the Politburo of the Central Committee in relation to perestroika were clearly revealed for the first time. However, Gorbachev continued the reform. The 19th All-Union Conference of the CPSU (June 28 - July 1, 1988) had a stage-by-stage character in its development, where heated discussions flared up and a number of resolutions were adopted aimed at democratizing the country's political system. For the first time in the history of Soviet society, Gorbachev proposed measures for a real separation of the functions of party and state power. To include citizens in the decision-making process, it was envisaged to create new state institutions: the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, elections to which were to be carried out on an alternative basis, and a permanent parliament. To implement the reform, an extraordinary session of the USSR Supreme Council on October 1, 1988 approved Gorbachev as chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council. In March - May 1989, the country's first free elections of people's deputies were held, as a result of which more than 30 secretaries of regional committees and large city party committees were defeated.

At the 1st Congress of People's Deputies, by a majority vote on May 25, 1989, Gorbachev was elected Chairman of the USSR Supreme Council. By this time, Gorbachev’s centrist position was already clearly colored by social democratic ideas. He defined the meaning of political reform as the transfer of full power to the Councils of People's Deputies. At the same congress, the Interregional Deputy Group took organizational form, which soon began to offer a liberal alternative to Gorbachev’s reformist course on a number of issues. With the growth of the liberal opposition (“democrats” in the political vocabulary of that time), the policies of Gorbachev, who defended the course of gradual reform of the country, began to be subjected to fierce criticism from two sides: “conservatives” accused him of moving away from the foundations of socialism, “democrats”, who were in the Politburo The Central Committee of the CPSU was supported by A. N. Yakovlev in inhibiting radical transformations (the opposite assessments passed into journalism and are partially preserved in modern historiography and public opinion).

The new domestic policy, largely determined by the position of the USSR in the world, corresponded to new approaches in international affairs. Gorbachev's activities played a decisive role in curbing the nuclear arms race, overcoming confrontation with the West and improving the entire international situation. In 1987, the USSR and the USA signed the Treaty on the Mutual Elimination of Intermediate-Range Missiles (INF Treaty). Further movement in this direction culminated in the signing in Moscow on July 31, 1991 of the Treaty between the USSR and the USA on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START-1). Thanks to Gorbachev's policy, Soviet-Chinese relations returned to normal. Gorbachev's decision to withdraw Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989 caused a great positive resonance in the country and abroad. Relations between the USSR and Germany, Great Britain and other Western European countries, and many countries in Asia and Latin America improved significantly. With regard to the Eastern European countries, Gorbachev abandoned the policy of limiting their sovereignty, carried out after the end of World War II. Gorbachev's position contributed to the democratization of regimes in Eastern Europe, as well as the unification of Germany in October 1990. The 6-year period for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from East Germany, agreed upon by Gorbachev and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (later reduced by the Russian government to 5 years), was later assessed by the public as insufficient and caused accusations of haste (see German Question 1945-1990). The democratization of regimes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s led to the dismantling of the Warsaw Pact Organization, formalized on July 1, 1991, and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern European countries. This was the beginning of overcoming the division of Europe. In 1990, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but in his own country his foreign, especially European, policy was often subject to harsh criticism.

In the Soviet Union, the result of Gorbachev's perestroika was a change in the political regime: in 1990, power passed from the CPSU to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR - the first parliament in Soviet history elected on an alternative basis in free democratic elections. The highest bodies of state power were reconstructed, Gorbachev was elected president of the USSR.

Systemic transformation has exacerbated contradictions in society, and mistakes and delayed actions by the leadership have aggravated the situation. The worsening situation in the consumer market, as well as the worsening of interethnic relations (including bloody clashes in Baku, Tbilisi and Vilnius) led to a weakening of public support for Gorbachev. At the same time, the liberal opposition rallied around B. N. Yeltsin (he was nominated by Gorbachev for responsible leadership work, but was removed from his posts in 1987). Unlike his predecessors, Gorbachev did not deprive his opponent of the opportunity to participate in political life, and he soon became his main rival in the struggle for power. At the same time, the strict unitarity of the state structure of the USSR ceased to suit the local elites, who began to rely on various kinds of national movements. Centrifugal processes especially intensified after the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR on June 12, 1990, opening the “parade of sovereignties” of other republics, both union and autonomous. Trying to preserve the integrity of the country, Gorbachev took the initiative to hold the first referendum in the history of the USSR. At it (March 17, 1991), 76% of voters (in Russia - 71.3%) were in favor of preserving the renewed Union. On August 20, 1991, a procedure was scheduled for the leaders of the republics to sign a new Treaty on the Union of Sovereign Republics, which provided for a significant expansion of the powers of the republics within the framework of the union state. However, this process was disrupted by the outbreak of the August crisis of 1991, caused by the actions of a number of people from Gorbachev’s circle. The State Emergency Committee's putsch failed. After this, B.N. Yeltsin suspended the activities of the CPSU on the territory of the RSFSR on August 23, 1991.

