The Fall of Soviet Communism, 1986-1991

The Fall of Soviet Communism, 1986-1991 PDF

Author: Jeremy Smith

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-03-16

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0230802737

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The fall of communism and the break-up of the Soviet Union into 15 independent states in December 1991 was one of the most significant events of the 20th century. In the last years of Soviet rule, images of mass protests on the streets of Moscow, Tbilisi and Vilnius, bloodshed in Baku, striking miners, Mikhail Gorbachev wooing the West, and Boris Yeltsin defiantly mounting a tank in front of the White House building in Moscow, shattered all of the old certainties about the seemingly unbreakable communist system. Gorbachev and Yeltsin were the dominant figures in this process, but non-Russian national movements, workers, intellectuals, and international developments all had roles to play. Jeremy Smith presents the dramatic events of 1985-91 in a clear and succinct form, setting out a variety of interpretations for the demise of communism in the Soviet Union, and suggesting new approaches to answering the unresolved question of why it happened. Smith discusses the long-term and short-term factors behind the extraordinary collapse, assessing the impact of economic crisis, nationalism, personalities and democratization in the process.

The Fall of the Soviet Union, 1991

The Fall of the Soviet Union, 1991 PDF

Author: Susan Sales Harkins

Publisher: Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc.

Published: 2008-09

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 1612288375

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Soviet history begins with bloodshed, oppression, and strife. Civil War stained the Russian landscape with the blood of its people after Nicholas II abdicated his throne to a provisional government. The Bolsheviks wanted Russia, and eventually they took her. Peasants became citizens with rights, but the truth is, the civil war only changed the name of their oppressor—from czar to Communist dictator. After decades of isolation and sometimes harsh living conditions, Mikhail Gorbachev ushered in an age of reform, but in doing so, he made enemies. Then, Boris Yeltsin championed reform and the rights of the people. When Communist hard-liners made one last effort to regain control, Yeltsin held his ground. Unlike its birth, the death of the Soviet Union saw little bloodshed. After seventy years, even the Communist hard-liners no longer had the stomach for killing citizens to keep control. The union dissolved in 1991.

The Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union

The Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union PDF

Author: William E. Watson

Publisher: Greenwood

Published: 1998-05-26

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13:

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A one-stop source of information, analysis, biographical profiles, and key primary documents on the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union. Studies the rise and fall of a superpower and its ruling party. Following a chronology of events, five essays provide a narrative overview and discuss the evolution of Perestroika, the Brezhnev Doctrine and the Afghan War, nationalism and the end of the Soviet empire, and Russia after the collapse of Communism. Also contains biographical profiles of 15 leaders; the text of 22 documents, including writings by key figures; a glossary; and an annotated bibliography.

Collapse

Collapse PDF

Author: Vladislav M. Zubok

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 0300262442

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A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union—showing how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms led to its demise “A deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times “[A] masterly analysis.”—Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong with five thousand nuclear-tipped missiles and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century. Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances—and the fragility of authoritarian state power.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union, Updated Edition

The Collapse of the Soviet Union, Updated Edition PDF

Author: Susan Darraj

Publisher: Chelsea House Publications

Published: 2021-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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The dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on December 31, 1991, stunned the world. The communist empire-which had been a dominant force in global politics for 74 years, influencing world events from World War II to issues of nuclear weapons and defense-was suddenly gone. Illustrated with full-color and black-and-white photographs, and accompanied by a chronology, bibliography, and further resources, The Collapse of the Soviet Union, Updated Edition highlights major events in Soviet history, such as the rise of communism in Russia, the terror and expansionist policies of Joseph Stalin, the election of Mikhail Gorbachev, the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, and the rivalry between Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin as a new, more democratic Russia emerged from the ashes of the Soviet Union. Historical spotlights and excerpts from primary source documents are also included.

The Last Superpower Summits

The Last Superpower Summits PDF

Author: Svetlana Savranskaya

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2016-11-01

Total Pages: 1080

ISBN-13: 9633861713

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This book publishes for the first time in print every word the American and Soviet leaders – Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and George H.W. Bush – said to each other in their superpower summits from 1985 to 1991. Obtained by the authors through the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S., from the Gorbachev Foundation and the State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow, and from the personal donation of Anatoly Chernyaev, these previously Top Secret verbatim transcripts combine with key declassified preparatory and after-action documents from both sides to create a unique interactive documentary record of these historic highest-level talks – the conversations that ended the Cold War. The summits fueled a process of learning on both sides, as the authors argue in contextual essays on each summit and detailed headnotes on each document. Geneva 1985 and Reykjavik 1986 reduced Moscow's sense of threat and unleashed Reagan's inner abolitionist. Malta 1989 and Washington 1990 helped dampen any superpower sparks that might have flown in a time of revolutionary change in Eastern Europe, set off by Gorbachev and by Eastern Europeans (Solidarity, dissidents, reform Communists). The high level and scope of the dialogue between these world leaders was unprecedented, and is likely never to be repeated.

Political Will and Personal Belief

Political Will and Personal Belief PDF

Author: Paul Hollander

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780300076202

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The unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 signaled the demise of a political and economic system that was widely perceived as durable, the preeminent rival to that of the United States. Less conspicuous than the momentous political transformations were the altered beliefs, aspirations, and illusions of the individuals who had maintained and led that system. In this original interpretation the eminent sociologist Paul Hollander focuses on the human aspects of the failure of Soviet communism. He examines how members of the Soviet political elite, leaders in communist Czechoslovakia and Hungary, high-ranking officials in agencies of control and coercion, and distinguished defectors and exiles experienced the erosion of ideals that undermined the political system they had once believed in.

The Development of Capitalism in Russia

The Development of Capitalism in Russia PDF

Author: Vladimir I. Lenin

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781410213006

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CONTENTS The Development of Capitalism in Russia The Theoretical Mistakes of the Narodnik Economists The Differentiation of the Peasantry The Landowners' Transition from Corvée to Capitalist Economy The Growth of Commercial Agriculture The First Stages of Capitalism in Industry Capitalist Manufacture and Capitalist Domestic Industry The Development of Large-Scale Machine Industry The Formation of the Home Market

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