ABSTRACT
In the mid-1980s the Soviet leader, Gorbachev, introduced reforms which allowed open discussion of the weaknesses in the system for the first time in the history of the Soviet Union. These reforms – designed to safeguard the old system – became widely known as ‘glasnost’ (openness, transparency) and ‘perestroika’ (reconstruction, restructuring). In 1988 a political process was set in train which ultimately was to cast doubt on the whole Soviet system and the USSR itself. The call for autonomy was first heard in the Baltic states, and was taken up by almost all the other republics in 1990.