Gorbachev, having returned to Moscow from Foros, where he was isolated by the putschists, announced his resignation from the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on August 24, 1991 and addressed the Central Committee with a call for self-dissolution. But the defeat of the putschists did not become a victory for Gorbachev. In the RSFSR, the forces led by B. N. Yeltsin gained the upper hand; other union republics declared their independence in response to the putsch. Nevertheless, Gorbachev resumed the process of negotiations on signing a new Union Treaty, but it was also thwarted: the presidents of the RSFSR, Ukraine and the chairman of the Supreme Council of the BSSR signed the Belovezhskaya Agreements of 1991 on December 8 on the dissolution of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Gorbachev made several more unsuccessful attempts to prevent the collapse of the state. On December 25, 1991, he announced the termination of his activities as President of the USSR.

Since 1992, Gorbachev has been president of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (the so-called Gorbachev Foundation). He researches the history of perestroika and develops the ideas underlying it, implements humanitarian projects, helps the international association “Hematologists of the World for Children”, participates in the implementation of the “Childhood Leukemia in Russia” program, in the construction and equipment of the Center for Pediatric Hematology and Transplantology named after R. M. Gorbacheva. Since 1993, Gorbachev has headed the international non-governmental environmental organization Green Cross. One of the initiators of the creation of the Forum of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates (1999), the Forum of World Politics (2003).

Awarded 3 Orders of Lenin and more than 300 foreign awards and prizes.

Works: Perestroika and new thinking for our country and for the whole world. M., 1987; Selected speeches and articles. M., 1987-1990. T. 1-7; On the main directions for stabilizing the national economy and the transition to a market economy. M., 1990; Through a multi-structured economy - to production efficiency. M., 1990; Nobel Lecture June 5, 1991, Oslo; M., 1991; August putsch: Causes and consequences. M., 1991; December-91: My position. M., 1992; Years of difficult decisions. M., 1993; Life and reforms. M., 1995; Reflections on the past and future. M., 1998; How it happened: German reunification. M., 1999; Understanding perestroika...: Why is it important now. M., 2006.

Lit.: Pechenev V. A. M. S. Gorbachev: to the heights of power. M., 1991; Gorbachev - Yeltsin: 1500 days of political confrontation. M., 1992; Ryzhkov N.I. Perestroika: A History of Betrayals. M., 1992; Chernyaev M.S. Six years with Gorbachev. M., 1993; Grachev A.S. Further without me...: The departure of the President. M., 1994; Medvedev V. A. In Gorbachev’s team: A look from the inside. M., 1994; Shakhnazarov G. Kh. The price of freedom: Gorbachev’s Reformation through the eyes of his assistant. M., 1994; The Union could have been preserved: Documents and facts about M. S. Gorbachev’s policy of reforming and preserving a multinational state. M., 1995; Metlock D.F. Reagan and Gorbachev: how the Cold War ended... and everyone won. M., 2005; Piyashev N. F. M. S. Gorbachev... who is he? M., 1995; In the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee... According to the records of A. Chernyaev, V. Medvedev, G. Shakhnazarov (1985-1991). M., 2006.

Domestic policy

Historical chronicle » M.S. Gorbachev in the role of Secretary General » Domestic politics

The fight against bribery has resumed with renewed vigor, especially in Uzbekistan. In 1986, Brezhnev's son-in-law Yuri Churbanov was arrested and later sentenced to twelve years in prison.

The main idea of the conference was the transfer of part of the party's powers to the government, that is, the strengthening of Soviet authorities, while maintaining party influence in them.

Report: Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev

Biographical information. 2

At administrative work. 3

Stavropol 3

Restructuring and acceleration. 4

Principles of domestic and foreign policy 4

Reasons for failure 5

Western politicians and scientists about Gorbachev. 5

Merits of M. S. Gorbachev. 6

Contemporaries of reforms about Gorbachev's policies. 7

Conclusion. 8

Curriculum Vitae

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev is one of the most popular Russian politicians in the West of the last decades of the 20th century. and one of the most controversial figures in the eyes of public opinion within the country. He is called both the great reformer and the gravedigger of the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Sergeevich was born on March 2, 1931 into a peasant family in the village of Privolnoye in the Stavropol region.

