3-GORBACHEV+Winkler,+Michelle

__The Soviet Military __ **What was the situation for that group/institution before Gorbachev became Premier?** ○ “Relations with the military deteriorated, however, in the latter half of Brezhnev's rule as the rate of Soviet economic growth declined from four percent in the 1960s to a little more than two percent in the late 1970s. This slowdown accentuated critical resource allocation decisions and prompted the Soviet leadership to cut back on the rate of growth of defense spending. Whereas Soviet defense spending had increased at a rate of four to five percent in the period 1965-1975, it dropped to two percent from 1977-1983, with investment devoted to the procurement of new weapons showing no growth at all during the same period. During that period, by contrast, U.S. defense spending visibly increased, especially President Reagan in 1980” (Larrabee 1003) ○ Before Gorbachev’s policies developed the Soviet military, Brezhnev ruled over a powerful and prominent military that many referred to as the golden age for the high command. During Brezhnev’s term, “Soviet defense spending had increased at a rate of four to five percent in the period 1965-1975, it dropped to two percent from 1977-1983, with investment devoted to the procurement of new weapons showing no growth at all during the same period” (Larrabee 1003). Gorbachev’s influence into the military can be seen by the decline in military spending toward the end of the 1970s. It is important to notice that the decline of military spending was also a part of a decrease in attention to the military sector altogether and Gorbachev took this time during his power of influence to include this in his reform. This would play a part in perestroika component of Gorbachev’s reform policies as it would decrease the Soviet Union’s dependency on the military and concentrate it somewhere else.

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 * How did the group/institution interpret the application of those policies to it? **

○ The response from military sector, except for the occasional radical members, of the Soviet Union was relatively understanding. Soviet Marshal Akhromeyev, a prominent military figure in the Soviet Union, agreed to the reforms of Gorbachev in the decrease in military spending responding that “presently, it is no longer possible to guarantee security by perfecting the shield and sword” (Zwick 217). Marshal Akhromeyev emphasizes that the Soviet military doesn’t need to be revamped anymore as more concerning issues of keeping the government and economy stable will be more important to the attention of Gorbachev. Gorbachev stated that he wants to reform Soviet security to be under “mutual security” which will “be achieved by political agreement not military power” (Zwick 217). This will encourage a military glasnost that will be beneficial to the military sector in the end.

○ “Since the ouster of Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov as chief of the general staff and the emergence of Mikhail Gorbachev as general secretary of the Communist party in 1985, the fortunes of the Soviet military appear to have suffered an important reverse. Marshal Ogarkov's "transfer" to command the Western Theater of Military Operations deprived the military of its most vigorous and outspoken advocate in the upper ranks of the Soviet leadership in Moscow.' Gorbachev, meanwhile, has begun to chip away at the privileged status enjoyed by the armed forces in the past. In practical terms this has meant a downgrading of their symbolic status, the appointment of a relatively uninfluential military officer as defense minister, the refusal to consider the military's advice on a number of arms-control issues, and the adoption of a public stance toward the defense budget that suggests that the military will have to do more with less spending” (Herspring 42). ○ Gorbachev implemented his reform policies in the military sector of the Soviet Union through a combination of glasnost and perestroika. This was done by Gorbachev’s “refusal to consider the military's advice on a number of arms-control issues” (Herspring 42). Gorbachev did this to lower the emphasis on the military in the Soviet Union and to bring the Soviet Union to a more coherent understanding of the new Russia he was trying to reconstruct. Gorbachev didn’t want the heavy military of Russia’s past to follow them into the reforms of their future. His process of implementing perestroika was done by trying to restructure the way the military was being used in all parts of the party through “the adoption of a public stance toward the defense budget that suggests that the military will have to do more with less spending” (Herspring 42). While this might seem at first glance unwise of Gorbachev and his policies it will allow for a restructuring of military and a reform of their use of defense spending. Gorbachev put these policies in the military sector within for months of coming into office. He realized that the faster he informed the military sector that defense spending would be decreased and emphasize the seriousness of the implementation the faster he could get Russia in the formation he wanted it to be.
 * How did the Soviet State apply those policies to that group/institution, and what were the effects? **

**What was the significance of Gorbachev’s reforms as it pertained to that group/institution?** ○ These changes have become especially apparent since mid-1988.Gorbachev treated the military carefully in the early years of perestroika. It was only after the January 1987 Plenum of the Central Committee that the armed forces came in for detailed criticism of the kind that other institutions had already been subjected to. The Mathias Rust affair provided a pretext in May 1987 for the appointment of General Dmitri Yazov as minister of defense, and for further criticism, much of which was directed against sources of ineffectiveness in the armed forces. After the 19th Party Conference in the summer of 1988, and especially after the September Plenum of that year, a new phase began, with a far-reaching public debate of the military's place in society. (Holloway 6). ○ The significance of Gorbachev applying his four components of his reform policies to the Soviet military was incredibly important to the reduction of the Soviet military and defense spending as well the increase in the economy in other sectors. Gorbachev’s “dual program of perestroika and glasnost introduced profound changes in economic practice, internal affairs and international relations” (Larrabee) which shows the Soviet union that they could manage their foreign and internal affairs without hiding behind their massive military. With his reforms in the Soviet military, the Soviet Union would soon understand that “a new phase began, with a far-reaching public debate of the military's place in society” (Holloway 6). This knowledge that the Soviet military needs revision will hit the Soviet Union late after Gorbachev’s reforms and in the meanwhile he will implement perestroika and glasnost in order to increase foreign relations. Gorbachev found that changing the way military security was perceived by the public internally and in the East-West relations would help him challenge the debate of the role the military played in society as a whole. In the end of his campaign of these policies his use of uskoreniye and democratizatsiya would also play a significant role in reforming the way the Soviet military worked in the Soviet Union.

Works Cited

Herspring, Dale R. . "Gorbachev and the Soviet Military." //JStor//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1173832?>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Holloway, David. "State, Society, and the Military under Gorbachev." //JSTOR//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2538930>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Larrabee, F. Stephen. "Gorbachev: Foreign Affairs." //Global//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/43392/f-stephen-larrabee/gorbachev-and-the-soviet-military>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Larrabee, F. Stephen. "Gorbachev and the Soviet Military." //JStor//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/20043575>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Zwick, Peter. "New Thinking and New Foreign Policy under Gorbachev." //JSTOR//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/419599?>.