Gorbachev Contribute To The Cold War

Gorbachev Contribute To The Cold War
Mikhail Gorbachev has greatly contributed to the collapse of the USSR that has consequently leaded
to the end of the cold war. He came to power in 1985 as the general secretary of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and resigned in 1991 as the president of the
Soviet Union ending the existence of USSR. During this time, Gorbachev's actions such as the
creation of "perestroika" and "glasnost" policy, the ending of the Afghanistan war, the agreement of
reunification of Germany and finally the contribution to the Malta summit were very significant and
brought the cold war to it's end and USSR towards it's collapse.
Mikhail Gorbachev contributed to the end of the cold war by initiating "perestroika" in order to
solve the issues of the Soviet Union that were passed on to him from the previous leader such as the
problematic relations between USSR and United States. It was also initiated to improve the
economy as well as the life standards of soviet citizens by ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
The agreement stated the fact that USSR had nine month to completely remove the military troops
from the land of Afghanistan and that USA together with Pakistan would stop to support the
opposition movement. The reason why the agreement was signed is because the United Nations
urged USSR to end the war, but most importantly, USSR was in a bad economic position when the
United States imposed a set of economic sanctions on the Soviet Union. As USSR could not bear it,
the agreement was signed and sanctions were withdrawn. Nevertheless, this action produced by
Gorbachev has shown the great sign of weakness of the Soviet Union to the United States,
symbolizing the loss in one of the major battles of the cold war and the defeat in the cold war that
was eventually brought it to it's
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Personal Narrative: Life Before The Collapse Of The Soviet...
I spoke to Laura, my mom's friend, over Skype on Wednesday. She moved to Caucuses a few years
before the collapse of the soviet union. We discussed how life was like in the last years before the
collapse of the Soviet Union. According to Laura, the economy of the Soviet Union was collapsing
day after day and oil production was decreasing; the situation kept getting worse. The government
was in a state of secrecy; they did not want people to find out that the Soviet Union was facing a
huge economic deficit. Glasnost exposed these secrets and showed how corrupt the system was. The
people no longer believed the war propaganda and the government. People were using the freedom
the were provided form Glasnost to criticize communism. People were ... Show more content on
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It started in the west and slowly expanded all over the place. She said that when the republics in the
west were first starting to revolt, a lot of confusion was happening but then, all the other republics
started seeking independence. It was all over the news how the Soviet Union was losing a lot of its
territories. Communism was getting less and less popular and many people were repelling against it.
Tension was building everywhere and people were not happy with their lives. She said that the
collapse of the Soviet Union uncovered how flawed communism was and how it should have been
demolished a long time ago. It made the west feel superior and many countries including the United
States were decreasing their uneasiness and rising to power. Laura's story was relevant to what we
learned in class and many of the events mentioned where taught by professor Tomoff during the last
lecture. The collapse of the Soviet Union was a huge topic in the last lecture and the struggle for
economic survival was one of the major thematic elements in twentieth century world history. The
timeline of her story was rather similar to the one presented in lecture. She first starts with how the
economy was declining then she introduced Glasnost, which was thought to be a reform, and how it
exposed hidden secrets that caused anger among citizens. The reform failed to do its job and instead
exposed unwanted

How Did Gorbachev Contribute To The Collapse Of Communism...
How can we explain the sudden collapse of Communism in Europe?
Communism was a very popular ideology which was in great favor during the inter–war period but
in the 1980s, there was an unanticipated demise of Communism. So how can we explain the sudden
collapse of communism in Europe? I would argue that there were several forces converging to the
breakdown of communism in Eastern Europe. Factors such as the high expenses of engaging in
nuclear arms, the lost of their satellite states, the growing economic disparity in Europe and the
changing attitudes and values of the younger people converged together that brought communism to
the brink of collapse in Europe. The most important factor, however, was the role of Gorbachev and
his ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The disparity between the Soviet Union economy and that of the United States was what alerted
Gorbachev that the Communist economy was not doing well. Soviet's command economy was not
concerned with matching supply and demand but with administering inputs and outputs. In other
words, the economy was detached from the consumer and producers. The Communist countries
were unable to catch up with globalization because of the inadequate resources. USSR did not have
the capital to modernize their industries. On top of that, there was a big gap in the quantity
production and the quality was evidently poor as well. Much of the money that was needed for its
economy went to nuclear arms, space technology and to support its eastern bloc countries.
'Economic problems, however, were not isolated to Russia alone, by 1989 the satellite states had
accumulated a foreign debt of 49 billion,' (Maier, 1997: 59). Economic and industrial progress
degenerated further when the USSR withdrew its support from the satellite states that were heavily
dependent on Russia. The Communist ideology began to decline so quickly that the socialist
economic system no longer worked as the best system. Against the backdrop of such austere
economic prospects, Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika indirectly implied that the
soviet styled economy was obsolete and clearly failing. This brought about

Glasnost and the Political Context of Gorbachev's Reforms
Did Gorbachev implement Glasnost with the aim of turning the Soviet Union into a democratic
capitalist economy?
A: Plan of the Investigation
Did Gorbachev implement Glasnost with the aim of turning the Soviet Union into a democratic
capitalist economy? Thesis: Glasnost was a means to achieve Gorbachev's broader political reforms,
however, these reforms did not include the installation of a democratic, capitalist economy. At the
time Gorbachev implemented Glasnost, he intended for the Communist Party to remain the only
party and for the Government to own most of the major enterprises.
The democratization, economic liberalization, and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union is
commonly attributed to Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika and Glasnost reforms during the period of
1985–1991. This purpose of these reforms is still a trenchant question as the countries of the old
Soviet Union, particular Russia, are being pressured to further liberalize their economies.
This study will examine Gorbachev's understanding of the Glasnost policy and the role of Glasnost
in Gorbachev's larger political reform program with the help of the Gorbachev Factor, by Archie
Brown, and Gorbachev's Glasnost, by Joseph Gibbs.
B: Summary of Evidence
The Political Context of Gorbachev's Reforms
The Soviet Union faced a number of significant challenges during the 1980's. The most obvious
challenges were economic. The Soviet Union's command economy, where the government
determined output and prices,

The Last Years Of The Soviet Union
The Last Years of the Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR was at one
time one of leading world powers, only rivaled by the United States. So that begs the questions,
"how could a country that was at one time so dominant fall so far?" In this essay I will examine the
circumstances that led up to the Soviet Union's eventual downfall by mainly focusing Mikhail
Gorbachev's term as leader of the Communist party of the Soviet Union and what changes he
brought about through glasnost and perestroika, democratization and the national independence
movements that began as a result of it, and lastly failed coup by conservative members of the USSR
against Gorbachev that ultimately became the last nail in the coffin for the ... Show more content on
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His solution was to launch a new campaign promoting reconstruction, or perestroika, to mainly to
decentralize the USSR's government. However Gorbachev soon realized that he could not
implement his new plan without first changing the perspective of the people within the USSR itself
and thus pushed forward his other campaign focusing on openness or glasnost. Gorbachev's goal
with glasnost was to gain the peoples trust. Before Gorbachev people within the Soviet Union had
little to no voice when it came to decisions within their own country, usually just having to accept
whatever choices that the leaders in Moscow had made. He tried to make the Soviet government
appear more trustworthy than it had ever seemed before by making the government management of
the country almost transparent. It was a policy of openness and discussions of political and social
issues would be open for discussion. This meant that every action the government took would be
public knowledge and open to debate. The results of glasnost also caused a decline in censorship,
which lead new found freedom of speech, which in turn led to increased criticism of decisions that
the Soviet Union had made prior. Media outlets now were allowed to voice their own opinions and
not worry about the ramifications in doing so because glasnost was slowly loosening the
stranglehold that the Communist party held over the media. The media began to expose numerous
social and economic problems that the

