Reform Debate Between the High Command and Various Civilian Authorities and its Contribution to the Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991

Seo, Choonsig (1993) Reform Debate Between the High Command and Various Civilian Authorities and its Contribution to the Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Full text available as:
[thumbnail of 13815546.pdf] PDF
Download (9MB)

Abstract

This thesis has chosen as its topic the public debates on the restructuring of Soviet armed forces in terms of 'reasonable sufficiency' for 'defensive defense' and the military reform movement in relation to the domestic reforms taking place. In this way it was possible to grasp the nature of the issues and stakes of Soviet civil- military relations under the Gorbachev leadership. The relations underwent a process of change from a traditional Soviet type Party-military relations, through a germinal Western style civil-military relations, and finally to a Third World style, in which the military became a sword and shield of the political leadership through a short-time contract designed to secure the Soviet Union. Once the contract was broken by Gorbachev, a reactionary coalition carried out the coup and its failure in the end led to the break-up of the Soviet Union. Consequently, the new round of debates on military reform among the former Union republics was concerned with the ironic question of how to divide the Soviet armed forces. During the period, there was a dramatic increase in the number of civilian participants in the military reform movement. Indeed, grass roots' support for it became the foundation of the genuine civilian control over the military. Concomitantly, the scope of the debates progressively widened and deepened and the interaction between the advocacy of military reform and the stubborn high command was radicalized with no area of compromise between the two polemics. In fact, the debates were replaced with activities that seemed highly organized, secret, or illegal. These unprecedented developments clearly denied the fundamentals of traditional perspectives on the Soviet civil-military relations.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Qualification Level: Doctoral
Keywords: Russian history, Military history
Date of Award: 1993
Depositing User: Enlighten Team
Unique ID: glathesis:1993-75363
Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
Date Deposited: 19 Nov 2019 20:25
Last Modified: 19 Nov 2019 20:25
URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/75363

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year