3-GORBACHEV+Hotz,+Emilie


 *  Intellectuals **


 * 1.) What was the situation for that group/institution before Gorbachev became Premier? **

Leaders before Gorbachev such as Leonid Brezhnev, Konstantin Chernenko, and Yuri Andropov, always suppressed media and intellectuals who spoke out against the government leadership. This was first implemented by Stalin back in the 1920’s. Bolshevik policy toward its detractors, and particularly toward articulate, intellectual criticism, hardened considerably. Suppression of newspapers, initially described as a temporary measure, became a permanent policy. Lenin considered the Constitutional Democrats (Kadets) the center of a conspiracy against Bolshevik rule. In 1919, he began mass arrests of professors and scientists who had been Kadets, and deported Kadets, Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, and Nationalists. The Bolshevik leadership sought rapidly to purge Russia of past leaders in order to build the future on a clean slate.


 * Document: **

Soviets to Release All Political Prisoners Kohl Says Gorbachev Agreed to Free Prisoners of Conscience by End of Year NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED October 27, 1988


 * 2.) How did that group/institution interpret the application of those policies to it? **

The intellectuals loved Gorbachev’s “openness” policy but at the same time used it to voice their discontent with communist Russia which lead to the dismantle of the USSR.

Soviet Intellectuals and Political Power: The Post-Stalin Era  By Vladimir Shlapentokh
 * Document: **




 * 3.) How did the Soviet state apply those policies to that group/institution, and what were the effects? **

Gorbachev always tried to avoid unnecessary violence when enforcing his new reforms as he wanted the support of the people. Instead, Gorbachev promoted himself by taking a democratic approach to his political endeavours by allowing multiple candidates from the same party only. This way intellectuals felt that their voices were being heard.

A general overview of Russia is Glenn E. Curtis, Russia: A Country Study (1998). Denis J.B. Shaw, Russia in the Modern World: A New Geography (1999)
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline;">Document: **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline;">While Gorbachev's political initiatives were positive for freedom and democracy in the Soviet Union and its Eastern bloc allies, the economic policy of his government gradually brought the country close to disaster. By the end of the 1980s, severe shortages of basic food supplies (meat, sugar) led to the reintroduction of the war-time system of distribution using food cards that limited each citizen to a certain amount of product per month. Compared to 1985, the state deficit grew from 0 to 109 billion rubles; gold funds decreased from 2,000 to 200 tons; and external debt grew from 0 to 120 billion dollars.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline;">4.) What was the significance of Gorbachev’s reforms as it pertained to that group/institution? **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline;">Document: **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Gorbachev Regime: Consolidation to Reform <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline;">edited by Peter H. Juviler, Hiroshi Kimura

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline;">Perestroika and resistance to it are often cited as major catalysts leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev changed the meaning of freedom for the people of the USSR. Previously, freedom had meant recognition of the Marxist-Leninist regime. Now, however, freedom meant escaping all constraints. He also ceased the persecution of religion under perestroika and allowed the publishing of previously banned books, such as Nineteen Eighty-Four, Animal Farm, and Doctor Zhivago Although Gorbachev's attempts at perestroika ultimately failed, he drastically changed the perceptions of the outside world towards Russia.