The Great Fall: How Gorbachev's Reforms Led to the Fall of...
When Mikhail Gorbachev took the helm of the Soviet Union in March of 1985, he began the process
of introducing reforms such as glasnost, perestroika, and democratization into the Soviet system.
Glasnost, or openness, encouraged the free flow of ideas and information, but this flow came at the
price of many people losing their fear of the Communist party. Perestroika, or economic
restructuring, was designed to jumpstart the sagging Soviet economy by injecting a small amount of
capitalism into the Soviet command economy; however, that small drop only served to destabilize
the economy and create more stagnation. Finally, democratization pushed the U.S.S.R. in a more
democratic direction by allowing for multi–candidate elections, but this ... Show more content on
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This explosion revealed to the citizens of the Soviet Union just how incompetent the Communist
Party was, in addition to showing what a mess the U.S.S.R. had become. These new truths angered
the Soviet people, and coupled with the new facts that were now being revealed about Soviet
history, the citizenry of the Soviet Union lost all respect, faith, and fear in the government. As soon
as that happen, it was just a matter of time before the Communists lost any last vestiges of control
over the people and the country. The second reform that Gorbachev created is called perestroika, or
economic restructuring, which was designed to give a boost to the failing Soviet economy. This
boost was to be primarily achieved by giving local managers more control over state farms and
factories, by allowing any excess production on farms and in factories to be sold for a profit, and by
permitting some small private businesses to open. In addition, perestroika also allowed for foreign
investment in the Soviet Union for the first time in decades. All in all, these small reforms were
meant to act in conjunction with one another in order to give the Soviet economy a small dose of
capitalism in order to motivate the workers and make the Soviet Union profitable. However, in the
long run these measures did little for the Soviet Union. In fact they created more production
bottlenecks than they eliminated.

Michael Gorbachev Research Paper
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in Privolnoye Russia. He was the son
of two peasants Sergei ann Maria. However poor their economical situation was, Gorbachev adopted
a strong work ethic from his mother and father. Gorbachev's passion for learning along with his
drive and exemplary skills of organization lead him to the University of Moscow and graduated with
a degree in law. After ten days on his first job his political career began with assistant director of
propaganda for the territorial committee of the local Communist youth league.
Around the time of the First World War, Russia was in turbulent times. Economic, social, and
political advancement slowed to a crawl. Famine and poverty spread across the nation ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
The creation of the Atomic Bomb by the United States and the nuclear attack of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in 1945 sparked the inspiration and motivation of the Soviets to create their own Atomic
Bomb. Both being successful in not only creating the bombs but creating an army of them, the U.S
and the USSR agreed on a program called M.A.D or " Mutually Assured Destruction" which assured
the prevention of direct conflict that could lead to possible self–extermination of the human race.
Despite this the "Race of Arms" continued. Gorbachev worked with United States President, Ronald
Reagan, to end the fued between the two. Gorbachev gave up the strict socialist thinking and began
to think with an open mind open to new concepts. After five meeting called Summits the two powers
finally signed a treaty in 1887 that reduces the amount of nuclear power each nation is allowed to
have called the Intermediate–Range Nuclear Forces

Nikita Khrushchev's Impact On The Soviet Union
Ottepel (the thaw) refers to the period after the death of Stalin, when Nikita Khrushchev loosened
control in the Soviet. Causing unprecedented social, cultural, and economic transformations in the
Soviet Union, the thaw attempted to initiate policies of "de–Stalinization." It was a chain of
unprecedented steps to free people from fear and dictatorship. Khrushchev's determination to "de–
Stalinize" the country led to unexpected consequences as both the political and cultural thaws were
ended with the removal of Khrushchev in 1964. These political and cultural ideals helped liberate
and change the public consciousness of several generations of people in the Soviet Union.
Additionally, Khrushchev's efforts to change the Soviet society and move away from its past served
as models for Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost during his tenure.
Glasnost, also known as "openness", was an ideal instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.
Gorbachev wanted for transparency in government actions in order to better inform the Soviet
people. These actions looked to limit government censorship, ... Show more content on
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Looking to restructure their communist economy to an economy with capitalist principles, the policy
proposed reducing the direct involvement of the Communist Party in the country's governance as
well. However, marginal increases in the production of consumer goods and a failure to significantly
improve standards of living fueled dissent. Furthermore, the underwhelming performance of this
transitional system facilitated blowback by conservatives who wanted the communist model to
return as well as the liberals who wanted to move even further from communism models. In the end,
such unpopularity debilitated both Gorbachev and the USSR as a whole, paving the way for the
collapse of Gorbachev's administration and the USSR, a failed coup, and ultimately Boris Yeltsin's
rise to

Fall Of Communism In Eastern Europe
Karl Marx came up with the idea of communism. Communism is a political system in which
everyone is equal, it is characterised by the absence of social class and money, and the state. The
main reason for the fall of communism (1989) in Eastern Europe would be due to its wide ethnicity,
and due to the people with in the countries not accepting one another. Eastern Europe is made of 21
countries, each having a different culture. Some of these countries are Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania, Kosovo, Ukraine and Serbia. Most
of these countries have a different language and religion. Bosnia is located in South–Eastern Europe,
and classified as an Islamic nation with having its own language (Bosnian). ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
If one was to be a communist they would not be able to practice religion. Communism is against
religion and its ways "Religion and communism are incompatible, both theoretically and
practically." Having Eastern Europe with that many religious groups made it impossible for them to
achieve communism. There was once an somewhat of well–established communist state in Eastern
Europe, it was not fully communistic due to most people seeing it as transitioning to a socialist
party. Yugoslavia was a communist state, it was around from 1945–1980. While Yugoslavia existed
most of its firms were co–operatively operated. The problem with Yugoslavia is that it lasted while
Tito (Communist leader) lasted, once Tito died so did Yugoslavia. Tito was sought as a great leader
one of the last great WWII leaders. It seems as he was only able to keep everything in place due to
his great ties with the west (United States of America), and the major support and love from the
civilians of Yugoslavia. Tito is seen as a great leader but he neglected to create strong ties with in the
united countries. He did not encourage students to study outside their republics. This had created a
week bond between the countries. Once he died it was obvious that there was going to be a split,
Tito might of have held the countries together but did not bring the people of different ethnicities
together. If Yugoslavia was not created because of the after math of WWII, but instead created due
to people wanting to create a better nation in which communism is a reality everything would be
different. When talking about the unification of Yugoslavia mostly

