148-505: The history of the Soviet Union from 1982 through 1991 spans the period from the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev 's death until the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Due to the years of Soviet military buildup at the expense of domestic development, and complex systemic problems in the command economy, Soviet output stagnated. Failed attempts at reform, a standstill economy, and the success of
296-564: A "system change"–jettisoning Communism altogether in favour of a market economy. By the summer of 1989, it was clear that the MSZMP was no longer a Marxist-Leninist party. In June, a four-man executive presidency replaced the Politburo. Three of its four members–Nemeth, Pozsgay and Nyers–came from the radical reform faction, with Nyers becoming party president. Grósz retained his title of general secretary, but Nyers now outranked him–effectively making Nyers
444-588: A 1983 visit to Hungary, Soviet leader Yuri Andropov expressed interest in adopting some of the country's economic reforms in the Soviet Union. Hungary remained committed to a pro-Soviet foreign policy and openly criticized US president Ronald Reagan 's deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe. In a speech to the CPH's youth organization in 1981, Kádár said "The forces of capitalism are trying to distract attention from their mounting social problems by stepping up
592-515: A 28 victory-scoring flying ace of the World War II Royal Hungarian Air Force , who had voluntarily returned from US captivity to help revive Hungarian aviation. The victims were cleared posthumously following the fall of communism. Rákosi grossly mismanaged the economy and the people of Hungary saw living standards fall rapidly. His government became increasingly unpopular, and when Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Mátyás Rákosi
740-452: A Western-style democracy was one of the smoothest among the former Soviet bloc. By late 1988, activists within the party and bureaucracy and Budapest-based intellectuals were increasing pressure for change. Some of these became reformist social democrats, while others began movements which were to develop into parties. Young liberals formed the Federation of Young Democrats (Fidesz). A core from
888-524: A brave decision to meet a Western provocation. Together with its low credibility explanation in 1986 of the meltdown of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, the episode demonstrated an inability to deal with public relations crises; the propaganda system was only aimed at people who already were committed friends of the Soviet Union. Both crises were escalated by technological and organizational failures, compounded by human error. US−Soviet relations deteriorated rapidly especially after March 1983, when Reagan dubbed
1036-415: A civilian jet liner, Korean Air Flight KAL-007 , which carried 269 passengers and crew. It had strayed over the Soviet Union on 1 September 1983 on its scheduled route from Anchorage, Alaska, to Seoul, South Korea. The Soviet system was unprepared to deal with a civilian airliner, and the shooting down was a matter of following orders without question. Instead of admitting an accident, Soviet media proclaimed
1184-581: A compromise for reducing nuclear missiles in Europe on both sides that was ultimately ignored by the Politburo. Kvitsinsky would later write that, despite his own efforts, the Soviet leadership was not interested in compromise, instead calculating that peace movements in the West would force the Americans to capitulate. On 8 March 1983, during Andropov's reign as General Secretary, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously labeled
1332-461: A continued high military budget. Aged 68, Andropov was the oldest person ever appointed as General Secretary. Andropov began a thorough house-cleaning throughout the party and state bureaucracy, a decision made easy by the fact that the Central Committee had an average age of 69. He replaced more than one-fifth of the Soviet ministers and regional party first secretaries and more than one-third of
1480-741: A coup and concluded that "the coup in Hungary is Russia's answer to our actions in Greece and Turkey", referring to US military intervention in the Greek Civil War and the building of US military bases in Turkey pursuant to the Truman Doctrine . Rákosi complied by pressuring the other parties to push out those members not willing to do the Communists' bidding, ostensibly because they were "fascists". Later on, after
1628-418: A general amnesty, gradually curbed some of the excesses of the secret police, and introduced a relatively liberal cultural and economic course aimed at overcoming the post-1956 hostility towards him and his regime. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1961. In 1966, the Central Committee approved the " New Economic Mechanism ", which moved away from a strictly planned economy towards a system more reminiscent of
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#17328849550601776-692: A nationwide popular uprising in October–November 1956 known as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , which was the largest single act of dissent in the history of the Eastern Bloc. After initially allowing the Revolution to run its course, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops and tanks to crush the opposition and install a new Soviet-controlled government under János Kádár , killing thousands of Hungarians and driving hundreds of thousands into exile. By
1924-572: A nominee of the Hungarian Communist Party . Communist Interior Minister László Rajk established the ÁVH secret police, in an effort to suppress political opposition through intimidation, false accusations, imprisonment and torture. In early 1947, the Soviet Union pressed the leader of the Hungarian Communists, Mátyás Rákosi , to take a "line of more pronounced class struggle". American observers likened communist machinations to
2072-598: A power struggle in which Nikita Khrushchev after several years emerged victorious against Georgy Malenkov . Khrushchev denounced Stalin on two occasions, first in 1956 and then in 1962. His policy of de-Stalinisation earned him many enemies within the party, especially from old Stalinist appointees. Many saw this approach as destructive and destabilizing. A group known as Anti-Party Group tried to oust Khrushchev from office in 1957, but it failed. As Khrushchev grew older, his erratic behaviour became worse, usually making decisions without discussing or confirming them with
2220-539: A promise to increase the production and distribution of consumer goods. Nagy also released political prisoners from Rákosi's numerous purges of the Party and society. On 9 March 1955, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Working People's Party condemned Nagy for rightist deviation. Hungarian newspapers joined the attacks and Nagy was accused of being responsible for the country's economic problems and on 18 April he
2368-529: A reduction in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 's (CPSU) micromanagement of the economy and greater attention to public opinion. However, KGB repression of Soviet dissidents also increased. In February 1983, Soviet representatives withdrew from the World Psychiatric Organization in protest of that group's continued complaints about the use of psychiatry to suppress dissent . This policy
2516-481: A series of crises in the 1990s, which nearly led to the election of Yeltsin's Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov , in the 1996 presidential election . After the turn of the century, the economy of Russia has begun to improve greatly, due to major investments and business development and also due to high prices of natural resources. According to Boris N. Mironov, by 2020 Russian scholars had produced over 300 books, 3000 articles, and 20 dissertations trying to explain
2664-431: A series of fundamental reforms. From 1986 to around 1988, he dismantled central planning , allowed state enterprises to set their own outputs, enabled private investment in businesses not previously permitted to be privately owned, and allowed foreign investment, among other measures. He also opened up the management of and decision-making within the Soviet Union and allowed greater public discussion and criticism, along with
