-
Period: to
25% GNP
military spending on programme
1964-1982- during brezhnev era
wanted to bridge gaap between ussr and usa
after the cmc- ussr realise that they need huge develop -
poor harvest ussr 1972 and 75
they had to become reliant on the usa for grain imports esp as the pop were growing at fast rate -
1973 petroleum crisis
the whole world was suffering from this crisis but ussr do to insufficient planning and management failed to make use of this crisis and rise the oil prices which would have greatly benefited their economy -
1975 ussr crop failure
had to rise imports from usa make sure that their own people do not starve -
Apollo soyuz test project
was a joint venture between ussr and usa
1975 1st international partnership
lasted 9 days
carried out 5 joint experiments and exchanges commemorative items -
GNP of ussr 1980-85 1.1%- while USA 2.6%
in the 70s it was quite synchronised with usa- at a level of 3% but in 50s it was higher with 5-6% growth.
showed the economic problems that gorb had inherited and the probs -
beriozkas
they were two chain stores that allowed the ussr to recevie hard currency, gave foreignr opport to buy sov goods caviar and vodka and gave sov resdnt oppr to trade hard currency for checks to buy foreign goods like philips tvs and casettes -
brezhnev died nov 1982
alot of discontent and criticism, this was allowed even more so due to hand held copying machines -
Military spending ussr
they were spending 15-20% of their annual gdp on military even during detente- this increased to even higher nbs when fears over sdi in 1983 -
usa militry spend 5% of gdp
during detente which was signif lower than that of ussr 15-20% -
sdi
reagan tell militr, science and tech indiv that usa come up wth initiative to get rid of nukes
thought that defence against icbms possible and tis would encrg ussr to reduce stockpile of weapons
SDI would destroy nukes in space before reaching target
nothing more than an idea- impsb to build
drove paranoia in ussr -
yuri andropov
took office from 1982 following brezhnevs death and died in 1984 -
Konstantin chernenko
took to office following yuri andropovs death in 194 but then he too died in 1985 -
Mikhail gorbachev power
he was alot younger than previous leaders(gynocracy, country led by old people) and so he was popular- he had different outlooks and plans he wanted to revitalise economy, the living standars in ussr signif lower than those in west, shows that socialsm not working -
gorbch econ policy
he wanted to reform the policies inorder to beat the economic and social stagnation that the ussr were dealing with unnder brezhnev
this was blocked by communist hardliners-feared a shift to communist -
econ probs in ussr down to
alcoholism- meant alot of injuries at work, absenteeism, missing lots of day of work, low productivity
lack of foreign invstmnt- state too involved
no creativity or innovation
inflation not in line with wages, lots of strikes and unrest
gorbch crack down on alchl, rise the price, arrest drunks in publ, limit times to sell alch- solve absenteeism and up productivity -
PERESTROIKA 1985
social reforms, improve economic performance and struct- but not dismantle complet
decentralis planning- more freedom and self managmnt- state still in charge tho
mangrs in charge no interf from GOSPLAN
end state price controls
perestrk- fixed sovs econ hardships but also 'NEW THINKING' attracted foreign invstmnt -
things draining sov econ
material support to east eu- too costly- more of a burden and nuissance
the boycotting of moscow olympics
trade embargoes and sanctions due to afgh
afghn war- very costly
nuke armament through roof due to fears surrounding SDI -
'new thinking'
huge arsenal does not = safety
cold war needs to end
econ and social policies= safety
securit comes from world cooperation, tried to integrate sov into global structure and reduce cold war tensions -
Geneva summit 1985 nov
both reject agressn openly
saw 3000 journalist cover the summit
thought they would cut offensive weapons by 50%
gorb 'reasonable sufficiency'- maintain only nukes deemed reasonable and sufficient
shift back to negotiaition rather than confrontation
1st time that a soviet leadr excepts huge cuts without demanding the same from usa
made agrmnt on intermediate nuclear forces
SDI continue cause tension - usa defensive, ussr seen as way put offensv wpn into space -
brzhnv doctrine abandoned
