Collapse of the USSR: Causes and Major Events

Dear Learners, welcome to the undergraduate MOOC course on Perspectives on International

Relations and World History. I am Dr. Shveta Dhaliwal, the coordinator of the course. The
title of today’s lecture is Collapse of the USSR: Causes and Major Events. We have
discussed earlier also in other lectures of this course, that during the last century, two
dominant doctrines i.e. Capitalism and Socialism were at constant confrontation resulting in
tensions between the two Super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, named as
Cold War. The Cold War that continued for several decades finally came to end with the
disintegration of the Soviet Union. Since it was a very important event, this lecture is devoted
to know a bit more about the disintegration of the Soviet. So, let us begin and before that
please have a look a the structure of the lecture.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the process of disintegration within the Soviet
Union (USSR) resulting in its constituent republics gaining full sovereignty on 26 December
1991. It brought an end to Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to reform the Soviet political and
economic system as he wanted to stop a period of political stalemate and economic backslide.
The Soviet Union had experienced internal stagnation and ethnic separatism. Although highly
centralized until its final years, the country was made up of fifteen top-level republics that
served as homelands for different ethnicities. By late 1991, amid a political crisis, with
several republics already departing the Union and the waning of centralized power, the
leaders of three of its founding members declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed.
Eight more republics joined their declaration shortly thereafter. Gorbachev resigned in
December 1991 and what was left of the Soviet parliament voted to end itself.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was created after the socialist
revolution in Russia in 1917, which ended the Russian empire. The USSR was a loose
confederation of 15 republics and Russia was the leader. It was a strong segment with great
control over politics of entire world from 1922 to 1991 when it was disintegrated into smaller
units, mainly due to Mikhael Gorbvachev’s economic and political reforms- Perestroika and
Glasnost respectively. This led to the end of the cold war between the two super-powers USA
and USSR. It was marked by events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and power shift from

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Soviet centre to the republics. The breakdown of USSR made USA the sole global power,
ending the bipolarity in the world order.

Generally speaking, Socialism refers to a system of social organization that advocates the
control of property as well as the distribution of income by society rather than by individuals
or market forces. To put it into simpler words, it is an economic system which advocates the
ownership of the means of production by the workers rather than by the rich minority of
capitalists.

Socialism was introduced in Russia once Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik party seized
power in 1917. The Bolsheviks were also able to combine the former Russian Empires to
form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union). The Russian model,
however, had a number of shortcomings

Let us have a look a the major events that led to disintegration of the USSR. There were
many problems with the USSR. At that time, there was a bureaucratic and authoritarian
system in USSR. Democracy was just another word. There was no freedom of speech. There
was one party system which was unaccountable to people. Because of the dominance of
Russia, there was neglect to the interests of other republics. There was a very high
expenditure on defense and the system was low on infrastructure and technology. Let us have
a look a the problems faced by the Soviet.

Socialist bloc crisis: The people from many east European countries started protesting
against their own governments and USSR without the right intervention from USSR at the
right time. Communist governments in the Second World War collapsed one after the other
without the right intervention from USSR at the right time.

Fall of Berlin Wall: After the Second World War Germany was divided among the socialist
USSR and the capitalist western regimes. Fall of Berlinon 9 November 1989 led to a series of
events including the disintegration of the USSR.

By the 1980s, the Soviet Union faced acute economic problems and major food shortages,
and when a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power station in Ukraine exploded in April 1986,
it was a symbolic moment in the impending collapse of the communist bloc. Years of
activism and strikes in Poland culminated in its ruling communist party voting to legalise the

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banned Solidarity trade union in 1980s.Hungarians, too, launched mass demonstrations for
democracy in March. In May, 150 miles (240km) of barbed wire were dismantled along the
border with Austria. By August, the revolutionary wave had truly re-ignited on the fringes.
Two million people across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - then part of the Soviet Union -
held one of the most memorable demonstrations of the so-called Singing Revolution when
they formed a 370-mile (600km) human chain across the Baltic republics calling for
independence.In the heat of August, Hungary opened it borders to Austria in the west,
allowing East German refugees an escape. This indicated that the Iron Curtain was being
ripped.
Gorbachev realized the economic and political problems of USSR, and started a series of
reforms, "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring), with the intention to revive
the economy and settle economic problems. This was more closely associated with the
market economy and was a deviation from the communist policies. Many communist leaders
in USSR opposed to reforms initiated by Gorbachev. They encouraged a coup in the year
1991.