2812-760: A sharp economic decline in the already failing Soviet economy. The US financed the training for the Mujahideen warlords such as Jalaluddin Haqqani , Gulbudin Hekmatyar and Burhanuddin Rabbani eventually culminated to the fall of the Soviet satellite the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan . While the CIA and MI6 and the People's Liberation Army of China financed the operation along with
2960-612: A sign that the country would embrace capitalism. Other events during Kadar's tenure were Hungarian aid and support of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War , severing relations with Israel following the Six-Day War , and the boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics during the Soviet conflict in Afghanistan . In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in the Soviet Union, and changed the course of its foreign policy. Hungary's transition to
3108-627: A thorough shakeup with the commanders of all 16 military districts replaced along with all theaters of military operation, as well as the three Soviet fleets. Not since World War II had the Soviet military had such a rapid turnover of officers. Sixty-eight-year-old Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov was fully rehabilitated after having fallen from favor in 1983–84 due to his handling of the KAL 007 shootdown and his ideas about improving Soviet strategic and tactical doctrines were made into an official part of defense policy, although some of his other ambitions such as developing
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#17328849550603256-498: A time when dissatisfaction was increasing. In all, the positive view of Soviet lifelong presented to the public by the official media was rapidly fading, and the negative aspects of life in the Soviet Union were brought into the spotlight. This undermined the faith of the public in the Soviet system and eroded the Communist Party's social power base, threatening the identity and integrity of the Soviet Union itself. Fraying amongst
3404-508: A time. Many Europeans became convinced that the US and not the Soviet Union was the more aggressive country, and there was fear over the prospect of a war, especially since there was a widespread conviction in Europe that the US, being separated from the Red Army by two oceans as opposed to a short land border, was insensitive to the people of Germany and other countries. Moreover, the memory of World War II
3552-526: A weakening of the Soviet government , which led to disintegration and took place from about 19 January 1990 to 26 December 1991. The process was characterized by many of the republics of the Soviet Union declaring their independence and being recognized as sovereign nation-states . Andrei Grachev, the Deputy Head of the Intelligence Department of the Central Committee, summed up the denouement of
3700-516: A weakening of the central government. The Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991 when Boris Yeltsin seized power in the aftermath of a failed coup that had attempted to topple the reform-minded Gorbachev. By 1982, the stagnation of the Soviet economy was obvious, as evidenced by the fact that the Soviet Union had been importing grain from the U.S. throughout the 1970s, but the system was so firmly entrenched that any real change seemed impossible. A huge rate of defense spending consumed large parts of
3848-539: Is not just irresponsible. It is insane". In August 1983, Andropov announced that the country was stopping all work on space-based weapons. Meanwhile, Soviet–U.S. arms control talks on intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe were suspended by the Soviet Union in November 1983 and by the end of the year, the Soviets had broken off all arms control negotiations. Massive bad publicity worldwide came when Soviet fighters shot down
3996-683: The 1977 Constitution , the chairman of the Council of Ministers was the head of government and the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was the head of state . The office of the chairman of the Council of Ministers was comparable to a prime minister in the First World whereas the office of the chairman of the Presidium was comparable to a president . In the ideology of Vladimir Lenin ,
4144-574: The Soviet constitution . When it was officially promulgated on 20 August, the country was renamed the "Hungarian People's Republic." Rákosi, now the de facto leader of Hungary, demanded complete obedience from fellow members of the Hungarian Working People's Party . Rákosi's main rival for power was László Rajk , who was then Hungary's Foreign Secretary. Rajk was arrested and Stalin's NKVD emissary coordinated with Hungarian General Secretary Rákosi and his State Protection Authority to lead
4292-460: The Soviet government . Often the general secretary also held high positions in the government. The post of general secretary lacked clear guidelines of succession, so after the death or removal of a Soviet leader the successor needed the support of the Political Bureau (Politburo), the Central Committee, or another government or party apparatus to both take and stay in power. The President of
4440-576: The State Council of the Soviet Union . Vladimir Lenin was voted the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (Sovnarkom) on 30 December 1922 by the Congress of Soviets . At the age of 53, his health declined from the effects of two bullet wounds, later aggravated by three strokes which culminated with his death in 1924. Irrespective of his health status in his final days, Lenin
4588-420: The decentralized Yugoslav model . Over the next two decades of relative domestic quiet, Kádár's government responded alternately to pressures for minor political and economic reforms as well as to counter-pressures from reform opponents. Dissidents (the so-called "Democratic Opposition", Demokratikus ellenzék [ hu ] ) still remained closely watched by the secret police however, particularly during
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4736-500: The price of oil in 1985 and 1986 profoundly influenced actions of the Soviet leadership. Nikolai Tikhonov , the Chairman of the Council of Ministers , was succeeded by Nikolai Ryzhkov , and Vasili Kuznetsov , the acting Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet , was succeeded by Andrei Gromyko , the former Minister of Foreign Affairs. Several republics began resisting central control, and increasing democratization led to
4884-521: The "values of bourgeois democracy and democratic socialism" and gave equal status to public and private property. Although the now-dissolved MSZMP had already given up its monopoly of power in February, these changes marked the final legal step toward ending Communist rule in Hungary. On the 33rd anniversary of the 1956 Revolution, 23 October, the Presidential Council was dissolved. In accordance with
5032-492: The 1956 revolution. In 1988, Kádár was replaced as General Secretary of the MSZMP by Prime Minister Károly Grósz , and reformist communist leader Imre Pozsgay was admitted to the Politburo. In 1989, the Parliament adopted a "democracy package", which included trade union pluralism; freedom of association, assembly, and the press; and a new electoral law. A Central Committee plenum in February 1989 agreed in principle to give up
5180-425: The Communist Party losing its absolute grip on the media. Before long, and much to the embarrassment of the authorities, the media began to expose severe social and economic problems the Soviet government had long denied and actively concealed. Problems receiving increased attention included poor housing, alcoholism, drug abuse , pollution, outdated Stalin-era factories, and petty to large-scale corruption, all of which
5328-567: The Communist regime. Also, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 added motive force to Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika reforms, which eventually spiraled out of control and caused the Soviet system to collapse. After years of stagnation, the "new thinking" of younger Communist apparatchik began to emerge. Following the death of terminally ill Konstantin Chernenko, the Politburo elected Mikhail Gorbachev to
5476-478: The Communists won full power, he referred to this practice as " salami tactics ". Prime Minister Ferenc Nagy was forced to resign as prime minister in favour of a more pliant Smallholder, Lajos Dinnyés . In the 1947 elections , the Communists became the largest party, but were well short of a majority. The coalition was retained with Dinnyés as prime minister. However, by this time most of the other parties' more courageous members had been pushed out, leaving them in
