Sunday, May 16, 2010
Why Learn About This?
Learning about history is very important for students. In order to prevent the past from happening again, we need to see what went wrong then and do our best to not let that happen. In the case of the Soviet Union collapsing we need to see how poor economics can ruin a country. I choose this topic because it is one that is not taught in most curriculum's. Personally i feel that Russia (the former USSR) has a very interesting history. Some might even say that its history is somewhat tragic. From the fall of the great Romanov dynasty throughout World War II, the cold war, and eventually the collapse of the USSR, Russia has been through many large events. They have gone through times when they were great world powers and times when they could not support the people that inhabited the country. However with hard work and leaders doing their best Russia overcame many challenges. However, if we do not learn about how they lost power, and how the great power, the USSR collapsed, we will not prevent it from happening again. It is this generations job to prevent terrible events of the past from happening all over again.
Mikhail Gorbachev
At the age of 54, in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev took over the position as USSR President from Leonid Brezhnev. Gorbachev was very aware of the many problems that the USSR faced at the time of his Presidency. In April of 1986, a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl exploded and sent 300 times the usual amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Unlike the rest of the Soviet leadership, Gorbachev did not use propaganda to cover up this accident. Instead, he went on Soviet national television, seventeen days after the accident, and gave the public the truth and the facts about what had happened. Gorbachev also believed that to help the Soviet Union they needed international relations and peace. He abandoned the anti-Western thoughts of former Soviet leaders in order to integrate the USSR into main currents of modern life. Gorbachev gave the Soviet Union and the world two slogans. Perestroika which means restructuring and Glasnost which means openness. With these he hoped to bring the Soviet Union a democracy. This however was not the case. Over time some of the laws he set into place and the economic situation of the USSR led to its collapse.
Sources
1. "The Collapse of the Soviet Union." HistoryOrb.com - Articles, Birthdays & Today in History. Web. 14 May 2010. .
2. "Fall of The Soviet Union." The Cold War Museum. Web. 14 May 2010. .
3."The Fall Of The Soviet Union: Whys And Wherefores." Raleigh Tavern Philosophical Society. Web. 14 May 2010. .
4."Collapse of Soviet Union." Revolutionary Socialist Culture of Peace. Web. 15 May 2010. 21.org/collapse.html>.
5. Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 16: 1989 -- The Walls Came Tumbling Down." The History Guide -- Main. Web. 17 May 2010. .
6."The Economic Collapse of the Soviet Union." San José State University - Powering Silicon Valley. Web. 17 May 2010. .
Economics Play Part In Collapse of Soviet Union
The Soviet Union collapsed in December of 1991, many factors led to this. The immediate cause of this collapse was economic due to the fact that the USSR lost the cold war. This socialistic country could not compete with the United States in its imperialistic exploitation of countries. USSR consumers could not buy quality goods made in their own country because the military swallowed them all up. The consumers eventually turned to importing goods from other countries as to have enough. However, there were no goods to export so the USSR was not making money, it was simply losing it, which in turn led to its demise. Many people believe that one reason the USSR system was not working is because the workers did not work. As one anonymous Soviet citizen said "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work." This statement in fact could lead many people to believe that the USSR had the resources to make its own quality products, and it most defiantly had the workers. However, they did not pay the workers and there for the workers did not work. When you have no money coming in, but lots of money leaving the country the system will eventually collapse as it was seen in the case of the Soviet Union.
Affects of The Collapse of the Soviet Union
December 1991, this month lives in history as a turning point for the entire world. It was this month, December of 1991 in which the world watched the Soviet Union collapse and separate into 15 different countries. This collapse was viewed as a victory for many people and most of the western world. The United States in particular was grateful for this as it brought it's largest enemy to it's knees. Since the end of World War II, another war hung overhead of the United States and the USSR, the cold war. The United States in particular rejoiced when the USSR collapsed because it meant the end of the cold war. The U.S. could move on with other projects without having to worry about being attacked by the USSR. Not only did the fall of the USSR end the cold war but it also showed capitalism was better than socialism. Democracy took lead over totalitarianism. Not only did it show the world this but it also lead to complete reforms in political, economic and military alliances.
sources for this post:
http://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.asp
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