Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate?

From the Soviet Union to Russia: the track of collapse

---------------------. In the last ten days of this year, a great event happened in the world that many people did not expect. It was founded by Lenin and the Soviet Union, which had existed in this world for nearly 7 years, disintegrated. The powerful Soviet empire, which once dominated the world, is like a building block built high, but it suddenly collapsed with a slight touch. At first glance, this seems to be an incredible thing. It has not experienced war, and it is so powerful. How could it suddenly disintegrate?

Let's take a look at the last scene of the disintegration ceremony of the Soviet Union:

"Gorbachev finished reading his Letter to Soviet Compatriots in 12 minutes. At the end of the reading, his eyes were wet and his voice was hoarse, and his heart was torn by countless hands, so he could hardly read any more. At 19: 2, according to the pre-arranged procedure, Gorbachev was to hand over the "nuclear button" that decided the end of the world, a black briefcase containing the password to launch 27, nuclear warheads of the former Soviet Union, to shaposhnikov, the temporary commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and then to Russian President Yeltsin from shaposhnikov. Still in front of the live TV camera, Gorbachev unconsciously touched his suit pocket, but unfortunately, he forgot to bring his pen, and he was at a loss for a moment. Tom, general manager of CNN TV Broadcasting Company? Mr. Johnson saved Gorbachev's car in time. He was quick-sighted, pulled out a ballpoint pen from his pocket and quickly handed it to the president who would become a civilian in a few seconds. Gorbachev said, "Thank you!" Immediately, he used this ballpoint pen to quickly sign his name on the decree that he gave up his post as commander-in-chief and handed over the control of nuclear weapons to Yeltsin. "

" At the moment Gorbachev handed over the nuclear button, everyone gathered in front of the TV seemed to hear a loud noise, and everyone knew that it was the red empire building that stood for 69 years that suddenly collapsed completely and was split into 15 pieces. " The above is a meticulous description of the scene by a China scholar.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union was a little unexpected for any country in the world at that time. Especially for China and the United States, two world powers, they were at a loss for a moment. No one knows how the countries of the former Soviet Union will develop after division. What impact it will have on the world pattern.

Ten years later, what is the situation of Russia as the successor of the former Soviet Union? Russia has inherited 7% of the land area and 7% of the economic base of the former Soviet Union, 6% of the population and about 7% of the national resources. In 1991, the gross domestic product of the former Soviet Union was about 3 trillion US dollars, equivalent to a little more than 6% of that of the United States, ranking second in the world. At that time, the Soviet Union was a formidable country with strong national strength, advanced science and technology, confident people and its own interests all over the world. What is Russia, the successor of the Soviet Union? According to statistics, in 21, ten years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia's GDP was about 3 billion US dollars, which was one tenth of that of the Soviet Union in 1991. The total import and export volume of foreign trade is about US$ 8 billion, which is only one fifth of that of China. Gold and foreign exchange reserves of US$ 2 billion are only one tenth of that of China. What is this concept? That is to say, Russia has changed from a powerful country to a world second-and third-rate country that is economically irrelevant. On the world political stage, Russia's voice is decreasing like its economic weight; Militarily, Russia has almost lost its decisive influence, and even on the issue of internal Chechen armed rebellion, it has been difficult for a long time, which has made many countries and military strategists embarrassed. Will this end be their original intention for former Soviet President Gorbachev, who recently lost his beloved wife, and now sadly runs the Gorbachev Foundation named after him, and former Russian President Yeltsin, who is now enjoying his old age under the care of current Russian President Putin? Definitely not. Yes. But how could they bring a good and powerful Soviet Union to the point of disintegration in just six years? It took another person eight years to bring a Russia that inherited 7% of the assets of the former Soviet Union to such a dilapidated state? Isn't there a lesson for China, for all politicians in the world, and for those who care about the fate of China's * * * production party and the future of China?