5624-560: The Hungarian constitution in preparation for free elections and the transition to a fully free and democratic political system. In October 1989, the MSZMP convened what would be its last congress. The party voted to disband and re-establish itself as the Hungarian Socialist Party ( Magyar Szocialista Párt , MSZP), a Western European-style social democratic party with Nyers as its first president. Unable to slow down, let alone stop,
5772-509: The Kremlin's expectations of ruling through a democratically elected government. The Soviet Union, however, intervened through force once again, resulting in a puppet government that disregarded Tildy, placed communists in important ministerial positions, and imposed several restrictive measures, like banning the victorious coalition government and forcing it to yield the Interior Ministry to
5920-602: The MSZMP's monopoly of power, and also characterized the October 1956 revolution as a "popular uprising", in the words of Pozsgay, whose reform movement had been gathering strength as Communist Party membership declined dramatically. Kádár's major political rivals then cooperated to move the country gradually to Western-style democracy. The Soviet Union reduced its involvement by signing an agreement in April 1989 to withdraw Soviet forces by June 1991. While Grósz favoured reforming and refining
6068-575: The Middle East, and troubles in Ethiopia and South Africa. The most critical threat was the "Second Cold War" launched by American President Ronald Reagan and a specific attack on rolling back what he denounced as the " Evil Empire ". Reagan was using American economic power, and Soviet economic weakness, to escalate massive spending on the Cold War, emphasizing high technology that Moscow lacked. The main response
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6216-694: The Pakistan government against the Soviet Union, eventually the Soviet Union began looking for a withdrawal route and in 1988 the Geneva Accords were signed between Communist-Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ; under the terms Soviet troops were to withdraw. Once the withdrawal was complete the Pakistan ISI continued to support the Mujahideen against the Communist Government and by 1992,
6364-464: The Politburo and Secretariat was Grigory Romanov , who had been Gorbachev's most significant rival for the position of General Secretary. Gromyko's removal as Foreign Minister was the most unexpected change given his decades of unflinching, faithful service compared to the unknown, inexperienced Shevardnadze. More predictably, the 80-year-old Nikolai Tikhonov , the Chairman of the Council of Ministers ,
6512-619: The Politburo, Stalin consolidated near-absolute power by 1938 after the Great Purge , a series of campaigns of political murder, repression and persecution. On 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union , but by December the Soviet Army managed to stop the attack just shy of Moscow. On Stalin's orders, the Soviet Union launched a counter-attack on Nazi Germany, which finally succeeded in 1945. Stalin died in March 1953 and his death triggered
6660-410: The Politburo. Leonid Brezhnev , a close companion of Khrushchev, was elected the first secretary the same day of Khrushchev's removal from power. Alexei Kosygin became the new premier, and Anastas Mikoyan kept his office as chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . On the orders of the Politburo, Mikoyan was forced to retire in 1965, and Nikolai Podgorny took over the office of chairman of
6808-484: The Politburo. His responsibilities for the appointment of personnel allowed him to make the contacts and distribute the favors necessary for a future bid to become general secretary. At this point, Western experts believed that Andropov was grooming Gorbachev as his successor. However, although Gorbachev acted as a deputy to the general secretary throughout Andropov's illness, Gorbachev's time had not yet arrived when his patron died early in 1984. At 73, Konstantin Chernenko
6956-524: The Presidium. The Soviet Union in the post-Khrushchev 1960s was governed by a collective leadership . Henry Kissinger , the American National Security Advisor , mistakenly believed that Kosygin was the leader of the Soviet Union and that he was at the helm of Soviet foreign policy because he represented the Soviet Union at the 1967 Glassboro Summit Conference . The " Era of Stagnation ", a derogatory term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev ,
7104-521: The Red Army set up police organs to persecute the opposition, assuming this would enable the Soviet Union to seize the upcoming elections, together with intense communist propaganda to attempt to legitimize their rule. Despite all efforts, in the elections of November 1945 the Hungarian Communist Party was trounced by a Smallholder -led coalition, receiving only 17% of votes. The coalition, under Prime Minister Zoltán Tildy , thus frustrated
7252-424: The Soviet Union , an office created in March 1990, replaced the general secretary as the highest Soviet political office. Contemporaneously to the establishment of the office of the president, representatives of the Congress of People's Deputies voted to remove Article 6 from the Soviet constitution which stated that the Soviet Union was a one-party state controlled by the Communist Party which in turn played
7400-578: The Soviet Union also prevented a visit to West Germany by East German leader Erich Honecker . Fighting in the Afghan Democratic Republic also intensified, but in the late autumn of 1984 the United States and the Soviet Union did agree to resume arms control talks in early 1985. In addition to the failing economy, the prolonged war in Afghanistan, often referred to as the Soviet Union's "Vietnam War", led to increased public dissatisfaction with
7548-813: The Soviet Union an " evil empire ". The official press agency TASS accused Reagan of "thinking only in terms of confrontation and bellicose, lunatic anti-communism". Further Soviet outrage was directed at Reagan's stationing of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Western Europe. In Afghanistan , Angola , Nicaragua and elsewhere, under the Reagan Doctrine , the US began undermining Soviet-supported governments by supplying arms to anti-communist resistance movements in these countries. President Reagan's decision to deploy medium-range Pershing II missiles in Western Europe met with mass protests in countries such as France and West Germany, sometimes numbering 1 million people at
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#17328849550607696-556: The Soviet Union an " evil empire ". The same month, on 23 March, Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative . Reagan claimed this research program into ballistic missile defense would be "consistent with our obligations under the ABM Treaty". However, Andropov was dismissive of this claim, and said that "It is time they [Washington] stopped ... search[ing] for the best ways of unleashing nuclear war. ... Engaging in this
7844-684: The Soviet Union and stated that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was "the most serious threat to the peace since the Second World War." East-West tensions increased during the first term of US President Ronald Reagan (1981–85), reaching levels not seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis as Reagan increased US military spending to 7% of the GDP. To match the military buildup, the Soviet Union increased its own military spending to 27% of its GDP and froze production of civilian goods at 1980 levels, causing
7992-601: The Soviet economy suffered from both hidden inflation and pervasive supply shortages aggravated by an increasingly open black market that undermined the official economy. Additionally, the costs of superpower status—the military, space program, subsidies to client states—were out of proportion to the Soviet economy. The new wave of industrialization based upon information technology had left the Soviet Union desperate for Western technology and credits in order to counter its increasing backwardness. The Law on Cooperatives enacted in May 1988
8140-485: The Soviet intervention. Imre Nagy was arrested and replaced by Soviet loyalist János Kádár as head of the newly formed Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party ( Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt , MSZMP). Nagy was imprisoned until being executed in 1958. Other government ministers and supporters who were either executed or died in captivity included Pál Maléter, Géza Losonczy, Attila Szigethy and Miklós Gimes. Hungary changed its flag on 12 October 1957. The coat of arms depicting
