Perestroika – The Revolution of Hopes –

Perestroika, also known as The Revolution of Hopes, is a series of measures carried out by Mikhail Gorbachev in order to restructure the Soviet Union. For this reason, Perestroika is one of the important moments in Russia’s historical and economic process, which came at a critical moment and which -as you will be able to read below- brought some very serious consequences to the country regardless of the good intentions of the reforms. .

what was perestroika

Perestroika was a reform process based on the restructuring of the economy and was promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev, president in the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991.

  • We can say, or summarize, that Perestroika consisted of a series of reforms that began to take shape in the mid-1980s in Russia in order to reactivate its economy, while seeking democratize the political and economic system.
  • The term ‘perestroika’ means ‘restructuring’. Gorbachev wanted to convert to Soviet Union into a new economic power and to leave behind the legacy Stalinist.
  • The main objective of this reform was to be able to get the Soviet economy out of the chaos and stagnation in which it was submerged, introducing greater freedom of enterprise and letting the market act to correct the defects of planning.
  • Another important goal was the decentralization of decision makingin order to be able to derive in a more modern and active market system, at the same time that it was an attempt to avoid corruption.
  • Campaigns were carried out to reduce alcoholism (it was achieved by more than 30%) and reduce work absenteeism.
  • The various regions of the Union had more local autonomy.
  • The truth is that, although the intentions were perhaps good, said reform sank even more to the Soviet Union, which led to the dissolution of the USSR, in addition to affecting the economic, social and political spheres.

Before Perestroika

The Soviet Union came from being immersed in the Cold War. The Cold War was not limited to being a military conflict, but also marked the differences between the capitalist bloc, led by the United States, and the communist bloc, led by the USSR. During this time, the USSR was characterized by no openness to the West and social and economic immobility with socialism as a base.

The Cold War was also an arms and technological race (exemplified, among other things, in the space race) that made a big dent in the Soviet economy. With the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev The General Secretariat of the Communist Party decided to carry out reforms that would change the way of understanding the Soviet economy and society. This is how they arise Glasnost and Perestroika. It was what was called the Revolution of Hopes.

Perestroika, not only economic reforms

Perestroika was not only an attempt to change the Soviet economy globally, but was accompanied by what was called Glasnost, which means “openness” or “transparency”. Glasnost consisted of a series of measures that had nothing to do with the economic sphere, but rather referred to rights and freedoms of the Soviet people and professionals, which translated into greater freedom of expression, freedom of the press and political openness.

Thus, during this period, Soviet policy sought greater collaboration with other countries, relations with the United States were improved, and troops were withdrawn from Iraq. The Soviet Union began to try to open up to the postulates of the democracy and sought to sever relations with socialist regimes in developing countries. That is, during this time an opening of the USSR to the West was sought.

In the social sphere, numerous reforms were carried out related to citizen liberties, such as the right to universal suffrage, or freedom of the press. Strong reprisals against those voices opposed to the reforms were also stopped, dialogue was favored and self-criticism was encouraged within the government.

As was to be expected, both the Perestroika and Glasnost reforms were received with great acceptance by the most progressive sectors, but flatly rejected by the communist factionwhich would end up leading to the total restructuring of what we previously knew as the USSR and the birth of the so-called Russian Federationpresided over by the staunchest opponent of Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin.

The “disaster” of perestroika

The truth is that the reforms applied through perestroika, although with good intentions, ended quite badly and, in fact, the most destructive element was the Company Law that although it intended to make Russia’s economy prosper, it turned against the country, since it annulled all control over resources, so that investment was reduced.

The dismemberment of the USSR into small republics, the creation of its own banks and the granting of unlimited credits caused inflation and total scarcity, interest in money became minimal.

The quality of life that was intended during this process was that citizens have an increasingly better standard of living, the idea was to invest in the inhabitants and stop military investment once and for all. This quality of life never improved due to factors such as lack of regularization in salaries or the release of prices. In fact, a class of rich people whose income did not come from work arose and the number of poor people increased. In 1993, almost a third of the Russian population had incomes that did not guarantee a minimum subsistence level.

Perestroika also affected politically. Yes ok Gorbachev opted to reduce spending on weapons, in addition to withdrawing troops from Afghanistanas well as being more open to the media and to self-criticism.

In August 1991, a failed coup by sectors opposed to Gorbachev’s reforms from the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) showed that the political goals of Perestroika had been overwhelmed. This fact finally consummated the disintegration of the USSR, the fact that Gorbachev resigned from office and that he came to power Boris Yeltsinabandoning communism and becoming president of the newly founded Russian Federation.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the promoter of Perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev He has gone down in history as the president who led one of the most important modern reforms in the USSR, as the Nobel Peace Prize winner and as the president who was in power when the once-almighty Soviet Union broke up.

Gobachev was born in 1931 into a humble peasant family. Very soon he demonstrated his political concerns and leanings by joining the Communist Youth Party when he was only 15 years old. Six years later he would become part of the Communist Party. For years he held positions of increasing importance, including Secretary of Agriculture, until in 1979 he became the Politburo (leader of a communist party) youngest in the USSR at 49 years old.

From his arrival at the general secretariat of the CPSU, Gorbachev begins to carry out a series of reforms, which would become more evident from the year 1985, when Gorbachev lays out his first really serious plan to control the excessive consumption of alcohol.

Gorbachev’s reforms, called Glasnost or Presetroika, were aimed at freedom, reconstruction and economic opening. However, all the changes promoted found great opposition among the most conservative part of the USSR. In relation to this, it is affirmed that important journalists and informers of the conservative nucleus hid key information from the Gorbachev administration, for example during the Chernobyl disaster, an event during which the information that reached the central government was blocked, which is why the official services could not act quickly enough.

In 1990, Gorbachev was awarded the Peace Nobel for his fostering of relations between East and West. However, within the USSR things were different. The perestroika it did not work, the changes did not take place at the expected speed and the economy was plunged into the case, causing the impoverishment of more families. The reluctance of the most communist and conservative sectors was strong, and the result was the appearance of new nationalist groups, which would end up leading to an attempted coup in 1991.

It all ended for Gorbachev in the presidency with the dissolution of the USSR. However, in the years following his resignation, he remained very active in Russian politics, being especially critical of the reforms promoted by his successor, Boris Yeltsin. Much more recently, in 2009, Gorbachev returned to the international scene after meeting with US President Barack Obama, in an attempt to reduce tensions in the relationship between the US and Russia.

Without a doubt, Gorbachev was a political animal who tried to bring the USSR closer to the West, but found strong opposition, precisely because of the fear of change.

Video of Perestroika

We leave you with a documentary about the fall of the USSR in which you can see the paramount importance that Perestroika had, not only in the USSR, but on the current European map.

If you are a history lover and you are especially interested in the past of the Soviet Union, in Overhistory we have many other articles that you will like.