1980-1991 End of the Cold War, 1921-1991 🇷🇺 Communist Russia
Factors
External reasons
Military
Link to original
- 1979-1989 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a 'bleeding wound' + discredited USSR in Middle East & Third World
- Brezhnev’s Developing World ambitions faced setbacks (Egypt, Iran, Africa) + $40b cost of supporting Cuba, VIetnam, Ethiopia, Aghanistan
- Gorby inherited these problems
- Reagan’s 'systematic challenge' of the 'evil empire' & SDI worried leaders in Kremlin
- 📉 Oil revenues decreasing – reverse oil shock, $35 to $16 per barrel
- nationalism
- influences from outside world weakened Soviet systems
- 1990: first McDonald’s opens in Moscow
- growing developing world economies undermined Lenin’s imperialism
Internal
- 60 years of communist rule
- planned economy failed to generate growth
Economic
- 📉 economic growths declining since late 1950s → increasing gross national product gap between USSRS and US
- GNP: total value of all finished goods and services produced by a country’s citizens + output generated by country's businesses, domestically and abroad
- 📈 40% of state budget going towards armed forces
- Soviet society lagging behind in development of new technology (esp. computing)
- ❌ “All my friends are falling in love, and I’m falling behind”
✅ “All my friends are developing tech, and I’m falling behind”
- ❌ “All my friends are falling in love, and I’m falling behind”
- 📉 Oil revenues decreasing – reverse oil shock, $35 to $16 per barrel
- 📉 economic growths declining since late 1950s → increasing gross national product gap between USSRS and US
- Gorbachev’s reforms opened a floodgate → collapse
- lack of timing
- conflict with Yeltsin