Why did the Soviet Union collapse?

(Baonghean) - The collapse of the socialist system in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s of the 20th century was a particularly important event for the world, a huge loss for the communists in the process of realizing the Marxist-Leninist doctrine. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991 fundamentally changed the world political situation.

During the period 1918-1920, Soviet Russia was surrounded by imperialism and attacked from all sides by the White Guards (backed by foreign countries). During this particularly difficult period, the young Soviet Russia was in a precarious situation. Under the leadership of Lenin and the Bolshevik Party, Soviet Russia overcame the dangerous challenge to continue to develop.

Parade of Soviet Red Army soldiers in Red Square.

After more than seven decades of existence and continuous development, by the late 1980s, the Soviet Union had become a leading world power. With its great military, scientific, technological and economic strength, the Soviet Union was strong enough to confront the world capitalist system and was capable of preventing all imperialist plots and aggressive activities to protect world peace.

The Soviet Union collapsed just as it reached its peak.

Why?

There have been hundreds, even thousands of articles, monographs and books explaining this issue, among which the books by insiders provide the most convincing solutions. On the occasion of the 96th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia (November 7, 1917 - November 7, 2013), this article aims to provide a close-up look at the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

1. The realistic socialist system with the Soviet Union as its pillar has made a huge contribution to the development of the world.

In the second half of the 20th century, there were more than a dozen ruling Communist Parties in the world, forming a powerful socialist system capable of restraining all unilateral, belligerent actions against the revolution by imperialism headed by the United States.

Thanks to the existence of the powerful socialist system, hundreds of enslaved and oppressed peoples rose up to carry out national liberation revolutions, bringing down old colonialism and defeating neo-colonialism. Ultimately, the formation and development of the non-aligned movement is the result of the proletarian-bourgeoisie struggle on a global scale, and a great achievement of the ruling Communist Parties in the 20th century. In other words, it is the communists, first of all the ruling Communist Parties in the countries of the socialist system, who have marked a brilliant milestone in the development of human civilization.

The ruling Communist Parties have built a powerful social system (socialist system), in many fundamental areas of social life, better and superior to capitalism. Up to now, after 22 years of the collapse of the Soviet Union, 59% of Russians surveyed still believe that socialism has more positive than negative aspects, and the majority of Russians still regret the golden age of the Soviet Union.

Ironically, it was the ruling Communist Parties, first and foremost the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, that lost their leadership, causing the powerful socialist system that they led hundreds of millions of people to build to collapse and disintegrate. It should be noted that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union lost its leadership and the Soviet Union disintegrated without going through a war with imperialism.

In fact, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, directly and mainly the Politburo and the Central Committee, had degenerated, had lost themselves and caused the Soviet Union to disintegrate. The highest leaders, the members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, admitted that. Of course, the sabotage activities of international anti-communist forces through the strategy of “peaceful evolution” were also a cause of the Soviet Union’s disintegration, but certainly not the main cause, not the primary cause.

2. How did the Communist Party of the Soviet Union degenerate and change?

Preliminary can point out some major manifestations as follows:

- Firstly, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union violated the principle of democratic centralism in Party activities. It was accompanied by the following diseases: autocracy, authoritarianism, not accepting opinions different from their own; disregarding the collective, disregarding subordinates, considering all their opinions as the truth that everyone must follow, considering those with opposing opinions as opposition, even hostile, when necessary to protect their "prestige", they were ready to treat comrades and teammates as enemies. As a result, in Party activities, the Party lost all vitality, lost all fighting spirit. Party activities became dull, dry, one-way monologues. In such conditions, many loyal, pure Party members were not appreciated, tried to endure to survive, opportunists and flatterers had the opportunity to be promoted.

- Second, the Politburo and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were bureaucratically detached from reality, losing the flesh-and-blood relationship between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet people. Bureaucracy caused leaders at all levels of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to be detached from reality, without a correct understanding of the current state of the society they were leading and managing. They were indifferent to the legitimate aspirations of the masses, and even did not feel moved or react to the suffering and injustice of a part of the masses, including a part of party members and lower-level cadres.

- Third, the moral and lifestyle degradation of a number of high-ranking leaders holding key roles with prominent manifestations: Selfish living, putting the interests of themselves, their families and relatives above the interests of the Party and the people; localism, forming cliques and putting their confidants, including those who are weak in capacity, poor in morality and lifestyle, into leadership positions to act as wings, protect themselves; embezzlement, living lavishly, saying one thing and doing another, in some cases, there is also moral and lifestyle degradation.

The above are the main prominent manifestations of the degeneration of a part of the cadres and party members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, especially key cadres at high levels.

Only when degeneration and corruption occur at the center of power (the top) of the Party does it become a danger to the Party, which is the eve of its disintegration and collapse. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European “versions” belong to this case.

