After the rise of the Soviet Union, the United States enacted a post-war economic plan called the Marshall Plan, which offered financial aid to Germany for rebuilding the allied countries of Europe and repelling communism after World War II. The Marshall Plan offered the same aid to the Soviet Union and its allies, if they would make political reforms and accept certain outside controls. Out of fear of having the Soviet Union take advantage of the plan, the Americans made the terms deliberately difficult for the Soviet Union to accept. As a result, the Soviets denounced these actions as imperialistic, and responded by enacting Comecon, or the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. This was an economic organization of 89 communist states and a kind of Eastern Bloc equivalent to—but more inclusive than—the European Economic Community.
During the same time period, a large portion of the so-called "free world" formed NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was intended to be used so that if the USSR and its allies launched an attack against any of the NATO members, it would be treated as if it was an attack on all member states. The Soviet Union responded by forming the Warsaw Pact, which was the equivalent agreement among Communist states. |
Khruschev 1953-1964
Khruschev reversed many of Stalin's policies, and this became known as "Destalinization," and this time period is known as "The Thaw." He ridded the U.S.S.R. of purges. He also eliminated show trials and replaced them with actual court systems. He gave more latitude to the 6 Eastern European states, and in the Thaw allowed more freedom of speech and criticism of Stalin. At the 1956 XX Party Congress, Khruschev announced that Stalin had indeed made many mistakes during his reign. Khruschev tried to reform collectivized agriculture and to shake up the Communist Party in order to remove inefficiency, so the Party forced him out in 1964. The West regards Khruschev as generally unpredictable, especially considering his actions in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Khruschev reversed many of Stalin's policies, and this became known as "Destalinization," and this time period is known as "The Thaw." He ridded the U.S.S.R. of purges. He also eliminated show trials and replaced them with actual court systems. He gave more latitude to the 6 Eastern European states, and in the Thaw allowed more freedom of speech and criticism of Stalin. At the 1956 XX Party Congress, Khruschev announced that Stalin had indeed made many mistakes during his reign. Khruschev tried to reform collectivized agriculture and to shake up the Communist Party in order to remove inefficiency, so the Party forced him out in 1964. The West regards Khruschev as generally unpredictable, especially considering his actions in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Brezhnev 1964-1982
After Khruschev's removal from office, Leonid Brezhnev came to power. He was humorless, colorless, and unimaginative. He brought an end to destalinization. He is also blamed for bringing an era of stagnation to the Soviet Union. Brezhnev is well known for his Brezhnev Doctrine, which promised to intervene if a socialist regime was threatened.
During Brezhnev's reign, in 1968, there was revolution in Czechoslovakia. Alexander Dubcek was elected leader of the communist party, and he called for free press, democracy, and other parties. In this sense he curbed repression, and he advocated "Socialism with a Human Face" - that is, more consumer goods, more rights, and more freedom. However, the Soviets invaded the country in what has become known as the "Prague Spring" and crushed this new government in August 1968.
Under Brezhnev, the United States and the Soviet Union underwent Détente, which was in essence a relaxation of tensions between the two nations. This occurred primarily because both countries recognized the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, or the fact that each nation had enough power to completely obliterate the other. In 1975 both NATO and Warsaw Pact members signed the Helsinki Accords. In these, the West recognized the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, and the Soviets promised to respect civil rights in the occupied territories. In 1977 Czech dissidents, led by poet Vaclav Havel, signed a manifesto called the Charter 77 that demanded human rights, free expression, freedom of religion, and the right to organize. From 1980 until 1989, the Soviet Union battled a Vietnam-like war in Afghanistan.
After Khruschev's removal from office, Leonid Brezhnev came to power. He was humorless, colorless, and unimaginative. He brought an end to destalinization. He is also blamed for bringing an era of stagnation to the Soviet Union. Brezhnev is well known for his Brezhnev Doctrine, which promised to intervene if a socialist regime was threatened.