Mikhail Gorbachev Essay
Mikhail Gorbachev
For my biography project, I chose to research Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. A man of many
accomplishments, and bold decisions that shaped a country unlike ever before. A man who lived by
the words "If not me, who? And if not now, when?" – Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev
Early Life: Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2nd, 1931 in Privolnoye, Russia. He was born
into a peasant Russian–Ukrainian family, his father worked as a combine driver on government
owned farms, likewise his mother showed tireless work ethic with her lifelong toil on a collective
farm. Mikhail experienced the famous Soviet famine of 1932–1933. He recalled in a memoir that
"In that terrible year (1933) nearly half the population of my native ... Show more content on
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Just a year later, Gorbachev had become the youngest member of the Politburo. The Politburo is the
executive committee for a number of communist political parties. The first ever Politburo was
created by the Bolshevik party in 1917. Gorbachev worked closely under General Secretary Yuri
Andropov watching how he succeeded in the Politburo. When Andropov died, Gorbachev was quick
to replace him for the position that he so closely eyed. Unfortunately Mikhail lost to Konstantin
Chernenko, nevertheless Mikhail wouldn't give up for what he worked so hard for. 13 months later
Chernenko died, opening the doors for Gorbachev to become the General Secretary of the Politburo
at the very young age of 54. He was the only general secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to
have been born during Communist era.
Milestones: Gorbachev had many awards and accolades during his lifetime, but none were as great
as becoming the General Secretary of the Politburo in 1985. Mikhail wouldn't stop at just that, he
felt that the country could be better, be greater than what it was at the current moment in time.
Gorbachev realized that the Soviet Union's economy and country morale was seriously suffering
from the excessive spending on nuclear weapons during the Cold War. During his time as General
Secretary he had a strained relationship with American president Ronald Reagan.

How Did The Soviet Union Collapse
The Soviet Union was at one time one of the two most powerful countries in the world, and yet the
Soviet Union is not longer in exists. How did this come to be? They were on the winning side of
World War II, with the United States. They were growing in size, and they were spreading
communism to other countries. They were on pace to be as powerful and influential as the United
States. While there are many reasons as to why the Soviet Union collapsed, the main reason is the
Cold War. There were also two very important people that contributed to the fall Ronald Reagan and
Mikhail Gorbachev. The Soviet Union was on the winning side of World War II. They had allied
with Great Britain and the United States. This alliance was more one of self–preservation, ... Show
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Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of a government that was set up to make reform impossible
and a stagnant economy. Due to these two hurtles Gorbachev tried to improve the Soviet Union. But
his improvements would only make the Soviet Union's problems worse. He did this by introducing
two knew polices. These polices were called Glasnost and Perestroika. Glasnost was a policy put
into effect for political openness. Through Glasnost Gorbachev hoped to eliminate Stalinist
repressions, such as banning books and the secret police. It gave new freedoms to the Soviet
citizens. Through the Glasnost policy political prisoners were released. The Soviet Union
newspapers were now allowed to print criticisms of the government, something had not been
allowed under communism. Probably the most important change brought on by Glasnost was that
other political parties, besides the communist party were now able to participate in

Mikhail Gorbachev´s Glasnost and Perestroika Policies...
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 ... Show more
Mikhail Gorbachev therefore tried to make changes in soviet domestic and foreign policies even
abandoned long–held Marxist principles, in an attempt to reverse economic and social decline of the
USSR. He initiated economic reforms like perestroika and permitted greater freedom of expression,
glasnost to try to overcome hard–line oppression. Gorbachev realized that west and the USSR would
continue to have different approaches to specific situations. He also realized that it was no longer
possible to draft a policy on the premises of the year 1947 and that the country need to act in a new
way. Gorbachev believed that Perestroika was needed to normalize life and bring the Soviet Union
and its people into the modern technological age. Perestroika was emplaced to permit individual
soviet enterprises to make their own adjustments which meant it would improve the quality of soviet
goods and change the product mix to meet current demands, and help out the economy.4 Eventually
Gorbachev created a reform policy known as Glasnost which also affected the economy. Gorbachev
was eager to take notice of the human element in the industry, which meant listening to what
ordinary workers wanted and how they were treated. This new freedom extended to other areas of
society as well. Censorship rules were relaxed, and writers and journalists were encouraged to
discuss how they felt about or saw the Soviet future. It even allowed certain things like

Cold War Ending Research Paper
The Cold War ending officially was the result of a long road of issues and crises that occurred for
the Soviet Union over time many factors helped to pave the way for the stumbling USSR to
collapse. First and foremost, among these issues were food shortages as Soviet agriculture was
relatively unproductive because output was hampered in many areas by the climate as roughly only
10% of the Soviet Union's land was arable. As a result the Soviet Union could not feed its people
properly and throughout history there are many examples of what happens if the people don't get
their bread.
Second, among the largest causes of the eventual collapse was Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of
Glasnost and Perestroika. Glasnost means openness and this policy allowed

Of The Cold War Changed By Gorbachev And The End Of The...
This essay will prove how the end of the cold war was caused by Gorbachev and his policies to a
large extent. The end of the Cold war was also due to President Reagan and the collapse of The
Soviet Union to a smaller extent. Gorbachevs policies were Glasnost and perestroika. Perestroika
translates to "restructuring" and this was the restructuring of the economy from the state, and the
social and political restructuring. Glasnost translates to "openness" and this was the freedom of the
press. Glasnost and Perestroika were ultimately the cause of the fall of Gorbachev. President Reagan
was Anti–Soviet and called communists "Good Marxist Leninists. The end of the cold war was in
1991. This was the same year that the Soviet Union collapsed. This ... Show more content on
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Reagan called the soviet union "the focus of evil in the modern world" and called Soviet leaders
"good Marxist–Leninists" (source G). There was the creation of the Reagan Doctrine and this
doctrine was military and goods that would be sent to movements that were trying to overthrow
Soviet rule. Reagan also introduced the Strategic defense initiative (SDI) and this was a research
program to deploy missiles to destroy nuclear weapons. Both of the Reagan Doctrine and the
Strategic Defense Initiative was created because of Reagan being anti–soviet. Ilya Zaslavsky
believed that it was Reagan who created perestroika and glasnost, not Gorbachev. (source o)
Some historians believe that the end of the Cold War was due to the communication and talks
between Gorbachev and Reagan. (source E) In Geneva 1985 Reagan threatened Gorbachev to
reduce or continue the arms race. Gorbachev agreed on the condition that the United States would
agree to not deploy their Nuclear weapons. The two leaders came to an agreement in 1987 when
both signed the Intermediate range nuclear forces treaty (INF). This led to a partnership between the
superpower

