Why Gorbachev?

[kowalskil]

Why Gorbachev?

Gorbachev is of the same age as I am. Several days ago I read a post (on a Russian forum) in which he was accused of being responsible for the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In my opinion the country disintegrated spontaneously, after the truth about dark sides of Stalinism became known. Yes, Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Communist Party, did contribute to the fall, by promoting the policy of "glasnost," that is by allowing truth to be known. But reforms introduced by the President of the Soviet Union, Yeltsyn, were equally important. The same can be said about Gorbachev's predecessor Khrushchev, about Solzhenitsyn, Shalamow and Pasternak, whose books were allowed to be published, and about authors of many other documents.

Karl Marx would say that focusing on characters of exceptional individuals, such as Lenin, Stalin and Gorbachev, is not sufficient. He would most probably try to identify mistkes made by those who managed the country's economy, focusing on nationalization of means of production, collectivisation of agriculture, and on dealing with some national aspirations.

Ludwik Kowalski, Ludwik Kowalski

http://csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/life/intro.html

P.S.
A Russian author wrote:
"Gorbachev must be put on trial! This diversionary enemy worked for western intelligence services."
"Судить Горбачёва необходимо! Это враг, диверсант который работал на западную разведку!"

 

[SFG75]

Thanks for posting this, your post and link to earlier writings is a real treat to peruse. I remember in the late '80s that in certain right wing circles(i.e.-Rush Limbaugh & the John Birch Society) that Gorbachev was viewed as an ardent communist who only wanted to institute nominal reforms in order to continue the cold war and plans for world domination. According to them, Gorbachev was bowled over by the reforms he instituted and couldn't close the lid on pandora's box. It's ironic to see that in your post, some Russians would view Gorbachev as a traitor to the west while some on this side of the pond, would view him as a wolf in sheep's clothing.

A comparison of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin would be fascinating to consider.

 

[Conscious Bob]

Gorbachev was a realist. He had to introduce reform because the USSR was bankrupted by the Cold War. The unfortunate thing was he lost control and Yeltsin took over. Yeltsin's contribution to reform was to abolish the soviet welfare state.

Interestingly Gorbachev himself predicted that the next great ideological conflict would be with Islam. The Soviet Union at that point was having difficulty keeping the lid on trouble along it's southern border.

 

[sparkchaser]

Why Gorbachev?
In my opinion the country disintegrated spontaneously, after the truth about dark sides of Stalinism became known.

TIL that the Soviet Union going bankrupt over cleaning up Chernobyl had nothing to do with their fall.