times, technologically, economically, and agriculturally. He decided that the only way to save Russia was to stray from Bolshevik ideals. In essence, he attempted to create another United States out of the Soviet Union, which turned out to be a horrible mistake. "Perestroika" is a term that means "restructuring," which was the goal of Gorbachev economically and politically. This economic restructuring leaned towards free market, it involved: allowing private enterprise, private ownership of property. This was something that had not been allowed in Russia and should not have happened very rapidly.Economic restructuring, especially considering the delicate conditions that existed during that time, should be gradual. Because this happened so rapidly it caused many problems in Russia. Gorbachev turned next t political reform, he tried to make Russian Politics like Americas. A new Constitution was written which allowed free elections. This was acompletely new idea to Russia, and like his economic policies, was too rapid, Gorbachevs next step was called Glasnot and it meant to make Russia socially like America. It encouraged criticism of the Communist Party policy, freedom of the press,free speech, political dissidents were released from prison, it encouraged the voicing of nationalist opinions. It created nationalist sentiment among a number of people ethnically different from the Russians. The plan turned out to be too much for Gorbachev and was dumped, but the damage had already been done. Glasnot had already built sentiment for later nationalist revolutions that eventually lead to the break up of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev renounced the Brezhnev Doctrine, which allowed Russian involvement in other Communist countries. This encouraged the nationalist sentiment to overthrow communist governments, because once the local governments did not have the support of Russia, thousands of people in Communist countries began to call for democ...