Comparison Of Joseph Stalin And Prague Spring
Glasnost, Joseph Stalin and "Prague Spring" were influential in bringing or attempting to bring
transformation to Russian society. Some attempts were more successful and unopposed then others.
When establishing transformation of a long–standing ideal, it is not always accepted with open
arms. Joseph Stalin was betrayed by Nazi Germany, which in turn created an air of mistrust the
government foreign or otherwise, as well as maintains a chokehold on his country. The
consequences of his mistrust were establishing a brutal regime that wanted to continue the status
quo. A new change could only result by the passage of time and simply letting the old guard die off
before new ideas were reintroduced to Russia. "Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) was the dictator of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was
transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by
terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign." Stalin created a new Russian
society but along the way he was betrayed forcing him to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
The question is now how will the old regime react. "Prague Spring of 1968 is the term used for the
brief period of time when the government of Czechoslovakia led by Alexander Dubček seemingly
wanted to democratise the nation and lessen the stranglehold Moscow had on the nation's affairs.
The Prague Spring ended with a Soviet invasion, the removal of Alexander Dubček as party leader
and an end to reform within Czechoslovakia." Testing the waters for possible transformation of old
ideas did not fair well for the Czechoslovakia dissidents. Yet this did not stop the need for the
citizens of Russia to want change, if would simply meant waiting for the right time to let change
reintroduce itself to a new

How Did Mikhail Gorbachev Impact The Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev, a rising leader in the Soviet Union, implemented many reforms throughout his
reign as general secretary of the Communist Party from 1985–1990, and president from 1990–1991.
Born on March 2, 1931, Gorbachev was raised by a family of Russian peasants. In 1946, at the
young age of fifteen, he joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League). After proving to be a
promising member, he enrolled in Moscow Sate University and became a member of the
Communist Party. Mikhail Gorbachev held many positions in the Komsomol, and in 1980 he
became a full member of the Politburo, a political party in Russia whose methodology was to
provide continuous stability and leadership during the Russian Revolution. Gorbachev attributed the
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In the beginning of his reign, Gorbachev focused his efforts on the need for Uskorienie or
acceleration of the economy. After noticing his first trivial changes had little effect, Gorbachev
decided to initiate deeper reforms in the Soviet Union's economic and political systems.
Recognizing alcoholism as one of the Soviet Union's many concerns, Gorbachev's first reform
centered on the reduction of alcohol in Soviet citizens' everyday lives. In the early 1970s,
alcoholism was linked to suicide, divorce, work related accidents, high rates of child–abuse, and a
rising death rate among Soviet males. However, alcohol sales were also a sizeable source of revenue
for the Soviet Union, who monopolized its production and distribution. Only two months after
Gorbachev's election, he launched his anti–alcohol campaign in May of 1985. Gorbachev's anti–
alcohol campaign included raising prices for wine, beer, and vodka, limiting shops allowed to sell
alcohol, and closing distilleries. While Gorbachev's reform did result in lower alcohol consumption,
his reform also increased organized crime, and created a catalyst for the production of moonshine.
The anti–alcohol reform was only the beginning of Mikhail Gorbachev's drive to continually reform
the Soviet Union. His underlying goal was to bring about individual freedom and stimulate

Gorbachev 's Impact On The Soviet Union
In March of 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev becomes general secretary of the Communist Party, bringing
with him a wave of reform. His reform appeared in the form of a dual program, "perestroika" (to
restructure) and "glasnost"(openness), changing the Soviet Union's domestic governmental policies,
economic practices, and international relations– for Gorbachev felt that his goals to improve the
Soviet Union's economy couldn 't be done without reforming the political and social structures as
well. Gorbachev hoped that his reforms would reorganize and revive the USSR's economy, as it had
been stagnant since the Brezhnev years. Gorbachev 's ' call for an intense technological
modernization was in the hopes of increasing industrial and agricultural productivity in order to
increase efficiency and productivity. Whether Gorbachev was successful in his aims of economic
rejuvenation will be examined within this essay, by examining perestroika and glasnost. When
Gorbachev came into power, he realized that the Soviet Union and nations under the Soviet Union's
control were struggling, their economies floundering, and the people were suffering. It was time for
change. Gorbachev saw that in order to stabilize Russia a new approach was needed in order to
properly address the situation in which the Soviet Union had found itself. Through the use of two
overarching concepts, perestroika and glasnost, Gorbachev unintentionally began to deconstruct the
communist party and the USSR itself. In 1986,

Why Did The Soviet Union Fail
At the beginning of the Atomic Age, the Soviet Union was perhaps one of the greatest superpowers
in the world. By 1991, it had completely collapsed, splitting into 15 independent states, each with
their own unique national and cultural identities. There were a multitude of factors that led to the
Soviet Union's downfall. Economic stagnation, anti–communist sentiment, and nationalist
movements finally brought the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union.
When Mikhail Gorbachev became Secretary of the Communist Party, he had to deal with an ailing
and frail Soviet Union. The country had entered a state of serious economic decline and the Soviet
people, discontent with their political party, looked to Gorbachev to solve their problems. Spurred
by patriotic duty, Gorbachev introduced democratic reforms known as perestroika and glasnost.
These sought to free businesses and Soviet peoples from harsh government regulation and
censorship, respectively. While Gorbachev believed these policies would strengthen the Soviet
government, this was not the case. Perestroika did not do anything to ... Show more content on
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As said by Mark R. Beissinger in "Nationalism and the Collapse of Soviet Communism", "By spring
and summer of 1989, large–scale nationalist demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of
participants had spread across republics and became a relatively frequent affair...The collapse of
communism in Eastern Europe enormously accelerated."6 After glasnost, people of differing ethnic
identities and religions, who were once united under the tenets of Soviet communism, now felt
disconnected and alienated from one another. These people sought to create nationalist movements
and define their country on their own accords, rather than live under a philosophy that did not apply
to them.7 Considering how rapidly they spread, these nationalist movements sped the fall of Soviet

As with many important historical events throughout...
As with many important historical events throughout history the dissolution of the Soviet Union had
many contributing forces. However, most historians agree that the main contributor was Soviet
President Mikhail Gorbachev and the many radical reforms he implemented during the six years he
was the leader of the USSR. Even though the official dissolution took place in December 1991, the
Soviet Union's demise began to take form in the 1980s. In order to understand why the Soviet Union
dissolved it is important to have a clear picture of its history and political climate.
The Soviet State was established in 1917 when revolutionary Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian
Czar establishing a socialist state in territories that once belonged to the ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Western countries including the United States grew more suspicious and distrustful of the Soviet
Union. The Cold War had begun. Stalin would further isolate the Soviet Union with the building of
the Berlin Wall which divided Germany into two countries, East Germany being communist and
under Soviet control.
After Stalin's death in 1953 Soviet leaders acknowledged that his policies were brutal and extreme,
but maintained the Communist party's power in the Soviet Union. The use of military force to
suppress anticommunism behavior became commonplace. Instead of focusing on domestic problems
and needs, the Communist government focused on the Cold War. Another obsession became the
arms race. This became a costly and destructive obsession.
During the early 1980s the Soviet Union would have three leaders in less than three years. Brezhnev,
Andropov, and Chernenko were all solid communist leaders, but also older and all died within their
first year of office. In March 1985 a communist reformer named Mikhail Gorbachev was appointed
as the Soviet Union's last president. The Soviet government knew they couldn't afford another short
term leader. Gorbachev was fifty four was he took office. When Gorbachev assumed power the
Soviet Union was in a state of stagnation. Gorbachev wanted to reform the economy and modernize
the political structure. In order to help the Soviet Union prosper Gorbachev introduced three policies
of reform. These policies were glasnost, perestroika, and