8288-541: The USSR's collapse, Russia faced many problems that free market proponents in 1992 did not expect. Among other things, 25% of the population lived below the poverty line, life expectancy had fallen, birthrates were low, and the GDP was halved. There was a sharp increase in economic inequality between 1988/1989 and 1993/1995, with the Gini ratio increasing by an average of 9 points for all former socialist countries. These problems led to
8436-688: The Warsaw Pact and proclaim Hungarian neutrality. He asked the United Nations to become involved in the country's dispute with the Soviet Union. On 3 November, Nagy announced the details of his coalition government. It included communists (János Kádár, György Lukács , Géza Losonczy), three members of the Smallholders Party (Zoltán Tildy, Béla Kovács and István Szabó), three Social Democrats (Anna Kéthly, Gyula Keleman, Joseph Fischer), and two Petőfi Peasants ( István Bibó and Ferenc Farkas). Pál Maléter
8584-638: The ability of the USSR's central Moscow government to impose its will on the USSR's constituent republics had been largely undermined. Massive peaceful protests in the Baltic republics such as the Baltic Way and the Singing Revolution drew international attention and bolstered independence movements in various other regions. The rise of nationalism under freedom of speech soon re-awakened simmering ethnic tensions in various Soviet republics, further discrediting
8732-600: The anniversaries of the 1956 uprising in 1966, 1976, and 1986. By the early 1980s, it had achieved some lasting economic reforms and limited political liberalization and pursued a foreign policy which encouraged more trade with the West. Nevertheless, the New Economic Mechanism led to mounting foreign debt, incurred to subsidize unprofitable industries. Many of Hungary's manufacturing facilities were outmoded and unable to produce goods that were salable on world markets. Despite this, they succeeded in obtaining sizable financial loans from Western countries without much difficulty. During
8880-446: The arms race, but there can be no prospect for mankind other than that of peace and social progress." In 1983, Vice President George H. W. Bush and the foreign ministers of France and West Germany visited Budapest, where they received a friendly welcome, but the Hungarian leadership nonetheless reiterated their opposition to US missile deployment. They also cautioned the Western representatives not to mistake Hungary's economic reforms for
9028-437: The central government under the growing spirit of regional autonomy. The anti−alcohol campaign reduced tax revenues as well, which in 1982 accounted for about 12% of all state revenue. The elimination of central control over production decisions, especially in the consumer goods sector, led to the breakdown in traditional supplier−producer relationships without contributing to the formation of new ones. Thus, instead of streamlining
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#17328849550609176-541: The collapse. Two approaches were taken. The first is to look at the short term, 1985–1991, emphasizing personalities. external causes and policy mistakes. The second looks at long-term economic, political, cultural, and social structures. List of leaders of the Soviet Union During its 69-year history , the Soviet Union usually had a de facto leader who would not always necessarily be head of state or even head of government but would lead while holding an office such as Communist Party General Secretary . Under
9324-431: The communist elite became dissatisfied with him. To proceed with reforms opposed by the majority of the communist party, Gorbachev aimed to consolidate power in a new position, President of the Soviet Union , which was independent from the CPSU and the soviets (councils) and whose holder could be impeached only in case of direct violation of the law. On 15 March 1990, Gorbachev was elected as the first executive president. At
9472-426: The comparatively young Soviet leader would have a PR advantage over President Reagan, who was 20 years his senior. Reagan and Gorbachev met for the first time in Geneva in November. The three weeks preceding the summit meeting were marked by an unprecedented Soviet media campaign against the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), taking advantage of opposition at home in the US to the program. When it finally took place,
9620-539: The country. The process was more or less completed in 1949, when a newly elected legislature chosen from a single Communist-dominated list adopted a Soviet-style constitution, and the country was officially recast as a "people's republic." The same political dynamics continued through the years, with the Soviet Union pressing and maneuvering Hungarian politics through the Hungarian Communist Party, intervening whenever it needed to, through military coercion and covert operations. Political repression and economic decline led to
9768-438: The crowd started shooting back. Imre Nagy then went on Radio Kossuth and announced he had taken over the leadership of the Government as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People's Republic . He also promised "the far-reaching democratization of Hungarian public life, the realisation of a Hungarian road to socialism in accord with our own national characteristics, and the realisation of our lofty national aim:
9916-448: The department heads within the Central Committee apparatus. As a result, he replaced the aging leadership with younger, more vigorous administrators. But Andropov's ability to reshape the top leadership was constrained by his own age and poor health and the influence of Chernenko, his rival and longtime ally of Brezhnev who had previously supervised personnel matters in the Central Committee. The transition of power from Brezhnev to Andropov
10064-429: The dismantling of the administrative command system in Russia would raise GDP and living standards by allocating resources more efficiently. They also thought the collapse would create new production possibilities by eliminating central planning, substituting a decentralized market system, eliminating huge macroeconomic and structural distortions through liberalization, and providing incentives through privatization. Since
10212-423: The downfall quite cogently: "Gorbachev actually put the sort of final blow to the resistance of the Soviet Union by killing the fear of the people. It was still that this country was governed and kept together, as a structure, as a government structure, by the fear from Stalinist times." To restructure the Soviet administrative command system and implement a transition to a market economy , Yeltsin's shock program
10360-420: The early 1960s, however, the Kádár government had considerably relaxed its line, implementing a unique form of semi-liberal Communism known as " Goulash Communism ". The state allowed imports of certain Western consumer and cultural products, gave Hungarians greater freedom to travel abroad, and significantly rolled back the secret police state. These measures earned Hungary the moniker of the "merriest barrack in
10508-535: The economy. The transition period that separated the Brezhnev and Gorbachev eras resembled the former much more than the latter, although hints of reform emerged as early as 1983. Brezhnev died on 10 November 1982. After a two-day power struggle Yuri Andropov became the new General Secretary . He maneuvered his way into power both through his KGB connections and by gaining the support of the military by promising not to cut defense spending. For comparison, some of his rivals such as Konstantin Chernenko were skeptical of
10656-449: The emblem of the Hammer and Wheat was removed from its pure tricoloured flag. First Kádár followed retributions against the revolutionaries. 21,600 dissidents were imprisoned, 13,000 interned, and 400 executed. But in the early 1960s, he announced a new policy under the motto "He who is not against us is with us", a variation of Rákosi's quote: "He who is not with us is against us". He declared
10804-533: The end of communist control in Hungary, the 1949 constitution remained in effect with amendments to reflect the country's transition to liberal democracy. On 1 January 2012, the 1949 constitution was replaced with the current constitution . Following the occupation of Hungary by the Red Army , Soviet military occupation ensued. After seizing most material assets from German hands, the Soviets tried to control Hungarian political affairs, with some success. Using force,
