5 reasons for the collapse of the soviet union

USSR reaction of sending troops to the capital of Lithuania in January 1991 killing 14 unarmed civilians and wounding hundreds of people (Langley, 2006) caused substantial damage to the image of USSR in general, and Gorbachevs image in particular. Nevertheless, due to the range of reasons discussed below the existence of USSR came to its end officially in 1991. The collapse of the Communist bloc Mikhail Gorbachev's reformist policies in the Soviet Union fuelled opposition movements to the Communist regimes in the Soviet bloc countries. Stalins Five Year Plans were almost entirely driven by a need to increase the production of strategic goods for the nation. The collapse meant thousands of Soviet nuclear weapons were spread across four of the newly formed states, including Russia and Ukraine. After a huge rise in their economy, the Soviet Union saw one of the harshest economic crashes in history: the Soviet people lost their homes, starved to death, and were desperate for any change that would relieve them from starvation and poverty. The younger generation saw this and refused to adopt the Party ideology. Falling oil prices coincided with the economic slowdown that, according to Aven, started in the 1960s. Accordingly, as many other events in history assessment of the role and implications of Soviet Union may be perceived differently in the future than it is perceived today due to other major geopolitical events that yet to take place. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In 1991, almost 30 years after the separation, the wall was finally knocked down and Eastern Berlin was finally alive again. (2007) Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for the 21st Century 7th edition, Routledge, Nevin, M. (2013) The Golden Guinea: The International Financial Crisis 2007 2014 Causes, Consequences and Cures John Wiley & Sons, Putin address to nation: Excerpts (2005) BBC, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4481455.stm, Sakwa, R. (1999) The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union Taylor & Francis, Thompson, J.M. collapse of the Soviet Union, sequence of events that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991. Reform, Coup and Collapse: The End of the Soviet State - Logo of the BBC 25.12: The Collapse of the Soviet Union: A Timeline of Key Events He later issued a presidential edict declaring the coup illegal and the plotters criminals and traitors. Russian officials were not to obey the orders of the Emergency Committee. This essay attempts to analyse the major reasons and implications of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Eastern European Economy, Economic Collapse, and Foreign Trade By the time Gorbachev took office in 1985, the Soviet economy had been stagnant for 20 years and was badly in need of reform; to wit, the country's gross national product (GNP) went from 5.8% in 1940 to 2.6% in 1970. If the USSR gave their sister countries the freedom to keep their identities and heritage peace might have been an option through times of crisis. The Quiet Collapse of the Soviet Union - e-ir.info Gorbachev and his family were placed under house arrest by Gen. Igor Maltsev, commander-in-chief of the Soviet Air Defense Troops. 3. Specifically, in economic level the collapse of the Soviet Union has created new markets for businesses headquartered in the USA, Europe and elsewhere to benefit from through exporting, formation of joint-ventures, initiating wholly-owned subsidiaries, franchising, licensing and other new market entry strategies. The corruption in the Soviet Union had a systematic nature and the majority instances of corruption were caused by the attempts to cover shortcomings of five-year government plans for the national economy (Sakwa, 1999). Looking at the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, its easy to understand why so many people were looking to the revolution to change their lives. At the age of 54, Mikhail Gorbachev became the youngest Soviet leader since Joseph Stalin, and his appointment by Politburo central apparatus of Communistic party was warmly welcomed by the majority of Soviet people. On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation as President of the Soviet Union. A . The red army's peaceful inaction pushed the other oppressed countries to refute the communist regime and achieve independence from the USSR. 2. Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse? - ThoughtCo Collapse of the Soviet Union is a large topic and reasons and implications associated with this event cannot be fully addressed within the scope of one book, let alone one essay. They soon issued Resolution No. The new study highlighted four reasons behind the collapse. