The collapse of the soviet union

Question 1

Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?

Answer 1

• last leader of SU
  
  • ender of cold war → died Aug 2022
  • within Russia rembembered with mixed feelings
  • collapse of SU as greatest geopolitical catasthrophe of the century (Putin)
  • Leader from 1985-1991
  • General secretary of the communisr party of the SU

Question 2

Perstrioka and five transformations

Answer 2

• economicl, political, international relations to west, relations with satteline states, breking apart of USSR
  
  • economic reforms: allowing for privately owned small business, anti alcohol campaign to increases productivity 1985
  • downsides: taxes in alcohol were major part of GDP → economic crisis, his population decreased
  • acceleration policy: bought money and distributed it around companies → attempt failed
  • rradical 500 days programm: not fully adopted
    → failed economic reform programms
  • political reforms: Glasnost → sparked mass dicontent, anti commuinist and nationalistic feelings, civil resisitance against central authority
  • Democratization: 1989: creation of new legislative and parliament with actual power: allowed to be critical against leaders
  • breaking the monopoly of communist party
  • outcome: divisions of the elite into hardlines …..

Question 3

USSR

Answer 3

• Union of soviet socialist republic
  
  • many states
  • 1922 came into existence
  • civil war after october rev → red communist vs white army (anti communists)
  • red army won → soviet union

Question 4

USSR in 1985

Answer 4

• political regression (oppression)
  
  • patchwork of nationalities
  • cold war (1947-1991)
  • Arms race with US
  • Reagan’s Star Wars Program: military expansion, nuclear weapons etc.
  • USSR was economically struggling but had to keep up with US
    → economic problems: oil prices dropped internationally → export declined
  • economic stagnation
  • central gov controls the market → Planwirtschaft
  • low levels of inequality and unemployment
  • Incentive problem: companies do not work as hard as they can → no motivation to innovate
  • information vaccum: what costs, how much to produce, sell etc.

Question 5

cold war

Answer 5

• US: Truman Doctronie and Containment Policy: Start of cold war
  → stop communism from spreading
  
  • economically support european states to stop from becoming communist
  • Marshall plan: resulting in a booming economy in western eu
  • Nato was formed afterwrds 1949
  • response of USSR 1949: first soviet test of nuclear weapon
    → result: nuclear threat
  • Warschauer Pakt: 1955
  • Berlin Wall (1961)

Question 6

Reapprochement to US

Answer 6

• Gorbachev puts end to arms race with US, demining cold war tensions
  
  • Example: INF treaty
  • intermediate range nuclear forces treaty
  • signed by US and USSR in Dez 1987
  • destroyed part of their weapons → symbolic value
  • 2019: the USA withdrew from treaty after accusations that Russia had be violating treaty
  • US countering China: competing with China (new world threat)

Question 7

The fall of Gorbachev and the collapse of the soviet union

Answer 7

• attempts by the USSR republics to gain more autinomy vis a vis centraly power
  
  • baltic states: civil resisitence against soviet union
  • georgia, moldavia and ukraine: declared independence
  • Soviet coup: 1991: president renounced coup → coup failed, military switched sides
  • Gorbbachev: lost support and resigned
  • Boris Yeltsin as new democratic president
  • end of cold war

Question 8

The aftermath of the fall

Answer 8

• territorial loss
  
  • formed warschauer pakt countries joined nato
  • estonia, latvia and Lithuania joined nato
  • Finnland and Ukraine joined Nato