Mikhail Gorbachev ascended to power in 1985, bringing with him new ideas for radical changes in a struggling nation. Gorbachev demanded reforms however he did not anticipate the consequences. Society's dissatisfaction, dissolutionment and despair with the way communism operated resulted in change (Resnick 7). Gorbachev's reforms included glasnost

Creating a market economy was the greatest problem facing the former Soviet Union: its success depended on its new leaders ability at replacing the old system of central planning with a market economy. Yeltsin's plan for Russia was to increase the production of consumer goods and to improve the standard of living for all Russians. He encouraged private farming as a means to increase food production. Sure enough, a market was created and goods appeared on the shelves of private businesses however the consumer product was too expensive for the average citizen to purchase. When, in January 1992 the prices were deregulated, the cost of goods and services was freed and 60% of the people of Moscow were forced into poverty (Resnick 35). These private markets were extremely high priced compared to the price controlled goods of the previous communist government. Problems for the free market included a lack of property rights and legal structure, greed, desire for control and lack of police (Colton, Legvold 64). Russia lacked the financial disciple of a structure government and banking system.

The end of the Soviet Union turned disagreement between the problems of one state into deadly conflicts between separate states. Ethnicity was linked to political structure and to territory; boundaries of government units and territories were divided according to the ethnic composition of the population (Diuk and Karatnycky 85). A fight for power and property after the collapse of Soviet communism was everywhere. Power struggles between the old leaders and democratic forces often led to violent rioting or civil war, then usually resulted in some form of dictatorship. In Georgia, Armenia, Fizerbaijan, Tajilastan, conflicts broke out as they declared their independence then fought with each other over ethnic boundaries. Many factors contributed to the fall of communism but nationalism was the decisive force.

The desire for independence "broke the eternal union of fraternal people into 15 states" (Diuk and Karatnycky 1). Nearly half of the Soviet population was not Russian; therefore, the non-Russian people in USSR had an identity crisis (Diuk and Karatnycky 12). In the 1960s and 70s, inter-ethnic conflicts among national groups were already very intense; therefore, when "de-Stalinization" was introduced, all republics became committed to constructed democracy. Ethnic relations were affected by Stalin's designing of republic boundaries, which placed large national minorities with in each union republic, and by the ranking of republics and lesser ethnic homelands (Colton, Legvold 184). Seven decades of communist rule resulted in disrespect and resentment for government. Each nation was trying to figure out who they were and belonged in the world. Nationalism becomes an ideology within newly independent states (Diuk and Karatnycky 106). Loyalty to independent republics confused the lines of authorities and caused the division of the country. The republics (non-Russian) wanted to reach national independence but they tend to lose focus. The ethnic revolts of the 1980's became the international relations of the 1990s.

In Russia and the other former Soviet republics, unemployment was not known to its citizens during the reign of communism. Unemployment causes poverty; this rising poverty impeded the realization of market economies and democratic reforms (Unicef 8). The high rate of inflation in 1992 was caused by "the continuing monetization of economic activity without control over the supply of money and credit" (Colton, Legvold 55). The high level of inflation added to the poverty as wages "fell" in relation to rising prices. In an attempt to bring down inflation, and to restrict deficits, Yeltsin stopped the subsidies to inefficient in

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2543
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)