10952-567: The fall of the Soviet Union by encouraging it to overextend its economic base. The proposition that special operations by the CIA in Saudi Arabia affected the prices of Soviet oil was refuted by Marshall Goldman —one of the leading experts on the economy of the Soviet Union—in his latest book. He pointed out that the Saudis decreased their production of oil in 1985 (it reached a 16-year low), whereas
11100-404: The first Soviet leader to miss the anniversary celebrations of the 1917 revolution that November. He died in February 1984 of kidney failure after disappearing from public view for several months. His most significant legacy to the Soviet Union was his discovery and promotion of Mikhail Gorbachev . Beginning in 1978, Gorbachev advanced in two years through the Kremlin hierarchy to full membership in
11248-529: The first comprehensive constitutional reform in the Soviet bloc – changed Hungary's official name to the Republic of Hungary and transformed the country from a one-party Marxist-Leninist state into a multiparty democracy. The revised constitution guaranteed human and civil rights, and created an institutional structure that ensured separation of powers among the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of government. The revised constitution also championed
11396-694: The fundamental elements of the Stalinist system, including price controls, inconvertibility of the ruble, exclusion of private property ownership, and the government monopoly over most means of production. The value of all consumer goods manufactured in 1990 in retail prices was about 459 billion rubles ($ 2.1 trillion). Nevertheless, the Soviet government had lost control over economic conditions. Government spending increased sharply as an increasing number of unprofitable enterprises required state support and consumer price subsidies to continue. Tax revenues declined as republic and local governments withheld tax revenues from
11544-425: The government apparatus. On 1 December 1988, the Supreme Soviet amended the Soviet constitution to allow for the establishment of a Congress of People's Deputies as the Soviet Union's new supreme legislative body. Elections to the new Congress of People's Deputies were held throughout the USSR in March and April 1989. Gorbachev, as General Secretary of the Communist Party, could be forced to resign at any moment if
11692-425: The government collapsed. US President Reagan also actively hindered the Soviet Union's ability to sell natural gas to Europe whilst simultaneously actively working to keep gas prices low, which kept the price of Soviet oil low and further starved the Soviet Union of foreign capital. This "long-term strategic offensive," which "contrasts with the essentially reactive and defensive strategy of " containment ", accelerated
11840-540: The hands of fellow travellers . In June 1948 the Communists forced the Social Democrats to merge with them to form the Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP). However, the few independent-minded Social Democrats were quickly shunted aside, leaving the MDP as a renamed and enlarged Communist Party. Rákosi then forced Tildy to turn over the presidency to Social Democrat-turned-Communist Árpád Szakasits . In December, Dinnyés
11988-433: The harshest dictatorships in Europe. He described himself as "Stalin's best Hungarian disciple" and "Stalin's best pupil". The government collectivized agriculture and it extracted profits from the country's farms to finance rapid expansion of heavy industry, which attracted more than 90% of total industrial investment. At first Hungary concentrated on producing primarily the same assortment of goods it had produced before
12136-513: The head of the Soviet state was a collegiate body of the vanguard party (as described in What Is to Be Done? ). Following Joseph Stalin 's consolidation of power in the 1920s, the post of the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party became synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union, because the post controlled both the Communist Party and, via party membership,
12284-681: The heir to the Republic of Councils in Hungary , which was formed in 1919 as the first communist state created after the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR). It was designated a " people's democratic republic " by the Soviet Union in the 1940s. Geographically, it bordered Romania and the Soviet Union (via the Ukrainian SSR ) to the east; Yugoslavia (via SRs Croatia , Serbia , and Slovenia ) to
12432-635: The ideal of a unified Soviet people. One instance occurred in February 1988, when the government in Nagorno-Karabakh , a predominantly ethnic Armenian region in the Azerbaijan SSR , passed a resolution calling for unification with the Armenian SSR . Violence against local Azerbaijanis was reported on Soviet television, provoking massacres of Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait . Emboldened by
12580-506: The infusion of democratic elements such as multi-candidate elections into the Soviet political process. A 1987 conference convened by Soviet economist and Gorbachev adviser Leonid Abalkin , concluded: "Deep transformations in the management of the economy cannot be realized without corresponding changes in the political system." In June 1988, at the CPSU's Nineteenth Party Conference, Gorbachev launched radical reforms meant to reduce party control of
12728-499: The internal affairs of its Warsaw Pact allies (" Sinatra Doctrine "). Gradually, each of the Warsaw Pact countries saw their communist governments fall to popular elections and, in the case of Romania , a violent uprising . By 1990, the governments of Bulgaria , Czechoslovakia , East Germany , Hungary , Poland and Romania , all of which had been imposed after World War II , were brought down as revolutions swept Eastern Europe . The Soviet Union also began experiencing upheaval as
12876-462: The late Premier Alexei Kosygin 's initiatives in the mid-1960s . In tandem with such economic experiments, Andropov launched an anti-corruption drive that reached high into the government and party ranks. Unlike Brezhnev, who possessed several mansions and a fleet of luxury cars, he lived quite simply. While visiting Budapest in early 1983, he expressed interest in Hungary 's Goulash Communism and that
13024-512: The leader of Hungary. National unity culminated in June 1989 as the country reburied Imre Nagy, his associates, and, symbolically, all other victims of the 1956 revolution. A national round table, comprising representatives of the new parties, some recreated old parties (such as the Smallholders and Social Democrats), and different social groups, met in the late summer of 1989 to discuss major changes to
13172-527: The leading role in society. This vote weakened the party and its hegemony over the Soviet Union and its people . Upon death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent president, the Vice President of the Soviet Union would assume the office, though the Soviet Union dissolved before this was actually tested. After the failed coup in August 1991 , the vice president was replaced by an elected member of
13320-460: The liberalized atmosphere of glasnost , public dissatisfaction with economic conditions was much more overt than ever before in the Soviet period. Although perestroika was considered bold in the context of Soviet history, Gorbachev's attempts at economic reform were not radical enough to restart the country's chronically sluggish economy in the late 1980s. The reforms made some inroads in decentralization, but Gorbachev and his team left intact most of
13468-526: The major cities answering questions from ordinary citizens. He became the first leader that spoke with the Soviet people in person. When he made public speeches, he made clear that he was interested in constructive exchanges of ideas instead of merely reciting lengthy platitudes about the excellence of the Soviet system. He also spoke candidly about the slackness and run-down condition of Soviet society in recent years, blaming alcohol abuse , poor workplace discipline, and other factors for these situations. Alcohol