In 1948, he and his father worked on a combine harvester and received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for their success in harvesting. In 1950, Gorbachev graduated from school with a silver medal and entered the Moscow University Faculty of Law. Later he admitted: “I had a rather vague idea of what jurisprudence and law were at that time. But the position of a judge or prosecutor appealed to me.”

Mikhail found himself in Moscow for the first time. Many years later he recalled:

“Compare: the village of Privolnoye and... Moscow. The difference is too great and the withdrawal is too big... Everything was a first for me: Red Square, the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theater - the first opera, the first ballet, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts... the first boat trip on the Moskva River, a tour of the Moscow region , the first October demonstration... And every time there is an incomparable feeling of learning something new.” The young pro-provincial was greedily drawn to knowledge and culture.

Gorbachev lived in a hostel, barely making ends meet, although at one time he received an increased scholarship for excellent studies and Komsomol work. In 1952, Gorbachev became a member of the party.

One day at the club he met a student in the department of scientific communism of the Faculty of Philosophy, Raisa Titarenko. In September 1953 they got married, and on November 7 they played a Komsomol wedding.

Gorbachev graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 and, as secretary of the Komsomol organization of the faculty, achieved assignment to the USSR Prosecutor's Office. However, just then the government adopted a closed resolution prohibiting the employment of law school graduates in the central bodies of the court and prosecutor's office. Khrushchev and his comrades considered that one of the reasons for the repressions of the 30s. there was a dominance of young, inexperienced prosecutors and judges who were ready to carry out any instructions from the leadership. So Gorbachev, whose two grandfathers suffered from repression, unexpectedly became a victim of the fight against the consequences of the cult of personality.

At administrative work

Stavropol region

He returned to the Stavropol region and, deciding not to get involved with the prosecutor’s office, got a job in the regional Komsomol committee as deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department. The Komsomol and then the party career of Mikhail Sergeevich developed very successfully. In 1961, he was appointed first secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol, the following year he transferred to party work, and in 1966 he took the post of first secretary of the Stavropol city committee of the CPSU. At the same time, he graduated in absentia from the local agricultural institute; a diploma as an agrarian specialist was useful for advancement in the agricultural Stavropol region. On April 10, 1970, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev became the first secretary of the Stavropol regional committee of the CPSU. Anatoly Korobeinikov, who knew Gorbachev from this work, said: “Even in the Stavropol region, he told me, emphasizing his hard work: not only with your head, but also with your ass, you can do what - worthwhile... Working, as they say, “without a break,” Gorbachev and his closest assistants forced them to work in the same mode. But he “drove” only those who were carrying this cart; he had no time to bother with others.” Already at that time, the main drawback of the future reformer appeared: accustomed to working day and night, he often could not get his subordinates to conscientiously carry out his orders and implement large-scale plans.

In November 1978 Mr. Gorbachev takes office as Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The recommendations of L.I.’s closest associates played a role in this appointment. Brezhnev - K.U. Chernenko, M.A. Suslova and Yu.V. Andropova. Two years later, Mikhail Sergeevich turned out to be the youngest member of the Politburo. He hoped in the near future to become the first person in the party and state. This could not be prevented even by the fact that Gorbachev occupied, in essence, a “penal post” - the secretary responsible for agriculture, the most disadvantaged sector of the Soviet economy. After Brezhnev's death, he still remained in this modest position. But even then Andropov told him: “You know what, Mikhail, do not limit your responsibilities to the agricultural sector. Try to delve into everything... In general, act as if you had to at some point take all responsibility upon yourself.” When Andropov died and Chernenko came to power for an equally short period of time, Gorbachev became the second person in the party and the most likely “heir” to the elderly general secretary.

Restructuring and acceleration

Chernenko's death opened the way to power for Gorbachev. On March 11, 1985, the plenum of the Central Committee elected him general secretary of the party’s Central Committee. At the next April plenum, Mikhail Sergeevich proclaimed a course towards perestroika and accelerating the development of the country. These terms themselves, which appeared under Andropov, did not immediately become widespread, but only after the 27th Congress of the CPSU in February 1986. M. Gorbachev named glasnost as one of the conditions for the success of transformations. This was not yet full-fledged freedom of speech, but at least the opportunity to talk about the shortcomings of society in the press, however, without affecting the members of the Politburo and the foundations of the Soviet system. However, already in January 1987, Gorbachev said: “In Soviet society there should be no zones closed to criticism.”

