Unfulfilled promises of the first and only president of the USSR, in which people sincerely believed: "Perestroika" by Mikhail Gorbachev

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At the end of the spring of 1985, Gorbachev called on Soviet society to rebuild. It was this performance that gave rise to the term "perestroika", although it became popular later. One of the main voiced goals of Perestroika is to strengthen the economic capacities of the Country of Soviets. Experts in all scientific and practical fields are investigating the causes and consequences of this phenomenon to this day. And although the opinions are still ambiguous, the final result is the same: the last Soviet secretary general did not cope with the tasks set.

New leader and high-profile reforms

In 1985, the Soviet Union received a new leadership with Gorbachev at its head. The managers understood that a lot needed to be changed. The Soviet economy in recent years has not been affected in the best way by dependence on oil exports, Western sanctions, and a stagnant management system. First of all, Gorbachev set about reforming the economy, affecting the rest of the Soviet order. 1985 is considered to be the beginning of radical reforms.

In a relatively young and promising member of the Politburo, many saw the solution to existing problems. Gorbachev made no secret of the fact that he was determined to bring about change. True, few people understood how far everything could go. In April 1985, he announced a course to accelerate economic development. The first stage of perestroika, which lasted until 1987 and did not imply fundamental reforms of the system, was called "acceleration". Acceleration was supposed to increase the rate of development of industry and mechanical engineering. But when the government's initiatives did not give the expected result, it was decided to "rebuild."

Disrupted supply chain and disastrous results of allowances

In 1987, as part of the restructuring of the system, Gorbachev abolished the foreign trade state monopoly, which only unbalanced the already imperfect supply system. At one point, hundreds of enterprises turned into exporters of manufactured products and imported goods purchased for civilian consumption. The profits from such trade manipulation were fabulous. After all, the prices controlled in the Soviet Union were significantly lower than the commercial price in the west. Tons of products poured abroad, giving rise to a serious commodity deficit in the USSR.

The common man now lacked sausage, toilet paper, dishes, shoes. And by the summer of 1989, essential goods had already disappeared - sugar, tea, medicines, detergents. The tobacco crisis soon arose. Problems with supply gave rise to massive strikes of miners in Donbass, Kuzbass and in the Karaganda basin. Spontaneous rallies swept through large cities - Leningrad, Sverdlovsk, Perm, where people could not "buy" food coupons. But these were flowers against the background of the pre-New Year situation under 1992, when all the store shelves were empty. Experiments have led to the fact that the goods were bought up by entrepreneurs or hid by store managers under the next reform of retail value distribution.

Cooperative directors and the new Soviet bourgeoisie

In June 1987, the law on state-owned enterprises was adopted, which expanded the long-term framework. Fearing the irresponsibility of leaders, the authors of the reform established workers' supervisory councils, which were empowered to oversee the directors and influence the course of the enterprise. The leaders were elected by the labor collective and in case of ineffective work they could be re-elected. Such powers were supposed to turn workers into business executives, giving them strength for selfless labor. But in reality, the main decisions were still made by the party and trade union organizations, which subordinated the councils to themselves without reporting to the higher departments.

To spur former monopoly organizations to compete, lower prices and increase labor efficiency, the reformers allowed the creation of non-state enterprises - cooperatives. But something went wrong, and the owners of cooperatives, having saved up capital, began to use hired labor, turning into capitalists. Cooperatives were hung on a planned economy, where raw materials were not sold, but distributed among funds. And only a few had access to the funds. As a result, only those who got the stock raw materials by acquaintance and for a bribe worked.

The directors found their bearings quickly, opening cooperatives at their factories. Products were produced from cheap materials produced at state-owned facilities, and were already sold at a free price, bringing superprofits. In fact, this is how the nomenclature privatization of enterprises was launched, although formally the plants and factories were in state ownership. Trusted persons-co-operators from among the workers entered into conflicts with those who remained on state subsidies. Parasitic entrepreneurs, feeding the state, bribed officials. And the bureaucrats, who tasted the material rewards in the division of state property, firmly defended the reformist course. This is how the transition of bureaucrats into the bosom of the bourgeoisie, which was still forming in Soviet society, began.

The fight against drunkenness and the lack of readiness for publicity

In parallel with global reforms, Gorbachev decided to fight drunkenness. But this campaign was riddled with excesses. It was decided to destroy huge areas of vineyards, alcohol was banned even on the occasion of family celebrations. The anti-alcohol reform created a shortage of alcoholic beverages on the shelves and, as a result, led to an increase in their prices.

In 1987, they began to soften censorship, which was reflected in the policy of publicity. The new approach allowed for discussion in society of previously forbidden topics, which was a step towards democratization. But here, too, regression quickly prevailed. The society, which for many years has been behind the “iron curtain” comfortable for consciousness, turned out to be not ready for the powerful flow of free information. "I wanted the best" turned into ideological and moral decay, the emergence of separatist sentiments and, in the end, the collapse of the country.

Naturally, perestroika would not have happened if in 1981 there had not been irreversible changes in the country's elite. Most clearly it will be seen on iconic photographs of that time that show life in the USSR.