13616-560: The members of the Warsaw Pact countries and instability of its western allies, first indicated by Lech Wałęsa 's 1980 rise to leadership of the trade union Solidarity , accelerated, leaving the Soviet Union unable to depend upon its Eastern European satellite states for protection as a buffer zone. By 1989, following his doctrine of " new political thinking ", Gorbachev had repudiated the Brezhnev Doctrine in favor of non-intervention in
13764-411: The military into a smaller, tighter force based on advanced technology were not considered feasible for the time being. Many, but not all, of the younger army officers appointed during 1985 were proteges of Ogarkov. Gorbachev got off to an excellent start during his first months in power. He projected an aura of youth and dynamism compared to his aged predecessors and made frequent walks in the streets of
13912-528: The momentum toward a full "system change," Grósz eventually led a faction of Communists out of the MSZP to form a revived Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, now the Hungarian Workers' Party . The biggest changes by far came on 16–20 October 1989. In a historic session, Parliament adopted a package of nearly 100 constitutional amendments that almost completely rewrote the 1949 constitution. The package –
14060-471: The new prime minister. On 25 October, a mass of protesters gathered in front of the Parliament Building. ÁVH units began shooting into the crowd from the rooftops of neighboring buildings. Some Soviet soldiers returned fire on the ÁVH, mistakenly believing that they were the targets of the shooting. Supplied by arms taken from the ÁVH or given by Hungarian soldiers who joined the uprising, some in
14208-453: The official media had ignored. Media reports also exposed crimes committed by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet regime, such as the gulags , his treaty with Adolf Hitler , and the Great Purges , which had been ignored by the official media. Moreover, the ongoing war in Afghanistan , and the mishandling of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster , further damaged the credibility of the Soviet government at
14356-466: The party during this period. During Kádár's interrogation, the ÁVH beat him, smeared him with mercury to prevent his skin pores from breathing, and had his questioner urinate into his pried-open mouth. Rákosi thereafter imposed totalitarian rule on Hungary. At the height of his rule, Rákosi developed a strong cult of personality . Dubbed the "bald murderer", Rákosi imitated Stalinist political and economic programs, resulting in Hungary experiencing one of
14504-408: The party was reflected in the articles of the government newspaper, Szabad Nép (i.e. Free People). On 29 October the newspaper welcomed the new government and openly criticised Soviet attempts to influence the political situation in Hungary. This view was supported by Radio Miskolc, which called for the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country. On 30 October, Imre Nagy announced that he
14652-451: The party, and by the end of the 1920s, he became the sole dictator of the USSR, defeating all his political opponents. The post of general secretary of the party, which was held by Stalin, became the most important post in the Soviet hierarchy. Stalin's early policies pushed for rapid industrialisation , nationalisation of private industry and the collectivisation of private plots created under Lenin's New Economic Policy . As leader of
14800-504: The past by what Rákosi called a new "working intelligentsia". In addition to some beneficial effects such as better education for the poor, more opportunities for working-class children and increased literacy in general, this measure also included the dissemination of communist ideology in schools and universities. Also, as part of an effort to separate the Church from the State , religious instruction
14948-418: The peak of oil production was reached in 1980. They increased the production of oil in 1986, reduced it in 1987 with a subsequent increase in 1988, but not to the levels of 1980 when production reached its highest level. The real increase happened in 1990, by which time the Cold War was almost over. In his book he asked why, if Saudi Arabia had such an effect on Soviet oil prices, did prices not fall in 1980 when
15096-414: The police opened fire on the crowd, provoking rioting throughout the capital. Early the following morning, Soviet military units entered Budapest and seized key positions. Citizens and soldiers joined the protesters chanting "Russians go home" and defacing communist party symbols. The Central Committee of the Hungarian Working People's Party responded to the pressure by appointing the reformer Imre Nagy as
15244-460: The policy of détente, by financially aiding the Mujahideen movement in neighboring Socialist Afghanistan , which served as a pretext for the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan six months later, with the aims of supporting the Afghan government, controlled by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan . Tensions between the superpowers increased during this time, when Carter placed trade embargoes on
15392-464: The political consequences of glasnost reverberated throughout the country. Despite efforts at containment, the upheaval in Eastern Europe inevitably spread to nationalities within the USSR. In elections to the regional assemblies of the Soviet Union's constituent republics, nationalists as well as radical reformers swept the board. As Gorbachev had weakened the system of internal political repression,
15540-553: The position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985. At 54, Gorbachev was the youngest person since Joseph Stalin to become General Secretary and the country's first head of state born a Soviet citizen instead of a subject of the tsar. During his official confirmation on 11 March, Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko spoke of how the new Soviet leader had filled in for Chernenko as CC Secretariat, and praised his intelligence and flexible, pragmatic ideas instead of rigid adherence to party ideology. Gorbachev
15688-401: The press becoming far less controlled. Thousands of political prisoners and many dissidents were also released. Soviet social science became free to explore and publish on many subjects that had previously been off limits, including conducting public opinion polls. The All−Union Center for Public Opinion Research ( VCIOM )—the most prominent of several polling organizations that were started then—
15836-561: The production of oil by Saudi Arabia reached its highest level—three times as much oil as in the mid-eighties—and why did the Saudis wait till 1990 to increase their production, five years after the CIA's supposed intervention? Why didn't the Soviet Union collapse in 1980 then? By the time Gorbachev ushered in the process that would lead to the dismantling of the Soviet administrative command economy through his programs of uskoreniye (speed-up of economic development) and perestroika (political and economic restructuring) announced in 1986,
15984-492: The proxies of the United States against the Soviet Union 's forces in the war in Afghanistan led to a general feeling of discontent, especially in the Soviet-occupied Baltic countries and Eastern Europe . Greater political and social freedoms, instituted by the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev , created an atmosphere of open criticism of the communist regime , and also perestroika . The dramatic drop of
16132-412: The radical improvement of the workers' living conditions". On 28 October, Nagy and a group of his supporters, including János Kádár, Géza Losonczy, Antal Apró, Károly Kiss, Ferenc Münnich and Zoltán Szabó, managed to take control of the Hungarian Working People's Party. At the same time revolutionary workers' councils and local national committees were formed all over Hungary. The change of leadership in
16280-502: The same time it was announced that Imre Nagy had been reinstated as a member of the party. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 began on 23 October as a peaceful demonstration of students in Budapest . The students protested for the implementation of several demands including an end to Soviet occupation. The police made some arrests and tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas. When the protesters attempted to free those who had been arrested,
