Glasnost

From Conservapedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by HenryS (Talk | contribs) at 01:58, June 13, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.

Jump to: navigation, search

During the late 1980's, the leader of the Soviet Union ("U.S.S.R."), General Secratary Mikhail Gorbachev, introduced a social, and cultural policy called Glasnost (Russian: Глаcность, pronounced GLAHZ-nohst), which means "openness". Specifically, glasnost was a new Soviet policy allowing public discussion of political issues and a more free circulation of information.

Gorbachev began to promote this "openness" in public discussions about current and historical problems in the U.S.S.R. He acknowledged the brutality of the Stalin era, such as the great purges and the Katyn massacre. Soviet leaders became more receptive of foriegn leaders and the media, as a new period opened between the East and the West.

This opening of Soviet society to the West was one of the key events that eventually led to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and its empire.