More than thirty years have passed since the great country of the USSR was headed by Gorbachev. His main thesis “new political thinking” is now an anachronism, incomprehensible to the younger generation. But this phrase was perceived by the population of the Union very positively. People thirsted for change, he was impressed by M. S. Gorbachev, who compares favorably with the rest of the party elite. And what came of it, everyone sees with their own eyes in real life.
Background
To understand why the concept of new political thinking was positively received by the people, we should study the current political situation. It can be briefly described as follows:
- The world is divided into parts.
- Its development is based on the opposition of two systems: capitalist and socialist.
- People on the planet profess different value systems, which is unnatural.
- But our space has a tendency toward unification, called globalization.
Inside the country, people experienced some dissatisfaction with the elite caused by the unfair redistribution of resources. The Soviet government was forced to spend a lot of money on the defense of the state, support for conditional allies, to the detriment of the development of industries oriented to the consumer market. The population looked enviously at the quality and quantity of goods in Western countries. The leadership of the USSR could not or did not want to organize such an abundance for its citizens.
New political thinking is change
The essence of the idea was as follows. Until the mid-twentieth century, mankind developed within the regions. Each had their own ideology, values, material resources. But civilization cannot freeze in one position, it is dynamic. Therefore, the time has come for global change. M. S. Gorbachev proposed the idea of priority of universal values over the rest, that is, class, state, national and others. All of humanity is a single organism, why divide it into parts? Considering that the propaganda of Western values was successful by then, the Soviet public was very enthusiastic about the logic of the Secretary General. People believed that the new political thinking is the opening of borders, freedom of travel, new technologies and products that people will use without restrictions. Many were impressed by the idea of freedom of speech, understood in the sense that it would be possible to speak out in any way. The fact is that a stagnant, obsolete ideology was cultivated in the USSR, which was dangerous to criticize. People strove for a different structure of society, without thinking how much effort and resources would be required for perestroika.
Basic principles
It should be noted that the concept of new political thinking completely broke the foundations of the world order indicated above. The system probably really became regressive, did not contribute to the development of mankind. Scientists and political scientists are arguing about this now. We only state that the basic principles of the new ideology boiled down to the following:
- the world should be recognized as single and interdependent, abandoning the division into two camps;
- a universal way of resolving international issues recognized the balance of interests (rather than forces, as before);
- the principle of proletarian internationalism must be abandoned, replacing it with the priority of universal values.
As you see, the new political thinking is a complete revolution in the perception of the planet not only by representatives of the socialist system, but also by the capitalist one. The camp of countries led by the USSR was opened to former competitors. At the leadership level, all prohibitions were lifted, the principles of interaction with other countries and societies were completely changed. Simply put, the achievements of new political thinking boiled down to the fact that now there are no warring parties on the planet. All countries must build relationships based on a balance of interests.
Restructuring briefly
The idea announced by Gorbachev looked very attractive and beautiful. In his book on this subject, he promised that the state would not retreat from the fundamental principles of Soviet power. All social principles will be preserved. But in order for the country to compete with its neighbors on the planet, it is necessary to seriously change the economy. Perestroika (briefly) consisted in the need to change the political course. For this:
- create a different legislative framework;
- introduce new, young, progressive specialists into the management team;
- rebuild the production control system.
That is, a planned economy should be replaced by a market economy. And this meant that the USSR would no longer have priorities in trade and economic relations. Previously, relations were built mainly with the countries of the socialist camp. Now all partners were declared equal. Relations with each were regulated only by mutual interests.
Change of ideology
Surely the reader knows: in the USSR there was a clear and strict system of historical and ideological priorities. The population was brought up on the ideals of revolution, social justice, the idea of confrontation with the capitalist system. A historical theory was built, which freely interpreted factology, hiding undesirable episodes from the past state. Gorbachev's new political thinking freed the country from these peculiar fetters. This led to a rethinking of the past. The previously concealed historical facts began to be pulled into the world and introduced in every possible way into the mass consciousness. Political and cultural figures rehabilitated, new programs appeared, political scientists, correspondents. The country is getting used to publicity. Gorbachev spoke a lot about her, emphasizing that we do not intend to hide anything more. However, not everyone in the political elite supported this direction of the country's development.