1. Gorbachev who is too bookish

What kind of person is Gorbachev? How did he step by step climb from a small place in the southern frontier of the former Soviet Union to the position of supreme leader of the Soviet Union? The following is Gorbachev's resume: Gorbachev was born in 1931 in Stavropol Krai, the southern frontier of the Soviet Union, of Russian nationality. In 1952, he joined the Soviet Communist Party, graduated from the Law Department of Moscow State University and stavropol Agricultural College. In 1955, he served as the first secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of stavropol, the minister, the second secretary and the first secretary of a certain department of the Youth League Frontier District Committee, and since 1962, he has served as the party leader of the Farm Farm Production Management Bureau in stavropol. In September 1966, he was elected as the first secretary of the Party Committee of stavropol, the first secretary of the Stavropol Krai Committee since 1968 and the member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union since 1971. Representatives of the Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses of the Soviet Union. In 1978, he was elected as the Central Secretary of the Soviet Union. In 1979, he was elected as Su Alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and in October 198, he was elected as a member of the Political Bureau. In March 1985, he was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union. Judging from Gorbachev's political career, it is smooth sailing. Almost every two or three years is a new starting point, except for staying in the position of the first secretary of the Party Committee of the Frontier Region for a little longer. Gorbachev has read a lot of books, and he has a law degree from the most prestigious university in the Soviet Union and a technical degree from the Agricultural College. However, looking at his whole political experience before he took office as general secretary of the Soviet Union, we can say that he basically did not encounter any difficulties and hardships, and he also had almost no remarkable achievements in his whole work history. At best, he is just a person who is usually dissatisfied with current politics. Although Gorbachev has nothing to show off in his political achievements, he, like any other person who lashed out at his country and Su * * *, had no understanding of politics but was obsessed with power, and he had longed for the enviable position of General Secretary of the Central Committee of Su * * * for a long time. Boldin, Gorbachev's secretary when he was the general secretary, described this in his book Gorbachev's ups and downs: After Gorbachev was elected as the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union, "he immediately moved into the office called No.6 on the fifth floor of the main building of the Party Central Office Building without any delay. Just as the Russian czar was obsessed with the throne and crown in the past, this new office has always attracted him. Almost overnight, the attendants cleaned everything up, changed the long carpet on the stairs and polished the floor. There are still some things to be done in the reception room, but Gorbachev can't wait to start receiving visitors in his new office. " What we can see from Boldin's description seems to be a young man who is not yet an adult. He has suddenly gained high trust from his superiors and given him a very important job that can reflect trust. He can't wait to finish this job to show his talents. As soon as Gorbachev took office, he suddenly promoted a large number of people who he thought had reform ideas, including Yeltsin, who later became his political sworn enemy, ligachev, who was later left out by him, Shevardnadze, who was called "Foreign Minister of Reform and Foreign Minister of Peace", and Jakovleff, the Central Secretary in charge of the Party's ideological and propaganda work, who led the Soviet Union to disaster.

Gorbachev's book entitled "Reform and New Thinking", which has been dubbed as the "most smelly theory" in the 2th century, can best reflect his personality. Originally, the word "reform" had many expressions in Russian: but Gorbachev used the word "reconstruction, transformation". In the Russian dictionary, the definition of this word is "tear down and rebuild". According to this, some people say that Gorbachev was determined to tear down the building of the Soviet Union and rebuild it from the beginning, and he wanted to build his own ideal country. There must be some resentment in this statement now, but Gorbachev really wants to use a big country like the Soviet Union to do a reform experiment for himself with the interests of the people of the whole Soviet Union, and he wants to start with the most sensitive and deadly political system in this country. Gorbachev, like most people in the Soviet Union, saw the disadvantages of the country, but he was also like an immature young man, afraid that others would not know, and he couldn't wait to clearly express his thoughts in the title of this book. In order to express the openness of his thoughts, as a leader of a big country like the Soviet Union, he actually gave this book to an American publisher for publication. That is to say, in that world where the Cold War was in full swing, as a leader of a big country, he presented his design and strategic thinking of governing the country to the world without reservation from the beginning. How naive this behavior is! While promoting the reform, he also vigorously advocated the so-called "democratization" and "openness" in an attempt to attract the masses to participate in this reform. I don't know which philosopher said this: "The leader who can hide his strategic thoughts best is the smartest leader". General leaders and so on, let alone a general secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union? In fact, Gorbachev's so-called new thinking, in the eyes of world-class strategists, is simply a composition of an internal journal of the college; In the eyes of world-class politicians, it is just a paper of a fledgling graduate student.