Gorbachev's Glasnost Essay
It will be discussing how Gorbachev's glasnost has affected the soviet union during 20th centuries.
Therefore , it will be examining the positive and negative effects of the glasnost to soviet union
during 20th centuries. Firstly, Gorbachev's glasnost have some positive effects to the soviet union in
20th centuries. Glasnost was effected from 1985 to 1991 that glasnost means openness and it was
named for the social and political reforms that it will give more rights and freedoms upon the soviet
union people that it even came openness for public affairs, press, politics, education, and even free
speech.. Also, through glasnost, he hoped it to attain a certain degree of credibility that he would
able to do the economic restructuring Perestroika. Glasnost allowed for freedom of expression and
the releasing of controls on radio, press, the film business and TV immediately made ready for
popular sentiment to slip beyond Gorbachev's grasp.Also,the impact that glasnost had on dissenter
cultural ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Firstly, the most considerable effect of glasnost in Soviet society was that it prompted an enlivening
of opinion. For the primary time, the specialist of the state was addressed that in addition to the
abundance of new materials and freedoms available, urged people to have an independent mind or
think for themselves. However, this soon got out of manage, and complaint inevitably stretched out
the areas outside of what the state permitted. From detrimental depictions of life under Stalin and
Brezhnev, writers soon utilized their recently discovered flexibility to present diatribes of Lenin,
Gorbachev, and eventually on the country's socialist foundations. Eventually, this prompting a
diminished censoring of the media, it essentially allowed authors and journalist to uncover news of
government debasement and the discouraged the condition of the Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev And The Soviet Union
During the 1900 's, the Soviet Union proved to be one of the most powerful and ruthless empires in
history. They had vast amount of land under their control, millions of people that came from
different ethnicities, and was one of the worlds strongest military power. However, through the
struggle for military power, economic factors, ethnic fragmentation it watched its mighty empire
crumble, and many blamed its president, Mikhail Gorbachev and his incompetent decisions for it.
Mikhail Gorbachev, who came from a longtime Communist party assumed office in March 1985.
Once Gorbachev was in office, he introduced two new set of policies that he hoped would help the
USSR become a more productive and prosperous nation. One of these new set of policies was
known as, Glasnost, which also meant political openness. Glasnost eliminated traces of Stalinist
repression, like the banning of books and the omnipresent secret police, and gave new freedoms to
Soviet citizens. These freedoms included, political prisoners were released. newspapers could print
criticisms of the government, and for the first time, parties other than the Communist Party could
participate in elections. However, Glasnost would ultimately fail, because the public viewed it as a
way for its leaders to cover up revealing past and recent atrocities, missteps by leadership, social and
health failures of the USSR and the true extent of national economic problems. The other new policy
was known as Perestroika, which also

Essay on The Soviet Union and the Legacy of Communist Rule
The Soviet Union and the Legacy of Communist Rule
The December of 1991 marked the end of the Soviet Union–and with it, an entire era. Like the
February Revolution of 1917 that ended tsardom, the events leading up to August 1991 took place in
rapid succession, with both spontaneity and, to some degree, retrospective inevitability. To
understand the demise of Soviet Union is to understand the communist party–state system itself.
Although the particular happenings of the Gorbachev years undoubtedly accelerated its ruin, there
existed fundamental flaws within the Soviet system that would be had been proven ultimately fatal.
The USSR became a past chapter of history because it was impossible to significantly reform the
administrative ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Mikhail Gorbachev, the new General Secretariat in 1985, seemed to represent this new generation of
power. After two decades of decaying social and economical conditions, it was clear that
restructuring of governmental policies were in dire need. As it was the only legal party allowed in
the USSR until the repeal of Article Six of the Constitution in 1990, the Communist Party, although
conceptualized as a homogenous dictating organization, had long harbored many variants of
ideologies. The leadership of Gorbachev was an accumulated manifestation of the reformist wing
within the ruling elites. Such a wing had always existed despite hard partiinost, and to Strayer they
were the "alternative tradition" which saw "Leninism and democracy, the plan and the market, as
compatible with each other" (Strayer, 87). Gorbachev was a student of Khrushchev's "thaw" who
moved much more skillfully than his ideological predecessor at pushing for real reforms–reforms
that eventually destroyed the system they were supposed to save in a great stroke of irony.
However, it is true that Gorbachev did not fully comprehend the significance nor foresee the
ultimate effect of his reforms. An evolutionary leader who saw the pressing flaws of the old system,
he genuinely believed in and pushed for a workable model of socialism based on the Soviet
experience and within the existed framework of the party–state. As the reforms went further and
deeper, however, the

How The Glasnost Policy To Modernize And Revitalize The...
As George Washington once said, "If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we
may be led, like sheep to the slaughter" is a concept that is connected to the policy that was
appointed in Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev, the new leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republic launched three policies in 1985, to modernize and revitalize the Soviet Union. The three
policies were Perestroika, a political movement for reformation within the Communist party,
Glasnost, the open discussion of political/social issues, and Demokratizatsia, which enabled them to
make changes by permitting wider access to the government (Cold War Perestroika and Glasnost).
The Glasnost policy brought enormous changes, politically and socially in the Soviet Union. It
brought openness to the media and reduced the traditional constraints on the flow of government. ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Although the policy of Glasnost caused much of the Soviet Union to panic with the openness of
media, it encouraged the people to express their opinion, abetted the introduction of western culture
and increased international affairs, which ultimately proves that Glasnost was the key to Russian
success in the world.
Glasnost was beneficial to the people of Russia and the media because it emboldened them to
express their opinions and recognize the past problems of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev
wanted the public to actively participate in the society and create more transparency between the
government and the public. The book Glasnost– the Dawn of Freedom by Richard Shifter quotes
that Glasnost permitted the people to attend court hearings and allowed the

Analysis of Three Books About Gorbachev Essay
Analysis of Three Books About Gorbachev
The history of the Soviet Union is complicated and fascinating. In the course of only seventy years
this country has seen the development of the totally new system of state, economic growth, the
growth of hopes for the "brighter future", and then the sudden and expected by no one collapse of
the whole system leading to chaos, wars, and confusion. One period is especially important in order
to realize how did things finally started to change after the seventy years of blindly pursuing the
dream of communism which left the Soviet Union in a very bad economical and moral state, and
this period is called perestroika, Russian for restructuring. The main figure behind this process
which began in ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This influence lasted for years and the fact that Gorbachev has become
"westernized" in his appearance, manners, dress and the "image he projects of tolerance and cordial
behavior, all the small signs which mark him as different from the usual Komsomol and Party boss",
is according to Medvedev due to a great extent to the fact that Mlynar was Gorbachev's roommate
(Medvedev, 1986, p. 43).
Although the first part of the book is certainly interesting and important I would like to concentrate
on the second part of the book since it is directly deals with the subject that interests me most, that is
the years when Gorbachev was in power and the development of the new course in the Soviet life
called perestroika. From just reading the first paragraph it is obvious that the author approves of the
new leader. Medvedev writes: "For the first time in
Soviet history, the leadership succession has meant more than the arrival of a new leader and the
possibility of the implementation of the new policies. The
Gorbachev succession marks the appearance of a new political generation which differs from the old
guard in style, knowledge and historical vision....Gorbachev represents a younger post–war political
generation, a generation which started its professional Party or state career during the more liberal
Krushchev era" (p. 165). Medvedev quotes some of the very enthusiastic
Western newspaper comments which called Gorbachev a "bright, incisive,