During Brezhnev's reign, in 1968, there was revolution in Czechoslovakia. Alexander Dubcek was elected leader of the communist party, and he called for free press, democracy, and other parties. In this sense he curbed repression, and he advocated "Socialism with a Human Face" - that is, more consumer goods, more rights, and more freedom. However, the Soviets invaded the country in what has become known as the "Prague Spring" and crushed this new government in August 1968.
Under Brezhnev, the United States and the Soviet Union underwent Détente, which was in essence a relaxation of tensions between the two nations. This occurred primarily because both countries recognized the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, or the fact that each nation had enough power to completely obliterate the other. In 1975 both NATO and Warsaw Pact members signed the Helsinki Accords. In these, the West recognized the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, and the Soviets promised to respect civil rights in the occupied territories. In 1977 Czech dissidents, led by poet Vaclav Havel, signed a manifesto called the Charter 77 that demanded human rights, free expression, freedom of religion, and the right to organize. From 1980 until 1989, the Soviet Union battled a Vietnam-like war in Afghanistan.
Gorbachev 1985-1991
With the Soviet Union on the verge of economic collapse, a young, vigorous, and creative General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev, came to power. Gorbachev created the policy of Glasnost, or "Openness," which allowed criticism of the system, examination of past mistakes, "rehabilitated" victims of the purge, and changed textbooks in the nation. He also implemented Perestroika, or "Economic Restructuring." He decentralized the economy, offered incentives to managers for increased production and quality and allowed them to make more decisions, closed inefficient plants, and allowed peasants to lease their own land. However, these economic policies actually failed, and the situation became increasingly worse. The Soviet Union encountered massive problems in the 1990s, including alcoholism, divorce, a high abortion rate, low life expectancy, and no consumer goods.
With the Soviet Union on the verge of economic collapse, a young, vigorous, and creative General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev, came to power. Gorbachev created the policy of Glasnost, or "Openness," which allowed criticism of the system, examination of past mistakes, "rehabilitated" victims of the purge, and changed textbooks in the nation. He also implemented Perestroika, or "Economic Restructuring." He decentralized the economy, offered incentives to managers for increased production and quality and allowed them to make more decisions, closed inefficient plants, and allowed peasants to lease their own land. However, these economic policies actually failed, and the situation became increasingly worse. The Soviet Union encountered massive problems in the 1990s, including alcoholism, divorce, a high abortion rate, low life expectancy, and no consumer goods.
Revolutions of 1989
In 1989, a number of Soviet states began to revolt against Soviet authority. The spark of it all occured in 1989, when declining conditions in Poland forced Poland to legalize Lech Walesa's "Solidarity" Party. The party won control of the government in a landslide election. Gorbachev then told the Eastern Bloc satellite states that he cannot enforce the Brezhnev Doctrine. As a result, other nations followed Poland's lead. Hungary held elections, relaxed economic controls, and opened its door to the West. The Czechoslovakian communist government collapsed without bloodshed in what has become known as the "Velvet Revolution." In East Germany, Germans flooded to Hungary and then to the West. The Communist leader of East Germany, Honecker, was forced to step down, and the wall was torn down on November 9, 1989. In Romania, Ceacescu, a brutal Stalinist dictator, was executed. |
The Fall of the Soviet Union
The failure of Glasnost and Perestroika to revive the situation in the Soviet Union resulted in its demise. In 1989, the first free elections since 1917 were held for the Soviet Congress. Boris Yeltsin was elected and became the leader of the opposition in the U.S.S.R. In 1990, other parties became officially tolerated, and in June 1991 Yeltsin was elected President of Russia. On August 19 and August 20, 1991, a coup of communist hard-liners occurred while Gorbachev was in the Crimea. Yeltsin faced down the coup on top of a tank in front of the Russian Parliament. On August 24, 1991, the Communist Party was banned in Russia and the KGB dissolved. Lenin statutes were torn down, and the new Russian flag went up. December 31, 1991 marked the end of the Soviet Union. |