The Collapse of the Soviet

Union
by: Julia Tammaro

Russian Civil War (1918-1921)

This was fought by Bolshevik red army and white army due to Bolshevik
forces. This hurt the Soviet Union because the red army won which were
Bolshevik.

Stalin's Five Year Plan (1928-1932)

Stalin established this plan to promote industrial growth. He wanted to
control the the economy so he forced collectivism farms. This hurt the Soviet
Union because the peasant were against the collectivism farms.

World War II ( 1939)

Stalin and Hitler signed a nonaggression pact. He invaded Finland then the
German broke the pact and invaded the USSR. Then Stalin destroyed anything
that may have helped the enemy. This hurt the Soviet Union because people
were devastated and the eastern europe was weakened.

Free Election in Poland, Czechoslovakia,

Hungary (1947)
This allowed Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary to have the chance to have
a free election. This helped the Soviet Union because it shows that they are
not always strict.

Joe 1 (1949)
Joe 1 is a Soviet project that was influenced by American, British, and
Canadian nuclear project. Stalin had the atomic bomb tested by detonating it
with succession. This helped the Soviet Union because since it was a success
it is an atomic bomb that can be used in war as a weapon.n

Creation of the Politburo (1952)

A politburo is a executive committee of the communist party created by the
Bolsheviks. Under Stalin, the General Secretary almost became a absolue that
had part of the soviet government control. Leaving the politburo member to
combine the ideas of the top like with the power as well. This may have
helped the Soviet Union because it consisted of about 12-15 members and 5-8
candidates and they are responsible just like the presidential council.

Hydrogen Bomb (1954)

The Soviet Union detonated the hydrogen bomb at the semipalatinsk test
site. And it is a super bomb that was started working on august 1946. This
helped the Soviet Union because it can be used to destroy an enemy and
destroy their capitalist system.

Warsaw Pact (1955)

This was a treaty for friendship, assistance and co-operations. And a treaty
that was for defense among the eight communist states. This helped the
soviet union because it helped with allies and not enemies. Meaning that
there would be less wars breaking out unless some of the communist states
breaks the Warsaw pact.

Sputnik (1957)
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik into space. Which marked the
start of space and the USSR race to space. It caught so much attention that it
caught the united states off guard. This helped the Soviet Union because they
started the launch. And it made people fear that if they could do that then
they could fire a missile easily.

Laika and Sputnik 3 (1957)

This was the first animal (Laika) that was launched into space for the first
time. This helped the Soviet Union because they were the first to put an
animal into outer space.

Creation of the Berlin Wall (1961)

The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic. This wall cut
off land from the West Berlin to East Berlin. Which separated the families and
job opportunities in the west.And the purpose was to keep westerns from
entering east germany and undetermined the socialist state. At first it helped
the Soviet Union because it did keep refugees out of the west.

Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)

The Soviet Union Warsaw pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia.They invaded
because some of the Warsaw pact member decided to refuse to participate.
This hurt the Soviet Union because they are attacked Czechoslovakia because
they refused to participate in the Warsaw Pact. Which now they dont have a
chance of them choosing to participate in the pact.

SALT I (1972)
This was a political and economical talk and about the treaties involving the
United States and the Soviet Union. This helped the Soviet Union because the
SALT lead to anti-ballistic missile treaty and agreement.

SALT II (1979)
This was also a talk about the treaties with the Soviet Union and United
States. This as well was an agreement just like the SALT II. But the United
States decided not to approve of the treaty because of the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan and then left the SALT II. This hurt the Soviet Union because the
United States did not agree with the treaty and then left which means that
they could have a problem which will result in a war.

Soviet- Afghan War (1979)

The Soviet Union sent out their troops into Afghanistan after political
tensions between afghanistan communist and rebels. This hurt the Soviet
Union because it put huge stress on them and lead to the collapse of the
nation.

Voting Reforms by Gorbachev (1985)

He created the idea of Glasnost believing that this would open up the
political system. This helped the Soviet Union because he gave more freedom
of expressing and not having the government control them.

Glasnost (1985)
This allowed the Churches to open, released people from prison and allowed
books to be published by banned authors. This helped the Soviet Union
because it opened up more freedom sorta cause they are able to have what
they didnt or wasnt allowed to have in the first place.

Gorbachev becomes Leader (1985)

He was elected by Russia to become a part of the soviet union. And he
wanted to hold back on the democracy. This helped the Soviet Union
because he wanted the support from the Soviet Union and he proposed a new
idea of the constitution for Russia.

Chernobyl Disaster (1986)

An accident in Chernobyl where the nuclear power plant exploded killing
thousands of workers and injuring people as well. This hurt the Soviet Union
because thousands of people were killed, losing lives of people.

Perestroika (1986)
Gorbachev introduced this idea of Perestroika which is the economic
restruction. The local managements were allowed to open small businesses
and they gained the ownership of their farms and factories. This helped the
Soviet Union because Gorbachev accomplished the economic system to be
more productive.

Lithuania and Latvia Protests (1989)

Baltic States formed a long chain of people to protest against the 15th
anniversary of the Soviet Union ruling. This hurt the Soviet Union because the
Baltic states like Lithuania and Latvia did not like the way the Soviet Union
was ruling.

Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)

East Berlin communist party announced that the west Berlin were allowed to
cross the border. People celebrated with champagne and flocked to the wall
and some people got a hammer and other tools and began to knock the
chunks of the wall down. This hurt the Soviet Union because it showed that
the communism wasnt has strict anymore. Free election, reforms and other
things were a change in the Soviet Union after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Gorbachev steps down (1991)

He helped establish a new system of government and ended communism.He
was put under house arrest by the communist party. And he faced a lot of
pressures from other people because they wanted more democratization.
This hurt the Soviet Union because after him not be able to handle the
pressure he resigned. Followed by the next day the Soviet Union was officially
gone.

Boris Yeltsin becomes president (1991)

He continued to push the reforms but increased resistance from elements
from the parliament. He won a seat in the parliament then followed by him
being re-elected by Russia to become the president. This helped the Soviet
Union because he was there shot to make them become strong again after
the fall of the Soviet Union.

Response
The Soviet Union collapsed because of many reasons. The leaders have lead them into this
problem. The soviet Union has been involved in many war like the soviet-Afghanistan war.
Which is where the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan because of a political reason. They
focus a lot on the military and war and trying to keep peace with every state as possible. I
believe that the Soviet Union could have survived. But only if they toke it easy on the wars
and focusing on other problems then trying to solve some by invasions and violence. The
leaders could have made better choices and it would of maybe had a shot of surviving and
not resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Work Cited
The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica. "Politburo (Soviet Political Body)."
Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
"Joseph Stalin." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
"Of Russian Origin: Politburo." Politburo Russiapedia Of Russian Origin. N.p., n.d.
Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
"Sputnik." Sputnik. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.