16428-510: The same time, Article 6 of the constitution was changed to deprive the CPSU of a monopoly on political power. Gorbachev's efforts to streamline the Communist system offered promise, but ultimately proved uncontrollable and resulted in a cascade of events that eventually concluded with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Initially intended as tools to bolster the Soviet economy, the policies of perestroika and glasnost soon led to unintended consequences. Relaxation under glasnost resulted in
16576-474: The sheer size of the Soviet economy made strict top-down planning impractical. Changes were needed in a hurry for 1982 had witnessed the country's worst economic performance, with real GDP growth at almost zero percent. Andropov faced a series of foreign policy crises: the hopeless situation of the Soviet army in Afghanistan, threatened revolt in Poland, growing animosity with China, the polarization threat of war in
16724-570: The so-called Democratic Opposition formed the Association of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) and the national opposition established the Hungarian Democratic Forum ( Magyar Demokrata Fórum , MDF). Nationalist movements, such as the Jobbik , only reappeared after a rapid decline in nationalist sentiment following the establishment of the new Republic. Civic activism intensified to a level not seen since
16872-479: The socialist camp" during the 1960s and 1970s. One of the longest-serving leaders of the 20th century, Kádár would finally retire in 1988 after being forced from office by even more pro-reform forces amidst an economic downturn. Those influences remained supreme until the late 1980s, when turmoil broke out across the Eastern Bloc, culminating with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union's dissolution. Despite
17020-465: The southwest; Czechoslovakia to the north and Austria to the west. The Communists spent the next year and a half after the Moscow Conference consolidating their hold on power and weakening the other parties. This culminated in October 1947, when the Communists told their non-Communist coalition partners that they had to cooperate with a reconfigured coalition government if they wanted to stay in
17168-524: The system, Gorbachev's decentralization caused new production bottlenecks. The dissolution of the Soviet Union' was a process of systematic disintegration , which occurred in the economy , social structure and political structure . It resulted in the abolition of the Soviet Federal Government ("the Union center") and independence of the USSR's republics on 26 December 1991. The process was caused by
17316-514: The system, the "democracy package" went well beyond the "model change" he advocated to change the system within the framework of Communism. However, by this time, Grósz had been rapidly eclipsed by a faction of radical reformers including Pozsgay, Miklós Németh (who succeeded Grósz as prime minister later in 1988), Foreign Minister Gyula Horn , and Rezső Nyers , the original architect of the New Economic Mechanism. This faction now favoured
17464-459: The three months following Stalin's death; 3) the years between Nikita Khrushchev 's fall and Leonid Brezhnev 's consolidation of power; and 4) the ailing Konstantin Chernenko 's tenure as General Secretary . Hungarian People%27s Republic The Hungarian People's Republic ( Hungarian : Magyar Népköztársaság [ˈmɒɟɒr ˈneːpkøstaːrʃɒʃaːɡ] ) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949 to 23 October 1989. It
17612-521: The top leadership position of the Soviet Union from its founding in 1922 until its 1991 dissolution . † denotes leaders who died in office. On four occasions the Soviet Union was governed by a council known as a troika (i.e." triumvirate "), whereby policymaking depended on the consensus of three chief figures within the Politburo . The instances were: 1) the 2- to 3-year period between Vladimir Lenin 's incapacitation and Joseph Stalin 's leadership; 2)
17760-439: The two superpower leaders established a solid rapport that boded well for the future despite Reagan's refusal to compromise on abandonment of SDI. A joint communique by both parties stated that they were in agreement that nuclear war could not be won by either side and must never be allowed to happen. It was also agreed that Reagan and Gorbachev would carry out two more summit meetings in 1986–87. Jimmy Carter had decisively ended
17908-476: The vast majority of "idealistic" reformers gained huge possessions of state property using their positions in the government and became business oligarchs in a manner that appeared antithetical to an emerging democracy. Existing institutions were conspicuously abandoned prior to the establishment of new legal structures of the market economy such as those governing private property, overseeing financial markets, and enforcing taxation. Market economists believed that
18056-408: The war, including locomotives and railroad cars. Despite its poor resource base and its favorable opportunities to specialize in other forms of production, Hungary developed new heavy industry in order to bolster further domestic growth and produce exports to pay for raw-material import. Rákosi rapidly expanded the education system in Hungary. This was mostly in attempt to replace the educated class of
18204-499: The warming of relationships with the West. These twin policies were known as perestroika (literally meaning "reconstruction", though it varies) and glasnost ("openness" and "transparency"), respectively. The dismantling of the principal defining features of Soviet communism in 1988 and 1989 in the Soviet Union led to the unintended consequence of the Soviet Union breaking up after the failed August 1991 coup led by Gennady Yanayev . The following list includes those who held
18352-528: The way for the show trial of Rajk. At the September 1949 trial, Rajk made a forced confession, claiming that he had been an agent of Miklós Horthy , Leon Trotsky , Josip Broz Tito and Western imperialism . He also admitted that he had taken part in a murder plot against Mátyás Rákosi and Ernő Gerő. Rajk was found guilty and executed. Despite their helping Rákosi to liquidate Rajk, future Hungarian leader János Kádár and other dissidents were also purged from
18500-653: The year for speaking out on discrimination practiced against Jews in education and the professions. Although Chernenko had called for renewed détente with the West, little progress was made towards closing the rift in East−West relations during his rule. The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, retaliating for the United States-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In September 1984,
18648-500: Was a particular nag of Gorbachev's, especially as he himself did not drink, and he made one of his major policy aims curbing the consumption of it. In terms of foreign policy, the most important one, relations with the United States, remained twitchy through 1985. In October, Gorbachev made his first visit to a non-communist country when he traveled to France and was warmly received. The fashion-conscious French were also captivated by his wife Raisa and political pundits widely believed that
18796-516: Was a period marked by low socio-economic efficiency in the country and a gerontocracy ruling the country. Yuri Andropov (aged 68 at the time) succeeded Brezhnev in his post as general secretary in 1982. In 1983, Andropov was hospitalized and rarely met up at work to chair the politburo meetings due to his declining health. Nikolai Tikhonov usually chaired the meetings in his place. Following Andropov's death fifteen months after his appointment, an even older leader, 72-year-old Konstantin Chernenko ,
18944-435: Was aided by a lack of serious competition in the Politburo. He immediately began appointing younger men of his generation to important party posts, including Nikolai Ryzhkov , Secretary of Economics, Viktor Cherbrikov, KGB Chief, Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze (replacing the 75-year-old Gromyko), Secretary of Defense Industries Lev Zaikov [ ru ] , and Secretary of Construction Boris Yeltsin . Removed from
19092-452: Was already losing much of his power to Joseph Stalin . Alexei Rykov succeeded Lenin as chairman of the Sovnarkom, and although he was de jure the most powerful person in the country, in fact, all power was concentrated in the hands of the "troika" – the union of three influential party figures: Grigory Zinoviev, Joseph Stalin, and Lev Kamenev. Stalin continued to increase his influence in