satellite states going through same probs as ussr
gorb make clear he will not intervene- encrg perestroika and glasnost
east eu states unhappy threat of military intervention was alaways there but it provided them support and knowledge that ussr would intervene to uphold their regime -
GLASNOST- openness
led to re-exam of past and actions, collectvstn and party purges
those persecuted by stln- rehabilitated-
openness esp after chhernobyl disaster in 1986- gov initl try suppress news, but reports from sweden about hugh lvls of radiation in air
forcd to make public -
Reykjavik summit oct 1986
In iceland
reagan will get rid of all nukes, but gorb thought sdi should be gone too, no agrmnt till thats done, but reag unwilling get rid of sdi
discussed huan rights and humanitarian issues but there were no concrete agreements -
Reagan quote about reykjavik summit
I realised that gorbachev brought me to Iceland with one purpose: kill the SDI' and that made me angry -
poland
jaruleski- reconcile with solidarity- outlawed them in 1981 and placed martial law
now remove martial lawz in sep 1986- political amnesty for ldrs and those involved
this coincided with econ downturn for poland, more strikes due to inflation , due to policy of glasnost and perest ppl free to critique- gov not allowed to suppress, had to work with people to resolve probs -
washington summit 1987 dec
INFsigned - rid of all missiles between 500-5500Km - all to be destroyed by june 1991
ussr rid of 1846 intermed range ballistic missiles while usa 846
gorb declare that ussr removal from afghanistan by 1989
ussr more weapon bcuz they were less powerful
1st time they both agree removal whole class of weapons
ussr made deal without asking to remove idea of SDI- realised it was never going to materialise -
INF 1987
intermediate range nuclear forces- took place ein washington
first ever treaty to eliminate an entire class of weapons -
comecon made obsolete 1988
ussr realise cannot continue giving east eu cheap raw materials and trade benefits- toll on ussr
moved away from centralised planning- which rendered comecon useless- many east eu states were moving towards market based econ -
gosplan was the state planning comittee
useless parts were eliminated - get rid of corruption and redundancy -
61 joint ventures ussr-usa
under gorbachev perestroika and glasnost policies, the ussr and usa had 61 joint venures including in technology and natural resources by 1988 -
failure alcohol polciies
it was good in that it got productivity up and increased life expectancy's, alcohol consumption decreased by 40%
but this had a toll on the revenue which had 15% relying on alcohol production and it also allowed the black market to boom
cost 100bill rubles, in taxes -
Moscow summit
may-june 1988
goal- agree to START- limit nuke to 5000 each side
no headway on start- instead the focus was on human rights- where 7 treaties were signed, student exchange and fishing programmes
vry important gave reagan to sov ppl, spome to students at moscow uni, gave vision of a free ussr with no totalitarian regime, resonated with listeners
journalist asked if he still consid evil emp, he said no diff time another era -
george bush in 1989 in office
inorder fofr the cold war to end - usa need gorbachev to be in power, lead relations and cooperation, usa to do nothing to undermine the stability of his position as ldr -
poland become multi party state
1989- coalition gov dominated by solidarity -
pol politics
moved towards represent in gov
allowed ppl to run and vote- solidarity reprsnt in gov
in the sejm- lower house 35% of seats were freely elected as to maintain the comm majority- sovs pleased
won 92 out of 100 seats in senate
wont 160 out of 161 seats in compete for diet- parlament
many refuse to vote for diet unless solidarity represented
lech walesa- ldr of soldrty- 1989 7 aug- demand gov led by solidarity- approved by ussr within 2 weeks -
april 1989 sov withdrawl forces out hungary
agreed to be done by 1991 -
Hungary open borders
proces sof more reforms after janos kadar resigned- more reforms implmnt by new ldr- nemelm
open brd with austria- influx of east ger- failures of comm
thought that is HSWP- hung social wrk party most pop- win outright- allowed electrions- move away from comm, elect moved hung to democracy
made a trade deal worth 1bill deutschamrk loan west ger- econ reforms which then allowed for the political reforms too