Disintegration of the Soviet Union | ISC Class 11 Political Science Notes

This note covers the disintegration of the Soviet Union: what the Soviet system was, its strengths and weaknesses, the political and economic stagnation that undermined it, Gorbachev's reforms and why they failed, the rise of nationalism in the republics, how the Soviet Union came to an end in 1991, and its impact in the end of the Cold War, the shift in world power and the emergence of new states.

What was the Soviet system?

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) came into being after the socialist revolution in Russia in 1917. The revolution was inspired by the ideals of socialism, as opposed to capitalism, and the need for an egalitarian society.

It was perhaps the biggest attempt in human history to abolish private property and consciously design a society based on equality. The makers of the Soviet system gave primacy to the state and the party.

The political system centred on the Communist Party, and no other party or opposition was allowed. The economy was planned and controlled by the state.

After the Second World War, the east European countries that the Soviet army had liberated from the fascist forces came under Soviet control. Their political and economic systems were modelled on the USSR.

This group was called the Second World or the socialist bloc, held together by a military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, with the USSR as its leader.

Definition: Second World. The Second World was the bloc of the Soviet Union and the east European countries whose political and economic systems were modelled on the USSR and which were held together by the Warsaw Pact.

The Soviet Union became a great power after the Second World War. Its economy was more developed than the rest of the world except the US.

It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and steel, machinery production, and a transport sector that reached its remotest areas.

The Soviet state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens and subsidised health, education, childcare and other welfare schemes. Land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the state.

What were the weaknesses of the Soviet system?

The Soviet system became very bureaucratic and authoritarian, making life very difficult for its citizens. The lack of democracy and of freedom of speech stifled people, who often expressed their dissent through jokes and cartoons.

The one-party system of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union had tight control over all institutions and was unaccountable to the people. Most institutions of the Soviet state needed reform.

The party refused to recognise the urge of the people in the fifteen republics that formed the Soviet Union to manage their own affairs, including their cultural affairs. On paper, Russia was only one of the fifteen republics.

In reality Russia dominated everything, and people from other regions felt neglected and often suppressed.

The Soviet domestic consumer industry produced everything from pins to cars, but the quality did not match that of the Western capitalist countries. These weaknesses meant that the system failed to meet the aspirations of the people even while it remained a military superpower.

How did economic stagnation weaken the Soviet Union?

In the arms race, the Soviet Union managed to match the US from time to time, but at great cost. It lagged behind the West in technology, in infrastructure such as transport and power, and above all in fulfilling the political and economic aspirations of its citizens.

The Soviet economy used much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and military arsenal and in developing its satellite states in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet system, especially the five Central Asian republics. This created a huge economic burden the system could not cope with.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 weakened the system further. Though wages kept growing, productivity and technology fell far behind those of the West. This led to shortages in all consumer goods, and food imports increased every year. By the late 1970s the economy was faltering and became stagnant.

At the same time, ordinary citizens became more aware of the economic advance of the West and could see the disparities.

After years of being told that the Soviet system was better than Western capitalism, the reality of its backwardness came as a political and psychological shock. A large section of society began to doubt and question the system openly.

How did political and administrative stagnation weaken the system?

The Soviet Union had also become stagnant in an administrative and political sense. The Communist Party, which had ruled for over 70 years, was not accountable to the people.

Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, rampant corruption, the inability of the system to correct its mistakes, the unwillingness to allow more openness in government, and the centralisation of authority in a vast land.

Worse still, the party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens. People did not identify with the system or the rulers, and the government increasingly lost popular backing.

Together, economic and political stagnation meant that the internal weaknesses of Soviet political and economic institutions, which failed to meet the aspirations of the people, lay at the root of the collapse.

What were Gorbachev's reforms, and why did they fail?

Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985 and sought to reform the system. Reforms were needed to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West.

Gorbachev introduced the economic and political reform policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). He promised to reform the economy, catch up with the West and loosen the administrative system.

He also normalised relations with the West, stopped the arms race with the US and withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and eastern Europe.

These policies had effects that neither he nor anyone else intended. People in the east European countries of the Soviet bloc began protesting against their own governments and Soviet control. Unlike in the past, the Soviet Union under Gorbachev did not intervene, and the communist regimes collapsed one after another.

