Soviet Union's Presence in Eastern Europe Essay

From economic stagnation and decline, to fissures within the Soviet leadership, to the manipulation and nurturing of nationalist values from politicians throughout the Soviet republics. These variables joined together culminate a plausible explanation as to why the Soviet Union collapsed, but one variable could not generate enough damage alone. The argument that ethnic divisions caused the disintegration of the Soviet Union is no more feasible than the argument that the Soviet Union’s disintegration was unavoidable. In his article Leon Aron states, “Nothing in history is automatic or inevitable. The fact that something happened means neither that it had to happened nor that it could have happened only in the way that it did” (Aron, p. 25). This statement rings true to the collapse of the Soviet Union, for its dissolution was not predicable nor was it expected, but it happened nonetheless. As Treisman’s argues, “it was a series of accidents and bungling responses” which in the end culminated in the toppling of one of the 20th century’s greatest global

Through the USSR rule, a great number of imperial autocracy aspects of its forms of governance, social and economic reforms were reproduced such as central control and nationalism policies, for example, Russification. However, there is a debate if Stalinism was a continuation of Tsarist autocracy due to differences between two regimes as the Bolshevik government categorically refused to be defined as an empire; contrastingly, its leaders saw imperialism as the policy adopted in capitalist states which have been viewed as competitors and enemies which bring a contradictory argument. This essay will argue that although in theory, the differences between Imperialism and Communism were colossal, a leading argument about Russia, famously defended

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR was at one time one of leading world powers, only rivaled by the United States. So that begs the questions, “how could a country that was at one time so dominant fall so far?” In this essay I will examine the circumstances that led up to the Soviet Union’s eventual downfall by mainly focusing Mikhail Gorbachev’s term as leader of the Communist party of the Soviet Union and what changes he brought about through glasnost and perestroika, democratization and the national independence movements that began as a result of it, and lastly failed coup by conservative members of the USSR against Gorbachev that ultimately became the last nail in the coffin for the

From a century to another and from regime to regime Russians have been accused of empire-building and imperialism. It is not always without a reason, since the Tsarist Russian Empire was clearly and undeniably imperialistic. (Beissinger 1995) However, the case of Soviet Union and especially their rule over Central Asia is more ambiguous and unique. It is highly disputable whether Soviet actions were actions of state-building or actions of empire-building. In this essay I examine Soviet rule in Central Asia in order to find out if it was imperialistic, and if so, to what extent. I argue that there are several facts that support the idea of Soviet imperialism in Central Asia and therefore it is correct to define it as imperialistic. Yet at the same time there are several facts that demonstrate how Soviet Union was very different from earlier Western Empires such as the British Empire. Some evidence even makes Soviet actions to be seen as actions of state-building. Therefore it is to be noticed, that the Soviet Union was not entirely imperialistic and when it was, it was imperialistic in a very unique way.

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” The Cold War placed most of the post-war world into a perpetual state of paranoia and dramatically rose tensions between both world powers and their respective ideologies; the Communist Soviet Union and Capitalist America. Both of these powers were in a race to have the advantage over one another, with accelerations in arms developments and eventually creating a standoff between the the Western and Eastern blocs. Two national leaders were very prevalent in bringing a significant amount of change to the European Region, the first leader being Harry Truman (1945-1953) who introduced the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan with the slogan “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities and outside pressures” The second significant leader who exacted significant change in the European Region and subsequently culminated the Cold War was Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) whose policies of Glasnost ‘Openness’ and Economic, Political and Social Perestroika ‘Restructuring’ followed his belief that “It would be naive to think that the problems plaguing mankind today can be solved with means and methods which were applied or seemed to work in the past. . .” Both leaders exacted changes that were crucial in shaping the European region during the Cold War.

The Soviet Union during the 1950s was seen as a threatening power that could be compared to the 1930s and 40s Nazi Germany. However in the late 1960s, Soviet Russia focused on internal matters due to an insecure empire and only emphasised its security measures for external relations. After 1945, it was clear that Russia 's objective was not world conquest or invasion of Western Europe. Even though Stalinist regimes imposed on Poland and Rumania from 1945, Hungary and Czechoslovakia avoided this fate until 1947 and 1948. A non-aggressive pact was created also in Finland.

