Mikhail Gorbachev's Failure Of The Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev is a foreign leader who worked with Reagan and also wanted to eliminate communism. If the Soviet Union collapsed, then all influences of communism would stop, which is what Reagan and Gorbachev wanted (Marsico, 84). The nation as a whole agreed that they did not want communism to spread beyond the borders of East Germany and seep into their culture. During the span of 1985-1988 five meetings between the Americans and the Communists negotiated issues of diplomacy. By the early 1980’s the Soviets had built up weaponry which was almost comparable to America’s weaponry, but as the decade went on the Soviets were unable to keep up (Marsico, 84). This inferiority pleased the American people. By 1991 the cold war had concluded. on June 12, 1987, Reagan asked Gorbachev helped to eliminate the oppressive influence that communism had outside of the soviet union (Marsico 85-86). He wanted to stop the influences so that communism would not spread any further than it already had. Standing beside the berlin wall, which separated East and West Germany, Reagan gave a speech which reminded every one of the differences between the two sides. General Secretary Gorbachev” Reagan challenged him, “if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the soviet union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate, Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall!”

In conclusion, Ronald Reagan imposed his foreign policies in order to bring the end of the Soviet Union because he regarded them as the evil empire that imposed communism. Reagan fought to bring the end of communism and the Soviet Union was the major country that was a communist based government. Reagan direct challenged the USSR into an arms race, that weakened its economy when the country spend so much money on the military advancement and development. Not only was it Reagan, but also Michael Gorbachev also imposed economic reforms of Perestroika and Glasnost that backfired. Reagan has a great impact on the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism with the assistance of Gorbachev.

On top of the low military wages came outdated equipment that was unfitting for combat. The embarrassing ending to the Vietnam War and the U.S. embassy employees being taken hostage were proof enough that change was needed. President Reagan then began improving the military by expanding the U.S. budget to improve the military. By doing so military budget up 43% and created programs such as SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) where the U.S. began to test missiles in outer space. While the U.S. was on a spending spree and advancing their military program the Soviets, were the complete opposite. The Soviets had a deteriorating military and an economy on the verge of crashing. The Soviets could not withstand a war with the United States. In fact, they had a war inside of their country that lead to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Having the new and improve military resources were an intimidating advantage, but no matter who was president at the time Russia was heading into a civil crisis inside their nation which led to their break-up.

The Soviet Union was none the less held together by "…powerful central institutions, pressure for ideological conformity, and the threat of force." (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Therefore, these new reforms could not overpower the previous ‘seventy years' of soviet rule.

Looking to restructure their communist economy to an economy with capitalist principles, the policy proposed reducing the direct involvement of the Communist Party in the country’s governance as well. However, marginal increases in the production of consumer goods and a failure to significantly improve standards of living fueled dissent. Furthermore, the underwhelming performance of this transitional system facilitated blowback by conservatives who wanted the communist model to return as well as the liberals who wanted to move even further from communism models. In the end, such unpopularity debilitated both Gorbachev and the USSR as a whole, paving the way for the collapse of Gorbachev’s administration and the USSR, a failed coup, and ultimately Boris Yeltsin’s rise to

The fall of the Soviet Union, rise of democratic capitalism, and the emergence of the Internet are all important attributes that define the year 2000 as the end of one period in history and the beginning of another. The year 2000 proves to be a cut-off date in history because it explicitly shows a shift toward the continuing globalization and integrations of economies, politics, people, and cultures all around the world. This process of globalization leads to increasing interdependence among countries and growing influence of the United States of America, which during this time period was the only superpower left in the world.

The Cold War was a tumultuous period for the Soviet Union, a time of mutually assured destruction. The Soviet Union achieved a high rate of economic growth from the end of World War II until 1975. During this period a transformation occurred from a “semifeudal, underdeveloped nation to a developed, industrial society […], with high life expectancies and literacy rates comparable to Western industrialized nations” (van der Veen, 122). However, during the 1980’s a number of domestic issues relating to the serious decline in the economic and social infrastructure, and the increasing gap in technology between the West and East came to the forefront of political discussions (Valerie Bunce, 223). In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev took over as leader and

In December of 1991, the world was shocked, of once seeing a super power that was dominating the world beside the United State of America. Moreover, The Soviet Union sudden collapse, which was composed of fifteen countries, exposed the downfall of the political and economic rule of Communism, which was put in place by the Bolshevik revolution in November of 1917. Many westerners predicted and or were happy that the Communistic ruled country finally saw it’s ending, which left only one dominate nation, United State of America. The arms race with the USA seemed to be too much for the USSR, as their economy fell into turmoil. A strong power in the world always needs a strong economy, however Gorbachev changed a strong economy into a staggering economy about to collapse. Another reason why westerners could see the collapse of the Soviet Union in the near future was because of the external factors that played in, for example the Reagan administration, the Afghanistan crisis and the revolutions that took place in 1989. Additionally, the internal factors which were the corruption inside the Soviet Union government as well as the attempted Coup d’état of 1991. All these reasons played a major role in the shocking but relieving collapse of the Soviet Union. Ardent yet inhuman, Gorbachev efforts of reforming the communistic government seemed promising at first, but a streamline of events led to the uneventful collapse of the Soviet Union.

