glasnost

glas·nost

G5149400 (gläs′nôst′)n. An official policy of the former Soviet government emphasizing candor with regard to discussion of social problems and shortcomings.

[Russian glasnost', publicity, openness, from obsolete glas, voice, from Old Church Slavonic glasŭ; see gal- in Indo-European roots.]

glasnost

(ˈɡlæsˌnɒst) n (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the policy of public frankness and accountability developed in the former Soviet Union under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev[C20: Russian, literally: openness]

glas•nost

(ˈglæz nɒst, ˈglɑz-)

n. the declared public policy in the Soviet Union of openly and frankly discussing economic and political realities: initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. [1980–85; < Russian glásnost' literally, publicity (taken to mean openness)]

glasnost

1. A Russian word meaning openness, used especially to mean the policy of increased openness in government introduced under Gorbachev in the former Soviet Union.2. A Russian word meaning openness. Set in motion in 1985 by Gorbachev, this policy meant that the intellectual atmosphere lightened and that contemporary social matters, politics, and the history of Stalinist era could be discussed.

Thesaurus

Noun

glasnost - a policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problemssocial policy - a policy of for dealing with social issues

Translations

Glasnost

glasnost

(gläs`nōst), Soviet cultural and social policy of the late 1980s. Following his ascension to the leadership of the USSR in 1985, Mikhail GorbachevGorbachev, Mikhail Sergeyevich
, 1931–, Soviet political leader. Born in the agricultural region of Stavropol, Gorbachev studied law at Moscow State Univ., where in 1953 he married a philosophy student, Raisa Maksimovna Titorenko (1932?–99).
..... Click the link for more information. began to promote a policy of openness in public discussions about current and historical problems. The policy was termed glasnost [openness]. The brutality of the Stalin era, such as the great purges and the KatynKatyn
, village, W central European Russia, 12 mi (19 km) W of Smolensk. During World War II, when it was part of the USSR, it was occupied by the Germans in Aug., 1941.
..... Click the link for more information. massacre, were acknowledged, and the corruption and stagnation of the BrezhnevBrezhnev, Leonid Ilyich
, 1906–82, Soviet leader. He joined (1931) the Communist party and rose steadily in its hierarchy. In 1952 he became a secretary of the party's central committee.
..... Click the link for more information. era were sharply criticized. Soviet leaders became more receptive both to the media and to foreign leaders as a new period of detente opened between East and West. Gorbachev hoped that a candidness about the state of the country would accelerate his perestroikaperestroika
, Soviet economic and social policy of the late 1980s. Perestroika [restructuring] was the term attached to the attempts (1985–91) by Mikhail Gorbachev to transform the stagnant, inefficient command economy of the Soviet Union into a decentralized
..... Click the link for more information. program.

Bibliography

See M. Gorbachev, Perestroika (1988); E. A. Hewett and V. H. Winston, ed., Milestones in Glasnost and Perestroyka (1991).

glasnost

the Russian word for ‘openness’, referring, from 1985 to 1991 in the USSR, to increased freedom of expression and organization in political and public life. General Secretary GORBACHEV initially reduced censorship of the theatre, films and the press, allowed publication of previously banned books, generally encouraged discussion, freed certain political prisoners, allowed greater freedom of movement and more openness to Western culture. This was both a reaction against the political organizations of STALINISM and an effort to open up debate about policies, such as those contained in PERESTROIKA, which some sections of the Soviet leadership saw as necessary to lift the USSR out of economic stagnation. By 1991 when the USSR ceased to exist, Soviet people interpreted it in far wider ways than the leadership had originally envisaged. Even the role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was being criticized, and several republics were seeking forms of independence from Moscow. See also PERESTROIKA.

glasnost

History the policy of public frankness and accountability developed in the former Soviet Union under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachov

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Bibliography

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Words related to glasnost

noun a policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problems

Related Words