Transcript Chapter 4: Culture

What were the weaknesses of the
communist system and the economy
in the USSR?
What were the key features of communism in
the USSR?
• USSR developed own version of communism that differed
from Karl Marx’s ideal
 Marx: last stage of communism meant the end of the need
for state control – people would run the system
 USSR: a state system set up to run the country until the
people were able to take over grew into one that
controlled everything
• Politburo and CP that ran the state said ‘the people were
not yet ready’
What were the key features of communism in
the USSR?
What factors weakened the economy?
The USSR under Nikita Khrushchev
• Khrushchev (1953-1964) followed Stalin as leader
• Criticised Stalin’s regime for its repressiveness
• More complicated than he seemed?
 Spoke a lot about peace while USSR was preparing for war
 Saw need to come to an understanding with West, yet
almost brought the world to war over Cuban Missile Crisis
 Understood some economic needs of USSR, yet badly
miscalculated others
The USSR under
Nikita Khrushchev
• Introduced agricultural
reforms such as Virgin
Lands scheme
 Scheme failed
• Broke industry up into
100 different areas,
each with a Council of
National economy
 Did not address
problems of badlyrun industry
What were the social problems of communism
in the USSR?
• Under Stalin, state developed iron grip on the people –
controlled every part of their lives
• Khrushchev tried to make improvements
 Give people more freedom
 More consumer goods
• Believed it was possible to get back to ‘real’ socialism
 But state system could not respond quickly to changes
 Changes were few and slow
• Bureaucratic changes upset many – made life unpredictable
What were the social problems of communism
in the USSR?
Soviet communism and the outside world
• How did Soviet communism react to the outside world?
 Setting up of Eastern bloc
 Cold War
• Relationship between leaders of USSR and the West
 Levels of ‘thaw’ or ‘freeze’ between USSR and the West
determined by their leaders’ relations
 If Soviet leader had good relations with other leaders (e.g.
USA), he was more likely to trust him and his country
Soviet communism and the outside world
Soviet communism and the outside world
Relations with the West
• Trade was most important contact with the West
 Eastern bloc could not supply everything USSR needed
 Trade strictly regulated
 The West insisted they be paid in ‘hard currency’ – this
limited the value of what the USSR could import
• Various diplomatic contacts and meetings with the West
 Meetings about possibility of arms reductions, especially
nuclear weapons
Soviet communism and the outside world
Relations with the West
Soviet communism and the outside world
Relations with other communist countries
• Tried to keep tight hold of Eastern bloc countries
• Supported communist countries outside Eastern Europe
with loans and trading agreements
• Khrushchev and later leaders relaxed control
 Leading Eastern bloc countries to push for more freedom
 Unrest in Poland and Hungary
A closer look at Czechoslovakia
• Alexander Dubcek, the new leader
 Wanted more freedom for citizens
 Economic reforms
 Newly freed press grew hostile to communism and Soviet
Union
• Brezhnev held Warsaw Pact army manoeuvres in
Czechoslovakia – a threat ignored by Dubcek
• Politburo went to Czechoslovakia to negotiate
 Dubcek agreed to make some changes in government
A closer look at Czechoslovakia
• However, Dubcek did not act as quickly
as promised
• Brezhnev made a phonecall to Dubcek
 Dubcek agreed to press for the changes
in a meeting in 10 days time
• Eight days later, Soviet and Warsaw Pact
armies burst through Czechoslovakia
frontiers
• Dubcek sent into exile and his colleagues
were replaced
What were perestroika and glasnost
and how did their implementation
affect Eastern Europe?
What were perestroika and glasnost and how
did their implementation affect Eastern Europe?
What were the reforms under perestroika?
What were the reforms under perestroika?
What were the problems?
• Old problems
 Badly built factories which have never been energy-efficient
 Old, spoilt machinery
• Resistance to the reforms
 State officials unhappy – their jobs and power at risk
 Ordinary people found the reforms frightening – felt insecure
about the changes
What were the reforms under glasnost?
• Glasnost: greater openness between the state, its citizens
and rest of the world
What effect did perestroika and glasnost have
on the USSR?
• Twin aims of perestroika and glasnost – very ambitious
• Expectations were high; reformers faced huge problems
• Reforms often held up by resistance from Soviet officials
• Gorbachev unpopular in USSR
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Had not brought significant economic change
Little improvement in living conditions
Shortages and less state support for people
Corrupt people created ‘class system
Problems implementing perestroika and glasnost
What effect did perestroika and glasnost have
on the Eastern bloc?
• Glasnost meant Gorbachev would not send military aid to
help communist parties if they faced opposition
• Countries began to think about true independence
• 1989: the year the dominoes fell
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Hungary
Poland
East Germany
Czechoslovakia
Bulgaria
Romania
What effect did perestroika and glasnost have
on the Cold War?
• Gorbachev was the driving force behind the end of the
Cold War
 Set out to make arms reduction and peace a reality
 Believed that negotiations were the best way forward
 Made drastic cuts in military spending as part of
agreement with the West
 Discussed disarmament with President Reagan in 1985
 Arms agreement, START I, was a giant leap toward ending
the Cold War
How did the Soviet Union collapse?
How did the Soviet Union collapse?
• Collapse of the Eastern bloc and his economic reforms
turned many against Gorbachev
 People wanted the end of communism
 The Old Guard tried to convince Politburo that they should
take over from Gorbachev and take control of USSR
• In August 1991, Gorbachev was imprisoned and later freed
• He resigned in December
• Shortly after, the Soviet Union broke up
The Russian Federation
• In 1991, the Soviet Republics declared their independence
from the USSR
• The Russian Federation
 A patchwork of 89 separate administrative districts
 12 are self-governing republics while the rest have less
power
 Non-republics to obey laws passed by the Federation Duma
 All areas to obey the laws passed by the leader of the
Federation
So who won the Cold War?
Summary