GORBACHEV AND PERESTROIKA

GORBACHEV AND PERESTROIKA

GORBACHEV AND PERESTROIKA Edited by Martin McCauley Senior Lecturer in Soviet and East European Studies School of Slavonic and East European Studies University of London Palgrave Macmillan

School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, 1990 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1990 All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 First published in the United States of America in 1990 ISBN 978-0-333-52595-1 ISBN 978-1-349-20726-8 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20726-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gorbachev and Perestroika/edited by Martin McCauley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-312-04510-4 1. Soviet Union-Politics and government-1985-congresses. 2. Perestroika-Congress. I. McCauley, Martin. DK286.5.G656 1990 947.085'4-dc20 89-70320 CIP

In memoriam Levenna Anderson McCauley 1 July 1904-26 April 1989

Contents List of Tables Preface Notes on the Contributors viii ix xi Introduction 1 Martin McCauley 1 Perestroika and the Party 13 Elizabeth Teague 2 The Politics of Soviet History, 1985-8 30 R. W. Davies 3 Industry 49 Philip Hanson 4 Agriculture 70 Karl-Eugen Wiidekin 5 Foreign Trade 96 Michael Kaser and Michael Maltby 6 Employment 106 Alastair McAuley 7 The Socialist Legal State 116 Nick Lampert 8 Nationalities 135 Bohdan Nahaylo 9 Perestroika and the Soviet Armed Forces 154 Stephen Dalziel 10 Foreign Policy 169 Margot Light 11 The Arts 189 Julian Graffy Bibliography 208 Index 215 vii

List of Tables 3.1 Soviet economic growth since 1965 63 3.2 Price distortions and money supply pressures in the USSR: some numbers 66 4.1 Official indices of gross output of agriculture, 1981-7 82 4.2 Output of main non-grain crops, 1976-87 83 4.3 Soviet grain output, 1976-88 85 4.4 Animal numbers, feed consumption and animal production 1975-88 87 4.5 Private livestock holdings (million head at beginning of year) and individual land use (thous. ha.) 1975-87 89 4.6 Percentage shares of private herds at beginning of year and of meat, milk and wool output, 1975-88 90 5.1 Volume of Soviet foreign trade, 1983-7 97 5.2 Soviet foreign trade, 1985-8 98 5.3 USSR terms oftrade, 1983-7 98 viii

Preface At the conclusion of Mikhail Gorbachev's first offical visit to the United Kingdom on 7 April 1989 he was seen by many as the world's number one statesman. He brought to a long-suffering world a vision of hope and of a better tomorrow. He spoke of his dream of a nonnuclear world by the year 2000 and a common European home. The transformation of his image and that of the Soviet Union since he became Communist Party leader in March 1985 was nothing short of breathtaking. Yet his standing abroad was in sharp contrast to his position at home. After four years, perestroika had failed to produce a tangible improvement in Soviet living standards. The old problems of food and housing continued to dominate most people's minds. Opposition to restructuring surfaced among those who judged that Gorbachev's radical revolution could cost them dear: middle- and lower-level bureaucrats, workers, Russian nationalists and those who wanted a quiet life. Most of the chapters in this book consider the first four years of perestroika. However, this survey does not claim to be comprehensive; nevertheless it should provide the reader with an in-depth analysis of the most stunning political, economic and social experiment in the Soviet Union since 1929. It is still too early to judge whether the great experiment has succeeded or failed. What is striking is the gulf which has emerged between foreign and domestic achievements. Whatever the outcome, the Soviet Union will never again revert to its pre-1985 condition, and some of the attempts to move towards a more democratic political culture have put down permanent roots. Gorbachev has perceived that unless restructuring succeeds, the Communist Party will gradually lose control of the country. Everyone, within the Soviet Union and outside it, will be touched by the outcome of the epic struggle now under way. Most of the chapters were originally delivered at a conference on 7-8 July 1988 at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London. They have been updated to take into consideration later events. Other chapters were specially commissioned for the book. Professor R. W. Davies's chapter originally appeared in ix

x Preface his own Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution, published in 1989. Special thanks are due to those who presented papers at the conference, but also to those who contributed from the floor to make it such a rewarding and stimulating experience. Warm thanks are also due to Professor M. A. Branch, Director of the School, and his administrative staff, especially Philip Robinson. Jacek Rostowski's helpful comments on a preliminary draft of the Introduction are also appreciated. Finally, gratitude is due to the Ford and Nuffield Foundations without whose generous financial support the conference could not have taken place. MARTIN MCCAULEY

Notes on the Contributors Stephen Dalziel works for the Research Department of the BBC World Service, and previously was at the Soviet Studies Centre, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. R. W. Davies is Emeritus Professor of Soviet Economic Studies at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of many works on Soviet history and his most recent book is Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution. Julian Graffy is Lecturer in Russian Language and Literature at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London. He is co-editor of Culture and the Media in the USSR Today. Philip Hanson is Professor of Soviet Economics at the University of Birmingham, and the author of many books and articles, including Trade and Technology in Soviet-Western Relations. Michael Kaser is a Professorial Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. He is the author of many books and articles on Soviet and East European economics. Nick Lampert is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Birmingham. Among his recent publications is Whistleblowing in the Soviet Union: Complaints and Abuse under State Socialism. Margot Light is Lecturer in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has written widely on Soviet foreign policy and among her books is The Soviet Theory of International Politics. Alastair McAuley is Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Essex. Among his publications is Women's Work and Wages in the Soviet Union. xi

XII Notes on the Contributors Martin McCauley is Senior Lecturer in Soviet and East European Studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London. Among his recent publications is The Soviet Union under Gorbachev, which he edited. Michael Maltby is on the staff of Barclay's Bank, and was formerly a research student at St Antony's College, Oxford. Bohdan Nahaylo is senior research analyst on the staff of Radio Liberty, Munich. He is co-author of Soviet Disunion: A History o/the Nationalities Problem in the USSR. Elizabeth Teague is on the staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Munich. She is the author of Solidarity and the Soviet Worker. Karl-Eugen Wadekin is Professor Emeritus of Soviet, East European and International Agrarian Policy at the University of Giessen, West Germany. His many publications include Agrarian Policies in Communist Europe.