The Soviet Union : A New System Of Thought And Routine? Essay

In the period after World War II, from the late 1940’s up until the 1990’s, the United States and their allies were engaged in a “cold” war with the Soviet Union and its allies. Except for minor proxy wars between countries supported by the respective sides, no major wars were fought between the U.S. and the USSR. Nonetheless, tensions were extremely high for many years and the two superpowers constantly went back and forth trying to best the other. Likely the most well-known of these competitions was the Space Race. Battling for cosmic supremacy from the late 1950’s to 1969, the two countries traded many victories over the years and pushed each other to their technological apexes.

The December of 1991 marked the end of the Soviet Union—and with it, an entire era. Like the February Revolution of 1917 that ended tsardom, the events leading up to August 1991 took place in rapid succession, with both spontaneity and, to some degree, retrospective inevitability. To understand the demise of Soviet Union is to understand the communist party-state system itself. Although the particular happenings of the Gorbachev years undoubtedly accelerated its ruin, there existed fundamental flaws within the Soviet system that would be had been proven ultimately fatal. The USSR became a past chapter of history because it was impossible to significantly reform the administrative

“If the Soviet Union let another political party into existence they would still be one state party state because everybody would join the other party,” is a quote by Ronald Reagan about the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union(USSR) is a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1999. It's fall resulted from its government-run economy not working very well. Soviet Union was run by Vladimir Lenin, dictator who overthrew Russian monarchy, and Bolshevik communist. At first USSR aligned with the US to defeat the Nazi Germany. But the countries soon turn against each other due to the difference in perspective about how government should run in 1945. Their clash was a major part of cold war. Now with all this information

1947 through 1991 was the time period of the Cold War; the Cold War was a result caused by the tension of the after math of what had happened with world war 2 .The tension that was there wasn 't just any kind of tension it was military tension between the power of the eastern bloc and the power of the western bloc. The Cold War wasn 't only one war but it was decades of "little"wars and intimidation. Germany was busy after the war, there where so much tension between the Soviet Union and the western allies because they had feared each other because they had thought a new war could arise. Minister Churchill then decided that he would put what would be an iron curtain across Europe. The Cold War had so many little conflicts within it like the Chinese revolution, the Palestine liberation organisation, and so many more hundreds if you would that happened in the Cold War time.

The 1980’s were a dynamic time in the life cycle of the Cold War. The early portion of this decade, which saw massive shifts in the administrations of the United States and Soviet Union, maintained an atmosphere of suspicion, wariness, and skepticism. This theme of uncertainty and caution was the logical product of decades of both American and Soviet duplicity, confrontation, and militarization. Yet, despite this mistrust between the polar Cold War belligerents, and contrary to the early rhetoric of the Reagan administration, the United States and Soviet Union modified their perceptions of each other’s intentions following 1985’s Reykjavik Summit, which, despite producing no tangible results, established common desire for arms reduction and a conclusion of the Cold War. This warming of relations, however, increased at a gradual rate and encountered significant hurdles as the two nations attempted to limit the potential for thermonuclear war. Ultimately, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev’s “dialogue of the eyes” transitioned from one administration to the next, while also weathering significant domestic pressures as the United Soviet Socialist Republic disintegrated.

Before the 38th Parallel , there was no North Korea and South Korea – only Korea. The 38th Parallel was initially created to guarantee that Japan would surrender to the Soviet Union in the north and the south would surrender to the United States, but it later became a barrier between the two states. (Gupta 1972). The line was proposed by the United States and agreed to by the Soviet Union. Author William Stueck names the 38th parallel as the first step in the Korean War, writing, “the war originated in 1945 with the division of the peninsula into occupation zones by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the perpetuation of that division as a result of the two nation’s subsequent failure to agree on terms for unification.” (Stueck 1995)

Toronto, Canada---- Since the end of World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union have experienced a number of political clashes. From the Marshall Plan to the Korean war, to testing nuclear weapons, and to the use of missiles, the United States and the Soviet Union have definitely established a divide between the two empires. The growing dependence of the United States in Europe and Great Britain has increased imperialist speculation from the USSR. However, the United States justifies their presence though the policy of Containment, in its attempt to defend democracy. Also since post World War Two, there has been a massive increase of arms in both the Soviet Union and the United States. From the booming economy of the war and the devastating atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States became a global superpower. The need for efficient nuclear weapons suddenly became an obsession. In 1952, the USSR managed to develop their own Atomic bomb, which threatened the position of the United States. And from there an arms race began. The use of nuclear weapons is an extreme that neither empire wishes to reach, however, the public is not certain.