Within the USSR, loosening the system set in motion forces and expectations that became virtually impossible to control. Some sections felt Gorbachev was moving too slowly and were impatient with his methods.

Others, especially Communist Party members who were served by the system, felt their power and privileges eroding and that he was moving too quickly.

In this tug of war, Gorbachev lost support on all sides and divided public opinion. Even his supporters became disillusioned, feeling that he did not adequately defend his own policies.

How did the rise of nationalism break up the Soviet Union?

The collapse might not have happened but for a development that surprised most observers: the rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within the republics, including Russia, the Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Ukraine and Georgia. This proved the final and most immediate cause of disintegration.

There are differing views. One view is that nationalist feelings were at work throughout Soviet history and would have produced an internal struggle with or without reform, given the size and diversity of the USSR.

The other is that Gorbachev's reforms speeded up and increased nationalist dissatisfaction beyond the government's control.

Ironically, during the Cold War many expected nationalist unrest to be strongest in the Central Asian republics, because of their ethnic and religious differences and economic backwardness. Instead it was strongest in the more European and prosperous parts: Russia, the Baltic areas, Ukraine and Georgia.

Ordinary people there felt alienated from the Central Asians and from each other, and concluded that they were paying too high an economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Soviet Union.

The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain in the Soviet federation.

How did the Soviet Union come to an end?

The end came through a rapid chain of events between 1985 and 1991:

1. March 1985: Gorbachev became General Secretary, appointed Boris Yeltsin head of the party in Moscow and began reforms.
2. June 1988: an independence movement began in Lithuania and spread to Estonia and Latvia.
3. October to November 1989: the Soviet Union declared Warsaw Pact members free to decide their own futures, and the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November.
4. February 1990: Gorbachev ended the Communist Party's 72-year monopoly on power by calling for multi-party politics.
5. March 1990: Lithuania became the first of the 15 republics to declare independence; in June the Russian parliament declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
6. June to August 1991: Yeltsin, no longer in the Communist Party, became President of Russia, and party hardliners staged an abortive coup against Gorbachev.
7. December 1991: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine annulled the 1922 Treaty creating the USSR and established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Gorbachev resigned on 25 December, the end of the Soviet Union.

Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero by opposing the 1991 coup. The people had tasted freedom and did not want the old-style rule of the Communist Party.

Power shifted from the Soviet centre to the republics, which saw themselves as sovereign states. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was banned, and capitalism and democracy were adopted as the bases of the post-Soviet republics.

The declaration on the CIS surprised the other republics, especially in Central Asia. Their exclusion was quickly solved by making them founding members of the CIS. Russia was accepted as the successor state of the Soviet Union and inherited its seat in the UN Security Council.

How did the disintegration end the Cold War?

The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to separate East Berlin from West Berlin, symbolised the division between the capitalist and communist worlds. More than 150 kilometres long, it stood for 28 years until people broke it on 9 November 1989.

This marked the unification of Germany and the beginning of the end of the communist bloc.

The collapse of the Second World first meant the end of Cold War confrontations. The ideological dispute over whether socialism would beat capitalism was no longer an issue.

Since that dispute had engaged the military of two blocs, triggered a massive arms race and accumulation of nuclear weapons, and created military blocs, its end demanded an end to the arms race and a possible new peace.

It is significant that the Cold War ended not by military means but through the mass actions of ordinary men and women. One after another, the eight east European countries of the Soviet bloc replaced their communist governments in response to mass demonstrations, while the Soviet Union stood by.

Russia accepted all the international treaties and commitments of the Soviet Union and took over as the only nuclear state of the post-Soviet space, carrying out some nuclear disarmament measures with the US.

Bipolar versus unipolar world: how did the balance of power change?

The second consequence was a change in power relations in world politics. The end of the Cold War left two possibilities: the remaining superpower could dominate and create a unipolar system, or several countries could become important players in a multipolar system. As it turned out, the US became the sole superpower.

Backed by the power and prestige of the US, capitalism became the dominant economic system internationally. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund became powerful advisers to the former communist countries, since they gave them loans for their transition to capitalism.

Russia and India both say they prefer a multipolar world order: the co-existence of several powers, collective security, greater regionalism, negotiated settlement of conflicts and decision making through a strengthened UN.