Normally, the above manifestations do not exist in isolation, but always go together, are related to each other, and affect each other. Sometimes one is the premise and condition for the other to exist and develop. The above-mentioned degenerative manifestations do not appear suddenly, but have a process from budding like a small boil and then developing through many stages. These diseases quietly accumulate continuously for many months and years, causing the Party to lose its fighting spirit, lack sensitivity, and fail to come up with correct and feasible policies and guidelines. There has been real division within the Communist Party of Vietnam: A group of cadres and Party members have become rich quickly due to privileges and benefits, while the majority live in hardship; many Party members say one thing and do another, say something different in meetings and outside of meetings, think one way and speak another way. The fighting spirit in Party activities has gradually cooled, and many Party members have become indifferent to political issues related to the fate of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

According to Ph. M. Rudinxki, the 20 million members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union can be divided into 4 categories: 1. Genuine party members usually account for a small percentage; 2. Those who carry out and comply with the Party's directives and resolutions like machines (accounting for more than 96%); 3. Opportunists, opportunists, flatterers (mostly in the public apparatus); 4. Those who are silent (mostly knowledgeable people but are afraid of being persecuted, so they keep silent and do not dare to speak up).

NI Ruskov, former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1985 - 1990) said: There are two parties in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: One party of tens of millions of ordinary party members and one party of top officials in the party and state system of the Soviet Union. Party members holding power at high levels are increasingly distant and isolated from tens of millions of ordinary party members. These party members, in essence, do not represent and protect the interests of the class and the nation, but only seek ways to cling to power for their personal interests.

Due to the above-mentioned diseases, the majority of the people lost confidence in the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, became indifferent to the country's important political issues, and some even expected and desired change. That was the state of affairs in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and in Soviet society in the late 1980s and early 1990s of the 20th century, on the eve of its collapse and disintegration (1989 - 1991).

3. Try to discuss the causes.

Regarding the sabotage activities of the US and international anti-communist forces, it is clear, there is full information and documents to confirm. Absolutely do not be vague or lose vigilance.

The negative side of the market mechanism is also a cause. But if we overemphasize and exaggerate the negative side of the market mechanism, it will be difficult to explain the degeneration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China during the leadership periods of Mao Zedong, Stalin and Prêz Nep, because during Mao's, Stalin's and Prêz Nep's time, there was no market economy.

Having carefully studied the degeneration process of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, including the parties that were in power and then lost power and the parties that are still in power today, we would like to raise two issues for discussion.

- Firstly, in terms of organization, throughout its existence and development, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has not yet built an effective mechanism to ensure true democracy in Party activities. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has violated the principle of democratic centralism throughout its activities. In our opinion, this is the starting point, the origin of all other manifestations of the degeneration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (bureaucracy, political and ideological degeneration, moral and lifestyle degeneration, disunity, etc.). Wherever and whenever there is a democratic fervor in Party activities, the Party has a strong vitality. The Russian Bolshevik Communist Party under Lenin's leadership is a typical example.

Ultimately, due to the lack of democracy in Party activities, the leadership of the CPSU lacks multi-faceted information on an issue, especially important issues related to the Party's survival. Lacking democracy, Party activities are often one-way monologues from the highest leaders, lacking feedback from the bottom up. Lacking democracy, elite, sharp, intelligent Party members have no place to express their ideas. In such an organization, the highest staff does not have enough multi-faceted, comprehensive information, so decisions on policies and strategies are often inconsistent with reality, even contrary to the law, contrary to objective reality. Perhaps, that is one of the fundamental reasons leading to the situation where there are many resolutions and directives but not many are put into practice. In medical language, there are many medicines but no specific treatment, so the disease will become more and more serious.

From the perspective of system theory, a party organization can be viewed as a system. To ensure the sustainable existence of that system, there must be information exchange. If there is a lack of information exchange (in both directions, forward and reverse, from inside to outside, from outside to inside), sooner or later the system will collapse and move to another state. Lack of democracy in party activities means lack of information exchange (top down, bottom up, from within the party to society and vice versa). If this state persists, it will lead to the degeneration of the party system in many manifestations as presented above. If it is not overcome, if it is allowed to persist, sooner or later the degeneration of some party members in key positions will lead to the degeneration of the ruling party.

Let's return to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union so that we can understand the issue of democracy within the party. The principle of democratic centralism in party activities was clearly stated in the Charter and Platform of the Russian Bolshevik Communist Party since 1903. The Charter of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, through many changes, is still a document that strictly and clearly stipulates the rights and responsibilities of party members. Why couldn't we stop the deviant changes of Stalin and Preznhev, and the abuse of power, tyranny and betrayal of Gorbachev? Why didn't tens of millions of members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union react when Gorbachev announced the dissolution of the Party? It cannot be said otherwise, the lack of democracy in Party activities and the absence of an effective power monitoring mechanism, especially the complete lack of a mechanism to monitor the activities of the General Secretary and the Politburo, are the source of the abuse of power and abuse of power by the leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam, making the Party have a large body (tens of millions of members), but no soul, no vitality.

