Chapter one began with an introduction to the concept of glasnost and the events surrounding the first four years of Mikhail Gorbachev's reign as General Secretary of the Soviet Union. This rhetorical study gained its thrust from an Aristotelian definition of rhetoric. The method proposed was one of Ernest Bormann's fantasy theme analysis. This study looked at mediated fantasy themes as they chained out in the Western media regarding the glasnost campaign.Chapter two presented the setting for the dramas of glasnost with a look at the history of Soviet leadership and the impact each General Secretary had on Soviet society. Chapter three examined the characters of glasnost. 9iographical information was presented on the players of the dramas. Finally, chapter four examined the media's rhetoric as it chained out the dramas of glasnost through Mikhail Corbachev and his battles with antagonists from the left, from the right, and from within. / Department of Speech Communication

Estonia's rise to prominence on the leading edge of the Soviet reform process is a consequence of the republic's dual position as an economic role model for other republics and a Soviet exception in terms of lifestyle and cultural orientation. While Estonia's open acceptance of perestroika is clearly a boost for Soviet reformers, the Estonian vision of reform is distinctly different from the direction intended by Moscow. In its capacity as reform leader and radical pioneer, Estonia is a microcosm of the Soviet political economy and the elements that plague attempts to reform the system. An examination of Estonia's role within the Soviet reform movement provides a view of the potentially explosive cultural processes that have now surfaced not only in the Baltic but throughout the Soviet Union. Chapter One presents a descriptive chronological overview of the events that preceded Estonia's Declaration of Sovereignty in November 1988. Chapter Two is analytical in nature and provides a cultural context and background with which to assess Estonian developments. The methodological framework is adapted from Archie Brown's "Political Culture and Communist Studies" and gives a qualitative description of the intensity and psychological power of the cultural factor in Estonian politics. Chapter Three presents Moscow's reaction to Baltic initiatives and describes Gorbachev's attempt to forge a new nationalities policy in the face of deep-rooted conservative opposition. Estonia is a prime example of the seemingly insoluble nationality problems associated with Soviet political reform. In terms of quantitative indicators, Estonia is the most economically successful republic within the Soviet political experiment, and yet it is also the most vociferous in voicing rejection of fundamental Soviet political values. Although the Soviet future remains unpredictable, there are strong indicators that Estonia and the Baltic republics will continue to expand the perimeters of reform at a pace and in a manner that can now only be curtailed by armed force. However, the potential consequences of Baltic initiatives will not remain confined only to Soviet domestic politics. Whether the Soviet Union becomes a benign Commonwealth or Confederacy, or rapidly decays or disintegrates, or regresses into authoritarianism and civil war, the result will have profound consequences for Europe and the rest of the world. Therefore, the importance of Estonia and the other Baltic republics in the process of Soviet decline cannot be underestimated; the Baltic States, although insignificant by global standards, have set an example for other Soviet republics and national groups to follow and will for the near term remain political barometers of the Soviet future. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This study examines Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of perestroika, or restructuring. The analysis begins by defining the political-economic "structure" (termed "neo-Stalinism") of the Soviet Union. The study evaluates Gorbachev's policies and results. Though the internal reforms to date have r been politically bold, they have been modest and non-structural. Gorbachev's external reforms, primarily military reductions, have been more successful. However, it can not be determined whether or not they are structural reforms. The study concludes that while perestroika is likely to succeed sometime in the long term future of the Soviet Union, it is unlikely in the short term. / Master of Arts

This study focuses on a description of demographic trends in the Soviet Union since 1917: changes in the labor force, economic problems, social conditions, rapid urbanization, changes in education and the eudcational level of Soviet citizens. Data available are from secondary sources. This research concludes that the Soviet Union has changed from a rural agricultural to a major industrial power. The population of the Soviet Union has increased since 1917. The rapid change created shortages in housing that still have not been solved. The shortages in consumer goods and clothing are a result of insufficient planning by Soviet leaders. The political implications of all the changes in Sovet lifestyles have been fairly limited. Unless the government solves the problems of availability of housing, food, clothing, and consumer goods, political unrest is the likely outcome.

Das Wort was a literary journal published by German Communist writers and fellow-travelers exiled in Moscow from 1936 to 1939. It was to be a mouthpiece for German literature in exile and to promote the Popular Front policy, which sought to unite disparate elements in non-Fascist Europe in opposition to the Nazis. Das Wort, under the editorship of German Communist writers whose close association with the Soviet Union had been well established in the previous decade, tried to provide a forum for exiled writers of various political persuasions, but was unwavering in its positive portrayal of Stalin's Soviet Union and the policies of that country. As the level of hysteria grew with the successive purges and public show trials in the Soviet Union, the journal adopted an even more eulogistic and militant attitude: any criticism or expression of doubt about Soviet policy was equated with support for Fascism. Thus the ability of the journal to contribute to the formation of a true common front in Europe to oppose Fascism was compromised from the outset by its total support for the Soviet Union. The Popular Front policy foundered on this issue, and that portion of German literature in exile which was to form the first generation of East German literature was inextricably bound to the Soviet Union well before the German Democratic Republic came in to existence.

This thesis is a general examination of the Soviet and East European crisis which followed the death of Joseph Stalin in March, 1953. Stalin's character, position, and power were such that the methods he employed in the government of the vast multi-national and multi-state empire bequeathed to his successors could not be made to function in his absence without reform and redefinition. The post-Stalin leadership realized that in order to consolidate its position at the head of the empire a careful program of "de-Stalinization" was mandatory. The prosecution of that program from the announcement of collective leadership in April, 1953, to the 1957 Moscow celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution and the upheavals associated ·with the period comprise the four year long Soviet and East European crisis of de-Stalinization.

On August 19, 1991, government hard-liners overthrew the Soviet Union for a period of 72 hours. Boris Yeltsin, the President of Russia, staged a protest on the steps of the Russian White House, where he gave speeches against the coup d'etat, releasing these speeches for dissemination between the hard-liners and the masses gathered to support Yeltsin. Yeltsin 's protest created a constituted identity amongst the people gathered who became part of the protest against the government. This created a confrontation between the two publics, where the state message developed a narrative involving a glorified past to which they wished to return, while the counter-public created a counter-narrative that argued a future of continued reforms would benefit the people of Russia and the Soviet Union. In the end, the counter-narrative achieved stronger approval from the masses, essentially replacing the state's narrative with its own. As a result, the hard-liners lost their grab for power, and Yeltsin emerged the winner in an ideological struggle for the future of the Russia and the Soviet Union.

No description available.

This dissertation of limited scope traces the attempts by Gorbachev (1985-1991) to reform an economic, political and social system which was in a state of terminal decline. The origins of its demise, it is argued, lay in the ossified command economy inherited from Stalin. The enormous damage inflicted on Soviet agriculture during collectivisation in the 1930s~ when millions of productive peasants died, proved to be a fatal blow to that sector. Tlms, Gorbachev followed a two-fold strategy ofrefonn. Glasnost (openness) was introduced to allow constructive debate on economic and social matters. Despite a hesitant beginning, the right to criticise allowed the emergence of more radical campaigners, such as Yeltsin who demanded greater democracy. Significantly, the revival of ethnic nationalist demands in the republics led to disintegration. Perestroika (restructuring) was intended to modernise and boost living standards. The economy faltered but the market was not yet in place / History / M.A. (History)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Africa, 2002.