The Cold War was between the United States and the Soviet Union. It lasted from the year 1945 to 1991. The Cold War was based off of political and military tensions after World War II. They called it The Cold War because both nations were scared to fight each other directly, so it happened indirectly. They used words instead of weapons. The Soviet Union and the U.S. abused economic and social tensions around the world as a part of the competition. The eastern bloc name was used by NATO-affiliated countries for the former communist states of eastern and Central Europe, usually the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact. After World War II, it was the beginning of a new era. It was by the decline of the old powers and rise of two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The Soviet Union was brought upon by the Russian Revolution which had a big impact on the entire world. Some of the consequences of this was that the communist movement began to grow, which scare the capitalists world and that it was concluded with the seizure of power by a smaller revolutionary group. Another problem that showed that communists were a threat to the United States was known as the Red Scars. The consequences of this was that it had an effect on the government and society as the federal employees had to decide whether they were loyal enough to the country. When Germany surrender at the end of World War II, the occupation of Berlin was that each country would

It was not until after World War I that Russia began to undergo a series of changes. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the former Russian empire that had existed from 1721 up until then collapsed, and the Soviet Union was introduced. The geographic renaming of Russia from the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union also brought about many gradual changes. There were also changes in religion, as the new government replaced the role of the Orthodox Church. There was an increase in nationalism because of the conflicts that had existed between the Reds and the Whites. What used to be the czarist regime was replaced by a provisional government and then eventually by communist leaders Lenin and Stalin. There were also shifts in the economy,

The Soviet Union’s Sovietization of Eastern Europe was Joseph Stalin’s response to the betrayal of Great Britain in the “Percentages” Agreement and the failure of the Grand Alliance. Outside of those nations however, the Soviet Union began to promote self-sustaining economic freedom in the form of the Soviet economy. This heavily conflicted and disrupted with the “Trilateral” Empire’s attempts at constructing an economically controlled empire.

These objectives changed the lives of many people. The lives of many Eastern Europeans was never pleasant during the Cold War, for it was regulated and restricted by communists who were fixed on developing such a system throughout the world. The Soviet Union needed to reach an extent wherever they were the only leaders and always in control. It is maybe due to this wish and wants that their policies and system, in the end, are lost. The Soviet's economic decline due to military spending, Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost management, and the quick opposing of surrounding nations of the Soviet Union toward their government were the primary causes of the death of communism in Eastern Europe and the dissolving of the Soviet

First, through Stalin’s aggression over the Eastern bloc after the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet communism was seen as the repressor. Then Khruschev sought to “de-Stalinize,” once coming to

In my opinion, on should the Western Allies have acted to oppose Sovient domination of eastern Europe. I do not think that Western Allies could have done anything to limit soviet influence in Eastern Europe. the situation at the end of the WWII was such that the Soviets, who had given an invaluable contribution in the defeat of the Reich, de facto occupied all Eastern Europe and any attempt of take those lands away from their influence would have lead inevitably to a new war, which was not sustainable for the countries involved in the massacre just terminated and was not even justifiable in the eyes of the populations. At that time the Soviets were regarded as allies in the West.

With the end of the Cold War fundamental changes had happened in the international relations. Having lost the imposed by the Soviet Union principles of managing a state and, essentially, the political ideology, countries needed to redefine their identities in order to fit into the world of Western democracies. The process of identity reconsideration entails the profound change in a state’s self-interests which in turn affects its behavior. ’ The changes of identities pulled into its orbit Poland, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia. These countries, as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed, commenced the process of integration with the European community. Their previous identities of pro-communist states changed

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.

Entering into World War II, Germany once again sought to create a unified East Central Europe, this time as an extension of the Nazi New European Order. Once again Germany was defeated, catalyzing East Central Europe into a new period, one that was governed by the Soviet Union. It was during this time that East Central Europe ceased to “exist” in the geopolitical sense. There would be no talk of an ‘East Central Europe’ until several decades had passed and the world saw the fall of the Soviet Union falling the Cold War. Stalin himself had some plausible geopolitical arguments about the region. East Central Europe throughout time has been used a corridor against Russia. As such, Stalin sought to