DISMANTLING OF THE SOVIET UNION

The competition and increasing awareness on democratic rights did force the Soviets to stand back and make some major policy changes in 1980s. The Soviet Premier of the time Gorbachev tried to set some political and social reforms in the soviet society in order to ease the pressure and help Soviets to continue to survive in the international arena. Moreover, the Soviets did not only make shifts in their internal policies but also in their foreign policy understanding as well. For instance withdrawal from Afghanistan, signing of various nuclear deterrence agreements with multi parties including the US are some of the key changes that occurred in the 1980s. However, the reforms of Gorbachev did not prevent the Soviets to stop its collapse and eventually after a series of events in 1991 the Soviet Union formally announced its dissolution[7].

Blaming Gorbachev for the Collapse of the Soviet Union On December 5 1991 the Soviet Union was declared officially non-existent, radically changing the world’s economic and political environment. On the 10 February 1991 Heydar Aliyev spoke in Parliament warning of his anticipation that the Soviet Union was to collapse, “The Culprit to be blamed is Gorbachev”. There is no doubt Gorbachev played a prominent role in the fall of communism in the USSR and the collapse of the USSR itself, as well as acquiring the responsibility for ending the Cold War, a major post-war tension. What I will endeavour to conclude in this essay is the extent to which Gorbachev was responsible for the USSR’s downfall

The Soviet Union, which was once a world superpower in the 19th century saw itself in chaos going into the 20th century. These chaoses were marked by the new ideas brought in by the new leaders who had emerged eventually into power. Almost every aspect of the Soviet Union was crumbling at this period both politically and socially, as well as the economy. There were underlying reasons for the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and eventually Eastern Europe. The economy is the most significant aspect of every government. The soviet economy was highly centralized with a “command economy” (p.1. fsmitha.com), which had been broken down due to its complexity and centrally controlled with corruption involved in it. A strong government

The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 left many Eastern European countries in disarray. One such country was Czechoslovakia. It separated from the Soviet Union December 26, 1991. A few years after Czechoslovakia broke away from the Soviet Union it broke apart, in January 1, 1993. The two countries are now The Czech Republic and Slovakia. When the two countries split, it was done peacefully, without a fight or war. The Soviet Union broke up because Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from being the president of the Soviet Union. This started many conflicts and confusion. The Soviet Union could no longer keep the union together.

Under the pressures of the Soviet regime's plans for economic development, the Russian people were worn down. Subsequently, the willingness of these people to do further work for the Soviet cause was wavering. The transfer of power within the Communist Party also provided a source of instability within the USSR. Infighting over potential leadership changes provided a very real force of upheaval within Russia. These weaknesses showed that the USSR may bring about its own downfall.

The Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) was a socialist state between Europe and Asia which existed between 1922-1991. The State collapsed because of lack of things a successful Country/State needs. Such as Political Freedom, Economic Growth, Quality of Life, National Unity, and Security. Successful countries have these things. The Soviet Union collapsed because of the bad quality of life, poor security, and lack of political freedom for citizens.

The Soviet Union did a few things that are notable of mentioning as positive aspects of the Cold War and of the USSR’s mindset. One example of something positive yielded from

The many long-term internal causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union centralized around weaknesses in their economy. They had an inflexible central planning system, the inability to modernize, and the inefficiency in their agriculture production. Sometime around the 1970's the computer and automation revolution had emerged. This revolution took over the West, but practically missed the Soviet Union, except in the military sector (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Gorbachev's goal in economic restructuring was to create a separation between the economic and the political. The major changes began with the legalization of private farming and business co-operatives, and the allowing of foreign company ownership over Soviet enterprises (Baylis &Smith, 2001) All of Gorbachev's ideas on economic restructuring backfired on him since the price levels were inconsistent, and a sense of social confusion about the future of their state was created.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union a great deal of debate has ensued as to what caused the Soviet empire's demise both within the former Soviet Union and amongst scholars worldwide. Various theories have been published amongst scholars attempting to explain and pinpoint the flaws in the Soviet system and the forces that drove the Soviet Union to a brisk and catastrophic collapse. Economic weakness is commonly argued to be the cause of the collapse but others argue that political decisions made by Gorbachev and his supporters should bear most of the blame for the collapse. Another subset of scholars argue that the diverse ethnic composition of the Soviet empire lead to divided

The last time that the Soviet flag flew over the Kremlin in Moscow was the Christmas day 1991. At this time, only one of its 15 republics, Georgia remained as a republic of the Soviet Union, the rest had declared their independence from the USSR. The once-mighty Soviet Union had fallen, largely due to the great number of radical reforms that Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev had implemented during his six years as the leader of the USSR. However, Gorbachev was disappointed in the dissolution of his nation and resigned from his job on December 25. It was a peaceful end to a long, terrifying and sometimes bloody epoch in world history.

Throughout history, war has been the most common resort for nations to solve problems or show off their strength. However it wasn’t until recently where mankind had just live and experience a war that not only did it have the potential destroy nations, but also had the potential to destroy the whole world and humanity itself. This was known as the Cold War where after WWII, citizens of the world witnessed the potential of the atomic bomb and feared the possibility of nuclear fallout or total annihilation of the Earth. The only two superpowers remaining at the time were the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. These two nation competed against each other in a nuclear arms race. They fought to spread the ideals of either a free democratic, capitalistic society or a controlled socialist, communist society. After a 45 year struggle from 1945-1991, the Cold War came to an end due to the fall of the Soviet Union. It was inevitable due to the fact during the last few years of the war, the USSR face internal domestic problems such as their financial/economic situation, failed political reforms, and revolution throughout the Union itself. The causes to the collapse of the Union not only affected them but affected the world to present day.

On the last day of 1991, the official and unanimous decision of the UN declared the USSR dissolved, five days prior to the UN’s decision the USSR voted and dissolved itself. The USSR was a superpower for almost 75 years and its fate had many signs before its actual dissolution in 1991. The fall of the Soviet Union was not the first time a major power had fallen in Russia. Many documentaries and in-depth looks have been made upon the subjects from both views on the matter. However, the view that this discussion will be focusing on is the Discovery Channel’s and other sources; to discuss the fall of one of the world’s greatest superpowers.

When historians and scholars research and try to understand what led to the downfall of the USSR, the commonly overlook the war in Afghanistan in playing a pivotal role. Explanations to the collapse include domestic and structural problems that had to do with the Cold War, and how inefficient the Soviet economy was working compared to the West. In addition, the roles of political leaders was greatly emphasized in contributing to the breakdown of the Soviet Union. While these factors were major contributors to the downfall, a terrible 9 year war that ended four years before the collapse cannot be ignored as it greatly represents what the Soviets did wrong in all aspects of the war. The Soviet war in Afghanistan contributed to the downfall of the USSR, because it portrayed how the Soviets failed militarily, politically diplomatically in dealing with foreign affairs.

Joseph Stalin’s three decade long dictatorship rule that ended in 1953, left a lasting, yet damaging imprint on the Soviet Union in political, economic and social terms. “Under his inspiration Russia has modernised her society and educated her masses…Stalin found Russia working with a wooden plough and left her equipped with nuclear power” (Jamieson, 1971). Although his policies of collectivisation and industrialisation placed the nation as a leading superpower on the global stage and significantly ahead of its economic position during the Romanov rule, this was not without huge sacrifices. Devastating living and working standards for the proletariat, widespread famine, the Purges, and labour camps had crippling impacts on Russia’s social

The Causes of the Collapse of the USSR Works Cited Not Included Although its demise occurred in the very latter part of the 20th