The Zbigniew Brzezinski defined a Soviet victory as entailing “the submissive neutralization of both Western Europe (through the dismantling of NATO) and Japan, and the withdrawal of U.S. political military presence across the oceans. Moreover, victory was also defined as attaining the worldwide economic supremacy of communism over capitalism” . Part of this view is corroborated in the infamous Long Telegram by American diplomat George F. Kennan, which, among other things, claimed that the USSR wanted to further socialism at the cost of Western capitalism. . From both sources, one can assume the terms of victory for the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and, consequently, these can be compared with the actual events of the Cold War to determine how large a defeat the Soviet Union suffered. It is indeed true that the Western capitalism emerged victorious in the end. Western Europe wasn’t “neutralised”; in fact, it was Eastern Europe that submitted to Western politics as the USSR collapsed. Similarly, by the end of the Cold War it was the USSR’s political presence - rather than the US’ - that had collapsed, leaving the US seemingly unopposed as the leading global superpower. In each of these cases, it appears that the Soviet Union suffered a total defeat far removed from any conditions of victory. However, while this paper will begin by examining these areas of defeat, it will then go on to argue that the defeat was not necessarily total. Finally, it will argue that survival and

Communist rule was confined to the Soviet Union until the end of World War II.

Read, Christopher. From Tsar to Soviets: The Russian People and Their Revolution, 1917-21. London: UCL Press, 1996.

In October 1962, the USSR and the United States of America were on the brink of a nuclear war that had devastating implications on a global scale. In the aftermath of the Second World War, both the USSR and the U.S. found themselves in a power struggle to become the prominent world super power. Subsequently, both states became involved in an ever evolving ‘arms race’ which saw an antagonistic approach towards defence and security measures. The reason for choosing this topic to research is that I am profoundly interested in global politics and interactions between states. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to a standstill as they waited for potentially catastrophic repercussions as the consequence of two very dissimilar states clashing. At the centre of all this was President John F. Kennedy who is a leader that I deeply admire and one who fronted up to the challenges put before him and came out better as a result, engraining his legacy in the history books. In this research essay I intend to analyse and discuss the relationship between the USSR and the U.S. throughout the Cold War period, the build up to the Cuban Missile Crisis and ensuing tensions surrounding it. Whilst doing so, I will also look at President John F. Kennedy’s decision making throughout this period and the consequences of these decisions, in particular, his decision to blockade Cuba.

After the end of World War II, there was a bipolar world with the two superpowers being the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Though they fought together in the war to defeat Hitler and the Axis powers, their lifestyles were too different to remain allies once it ended. The United States had a capitalist economy with free-markets whereas the USSR was a communist nation. Due to this, the two nations were in the midst of a Cold War. Instead of fighting with armies, they fought with threats, propaganda, and science to determine which nation would become the world superpower. The USSR and the United States were in a nuclear arms race, but by 1986, public unsatisfaction due to declining economic and political power

Communism in the USSR was doomed from the onset. Communism was condemned due to lack of support from other nations, condemned due to corruption within its leadership, condemned due to the moral weakness of humanity, making what is perfect on paper, ineffective in the real world. The end of this system was very violent. It left one of the two most powerful nations in the world fearful of what was to come. <br><br>Communism can either be called a concept or system of society. In a society that follows the communist beliefs groups own the major resources and means of production, rather than a certain individual. In theory, Communism is to provide equal work, and benefits to all in a specific society. Communism is derived from many ancient

The command system, which is also described as Marxism, socialism, or communism, is both a political and economic philosophy. In a communist economy, the government owns most of the firms, subsequently controlling production and allocation of resources. One of the most well-known and well-documented cases of a communist government took place in the Soviet Union, beginning in 1917 and eventually falling in 1992. Idealistically, communism eliminates social classism and provides equal work for all in a particular society. The government appoints a central planning board to “determine production goals for each enterprise and to specify the amount of resources to be allocated to each enterprise so that it can reach its production goals.”

In December 30th, 1922 was born the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The intention behind the founding of this association was to achieve an egalitarian, socialist state and where humble workers, a majority community, were able to gain control over the so-called "capitalists" who sought to keep them at their mercy.