Perestroika, glasnost, democratization the fateful Soviet years from 1985 to 1991 when four great transformations - even revolutions - were begun under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev: attempts to transform the authoritarian political system into some kind of democracy, the state command economy into a market-based one, the Moscow dominated union into an authentic federation, and the countrys forty-year Cold War with the West into a strategic partnership. (Stephen F. Cohen) Eduard Shevardnadze becomes Foreign Minister, proclaims the Sinatra doctrine 1985 December Gorbachev brings Eltsin to Moscow to head the party apparatus for the city 1987 Eltsin criticizes Gorbachev openly in Committee, divested of power "Struggle against alcoholism May Clumsy program of destroying vineyards, increasing cost of vodka, closing beer halls Government propaganda created resentment Loss of 10 billion Rubles of state income Huge growth in production of samogon February March First mention of perestroika at Party Congress April: Chernobyl disaster December: Sakharov brought back from exile in Gorky February th Party Congress Objective: acceleration of the economy, overcome stagnation Restructuring of the economy, injecting reality into targets and prices, allowing enterprises to make their own decisions, keep the profits from new enterprises and production Central planning and control remained: half-way solution Perestroika January at Plenum of Politburo economic and political reforms announced Rehabilitation of victims of Stalin announced Eltsin attacks Gorbachev, resigns from Politburo The year of glasnost March: Nina Andreyevas letter in Sovetskaya Rossiya May: Law on cooperatives, allowing private business June: Gorbachev proposes a new Congress of Peoples deputies December Armenian Earthquake, 45,000 killed. The move to a free economy Inspired by the NEP (Lenins New Economic Policy) of the 1920s May 1988 Law on cooperatives - essentially private businesses - approved Private banks began to be allowed Russian businesses permitted to deal with foreign partners directly Problems with perestroika No rules to govern private economy: laws, contract enforcement Criminals quickly learned to exploit system: take-overs of businesses, protection rackets Prices not decontrolled; budget had huge deficit, money printed to cover deficit led to huge increase in real price inflation Profits syphoned into offshores Shortages continued: perestroika discredited Theory: Open discussion of problems as a means to achieve real efficiencies By 1988 censorship lifted from literature, film, the arts. Now Soviet citizens can read anything Led to questions about blind spots of history: Katyn execution of Polish officers, the hidden protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 1939, the Gulags and Stalins show trials, esp. Nikolai Bukharin Approved by 19 th Party Conference in July 1988 Objective: Transfer of control of state from Party to semi-elected Congress of Peoples Deputies and Supreme Soviet elected by it 750 members from districts, 750 from territories, 750 from public organizations including 100 from Communist Party: First meeting 15 March 1990 Congress elected President of the USSR. January February withdrawal from Afghanistan March-April Elections to Congress June Tianan Men Square incident in China: dissidence suppressedTianan Men Square 9 November Berlin Wall comes downBerlin Wall November December Communists ousted throughout Soviet bloc: GDR, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania. December 14: Sakharov dies Open discussion of Molotov-Ribbentrop pactMolotov-Ribbentrop As central power was loosened, republics begin to demand their languages be given prime status over Russian: Ukrainian, Georgian, etc. Baltic Republics Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and also Moldova (formerly Bessarabia) demand and start to declare their independence Germany is being reunited Other Soviet bloc members do it their way Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace Gorbachev chosen president of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR BUT crisis looms in Soviet leadership: Yakovlev, Shevardnadze forced out in December. Is another Tiananmen looming? September 9 Alexander Men murdered September: Battle over 500 Days reform program for economy Ended Cold War Brought the USSR out of Afghanistan Moved USSR towards elected democracy and free economy Nearly succeeded in saving a reformed USSR Was he a dissident or a Menshevik? Many reforms resembled those proposed by Sakharov Remained wedded to Communist Party Economic difficulties created by gradual reforms made him deeply unpopular.