David Coreas April 26, 2011 AP European History Mr.Macksoud Per.

4 Collapse of the Soviet Union

The causes and reasons for the decline and ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union are many and of a vastly varying nature during the periods of 1953-1991. It was that the capability of the USSR to maintain its internal and external economic structure eventually failed, and the political structure followed. Factors included the dissatisfaction of its citizens, nationalist movements in Eastern Europe and Asia, and an unworkable, inflexible bureaucracy. There is no doubt what so ever that international factors - such as the Cold War, or the US Governments policy of containment played a role in the dissolution of the USSR. But at the same time the Soviet Union faced huge domestic problems such as a rapidly failing economy and a one party political system that was not very adaptable to the political and social conditions that the country existed in. These elements, which placed a huge amount of internal pressure on the Soviet system, combined with these international factors and created a mixture of external and internal pressure that ultimately saw the USSR collapse under its own weight. The collapse of the Soviet Union was due in a large part to the poor performance of the countrys economy. Unlike the western democratic nations with free markets, the Soviet Union under the rule of Josef Stalin, who dominated Soviet political rings by 1929 until his death in 1953 pursued an economy that was completely controlled by a central governing body. This particular model put an end to the market mechanism of prices fluctuating according to demand. Under this system the regulating of prices tended to lessen or remove the true value of money as a gauge of quality, costs or efficiency. Subsequently, decisions made pertaining to the direction

of the countrys economy were made under circumstances that distorted realistic economic views and would prove harmful to the longevity of the USSR. Initially the Soviet Unions economy didnt falter under this system though. It did quite the opposite. In its primary stages Stalins policy saw the industrialization of the Soviet Union on an unprecedented scale. The size of the industrial working class grew strongly, the dependence upon agriculture fell and urbanization increased rapidly. Heavy industry was created in the Stalinist system by the devotion of all available resources, regardless of costs. The nation became heavily dependent upon both coal mines and steel plants but this did not seem to matter as the USSR had an abundance of natural resources at its disposal and any shortage would be a problem faced much further down the track. . The Soviet Union never developed any substantial consumer industries or exports. These exports helped pave the way to economic stability for many countries in the post-World War II period and without them the Soviet economy struggled. Another huge problem that the Soviet economy ultimately failed to get over was the fact that a large emphasis had been placed on the rapid mobilization of resources behind heavy industry. There was no importance whatsoever placed upon the effective and efficient use of these resources. Subsequently cost effectiveness was not something that was given any consideration. At the same time that the Soviet economy was failing the superpower was involved in an extremely expensive ideological conflict known as the Cold War. Running from the end of World War II in 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War placed a huge amount of economic strain on both the USSR and the US. The arms race that characterized this period required an astronomical amount of funding and the massive weapons arsenals that both superpowers built up required even more funding to develop and maintain. It is estimated that the Cold War cost the US many millions in defense expenditure and estimates of the USSRs costs vary greatly. Even still, the economic system within the Soviet Union was having huge trouble trying to support the basic infrastructure of the country. There was no possible way

that the country could afford to participate in this extremely expensive war. But this did not deter the Soviet Union. But ultimately the Soviets found themselves much worse off than the Americans. This is undoubtedly due to the previously discussed inherent troubles and problems of the Stalinist style economy. The Cold War can be regarded as an influential factor in the eventual economic ruin and subsequent collapse of the USSR. The USSR was also involved in another costly conflict. This war was in Afghanistan was another factor behind the decline and fall of the Soviet Empire. The USSR entered Afghanistan in 1979 in what has been described as, an attempt to expand the Soviet Empire by direct force. Afghanistan has been described as the Soviet Unions, Vietnam in that it was a great and mighty superpower against a backward, Third World country. The USSR suffered heavy losses in this war and as was the case in the Vietnam War, the superpower was defeated. This defeat had a detrimental effect on the morale of the Soviet people as the mighty Red Army had been defeated by one of a third world nation. The Afghanistan issue can therefore be credited as one of the factors that lead to the ultimate decline and collapse of the Soviet Union. Apart from the extensive economic problems, its involvement in the Cold War and the commitment to conflicts such as the war in Afghanistan, other elements certainly played a major role in the Soviet Empires decline and eventual collapse. One of these elements was the immense opposition of the Soviet satellite states to membership in the Union. Obviously without theses satellite states the Soviet Union would no longer function. It is evident therefore that any breakaway states and any opposition to USSR membership would have constituted a serious threat to the international prestige of the Empire and a complete failure of the satellite state system would almost have certainly resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result Soviet leadership would not tolerate any such uprisings. Opposition from several of the satellite states who all members of the Warsaw were pact signed in 1955 as a counterweight to NATO became more apparent as the collapse approached. But examples of this opposition to the Soviet

Union can be seen as early as the Hungarian (1956) and Czechoslovakian (1968) uprisings, 2535 years before the eventual dissolution. Both of these uprisings were eventually crushed by the Soviet military and in the struggle for control in these potentially damaging situations (from a Soviet perspective) both Hungarians and Czechoslovakians were killed. Moscow had used deadly force to suppress these uprisings. This created an environment which bred hatred towards the Russians who it seemed had completely removed the right of self-determination for states with the Soviet Empire. The Czechoslovakian uprising resulted in the Brezhnev doctrine expressing that the USSR would reserve the right to intervene rule in any state within the Soviet Bloc in order to preserve a communist political system. The fact that the Soviet Union, and more specifically Russia, was imposing its power on the nations within its sphere of influence did not help it to become a popular ally of these much smaller countries. The subsequent hatred of the communist system and of those enforced its existence were enough to eventually topple the satellite state system and eventually the Soviet Union itself. Solidarity in Poland provides another excellent example of the Soviet satellite states objection to being members of the USSR. Hatred for the Soviet system and the resentment of the fact that communism was forced upon them was another were the reasons for the satellite states opposition to membership in the Soviet Empire. This hatred and resentment led to the deterioration of the satellite state system and became another main factor that contributed to the collapse of the USSR. A final factor that influenced the decline of the Soviet Union was the erosion of the communist ideology throughout the countrys seventy-five year history. During the Brezhnev and Gorbachev years, the ideology behind Communism had a different meaning in comparison to earlier times. This disillusionment and belief that Communism didnt fulfill its promises to the people jumped to new highs when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power during the late 1980s. His liberalized style of leadership allowed people express their views and generally the people of the Soviet Union felt wrong done by the ideology which they had be

ensured would see the Soviet Union rise as the most powerful nation in the world. Perestroika, would be his attempt to reform the Soviet government and economy. The Soviet system was not suited to the ideology on which the regime was based. His reform would fail and he would be forced to resign. As technology changed and as society was transformed, the superstructure that is, the form of state and its ideology became a hindrance to further development. This hindrance became a burden on the society the economy and the system. This can therefore be considered another element leading to the decline and collapse of the Soviet Union. It can be seen that the Soviet Union ultimately collapsed due to the poor performance of its economy. As shown without an effective economic system many other problems were generated. Also the Empires involvement in conflicts such as the Cold War and the war in Afghanistan stretched the budget beyond breaking point. The fact that the Soviet Empire chose to impose its power on other nations in the Soviet Bloc also played a role in its eventual downfall