BREZHNEV DIED IN 1982 AND THE NEXT 2 LEADERS CHOSEN WERE LIKE 100 YEARS OLD AND SICK: YURI ANDROPOV KONSTANTIN CHERNENKO

YURI ANDROPOV WANTED REFORM REPLACED 1/5 OF ALL NOMENKLATURA: CITY AND LOCAL PARTY SECRETARIES AND PEOPLE IN CHARGE. 2. WANTED TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION BY SAYING THAT YOU CAN’T JUST SHOW UP AND DRINK AT WORK-CRAZEE!

BUT HE IS A REFORMER, KIND OF!  YURI ANDROPOV: 62 YEARS OLD AN EX-KGB LEADER BUT HE IS A REFORMER, KIND OF! HE SHUTS DOWN THE SPACE PROGRAM TO SAVE $$$$ TELLS LAZY RUSSIAN EMPLOYEES THAT “YOU BETTER GO TO WORK!!” TRIED TO REPLACE BREZHNEV SUPPORTERS WITH YOUNGER MEMBERS OF THE POLITBURO HIRES GORBACHEV AT THE AGE OF 49 CONSTANTIN CHERNENKO E WAS TOO OLD TO GOVERN AND SO GORBACHEV DID MOST OF THE WORK.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV “If Vladimir Illich Lenin was the father of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev was its gravedigger.”

ONLY 49 YEARS OLD WHEN HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE POLITBURO AND ONLY 52 WHEN HE STARTED TO RULE THE 2ND GREATEST SUPERPOWER IN THE WORLD.

THE POLITBURO : THE GROUP OF COMMUNIST PART LEADERS

ADDED 5 OF HIS SUPPORTERS TO THE POLITBURO BUT 60% WERE STILL BREZHEV APPOINTEES!!

“ I am a Communist, a convinced Communist “ I am a Communist, a convinced Communist! For some that may be a fantasy. But for me it is my main goal.”

WHEN GORBACHEV WAS APPOINTED GENERAL SECRETARY IN 1985 HE FAMOULSY TOLD HIS WIFE, “THINGS CANNOT GO ON AS THEY ARE”.

AFTER WWII, COMMUNISM HAD BROUGHT FULL EMPLOYMENT, CHEAP HOUSING AND LOW PRICES FOR FOOD, BUT IT WAS UNSUSTAINABLE! PROBLEMS WITH THE SOVIET ECONOMY THE PRICES FOR FOOD WERE HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED, MEANING THAT THE SOVIET GIOVERNMENT WAS LOSING MONEY EVERY TIME SOMEONE BOUGHT SOMETHING GROWTH IN THE SOVIET ECONOMY WAS SLOWLY BUT SURELY SLOWING DOWN!!!

RUSSIA WAS STILL IMPORTING GRAIN FROM WESTERN, CAPITALIST, IMPERIAL PIGS TRANSPORTATION AND REFRIGERATION FACILITIES SUCKED. THERE WERE LONG LINES EVERYWHERE YOU WENT EVERYONE WAS AN ALCOHOLIC (I LOST 2 MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY, MY RUSSIAN FAMILY, TO ALCOHOLISM. ITS’ VERY REAL!

- COAL PRODUCTION WAS FALLING - OIL PRODUCTION WAS FALLING NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION IS FALLING (CUZ WHY WOULD I WANT TO GO TO WORK, IF I DON’T MAKE ANY MONEY!!!!!)

(GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT) RUSSIAN GNP (GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT) THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THE COUNTRY MAKES EVERY YEAR 1960-1965: 5% (NOT BAD) 1975: 3.5% (UH-OH) 1980: 2.5 % (UH-OH FOR REAL) 1985: 2% (HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!)

RUSSIA’S BLACK MARKET

THE 1ST THING THAT GORBACHEV DOES IS HE TRIES TO GET RID OF ALCOHOL THE 1ST THING THAT GORBACHEV DOES IS HE TRIES TO GET RID OF ALCOHOL. GOOD LUCK!

(PERESTROIKA MEANS TO “REBUILD”) PERESTROIKA ONE (PERESTROIKA MEANS TO “REBUILD”) LET PEASANTS LEASE MORE LAND FROM COLLECTIVE FARMS……BUT THE FARM MANAGERS DIDN’T WANT TO. WHY NOT? THE NOMENKLATURA, OR PARTY BOSSES, DIDN’T WANT TO CHANGE (IT’S HARD TO CHANGE A 70 YR. OLD BEAUCACTRAIC SYSTEM!)

(PERESTROIKA MEANS TO “REBUILD”) PERESTROIKA ONE (PERESTROIKA MEANS TO “REBUILD”) GORBACHEV WANTED TO GET RID PF PRICE CONTROLS AND STATE SUBSIDIES BUT………………… PRICES WOULD SKYROCKET AND THE SHLEVES WOULD BE EMPTY

“LAW ON STATE ENTERPRISES” GORBACHEV PASSES THE “LAW ON STATE ENTERPRISES” THE STATE WOULD PRIVATIZE 60% OF ALL STATE OWNED BUSINESSES! (1988) OH MY GOD!!!!! THEN, THE OTHER 40% (1989) 2. FACTORIES COULD SET THEIR OWN PRICES AND SELL THE SURPLUS FOR A PROFIT!!!

