GRADE 12: PAPER 2
ESSAY: THE END OF THE COLD WAR AND A NEW WORLD ORDER
Essay question: Gorbachev’s reforms (Perestroika and Glasnost) in the Soviet Union
led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 and affected political change in
South Africa in the 1990s. Do you agree with the statement? Use relevant historical
evidence to support your line of argument.
1. Background
In the 1980s the USSR was in a serious state of economic crisis due to its
prolonged Cold War competition with the USA to develop and accumulate
military armaments (arms race) and due to its continuous attempts to achieve
superior spaceflight capability (space race). Russia’s participation in the
Afghanistan war also drained the country economically.
Mikhail Gorbachev became Secretary-general of the Communist party and
leader of the Soviet Union in 1985 at the age of 54. Gorbachev hoped to revive
the economy of the Soviet Union by improving both industrial output and
technology, as well as expanding its market. His main aim was to take Russia
out of its weak economic system by introducing reforms that he hoped would
bring changes to Russia’s economy. He took a big risk and implemented two
main reforms that were aimed at improving the Soviet Union’s economic
system. These reforms were known as Perestroika (economic reconstruction)
and Glasnost (openness)
2. Perestroika (reconstruction)
The first reform that Gorbachev introduced was Perestroika, which aimed to
reconstruct the economy of the USSR. Perestroika allowed some aspects of
capitalism back to the Soviet economy and enabled private businesses to
engage in foreign trade. Under Perestroika, smaller businesses could be
privately owned, which meant that workers and managers could now make
decisions about how to run their enterprises without having to wait for orders
from the government. Many state-owned companies that were failing were shut
down and foreign investment was encouraged. Ordinary people were given
permission to buy and sell goods and services for profit. Lastly, under
Perestroika Gorbachev also reduced Russia’s military spending significantly and
withdrew the country from the war in Afghanistan. Most citizens of the Soviet
Union were enthusiastic about these reforms at the beginning, but people later
became angry with the slow pace of reconstruction because Perestroika failed
have any major impact on the USSR’s economic problems.
3. Glasnost (openness)
Gorbachev also introduced a policy known as Glasnost in 1986 which aimed to
bring about a more open and consultative government that allowed for greater
freedom in the USSR. Glasnost allowed freedom of speech in Russia and gave
more freedoms to the country’s media. People were allowed to openly criticise
the government and its policies. It was thought that this would bring an end to
corruption with the government. Gorbachev introduced this policy because he
wanted to hear ideas from ordinary people who were not members of the
Communists Party and so he went around the country meeting people and
listening to their complaints and ideas. However, Glasnost did not achieve its
desired outcomes because it led to a flood of attacks on the government and
people started demanding more freedom. Some people started demanded the
end of communism and full democracy in the Soviet Union. Even Gorbachev
himself was criticised because of this policy.
4. How the reforms led to the disintegration if the Soviet Union
Gorbachev’s reforms (Perestroika and Glasnost) created intense anger and
dissatisfaction among many hard-line Communists and they heavily criticised
them.
Because of these reforms, Gorbachev himself became unpopular among the
people which led to the development of two groups of opponents. The first
group that opposed him were the hardliners who opposed the reforms, and the
second group were the liberals who criticised him for not moving fast enough
As a result, he lost support at home and the unity of the Soviet Union became
was at risk and Communism became threatened as more and more people
began criticising it.
The two policies (Perestroika and Glasnost) did not support each other as it was
thought and instead led to the end of the entire Soviet system.
Gorbachev was regarded as a hero by the West and even received a Nobel
Peace Prize in 1990.
There were many underlying differences among the 15 Soviet republics and civil
unrest broke out between various groups. People from some of the Republics
started demanding independence and Gorbachev tried to stop the disintegration
of the Soviet Union by proposing the establishment of a federation of states but
failed terribly.
In 1990 several Soviet states declared independence and on 25 December
1991 the USSR was dissolved and the Communist Party was disbanded.
This disintegration symbolised the end of the Cold War.
5. Political developments in South Africa after the fall of the Soviet Union
Political changes in Russia put pressure on the apartheid government to also
embark on changes.
The collapse of communism affected both the National Party government and
the ANC in South Africa.
The NPs fear of a Communist-controlled ANC was no longer valid because
Communism ad already fallen and the NP was now prepared to negotiate
with the ANC.
After the fall of communism in Russia, the ANC no longer received any
support from the Soviet Union and it could no longer rely on the Soviet Union
for economic and military support.
Most western countries started supporting the move that South Africa should
resolve its problems peacefully and democratically and the apart government
realised that the continued representation of Black South Africans would lead
to political instability.
The apartheid government started to believe that reform was needed.
When PW Botha suffered a stroke in 1989, FW de Klerk came to power. FW de
Klerk then realised that the struggle of Black South Africans was not directed
by the USSR and that the USSR was not trying spread its ideology into South
Africa and he started the process of negotiations.
On the 2nd of February 1990 de Klerk announced a new and just constitution
and unbanned all anti-apartheid organisations, including the ANC and PAC
He also released all political prisoners and Nelson Mandela was released in
February 1990. This marked the beginning of the process of negotiations