Gorbachev, who came from the grass roots, also saw the economic difficulties of the Soviet countries and the people's dissatisfaction with the rigid system. In 1986, he presided over the formulation of the Basic Principles for the Economic and Social Development of the Soviet Union from 1986 to 199 and 2 at the 27th Congress of the Soviet Party. In 1987, he formulated the Basic Principles for Fundamental Reform of Economic Management and the Enterprise Law. His basic idea is to delegate power to enterprises, so that enterprises can achieve "three self-sufficiency", that is, to operate completely independently. This kind of thinking seems ok for Gorbachev who has a degree from Moscow University, but it is not brilliant as a national leader. At that time, this reform method had been implemented in China for several years. Some local and business leaders and economists in China saw the limitations of this reform, loudly called for further economic system reform, and were doing pilot projects for further reform. Under the framework of the reform of the big economic system, by the end of 1988, the overall economic situation of the Soviet Union had not improved, and it was even more out of balance. In 1988, the average annual growth rate of national income in the Soviet Union was only 2.8%, which was lower than that in 1981, known as the "stagnant era". In 1985. After the economic reform was frustrated, Gorbachev unilaterally attributed the failure of economic reform to the current political system. The 19th Congress of the Soviet Union held in June 1988 marked the shift of the focus of reform from the economic field to the political field. Gorbachev was the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union, but he called the original political system of the Soviet Union "bureaucratic autocracy" and "totalitarian system" with the mentality of ordinary Soviet civilians and the language of immature intellectuals. He lashed out at the political system of the Soviet Union in various public occasions, which seriously damaged the political image of the Soviet Union and Soviet countries in the eyes of the people, while extremists and separatist forces in the party greatly appreciated Gorbachev's remarks. His political system reform and the implementation of democratization and openness caused great chaos in Soviet society, and some Democrats who joined the Republic began to compete with the Soviet Union for power. In 1989, the production parties of the three Baltic countries openly split with the Soviet Union. The power of the Republic fell into the hands of Democrats and separatists. The whole Soviet society was in serious turmoil. The economic situation has worsened. In 1989, the growth rate of national income in the Soviet Union dropped to 2.4%, and the supply of daily necessities became even more tense. The army also began to appear unstable, and the reform process of the Soviet Union began to get out of control.

Gorbachev, who is too bookish, has firmly smashed the old ideology and political system of the Soviet Union, but he can't give the Soviet Union a new ideology that unites people's hearts, and he can't prescribe a practical prescription for the country's reform to establish a new system. He left the reconstruction of ideology to all kinds of religions and extreme thoughts, and pinned the solution of the new system on political reform. Yeltsin, once known as the "bravest" reformer, who was hand-picked by him and personally beaten by him, seized the most important and largest Soviet Union to join the Republic of * * * right under the nose of Gorbachev, using the method of open election strongly advocated by Gorbachev? The supreme leadership of the Russian Federation. The reform and the country's out of control didn't sober Goethe up, and so many books he read didn't bring any wisdom to the country's leader at this difficult time. In desperation, he naively thought of the practicality of the title "President". He believes that the post of "general secretary" is not suitable for leading a country, and only the president is the proper title of a justified national leader. He tried to regain control of the whole Soviet Union with the post of "President". So in 199, he stumbled onto the position of "President of the Soviet Union". To his surprise, but in the logic of his new thinking, in June, 199, in accordance with the national policy and constitution of the Soviet Union, several major Soviet countries successively issued sovereignty declarations. The disintegration of the Soviet Union has begun to show signs.

If compulsory measures are taken throughout the Soviet Union at this time, perhaps the Soviet Union still has a glimmer of hope. History often has no ifs, which is lamentable. Sadly, at this time, the supreme leader of the Soviet Union still has leisure to go to the seaside for a holiday, and he is enjoying the infinite happiness of a leader of a world power. On August 19th, 1991, other leaders of the Soviet Union headed by Vice President Yanayev who stayed in Moscow took drastic measures. Implemented a "state of emergency" and took control of Gorbachev, who was on vacation on the coast of the Black Sea. But what people who tried to save the Soviet Union from collapse did not expect was that after Gorbachev's "reform" for several years and his fierce attack on the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union, the Soviet army had completely lost its trust in the Soviet Party and country, and its morale was chaotic. The army actually thought it was unnecessary to do anything to save the existing country. It seems that the coup was not smooth from the beginning. Yeltsin, one of the two most important figures to be controlled in the coup, left Moscow ahead of schedule and went to Almaty for a "visit". The "state of emergency" failed after only three days.

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