Gorbachev’s Revolution, 1985–1991

✍ Scribed by Anthony D’Agostino (auth.)

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 393
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This detailed and scholarly history, based on contemporary and original sources, explains the fall of Soviet Communism by bringing into focus the process of revolution from above. It finds as its cause Gorbachev's relentless political struggle to raise himself above the collective leadership which brought him to power. Gorbachev's Revolution, 1985-91 examines: · the impact of the SDI and other US arms programmes of the early 1980s which provided a stimulus for both Gorbachev's domestic reforms and his arms control initiatives · Perestroika, originally intended to show the world that a new Soviet foreign policy was based on real changes in Soviet society, however, Gorbachev launched its most radical measures in order to get an edge on his Politburo critics · Glasnost, originally meant to be a strictly controlled process furnishing an argument for piecemeal economic reforms This multi-faceted volume provides a wide-ranging and revisionist analysis of this fascinating and influential period in Soviet and international history.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-ix
A Gorbachev Epiphany?....Pages 1-10
The Old Regime of the Soviet Communists: Foreign Policy in the Cold War....Pages 11-48
Hero of the Harvest....Pages 49-76
‘Acceleration of the Perfection’, 1985–87....Pages 77-99
Gorbachev Bound: The Emergence of the Ligachev Opposition....Pages 100-125
The Thought of Mikhail Gorbachev: A Treatise and a Speech....Pages 126-147
Between Yeltsin and Ligachev....Pages 148-173
Another Escape Forward, 1988....Pages 174-197
Dropping the Pilot: Gorbachev Retires Gromyko....Pages 198-218
1989: The Year of Anger and Remembering....Pages 219-259
From the Wall to Stavropol: Gorbachev’s German Policy....Pages 260-279
The Second Russian Revolution Gathers....Pages 280-305
From the Coup to the End....Pages 306-338
Conclusion: Utopia and Repentance....Pages 339-355
Back Matter....Pages 356-384

✦ Subjects

Russian and Post-Soviet Politics;European History;Political Theory;Political Science;Modern History