Why Did The Soviet Union Fail

The Cold War is over, but the influence of the Soviet Union is not. The Soviet Union grew out of the Bolshevik Revolution and Civil War in 1917. Eight leaders and 74 years later the Soviet Union fell in 1991. The story of those 74 years leaves much to tell. However, three areas are most necessary to understand: its cultural achievements, its military strength, and its political oppression.

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.

Although the indications were present well before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world was not completely ready for the end of the Cold War. The US was left alone without any major balancing opponents. Furthermore, after the dissolution of the Soviets the numbers of newly established independent states have increased significantly. All these new states were lacking of self-governing capabilities and also the Western vision, which was the victorious ideology of the Cold war. Moreover, some

Which quickly led to the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. But more importantly, these reforms contributed to the spread of nationalist oppositional groups which further weakened the Soviet Union. As a result, Gorbachev’s reforms undermined both communism and the Soviet Bloc leading to its rapid demise, contrary to his intentions. Consequently, hard-liners within the communist party attempted to stage a coup against Gorbachev in order to reassert their control over Eastern Europe. This coup, failed resulting in the Baltic states’ demands for independence. By December 1991, all 15 republics had declared their independence and subsequently, the Soviet Union seized to exist.

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.

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.

The Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) was a socialist state between Europe and Asia which existed between 1922-1991. The State collapsed because of lack of things a successful Country/State needs. Such as Political Freedom, Economic Growth, Quality of Life, National Unity, and Security. Successful countries have these things. The Soviet Union collapsed because of the bad quality of life, poor security, and lack of political freedom for citizens.

Who Killed Mother Russia and Soviet has been an enduring question since the end of the Russian Empire and the end of the Cold War. At the height of its power, it spread over eleven time zones, marched into Paris to depose Napoleon, and was seen as one of the five great powers that kept Europe in equilibrium. Soviet Russia controlled half of Europe and led the advance of Hitler’s Germany. The collapse of the Russian Empire was as sudden as the collapse of the Soviet Union 74 years later. To some historians, the Bolsheviks and Vladimir Lenin seized power when the proletariat arose to throw off their bourgeois masters. Other historians contend that the Communists had a better organization and good luck which allowed them to overthrow the provisional government. Secondly, the collapse of the Soviet Union was just as sudden as the collapse of the Russian Empire. To political scientists, the collapse of the USSR was the natural occurrence of an authoritarian regime. Some reasons explored why the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union collapsed would be the opening up of Russia to Western influences, the failure of the system reforms during the 1800s and the 1980s, and palace revolts

Seriously, the USSR was not communist or socialist. Conversely, the USSR was actually capitalist since bureaucrats privately owned the means of production. When collectivist societies have existed, they fell from external forces.

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

During its peak, the Soviet Union was able to influence many other nations across the world. Its position as the global communist superpower gave it the capacity and opportunity to affect the lives of the people within their country and without. The fall of the economy created hard times for the citizens of the Soviet Union and its satellites, leading to unrest and unhappiness, typically blamed on the government. This unrest encouraged the people of the satellites to rebel against their communist leaders, thus, weakening the Soviet power and reputation. Lastly, with disputes erupting over the globe, the way the Soviet leaders handled their foreign relations greatly affected the way their own people and the people of the world viewed communism

The last eight autonomic republics included in the USSR proclaimed their independence from Moscow at the end of 1989 which ended up the existent of the Soviet Union. All the remaining Eastern European communist politicians were replaced with the new democratically elected government officials by the end of the summer of 1990. This set the pace for the countries reintegration into the Western European economic and political alliance. The initial collapse of USSR had several harmful long-lasting effects on the global economy and foreign trade of the all post-soviet countries. This enabled the future development of corruption and organised crime in Russia and helped the United States to become more powerful in public sector.

Gorbachev told the Central Committee who elected him that when the people are elected, “the more consciencely they act, the more actively they support the party” (Steven White). With the knowledge of the past- information to define the good and the bad actions of the Soviet Union he believed the people would make a concerted effort in restructuring the economy and participating in reforming their country. Many a critic

More than half a decade has passed since the sweeping political events of 1989 and 1990 in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. On December 26, 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist . In its place are the Russian federation and 14 independent countries. The impact of this change was felt across the globe, from European countries with close economic ties with the USSR to countries as far away as Cuba and Algeria. The former republics experienced the hardest time in their existence, and entered a new period of their history.

Soviet Union encouraged their citizens and officials to discuss both the strengths and the weaknesses openly. This approach was extended largely, including reports of official corruption, sloppy factory work, protests against government policy, and arts. Besides, religious activities were once again. And in the economy, partial liberalization was pursued, but it did not succeed. In the politic, reforms were equally revolutionary; the principle of two-candidate elections was introduced while previously, voters had been presented with only one choice. Also, Gorbachev legalized the formation of other political parties in 1990. In fact, he tried to appease the conservative forces and to accommodate the liberal forces, especially those in the Soviet