ABSTRACT
The 19th All-Union Party Conference provided a public stage for sharp, outspoken party debate unknown since the early years following the October Revolution, a clash of ideas and interests that proved more dramatic than might be expected, even in the new era of glasnost'. The attack on President Gromyko and other party leaders, the accusation by OGONEK editor Korotich that four delegates had bribed their way to the conference, the acrimonious Yeltsin-Ligachev exchange, denunciation and defense of the invasion of Afghanistan, unprecedented hissing and jeering of unpopular speakers, and Gorbachevs massive confidence and control of the impetuous proceedings—all this had a tremendous and lasting impact on Soviet public opinion, thus achieving one of Gorbachevs declared aims: enhancing the political awareness of the Soviet people.
