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In October 1977, the third Soviet Constitution was unanimously adopted. The prevailing
mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to
change. The long period of Brezhnev's rule had come to be dubbed one of "standstill", with an
aging and ossified top political leadership.
Gorbachev era
Mikhail Gorbachev in one-to-one discussions with U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Two developments dominated the decade that followed: the increasingly apparent crumbling of
the Soviet Union's economic and political structures, and the patchwork attempts at reforms to reverse
that process. Kenneth S. Deffeyes argued in Beyond Oil that the Reagan administration
encouraged Saudi Arabia to lower the price of oil to the point where the Soviets could not make a profit
selling their oil, so that the USSR's hard currency reserves became depleted.
Brezhnev's next two successors, transitional figures with deep roots in his tradition, did not
last long. Yuri Andropov was 68 years old and Konstantin Chernenko 72 when they assumed
power; both died in less than two years. In an attempt to avoid a third short-lived leader, in 1985,
the Soviets turned to the next generation and selected Mikhail Gorbachev.
Gorbachev made significant changes in the economy and party leadership,
called perestroika. His policy of glasnost freed public access to information after decades of
heavy government censorship.
Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1988
Gorbachev also moved to end the Cold War. In 1988, the Soviet Union abandoned its nineyear war in Afghanistan and began to withdraw its forces. In the late 1980s, he refused military
support to the Soviet Union's former satellite states, resulting in the toppling of multiple
communist regimes. With the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and with East Germany and West
Germany pursuing unification, the Iron Curtain came down.
In the late 1980s, the constituent republics of the Soviet Union started legal moves towards
potentially declaring sovereignty over their territories, citing Article 72 of the USSR
constitution, which stated that any constituent republic was free to secede. On 7 April 1990, a
law was passed allowing a republic to secede if more than two-thirds of its residents voted for it
in a referendum. Many held their first free elections in the Soviet era for their own national
legislatures in 1990. Many of these legislatures proceeded to produce legislation contradicting
the Union laws in what was known as the "War of Laws".
11
In 1989, the Russian SFSR, which was then the largest constituent republic (with about
half of the population) convened a newly elected Congress of People's Deputies. Boris
Yeltsin was elected its chairman. On 12 June 1990, the Congress declared Russia's sovereignty
over its territory and proceeded to pass laws that attempted to supersede some of the USSR's
laws. After a landslide victory of Sąjūdis in Lithuania, that country declared its independence
restored on 11 March 1990.
A referendum for the preservation of the USSR was held on 17 March 1991 in nine
republics (the remainder having boycotted the vote), with the majority of the population in those
nine republics voting for preservation of the Union. The referendum gave Gorbachev a minor
boost. In the summer of 1991, the New Union Treaty, which would have turned the Soviet Union
into a much looser Union, was agreed upon by eight republics.
Boris Yeltsin stands on a tank in Moscow to defy the August Coup, 1991
The signing of the treaty, however, was interrupted by the August Coup—an
attempted coup d'état by hardline members of the government and the KGB who sought to
reverse Gorbachev's reforms and reassert the central government's control over the republics.
After the coup collapsed, Yeltsin was seen as a hero for his decisive actions, while Gorbachev's
power was effectively ended. The balance of power tipped significantly towards the republics. In
August 1991, Latvia and Estonia immediately declared the restoration of their full independence
(following Lithuania's 1990 example). Gorbachev resigned as general secretary in late August,
and soon afterward the Party's activities were indefinitely suspended—effectively ending
Communist rule. By the fall, Gorbachev could no longer influence events outside of Moscow,
and he was being challenged even there by Yeltsin, who had been elected President of Russia in
July 1991.
Dissolution
The remaining 12 republics continued discussing new, increasingly looser, models of the
Union. However, by December, all except Russia and Kazakhstan had formally declared
independence. During this time, Yeltsin took over what remained of the Soviet government,
including the Kremlin. The final blow was struck on 1 December, when Ukraine, the second
most powerful republic, voted overwhelmingly for independence. Ukraine's secession ended any
realistic chance of the Soviet Union staying together even on a limited scale.
On 8 December 1991, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (formerly
Byelorussia), signed the Belavezha Accords, which declared the Soviet Union dissolved and
established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place. While doubts remained
over the authority of the accords to do this, on 21 December 1991, the representatives of all
Soviet republics except Georgia signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which confirmed the accords. On
25 December 1991, Gorbachev yielded to the inevitable and resigned as the President of the
USSR, declaring the office extinct. He turned the powers that had been vested in the presidency
over to Yeltsin. That night, the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time, and the Russian
tricolor was raised in its place.