The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, also known as the August Coup,[a] was a failed attempt
by hardliners of the Soviet Union's Communist Party to forcibly seize control of the country
from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was Soviet President and General Secretary of the Communist
Party at the time. Gorbachev was pout in house arrest.

Boris Yeltsin, who won the popular election in the Russian Republic, supported the coup and
also protested against central control of USSR. The freedom for republics became the slogan.
Boris Yeltsin and the pluralist movement advocated democratization and rapid economic
reforms. The hard-line Communist elite wanted to thwart Gorbachev’s reform agenda.
Republics like Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus emerged as a powerful country. They declared
that the Soviet Union was being disbanded. US also conveyed that it wanted Gorbachev back.

Let me ask a question here.

Glasnost and Perestroika policies were introduced by which leader?

a. Lenin
b. Gorbachev
c. Mao
d. None of the above
Yes, the right answer is Gorbachev.

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Another important reason that is generally perceived to have equally contributed to the fall of
the Soviet Union is related to economic problems. It was in fact the failure of the economic
system in Soviet Union that not only compelled the Soviet bureaucracy to rethink of the
economic system but also acted as main reason for the collapse of other socialist countries.
The failure of the economic system caused a decrease in rate of development of production
forces which in turn ultimately led to stagnation (Fotopoulos, 2005). There was considerable
decrease in the growth rate of industrial output in the USSR from 1960s to 1980s. For
instance, the growth rate fell from 7 percent in 1960s to 4 percent in 1970s and 2 percent in
1980s. Similarly, a continuous decline was observed in the average GDP growth rate which
fell from 7 percent in 1960s to about 5 percent in 1970s and 2 percent in 1980s. There was a
huge shortage of consumer items while a huge amount was spent on the military.

Another major reason for the decline in the Soviet economy was continuous engagement of
Soviet in several wars such as the World War I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnamese War
and the Cold War. Whereas, on the one hand, the wars brought huge sufferings to the Soviet
Union in terms heavy loses of human life, it also deteriorated the Soviet economy on the
other hand. Despite the fact that the Soviet Union stood victorious in some of these wars (for
instance, the Korean and the Vietnamese wars), however, it gained very little compared to the
costs incurred on these wars. The Cold War served a means of engaging the two superpowers
in heavy Arms Race. As such, the financial costs of the cold War posed serious repercussions
for the Soviet economy. The United States exploited this opportunity to keep the Soviet
Union engaged in long lasting conflict which deteriorated the Soviet economy on the one
hand and demoralize the Soviet regime on the other hand.

Hudelson points out that by the 1970s, a lot had been changed in terms of education and
exposure of the Russian people to outside world especially the West. Hedelson states that by
the 1970s, an overwhelming Russian population was well educated and living in urban areas.
Similarly, because of the improvement in Soviets’ relationship with the Western countries
during the late 1960s and 1970s, a huge number of the Soviet citizens had the opportunity to
travel the West. This exposure played a significant role in undermining the official anti-
capitalism ideology according to which the capitalist system was suppose to being poverty
and sufferings to the workers.

Political Un-accountability was also a problem. There was a single party rule for around 70
years that turned authoritarian. There were widespread corruption and lack of transparency in

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the system. Gorbachev made a decision to allow elections with a multi-party system and
create a presidency for the Soviet Union. This began a slow process of democratization that
eventually destabilized Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet
Union.

Gorbachev’s reforms

In this background, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected general secretary by the Politburo on
March 11, 1985. At the age of 54, he was the youngest member of the politburo. His initial
goal as general secretary was to revive the Soviet economy, and he realized that doing so
would require reforming underlying political and social structures. Under the Gorbachev
leadership, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1989 introduce the limited
competitive elections to a new central legislature. He discouraged alcohol on a massive
scale which resulted in a huge shortfall in state revenues. He promoted ‘Perestroika'
(restructuring) and ‘Glasnost' (openness) policies to bring in more reforms and
transparency in all institutions of polity and governance. This liberalization, however,
fostered nationalist movements and ethnic disputes within the Soviet Union.

