External factors in the demise of the USSR. Discuss.

C. Brown

In 1991 the Soviet Union, one of the greatest super powers in the world finally fell apart. This collapse was due to a number of factors, some of these were internal while others were from outside of the USSR. While all of these factors helped to bring about the demise of the Soviet Union the most important of these were the internal ones. An important internal factor in the collapse was the advent of nationalism in countries that were part of the Soviet Bloc. This led to many countries wanting independence after decades of being part of the Soviet Union, these movements eventually led to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. One of the stronger examples of nationalism were the three Baltic republics, that is Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. These had been merged into the Soviet Union as a result of the 1939 Nazi Soviet pact and because of this retained a stronger national identity and a greater desire to regain their independence. Eventually the pressure from nations such as these became great enough that the Soviet Union dissolved and 15 new independent republics were formed in its wake. The demise of the USSR was greatly aided by Boris Yeltsin who would go on to become the first elected President of Russia. He was significant for a number of reasons; one of the most important of these was how he presented himself. He offered a democratic alternative to Gorbachev, this made him popular with many people who had been given a taste of democracy from Gorbachev and wanted more. His stance as a Russian Nationalist also gained him much support among the people. This public support allowed him to block the attempted coup by communist hardliners and he went on to publically undermine Gorbachev. This paved the way for Yeltsin to meet with other state leaders who agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union on December the 8th 1991. However there were also external factors at play in the years leading up to the eventual breakup of the USSR. One of the most important of these was the actions of the US President Ronald Reagan. His aim was to outbid the Soviets in a second arms race in order to weaken their countries economy and open the possibility for a collapse. An example is the introduction of SDI or strategic defence initiative which Reagan proposed in 1983. It was a highly ambitious project that aimed at stopping missile attacks and cost a vast amount of money. However it was money that the US could afford to spend, when the Soviet Union tried to follow SDI it resulted in even more damage to their already ailing economy. These economic problems were a major part in the downfall of the USSR. The economic difficulties alienated Gorbachev and his government from the Soviet People who were suffering from food shortages and poor living conditions. This alienation meant that Yeltsin had much more support among ordinary people who were tired of suffering and wanted change. Gorbachevs policy of Perestroika was introduced in order to combat these difficulties and restructure the economy; however it did not work and in some areas made the problems worse. It was a step away from basic communism in that it allowed private ownership of businesses, communism was the vital glue that held together the Soviet Union and Perestroika weakened that bond between the nations that formed it. Perestroika was not Gorbachevs only policy to have an adverse effect on the Soviet Union. The policy of Glasnost allowed an unprecedented level of free speech which while good for the people was not good for the Soviet Union itself. It allowed nationalist movements to spread their message and people began to question why they needed to belong to a group of countries when it appeared to have no benefit. One of the most important results of Glasnost was that many of those living in the Soviet Bloc were able to see, often for the first time, what life was like in the West. The unrest caused by this fuelled nationalism is many countries and was another factor contributing to the demise of the Soviet Union.

Another important external factor to note is the lowering of hostilities between the US and the USSR in the late 1980s after the second arms race. The Soviet Ambassador from the time says that if Reagan had not abandoned his hostile stance toward the Soviet Union Gorbachev would not have been able to launch his reforms and his new thinking. This is an important point because without the impact of Gorbachevs reforms Yeltsin may never have had the right circumstances that eventually allowed him to help dissolve the Union. Through these points it can be seen that the internal factors did have a greater effect in the demise of the Soviet Union than the external ones. Key factors like the reforms and policies of Gorbachev such as Perestroika and Glasnost were important not just because of what they individually did but because of the effect they had on the people of the USSR. It showed that the ordinary people did have power when they acted together and because of their support Boris Yeltsin was able to achieve what Russia and many other countries wanted. Separation.