Principles of domestic and foreign policy

The new secretary general did not have a clear reform plan. Gorbachev only had the memory of Khrushchev’s “thaw”. And, in addition, there was a belief that the calls of the leaders, if the leaders are honest and the calls are correct, within the framework of the existing party-state system can reach ordinary performers and change life for the better. “The time has come for energetic and united actions”; “we need to act, act and act again”; “Everyone needs to wise up, understand everything, not panic and act constructively,” Gorbachev urged during the six years of his rule.

Mikhail Sergeevich hoped that, while remaining the leader of a socialist country, it would be possible to win respect in the world, based not on fear, but on gratitude for reasonable policies, for refusing to justify the totalitarian past. He believed that new political thinking should triumph - recognition of the priority of universal human values over class and national values, the need to unite all peoples and states to jointly solve global problems facing humanity.

Mikhail Sergeevich carried out all the transformations under the slogan “More democracy, more socialism.” However, his understanding of socialism gradually changed. Back in April 1985, Gorbachev spoke at the Politburo: “... it’s no secret that when Khrushchev brought criticism of Stalin’s actions to incredible proportions, it only brought damage, after which we still to some extent cannot collect shards." But very soon new “shards” had to be collected, since glasnost led to such a wave of anti-Stalinist criticism, which had never been dreamed of during the “thaw”.

Reasons for failure

In contrast to the course towards glasnost, when it was enough to order the weakening, and in the end actually abolishing censorship, his other undertakings (like the sensational anti-alcohol campaign) were a combination of administrative coercion with propaganda. At the end of his reign, Gorbachev, having become President, tried to rely not on the party apparatus, like his predecessors, but on the government and a team of assistants. Gorbachev leaned more and more towards the social-democratic model. Academician S.S. Shatalin claimed that he managed to turn the General Secretary into a convinced Menshevik. However, Gorbachev abandoned communist dogmas too slowly, only under the influence of the growth of anti-communist sentiment in society. Even during the August 1991 putsch, Mikhail Sergeevich still expected to retain power and, returning from Foros (state dacha in Crimea), declared that he believed in socialist values and, at the head of the reformed Communist Party, would fight for them... Obviously , he never managed to rebuild himself. In many ways, Mikhail Sergeevich remained the same party secretary, accustomed not only to privileges, but also to power that did not depend on the will of the people.

Western politicians and scientists about Gorbachev

For many years, the famous “Iron Lady,” British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, remained one of Gorbachev’s most ardent supporters in the West.

Assessing the first Soviet President as a politician, she said: “Gorbachev is a far-sighted person. A determined person. A man who understands that if you want to do great things, you don’t have to be afraid to make a few enemies... He gave his people democracy, freedom of speech, greater freedom of movement. He gave Eastern Europe the opportunity to go its own way. He dissolved the Warsaw Pact... From the very beginning we easily find a common language.” However, Thatcher did not like all of Mikhail Gorbachev's political ideas. She stated: “From conversations with Gorbachev, I know that, first of all, he wanted to preserve the Soviet Union within its current borders. He wanted to keep the same territory. I immediately told him: “But Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova do not belong to the Soviet Union.” He never agreed with my point of view.”

Later, after resigning and taking up work on her memoirs, Margaret Thatcher spoke much harsher about Mikhail Sergeevich. “I was forced to conclude that Gorbachev was cut from the same communist mold,” she wrote in her book “The Downing Street Years.” - He could not completely get rid of the lifeless ventriloquism of the average Soviet apparatchik. He smiled, laughed, gesticulated emotionally, modulated his voice, carefully followed the argumentation and was a strong opponent... Least of all did he seem like an inexperienced opponent when the conversation came to controversial issues of high politics... He never spoke in advance prepared speeches, but looked into a small notebook with notes... He had his own style. By the end of the day I came to the conclusion that this style was very different from the style of Marxist preachers. I liked it..."

The famous American millionaire George Soros, founder of the Foundation for the Support of Scientific Research in Russia, described Mikhail Gorbachev in his book “The Soviet System: Towards an Open Society”: “He is a clear example of a participant in events who does not fully understand what what's happening. Otherwise, he might not have started this whole mess... He was driven by the desire to eliminate the fetters that were holding back development; he could not foresee all the problems that would immediately arise. No wonder. Who would have imagined that he would move so far along the path of destroying the old regime.”

