Andropov was able to determine the moment when the Russian (Soviet) civilization approached the next breakdown, to the point of bifurcation. He noticed the disease, but was unable to find the answer, how to save the USSR-Russia. Andropov's death in early 1984 interrupted an experiment to implement a hidden plan for the convergence and integration of the Soviet and Western systems.
The essence of the crisis of the Soviet project was that society and civilization at the turn of the 1940s-1950s approached the transition point. The period of total mobilization and rigid centralization, which made it possible to create a scientific, cultural, educational and industrial base of Soviet civilization, survive and win in the terrible Second World War and recover from it, and continue development, was coming to an end. It made it possible to create the foundation and walls of Soviet civilization, a new society of knowledge, service and creation.
Now it was it is necessary to move to a new level of development: to transfer management from a rigid centralized system concentrated in the party to the Soviets - to the executive branch. "Rigid vertical of power" has fulfilled its task - established Soviet power, kept it in a fierce battle with external and internal enemies. A huge Soviet empire was created, which, together with the "second humanity" (China) and the socialist bloc, included three world civilizations - Russian, Chinese, part of the European, as well as dozens of cultures and countries around the planet. It was supposed to develop and equip a more flexible management system, councils, which retained coordination, manageability and a general plan, design, but brought them to a new level.
This restructuring was planned by Stalin (XIX Congress of the CPSU in 1952 and his work "Economic problems of socialism in the USSR"). Stalin harshly raised the issue of the transition of the decision-making center from party structures to Soviet (people's) ones. The party retained its educational role in society, it was supposed to be an example for the whole society. The Soviet people, on the other hand, rose to a new qualitative level - they had to accept responsibility for their own development and future.
Stalin chose the best moment for such a transition: the USSR had just won a great victory, showed the highest efficiency and power of its potential in war and post-war reconstruction; a team of top-class managers was formed (“cadres decide everything!”); the victorious people were at the peak of their spiritual, creative, and intellectual ascent. However, Stalin was killed. The Soviet party top was afraid of the leap into the future, of its people. The party preferred "stability".
Rejection of the systemic reform outwardly practically did not affect the Soviet civilization. The enormous potential created in the Stalinist empire, the colossal energy of development allowed the USSR to make a number of breakthroughs and great victories. Development continued at a rapid pace. The "golden age" of Brezhnev has come. However, a number of events showed that destructive processes began that would eventually kill Soviet civilization. In particular, this is a break with the "younger brother" - China, the loss of allies in southeastern Europe - Albania, partly Romania. Negative processes began to take place in Poland and Czechoslovakia. The USSR began to spend huge resources and human resources to support allies around the world, the Kremlin spawned parasites that stuck to Soviet civilization. Khrushchev's "excesses" in the USSR ("perestroika-1") neutralized, but in the late 70s - early 80s, a systemic crisis hit the Soviet Union itself.
Andropov saw this disease, outlined a rescue program, but his death interrupted a bold experiment on the convergence of the Soviet and Western systems. But the plans and mechanisms launched by Andropov continued to operate. Only the program crashed - Gorbachev's "catastrophe". Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1985-1991) was presented in the West as a knight without fear and reproach, who destroyed the “bloody evil empire” of the USSR and tried to do something good in the country of “slaves”. Later, this myth was supported by the liberal democratic community in Russia. Like, he was implementing a program of changes that was supposed to lead Soviet (Russian) society to democracy, freedom and the market. The USSR-Russia was to become a part of the "enlightened, developed world."
Gorbachev, along with other "perestroika" -destructors, Shevardnadze, Aliev and others, was part of Andropov's team. The basis of Andropov's plan was the internal modernization of the USSR, the isolation of the "new economy", competitive on the world market; and convergence, integration of Russia into the West on a full-fledged basis, the Soviet elite was to become part of the global elite. Before the deal, Andropov planned to carry out internal restructuring and scare the West with the threat of a toughening of the Cold War in order to achieve maximum concessions from the “Western partners”.
The problem was that Andropov had just launched his program and did not manage to fulfill the first, main part of the plan: to modernize the economy and sharply accelerate the development of the USSR, clean up the "Augean stables" - the Soviet elite, discipline society, and put things in order. Relying on the "new economy", the highest technologies of the Soviet military-industrial complex will frighten the West with a new arms race and a wave of the "cold war". Gorbachev, however, with his team immediately began to act as if the first stage of the plan had already been implemented. As a result, there was a program failure, a catastrophe of the USSR and Soviet civilization.
Gorbachev immediately threw himself into the arms of the West, became “the best German” and a Westerner. At the same time, he broke firewood inside when he tried to implement the first part of Andropov's plan. But haphazardly, without the proper will, energy and concentration. Gorbachev tried to do everything at once: start cooperation and integration with the West; modernize the country and the economy, accelerate, raise the living standards of the people; start comprehensive democratization, introduce publicity; to transfer the center of decision-making from party to Soviet bodies, to carry out decentralization (federalization), etc. Gorbachev, apparently due to his limitations, tried to do everything at once, and not in stages, as Andropov had planned.
