Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union

by Vladislav M. Zubok

On 25 April, the Soviet leader faced the wrath of regional Party elites. The first Party Plenum after the elections began with a requiem for the Old Guard who now stepped down: this big group included managers and scientists who had begun their career under Stalin and turned the Soviet Union into a nuclear superpower. Their farewell speeches were calm and dignified. Then the storm broke. The new Party potentates from the industrial regions, promoted under Gorbachev, took the floor and lashed out against perestroika. Most vocal critics had just won competitive elections in their regions, yet they were convinced that the country was on the road to economic disaster and political turmoil.