There was a rise of nationalism among countries like Russia, Baltic republics, Ukraine,
Georgia etc. This is the most important and immediate cause of the disintegration of the
USSR. The national feeling was strong among the most prosperous areas in USSR and not in
Central Asian republics. Ordinary people among prosperous republics never liked to pay the
big price to uplift the backward Central Asian republics.

The major consequences of the disintegration of the USSR

 End of ideological battle: The disintegration of USSR showed the lacunae of

socialistic model of economic governance to the developing world. It was seen as a
victory of capitalism over socialism, often termed as ‘end of ideology’ thesis.
 Rise of free-market economic model: Dominance of western institutions like IMF and
World Bank in the global economic governance pushed developing countries to adopt
neo-liberal economic policies. India adopted free-market economic model in the form
of LPG reforms post 1991.

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Source: https://www.ias4sure.com/wikiias/gs1/disintegration-of-ussr-and-changes-in-east-
europe-upsc-gs1/

 The fall of the Soviet empire also had far-reaching effects on the world as a whole,
particularly among its former Soviet satellite nations. For some countries, such as
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, oil and natural gas exports have created prosperity but
have also enabled corruption. Countries such as Lithuania and Latvia underwent
dramatic transformations by quickly turning to the West, adopting Western ideals and
political leanings, while other countries, such as Armenia and Tajikistan, have
struggled to flourish in the post-Soviet era and many citizens remain poverty-stricken
while the states and their politics remain in flux.
 Decline in financial aid to other countries: Though a member of NAM, India had
mutual strategic cooperation with USSR as per its 1971 Indo–Soviet Treaty of Peace,
Friendship and Cooperation. The financial aid from the Soviet Union to India was
significantly reduced due to the disintegration of the USSR.
 The former superpower was replaced by 15 independent
countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
and Uzbekistan.

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  Reorganization of Eastern Europe: Changes in politics of Europe led to dilution of
division between Western and Eastern Europe. Demolition of the Berlin wall, the
unification of Germany, the end of the Warsaw Pact and rise of democratic regimes
changed the politics of Europe. The membership of European Union enlarged, leading
to emergence of new economic bloc -EU.
 Rise of Central Asia: Central Asia became a new centre of global interest particularly
from Chinese expansionist ambitions in the region.
 The breakdown of economic ties that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union led to
a severe economic crisis and catastrophic fall in living standards in post Soviet States
and the former eastern bloc, which was even worse than the Great Depression.
 Since newly formed Russian Federation was a Democratic country itself, the threat
of communism, which defined the world order during the Cold War, had vanished.
 With the demise of the Soviet Union, now communism acquired new forms and
structures prominently visible in the Chinese model which emerged as a major
military and economic force particularly after the end of the Cold War by embracing
the communist market model.
Here is a question for you.
Which of the following was the drawback of Soviet System?
a. Authoritarianism
b. No employment
c. Bureaucratic system
d. All of the above
Yes, the answer is all of the above.

Collapse of the USSR and the Socialist bloc can be legitimately described as one of the most
astounding developments of last decade of the 20th century. The emergence of the USSR as
the first socialist state of world (Socialist Revolution of 1917) had a big and deep impact on
the nature and course of international relations of the first quarter of the 20th century.

Likewise, the collapse of the USSR in 1991 acted as a source of equally big impact on
international relations of the last decade of the 20th century. It led to the collapse of the entire
socialist bloc. The 21st century opened as a new century characterised by ideological and
strategic unipolarism, and struggling to adjust with the new realities of the post-USSR, post-
socialist bloc international relations.

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The disintegration had its profound implications on countries like India which had to redefine
its own foreign policy. Financial aid from the Soviet Union almost came to an end, bringing
India into the brink of an economic crisis that compelled the country to open its economy to
private players. Moreover, Russian defence supplies to India declined after the disintegration.
Thus, it opened new challenges for India to rework its strategies and forge closer ties with the
US.

It is fascinating to note that after such a glorious and eventful history, Russia still remains a
strong powerful country and has remained an important actor in IR.

On this note, let me end this lecture, let us meet again with another topic soon. Till then take
care and Bye!

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