12
The following day, the Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body of the Soviet
Union, voted both itself and the Soviet Union out of existence. This is generally recognized as
marking the official, final dissolution of the Soviet Union as a functioning state. The Soviet
Army originally remained under overall CIS command, but was soon absorbed into the different
military forces of the newly independent states. The few remaining Soviet institutions that had
not been taken over by Russia ceased to function by the end of 1991.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991, Russia was
internationally recognized as its legal successor on the international stage. To that end, Russia
voluntarily accepted all Soviet foreign debt and claimed overseas Soviet properties as its own.
Under the 1992 Lisbon Protocol, Russia also agreed to receive all nuclear weapons remaining in
the territory of other former Soviet republics. Since then, the Russian Federation has assumed the
Soviet Union's rights and obligations.
Post-Soviet states
The analysis of the succession of states with respect to the 15 post-Soviet states is
complex. The Russian Federation is seen as the legal continuator state and is for most purposes
the heir to the Soviet Union. It retained ownership of all former Soviet embassy properties, as
well as the old Soviet UN membership and permanent membership on the Security
Council. The Baltic states are not successor states to the Soviet Union; they are instead
considered to have de jure continuity with their pre-World War II governments through the nonrecognition of the original Soviet incorporation in 1940. The other 11 post-Soviet states are
considered newly independent successor states to the Soviet Union.
There are additionally four states that claim independence from the other internationally
recognized post-Soviet states, but possess limited international recognition: Abkhazia,NagornoKarabakh, South Ossetia, and Transnistria. The Chechnyan separatist movement of the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria lacks any international recognition.
Economy
The Soviet Union became the first country to adopt a planned economy, whereby
production and distribution of goods were centralised and directed by the government. The first
Bolshevik experience with a command economy was the policy of War Communism, which
involved nationalisation of industry, centralized distribution of output, coercive requisition of
agricultural production, and attempts to eliminate the circulation of money, as well as private
enterprises and free trade. After the severe economic collapse caused by the war, in 1921 Lenin
replaced War Communism with the New Economic Policy (NEP), legalising free trade and
private ownership of smaller businesses. The economy quickly recovered.
Following a lengthy debate among the members of Politburo over the course of economic
development, by 1928–1929, upon gaining control of the country, Joseph Stalin abandoned the
NEP and pushed for full central planning, starting forced collectivisation of agricultureand
enacting draconian labor legislation. Resources were mobilised for rapid industrialisation, which
greatly expanded Soviet capacity in heavy industry and capital goods during the
1930s. Preparation for war was one of the main driving forces behind industrialisation, mostly
due to distrust of the outside capitalistic world. As a result, the USSR was transformed from a
largely agrarian economy into a great industrial power, leading the way for its emergence as a
superpower after World War II. During the war, the Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered
massive devastation and required extensive reconstruction.
By the early 1940s, the Soviet economy had become relatively self-sufficient; for most of
the period until the creation of Comecon, only a very small share of domestic products was
traded internationally. After the creation of the Eastern Bloc, external trade rose rapidly. Still the
influence of the world economy on the USSR was limited by fixed domestic prices and a state
monopoly on foreign trade. Grain and sophisticated consumer manufactures became major
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import articles from around the 1960s. During the arms race of the Cold War, the Soviet
economy was burdened by military expenditures, heavily lobbied for by a powerful bureaucracy
dependent on the arms industry. At the same time, the Soviet Union became the largest arms
exporter to the Third World. Significant amounts of Soviet resources during the Cold War
were allocated in aid to the other socialist states.
From the 1930s until its collapse in the late 1980s, the way the Soviet economy operated
remained essentially unchanged. The economy was formally directed by central planning, carried
out by Gosplan and organized in five-year plans. In practice, however, the plans were highly
aggregated and provisional, subject to ad hoc intervention by superiors. All key economic
decisions were taken by the political leadership. Allocated resources and plan targets were
normally denominated in rubles rather than in physical goods. Credit was discouraged, but
widespread. Final allocation of output was achieved through relatively decentralized, unplanned
contracting. Although in theory prices were legally set from above, in practice the actual prices
were often negotiated, and informal horizontal links (between producer factories etc.) were
widespread.
