The End Of BipolarityThe Great Fall of USSR

Beginning at the Beginning The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics came into existence post 1917 (in the year 1922), after the Russian Revolution.Characteristics of the Nation Called USSR:Ideals of Socialism- Equality, Egalitarian society. Opposed to Private ownership and capitalism.Primacy to party, single party system. State owned means of production. Economy planned and controlled by the state.

Eastern Bloc Union of Soviet Socialist Republics15 Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan7 SatelliteCountries:Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia

More About USSRThe Soviet Union became a great power after the Second World War.Warsaw Pact- Eastern European countries that had been liberated by Soviet army came under the influence of the USSR.The Soviet economy had complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and steel, machinery production. It had a domestic consumer industry that produced everything from pins to cars, though their quality did not match that of the Western capitalist countries. The Soviet state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens, and the government subsidized basic necessities including health, education, childcare and other welfare schemes. There was no unemployment. State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.

NegativesAuthoritarian and Bureaucratic Political SystemLack of democracy and civic liberties like freedom of speech and opinionOne-party system meant no accountability.Russia was over powering and over bearing.Maintaining the arms race, lead to Falling food production, wages, productivity.

The Gorbachev Revolution Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985 as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), recognized that the Soviet Union could not remain politically and economically isolated and that the Soviet system had to be changed if it was to survive.

Gorbachev's Five-Point PlanThe key pieces to Gorbachev's plan for the survival of the Soviet Union were a series of reforms:Glasnost (openness) greater freedom of expression Perestroika (restructuring) decentralization of the Soviet economy with gradual market reforms Renunciation of the Brezhnev Doctrine (armed intervention where socialism was threatened) and the pursuit of arms control agreements Reform of the KGB (secret service)Reform of the Communist Party

The Objective: SurvivalGorbachev knew that the Soviet Union would have to change if it was to survive.Central planning in a modern industrial economy brought many inefficiencies. The factory management system provided little incentive to make technological improvements and every incentive to hide factory capacities to ensure low quotas The socialist farm system was inefficient there were poor worker incentives and storage and transportation problems. The Soviet State could no longer afford the high defense spending that accompanied the Cold War.

Insistent Calls for ChangeHe believed that his reforms were necessary and used his leadership and power to attempt to implement them. The policy of glasnost (openness) made it possible for people to more freely criticize the government's policies. When people realized it was safe to speak out, the calls for change became more insistent.

Reforms Were Too SlowThe gradual market reforms and decentralization of the economy (perestroika) were too slow and failed to keep pace with the crisis and his people's demands. The Soviet Union was suffering a deterioration of economic and social conditions and a fall in the GNP.

Party Reforms a FailureHis attempts to reform the Communist Party were a failure. Change was too slow to keep pace with events and he was continually hampered by his need to give in to the hard-liners in order to retain power. As communism collapsed in Eastern Europe, reform of communism in the Soviet Union became unlikely.

Why Did the Soviet Union Disintegrate?Weakening of internal institutions and economic and political stagnation.Used its economic resource to maintain nuclear and military arsenal that created a huge economic burden. Due to Glasnots, ordinary people had more knowledge about the disparity.Communist Party had become autocratic and was not accountable. This led to political stagnation. Ordinary people felt alienated.Rampant corruption, concentration of power, lack of accountability, closed government.Rise of Nationalism and the desire for sovereignty (aided by Gorbachevs policies) proved to be the final and immediate cause.

Polish Trade Union: SolidarityThe downfall began in 1980 when striking Polish workers organized Solidarity, an independent trade union of nearly 10 million members.

Support from Catholic ChurchSolidarity, which had strong support from the powerful Polish Catholic Church, demonstrated how a working-class movement could offer an entire nation moral and political leadership.

Solidaritys Chairman: Lech WalesaThe Polish military drove Solidarity underground in 1981. However, in 1983, Solidaritys chairman, Lech Walesa, won the Nobel peace prize. In 1990, he would be the first freely elected president of the Polish nation in more than sixty years.

