The Collapse Of The Soviet Union

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

The oligarchs came to be known as the concentrated centralized economic class of corrupt men who took advantage of Yeltsins privatization movement. These economic elite ascended to power during Yeltsin's terms. Yeltsin's economic plans lead to corruption, economic stagnation and increased power of the oligarchs. The oligarchs were adroit at finding loopholes and ways around any attempt Yeltsin had at privatization. They did not follow any market rules because there were really none in place in the infant Russian market. The oligarchs took money out of Russia by setting up offshore accounts from their enterprises; defeating the purpose of the economic reforms by not investing money back into the

Russia began its reform with political liberalization, and many believe that Russia’s failure was partly due to focusing on political reform first and they should have begun with economic reforms which China had done. This lead to political turmoil so severe that in 1989-1993 workers were politically neutralized and unable to stop Yeltsin’s liberal market reforms. But, a small group of oligarchs helped to

The many long-term internal causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union centralized around weaknesses in their economy. They had an inflexible central planning system, the inability to modernize, and the inefficiency in their agriculture production. Sometime around the 1970's the computer and automation revolution had emerged. This revolution took over the West, but practically missed the Soviet Union, except in the military sector (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Gorbachev's goal in economic restructuring was to create a separation between the economic and the political. The major changes began with the legalization of private farming and business co-operatives, and the allowing of foreign company ownership over Soviet enterprises (Baylis &Smith, 2001) All of Gorbachev's ideas on economic restructuring backfired on him since the price levels were inconsistent, and a sense of social confusion about the future of their state was created.

The democratization, economic liberalization, and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union is commonly attributed to Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika and Glasnost reforms during the period of 1985-1991. This purpose of these reforms is still a trenchant question as the countries of the old Soviet Union, particular Russia, are being pressured to further liberalize their economies.

As stated earlier, Russia’s economy is largely based on oil. Further, throughout Russia’s existence, its political institutions have strongly remained stable do to their performance legitimacy. Therefore, the rise of oil and therefore competitive authoritarianism are not mutually exclusive. Since Putin’s election, economic growth has averaged 6.7%, however, much of this growth is directly due to rising oil prices since 1998 that have topped over 100 dollars a barrel. Rising oil prices has allowed Russia to eradicate foreign debt, establish massive reserves of hard currency, and create budget surpluses. This has in turn allowed Putin to accumulate massive amounts of wealth as well as improving his performance legitimacy. Arguably, this is a false performance legitimacy. To many in Russia, this is the best the economy has ever been, and it has allowed for Putin to easily consolidate power. Yet, with oil on the decline, Russia has effectively created an economy that can not last into the near future, and only time will tell how far they will end up

During the era of the Cold War, starting in 1947 and definitively ending in 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union faced off in conflicts with each other through smaller states.

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

Oligarchy as it is known in Aristotle’s politics; is a government run by a small group of people, ‘elites’. However, the oligarchy which this essay addresses is currently referred to in Russia as “a very wealthy and politically well-connected businessman...one who is the main owner of a conglomerate of enterprises and has close ties with the president” (Aslund and Dabrowski, 2007; 144). In the 1990s Russia’s economic reforms are said to have created the rise of a small group of oligarchs who gained an overwhelming amount of power and control. By 1997, this small group of previously unknown businessmen and bankers, often with gangster ties, had acquired control of many of the key parts of the Russian economy. Why did they emerge? It is argued by David Satter that three processes facilitated the emergence of the oligarchs. The first was hyperinflation and the social, economic and political consequences. The second was the process of privatisation, and finally the third was criminalisation (Satter, 2003). However, were these powerful oligarchs just a phase during the transition from Soviet to Post-Soviet Russia? Even with Putin’s efforts and declaration to distance the oligarchs from politics and power, and start a war against them exemplified by the Khodorkovsky affair, are oligarchs still significantly powerful in contemporary Russia? What is the role they play in Russia? It seems that the power of those original oligarchs of the 1990s has decreased or been concealed in

Choose one of these theories and explain how it relates to the collapse of the USSR, and assess and justify whether it relates to its internal or external foreign policy.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, came into power in 1985. The economy that he acquired made further damage just about impossible. Because of this problematic economy and the growing political fever, he introduced two new reforms. One of these reforms was glasnost, or political openness, which made such effects as banishing ever present secret police. The second reform was perestroika, or economic reconstruction, which permitted individuals and cooperatives to own businesses and other allowances such as this. However, these reforms didn’t make the Soviet Union stronger, because the old system was quick to

Summary: Chapters 3 & 4 Vladimir Putin’s move from St. Petersburg to Moscow signaled the beginning of the Putin era. Throughout his time in the KGB and as first deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, he was rarely ever seen as a man of high honor and prestige. His positions included advancing the agendas of those around him, but he rarely ever aimed to advance his own career. Despite this lack of ambition, Putin’s admirable personality traits and various political connections led to his accelerated rise to power.

The presidency under Boris Yeltsin was Russia’s first experiment with capitalism and democracy following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin sought to fix the economic damage, along with restoring the traditional power structure of leaders in Russia. Putin developed what could be called a centralized capitalistic system, in which the government began to develop monopolies on big business, such as oil, but still had elements of free trade involved that the Stalin era did not. Many of Russia’s biggest oil companies give a large part of shares, or are owned by the state, especially Gazprom or Rosneft. Putin, in a move that was reminiscent of Stalin, moved to eliminate his rivals and the wealthy oligarchs of Russia.

Could you ever imagine living in a country where as a citizen you have no power in the government or a say in your own business? This is how the citizens lived for many years under the rule of many different leaders. The Soviet Union is a prime example of a society where your rights are taken away. The creation of the Soviet Union, also known as The Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, began shortly after the overthrow the Russian tsar in 1917. Soon after its creation, problems arose within the new form of government affecting the lives of two hundred and ninety three million civilians. Decades after the revolution, Mikhail Gorbachev came into power proposing new laws in order to lead the Soviet Union out of economic catastrophe. These changes

To understand the collapse, it is important to understand the circumstances of the instability. The Russian Empire, for its entire rule, operated under a Czarist regime mainly centered on a singular royal monarchy. While the upper class rejoiced in wealth and general low stress, the grand majority of the Russian population operated as farmhand and industrial workers as