A number of basic services were state-funded, such as education and healthcare. In the
manufacturing sector, heavy industry and defense were assigned higher priority than the
production of consumer goods. Consumer goods, particularly outside large cities, were often
scarce, of poor quality and limited choice. Under command economy, consumers had almost no
influence over production, so the changing demands of a population with growing incomes could
not be satisfied by supplies at rigidly fixed prices. A massive unplanned second economy grew
up alongside the planned one at low levels, providing some of the goods and services that the
planners could not. Legalisation of some elements of the decentralised economy was attempted
with the reform of 1965.
Although statistics of the Soviet economy are notoriously unreliable and its economic
growth difficult to estimate precisely, by most accounts, the economy continued to expand until
the mid-1980s. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet economy experienced comparatively
high growth and was catching up to the West. However, after 1970, the growth, while still
positive, steadily declined much more quickly and consistently than in other countries despite a
rapid increase in the capital stock (the rate of increase in capital was only surpassed by Japan).
Overall, between 1960 and 1989, the growth rate of per capita income in the Soviet Union
was slightly above the world average (based on 102 countries). According to Stanley
Fischer and William Easterly, growth could have been faster. By their calculation, per capita
income of Soviet Union in 1989 should have been twice as high as it was considering the amount
of investment, education and population. The authors attribute this poor performance to low
productivity of capital in the Soviet Union. Steven Rosenfielde states that the standard of living
actually declined as a result of Stalin's despotism, and while there was a brief improvement
following his death, lapsed into stagnation.
In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev tried to reform and revitalize the economy with his program
of perestroika. His policies relaxed state control over enterprises, but did not yet allow it to be
replaced by market incentives, ultimately resulting in a sharp decline in production output. The
economy, already suffering from reduced petroleum export revenues, started to collapse. Prices
were still fixed, and property was still largely state-owned until after the dissolution of the Soviet
Union. For most of the period after World War II up to its collapse, the Soviet economy was the
second largest in the world by GDP (PPP), and was 3rd in the world during the middle of the
1980s to 1989. though in per capita terms the Soviet GDP was behind that of the First
World countries.
Speak on the topics:
1. Courage and unity of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War.
2. «Khrushev Thaw» - a complex shift in life of the Soviet people.
3. The causes of collapse of the Soviet Union.
4. Advantages and disadvantages of planned economy.
14
The Commonwealth of Independent States
Vocabulary:
commonwealth — содружество, федерация
independent — независимый, самостоятельный; независящий (от чего-л./
кого-л. — of)
alliance — союз; альянс (against; between; with); блок, объединение, федерация;
союзник
permanent — постоянный, неизменный; долговременный; перманентный
membership — членство; звание члена
dissolution — распад государства, империи; конец, смерть; исчезновение,
вымирание; распад, увядание
influence — влияние, действие, воздействие (на кого-л./ что-л. — on, upon, over,
with); влиятельность
to concern — касаться, относиться; описывать, говорить (в произведении);
затрагивать, вовлекать
defense — оборона
to headquarter — устраивать штаб, штаб-квартиру где-л.
current — текущий, данный, современный; популярный, широко
распространенный
to initiate — вводить в должность; начать, приступать, положить начало
to share — делить, распределять; разделять; делиться; разделять (smth. with
smb. — с кем-л. что-л.); использовать совместно
coup — удачный ход; удача в делах
constituent — образующий, слагающий, составляющий (часть целого);
правомочный, наделенный властью; законодательный; компонент, компонента,
составная часть
to ratify — ратифицировать; одобрять, санкционировать; утверждать;
скреплять (подписью, печатью)
to refuse — отвергать, отказывать; отклонять; отказываться
sovereign — суверенный, независимый; великолепный, отличный,
превосходный, прекрасный
15
to abolish — аннулировать, отменять, упразднять, объявлять
недействительным; разрушать, разбивать, уничтожать
to join — соединять, объединять, связывать, скреплять; соединяться,
объединяться
controversial — спорный, сомнительный, поставленный под сомнение;
вызывающий спор; дискуссионный
circumstance — обстоятельство; случай; условие; мн. ч. обстоятельства,
условия
to overthrow (прош. вр.— overthrew; прич. прош. вр.— ovethrown) — бросать
слишком далеко, перебрасывать; свергать; побеждать; низвергать, уничтожать
stance — позиция, установка; положение
to contrast — противополагать, противопоставлять (with); сопоставлять,
сравнивать (with); контрастировать (with); противоречить, расходиться
predecessor — предшественник
relationship — отношение, взаимоотношение; взаимосвязь, касательство, связь
(between; to, towards; with)
worth — цена, стоимость, ценность
to downgrade — переводить в низшую категорию; понижать; понижать в
должности; снижать разряд
16
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a confederation, or alliance, created
by Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia
Up to 2005 it consisted of 11 former Soviet Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership as of August 26,2005 and is now an
associate member.
