Soviet Union could not afford to be a superpower:-
War in Afghanistan provided crippling costs with very little reward
Few exportable goods
Most state industries were running at a loss
Nowhere near being self sufficient
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Initial problems-Society
Poor living conditions
Big gap in standard of living between Communist East and Capitalist West (western countries were starting to use computers, shops in the USSR were still having to use Abacuses)
Many workers were drunk at work
Very poor life expectancy-62 at the same time in Uk it was about 72
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Initial problems-Cost of Cold War
Space race-very very very expensive
Arms race for 35 years-also very expensive
Invasion of Afghanistan- by 1989 it had cost USSR 35bn roubles about £35bn
Lack of leadership
During his reign Brezhnev didn't do much to help the USSR's problems, it is claimed that he was partially brain dead for 3 years before his death!
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Policies-Glasnost
Openess not only in the USSR but with the World.
Russia needed help from any country willing to help-friendliness was more likely to help
Needed to reduce budget and wanted western investment and an arms limitation agreement
Censorship relaxed
Western ideas and culture flooded in eg. music, art, mcdonalds!
KGB (secret police) abolished
Free elections for local government
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Policies-Perestroika
Perestroika-Economic restructuring
Removal of price controls
reduce state control of economy
end monopolies
small private businmesess were allowed
Introduction of competition
Basically introducing capitilism into a Communist country-it wasn't going to work!!
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Why didn't they work?
Glasnost fed people's hunger for more freedom
opposition from Politburo for 'Westernising' USSR
Russian people didn't understand capitalism and put their prices at extortionate rates and so inflation was rapidly increasing
Slowly one by one each 'Satellite state' declared their independence( the Baltic states were first)
Gorbachev lost control
Members of the politburo organised a coup while Gorbachev was on Holiday
Boris Yeltsin stopped it and all of the seperate states declared that they did not want to be involved anymore
On christmas day 1991 Gorbachev resigned as president of a USSR that, effectively, no longer existed.
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