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. There was also an address to the Soviet people claiming that mortal danger hangs over our great fatherland.. Here are five reasons the USSR collapsed: Oil Prices According to Yegor Gaidar, the Prime Minister who pursued radical economic reforms in post-Soviet Russia, "The uncertainty of weather-dependent harvests, particularly after the 1950s decision to exploit virgin lands, and the continuing low oil prices made the foreign trade balance catastrophic. This gap fueled the hungry rage of the populace and led to protests and movements against the government which was aggravated by the newly instated freedom of speech by Gorbachev. The crisis has shed a light on substantial disadvantages of capitalism, and this fact has direct implications on still continuing communism versus capitalism debate. De-Stalinisation stage has involved de-centralisation of economic decision-making to member countries to a certain extent and deep economic stagnation due to refusal to innovate economic and a wide range of other processes. Moreover, some conservative members of Politburo imposed bigger challenge to Gorbachevs reforms than Yeltsin because of their fear of losing status quo which meant threat to their own positions in Politburo, as well as threat to the role and influence of Moscow in member states and world in general (Lauritden, 2011). This kind of expenditure put a dent in the USSR's economy which made way to an increase in poverty and frustration amongst their people. The reason why perestroika was enacted may have also been a relevant factor to the Soviet collapse. Collapse of the Soviet Union Flashcards | Quizlet Pinpoint one major. 194. However, some of the most visible consequences are as follows. Shortly after the end of World War II, the Soviet Union reinforced its grasp on Eastern Europe and slowly . Answer to this question has three parts. They were taken aback when Gorbachev refused and rebuked them as treasonous blackmailers. The collapse of the Soviet Union can ultimately be attributed to three broad, complex, and interconnected issues: The economy, Leadership, and Geography. Moreover, corruption has been caused by scarcity of certain types of products such as colour television sets, electronic devices and even quality clothes (Eaton, 2004), for reasons discussed above, and special contacts were needed in certain places in order to be able to purchase such products. Application of Gorbachevs glastnost in practice has resulted in churches being opened, release of some dissidents from prisons, weakening of censorship on television and print media and publication of first articles that were critical of officials (Khan, 2008). Free press did not exist in USSR and government media agencies covered world affairs in highly subjective manner creating a false assumption in Soviet people that they enjoyed significantly higher standard of life compared to the rest of the world. Brezhnev allowed Soviet industries to place profits above producing things people actually wanted. The U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet reinstated Gorbachev and annulled all the decrees of the Emergency Committee. There were basically 5 reasons why Hitler attacked the Soviet Union: By colonizing the western parts of the Soviet Union with German settlers Hitler planned on creating a continental empire that could not be hit by blockades. However in 1991 USSR disintegrated , the major reason for the disintegration of USSR were: 1. Moreover, high levels of corruption at various levels in USSR member countries and vast and fundamental cultural differences between certain members of the Soviet Union coupled with dramatic reforms initiated by Gorbachev that the country was not ready for can be highlighted as main reasons behind the collapse of the USSR. On political level, on the other hand, with the collapse of the Soviet Union no country was left in the world map that could possibly challenge hegemonic ambitions of the United States. Economic, cultural, social and political factors contributing to the collapse of the Soviet Union are discussed in this essay and implications of this event on regional level for former USSR blog countries, as well as, on the global landscape are assessed. Some authors like Fukuyama called the end of the Cold War-"The end of History". Mikhail Gorbachev Becomes General Secretary The idea of being locked into a historically inevitable life-and-death-struggle for the future of mankind, and the feeling of being besieged by enemies (the latter being an old Russian tradition), combined with the memory of horrors of the WW2 years created a situation where not priorizing military spending seemed like utter folly. USSR was a strong bloc with great control over global politics from 1922 to 1991. The Collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, sequence of events that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991. Following the events of Gorbachev's attempted transparency and leniency, Lithuania took advantage of USSR's weakness to revolt and demand its independence. Collapse of the Soviet Union Essay Topics | Study.com Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union, died on 30th August 2022 at the age of 91, following a "long and serious illness". The cold war was a direct consequence of the second major war which pitted the world's two superpowers against each other in an attempt to become the only major force in the world. The Soviet Union was an ethnically diverse country, with more than 100 distinct ethnic groups. In the quarter-century since the Soviet Union collapsed, U.S.-Russia . The Politburo began to move away from Lenins vision. Newspapers could criticize the government, and parties other than the Communist Party could participate in elections. So when someone came along promising a government where the workers rule, it probably sounded pretty good. Despite his bellicose rhetoric, Reagan actually developed a cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union and a respectful understanding with Gorbachev. Therefore, being granted with unprecedented levels of rights and freedom Soviet people started to express their discontent publicly about systematic economic problems such as shortages of food and other products in shops, and a wide range of other social problems. (2011) Crises and Opportunities: The Shaping of Modern Finance Oxford University Press, Dewatripont, M., Frexas, X. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Other former members of USSR such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, on the other hand, selected the route of gradual transfer to the market economy and the transition period was intended to last for several years. Yanayev claimed that the country had become ungovernable but hoped that his friend President Gorbachev would eventually return to his post. Tanks appeared on the streets of Moscow, and the citys population immediately began attempting to dissuade troops from obeying orders. The patriarch criticized Gorbachevs detention and anathematized those involved in the plot. Russia replaced the now-irrelevant Soviet Union at the United Nations, and took over . The collapse of the Soviet Union started in the late 1980s and was complete when the country broke up into 15 independent states on December 25, 1991. Stagnation in the Soviet Union - The Cold War The collapse of the Soviet Union was caused mainly by internal issues that developed long before 1991, like the government keeping secrets from the people, or the government disagreeing with the people. Was the Soviet Union's Collapse Inevitable? - HISTORY In other words, severe economic problems and low standards of life following the decades after the war were interpreted solely as consequences of war and thus attention was shifted from shortcomings of Communistic economic system. On August 20 Yeltsin issued a presidential edict stating that he was taking control of all military, KGB, and other forces in Russian territory. Moreover, although the practice of religion was officially unwelcome during the Soviet Rule, religious teachings still had certain influence on society, especially in Middle Asian part of USSR (Eaton, 2004), and fundamental differences in this perspective between some member states can be specified as a substantial factor the had negative implications on the unity of USSR. At the same time it has been argued that it is not appropriate to blame socialism for the fall of the Soviet Union. According to this viewpoint, although changes to the Soviet economic and political system were necessary, such changes could be introduced in gradual manner so that economic chaos could have been avoided. These chaoses were marked by the new ideas brought in by the new leaders who had emerged eventually into power. The Collapse of the Soviet Union. Explore this storyboard about Soviet Union, Inventions, Civil Rights by Worldatlas.com on Flipboard. . Bush telephoned Yeltsin and assured him that normal relations with Moscow would resume only after Gorbachev was back in office. Therefore, Gorbachevs appointment was received with enthusiasm by Soviet people and nobody knew at the time that radical reforms to be introduced by the younger leader would trigger a series of consecutive events that that would cause the USSR to be dissolved. So as Soviet citizens stood in lines for food, the Communist Party was lining its pockets with rubles. After the Second World War ended in 1945, the world was scattered and most affected countries were trying to recover the massive post-war losses. Following the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, over 100,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding cities to minimize exposure and to eventually contain the spread of radiation from the nuclear leak. The planned signing on August 20 of a new union treaty that would have weakened central control over the republics appeared to explain the timing of the coup. The role of corruption in at various levels on the fall of USSR does not need to be underestimated. Whether it was manpower, resources or money, no one could squander something like the Soviet Union could squander anything. The Main Reasons for the Collapse of the USSR in 1991 While average citizens died from starvation, the Politburo enjoyed luxuries. The third stage in Soviet Union economic history is marked with de-Stalinisation and this stage lasted from 1953 to 1985. What Caused the Collapse of the Soviet Union? - UKEssays.com In the wake of the soviet revolution, fought the bondage of classes and the bourgeoisie in the hopes of attaining pure social equality between the soviet people. Exploring 5 Reasons for the Collapse of the Soviet Union 1. The Revolutions of 1989 and the Fall of the Soviet Union. One major short-term reason for this is the . Implications associated with the collapse of USSR have been found to relate to both levels economic and political. Mikhail Gorbachev was at his dacha in the Crimean resort of Foros when he was contacted by four men requesting an audience. According to a 1990 estimate, the majority of the population were Russians (50.78%), followed by Ukrainians (15.45%) and Uzbeks (5.84%). The USSR not only lost economic dominance, but it also lost the population's faith in the government which led to their imminent downfall.
Cora Reilly Upcoming Books, Rhodes Weather Monthly Forecast, University Of Wisconsin Real Estate Program, Velour Lashes Would I Lie, What Is The Neutral Zone In Ice Hockey, Does Gross Income Include Tax, Beth Israel Commuter Services, Relayhealth Pharmacy Solutions, Kualoa Ranch Secret Island Dock,