The prevailing view of most Americans is that the collapse of the Soviet Union was primarily caused by the pressures of the arms race during the Cold War. After reading Kotkin 's book Armageddon Averted it is clear that the internal changes that were going on inside the Soviet Union were far more influential in the collapse of the Soviet Union than in any external pressures brought on by the Reagan era arms buildup. The internal changes that were going on in the Soviet Union during this time that contributed to the collapse were the reform movement policies of Perestroika and Glasnost instituted by Gorbachev which led to support for nationalism among the states that made up the Soviet union, and the opening up of democracy with elections
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Perestroika was policy of opening that Gorbachev instituted because he saw the writing on the wall if the Soviet Union remained complacent like the last few decades and resisted change. The Soviet leadership of the past had resisted change because they saw how disruptive it could be as shown by this quote from Kotkin “They were briefed perpetually on the country’s myriad problems, but remained unsympathetic to proposals for major reforms, especially after the distasteful experience of 1968 Czechoslovakia; anyway, oil money was flowing into Kremlin coffers.” (Kotkin, p. 50) This quote shows how even though the Soviet leadership was aware of all the problems that the state was facing they were unwilling to pursue significant reforms after all the problems that had occurred after the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia during the ‘Prague Spring’. This quote also shows that the oil discovered in Siberia also contributed to leadership of the Soviet Union putting of reform because they could just import western products and technology to keep the people happy and satisfied with their situation. I am going to talk next about how perestroika also gave opportunity to the republics that were being oppressed by the Soviet Union more freedom to push for …show more content…
The transition to capitalism in the post-Soviet era was marked by extreme amounts of corruption and graft. “As the republic 's cast aside the Union carcass and a rapid turn to the market become the official policy in Russia, the seizure of the state-owned wealth of the USSR evolved into a frenzy.” (Kotkin, p. 115) The already widespread corruption that existed under Soviet times was now no longer limited by the party, and corrupt officials and their friends were able obtain billions of dollars worth of state property paying pennies on the ruble. “Gorbachev had recreated the formal position of the general secretary in the presidency, but he had no substitutes for the bygone cult of the general secretary, the lost presence of the Communist Party organizations throughout all institutions, or the cohesion once provided by Communist ideology and party ‘discipline’.” (Kotkin, p. 147) The reforms by Gorbachev to liberalize the Soviet Union included decoupling the party from the state institutions. While these liberal reforms were necessary for true democracy and freedom to be realized without the party keeping officials inline it was impossible for Yeltsin to effectively pass legislation or keep a lid of the looting of the country 's
Perestroika was policy of opening that Gorbachev instituted because he saw the writing on the wall if the Soviet Union remained complacent like the last few decades and resisted change. The Soviet leadership of the past had resisted change because they saw how disruptive it could be as shown by this quote from Kotkin “They were briefed perpetually on the country’s myriad problems, but remained unsympathetic to proposals for major reforms, especially after the distasteful experience of 1968 Czechoslovakia; anyway, oil money was flowing into Kremlin coffers.” (Kotkin, p. 50) This quote shows how even though the Soviet leadership was aware of all the problems that the state was facing they were unwilling to pursue significant reforms after all the problems that had occurred after the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia during the ‘Prague Spring’. This quote also shows that the oil discovered in Siberia also contributed to leadership of the Soviet Union putting of reform because they could just import western products and technology to keep the people happy and satisfied with their situation. I am going to talk next about how perestroika also gave opportunity to the republics that were being oppressed by the Soviet Union more freedom to push for …show more content…
The transition to capitalism in the post-Soviet era was marked by extreme amounts of corruption and graft. “As the republic 's cast aside the Union carcass and a rapid turn to the market become the official policy in Russia, the seizure of the state-owned wealth of the USSR evolved into a frenzy.” (Kotkin, p. 115) The already widespread corruption that existed under Soviet times was now no longer limited by the party, and corrupt officials and their friends were able obtain billions of dollars worth of state property paying pennies on the ruble. “Gorbachev had recreated the formal position of the general secretary in the presidency, but he had no substitutes for the bygone cult of the general secretary, the lost presence of the Communist Party organizations throughout all institutions, or the cohesion once provided by Communist ideology and party ‘discipline’.” (Kotkin, p. 147) The reforms by Gorbachev to liberalize the Soviet Union included decoupling the party from the state institutions. While these liberal reforms were necessary for true democracy and freedom to be realized without the party keeping officials inline it was impossible for Yeltsin to effectively pass legislation or keep a lid of the looting of the country 's