Editing Content :: Admin Scraper

Chapter

Content type

Position

Value

4 Contemporary World Politics A Communist Party bureaucrat drives down from Moscow to a collective farm to register a potato harvest. “Comrade farmer, how has the harvest been this year?” the official asks. “Oh, by the grace of God, we had mountains of potatoes,” answers the LEADERS OF THE SOVIET UNION farmer. “But there is no God,” counters the official. “Huh”, says the farmer, “And there are no mountains of potatoes either.” The declaration on the there may be more general disintegrationoftheUSSRandthe lessons to be drawn from this formationoftheCommonwealthof very important case. Independent States (CIS) came as There is no doubt that Nikita Khrushchev a surprise to the other republics, the internal weaknesses of (1894-1971) especially to the Central Asian ones. The exclusion of these Soviet political and economic Leader of the institutions, which failed to meet Soviet Union republics was an issue that was the aspirations of the people, were (1953-64); quickly solved by making them denounced founding members of the CIS. responsible for the collapse of Stalin’s leadership the system. Economic stagnation style and Russia was now accepted as for many years led to severe introduced the successor state of the Soviet some reforms in Union. It inherited the Soviet seat consumer shortages and a large section of Soviet society began to 1956; suggested intheUNSecurityCouncil.Russia doubt and question the system “peaceful accepted all the international coexistence” treaties and commitments of the and to do so openly. with the West; involved in Soviet Union. It took over as the Why did the system become suppressing only nuclear state of the post- so weak and why did the economy popular rebellion Soviet space and carried out some stagnate? The answer is partially nuclear disarmament measures in Hungary and in clear. The Soviet economy the Cuban missile with the US. The old Soviet Union used much of its resources in crisis. was thus dead and buried. maintaininganuclearandmilitary arsenal and the development of its satellite states in Eastern Europe W hy did the S oviet U nion and within the Soviet system (the D isintegrate ? five Central Asian Republics in How did the second most particular). This led to a huge powerful country in the world economic burden that the system suddenly disintegrate? This is a could not cope with. At the same question worth asking not just to time, ordinary citizens became understand the Soviet Union and more knowledgeable about the I am amazed! How could so many the end of communism but also economic advance of the West. sensitive people because it is not the first and may They could see the disparities all over the world not be the last political system to between their system and the admire a system like collapse. While there are unique systems of the West. After years this? features of the Soviet collapse, of being told that the Soviet Reprint 2026-27