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Brezhnev Death
Brezhnev leaded the USSR for longer than any other except for Stalin. He died leaving behind him and stagnant state which had been dealing with constante absences of its leader since he was ill and weak. -
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Debate for the next leader
During Brezhnev's final years, he relied on his protégé Konstantin Chernenko making most people expect for him to be his successor. Finally the former KGB leader, Yuri Andropov became the new head of government. -
Andropov is in charge
Andropov unexpectedly had plenty ideas for change in government. He started by charging people in the Brezhnev camp with corruption.
According to Andropov, the solution for stagnment was for people to work harder, he stated that people who did not work would be arrested, added to this, he shut down the Soviet space program in order to save money.
Yuri tried to replace supporters of the previous government and members of the politburo for young people who supported him. -
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Andropov period
The Afghanistan situation was left to deteriorate, the relationship with the US became even worst than it was. In 1983 Andropov gave up on public appearances due to his poor health. He finally dies 1984, Chernenko takes place as his successor. -
Gorbachev turns things around
Just a few hours after the death of his predessesor, Gorbachev inherited the struggles that Andropov and Chernenko were trying to deal with. -
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Gorbachev as General Secretary
Gorbachev stated a new course called “perestroika” (“restructuring”) and “glasnost” (“openness”) that included wide changes at internatinal relationships and economy. After a 5 year period, this reestructuration led to the start of the cold war. -
Chernenko for the transition
Chernenko thought that the Soviet Union was ready for a new type of leadeship, still there were very few changes during his period on the government and domestic and foreign policies remained the same. -
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End of Brezhnev
With Chernenko's death in 1985, the real changes were finally starting to show up and the Brezhnev era was considered to have reached its end. -
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GLASNOST AND PERESTROIKA
Economically, Perestroika called for de-monopolization and ending the price controls established by the government. The goal was to create a semi-free market system. Glasnost was the name for the social and political reforms. Its goals were to include more people in the political process through freedom of expression. This led to a decreased censoring of the media. -
Chernobyl
The Chernobyl disaster was a direct consequence of Cold War isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture. There was a sudden surge of power output at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which led a reactor vessel to rupture and a series of explosions. These events exposed the graphite moderator of the reactor to air. The resulting fire sent radioactive smoke into the atmosphere over an extensive geographical area. -
Demokratizatsiya
By 1987 Gorbachev changed his strategy from trying to work through the CPSU as it existed and instead embraced a degree of political liberalization. He appealed for demokratizatsiya , the infusion of "democratic" elements into the Soviet Union's sterile, monolithic political process. For Gorbachev, demokratizatsiya meant the introduction of multicandidate--not multiparty--elections for local party and soviet offices. -
Gorbachev as the President
As one of his most important reforms, Gorbachev stated a new democratic system and called onto elections including the Communist party members as well as non-party members.
On 15 March of 1990 he was elected the first demoocratic president of the Soviet Union. -
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Peace
As President, Gorbachev promoted more peaceful foreign relationships. He removed troops from Afghanistan, negotiated the end of cold war, played a crucial role in German´s reunification.
For all of the above, Gobachev recieved the nobel price in October 1990. -
Presidency of Two
When interior cultural problems kept unsolved in the Soviet Union , a new oppositor, Yeltsin, was voted to be president. Now Gorbachev and Yeltsin struggled to balance their shared power. -
END OF THE USSR
Although restored to power, Gorbachev's authority had been irreparably undermined. In September, the Baltic states were granted independence. On December 1, Ukraine withdrew from the USSR. On December 26, 1991 the USSR dissolved, breaking up into fifteen separate nations. The USSR officially ceased to exist on 31 December 1991. Russia claimed to be the successor to the Soviet Union, soliciting Western support for capitalist reforms in post-Soviet Russia, ending the Cold War.
