Breakup of the Soviet Union and Gorbachev
In one week, the summer of 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, became history. The forces of reform unleashed by President Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid 1980's generated a democratic movement. "Mr. Gorbachev may be revered for the democratic forces he unleashed- his policies of perestroika, or reconstructing, and glasnost, or openness. However, his failure to put food on Soviet tables and his reluctance to move boldly on economic reforms doomed him to be a failure" (Sieff). His economic policies threw his country into even more turmoil and chaos, as the different nationalities used their new freedoms to move away from the union. "Gorbachev sincerely wanted to reform the communist system, but he did not want to eliminate it. He recognized there was a lot of wrong with his country, but right to the end, he never grasped the extent of the problem" (Russia). As a result, the breakup of the Soviet Union was not a singular event that occurred overnight, rather was caused by decades of neglect and abuse to the former nations by the central communist government. A government that would never end, but find ways to cover-up its identity. From the start of the Twenty- Seventh Party Congress in 1986, perestroika, Mikhail Gorbache
One of the biggest reasons why the Soviet Union had a breakup was because of the problem of ethnicity. USSR "contained more than one hundred ethnic group where fifty- two percent ranged in the hundreds as population, and twenty- three percent ranged beyond one million" (Russia). People were classified according to physical traits, material culture, spiritual culture and way of life. Two hundred different languages were spoken, and although Russian was the official language, this wide range presented problems. "The government became less and less ethnically representative as a result of slow demographic growth of the ethnic Russians and the rapid growth of other ethnic groups" (Russia). This of course angered many citizens since their voices were not heard and changes could not be made to satisfy them. In Lithuania, the third biggest ethnic group were Poles who made up "seven percent of the population" (The Baltic). Poles were not even Russians, but a different culture from another European nations. Obviously, brawls and fighting will occur among groups that can not communicate together. Food is the most essential consumer good. Except for agriculture, Soviet planners traditionally neglected the consumer sector, emphasizing on heavy industry instead. The result was "an economy dominated by a massive and successful military-heavy industrial base coupled with an agricultural base that at best muddled through. Little else was left for other consumer goods, and many goods that were produced were of such poor quality that few people wanted to buy them" (Russia). The economy therefore consisted of a heavy industrial and armed forces sector equivalent with that of a developed country, alongside a consumer sector comparable to that of a Third World country, "an economic paradox" (Russia). While the military and technology was important to the people, most screamed for "liberty, freedom, and bread". Hunger was spreading through Russia and the only way to cease it was to concentrate on cultivation; something a Communist government was not ready to do, or did not want to do. In the period between 1922 and 1939, drastic efforts were made by the USSR to suppress Ukrainian nationalism. Ukraine suffered terribly from the "forced collectivization of agriculture and the expropriation of foodstuffs from the countryside; the result was the famine of 1932-33, when more than seven million people died" (Ukraine). This is one of the reasons why Ukraine decided to leave the union. This is also the reason why other nations decided to follow in the country's footsteps. Seeing how Ukraine was being treated was more than enough to convince these nations that their turns were coming up. While all Russian nations were being treated harshly and unfairly, Ukraine was the nation that faced increasing problem form the centralized government. One reason why the USSR became upset with the idea that Ukraine was leaving the union was because "industry contributes more than 40 percent of total net material product (NMP) and accounts for more than one-fourth of total employment" (Ukraine). This country was known for its agriculture and all that it contributed to union. Agriculture accounts for about "30 percent of total NMP and one-fourth of total employment" (Ukraine). Ukraine is a major producer and exporter of a variety of agricultural products, including wheat and sugar beets. Other crops include potatoes, vegetables, fruit, sunflowers, and flax. Livestock raising is also important. As a result of its succession, Russia suffered greatly and domestic food consumption has decreased. NMP declined by about 30 percent in 1992, one of the sharpest drops among the former Soviet republics. Mr. Gorbachev, like previous Russian autocrats who "unleashed reform and permitted freedom but though they could still control it from above", was taken aback, and was not amused, when his people used their new freedom to criticize him (Russia). He created a parliament system
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2764
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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