The Perestroika Reform And Glasnost Policy Programs
Under Mikhail Gorbachev the Soviet Union underwent massive social, political and economic
reform that drifted away from communist ideology and this ultimately lead to the collapse of the
Soviet Union and failure of communism in Eastern Europe. This essay will focus on how the
Perestroika reform and Glasnost policy programs as well as other external and internal pressures
contributed to the failure of communism under Gorbachev. The aim of the Perestroika and Glasnost
reforms was to restructure and strengthen the Soviet political and economic system and provide
more freedom and democracy within the Soviet Union while strengthening Communism. However,
these changes had achieved exactly what they aimed to prevent when they were first elaborated and
led to the failure of communism and collapse of the Soviet Union. While focusing on the policies
this essay will also focus on the major increase in nationalism that occurred in the Soviet Republics
as a result of the Glasnost. External pressure from the western world was also a factor and the role
that the United States and the Ronald Reagan administration played in the downfall of communism
under Gorbachev will be examined. The essay will also discuss how the disintegration of Yugoslavia
and the 1991 Coup d'état led to the failure of the policies and failure of communism.
Perestroika translates to "restructuring" and was a policy introduced by Gorbachev which intended
to reform the baseline of the Soviet economy in an attempt to

The Berlin Wall Of World War II
The Berlin Wall symbolized many things for different people. For the Germans it served as their
punishment from World War II, this punishment divided up their country and separated many people
from their families who might have lived in different parts of Germany. Everyday things that were
accessible to them like going to the grocery store or visiting family members were now made harder
since in order to cross to the other side of the wall people would have to go through security checks.
The Wall also represented death because if someone were to try to escape to the other side of the
wall they would be shot dead. To other countries the Berlin Wall represented communism as well as
division between two different forms of government. During ... Show more content on
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During the Cold War people had been living in fear thinking that one day their country might be
bombed with a nuclear weapon. With the détente the nuclear anxieties were eased a bit. In 1972 a
discussion known as Strategic Arms Limitation Talks or SALT was held. United States President
Richard Nixon and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev agreed to "freeze a number of strategic
ballistic missile launches as well as reduce spending on nuclear weapons." The two countries also
agreed to limit their number of nuclear weapons. A second Strategic Arms Limitation Talk was held
in 1979 this time between United States President Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev. This time
more "controls were put in place on strategic nuclear weapons and new missile programs were
banned, however this deal was not ratified by the U.S congress." The reason why this treaty was
never ratified was because President Carter was angry that the USSR had decided to invade
Afghanistan. This goes to show that there was a period of relaxation between the United States and
the USSR; however tensions did start to rise again when Afghanistan was invaded. The election of
Mikhail Gorbachev as president of the USSR is another example of thawing out of the Cold War.
Gorbachev was regarded as a "young and reformist" leader. In 1988 Gorbachev ordered that troops
should with drawl from Afghanistan. Tony Judt stated

Rise Of The Soviet Union
Could you ever imagine living in a country where as a citizen you have no power in the government
or a say in your own business? This is how the citizens lived for many years under the rule of many
different leaders. The Soviet Union is a prime example of a society where your rights are taken
away. The creation of the Soviet Union, also known as The Union of Soviet Socialists Republics,
began shortly after the overthrow the Russian tsar in 1917. Soon after its creation, problems arose
within the new form of government affecting the lives of two hundred and ninety three million
civilians. Decades after the revolution, Mikhail Gorbachev came into power proposing new laws in
order to lead the Soviet Union out of economic catastrophe. These changes ... Show more content on
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Lenin and the Bolsheviks dominated Soviet power and designated little responsibilities to the
people. They created a communist state which was supposed to be run more like a true democracy
but was ran more like a tsar in power. At first, the people were allowed to run their own businesses
and farm their own land but those privileges were soon taken away under the communist rule.
Instead the government turned to an idea called collectivism in which the government distributed
land for groups of peasants to work (Conquest & Dewdney, 2017). These Political foundations of
the Soviet Union and many others were formed by the Soviets Counsel of People's Deputies. Under
the control of the Supreme Soviets, the Political powers had two different parts (Conquest &
Dewdney, 2017). The first political party, The Soviet of the Union, consisted of seven hundred and
fifty members elected through voting (Conquest & Dewdney, 2017). The second political party, The
Soviet of Nationalities, also consisted of seven hundred and fifty members but the amount of
members depended on political divisions (Conquest & Dewdney, 2017). The committee consisted of
thirty two members from Union Republics, eleven members from Autonomous Republics, five
members from each Autonomous Region, and one

The Collapse Of The Soviet Union
Harmony Xu
Political Science 156A
TA: Sobolev, A
One of the most revolutionary historical events in the 20th century was the collapse of the Soviet
Union in late 1991. The dissolution of the USSR was at the time, not immediately foreseen nor
expected. There was neither a civil war nor people's revolution in a military coup that stormed the
King's castle. The only very evident factor, however, was that the economy of the Soviet Union
preceding its dissolution was in free fall to be eventually coined the Era of Stagnation. But an
economy in trouble could not be the cause that would lead to the collapse of seventy year–old
seemingly powerful nation. It would not be the first first–world nation in economic trouble. It would
take the Soviet Union's last leader's misguided attempts at reforms within his own party that
intermixed with loosening the nation's century old political ideology to open the floodgates for a
chain of events and repercussions that would lead to the USSR's collapse. If not for Gorbechav's
liberal sentiments at reforming a communist nation under democratic ideologies that had only
previously survived under totalitarian oppression, the USSR might exist today given no other major
historical events succeed and alter its continuing Communist pathway.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established in 1922 under Vladimir Lenin, and was
governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Lenin's successor, Joseph Stalin,
solidified the Soviet