( NOT THE ECONOMY BUT POLITICS) PERESTROIKA II ( NOT THE ECONOMY BUT POLITICS) 1987: LOCAL SOVIETS OR PARTY HEADQUARTERS WOULD NOW BE ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE WITH A CHOICE OF CANDIDATES. (OH MY GOD AGAIN!)

WITH 1/3 COMING FROM GROUPS WHICH WOULD INCLUDE COMMUNISTS THE SUPREME SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY WOULD NOW BE OPEN TO 2/3 UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE WITH 1/3 COMING FROM GROUPS WHICH WOULD INCLUDE COMMUNISTS 88% OF THE PEOPLE LECTED WERE COMMUNISTS BUT STILL

WHAT WAS THE IMPACT OF ALL THESE CHANGES DEMAND FOR MORE CHANGE B) SHORTAGE OF GOODS C) 25% OF PEOPLE ARE LIVING BELOW THE POVERY LINE  

E) NO SOAP FOR MINERS; MASSIVE STRIKES LEADING TO CALLS FOR LABOR UNIONS G) 18,000 PEOPLE LEAVE THE COMMUNIST PARTY IN 1988 AND THEN ANOTHER 136,000 IN 1989 H) PRICE INCREASES, UNEMPLOYMENT AND FOOD SHORTAGES.

GLASNOST-OPENNESS DEBATE THE BRUTALITY OF STALIN GET POLITICAL PRISONERS BACK FROM THE GULAGS ALLOW FOR PUBLIC DEBATE OF SOVIET COMMUNIST POLICIES

Andrei Sakharov the Nuclear Physicist is freed from prison and elected to office by the Russian people Born: May 21, 1921, Moscow Died: December 14, 1989, Moscow Spouse: Yelena Bonner (m. 1972) Education: Moscow State University, Lebedev Physical Institute Awards: Nobel Peace Prize, USSR State Prize, Hero of Socialist Labour, Lenin Prize, Elliott Cresson Medal Books: Alarm and hope, Memoirs, Moscow and beyond, 1986 to 1989

ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN

HE WAS SENTNECED TO THE INFAMOUS LUBYANKA PRISON HE WAS IMRISONED IN 1945 FOR WRITING LETTERS ABOUT STALIN IN WHICH HE CALLED STALIN NAMES. HE GOT 8 YEARS FOR THIS! HE WAS SENTNECED TO THE INFAMOUS LUBYANKA PRISON HE WAS EVENTUALLY EXILED TO THE UNITED STATES, ONLY TO RETURN IN 1994 AFTER THE SOVIET UNION HAD COLLAPSED.

CHERNOBYL http://www.cultcase.com/2009/07/chernobyl-journal-hdr-photo-journey-to.html

GORBACHEV’S FOREIGN POLICY WITH REAGAN #1. GORBACHEV REVERSES THE BREZHNEV DOCTRINE AND TELLS EASTERN EUOROPE, “GOOD LUCK. YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN!” THIS IS KNOWN AS “THE SINATRA DOCTRINE” #2.THIS IS ESSENTIALLY A COMPLETE ANNIHILATION OF THE WARSAW PACT AND AN UNBELIEVABLE TURN OF EVENTS.

THE SINATRA DOCTRINE

HE ALSO SAID THAT THE SOVIET UNION WOULD NO LONGER ECONOMICALLY SUPPORT THE SATELLITE STATES. THAT HE WOULD NO LONGER UPHOLD THE IRON CURTAIN!

With this, Reagan is ready to deal……. #3. BY 1986 GORBACHEV AGREES TO LEAVE AFGHNAISTAN AND BY 1989 THEY’RE GONE! With this, Reagan is ready to deal…….

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (1987) The treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges (500-5000 km or 300-3500 miles)

WE WOULD REDUCE OUR NUKES BY 15% AND THE USSR BY 25%. THE START TREATY IN 1991: WE WOULD REDUCE OUR NUKES BY 15% AND THE USSR BY 25%.

THE SOVIETS DO MISTAKENLY SHOOT DOWN KOREAN AIRLINE 007 IN 1983 BUT RUSSIA AND AMERICA CONTINUE ON.

Gorbachev the Reformer

DRUNK BORIS HAILED U.S. CAB IN HIS PANTS FORMER Russian President Boris Yeltsin got so drunk on a state visit to the US he was found in his underpants trying to hail a taxi

ALL THE ARMS CONTROL TREATIES: 1963: ATMOSPHERIC TEST BAN TREATY 1968: NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY 1972: THE SALT TREATY 1975: HELSINKI (HUMAN RIGHTS) 1987: NO MORE INTERMEDIATE RANGE NUKES IN EUROPE. YAY! 1991: THE START TREATY. WE WOULD REDUCE OUR NUKES BY 15% AND THE USSR BY 25%. BUT WE’RE GONNA KEEP STAR WARS !!!!