Fall of USSR

Fall of USSR

                            “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”

Formed after Russian revolution of 1917          (Soviet- Law making body)

Formally established in 1922

Civil war in Russia (1918-22) between communist parties.

Vladimir Lenin formed govt in 1922

·       15 sub-national soviets in USSR

·       Centralized economy and planning

·       One party rule (communist party)           (first 5-year plan in Russia 1928)

 Moscow - Capital/central soviet

Space Race with USA (USSR spent billions- 1^st in every field)

·       Satellite – Sputnik

·       Animal in space – Lyka

·       Cosmonaut – Yuri Gagarin

·       Women in Space – Valentina Tereshkova

Arms Race and Balance of power

·       Nuclear arsenal largest in the world

·       Heavy expenditure on huge army (Red Army)

·       Mutually Assured Destruction (nuclear weapon)

Cold war (1945-1991)

·       To increase communist influence, USSR supported Cuba, North Korea

Vietnam, Laos, China and many other communist nation.

·       Materials, resources and technology spent on helping these nations cost a lot to USSR.

·       Huge funds lending to communist parties of different nations including India (financial support)

Afghan war (1979-1989)

·       Against Mujahideen in Afghanistan for uplifting communism.

·       15000 casualties and 50000+ wounded of USSR.

·       Vital resources and capitals wasted including army.

·       Reputation and economy of USSR drastically collapsed after this War.

Decline in Economy

·       Frequent wars and civil strife

·       Moral characteristic of Communism (absence of free market economy)

·       Tight state control over economy by the Center

·       No any significant place in IR (thus no investment of capitalists)

·       Helping many Communism nations, was proves very expensive

Other Reasons

·       USSR had became a Totalitarian State under Joseph Stallin (Dictator)

·       Non-Russian ethnic (Slavic) people did not assimilate (united) as hoped.

·       Conservatism was prevalent, so less modernization

Mikhail Gorbachev

·       General-Secretary of Communist Party of USSR in 1985.

·       To make economy and socialism more efficient and bring out of stagnation, he launched two policies-  Glasnost and Perestroika

Glasnost

·       “Openness”

·       “Freedom of Speech and Expression”

·       Easing of media censorship

·       Earlier records declassified

·       Now media were more active and now the people could criticize the government.

    Perestroika

·       “Restructuring”   “Reformation”

·       Elections, foreign investment, private owned business (tight restrictions)

·       Reforms in political and economical ambit of USSR