Scribd
Upload
95 views11 pages

End of Bipolarity

The document summarizes the reasons for the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It discusses several key factors: the economic stagnation of the Soviet system led to consumer shortages; extensive military spending burdened the economy; Gorbachev's reforms increased expectations for change but also uncertainty; rising nationalism in republics like Russia, Ukraine and the Baltics increased desires for sovereignty; and resentment grew regarding supporting less developed central Asian republics. The combination of these internal political, economic and social issues ultimately led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and formation of independent post-Soviet states.

Uploaded by

sst nkbps
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
95 views11 pages

End of Bipolarity

The document summarizes the reasons for the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It discusses several key factors: the economic stagnation of the Soviet system led to consumer shortages; extensive military spending burdened the economy; Gorbachev's reforms increased expectations for change but also uncertainty; rising nationalism in republics like Russia, Ukraine and the Baltics increased desires for sovereignty; and resentment grew regarding supporting less developed central Asian republics. The combination of these internal political, economic and social issues ultimately led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and formation of independent post-Soviet states.

Uploaded by

sst nkbps
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

The End of

Bipolarity
COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATE
 • The declaration on the disintegration of the USSR and the
formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came
as a surprise to the other republics, especially to the Central Asian
ones.

• Russia was now accepted as the successor state of the Soviet


Union.

• Russia accepted all the international treaties and commitments of


the Soviet Union. It took over as the only nuclear state of the post
Soviet space and carried out some nuclear disarmament measures
with the US. The old Soviet Union was thus dead and buried.
WHY DID THE SOVIET UNION DISINTEGRATE?
• It is studied in different points:-

• Economic Stagnation
• Expenses on military aspects
• Awareness of people
• Stagnant in an administration and
political sense
• Role of Gorbachev’s
• The rise of nationalism and the desire
for sovereignty
• Desire to get rid of backward central
republics
ECONOMIC STAGNATION
1.• Internal weaknesses of Soviet political and economic
institutions, which failed to meet the aspirations of the
people,

2.• Economic stagnation for many years led to severe


consumer shortages and a large section of Soviet society
began to doubt and question the system and to do so
openly.
EXPENSES ON MILITARY ASPECTS
 • The Soviet economy used much of its
resources in maintaining a nuclear

• Military arsenal and the development of


its satellite states in Eastern Europe and
within the Soviet system (the five
Central Asian Republics in particular).

• This led to a huge economic burden


that the system could not cope with.
AWARENESS OF PEOPLE 
• ordinary citizens became more
knowledgeable about the economic advance of
the West

. • They could see the disparities between their


system and the systems of the West.

• After years of being told that the Soviet


system was better than Western capitalism, the
reality of its backwardness came as a political
and psychological shock.
STAGNANT IN AN ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICAL SENSE 

• The Communist Party that had ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years
was not accountable to the people.

• Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration,


rampant corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes it had
made, the unwillingness to allow more openness in government, and the
centralization of authority in a vast land.

• the party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens.

• People did not identify with the system and with the rulers, and the
government increasingly lost popular backing. 
ROLE OF GORBACHEV’S
 • He set in motion forces and expectations that few could have predicted
and became virtually impossible to control.

• There were sections of Soviet society which felt that Gorbachev should
have moved much faster and were disappointed and impatient with his
methods. They did not benefit in the way they had hoped, or they
benefited too slowly.

• Some thought the opposite that their power and privileges were eroding
and Gorbachev was moving too quickly.

• Lost support on all sides and divided public opinion. Even those who
were with him became disillusioned as they felt that he did not adequately
defend his own policies. 
THE RISE OF NATIONALISM AND THE DESIRE
FOR SOVEREIGNTY 
 • within various republics including Russia and the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia, and others proved to be the final and most immediate cause
for the disintegration of the USSR

. Here again there are differing views:-


• One view is that nationalist urges and feelings were very much at work throughout the
history of the Soviet Union and that whether or not the reforms had occurred there would
have been an internal struggle within the Soviet Union. it is not an unreasonable view given
the size and diversity of the Soviet Union and its growing internal problems.

• Others think that Gorbachev’s reforms speeded up and increased nationalist dissatisfaction
to the point that the government and rulers could not control it
DESIRE TO GET RID OF BACKWARD CENTRAL
REPUBLICS
• Ironically, during the Cold War many thought that nationalist unrest would be
strongest in the Central Asian republics given their ethnic and religious
differences with the rest of the Soviet Union and their economic backwardness.

• Dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union was strongest in the more “European”
and prosperous part – in Russia and the Baltic areas as well as Ukraine and
Georgia.

• Ordinary people here felt alienated from the Central Asians and from each
other and concluded also that they were paying too high an economic price to
keep the more backward areas within the Soviet Union. 
Thank You!
Made by Atharav & Arushi

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy