On March 11th, 1985 Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was elected the new General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Upon being elected, he immediately raised concerns about the social, economic and political issues in the Soviet Union, mainly those of economic decline, rising ethnic tensions and a rise in nationalism, leading to a stronger desire for Soviet Republics to gain their independence. This essay analyses the two sources by Gorbachev that set the complete reform of the Soviet Union in motion, ‘Gorbachev’s first views’ depicting his desire for reform and change, and ‘Gorbachev and the need for perestroika’ which depicts his dissatisfaction with the current system and the status-quo. Perestroika and Glasnost are undoubtedly the most essential sets of policies to understand Gorbachev’s intentions for reform and change of the system in the Soviet Union. This essay’s research question is “What kind of changes did Perestroika and Glasnost bring to the socio-economic aspect of the Soviet Union?” To answer this question, the essay analyses these sources, and the historic context that applies to them. First, it takes a look at Perestroika, its intentions and strategies. Second, it looks at Glasnost, and its intentions and strategies. Third, it will look at the effects and consequences of these two policies.
The intention of Perestroika was to restructure and thereby re-invigorate the Soviet economy, by adding some capitalist elements into it, similarly to the