Which new states emerged, and what did they face?

The third consequence was the emergence of many new countries, each with its own aspirations and choices. The fifteen former republics became independent states, and Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the Czech and Slovak republics.

Some states, especially the Baltic and east European states, wanted to join the European Union and NATO; the three Baltic republics became UN members in September 1991 and joined NATO in March 2004.

The Central Asian countries wanted to use their location to keep close ties with Russia while building ties with the West, the US and China.

The transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist one was painful. The model influenced by the World Bank and the IMF, known as shock therapy, required a total shift to capitalism, privatisation of state assets, free trade and the break-up of the old trade links among the Soviet bloc countries.

In Russia about 90 per cent of industries were put up for sale, the ruble declined dramatically, inflation wiped out savings, and Russia's real GDP in 1999 was below its 1989 level. Most economies, especially Russia, began reviving only around 2000, mainly through exports of oil, natural gas and minerals.

Many new states also faced conflict. Chechnya and Dagestan saw secessionist movements in Russia, Tajikistan had a civil war until 2001, and Yugoslavia broke apart after 1991 into a severe inter-ethnic war that drew NATO intervention.

What did the end of the Soviet Union mean for India?

During the Cold War, India and the USSR enjoyed a special relationship, so close that critics said India was part of the Soviet camp. The Soviet Union gave aid and technical help for steel plants such as Bhilai, Bokaro and Visakhapatnam and for Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., and accepted Indian currency for trade when India was short of foreign exchange.

Politically, the Soviet Union supported India's position on Kashmir in the UN and stood by India during its major conflicts, especially the war with Pakistan in 1971. Militarily, India received most of its hardware from the Soviet Union, and the two countries agreed to produce military equipment jointly.

After the collapse, India kept good relations with all the post-communist countries, but its strongest relationship remained with Russia, the successor state. More than 80 bilateral agreements were signed under the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001.

India benefits from Russia on Kashmir, energy supplies, information on international terrorism, access to Central Asia and balancing its relations with China. Russia benefits because India is its second largest arms market. Russia has helped India during oil crises, in its nuclear energy plans and in its space industry, for example by providing the cryogenic rocket. Both countries share a vision of a multipolar world order.

Glossary

• USSR: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, formed after the 1917 revolution and made up of fifteen republics.
• Second World: the socialist bloc of the USSR and east European countries modelled on it.
• Warsaw Pact: the military alliance that held the socialist bloc together under Soviet leadership.
• Cold War: the rivalry between the US-led capitalist bloc and the Soviet-led communist bloc that ended with the Soviet collapse.
• Perestroika: Gorbachev's policy of economic and political restructuring.
• Glasnost: Gorbachev's policy of openness in government and public life.
• Economic stagnation: the failure of the Soviet economy to grow by the late 1970s, with falling productivity and consumer shortages.
• Nationalism: the desire of the peoples of the republics for sovereignty and control of their own affairs.
• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS): the association set up in December 1991 by Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, later joined by other former republics.
• Successor state: Russia's status after 1991, inheriting the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council and its treaties.
• Unipolar system: a world order dominated by a single superpower.
• Shock therapy: the rapid transition model from socialism to capitalism influenced by the World Bank and the IMF.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: the Soviet Union collapsed because of a military defeat. Correct: it collapsed through internal weaknesses and mass actions by ordinary people, not by military means.
• Misconception: Gorbachev's reforms were meant to break up the Soviet Union. Correct: they were meant to reform and strengthen it, but released forces and expectations no one could control.
• Misconception: nationalist unrest was strongest in the Central Asian republics. Correct: it was strongest in the European and prosperous parts: Russia, the Baltic areas, Ukraine and Georgia.
• Misconception: Russia was always only one equal republic among fifteen. Correct: on paper it was, but in reality Russia dominated everything.
• Misconception: the end of the Cold War produced a multipolar world at once. Correct: the US emerged as the sole superpower, giving a unipolar system.
• Misconception: the Central Asian republics led the demand to dissolve the USSR. Correct: they did not ask for independence; Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared the Union disbanded.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Who became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985 and began reforms? [1 mark]

1. Mikhail Gorbachev, who introduced perestroika and glasnost.

Q2. What do perestroika and glasnost mean? [2 marks]

1. Perestroika means restructuring, Gorbachev's policy of economic and political reform.
2. Glasnost means openness, his policy of greater freedom of expression and openness in government.

