How to actually Andropov wanted to change the USSR

History 12/02/20 Public domainКак in fact, Andropov wanted to change the USSR

the issue of the possible continuation of Andropov reforms, a long time dominates the minds of researchers. If not for the diseased kidneys of the Secretary General, then we would live in a completely different country – so many people think. What is this opinion based?

an Enlightened statesman

According to the statement of the all-Russia centre of studying of public opinion (VTSIOM) in 1991, 27% of respondents to the question “Someone from the state, public and cultural figures of Russia and the USSR, the people will remember in ten years?”, called the name of Yuri Andropov. Next in the ranking survey were Lenin and Gorbachev, who were behind Andropov more than twice.
Where is the recognition? The Director of the office of socio-political research of the group of companies “ROMIR monitoring” Mikhail Tarusin, explains that the majority of people popular public figures, combining Providence, which is not alien to democratic ideas, and at the same time, a convinced reformer and statesman hard. This was Catherine II. About the today certificate character and personality of Andropov, said Tarusin.
Andropov was, without doubt, an intellectual, what it highlights on the background of previous General secretaries. He could see the pile of socio-economic problems that were the product of inertia of the power and corruption. But where it was more difficult to translate their intentions into action.

Three scenarios

Reflecting on the future of the USSR under Andropov Mikhail Tarusin gives three possible scenarios of development of events:
1. Andropov was tired of the physical illness and the struggle with the party nomenklatura, in the end, would break. In this case the Soviet system, while continuing to stagnate, sooner or later will be broken.
2. Yuri Vladimirovich, without affecting the strategic foundations of the Soviet state, still manages to carry out reforms in the national economyve, creating an economic model like the Chinese. In such a scenario the USSR would have continued “bridging rustle” for the whole world and in the 90s would be a powerful country.
3. Andropov fails to start a successful reform, however, the self-destruction of the Soviet system has already passed the point of no return. Further developments would be similar to the real scenario of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

to Fix the country

Historian Alexander Myasnikov more agreed with the third scenario. Andropov, of course, wanted to repair the dilapidated building of the USSR, but the destructive processes were started long before him, when Khrushchev promised that, by 1980, will be built communism, says the historian.
On the path of reform Andropov would have waited a lot of difficulties. First, the effect could be long-lasting without drastic change. Second, the “manual mode” such a huge country to govern was impossible. Needed effective administrative apparatus, of which Andropov was not.
Many people say that Andropov was able to establish discipline, but Alexander Myasnikov this skeptical: “It’s funny when people have with the police to drive to work or school”. For a long time these measures would not be enough.
But the main obstacle in the way of Andropov reforms was corruption. Yes, you can recall the loud “cotton case”, according to which responsibility has attracted more than 4,000 people. However, the cause of corruption was not individual loose cogs, and fatal crashes the entire state machine. Andropov would have to change the whole system, and it was incredibly difficult.

Towards the masses

Working in the KGB, Yuri Andropov went to the factories of the country to understand why the economy is stalling. He tried to be closer to people. It is noteworthy that under Andropov on the shelves of music stores began to appear of record with foreign artists, former head of the KGB willingly supported the Theatre on Taganka and Sovremennik, moreover, he even wrote poetry.
Maybe it was the game of liberalism, but Andropov as distantlyprominent Manager understood that the needs of the masses need to satisfy. It is not excluded that further Andropov reforms would have affected many sides of life of Soviet citizens. Quite expectedly, there was some easing of censorship and controlled opening to us of Western culture.

Slowly but surely

Many scientists were convinced that Yuri wasn’t going to focus exclusively on the command-administrative resources, it was acceptable various levers of change, including quite liberal. Publicist Andrei Burovskii suggests that we would see the cooperatives and the combination of different sectors of the economy.
And then Andropov would be moved in small steps, using existing funds, fearing, in contrast to Gorbachev, that the country could “derail”. History has repeatedly demonstrated that this path is the most reliable and restful, says Burovskii.
Professor of political science at the University of California Ken Robson was sure that if Andropov had not died, the Russians still lived in the Soviet Union. The same was said of the famous cardiologist, academician Yevgeny Chazov. Doctor Andropov also noted that in the early 80s in the Declaration of the world health organization had written: “we Recommend that developing countries follow the example of the Soviet Union in medicine”.
If Andropov had managed to live a little longer and painlessly solve all the pressing problems of the country, perhaps up to now, our medicine would be an example not only for Third world countries but for the developed West.

Hard hand

the Fight against corruption is almost the only one, what has succeeded Andropov during its brief tenure as General Secretary. No one doubts that she would continue to measure fate to him more. General Director of the Center for political technologies Igor Bunin’m sure our country would have waited even more active campaign to restore order. And not only imprisoned, but executed.
True when ethat, according to Bunin, would be “crushed,” the dissident movement, and Sakharov could die in Gorky during one of the hunger strikes, what Soviet citizens would learn only from foreign radio stations that would “turn off”.
Analysts believe that Andropov given the serious crisis of power, be more confidence in the young politicians. His shift he could to prepare Ryzhkov, Ligachev or Chebrikova. Is also the option with Yeltsin. In any case, the country was not to avoid a gradual entry into the political system of elements of democracy and in the economy – market principles. Without this in any way, according to experts.

Forward to capitalism

Today, there are two versions of the collapse of the Soviet Union: the first is that the economy was unsustainable, and the political system is old – this predetermined the gradual collapse of the entire economic mechanism.
the Second version is largely conspiratorial. She argues that the purpose of the Restructuring was expropriation of people’s property, transferring it into the hands of party bosses and representatives of power structures, and, ultimately, destruction for the sake of Western capital of the whole Soviet system.
Blogger Vasily Smirnov admits that the Restructuring did not begin with Gorbachev, and was conceived in the bowels of the KGB Andropov personally. Yuri, says Smirnov, disillusioned with the Soviet system, planned to remove the party from government, separate from the Soviet Union a number of southern republics, and most importantly – to be held in the Soviet Union, capitalist restoration. Anyway, things evolved in such a scenario.

Taras Repin

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© Russian Seven

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