GLASNOST AND PERESTROIKA
The ideas of Glasnost and Perestroika which in turn created the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika defined the end of the Cold war, from 1985 to 1991. These ideas resulted in rapid change and instability which lifted the world out of the cold war and resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet bloc after the intrinsic faults in the communist system were revealed. Glasnost is based on the Russian word Glasnost which means publicity or transparency while Perestroika means restructuring. These ideas were applied to the Soviet bloc under the leadership of Gorbachev to lift the bloc out of the Stagnancy of Brezhnev. This new approach resulted in distinct division within Soviet society while being internationally cohesive, especially in US/ USSR relations. Lastly their impact was so substantial it brought Soviet Russia to its knees and created a society that was controlled by the people, not a dictator.
The creation of the ideas of Glasnost and Perestroika began with realisation that Soviet society could not sustain its own people or its ambition and that the ideology that ran the society was not concerned with the people but simply the preservation of itself and expansion. The economic strain placed on the Soviet economy had a massive impact on the emergence of Glasnost and Perestroika. Beginning in 1969 the era of Détente was supposedly a time of reduced tensions between the superpowers of the US and the USSR and thus the development of nuclear weapons was supposed to slow. However the reality was very different. The Soviets used this time to achieve military parity with the US in both conventional forces and Nuclear weapons. This was revealed after the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and resulted in the breakdown of relations and the ending of Détente. However this military build-up had a massive impact on the Soviet economy, which in turn was a key factor in the emergence of the ideas of Glasnost and Perestroika. The Soviet economy being a Communist state could be
The creation of the ideas of Glasnost and Perestroika began with realisation that Soviet society could not sustain its own people or its ambition and that the ideology that ran the society was not concerned with the people but simply the preservation of itself and expansion. The economic strain placed on the Soviet economy had a massive impact on the emergence of Glasnost and Perestroika. Beginning in 1969 the era of Détente was supposedly a time of reduced tensions between the superpowers of the US and the USSR and thus the development of nuclear weapons was supposed to slow. However the reality was very different. The Soviets used this time to achieve military parity with the US in both conventional forces and Nuclear weapons. This was revealed after the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and resulted in the breakdown of relations and the ending of Détente. However this military build-up had a massive impact on the Soviet economy, which in turn was a key factor in the emergence of the ideas of Glasnost and Perestroika. The Soviet economy being a Communist state could be
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