Perestroika — “ Restructuring” in Russian. It was a

policy program pioneered by Soviet Premier Mikhail

Gorbachev meant to reform the Soviet economy and

political system. Perestroika, which introduced ele-

ments of a market economy, has been attributed with

hastening the collapse of the USSR.

Glasnost — “ Openness” in Russian. It was a reform

policy introduced by Gorbachev that was meant to re-

duce corruption, loosen restrictions on the media, and

allow more freedom of expression and association.

Mikhail Gorbachev — Gorbachev led the USSR as

General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985

to 1991 and as the first and last President of the Soviet

Union from 1990 until the state’s dissolution in Decem-

ber 1991. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in

1990 for his efforts to end the Cold War.

The USSR in the Gorbachev Era: Perestroika, Glasnost, and Upheaval

The 1980s were a time of great change in the Soviet Union.

The USSR saw the deaths of three of its leaders in quick suc-

cession. The country also found itself embroiled in a pro-

longed war in Afghanistan, which strained the stagnating So-

viet economy. When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed the prem-

iership in 1985, he embarked on a series of reforms that

would bring new freedoms to Soviet citizens and improve rela-

tions with the United States and Western Europe. However,

these events would ultimately result in the dissolution of the

USSR and the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe at

the end of the decade.

Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.

By the 1980s, the Soviet Union faced a number of internal problems. Its

economy had stagnated, its leadership was rapidly aging, and corruption

was eating away at society. A costly war in Afghanistan also complicated

politics at home and abroad.

When Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary at the relatively

youthful age of 54, he recognized the need to modernize the country. He

embarked on a series of reforms, most notably glasnost and perestroika,

which introduced limited free-market policies and reduce restrictions on

freedom of speech.

By the late 1980s, Soviet citizens were eagerly exchanging books, mov-

ies, and music that had previously been banned. The flow of information

ushered in a period of cultural revival and sparked heated public debate

about Soviet history, the atrocities of Joseph Stalin, and the effectiveness

of communism — the founding philosophy of the USSR.

While freedom of speech rapidly opened up society, economic reform

proved sluggish. Perestroika failed to energize the Soviet economy, and

shortages of food and basic items became more commonplace.

In 1989, the Soviet Union held its first relatively free election since the

country’s founding. That same year, communist dictatorships in Poland,

East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and other Eastern European

countries began to collapse. Those events, along with economic discon-

tent, awakened nationalist sentiments throughout the Soviet Union, re-

sulting in its dissolution in 1991.

Updated: June 2017

C L A S S R O O M C O U N T R Y P R O F I L E S

Although Gorbachev enjoyed widespread

goodwill in the West, he became increas-

ingly unpopular in the Soviet Union due to

the worsening economy. He was also

seen as unwilling to fully implement radical

reform, preferring incremental changes to

the political and economic systems.

Economic reform and improved foreign

relations brought new Western brands to

the USSR. McDonald’s, for example,

opened its first restaurant in Moscow in

1990.

The USSR consisted of 15 union repub-

lics, all of which are independent states

today. Three of them — Estonia, Latvia,

and Lithuania — are now members of the

European Union.

The Eastern European countries of the

former Warsaw Pact and the three Baltic

states that gained independence from the

Soviet Union eventually joined the NATO

alliance, much to Moscow’s frustration.

The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989,

allowing East Germans and West Ger-

mans to travel freely across the border

ahead of official reunification in 1990. The

event is remembered as one of the most

powerful symbols of the end of the Cold

War.

Gorbachev’s decision to break with his

predecessors and not use Soviet military

force to keep Eastern European com-

munist regimes in power contributed to the

success of pro-democracy movements in

the late 1980s.

USEFUL LINKS

CIA World Factbook:

BBC Country Page:

National Geographic:

Kyiv Post English

News

Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in the White House.

When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, Cold War tensions ran high.

