Mikhail gorbachev cold war glasnost
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Perestroika and Glasnost
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Subject essay: Lewis Siegelbaum
“Perestroika” (restructuring) and “glasnost” (openness) were Mikhail Gorbachev’s watchwords for the renovation of the Soviet body politic and kultur that he pursued as general sekreterare of the Communist Party from 1985 until 1991. Neither begrepp was new to Soviet rhetoric. Stalin occasionally had used them as had his successors. The word glasnost actually appeared in Article 9 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution although without any practical application. Both terms can be found in Gorbachev’s speeches and writings as early as the mid-1970s. But it was in a speech of December 1984, four months before his elevation to the general secretaryship, where Gorbachev first identified them — and a third term, “uskorenie” (acceleration) — as key themes. Uskorenie, with its unfortunate connotations of working faster, fell by the waysi
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The end of the Cold WarThe role of Gorbachev
Gorbachev wanted to radically reform how the USSR was governed, how it operated and how it co-operated with foreign countries. He introduced the policies of glasnost and perestroika in an attempt to improve relations with the West and the state of the Soviet economy.
Glasnost was an attempt to be more ‘open’ in dealing with the West. Gorbachev encouraged people to be more honest when talking about politics.
He supported greater freedom of speech and wanted communist politicians to take criticism on board, look to make changes and stamp out corruption.
The policy of perestroika
Perestroika was an attempt to modernise and ‘rebuild’ the Soviet state.
Gorbachev realised military spending had to be reduced and this meant ending the arms race with the USA.
Government reports had also informed him that more small businesses were needed if the economy was to survive.
The Cold War had begun because each side had
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