Release from Soviet DominationThe renunciation of the Brezhnev Doctrine (armed intervention in support of socialism) released the Eastern European states from Soviet domination. The communist rulers of these states could not survive without the support of the Soviet Union. The Brezhnev Doctrine was articulated in 1968 when the Soviet army occupied Czechoslovakia to end the Prague Spring, an attempt by Alexander Dubcek to build socialism with a human face.

Reagans Brandenburg Gate SpeechPresident Ronald Reagan called upon Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall: "In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards... Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself. The inescapable conclusion is that freedom is the victor. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

President Reagan giving a speech at the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of Germany. June 12, 1987

Wave of DemonstrationsBeginning in September 1989, a wave of huge demonstrations shook Communist regimes across eastern Europe. A massive tide of East German emigrants surged through Czechoslovakia and Hungary to the West, undermining the authority of the Communist hard-liners who still clung to power in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

A tram is blocked by East German demonstrators in the center of the city in October 1989. Their banner reads: 'Legalization of opposition parties, free democratic elections, free press and independent unions.'

The Wall Came DownFinally, on the night of November 9, 1989, ordinary Germans poured through the Berlin Wall. The GDR quickly disintegrated, and by the end of 1990, all of East Germany had been incorporated into the wealthy, powerful Federal Republic of Germany.

The Rise of NationalismWith the iron grip of the centralized Soviet state relaxed and the growing failure of the state to adequately feed and clothe its people, nationalism in the republics surged and separatist movements threatened the very existence of the Soviet Union. Super Cute Protesters: Moldova: The hot, angry face of nationalism - Apr 13, 2009

Events in Eastern EuropeCommunist governments in Czechoslovakia (Velvet Revolution), Hungary, and Bulgaria either tumbled or underwent reform.The Communist dictatorship in Romania fell after a week of bloody street battles between ordinary citizens and police, who defended the old order to the bitter end.

Radical ChangeRadical change finally reached the Soviet heartland in August 1991, when thousands of Russian citizens poured into the streets to defeat a reactionary coup d'tat.

Independent RepublicsThe Communist party quickly collapsed, and the Soviet Union began the painful and uncertain process of reorganizing itself as a loose confederation of independent republics.

Boris YeltsinBoris Yeltsin, who headed the Russian Republic, replaced Gorbachev as president of a much- diminished state. Gorbachev found that there was no Soviet Union to lead and retired into private life.

Time magazine's July 15, 1996, issue, featured a 10-page spread about a squad of U.S. political pros who "clandestinely participated in guiding Yeltsin's campaign.

And FinallyIn 1991, when Boris Yeltsin seized the power and the Belavezha Accords were signd, the decision to disband the Soviet Union was made and this was supported by the governments of Ukraine and Belarus.

Consequence of the disintegration of the USSR- The End of the Cold WarThe Cold War was over, brought to a close not by the missiles and tanks of the principal participants, but by the collective courage and willpower of ordinary men and women.End of the Ideological war between Capitalism and Socialism.

ConsequencesEmergence of many new countries due to the end of the Soviet bloc and Union.Some of these countries like the Baltic states, namely, Estonia Latvia and Lithuania were keen on joining EY and NATO.

The Asian countries like Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, wanted to maintain close ties with Russia and also establish links with the West, US, China and others.Total shift to capitalism. This transition ruled out any viable alternative third option.

Increase in frees trade regime and FDI, openness to foreign investments and currency convertibility.Breaking up of ties among existing alliances.Shock- 90 per cent of industries put up for sale, entire industries disappeared.Value of Ruble fell drastically. Rate of inflation very high.Disappearance of collective farming meant people without food security.Destruction of Social Welfare.

Consequences of ShockPrivatisation led to new disparities. Creation of democratic institution was not given same attention and priority.Constitutions drafted in a hurry.

Lech Walesa's SOLIDARITYGorbachevsREFORMS John Paul IIs CATHOLIC CHURCHGlasnost Ronald ReagansFOREIGN POLICY No Brezhnev Doctrine Perestroika Reform KGBReform Comm Party East German NATIONALISMThe Collapse of the Soviet Union and the End of the Cold WarOrdinary MEN & WOMENWILL POWERCOURAGEEastern BlocUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics

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