The Reagan Era/Reagan Evolution
The Reagan Era / Reagan Evolution refers to the dramatic changes in American politics, economics,
and society between 1980–1989. Reagan helped lead to the downfall of the Soviet Union by
providing aid to anti–communist rebels; supporting groups and movements in Eastern Europe;
toppling the Soviet government in Grenada; promoting SDI; limiting the Soviet natural gas exports
which denied the Soviet Union currency ; and exploiting Soviet economic difficulties. Yet, before
any of that could happen Reagan was elected president in 1981.
Ronald Reagan was born on February 6th, 1911 in a small–town in Illinois. He became an actor in
his 20s and later served as the Republican governor of California. After running and being elected
president in 1981, Reagan became a popular president. Domestically, Reagan cut taxes and
increased defense spending. Yet, what he did to contribute to the next phase was the most
significant. Reagan negotiated a nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Soviets and is credited
with helping to bring the end to the Cold War by limiting the Soviet natural gas exports which
denied the Soviet Union currency, exploiting Soviet economic difficulties, and more. ... Show more
Reagan announced his idea on March 23rd, 1983, which was popularly dubbed "Star Wars."
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), was a system to make the US untouchable to nuclear missile
attacks from the Soviet Union. This invention would vaporize missiles before they could even touch
US soil. This was a key element that impacted the next phase since it made the Soviet Union realize
that its economic and social system can not sustain against the United States, forcing the Soviet
leadership to accept defeat. All in all, the SDI is often credited with helping end the Cold

Blaming Gorbachev for the Collapse of the Soviet Union Essay
Blaming Gorbachev for the Collapse of the Soviet Union
On December 5 1991 the Soviet Union was declared officially non–existent, radically changing the
world's economic and political environment. On the 10 February 1991 Heydar Aliyev spoke in
Parliament warning of his anticipation that the Soviet Union was to collapse, "The Culprit to be
blamed is Gorbachev".
There is no doubt Gorbachev played a prominent role in the fall of communism in the USSR and the
collapse of the USSR itself, as well as acquiring the responsibility for ending the Cold War, a major
post–war tension. What I will endeavour to conclude in this essay is the extent to which Gorbachev
was responsible for the USSR's downfall ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Many new editors were employed and a lot of information of a great scale, 1920's and 30's truths of
Stalin came out through new technology, embracing not only the printed media but also radio,
television and all areas of creative art. Although Gorbachev had originally stated he would continue
the political ways of his predecessors he was openly attacking Stalin. He believed no blank pages
should be left, thus when the truth about Stalin had been unravelled the citizens then moved towards
the investigation of Lennin. "In 1986 new editors were also brought in to run Moskovskie novosti
(Moscow News), Literaturnaya gazeta, Izvestiya, and the influential journals Novy mir and
Znamya" (Martin McCauley)
The Russian citizens were highly attentive when in 16 December1986 Gorbachev released the father
of the atomic H–bomb from exile and later released political prisoners.
Gorbachev told the Central Committee who elected him that when the people are elected, "the more
consciencely they act, the more actively they support the party" (Steven White). With the knowledge
of the past– information to define the good and the bad actions of the Soviet Union he believed the
people would make a concerted effort in restructuring the economy and participating in reforming
their country.
Many a critic

Gorbachev And The Fall Of The Soviet Union
Gorbachev and the fall of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was an empire centered in Moscow, Russia. The Soviet Union consisted of more
than just Russia, it consisted of fifteen sovereign republics, and its formal title was the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics. In addition to the 15 sovereign republics that comprised the Soviet
Union after World War II there was also the Soviet Outer Empire. The Soviet Union Outer Empire
was commonly referred to as the Soviet Bloc, which consisted of East Germany, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Soviet empire extended from Berlin in the
west to the Pacific Ocean in the east.
The Soviet Union was a communist country, meaning that the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union, herein referred to as CPSU, exercised absolute rule. The Communist Party controlled both
the government and the economy. The Soviet Union's economy was based on a centrally planned
economy, which was composed every five years at the CPSU Party Congress. Despite early
successes under Stalin, the five–year plan system proved to be a mistake. The plans that were
produced were unrealistic, and inconsistent with sound economic policy. The ideology that
motivated people in the early years of the Soviet Union started to fail to serve as sufficient
motivation, and without further incentives, the workforce remained unmotivated and inefficient. In
addition to the failures of the planned economy, the people who ran the party were thoroughly
corrupt,

The Legacy Of A Free Market Economy Essay
Perestroika When Gorbachev made an attempt at economic reform, introduced in 1987 as
Perestroika, it was not enough to revive the economy and reverse the period of stagnation and
excessive military spending that was crippling the economy. If anything, it made it worse.
Perestroika introduced a free market economy, essentially the basics of capitalism, and aimed to
improve life for Soviet citizens and working conditions. In theory, the reward of working was meant
to stimulate the people to work even harder, which in the end would aid the Soviet economy and
revive it. This was far from what happened. The new economic system did not have enough free
market elements, causing for the failure of businesses and supply shortages as there were still price
controls in place. As profits were limited, production fell, just like in the oil crisis mentioned prior.
What Gorbachev devised aimed to keep basis of the Soviet economic structure, but modernize it
with aspects of a free market economy, yet it was not enough of a change to revamp the economy.
The true ramifications of Perestroika were seen in the USSR's last few years; inflation was through
the roof, the GDP had declined and was continued to fall at an alarming rate, there were shortages of
food and clothes, and overall living conditions had greatly declined. While it shortages of goods
were not uncommon to the Soviet public, Gorbachev's policy brought on shortages of basic goods
and necessities. He aimed at fixing the economy,

How Did Mikhail Gorbachev Impact The Soviet Union
The 1980s encompassed a critical turn of events of the Soviet Union. Its economy and agricultural
industry were crumbling. Advanced technology was lacking and factories were inefficient. Citizens
had no choice but to purchase low quality products, as a result, and social freedoms were
inadequate. Additionally, foreign affairs such as American rearmament and tensions throughout the
Soviet Bloc negatively impacted Soviet stability. In an effort of reform, Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet
Union General Secretary, stepped in to improve the communist system my implementing democratic
principles. He introduced the concepts of perestroika, which means to reconstruct, and glasnost,
which means openness. Glasnost allowed for increased freedom of the press, while perestroika
allowed for governmental reform. One of these reforms included marketplace changes in the
economy. Gorbachev wanted to de–monopolize businesses and eliminate price controls. In addition,
political reforms introduced contested elections in which multiple candidates were allowed to speak
out. The goal was to mimic the success of capitalist countries like the United States and Germany by
giving citizens a say in the government. Unfortunately, Gorbachev's changes did not help the Soviet
Union. Even though foreign ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991 after almost 70 years of existence. On Christmas day,
Gorbachev resigned his position, and it was the last day the hammer and sickle flag hung before
being replaced with the Russian flag. Problems had existed prior to Gorbachev, but his attempt at
fixing those preexisting conditions didn't work out. Slow growth of the economy and the swift
change in politics made people shift their views of perestroika. Also, people were not ready for
glasnost because too much bad information at once made them dread the government.
Unfortunately, nothing good came out of Gorbachev's