Thus, Gorbachev had a program - he tried to continue Andropov's work. Only he managed to immediately chase several birds with one stone, to realize all its points at the same time. On the other hand, time was already lost. The most favorable moment for the reorganization of the management system was in the early 1950s. The USSR approached Gorbachev's perestroika in a state of crisis: almost all resources were spent on maintaining the stability of the system, but there were no such resources for its development, qualitative restructuring. It is also worth considering such an important factor as the state of personnel: in the Stalinist empire, it was ideal; Khrushchev's voluntarism and Brezhnev's stagnant swamp led to spiritual-strong-willed, intellectual degradation, decay. By the time of Gorbachev's perestroika, the quality of the Soviet administrative machinery was comparatively low. And the decline in the quality of management was compensated by the growth of the bureaucratic machine. As a result, the management machine simply did not pull the "perestroika", marking time began, dragging out, wasting time, which led to new crisis phenomena and the crisis turned into a catastrophe. In addition, the moral and intellectual state of society and the people has also changed. "Perestroika" was supported only by a part of Soviet society, the other part was a silent opposition in anticipation.
It is clear that the USSR simply could not stand it. At the same time, at the very beginning, there was an opportunity to stop "perestroika" and return to their original positions, in order to then return to a qualitative reform. In particular, when Khrushchev started "perestroika-1", began to "go too far" both abroad and inside the country, he was quickly neutralized and stopped. But Gorbachev was much weaker than Khrushchev. The bottom line is that the qualitatively Soviet elite of the Gorbachev period was much weaker than during the Khrushchev era. One part of the Soviet elite has degraded so much that it simply did not realize the consequences of the ongoing "perestroika" that it is leading to a catastrophe of Soviet civilization and the state. The other part had a low moral and volitional potential, there were no “violent” ones. No one took responsibility among the Soviet party and military apparatus of the USSR to remove Gorbachev. It is also worth remembering that Andropov well "cleaned out" the Soviet elite, including the state security agencies, the armed forces, so that no one interferes with the implementation of his plan. Now it played against the USSR.
Besides, part of the Soviet "elite" had already degraded so much that now they openly bet on the collapse and privatization, plundering the wreckage of the USSR. This is especially true of the elite of the national republics, including Shevardnadze and Aliyev. In the depths of the Soviet elite, a marauding, comprador "elite" is born, ready to build a "bright future" for themselves, their families, clans and friends. These people were ready to surrender the Soviet civilization, the USSR, in order to become part of the predatory and parasitic global elite.
Seeing the lack of will of the armed forces, the Soviet Army, the most powerful military force on the planet, it is worth remembering that under Andropov and Gorbachev, those who could potentially resist were purged from the security forces. In particular, for this in 1987 they used a provocative flight by the German pilot Matthias Rust, who flew from Northern Europe and Scandinavia to Moscow. And did not meet any obstacles. Gorbachev used this incident to cleanse the generals from their opponents and reduce the armed forces. In particular, Defense Minister S. Sokolov and Air Defense Commander A. Koldunov were dismissed.
At the same time, it is believed that the remaining part of Andropov's secret network, primarily in the special services, the KGB, seeing that the plan had failed and it was heading for disaster, began to make efforts not to save and preserve the USSR, but to transfer resources and funds to their own "Strong points". The plundering of one's own country became permissible. In particular, the myth about the "gold of the party" was born on this basis. The collapse of the Soviet civilization, the USSR, controlled from above, and the dismantling of the main institutions (including the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) became the basis for pumping huge funds into the secret network. It is not surprising that many high-ranking officials of the KGB of the USSR and the party went to the oligarchic structures of Yeltsin's Russia. The crisis and the ensuing catastrophe made it possible to carry out the operation "ends in the water", to hide from society and people a large-scale and effective plunder of the legacy of Soviet civilization.
Therefore, one should not be surprised that Russia during the Putin-Medvedev period, in some peculiarities, repeated its attempt to implement Andropov's plan. But already on different starting conditions, weaker. That is, to integrate the Russian Federation into the West: into a single "European civilization from Lisbon to Vladivostok." The Russian elite tried to become part of the global elite. The capital of the Russian elite and families went to the West, offspring study in Western elite educational institutions, after their studies they prefer to stay in Europe and the United States. Moscow tried to establish partnerships with the old European elite: Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Paris. A special relationship with Israel, a specific part of Western civilization. The Russian Federation tried to conclude a "marriage of convenience" with the West. They say that we are part of a global civilization, we forget about the "Russian mission" and identity. In the world economy, Russia is a supplier of resources and partly a high-tech sphere, a Soviet legacy (atom, weapons, space). In return, the masters of the West allow the Russian elite to become part of the global one. Inside Russia, a "new economy" is being built on the basis of super-corporations. Those who work in this "new economy" receive high salaries and wealth. On their basis, a new elite is formed - the "new nobility", the bourgeoisie. The rest of the population lives on a leftover principle. All within the framework of globalization and the liberal model, according to which the majority of the population of Russia and Ukraine "does not fit into the market."
However, this plan also failed. In the conditions of the crisis of capitalism, the global mafia does not need any Russia - neither monarchist, nor socialist, nor liberal and capitalist. Only resources and complete submission, colonial administration. The crisis of capitalism, the entire Western (global) project and the outbreak of the fourth world war, the Middle East and Ukrainian fronts) destroyed the illusory idyll in relations between Moscow and "Western partner-friends".
