Glasnost

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Glasnost

• Freedom of Speech

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People being able to say what they want without
fear of arrest
For the West Glasnost was about Freedom of
Speech. For the USSR it was about making the
countrys management transparent and open to
debate
See through - not hidden accountable to the
ordinary people
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This was a massive change in policy as before
Glasnost control of the Russian economy was in
the hands of small minority known as the
apparatchiks
Communist party official
Translation agent of the apparatus
Term of abuse
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The idea was that the ordinary people of Russia
could take ownership of their government and by
criticising make it better
But not slag off! -
it must be a SEXd criticism
This was the theory however..
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Glasnost led to.

• Increased criticism of the government
• Criticism of Leninism
• A spoken view that the soviet government was a
  failure

Before people had been too frightened to say this
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It went further than it was supposed to

• The party lost control of the media

As a result the media began exposing problems in
Russian society
Poor housing
Alcoholism
pollution
Food shortages
2nd class citizen status for women
Increasing mortality rates
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Glasnost Also Exposed
The true horrors of the Stalinist era
Yes Khrushchev had denounced Stalin in the
Secret Speech, but the public had no idea just
how many had died until Glasnost allowed the
papers to print the truth.
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Public faith in the Soviet System
Collapsed
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Glasnost impacted on elections
Instead of just communist party mps, Independent
and Nationalist MPs were elected to the regional
assemblies
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Regions demanded Independence
Estonia
Georgia
Ukraine
Latvia
Lithuania
Azerbaijan
Chechnya also demanded Independence and declared
itself independent in 1991. It has still not been
recognised as an independent country!
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The states demanding independence also started
using Glasnost to make local decisions about the
environment
This used to be the job of the Kremlin
Name given to central government
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Glasnost Awakened
Simmering ethnic and nationalistic tensions
This led to conflict in Chechnya, Azerbaijan, and
Armenia,
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Chechnya
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As a result of Glasnost
1000s of political prisoners were released
dissidents
However, the reform of the Soviet Union was too
little too late!