Merits of M. S. Gorbachev

In his last speech as President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Sergeevich took credit for the fact that “society gained freedom, became liberated politically and spiritually...

Free elections, freedom of the press, religious freedoms, representative bodies of government, and a multi-party system have become real. Human rights were recognized as the highest principle... The movement towards a multi-structured economy began, the equality of all forms of property was affirmed... The Cold War was ended, the arms race and the insane militarization of the country, which disfigured our economy, public consciousness and morality, were stopped.” .

The foreign policy of Mikhail Gorbachev, who finally eliminated the Iron Curtain, ensured him respect in the world. In 1990, the President of the USSR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his activities aimed at developing international cooperation.

At the same time, Gorbachev’s indecisiveness, his desire to find a compromise that suits both conservatives and radicals, led to the fact that transformations in the country’s economy never began. A political settlement of the interethnic contradictions that ultimately destroyed the Soviet Union was also not achieved. History is unlikely to answer the question of whether anyone else in Gorbachev’s place could have preserved the socialist system and the USSR.

Contemporaries of reforms about Gorbachev's policies

Political scientist Irina Muravyova in her book “Gorbachev - Yeltsin: 1500 days of political confrontation” assessed the results of Gorbachev’s transformations this way: “So, what did Gorbachev leave us? From the point of view of his opponents - a collapsed power, which was called the Soviet Union; rampant inflation, beggars on the streets; millionaires and, it is said, up to 80% of people below the poverty line. But for some reason we have the name of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov and our own insight, we have the books of Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn and the comprehension of the great truth - “Man” can really sound proud. Is it so little?

A different point of view was expressed by one of the advisers to Brezhnev, Chernenko and Gorbachev, Vadim Pechenev. In the book “Gorbachev: to the heights of power” he wrote: “I think that the undoubted positive potential for me that Gorbachev and his policies brought into our lives: openness, democracy, the principle of the priority of the universal principle over the class principle, did not at all demand a fatal collapse of the economy.”

Philosophers M.K. Gorshkov and L.N. Dobrokhotov agree with Pechenev in the book “Gorbachev-Yeltsin: 1500 days of political confrontation”: “The price paid by society for the spiritual benefits received turned out to be prohibitively high, because on the other side of the scale is the collapse of the state, the economy, social and national ties, legal chaos, plus instead of a “cold war” there are hotbeds of quite hot conflicts.”

Gorbachev’s associates did not always speak flatteringly about the former leader of the USSR. Thus, Chairman of the Council of Ministers N.I. Ryzhkov wrote in the book “Ten Years of Great Upheavals”: “By nature, by character, Gorbachev could not be a true head of state. Not possessing the necessary qualities for this, he generally did not like to make power decisions, preferred to discuss them for a long time, willingly listened to many opinions, argued and at the same time easily and willingly avoided making a final decision, dissolved his “pros” and “against” in a clever interweaving of words. He never took the blame for the fallacy of this or that decision, hiding behind the supposedly existing collectivity, collegiality of its adoption... Gorbachev, unfortunately, lacked the ability and willingness to take personal responsibility for the adoption and implementation decisions."

Party worker V.I. Boldin, analyzing the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev in the book “The Collapse of the Pedestal: Touches to the Portrait of M.S. Gorbachev,” characterizes the results of the reforms as follows: “Having clumsily released the genie from the bottle, Gorbachev could not keep it in in their own hands the position in the party and the country. He was forced to give up one position after another, not daring to admit that he was doing this not so much of his own free will, but under the pressure of circumstances... One of the main reasons for the collapse of perestroika was primarily in the views and character of Gorbachev, in his indecision. vigor, adherence to the tenets that were embedded in him from a young age. Essentially, the Secretary General was and remains a product of his time, of those structures that raised him and moved him to the heights of power.”

Conclusion

Thus, as a representative of the state, the subject of supreme power must have full rights. In this regard, the leader of the party, who concentrated in himself two powers - party and state, M. S. Gorbachev, without being popularly elected to the presidency, was significantly inferior in the eyes of the masses to B. N. Yeltsin, elected president of Russia. As if to compensate for this shortcoming, Gorbachev increased his absolute power and sought additional powers. However, he himself did not comply with the laws and did not force others to do so. Gorbachev's reign is instructive in its lesson: Russia should be ruled by a knowledgeable, wise, fair person who also has a strong, strong-willed character. Politics is not just talking, but the art of acting intelligently. Napoleon said: “The battle is won not by the one who came up with a battle plan or found the right way out, but by the one who took responsibility for its implementation.”