Reality confirms: The former Communist Party of the Soviet Union had no force and no mechanism to monitor and criticize the activities of the General Secretary and the Politburo. This small group, sometimes only a few people holding supreme power, acted on their own, anyone with a different opinion would be labeled as “opposing”, “reactionary”, “anti-Party”, or even “betraying the Fatherland”…

Also due to the lack of democracy in Party activities, the members of the organization have very loose relationships with each other, the Party loses all vitality, and its fighting spirit only remains in the resolutions.

Due to the lack of democracy in Party activities, a long time before the collapse and disintegration, in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as well as in the Communist Parties in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, a process of division quietly took place within the Party, including in the activities of the Central Executive Committee and the Politburo. Party members thought one way and spoke another way, not daring to express their opinions even on issues related to the Party's survival. In meetings, people said one thing, but most of them were not sincere, outside of meetings, people spoke differently to each other, superiors imposed, subordinates adjusted their behavior to suit their superiors, all official information from top to bottom and especially from bottom to top lacked sincerity. Less than a month before the collapse and loss of leadership, the leaders of a ruling Communist Party still affirmed the fighting strength of their Party, still declared that the vast majority of the people still owed the Party, followed the Party, believed in the Party, and the vast majority of Party members trusted and were loyal...!

Also due to the lack of democracy in Party activities, the CPSU made mistakes in evaluating cadres, training cadres, selecting and arranging, and using cadres for key positions in the Party and the State. Lack of democracy is the midwife of flattery and bribery, and is a favorable condition for pragmatism and selfish opportunism to arise and exist in the Party, especially in high-level leadership agencies. Everyone knows that cadres decide everything, and practice also confirms that. But the CPSU made mistakes in the work of using and arranging cadres.

- Second, the degeneration of the Communist Party of Vietnam is due to the fact that the party members, first and foremost those who hold key leadership positions at high levels, are not politically mature enough, and are not truly enlightened about the class and communist ideals. When admitted, all party members swear an oath about their enlightenment about communist ideals, promising to wholeheartedly strive for the interests of the class and the working people, and to be loyal to communist ideals... But once they join the party, they lack training and in their practical activities, they gradually deviate from their oaths and promises. That is the process of degeneration of party members, and leads to the degeneration of the party. Of course, not all party members undergo that process of degeneration.

Of course, there are many issues related to the causes and conditions that led to the degeneration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Here we do not have the conditions to present all of them, but only point out the most important and fundamental factors. It can be seen as the origin of all degeneration of the ruling Party in general, and of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in particular.

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In 2013, the Russian people in particular, the people of the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as the Vietnamese people and progressive humanity in general, celebrate the 96th anniversary of the Great October Revolution in Russia (November 7, 1917 - November 7, 2013). Socialism has existed in Russia for 74 years (1917 - 1991) and the Soviet Union has been dissolved for 22 years (1991 - 2013). The Russian people in particular, and progressive humanity in general, must continue to thoroughly and convincingly research and explain issues related to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

After all this time, let us summarize the following three major issues:

- Firstly, from the October Revolution in Russia to the collapse of the Soviet Union (1917 - 1991) can be divided into the following periods: 1. The first revolutionary generation led by Lenin led the young Soviet Russia through the "thousand-pound hanging by a thread" challenge of 1917 - 1920 to survive and develop; 2. The second generation of leaders led by Stalin destroyed German - Japanese - Italian fascism and turned the Soviet Union into a world power; 3; The third generation of leaders in the Soviet Union from Khrushchev to Brezhnev were those who participated in the Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945) and they turned the Soviet Union into a leading world power; 4. The fourth generation of leaders with Gorbachev as the core, were those born during the Great Patriotic War and had not yet experienced the challenges of war.

It was the fourth generation of leaders that caused the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to lose its leadership, causing the Soviet Union to disintegrate.

- Second, the fourth generation of leaders in the Soviet Union with Gorbachev as the core held all the power and resources of the country, but they did not follow the people's will, were not supported by the people, so they lost their entire career and were thrown into the trash by history.

It turns out that capturing all the power and resources of the country is not as difficult as capturing the hearts of the people. Those who do not capture the hearts of the people have failed even while in power.

- Third, the ruling and non-ruling communist parties need to learn lessons from the failure of the CPSU and the collapse of the Soviet Union to overcome themselves for the happiness of the people and the prosperity of the country.

Mistakes and shortcomings are difficult to avoid, but they are not really dangerous. The most dangerous thing is not daring to admit mistakes and shortcomings, especially not having the political determination to avoid mistakes and overcome shortcomings.

Le Van Cuong(Former Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies, Ministry of Public Security)