Succesful Perestroika

Can Gorbachev's reforms of the Soviet Union ever stand a chance of succeeding, so that the Soviet Empire becomes something resembling modern China, albeit with a string of protectorates in Europe. Or is this impossible with a post 1985 POD?
 

LittleSpeer

Monthly Donor
Can Gorbachev's reforms of the Soviet Union ever stand a chance of succeeding, so that the Soviet Empire becomes something resembling modern China, albeit with a string of protectorates in Europe. Or is this impossible with a post 1985 POD?
The fact is that with a Gorbachev cant reform an unreformable system the way he did. He tried a little to fast and the house fell in on him. If he worked slower and didn't compete with Regan as much in spending, then there might be a chance.
 
I once saw a documentation where someone said that Gorbatschow was to scary to start a full free vote before Latvia start Rebeling. They said that if he does, the Union could be succesful.

Something other: Me was telled that there was a vote if the Union should dissolve itself or stay together, I through that the most voted for Staying together. As I know evan in the Ukraine there were around 70% for Staying together. But because of Corruption and other things this vote was ignored, and the Republics start to go independent.
 
Yes, most of the referendum votes were against the breakup. But local elites prevailed.
 
Yes, the Soviet Union didn't collapse because of popular uprising (outside of the Baltic states), but were betrayed from within by the nomenklatura.
 
[VK];2709930 said:
I once saw a documentation where someone said that Gorbatschow was to scary to start a full free vote before Latvia start Rebeling.
I guess this piece of Eternal Truth had been authored or advised by True Latvian Patriot, isn't it? The truth of the matter is, Latvians developed nationalistic (originally disguised as "democratic") movement only after Moscow's communist rulers allowed so.
 
I saw this in a german Documentation about Gorbatshow.

A woman from the Sowjet(or how was the "Parlament" where the CPSU had the half seats from the beginnign called?) said this,
 
Perhaps if Gorbachev had tried the Perestroika without the Glasnost, he might have been able to pull it off, even at the price of increased political repression in the short term. Hard to say, though. I suspect that a 1985 POD is too late. In any case, trying to pull it off without cutting loose eastern Europe is probably a fool's errand.
 
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