19240-531: Was appointed minister of defence. Nikita Khrushchev , the leader of the Soviet Union, became increasingly concerned about these developments and on 4 November 1956 he sent the Red Army into Hungary. Soviet tanks immediately captured Hungary's airfields, highway junctions and bridges. Fighting took place all over the country but the Hungarian forces were quickly defeated. During the Hungarian Uprising, an estimated 20,000 people were killed, nearly all during
19388-988: Was denounced as propaganda and was gradually eliminated from schools. Cardinal József Mindszenty , who had opposed the German Nazis and the Hungarian Fascists during the Second World War, however, did support the Miklós Horthy dictatorship, and was arrested in December 1948 and accused of treason. After five weeks under arrest, he confessed to the charges made against him and he was condemned to life imprisonment. The Protestant churches were also purged and their leaders were replaced by those willing to remain loyal to Rákosi's government. The new Hungarian military hastily staged public, prearranged trials to purge "Nazi remnants and imperialist saboteurs". Several officers were sentenced to death and executed in 1951, including Lajos Tóth ,
19536-460: Was dismissed from his post by a unanimous vote of the National Assembly. Rákosi once again became the leader of Hungary. Rákosi's power was undermined by a speech made by Nikita Khrushchev in February 1956. He denounced the policies of Joseph Stalin and his followers in Eastern Europe. He also claimed that the trial of László Rajk had been a "miscarriage of justice". On 18 July 1956, Rákosi
19684-428: Was elected to the general secretariat. His rule lasted for little more than a year until his death thirteen months later on 10 March 1985. At the age of 54, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to the general secretariat by Politburo on 11 March 1985. In May 1985, Gorbachev publicly admitted the slowing down of the economic development and inadequate living standards, being the first Soviet leader to do so while also beginning
19832-400: Was employed within days of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The subsidies to money-losing farms and industries were cut, price controls abolished, and the ruble moved towards convertibility . New opportunities for Yeltsin's circle and other entrepreneurs to seize former state property were created, thus restructuring the old state-owned economy within a few months. After obtaining power,
19980-402: Was forced from power as a result of orders from the Soviet Union. However, he did manage to secure the appointment of his close friend, Ernő Gerő , as his successor. On 3 October 1956, the Central Committee of the Hungarian Working People's Party announced that it had decided that László Rajk , György Pálffy , Tibor Szőnyi and András Szalai had wrongly been convicted of treason in 1949. At
20128-599: Was freeing Cardinal József Mindszenty and other political prisoners. He also informed the people that his government intended to abolish the one-party state. This was followed by statements of Zoltán Tildy, Anna Kéthly and Ferenc Farkas concerning the restitution of the Smallholders Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Petőfi (former Peasants) Party. Nagy's most controversial decision took place on 1 November when he announced that Hungary intended to withdraw from
20276-496: Was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which was under the influence of the Soviet Union . Pursuant to the 1944 Moscow Conference , Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin had agreed that after the war Hungary was to be included in the Soviet sphere of influence . The HPR remained in existence until 1989, when opposition forces brought the end of communism in Hungary . The state considered itself
20424-459: Was in poor health, suffering from emphysema, and unable to play an active role in policy making when he was chosen, after lengthy discussion, to succeed Andropov. But Chernenko's short time in office did bring some significant policy changes. The personnel changes and investigations into corruption undertaken under Andropov's tutelage came to an end. Chernenko advocated more investment in consumer goods and services and in agriculture. He also called for
20572-421: Was notably the first one in Soviet history to occur completely peacefully with no one being imprisoned, killed, or forced from office. Andropov's domestic policy leaned heavily towards restoring discipline and order to Soviet society. He eschewed radical political and economic reforms, promoting instead a small degree of candor in politics and mild economic experiments similar to those that had been associated with
20720-491: Was opened. State archives became more accessible, and some social statistics that had been kept secret became open for research and publication on sensitive subjects such as income disparities, crime, suicide, abortion, and infant mortality. The first center for gender studies was opened within a newly formed Institute for the Socio−Economic Study of Human Population. In January 1987, Gorbachev called for democratization:
20868-484: Was perhaps the most radical of the economic reforms during the early part of the Gorbachev era. For the first time since Vladimir Lenin 's New Economic Policy , the law permitted private ownership of businesses in the services, manufacturing, and foreign-trade sectors. Under this provision, cooperative restaurants, shops, and manufacturers became part of the Soviet scene. Glasnost resulted in greater freedom of speech and
21016-483: Was raising the military budget to 70 percent of the national budget, and supplying billions of dollars worth of military aid to Syria, Iraq, Libya, South Yemen, the PLO, Cuba, and North Korea. That included tanks and armored troop carriers, hundreds of fighter planes, as well as anti-aircraft systems, artillery systems, and all sorts of high tech equipment for which the USSR was the main supplier for its allies. Andropov's main goal
21164-420: Was replaced as prime minister by Imre Nagy . However, he retained his position as general secretary of the Hungarian Working People's Party and over the next three years the two men became involved in a bitter struggle for power. As Hungary's new leader, Imre Nagy removed state control of the mass media and encouraged public discussion on changes to the political system and liberalizing the economy. This included
21312-454: Was replaced by the leader of the Smallholders' left wing, the openly pro-Communist István Dobi . At the elections of May 1949 , voters were presented with a single Communist-dominated list, comprising candidates from all parties and running on a common programme. By this time, there was virtually no opposition left in the country. On 18 August, the newly elected National Assembly passed a new constitution – a near-carbon copy of
21460-478: Was still strong and many Germans could not forget the destruction and mass rapes committed by Soviet troops in the closing days of that conflict. This attitude was helped along by the Reagan Administration's comments that a war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact would not necessarily result in the use of nuclear weapons. Andropov's health declined rapidly during the tense summer and fall of 1983, and he became
21608-400: Was succeeded by Nikolai Ryzhkov , and Vasili Kuznetsov , the acting Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet , was succeeded by Andrei Gromyko , the former Minister of Foreign Affairs . Further down the chain, up to 40% of the first secretaries of the oblasts (provinces) were replaced with younger, better educated, and more competent men. The defense establishment was also given
21756-419: Was to avoid an open war. In foreign policy, the conflict in Afghanistan continued even though Andropov—who now felt the invasion was a mistake—half-heartedly explored options for a negotiated withdrawal. Andropov's rule was also marked by deterioration of relations with the United States. During a much-publicized "walk in the woods" with Soviet dignitary Yuli Kvitsinsky, American diplomat Paul Nitze suggested
21904-408: Was underlined in June when Vladimir Danchev, a broadcaster for Radio Moscow, referred to the Soviet troops in Afghanistan as "invaders" while conducting English-language broadcasts. After refusing to retract this statement, he was sent to a mental institution for several months. Valery Senderov, a leader of an unofficial union of professional workers, was sentenced to seven years in a labor camp early in
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