The creation of CIS signaled the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, according to
leaders of Russia, its purpose was to allow a civilized divorce between the Soviet Republics.
However, many observers have seen the CIS as a tool that would allow Russia to keep its
influence over the post-Soviet states. Since its formation, the member-states of CIS have
signed a large number of documents concerning integration and cooperation on matters of
economics, defence and foreign policy. The CIS is headquartered in Minsk, Belarus. The
chairman of the CIS is known as the executive secretary. All of the CIS's executive secretaries
have been from Belarus or Russia. The current executive secretary is former Russian interior
minister, Vladimir Rushailo.
Initiating the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1991, the leaders of
Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine met on December 8 in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural
Reserve, about 50 km north of Brest in Belarus, and signed an agreement establishing" the
CIS. At the same time they announced that the new confederation would be open to all
republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as other nations sharing the same goals.
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev described this as an illegal and dangerous
constitutional coup, but it soon became clear that the development could not be stopped and
on December 21,1991, the leaders of 11 of the 15 constituent republics of the USSR met in
Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, and signed the charter, thus de facto ratifying the initial CIS treaty.
The Soviet government had already recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and
Lithuania on September 6,1991, and the three Baltic nations as well as Georgia refused to join
CIS. The CIS charter stated that all the members were sovereign and independent nations and
thereby effectively abolished the USSR.
The 11 original member-states were Armenia, Azerbaijan,* Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. In
December 1993, Georgia also joined the CIS under somewhat controversial circumstances,
following a civil war.
Between 2003 and 2005, the so called «colour revolutions» have been taking place in
three CIS member states — Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. The official slogan of these
revolutions was the democratization of the society. The new government and political leaders
of these countries has taken a clearly pro-Western stance contrasted to their predecessors.
And now we can see that Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan are quietly drifting away from the
CIS.
17
In that time frame a number of statements have been made by member state officials,
casting doubt on the potential and continued worth of the CIS.
Содружество Независимых Государств (СНГ)
Содружество Независимых Государств (СНГ) — это конфедерация, или
межгосударственное объединение, образованное Белоруссией, Россией и Украиной.
До 2005 года оно состояло из 11 бывших республик Советского Союза: Армении,
Азербайджана, Белоруссии, Грузии, Казахстана, Киргизстана, Молдовы, России,
Таджикистана, Украины и Узбекистана. Туркменистан прекратил постоянное членство
26 августа 2005 года и сейчас является ассоциированным членом организации.
Создание СНГ ознаменовало распад Советского Союза и по словам лидеров
России, это было сделано для «цивилизованного развода» между республиками
Советского Союза. Тем не менее, многие наблюдатели сходятся во мнение, что СНГ
стало инструментом, который позволил России влиять на постсоветские государства. С
момента своего создания страны, входящие в СНГ, подписали огромное количество
документов относительно интеграции и сотрудничества в сфере экономики, обороны и
внешней политики. Штаб-квартира СНГ находится в Минске, Белоруссия.
Председателем СНГ является исполнительный секретарь. Все исполнительные
секретари СНГ были из Белоруссии и России. Нынешний исполнительный секретарь
СНГ — это бывший российский министр Владимир Рушайло.
Осенью 1991 года начал распадаться Советский Союз, и руководители России,
Белоруссии и Украины встретились в заповеднике Беловежская Пуща 8 декабря 1991 года,
что в 50 километрах на север от г. Бреста, Белоруссия, и подписали соглашение о создании
СНГ. В то же самое время они объявили, что новая конфедерация (объединение) открыта
для всех бывших республик Советского Союза, а также и для других наций, которые
разделяют схожие цели.
Президент Советского Союза Михаил Горбачев описал все это как нелегальный и
опасный, но удачный конституционный ход, но вскоре стало ясно, что остановить
ничего уже нельзя и 21 декабря 1991 года лидеры 11 из 15 советских республик
встретились в Алма-Ате, Казахстан, и подписали хартию о созданию СНГ, таким
образом де-факто ратифицировав первоначальное соглашение о создании СНГ.
Советское правительство 6 сентября 1991 года уже признало независимость Эстонии,
Латвии и Литвы и три Прибалтийских государства, а также Грузия отказались
присоединиться к СНГ. Меморандум о создании СНГ гласил, что все члены
объединения являются суверенными и независимыми государствами, что окончательно
разрушило СССР.
