Mikhail Gorbachev single handedly saved the Russian people by enacting the collapse of the Soviet Union through initiatives such as Perestrokia and Glasnost. Albeit unintentional, Gorbachev 's reforms were the final nail in the Soviet coffin that should have been shut years earlier. After World War Two the world was thrown on a very different course than it had been taking over previous decades. The era of a Euro-centric world was over and the new world was to be marred by a war of ideologies set forth by the principles of communism and capitalism. The two great powers had risen, the United States and the Soviet Union looked locked to compete with one another for years to come, however just 40 years after World War Two the Soviet Union was …show more content…
Focusing on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, it suggests that he sought a fundamental transformation of the geopolitical structure of the Cold War. Realizing that the continuation of an uneasy truce with the West would be unproductive for both sides, Gorbachev pursued a peaceful program of foreign relations. To that end, he sought to end the division of Europe and to move U.S.-Soviet relations from antagonism to strategic partnership. An integral part of this strategy included the withdrawal of coercive Soviet power from Eastern Europe. Hoping to retain influence or at least “friendly” governments in the region, Gorbachev wanted to ensure Soviet security without preserving a pillar of contentious relations with the West. The “velvet revolutions” were necessary for his success …show more content…
However this was not a bad thing for the Russian people and those under Soviet rule, the economy was in shambles and there was civil unrest across the board. Communists of the old regime had become more concerned with maintaining political power than improving the economy "This view trickled down to every level of Soviet society, prompting the joke that the guiding principle of Soviet economics was 'you pretend to pay us and we pretend to work. '" (Quenoy and Kautt). Glasnost was a major social reform in the Soviet Union that allowed for the transparency of previous regimes and allowed the people of the Soviet Union to openly and freely criticize the places in which they worked in an effort to improve the shattered economy and industry. What Glasnost did instead was rally a restless
The alliance formed between the US and USSR during the second world war was not strong enough to overcome the decades of uneasiness which existed between the two ideologically polar opposite countries. With their German enemy defeated, the two emerging nuclear superpowers no longer had any common ground on which to base a political, economical, or any other type of relationship. Tensions ran high as the USSR sought to expand Soviet influence throughout Europe while the US and other Western European nations made their opposition to such actions well known. The Eastern countries already under Soviet rule yearned for their independence, while the Western countries were willing to go to great lengths to limit Soviet expansion. "Containment of 'world revolution' became the watchword of American foreign policy throughout the 1950s a...
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
the downfall of communism, as it were, took so long was the veto power of
Despite the appearance of goodwill exhibited in Khrushchev’s speeches, a Western leader would be inherently skeptical of the Stalin crony as he attempts to gain and maintain power over the Soviet Union and his own party. An obvious politician, Khrushchev’s “peaceful coexistence” and “Secret Speech” in February 1956 served to distance him from the unpopular and failing Stalinist approach of communist control. His rhetoric, however, remains no less expansionist than his predecessor. Specifically, in his comments on “peaceful coexistence”, Khrushchev emphasized the ultimate triumph of the socialist system, but concedes that military intervention alone will not achieve such a victory (Judge & Langdon, 339). Rhetoric aside, one must consider Khrushchev’s
The political ideologies of the USA and of the Soviet Union were of profound significance in the development of the Cold War. Problems between the two power nations arose when America refused to accept the Soviet Union in the international community. The relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union was filled with mutual distrust and hostility. Many historians believe the cold war was “inevitable” between a democratic, capitalist nation and a communist Union. Winston Churchill called the cold war “The balance of terror” (1). Cold war anxieties began to build up with America and the Soviet Union advancing in the arms race for world dominance and supremacy. America feared the spread of Communism
The overall collapse of the Communist regime came rather quickly, but there were underlying causes of the collapse that were apparent during the preceding decades. On the surface, the 1970s looked good for the Soviet Union. A lot of certain aspects were still going the Soviet Unions way. However, in 1975, the Soviet Union’s power peaked. In 1975, the Soviet Union’s power began to dwindle and there were six underlying causes of the collapse that can be dated back to that year. In this essay I will discuss these six causes and how they helped bring about the actual collapse of the Soviet regime.
...ould change Russia’s relationship with the rest of the world. The first policy was “Glasnost” which meant political openness and the second was “Perestroika” which meant economic reform. It was not long that the hold that the USSR had over Eastern Europe was starting to fade. Each country replaced its government with a noncommunist one. In 1989 the Berlin Wall, which was the symbol of the cold war, was destroyed. The wall physically came down after Ronald Reagan challenged Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”. In 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolve and the cold war was over.
The Fall of Communism The fall of communism can be linked to several reasons. Some of these reasons were internal, while others were the results of outside influence. For a form of any type of government to work, the people must support it, true a government can use force to make their populace submit to the will of the government as with China in Tiananmem Square. In that case, the government used armed military force to put down student demonstrators demanding democracy reform.
The purpose of this investigation is to assess how significant Mikhail Gorbachev’s Glasnost, and Perestroika polices contribute to the collapse of the USSR. In order to understand how significant of a factor Gorbachev policies were to the collapse of the USSR, we will investigate from how significant were the reforms emplaced by Gorbachev, to how the USSR was doing economically from the time Gorbachev came into power. The main sources for this investigation range from an Excerpt from The cold war: The United States and the Soviet union by Ronald Powaski who states facts about both the economic and political issues of the time. Excerpts from “New political thinking” from perestroika by Gorbachev which states how he believes new political ideas are for the good for the USSR. Finally in The Dissolution of the Soviet Union by Myra Immell who goes over many of the factors of the USSR’s collapse.
Lafeber, W. (2002), America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-2000. 9th edn. New-York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
to assume the role of dictator. This was a phenomenon which was to become a
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 needs a strong economy to maintain its power and influence, but in this case the economic planning of the Soviet Union was just not working, which had an influence in other communist nations in Eastern Europe as they declined to collapse. The economic stagnation led to the frustration of the workers because of low payments, bad working conditions, inefficiency, corruption and any lack of incentive to do good work. There were lots of frustrations among the workers in the working field who began to express their feelings and emotions towards the Soviet government.
of the Union in 1984-85. From 1985 to 1990 he was a Member in ‘the
The cold war was failed by the Soviet Union for many reasons, including the sudden collapse of communism (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) This sudden collapse of communism was brought on ultimately by internal factors. The soviet unions president Gorbachev’s reforms: glasnost (openness) and perestroika (political reconstructering) ultimately caused the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Gorbachev’s basics for glasnost were the promotion of principles of freedom to criticize; the loosening of controls on media and publishing; and the freedom of worship. His essentials of perestroika were, a new legislature; creation of an executive presidency; ending of the ‘leading role’ of the communist party; allowing state enterprises to sell part of their product on the open market; lastly, allowing foreign companies to own Soviet enterprises (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Gorbachev believed his reforms would benefit his country, but the Soviet Union was ultimately held together by the soviet tradition he was trying to change. The Soviet Union was none the less held together by “…powerful central institutions, pressure for ideological conformity, and the threat of force.
Rethinking the Soviet Experience. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. Gorbachev and Glasnost: viewpoints from the Soviet press. Isaac J. Tarasulo, Ph.D.