Q3. Name the three republics that declared the Soviet Union disbanded in December 1991, and the body they set up. [2 marks]

1. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared the Soviet Union disbanded.
2. They set up the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Q4. Explain how economic stagnation contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. [4 marks]

1. The Soviet Union spent heavily on its nuclear and military arsenal to match the US in the arms race.
2. It also bore the cost of supporting satellite states in Eastern Europe and the Central Asian republics.
3. Productivity and technology fell behind the West, causing shortages of consumer goods and rising food imports, worsened by the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.
4. As citizens learned of the West's advance, the gap came as a shock and they began to question the system openly.

Q5. Why did Gorbachev's reforms fail to save the Soviet Union? [4 marks]

1. Loosening the system released forces and expectations that became virtually impossible to control.
2. Some sections felt he was moving too slowly and became impatient.
3. Communist Party members who benefited from the system felt he was moving too quickly and losing them privileges.
4. Caught in this tug of war, he lost support on all sides, while rising nationalism in the republics finished the Union.

Q6. Discuss the causes of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and its impact on world politics. [8 marks]

1. Political stagnation: the one-party Communist rule of over 70 years was unaccountable, bureaucratic, corrupt and privileged.
2. Economic stagnation: the arms race, support for satellite states and the Afghanistan invasion of 1979 caused shortages and a faltering economy.
3. Gorbachev's reforms of perestroika and glasnost from 1985 released uncontrollable forces and lost him support on all sides.
4. The rise of nationalism in Russia, the Baltic republics, Ukraine and Georgia was the final and most immediate cause.
5. Impact: the Cold War confrontation ended, demanding an end to the arms race.
6. The US became the sole superpower, creating a unipolar system with capitalism dominant.
7. The World Bank and the IMF became powerful advisers to the transition economies.
8. Many new states emerged, some joining the EU and NATO, while others faced painful transitions and conflicts.

Q7. Why was nationalist dissatisfaction strongest in the European parts of the Soviet Union? [4 marks]

1. Many expected unrest to be strongest in Central Asia because of its ethnic and religious differences and economic backwardness.
2. Instead it was strongest in Russia, the Baltic areas, Ukraine and Georgia.
3. People there felt alienated from the Central Asians and from each other.
4. They felt they were paying too high an economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Union.

Key takeaways

• The USSR, formed after the 1917 revolution, was a one-party state with a planned economy and led the Second World through the Warsaw Pact.
• It became a great power with welfare guarantees, but grew bureaucratic, authoritarian and dominated by Russia.
• Economic stagnation came from the arms race, support for satellite states, the 1979 Afghanistan invasion and falling productivity.
• Political stagnation came from an unaccountable party, corruption, centralisation and bureaucratic privilege.
• Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost from 1985 released forces he could not control and lost him support on all sides.
• Rising nationalism, strongest in the European republics, was the final and most immediate cause of collapse.
• In December 1991 Russia, Ukraine and Belarus formed the CIS, and the Soviet Union ended with Gorbachev's resignation on 25 December.
• The collapse ended the Cold War, made the US the sole superpower and brought many new states into being.

Test yourself

When did the USSR come into being?

It came into being after the socialist revolution in Russia in 1917, inspired by the ideals of socialism.

What was the Warsaw Pact?

The military alliance that held the socialist bloc of the USSR and east European countries together.

When was the Berlin Wall broken, and what did it mark?

It was broken by the people on 9 November 1989, marking the unification of Germany and the beginning of the end of the communist bloc.

Which republic was the first to declare independence?

Lithuania, in March 1990, became the first of the fifteen Soviet republics to declare its independence.

Who emerged as a national hero by opposing the 1991 coup?

Boris Yeltsin, who had been elected the first President of Russia in June 1991.

Which country became the successor state of the Soviet Union?

Russia, which inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council and its international treaties.

What kind of world order followed the Soviet collapse?

A unipolar order, with the US as the sole superpower and capitalism dominant internationally.

What was shock therapy?

The rapid transition model to capitalism, influenced by the World Bank and the IMF, based on privatisation and free trade.