The Soviet war in Afghanistan and US President Ronald Reagan’s hawkish

stance toward communism and his commitment to increased defense spending

plunged relations between the superpowers to their lowest point in nearly two

decades. However, by the end of the 1980s, a series of diplomatic break-

throughs and reforms inside the Soviet Union would bring the Cold War to an

end and see the development of a new partnership between Moscow and

Washington.

Gorbachev promised a new era of cooperation when he assumed power. Alt-

hough initially skeptical, the United States under Reagan found a willing part-

ner in the new Soviet premier. The two leaders embarked on a series of bilat-

eral negotiations that concluded with agreements to reduce both countries’ nu-

clear weapons stockpiles. In 1988 Reagan visited Moscow, where he reversed

his earlier pronouncement that the USSR was an “evil empire.”

Reagan’s successor, George H.W. Bush, began his presidency skeptical of the

warming relations between the US and the USSR. However, Bush and Gorba-

chev quickly developed a rapport and continued efforts to improve relations

and sign arms reduction treaties. When the USSR began to crumble, Bush

turned his attention to Boris Yeltsin, the charismatic opposition politician who

would lead Russia to independence.

When revolutions broke out in the communist countries of Eastern Europe in

1989, Gorbachev chose not to intervene with military force. The regimes soon

crumbled, and the former Soviet satellites held democratic elections that

brought new leaders to power. Although Gorbachev opposed NATO member-

ship for a unified Germany, the USSR did not interfere when the Berlin Wall fell

in 1989 and West Germany absorbed the formerly communist East Germany.

Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs

CL ASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES

More resources for educators are available

on the Henry M. Jackson School of International

Studies website.

What led to the collapse of the Soviet Union

in 1991? Was its demise preventable? If so,

what could Gorbachev have done?

Was the dissolution of the Soviet Union a

good or a bad thing? Discuss the pros and

cons of independence for the 15 union re-

publics.

Instruct students to imagine themselves as

Soviet citizens in the 1980s. Ask them to ex-

plain how their lives changed between Gor-

bachev’s rise to power and the August coup

of 1991.

Schmemann, Serge. “The Soviet State, Born

of a Dream, Dies.” The New York Times. 26

December 1991. Available: http://

www.nytimes.com/1991/12/26/world/end-of-

the-soviet-union-the-soviet-state-born-of-a-

dream-dies.html

“Glasnost and Perestroika” — video by Cur-

riculum Bites from the BBC. Available:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=S9XtYPy4kM8

BOOK

USEFUL LINKS

CIA World Factbook:

BBC Country Page:

National Geographic:

Kyiv Post English

News

Russian independence leader Boris Yeltsin stands atop a tank in Moscow as a show of resistance against an attempted coup by Soviet hardliners.

By 1991 the Soviet Union was facing growing internal turmoil. The demise of

communist regimes in countries bordering the Soviet Union gave momentum

to independence groups in the USSR’s 15 republics. Gorbachev’s attempts to

bring democratic reform to the Soviet Union and to establish a new treaty that

would decentralize power to the republics alarmed hardline members of the

Communist Party.

On August 19, 1991, a group of hardliners locked Gorbachev in his vacation

home on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Explaining that he had fallen ill,

the hardliners hoped to take control of the Soviet Union and suspend Gorba-

chev’s reforms. The attempted coup quickly collapsed in the face of civil re-

sistance and poor organization, and Gorbachev was set free. However, the

failed coup served to signal the growing weakness of the Soviet state and to

speed up the forces that would unravel the Soviet Union.

A few months later, the leaders of the Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian re-

publics met in Belarus where they signed a document declaring that the Soviet

Union had ceased to exist and formed a loose alliance called the Common-

wealth of Independent States. On December 25, 1991, sensing he had lost

control of his country, Gorbachev announced his resignation as president and

handed over power to Boris Yeltsin.

The Gorbachev era gave new freedoms to Soviet citizens and brought the

Cold War to a peaceful conclusion, but in the process the USSR collapsed and

the 15 independent states that emerged set out on an uncertain path.

Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs

CL ASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES

Gorbachev announces his resignation on Soviet television on December 25, 1991.

More resources for educators are available

on the Henry M. Jackson School of International

Studies website.