7.soviet Union Disintegration.docx

Collapse of the Soviet Union by Talha Summary : 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. This signaled the end of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. Causes : Mikhail Gorbachev Becomes General ……………..Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Soviet Union in 1985. When he took over the Soviet Union economy was in bad shape and his idea was to reform the economy and modernize the political situation in the country. Glasnost and Perestroika ………There were two main platforms of Gorbachev's reform. The first he called Glasnost. Glasnost allowed more freedom of speech and openness in government. Government officials would be held accountable to the people for their actions. Although Glasnost was a good thing for the people, it also allowed people to protest and the media to report on issues for the first time. Many of the outlying states used this new found freedom to express their desire for independence. The other major reform was called Perestroika. Perestroika meant "restructuring". Gorbachev meant to restructure the Soviet economy to work more efficiently. He allowed some private ownership and released some of the tight control the government had on the economy. However, the people and economy of the Soviet Union were used to the government doing everything. Things got worse before they got better. Nationalist Movement Spreads …………….Baltic Region With the new found freedom of Gorbachev's reforms, some outlying Soviet states began to rebel. The first states to demand their freedom were the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Soon more states wanted their independence including Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia. The central government of the Soviet Union began to feel the pressure of so many states wanting independence. Attempted Takeover of the Government With the communist government on the verge of collapse, Soviet hardliners decided to take action. In August of 1991 they kidnapped Gorbachev and announced to the world that he was too sick to govern. They would be taking over. When the Soviet citizens began to protest, the hardliners called in the military to shut them down. However, the soldiers refused to shoot and arrest their own people. Without the military to back them up, the takeover had failed.

Consequences/Results The Soviet Union Breaks Up ……………..On December 24, 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved. At the same time Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation. The Soviet Union divided up into 15 separate independent countries including: Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan Facts about the Collapse of the Soviet Union By international law, Russia was considered the successor state of the Soviet Union. This meant that it kept the nuclear weapons and the Soviet Union's seat on the Security Council of the United Nations. Many of the old Soviet Union states still have strong economic ties with each other. Some of the new countries have democratic governments while others are still under authoritarian rule. One of Gorbachev's reforms was to limit the consumption of alcohol in an effort to reduce alcoholism in the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin was the first President of Russia after the break up. Causes Of Dissolution Of USSR Problems with USSR 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Bureaucratic and authoritarian system. Lack of democracy. Lack of freedom of speech. One party system (communist) – unaccountable to the people. Dominance of Russia; neglect of the interests of other republics. High expenditure on defense, low on infrastructure and technology.

Disintegration of the USSR : Major Events 1. Crisis in the Socialist bloc : People in many east European countries started protest against their own governments and USSR. Without the right intervention from USSR at the right time, communist governments in the second world collapsed one after the other.

2. The fall of Berlin Wall: Germany was divided after the second world war – among the socialist USSR and the capitalist western regimes. The fall of Berlin led to a series of events including the disintegration of the USSR. 3. Economic and political reforms in USSR: Gorbachev identified the economic and political problems of USSR, and started a series of reforms, with the intention to revive economy. This was a deviation from the communist policies, and was more closely associated with the market economy. Many communist leaders in USSR opposed reforms initiated by Gorbachev. They encouraged a coup in 1991. 4. Coup: The coup of 1991. 5. Opposition against the coup : Boris Yelsin who won popular election in Russian Republic, protested against the coup and central control of USSR. Freedom for republics became the slogan. Boris Yeltsin and the pluralist movement advocated democratization and rapid economic reforms while the hard-line Communist elite wanted to thwart Gorbachev’s reform agenda. 6. Power shift from Soviet center to republics: Republics like Russia, Ukraine, Belarus emerged powerful. They declared that the soviet union was disbanded. 1.Economic Weakness The weakness of the economy was the major cause of dissatisfaction among the people in USSR. There was sever shortage of consumer items. The reason for economics weakness were the following. 1. Huge military spending. 2. Maintenance of satellite states in Easter Europe. 3. Maintenance of the Central Asian Republics within the USSR. 2. Political Un-accountability The communist party regime (single party rule) for around 70 years turned authoritarian. There was widespread corruption, nepotism and lack of transparency. Gorbachev’s decision to allow elections with a multi-party system and create a presidency for the Soviet Union began a slow process of democratization that eventually destabilized Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. 3. Gorbachev’s reforms Once people started to enjoy freedom under Micheal Gorbachev’s reforms, they demanded more. The demand grew into a big force which turned difficult to control. The people wanted to catch up with the west quickly.

4. Rise of nationalism Rise of nationalism among countries like Russia, Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia etc is the most important and immediate cause of disintegration of the USSR. The national feeling was strong among the more prosperous areas in USSR and not in Central Asian republics. Ordinary people among prosperous republics didn’t like to pay big price to uplift the backward Central Asian republics. Consequences of the disintegration of the USSR 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The fall of second world. The period marked the end of many communist regimes in response to mass protests. End of cold war: End of arms race, end of ideological confrontations. Change in power equations: Unipolar world, capitalist ideology, IMF, World Bank etc. Emergence of new countries and new alliances – Eg: Baltic countries aligned with NATO.

BENEFITS OF COLLAPSE OF USSR TO USA Following benefits were enjoyed by USA after the disintegration. * There was no opponent, or no other country as powerful as USA, no one could stand in opposition at the world stage. * All the countries which were earlier part of USSR were now heading towards USA, hence taking it's strength and power to ten! East Germany is one such example. *The new countries now adopted it's ideology of Capitalism,and hence increasing it's trade area. This time also witnessed America's dealing with China among others. *NATO, the ultimate power source of USA, now added many other members, and hence making it unbeatable. *This also strengthened it;s position in UN, and even gave USA the rights of a dictator. Gulf War 2 is one such example. *Time and again, USA got to show it's hegemony without any fear since no one has the power to question its actions. USA has always enjoyed massive power, and is not ruling just few countries,but almost half if the world directly or indirectly. Its Soft power, Hard power, and Structural power are reaching new heights every then and now, and is on with it's Reign of Power, cruelty, politics, greed ever since.