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13 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Gorbachev (6) |
- Initially proposed economic reforms - Later proposed political reforms - Finally proposed reforms to the nature of the Union - Goal to revitalise Union and Soviet Communism - Failed - Failures all played a role in the collapse of the USSR |
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Perestroika (9) |
- 3 phases weakened the union - Rationalisation, Reform and Transformation - Rationalisation = decline in eco growth and undermining faith in Party - Reform = undermined faith in the Party and the ideology it was based on, more than rationalisation - Transformation = abandoned essential features of Soviet Communism - In 1985 - reform not necessary - Union experiencing decline not crisis - G's reforms created crisis which led to more reforms and dissolution - G prepared to embrace more radical reforms as time went on - By 1990 G prepared to abandon essential of Soviet Communism |
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New thinking: new vocabulary (6) |
- One of G's crucial achievements - Based on new language in politics - Perestroika rather than reform - neutral so didn't arouse opposition - Reform associated with failure of K - Socialist pluralism - adding 'socialist' allowed G to suggest pluralism was in line with values of the Union (pluralism associated with weakness of Western democracy) - G's willingness to embrace new ideas allowed radicals, intellectuals and the public to advocate radical alternatives to Communism (e.g. freedom of speech) |
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Westernising (6) |
- G played important role in reorientating politics towards western values - Previous leaders rejected western values as capitalist - G embraced the importance of human rights (e.g. eased travel restrictions 1986) - G embraced pluralism by allowing citizens to form groups and stand for election (March 1990 removed Article 6 from Soviet Constitution) - G renounced violence as a method for holding together the Union and Eastern Bloc (set out vision at 28th Party Congress July 1990) - Westernising weakened Party power which had always held the Union together |
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Gorbachev's mistakes (8) |
- Belief that reform could save the Union = fundamental miscalculation - Reform created an unrecoverable crisis - Failed to anticipate effects of Glasnost - Failed to see fragility of committment to the Union (in a sense believed own propaganda) - Embraced democracy but refused to stand for election - Inconsistent policies - uskorenie designed to restructure industry and increase output - both would disrupt each other = failure - Failed to win over the Party - resisted reform and hampered G's programme - Failure of eco and political policies = rapid decline in authority and t/f no longer had power to hold together Union as President |
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Gorbachev and China (4) |
- Reform in China = stronger communism - Reform in Union = fall of communism - China embraced market reform quicker and more comprehensively (e.g. G tried to intergrate markets into command economy) - China introduced eco reform with increasing political freedom = politically stable |
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Yeltsin |
- Played a crucial role in the fall of the USSR |
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Popular radical |
- Made a name for himself at 27th Party Congress 1986 - denounced privileges of Party leaders and advocated focus on equality - Exposed factionalism in the Party through publicly attacking communists who opposed reforms in 1987 - Call for multi-candidate elections gained support from middle/low ranking Party officials = Y won massive victory Moscow 1989 (89% vote) - |
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Yeltsin in 1990 (9) |
- The year G lost control of reform agenda and was forced to react to popular protest - Yeltsin became Chair of the Russian Congress of People's Deputies - June - Congress declared Russia's sovereignty (Russian laws t/f superior to Soviet) - Russia contained 75% of Union's population - Y moved to establish a Russian army - Y's resignation from the Party in July weakened Party support and was part of a mass exodus from the Party - Party popularity dropped to 18.8% - Y clearly advocated market reform and democracy - Russian's viewed Y as one of them, G more distant |
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Yeltsin and nationalism (5) |
- Y encouraged non-Russian republics to est. independence - Partly embraced nationalism to outmanoeuvre G - weakened the Union (G's powerbase) - Y attempted to est. own powerbase in Russia through presidency - Gave him a status which rivalled G - 1991 supported Baltic states' declarations of independence |
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Yeltsin and the new elite (5) |
- Some historians argue the collapse was due to conflicts in the CP rather than between the CP and democrats - Y represented and worked for interests of middle-ranking officials against interests of high-ranking officials - Divisions in the Party - Y's rise to power and the growing power of Russia = emergence of a new elite at the expense of the old elite - Y contributed to the fall as he had the support of a 'counter-elite' |
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Yeltsin, the coup and counter-coup (8) |
- Y previously tried to gain Russian independence through fighting small battles over rights of the Union - During coup - Y realised coup caused radical shift in Soviet politics - saw opportunity to gain Russian independence - Publicly denounced coup as unconstitutional - Demanding G's return as President = encouraged popular risings against CP - Counter-coup extremely effective and all but destroyed CP (e.g. ordered suspension of CP) - Y published extensive evidence of Party corruption seized from files - Y attacked Party rather than Union (sig.) - After the coup Y moved slowly to consolidate position - no plan for building democracy or replacing Union |
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Yeltsin and the Union (7) |
- Y could have saved the Union but chose not to (had more authority and popularity than G) - Instead supported creation of CIS - Partly political decision - a way to defeat G - Partly decision Y thought best for Russia (assumed eco reconstruction would easier and quicker w/out having to support other republics) - Believed better chance of est. democracy in Russia than Union - Chose to build Russia rather than save the Union - December 1991 - reached decision after Ukrainian referendum, secret meeting immediately, Y, Ukr leader and Belorussian leader agreed to throw weight behind CIS |
