Leaders' Influence on Economy

Berlin Wall (Soviet Union):

Stalin:
Creation (1961):
Centralized economic
Constructed by East
planning with Five-Year
Germany to prevent
Plans.
defections to West Berlin.
Forced industrialization but
Symbolized the ideological
at a heavy cost.
divide between communism
Khrushchev:

EXERCISE 13
and capitalism.
Attempted agricultural
Fall (1989):
reforms (Virgin Lands
Triggered by the policies of
Campaign).
Gorbachev.
Represented the end of the ANDRES RAMIREZ Focus on consumer goods.
Brezhnev:
Cold War and the
Economic stagnation
reunification of Germany.
despite stability.
Signaled the decline of
Heavy emphasis on military
communism in Eastern
spending.
Europe.
Gorbachev:
Reasons for Building:
Introduced economic
Political reasons to stop the
reforms (Perestroika) to
exodus of skilled labor.
modernize the economy.
Symbol of the Iron Curtain
Shifted towards a more
and ideological divide.
open and market-oriented
system.