Perestroika And Glasnost
How Perestroika/Glasnost Helped the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Perestroika and glasnost played an important part in shaping today's Russia by its role in the
dissolution of the U.S.S.R. Perestroika was the reconstruction of the Communist party and the
economy, which Mikhail Gorbachev thought would fix the economic mess he came into. Perestroika
also loosened government control over individual enterprises and businesses. Gorbachev also
introduced glasnost which released government information and allowed more people to openly give
their opinion about the Soviet government. In the book Russia's Sputnik Generations by Donald
Raleigh, there are many interviews with people who grew up in the Soviet Union, which includes
how perestroika and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
People had several different reactions to the information that was released with glasnost. Donald
Raleigh asked Arkadii Darchenko of what his reaction to glasnost was. Arkadii Darchenko
responded with "I was blown away! It was as if the floodgates were thrown open, and at first we
accepted, we believed everything that we heard. But it gradually became clear that much of what
was being said was a bunch of nonsense. People tried to present their own, well, the process of
sifting through information began later. Back then it was looked upon as a breath of fresh air."
Arkadii Darchenko's response shows how people felt overwhelmed because of all the crime rates in
the Soviet Union and crimes that the Soviet government did and had kept secret. This led to protests,
which were now allowed, to go against Gorbachev and go towards a new

Why Did The Soviet Union Collapse
The Soviet Union was one of the super powers, that is why, in my opinion, is highly useful try to
understand why it collapsed. The USSR was famous for the progressive scientific investigation that
it, unfortunately, approached on space and weaponry technology.
So, why did the USSR collapse? I witnessed this event, and I think there were two major
components, or reasons, that caused this colossal break down, changing all political structure and
leading to several economic issues. The USA convinced Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices, thous, the
Soviet Union cannot benefit from its very own oil. This move leaded to the deficiency of the hard
currency reserves of the USSR.
In 1985, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the Glasnost and Perestroika. These economic
policies aimed for a much–needed improvement. The Glasnost eventually led to greater freedom of
information. More importantly, it opened up the minds of the public about the mistakes and
limitations of the government. Aside from a bad economy, some of satellite states in the eastern part
of Europe started to abandon the ideals of communism. These factors pressured Gorbachev to put an
end to the Cold War. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
After that, the leader ordered not to offer military aid in defense of former satellite states. The
situation only got worse as various communist regimes gained control in these highly important
states. Later on, West Germany and East Germany settled their differences, which led to the
destruction of the Berlin Wall. In the later years of the 1980s, several constituent republics
demanded sovereignty. In August 1991 Latvia and Estonia announced complete independence.
Ukraine, Belarus and Russia signed The Belavezha Accords. This pact established the
Commonwealth of Independent States, the union, which replaced the disappeared Soviet

A Crumbling Nation Essay
For those who do not know much about the Soviet Union, or those intrigued by the almighty Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the history of the collapse of the Soviet Union is extremely
well documented in Stephen Kotkin's Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse 1970–2000. This
relatively short book provides great insight into the downfall of the Soviet Union, as well as to how
it could potentially have sustained longer than it did by the Soviet elite. A dramatic shift occurred in
the Soviet Union between 1970 and 2000; numerous events and modifications occurred to pave the
way for a long and slow decay, as opposed to a rapid and fervent eruption of a crumble that many
may have expected. Kotkin provides the readers with a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
He incorporates various accounts by numerous insiders and senior dignitaries, along with notable
failures by political figures, to elucidate the factors that led to the failure of both Communism and
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Kotkin commences by discussing the Arab–Israeli War of 1973, as it is a major turning point for the
beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union. During this time, the Arabs and the Israelis went to
war; because of this, an oil embargo was put forth and prices skyrocketed. Many countries and
nations around the world were struggling to make do on little to no oil, including the two world
superpowers. Tough times were had by all during this time during the Brezhnev era; many resorted
to working in and with the black market in order to make ends meet. As thousands were losing jobs
and sinking more and more into financial woes, the Soviets struck oil in Siberia. A quick shift took
place, putting the Soviet Union as the main oil exporter. The strike of oil led to an abundance of
wealth from their

Compare And Contrast Gorbachev And Glasnost
In front of two panes of bulletproof glass, United States President Ronald Reagan delivered the
condemning line, "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Mr.
Reagan's condemnations and misgivings were misguided and unjust to the efforts of Soviet
President Mikhail Gorbachev– a reformer who strived to open up the declining Soviet State. In order
to open up his state, Gorbachev instituted two programs, Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika
(restructuring). Perestroika revolved around economic liberalization while Glasnost focused on a
more open Soviet society. Gorbachev instituted these programs amidst a rapidly changing world–
one in which economic and political engines threatened the viability of the Soviet planned ... Show
He argued that "the presentation of a 'problem–free' reality backfired: a breach had formed between
word and deed." (Gorbachev) Surrounded by an increasingly dire social situation, the lies
propagated by the regime became increasingly misleading. Gorbachev argued that this sentiment
amongst the population led to a "decay in public morals". To address this "credibility gap"
(Gorbachev) Gorbachev mandated a partial withdrawal of the State from artistic and intellectual
affairs (Harvard Business Review). The Soviet leader allowed limited criticism of the State, allowed
the publication of previously banned books, and gave the media more journalistic freedom
(Sixsmith). In making these changes, Gorbachev took a calculated risk. On one hand, Glasnost was
a necessity. With greater access to information, the State could no longer truly censor the media
citizens consumed. On the other hand, as Martin Sixsmith argues in his book Russia, Glasnost
opened the gates to criticism of the regime, and only accelerated the downfall of the Soviet Union.
To Sixsmith, the implementation of Glasnost lifted the wool from the eyes of the Soviet people, and
the world they saw was in a state of

Why Did Mikhail Gorbachev Reform The Soviet Union?
This paper aims at discussing the short biography of Mikhail Gorbachev and how he reformed
Soviet Union. The paper also discusses the reasons why Mikhail Gorbachev reformed Soviet Union.
The questions to be answered are, what are the policies implemented by Gorbachev, what are the
effects of such policies, and was the collapse of the Soviet Union an achievement or Gorbachev
failure? Mikhail Gorbachev was a politician who served as the last General Secretary of Communist
Party of Soviet Union between 1985 and 1991. He was born in Privolnoye village of Stavropol
territory to Maria and Sergei Panteleyvna (Sheehy 1). His parents and grandparents were peasant
farmers, before the farms were reversed and owned by the government in a process called ... Show
Because of the ideology of communism in governing the Soviet Union, its citizens were governed in
a dictatorial manner. Citizens were not allowed to travel freely; they were also heavily spied on. The
new generation and the links that the Soviet Union was making across the world led to demand for
reforms in government. Therefore, the question that remains unanswered is, why did Gorbachev
institute and implement policies for reforms. He first reformed the Soviet Union through individual
freedom, transparency in bureaucracies as well as stimulating economic growth by implementing
glasnost and Sinatra doctrine (Sakwa 10). The Sinatra Doctrine was aimed at allowing eastern
countries to be autonomous and govern themselves. Gorbachev implemented this policy so as to
allow the countries that were controlled by the Soviet Union to be independent. According to him,
soviet countries gaining independence will be able govern themselves effectively and develop
economically. The implementations of the Glasnost by Gorbachev were aimed at making soviet be
in line modern and industrialized countries as well as making it freer. Glasnost advocated heavily on
freedom of speech that soviet people were denied in the past. The Glasnost policy has been viewed
to be the reason for the downfall of Soviet Union because Soviet Union citizens became more
outspoken on government failures (Sakwa 12). The strict nature of the

Gorbachev Contribute To The Cold War

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