as the iron curtain fell over a dozen
nations were
finally freed from the heavy-handed
grasp of the once powerful
ussr from its foundation in 1922
until its final demise in 1991
the soviet union and its allies made up
an incredibly significant portion of
europe
essentially filling out the entire
eastern side of the continent
a global superpower at its peak the ussr
somehow only lasted a short 70 years
how was this possible and why exactly
did the soviet union collapse
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if you asked gorbachev the final
president of the soviet union
why his nation and its collection of
alliances crumbled before him
he would have one likely response
chernobyl the former president made it
clear in 2006
20 years after the nuclear meltdown
occurred
that he truly believed this above all
else was the final turning point into a
steep decline
for his soviet union whether this was
the final straw or not for the soviet
people
it's no doubt that the chernobyl tragedy
was severely
disastrous for the ussr when the
explosion occurred on april 26
1986 the soviet leadership immediately
hoped to hide the startling problem from
the people
it was evident from the start to the
first responders and government
officials
that this explosion posed an enormous
threat to the surrounding citizens
and the radioactive fallout it caused
was roughly 400 times that of the
hiroshima atomic bomb
yet still the communist party was
desperate to cover it all up
they gave no warning and so may day
parades and other events continued to be
held
everyone went about their lives as
normal
and no word was given on may 14th that
president gorbachev made his first
public statement on the matter during
which he was very willing to downplay
the reality of the failure
and instead focus on bashing the west
for what he called
malicious lies and an over-exaggerated
report of what had happened
it wasn't long before the truth came out
though and the soviet people
became furiously aware of the corruption
that they were under
and particularly the failure of glasnost
glasnost was a policy enacted by mikhail
gorbachev that was supposed to restore
certain freedoms for the soviet people
such as freedom of speech
press and religion it was intended to
create a better way of life
and more transparency from the
government and in some ways
it did work but the newfound freedoms
allowed the soviet people to discover
the government cover-up efforts of
chernobyl and expose their leadership's
deep corruption
which led to a drastic decrease in
public trust
this wasn't the only policy that would
contribute to the union's collapse
though
another well-intended change was known
as perestroika
the goal was to adopt a new economic
system
similar to modern-day china the mixed
communist
capitalist structure would allow for
more market freedom
and the policy also opens the door for
new
democratic elections the communist party
would still remain in control
even with these elections but the
freedom of choice was nevertheless
believed to be a significant benefit
for the soviet people ironically though
this policy began to contribute to the
crumbling of the union
as citizens started to see the shifts as
weaknesses the reason why perestroika
was enacted
may have also been a relevant factor to
the soviet collapse
though it had previously been remarkably
successful
the soviet economy was now falling apart
there was a brief stint of recovery
around 1970
but that was short-lived as the
afghanistan war
became a new source of spending for the
soviet government
this greatly restrained the recovery
path
and the citizens of the union began to
grow tired of living under a communist
regime
with poverty plaguing the people and
communism
seeming to be the cause there was a
severe need for change
which is what would lead mikhail
gorbachev's later reforms
but as we know this produced yet
one more failed attempt to shave the
shaky foundations the government were
trying to stand on
the nail that sealed the coffin for the
end of the soviet union
was the events of 1989
after years of living under a soviet
shadow
the warsaw pact satellite states of the
union
including poland yugoslavia and
czechoslovakia
began to face their own challenges and
the downfall
of soviet-friendly regimes other nearby
communist allies such as romania also
faced revolts that would sever their
ties to the communist union
and the berlin wall over in germany
would once and for all
be torn down ethnic conflict
anti-communist sentiments and overall
disapproval was building
even from within the ussr itself and
instead of putting an end to it
the government yet again failed
the reason why there was even an
opportunity for the opposition that
rippled throughout the east in 1989 was
due to a poor strategy
utilized by president gorbachev in his
bid to
resurrect the soviet economy after
spending
years as a frequent critic and enemy to
the u.s
gorbachev decided that the best way to
create his successful economic reforms
would be to build a better relationship
with the west
even though the united states
particularly was still
far from a potential friend for the
soviets
hoping to calm these tensions as the
first step toward
friendship with the west gorbachev
promised that the soviet union
would withdraw from the nuclear arms
race against the united states
and even reduce their own military
presence throughout the globe
gorbachev decided to subsequently pull
out of the afghanistan war and reduce
soviet military presence throughout
their satellite states
this sudden deterioration of an
overbearing military throughout the
warsaw pax nations
and what appeared to be a weakening of
international soviet influence
is what would trigger the following
events of 1989
still it wasn't just the withdrawal of
military troops that hurt the ussr
it was also the mere state of their
military at the time
the stalin-era policy that prioritized
the production of military equipment
over consumer goods and basic
necessities for the soviet people
was no more and with the economy tanking
gorbachev's military was crumbling too
the consequences of his perestroika
drastically reduced military spending
and in turn the military might of the
union
there were also external factors
including an
arms reduction treaty that the soviets
had tried to push off for as long as
possible
until 1988. this required the union to
cut
its military numbers by 500 000
while roughly 15 000 of the troops over
in afghanistan
had been killed pushback against the
draft only worsened the problem
and once standing at over 5.3 million
strong
in 1985 the soviet military
was now reduced to a startling total
below 2.7 million in 1991
with its people fighting back and an
attempted coup
by communist party opposition
gorbachev's soviet union
was in its final hours on december 25th
1991 president mikhail gorbachev
announced to the world that the ussr
was no more this was the end of the
soviet union
all together as it could no longer
withstand
the weight of its mistakes at 7
32 pm the flag of the russian federation
rose in the place of the soviet flag
atop
the kremlin the new president boris
yeltsin
would take the helm now the leader of
one nation
with 15 new neighbors who had once been
joined together
we are now living in a new world rang
the words
of the last president of the soviet
union
the answer to why the soviet union
collapsed
may differ depending on who you ask
gorbachev believes it was a result of
chernobyl
while others point to his own policies
perestroika
and glasnost still others blame the
broken economy or decaying military
the reality is likely a sum of each
of these theories without the economic
chaos
perestroika would have not been
necessary if not for glass gnost
the chernobyl scandal may have not been
so easy to uncover
furthermore without glass gnost drafted
soldiers would have not been able to
speak so
openly about the despicable conditions
they were forced into
and the military may have not shrunk so
much
it also may have not been so dangerously
reduced
if gorbachev had not been so extensively
determined to begin appeasing the west
or maybe the afghanistan war took too
much of a toll on the military
and the economy more military spending
and strength
could have kept the satellite states in
line and prevented
the berlin wall from falling every
potential reason for the dissolution of
the ussr
is intertwined with yet another reason
even gorbachev's theory of how his union
fell apart
is only a potential turning point not
the sole
cause the reality is that it took a
series of mistakes and miscalculations
to bring down the soviet union
and while it may be easy to blame the
last president for destroying his
own nation it's important to note that a
majority of his own mistakes
were simply attempts to correct the
flaws of his predecessors
in all actuality the reason why the
soviet union
collapsed comes down to a long string
of repeated failures on behalf of its
leadership
you