Why Did The Soviet Union Collapse

The Soviet Union was at one time one of the two most powerful countries in the world, and yet the Soviet Union is not longer in exists. How did this come to be? They were on the winning side of World War II, with the United States. They were growing in size, and they were spreading communism to other countries. They were on pace to be as powerful and influential as the United States. While there are many reasons as to why the Soviet Union collapsed, the main reason is the Cold War. There were also two very important people that contributed to the fall Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

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 collapse of the communist Soviet Union ultimately led to the end of the cold war. The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. Thus highlighting the inferiority of communism and the superiority of western capitalism. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, however, was a result of both domestic and international factors including policies established by both the US and the Soviet leaders, most importantly Gorbachev’s ‘New Thinking’ reforms combined with the hard-line approach of Ronald Reagan. It has also been argued that the collapse of communism in eastern Europe was inevitable due to its moral bankruptcy, as well as the growing economic pressures which ultimately forced the Soviet Union to

In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed into fifteen different countries. It changed the world geopolitical balance. Their fall ended the ownership of a superpowers with the resources of more than a ten countries. The collapse left Russia unable to own anything like the global influence that they had for many years. Before the Soviet Union collapsed representatives of eleven Soviet republics from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan met and stated that they would no longer be part of the Soviet Union. Instead, they announced they will create a Commonwealth of Independent States. They did it because Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania had already stated their independence.

Another repercussion of the Soviet Union’s collapse was the failure of the economies of almost every new post-Soviet country. Most of the economies of the new Republics were left in shambles after the collapse. In Russia, people were not ready for the new economic freedom that resulted from the fall of Communism. Their unpreparedness led to inflation. “Inflation caused prices to go up three hundred percent in the first month, and 2,591 percent by the end of 1992.”( Russian Economy in the Aftermath of the Collapse of the Soviet Union) Just three years after the Soviet Union’s fall, Russia’s inflation rate had skyrocketed to 2591 percent, evidencing that Russians were not prepared for such a rapid evolution, going from a communist economy into a capitalist economy. All post-Soviet countries had the same economic fate as Russia, plunging into worse economic conditions than the United States suffered during its Great Depression. For example, in 1992, the Ukraine had almost a fifteen percent drop in its gross domestic production and Latvia suffered a 33 percent drop. (GDP growth) Many of these countries’ economies are still suffering as a result of the rapid evolution

After it collapsed, the United States became the only superpower. The US could influence world events without any opposition, since many former Soviet republics joined NATO and The EU, and Russia’s economy was too crippled to do anything. This lack of opposition created many conflicts, like the Gulf War, which would have been stopped by threat of retaliation by the soviets if they were still in power. The collapse strengthened the world economy due to many countries embracing capitalism at the expense of the Russian Economy. The establishment of the US as the only superpower has allowed them indirectly control most of the world, or at least influence it.

The first internal pressure was the impending economic collapse and debts accrued from economic competition between the United States and Russia. The second internal pressure was the rise of the modern era revealing the politics and society of the East and West forcing Russia to reform. The Russian government started policies intended to establish a market economy, but Soviet authoritarian structures ensured these reforms were ineffective policies. Gorbachev’s role in the collapse of the Soviet Union was the reforms he passed making the Russian economy and government more capitalist. The major events that contributed to Soviet economic collapse were a lack of infrastructure, lack economic reinvestment, and the economic collapse of the collectivist system.

The main causes of the fall of the Soviet Union was because the Soviet Union couldn’t afford to keep up with the arms race during the cold war, the government couldn’t manage to keep the people content with things such as housing and food and communism government system completely failed in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was built on about the same territory as the Russian Empire which it succeeded. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Socialism was a newly formed government that was developed by a philosophy. Socialism government is when property is held in common and not individually and relationship are governed. Socialism gradual transition to Communism. Communism is a political theory that Karl Marx came up with. Communism is when the society in which property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. The state of Bolsheviks indentation was to overcome national differences and rather to create one monolithic state based on a centralized economical and political system. This state was built on a Communist ideas, was eventually transformed into a totalitarian state when the Communist leadership had complete control over the country.

Moscow, U.S.S.R. 19 September, 2020. Instead of in our world when it collapsed in 1989, the Soviet Union managed to pull through the tough time, but now it couldn’t. Rioters crowded the streets, attempting to penetrate the defenses of the buildings holding state officials. Only the KGB remained loyal to its government, while the U.S.S.R.’s enemies watched smugly, and the Warsaw Pact Nations defected to NATO. A civil war in Cuba ended communism there, and Anti-Communist factions in all nations were at strong points.

The economy could not keep pace with the United States. The standard of living for Soviet citizens were steadily declining since the 1970s (Miller 2016, 17). The military was embroiled in the Afghanistan conflict which was producing massive causalities for the Soviet public and consuming scarce resources for its military that was needed for domestic consumption (Gaddis 2007). Secondly, the Soviet Union was plagued by appointing leaders who had fought in World War II, but with Gorbachev, they appointed a younger generation to take the mantle of leadership of the Soviet Union (Gaddis 2007). Gorbachev announce his economic restructure, Perestroika, and openness of the government, glasnost. Perestroika started the process of introducing market based principles into the operation of the state (Miller 2016, xii). State industries were allowed to determine output based on the will of the consumers as along as the orders from state bureau were fulfilled. Individuals would have the ability to own small-scale businesses and the property rights of those businesses would be respected (Miller 2016, 89). It also introduced competition in terms of foreign trade by allowing each ministry to pursue policies in their direct control when dealing with foreign companies and nations (Miller 2016, 71). The last major element of this would be allowing foreign investment by coupling Soviet resources such as

Cause: lack of the military power which caused the Soviet Union to increase their bonds with other countries giving them advantage.

There were many events that led to the fall of the Soviet Union. In my opinion, the most important events that led to the fall of the Soviet Union were the Romanian Revolution, Velvet Revolution, Prague Spring, Solidarity Movement, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The Romanian Revolution was the 5th most important event because it was important revolution that resulted in many causalities. The Velvet Revolution (4th most important) was a major event in the fall of the Soviet Union and was also a non-violent one. The Prague Spring (3rd most important) showed that the Soviet Union wasn’t happy to give up it’s republics and satellites. The Solidarity Movement (2nd most important) was the “first chink in the armor of the Soviet Union.” The Fall

Their economic standing began to dwindle during the United States Regan Administration. Basically, former President Ronald Regan built up the United States military in order to be pre-emptive in case the Soviet Union attacked. The Soviet Union also tried to form a stronger military, but their already fragile economy could not withstand the demands it was placed under (Heywood, 2014). Further, their political standing was not stable either. The people that the Soviet Union ruled over wanted similar freedoms of Western societies.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union in the winter of 1991 sparked various reactions among Soviet citizens, government officials, Western onlookers and the rest of the world. The Soviet Union was once one of the most powerful military empires in the world suddenly saw itself crumble to the ground. Mikhail Gorbachev, the dynamic leader at the helm of the Communist Party of the United Soviet Socialists Republic, (USSR), at the time, was a key contributor to its demise. Gorbachev, born into a poor family in an agricultural community, emerged through the rankings of Soviet leadership, finding himself at the top of the Communist Party. He established a new era and a new beginning of reform. Although former Soviet leaders left problems with the government that set the stage for a collapse, Mikhail Gorbachev was responsible for the final dissolution of the USSR, due to his reforms in foreign policy, domestic policy, society and the economy of Russia.

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.