Dissent in the Soviet Society: Stages of Formation and Development (From the Mid-1950s to the Early 1990s)

The article analyses the formation of dissent in the Soviet society in the mid-1950s - early 1990s. It aims to reveal the content, characteristic features and specificity of the protest outlook of the Soviet citizens during the Khrushchev Thaw, the Era of Stagnation and the Perestroika. The sources for writing the article are archival documents of the central and regional authorities, materials and memoirs of dissidents, scientific literature. The authors note that different ideological views were formed during the mentioned periods. During the Khrushchev Thaw, with a liberalisation of the political climate, dissent was shown in performances of individuals who believed in the democratisation of the country and freedom of speech, including in the ruling Communist Party. However, this phenomenon did not last long; it was stopped by a criminal law. Court cases in Tomsk Oblast show this tendency at the regional level. According to the authors, the Era of Stagnation was the time of the final conservation of the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. The promotion of the concept of developed socialism, which had nothing to do with real life, began. Part of the Soviet citizens, especially the scientific intellectuals, made attempts to create structures and organisations for protection of the national, religious, political, and economic rights. The formation of various worldview currents infringing on the interests of the ruling party and the authorities began. The result of the opposition was a complete defeat of all organisational structures of dissent in regions at the beginning of the 1980s. According to the authors, with the declaration of the perestorika policy, there formed an essentially new situation in society. The country's democratisation, publicity, freedom of speech promoted the emergence of many informal organisations of various worldview orientations. Various ideologies competed on how to modernise the state system of the country. The result of this competition was the overthrow of the ruling Communist Party and the coming to power of the new political forces which proclaimed the ideas of liberal economy and a constitutional state. Their methods of fight against ideological opponents in the early 1990s were similar to those of the communist party. In the conclusion of article, the authors argue that the solution of the most difficult external and internal problems, the guarantee of a certain stability and prospects for the country's further development are possible only by synthesising various worldview concepts that account for the needs of society and the state, by respecting the balance of interests of different social groups.

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