Bibliography:

1. “Political science on the Russian background”, Textbook, Moscow, Luch, 1993.

2. “Gorbachev-Yeltsin: 1500 days of political confrontation”, I. Muravyova...

3. Encyclopedia on the history of Russia and its closest neighbors, Part III, XX century, ed. M. Aksenova, Moscow, 1999

M.S. Gorbachev was in power from 1985 to 1991, holding the positions of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and from March 1990 - President of the USSR.

The period of M.S. Gorbachev’s reign is called “perestroika”. Indeed, significant reforms were carried out in all spheres of public life, which, on the one hand, marked the beginning of democratization and a market economy, and on the other, led to the collapse of the USSR.

What are the main directions of M.S. Gorbachev’s policy and the results of his activities?

One of the important directions in domestic policy Gorbachev was the restructuring of the country's party and state system, political reforms. The following measures were held: alternative elections to the highest legislative body of power - the Council of People's Deputies (the first congress - in May 1998), a two-tier system of the highest legislative power was introduced (the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which was elected from among the deputies of the Congress); Amendments to the Constitution of the USSR were introduced at the 3rd Congress of People's Deputies in 1990, as a result of which Article 6 on the leadership and guiding role of the Communist Party was abolished; The post of President of the USSR was introduced at the same 3rd Congress. The USSR itself also changed - the “parade of sovereignties” began, as a result of which the USSR ceased to exist on December 8, 1991. and the CIS was formed. Gorbachev M.S. forced to resign on December 25, 1991, since there was no longer a country in which he was President.

The result of this activity was the beginning of democratic transformations in the country, the dictatorship of the Communist Party was put to an end, the policy of glasnost led to freedom of speech and press, but the mighty USSR disappeared from the world map, and a huge country collapsed. This fact is assessed differently. This is the acquisition of sovereignty by the states - the former Republics of the USSR, their freedom, independence, but there remains nostalgia for a single powerful state - the USSR.

Another direction of domestic policy there was a restructuring of the economy in order to bring it out of stagnation, improve all economic indicators, and improve people's lives. To this end, a course was taken to accelerate socio-economic development. Elements of the market began to be introduced - enterprises were granted independence - they were transferred to self-financing, individual labor activity and cooperatives were allowed (laws: “On State Enterprise”, 1987, “On Individual Labor Activity”, 1988. “On Cooperation”, 1988). Carried out scientific and technical renewal of production.

Results of this activity. The transformations did not lead to a significant improvement in the economy, and over time they began to slow down the development of the country. This is due to the fact that Gorbachev carried out all the changes within the framework of command-administrative measures and did not accept the progressive reforms that were proposed, for example, the “500 days” program by S. Shatalov and G. Yavlinsky. As a result, the situation of the Soviet people did not improve, but even worsened. The countries were waiting for more radical measures.

The main direction in foreign policy there was the introduction of new political thinking into relations between countries, the desire for peace and cooperation with countries. And in foreign policy, M.S. Gorbachev continues perestroika: he believed that the focus of countries should be on universal human values, it is necessary to abandon confrontation between states, develop a common collective survival strategy. To this end, Gorbachev signed a number of important international documents on arms reduction, often unilaterally. Most of these agreements are concluded with the United States. Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan in 1989, and the Cold War, that is, the confrontation between the countries of capitalism and socialism, practically ended.

The result of this activity There were peaceful relations with the countries, and there was no threat of war. It is no coincidence that M.S. Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for this activity.

Another direction in foreign policy was the establishment of new relations with the countries of Eastern Europe. The USSR abandoned the policy of interference in the internal affairs of these countries; CMEA and the Department of Internal Affairs were liquidated in 1991. as if they had exhausted themselves. Relations between the countries of Eastern Europe and the USSR began to be built on the principles of equality and mutually beneficial cooperation.

The result of this activity was the strengthening of relations with the countries of Eastern Europe on new principles of mutual respect and cooperation.

Thus. M.S. Gorbachev is one of the brightest political leaders on a global scale. His activities were and are still assessed ambiguously. Some consider him the greatest reformer who put an end to totalitarianism, voluntarism, and the dictatorship of the Communist Party; It was under him that elements of a market economy began to be introduced, and the policy of glasnost led to real freedom of speech and press. Others consider him responsible for the collapse of a huge country, for the sharp impoverishment of millions of people, for social differentiation, which grew stronger every year. The truth, as always, is in the middle. One thing is certain: M.S. Gorbachev began democratic reforms, the need for which was objective.