Split
In 1987, Yeltsin spoke against Gorbachev at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Then he served as secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. Almost no one understood the essence of his speech. Party comrades condemned his behavior, which is not the norm, for the then nomenclature and lost his post. However, as time has shown, Yeltsin turned out to be a very visionary politician. Realizing that serious upheavals awaited the country, he went into opposition, as they say today. The ideas of new political thinking in that period split into radical (Yeltsin) and conservative (Ligachev). These two camps fiercely fought among themselves for influence on the masses. In this state, the country entered a period of democratization. The political system based on the hegemony of one party was broken and rebuilt. New social movements arose. But this was not yet a complete multi-party system. The leadership of the CPSU was officially abandoned. The power was transferred to local authorities. The USSR Armed Forces proposed nominating candidates from trade unions, public organizations, and the Komsomol. That is, they gradually led society to a more flexible multi-party system.
Changes in foreign policy
Perestroika in the country quite seriously shook the attitude towards it all over the world. On the one hand, “civilized humanity” welcomed these processes. The policy of new political thinking by partners was perceived as the end of Soviet pressure on the allies. Indeed, earlier it was necessary to coordinate any more or less important decision with Moscow. Western countries spoke of the triumph of democracy, considering the USSR a totalitarian and backward state. On the other hand, the liberalization of the economy of our country allowed global corporations to use resources that were previously inaccessible to them. The country's leadership did not prevent this. Gorbachev sincerely believed that this would be better for the population. With vast experience, corporations will come to the country and build enterprises - he broadcast at meetings and congresses. Foreign policy was radically rebuilt. The new political thinking of Mikhail Sergeyevich affected primarily the countries of the socialist camp. They felt that the Kremlin’s hand was weakened and stretched to the West.
The popularity of M. S. Gorbachev
A few words should be said about the reason for the success of this leader. He demonstrated to the people previously unprecedented democracy. He walked the streets, looked into shops, talked with ordinary people. Earlier, the general secretaries did not behave like that. They were some celestials, according to ordinary citizens. Mikhail Sergeyevich did not consider it shameful or embarrassing to travel across the country to explain to people the essence of the new political thinking. This bribed naive people as a whole. They did not understand that they were leading to a great catastrophe. But is it worth it to condemn those who have lived in “greenhouse conditions” for a long time. In the USSR, the state made sure that people had shelter and food. Let not as beautiful as in the West, but in abundance and for everyone.
“One hundred varieties of sausage”
It is impossible to talk about perestroika and not to recall this popular thesis. It turned out to be so tenacious that it is remembered today when discussing this topic. The fact is that in the USSR it was very difficult with food. To buy meat, had to stand long hours. And Gorbachev promised that new political thinking would help rectify the situation. Each store will have "one hundred varieties of sausages." Incidentally, he was right. Today in supermarkets there is everything that your heart desires. But have people become happier? And did the people agree to perestroika if they understood what they would have to go through.
The Results of New Thinking
The most terrible (in other opinion progressive) result of changes was the collapse of the Union. Fifteen republics gained independence. Political scientists are still breaking spears on how and why this was made possible. Some call Gorbachev a traitor, others say that he was one hundred percent right. This is called political pluralism. No one can forbid to think and broadcast. People really got freedom of speech, while losing a powerful, great power.
International Results
Unfortunately, new states and hot spots appeared on the world map. Until now, the collective west is confident that it has triumphed over the USSR in the Cold War, opposing ideologies. New thinking has led the whole world (including North Korea) to become capitalistic. In addition, Soviet troops were withdrawn from Eastern Europe. This was done swiftly, thoughtlessly. Millions of citizens were suddenly left without income and the opportunity to find work. For Europe, one of the main results was the reunification of Germany, to which the leadership of the Union agreed without any conditions. The new policy suggested that there is no one to quarrel with, the whole world is one. The division of the political space of the planet led to the fact that the collective West absorbed the countries of Eastern Europe, starting their collapse. Yugoslavia was the first to suffer, undergoing NATO aggression.