An additional justification on agreeing with Gandhi’s quote pertains to the failed economic growth and overall development caused by the tyrannical control of a country, leading to a breakdown of the regime. The term “economic growth” is defined as an increase in a country’s productive capacity as measured by comparing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the respective country per annum. A plethora of categories must be taken into account to determine the degree of economic growth, such as the increase in capital stock, advances in technology, and the improvement of literacy levels. On the other hand, in terms of the essay, the overall development is the overall degree of success, prosperity, and well-being in all aspects of living. To

Ronald Reagan, the former California governor and a popular actor in his 20s. Reagan served as the 40th United states president from 1981 to 1989. Reagan was one of our most achieved presidents and lived from 1911 unto 2004.

Although the collapse of the Soviet Union caught many scholars and politicians off guard, the Soviet empire had shown signs of deterioration since the late 1960s. Although the stability of the system couldn’t be questioned, the rigidity of the system hindered the readjustment in crucial sectors, necessary to adapt to the rapidly changing world. One of the first attempts to update the system and rid it from the excesses of its last rule, came with the ascension of Khrushchev to power. In the 20th Party Congress he established his idiosyncratic position that put a clear end to the Stalinist era. The “secret speech” sent a powerful

Now, however, all former fifteen USSR republics are enduring the aftermath of a huge climax in the national tensions. Consequently, the erosion of Soviet patriotism became aggravated with the weakening policies on travel and curiosity of what is behind the iron curtain. Image of an intellectually superior communist citizen started to fade. Gorbachev’s mistake was in trusting mass Soviet propaganda and starting the process of democratic liberation and beginning of new socialistic movement before resolving national tensions (Gaidar, 2010; Zubok, 2009). Thought he was a man of “great intelligence, but weak spirit”, and was faced with tensions and lies in his own office, but despite that was strong enough to face the Cold War with more courage

Coming into 1985, the Soviet Union was a closed off society which had suffered under the leadership of old, delusional men. It was clear that, as Mikhail Gorbachev himself said the night before being appointed the head of the Communist Party, “We can’t go on living like this” (Gaddis, 229). Mikhail Gorbachev was a relatively young and educated leader, ready to change the USSR for the better. But it is here – attempting to juggle his new social reform policies and his desire to stay in power – that Gorbachev stumbled. By the end of 1991, it was evident that Gorbachev was not a good juggler at all – not only did he lose all his power and popularity within his country, but the Soviet Union itself collapsed. Ultimately, it was the reforms Gorbachev

Under Mikhail Gorbachev the Soviet Union underwent massive social, political and economic reform that drifted away from communist ideology and this ultimately lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union and failure of communism in Eastern Europe. This essay will focus on how the Perestroika reform and Glasnost policy programs as well as other external and internal pressures contributed to the failure of communism under Gorbachev. The aim of the Perestroika and Glasnost reforms was to restructure and strengthen the Soviet political and economic system and provide more freedom and democracy within the Soviet Union while strengthening Communism. However, these changes had achieved exactly what they aimed to prevent when they were first elaborated and led to the failure of communism and collapse of the Soviet Union. While focusing on the policies this essay will also focus on the major increase in nationalism that occurred in the Soviet Republics as a result of the Glasnost. External pressure from the western world was also a factor and the role that the United States and the Ronald Reagan administration played in the downfall of communism under Gorbachev will be examined. The essay will also discuss how the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the 1991 Coup d’état led to the failure of the policies and failure of communism.

Not long after becoming the president of the Soviet Union in 1986, Mikhail Gorbachev made a phone call that symbolized many of the reforms he would soon bring to his country. He called Andrei Sakharov, a human rights activist who was exiled to the closed city of Gorky, to tell him that his exile was over: The famous dissident and his wife could return home to Moscow. The very next year, Gorbachev pardoned all Soviet political prisoners: Hundreds of people were freed. After many decades, the Soviet government’s political repression of its own people was finally ending, and Mikhail Gorbachev was the man who made it happen. In addition, the