Perestroika began so rapidly that many Soviet people perceived it as a kind of magic miracle. A general revival began to reign in society. And human hearts were filled with bright dreams.
Instructions
Step 1
The Soviet people realized that big changes were coming in the USSR as soon as they saw the new General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev on the television screen. The newly minted general secretary made a speech at the extraordinary plenum of the party, dedicated to his inauguration in a new position. And, although there was nothing unusual in that report, people were pleasantly surprised: the new head of state spoke without a piece of paper. Against the background of his elderly, feeble predecessors, who, it seemed, could not even say a word on their own, Gorbachev looked simply overwhelming.
Step 2
The new secretary general met popular expectations. In the evenings, people began to watch the TV news program "Time" with interest. Because every day some interesting events began to happen in the country.
Step 3
First, there were personnel changes at the top of power almost every day. People rejoiced at the retirement of the old Brezhnev comrades-in-arms and vividly discussed the new appointees.
Step 4
Secondly, the new secretary general himself very often began to appear on the screens in a very unusual environment. Either they show how he easily converses with farmers, then comes to visit the apartment of a young Moscow family … When the story was shown, in which Mikhail Sergeevich visited a youth disco, everyone immediately understood that the changes had come in earnest and for a long time.
Step 5
The first perestroika decree "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism" gave rise to the first problems. The shortage of alcoholic beverages and the queues at the wine and vodka shops did not please many. In addition, the state budget suffered colossal losses.
Step 6
But on the other hand, in the USSR, already at the initial stage of perestroika, such an unheard-of concept as "glasnost" appeared. On the pages of official newspapers, sharp critical materials about Soviet history began to be published on radio and television, many music and entertainment programs appeared.
Step 7
Previously banned domestic films were allowed to be shown. And in the new films, frank erotic scenes appeared, which filmmakers and viewers could not even imagine before. The books of the disgraced poets and writers who were devoted to the ideological "anathema" began to be published. The works of Tsvetaev, Akhmatova, Pasternak, Bulgakov and many other outstanding Soviet authors have become available to the general reader.
Step 8
And finally, at the end of 1986, small private business was legalized in the USSR. The first cooperatives appeared.
Step 9
Considering the fact that all these events took place in just a year and a half, one can imagine how enthusiastically they were perceived by the Soviet people.