Одиннадцатью первоначальными членами СНГ были: Армения, Азербайджан,
Белоруссия, Казахстан, Киргизстан, Молдова, Россия, Таджикистан, Туркменистан,
Украина и Узбекистан. В1993 году к СНГ присоединилась Грузия при противоречивых
обстоятельствах сразу после гражданской войны.
С 2003-2005 в трех государствах СНГ — Грузии, Украине и Кыргызстане —
произошли так называемые « цветные революции». Официальным лозунгом этих
революций была демократизация общества. Новые правительства и политические
лидеры этих стран заняли четкую прозападную позицию, отличную от их
предшественников, и сегодня мы наблюдаем, как Украина, Грузия и Кыргистан
медленно отдаляются от СНГ.
В этот период времени было сделано несколько заявлений официальными
представителями стран — членов СНГ, что бросило тень сомнения на возможное
продолжение существование СНГ.
Questions:
1. What is the CIS?
2. What countries were the founders of the CIS?
18
3. What countries are in the CIS at the moment?
4. When did Turkmenistan discontinue its permanent membership in the CIS?
5. What was the signal of the creation of CIS?
6. How did Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev describe the creation of the CIS?
7. What were the main purposes of the CIS creation?
8. What leaderships of three CIS member states were overthrown in a series of «colour
revolutions» ?
9. When did Turkmenistan downgrade its CIS status to an as-. sociate member?
10. When was the dissolution of the Soviet Union initiated?
11. When was the initial CIS treaty ratified?
12. When did the Soviet government recognize the independence of Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania?
13. Were Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania the members of the CIS?
14. When did Georgia enter the CIS?
19
Ukraine
Ukraine is a rich agricultural, industrial and mining region in south-eastern Europe.
It is an independent democratic state. Its population is about 52 mln people. The capital of
Ukraine is Kiev. Ukraine has its own armed forces, and maintains its own diplomatic relations
with foreign countries. Ukraine covers about 603.700 sq. km being larger than any country in
Western Europe. From east to west Ukraine stretches for more than 1300 km and from north to
south for almost 900 km. It borders with Belarus and Russia on the north and on the east. In the
south it is bounded by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. In the west Ukraine is bounded by
Moldova, Rumania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Ukraine is located in ideal geographical
position for the development of its resources, lying between 440 and 520 latitude north, on the
same latitude as the USA or Britain.
The climate is mild and warm, with a long summer and a short winter. Together with its
fertile black soil, this makes it ideal for the development of intensive agriculture. The main part
of Ukraine is located in the watershed of the Dnieper-River, which divides Ukraine into two
parts: Right-Bank and Left-Bank Ukraine. Ukraine's proximity to the Black Sea and the presence
of large navigable rivers running through its territory has promoted the development of trade and
culture.
The Black Sea is not only a means of communication with Transcaucasia and Turkey but
also with the rest of the world through the Mediterranean Sea. Ukraine also lies on the Danube,
and this gives it access to European countries. Through the Siversky Donets it has access to the
Don. The territory of Ukraine is criss-crossed by railroads and highways, oil and gas pipelines
and high-voltage transmission lines - all of which ensure close economic ties with Eastern and
Western Europe. Ukraine is a highly industrialised country, whose economic potential is great.
Ukrainian Places of Interest
Ukraine is a country with the glorious past. It is rich in historical monuments and different
places of interest. Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine and one of the oldest cities in the Eastern
Europe. It has already celebrated its 1500th anniversary. That’s why it is not surprising that a lot
of interesting monuments are situated there, for example, the well-known to all Slavonic world
St Sophia’s Cathedral and Kyivo-Pecherska Lavra. It is breathtaking to wander along the streets
of the old town, to feel the breath of history.
But Ukrainian places of interest are situated not only in Kyiv. Near the small town of
Kanev the monument to the Ukrainian national genius Taras Shevchenko is situated. The
museum, where the books, drawings and manuscripts of Shevchenko are kept, is situated in the
village not far from Kanev. Even the house, where he was born, is preserved. It is very
interesting to look at it. One may come to Poltava and visit the museum of the famous Poltava
battle, the field where Peter the Great defeated the Swedes.
One may also go to Zaporizhia, to the island of Khortytsia, where the Ukrainian Cossacks’
organization was born. One can go to Odesa and walk along the boulevards, where Pushkin
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