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Stalin also put the production of what he called
production goods such as manufacturing machinery over basic consumer goods such
as clothes and other staples. During this period the Second World War broke out
and drained most of what was left of the already impoverished state. Yet after
the war national unity was strengthened as well is the Soviet military machine.
The Soviet Union became a super power, the U.S. being the only country more
powerful than it. After the death of Stalin in 1953 Nikita Khrushchev became
First Secretary of the Communist party. Stalin's death marked the end of supreme
power for the head of the party, and Khrushchev condemned Stalin's actions as
unnecessary and harmful to the process of moving the Socialist government to
it's goal of pure Communism. During this period the public was given a say in
the government, albeit an extremely minor one, and the judicial system eased
it's aggressiveness allowing a defendant a better chance of defending
themselves.
Khrushchev concerned himself with bettering the plight of the
individual, attempting to increase the supply of food and making goods such as
home appliances, making automobiles somewhat available, and providing more
housing. A new policy of efficiency and quality control was brought in.
Leadership was somewhat decentralized to allow common managers and directors
more power to run their production units. Although Krushchev started a process
of slight reform he was dismissed due to in part a massive shortage of grain and
dairy products, and the fact that he had started to seize more power and His
efforts to streamline party organizations produced chaos and conflict among
party administrators. He was also blamed for the Russia defeat during the Cuban
Missile Crisis, and of not accomplishing anything toward the reunification of
Germany under East German rule. After the ousting of Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev
became the Soviet Communist Party Secretary General in October of 1964. Under
his administration the majority of the decentralization of power was destroyed
bringing a centralized form of control back into effect. Krushchev's denouncing
of Stalin's policies was criticized and slowly some of Stalin's political
disciplinary policies were restored. Stalin was named a war hero. There began an
outright attack on dissidents from the literary and scientific community. During
this time there was an inefficient use land, labour and resources which resulted
in an economic slackening. In this time what was supposed to ultimately be a
classless society became classed as bureaucrats were paid for loyalty with
material wealth, allowing them a better standard of living, because of this
public interests were placed secondary to personal gain.
The 1980's saw a
dramatic drop in the Soviet citizens already impoverished standard of living.
This caused strikes and public outcry against the administration which
threatened the stability of the Soviet Union. The people were angry at the fact
that the Communist Party had not lived up to what it had promised which was in
return for their obedience they would receive employment, free health care, and
a level of comfort. March 1985 marks a turning point in the Communist rule of
Russia. Mikhail Gorbachev is elevated to the position of General Secretary. He
is aware of the current social upheaval occurring and that change must occur if
Communism is to survive. He begins a program called Perestroika which was the
organizational restructuring of the Soviet economy and government apparatus.
Gorbachev discovers that this change will depend on other changes, among others
a more tolerant and open political environment , more public influence over
governmental and military institutions. This called for major long term change
of the political system. He began a policy called Glasnost which emphasized
openness with regard to discussion of social problems and shortcomings. The
purpose of these reforms was to elevate the Soviet standard of living in order
to reaffirm the citizenry's loyalties to the Communist party and to enable the
rebirth of the Soviet economy and ideal.
State control was lo! osened and
individual initiative encouraged. He expanded the authority of the Soviet
presidency and transferred power from the Communist party to popularly elected
legislatures in the union republics. In international affairs, he withdrew
Soviet troops from Afghanistan, normalized relations with China, signed a series
of arms control agreements with U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
During this period of change strong Nationalistic opinion started in the
republics of the Soviet Union causing major upheaval. In 1991, as the Soviet
economy deteriorated, Gorbachev faced competing pressures from hard-line
Communists, from free-market reformers, and from nationalists and secessionists
seeking independence for their republics. The hard-liners, who included many top
government officials, staged a coup in August, placing Gorbachev under house
arrest, but within three days the reformers had restored Gorbachev to power. He
immediately resigned as Communist party general se! cretary, suspended party
activities, and placed reformers in charge of the military and KGB. After
allowing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to become independent republics.
Nationalist forces became stronger in the republics as the year went on. The
USSR voted itself out of existence in December 1991, and Gorbachev resigned his
position as president of the USSR.
Under the Communist Regime there
were immense social problems. In the period before Gorbachev all religion was
dismissed. Although the citizens were still allowed to practice their religion
it was made extremely difficult for them by the government and the official
attitude towards religion was that it was a relic of the past and Atheism was
encouraged. There was a substantial amount of alcoholism mostly due to the
living and working conditions. There was also a substantial amount of crime.
There was extreme discrimination against women. There was a strong sexist
attitude and women found it hard to find decent employment, and most women were
expected to also take care of household duties as well. Women were also very
scarce in government. Relations among the different ethic grouped which lived
within the Soviet Union were very tense and sometimes openly hostile. The fact
that the Russian language was the language in which all political transactions
had to occur in and it was encouraged to be learnt, with the purpose of trying
to make a single Soviet culture made this tension even stronger. The education
system in the Soviet Union also caused tension because it was set up around a
motive to teach students to be obedient to the Communist Party and to be Atheist
among other things.
Also students were assigned jobs when they graduated and
this caused considerable stress on them because they had to take the job
assigned to them, and if it was an undesirable one it could ruin their chances
for advancement in the future. This was such a tense issue that graduates were
sometimes prone to commit suicide. The health care system was under funded. Most
hospitals were under staffed and the equipment was outdated, medical supplies
were also scarce. This lead to the gradual decrease of the life expectancy of a
citizen. Poor standards of sanitation and public hygiene lead to an increased
annual death rate and a drop in the birth rate. All of these factors in a way,
lead to the disintegration of the Communist Regime, taking into account all of
the social problems and the years of mismanagement of the countries resources,
we can see why the economy slowed and citizen support for the government
diminished.
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