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Why did the soviet Union Collapse


michele

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So quickly.............

can anyone help with a crystal clear (kyte marked clarity ) reply...

It's for homework ... I have had enough searching the web everyone tellling you it in the title only to read it does not actually give you the answer... Help guy's & gal's...... (lol) Need it by the morning... ;-)

 

Come on lads no answers I'm still trawling the net trying to make sense of it all.....

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Guest starspirit
Because they could not afford to keep up with Reagan's 'star wars' space missile defence and attack costs and the cruise missiles stationed in the UK (because Yanks only fight their wars in someone else's back yard).
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Do you mean 'why did Gorbachev introduce glasnost  ("transparency" or "openness")and perestroika (economic restructuring)'.  or why did it collapse after Gorby?

eg  rise in nationalism -the USSR was made up of myriad countries, races, nationalites, cultures, etc held in check by fear - eg Stalin, not to mention all the separate countries in the eastern bloc, once the rule of fear ended they all went their separate ways - like Yugoslavia - held together by Tito, fell apart when he died. 

Have you tried wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost

or the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy  aka h2g2    http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/  

although both only offer opinion.

B-)

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foxy - 2007-02-06 2:42 PM Twooks, your not suggesting plagarism surely!

absolutely not, :->   always give credit where it is due, most 'copyrights' allow you to quote for school/college purposes

also, I find that 'wiki' usually manages to explain most simply so that I can understand 'em - also h2g2, where you have the added advantage of being able to question the writer. [or you did]

B-)

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michele - 2007-02-05 5:26 PM So quickly............. can anyone help with a crystal clear (kyte marked clarity ) reply... It's for homework ... I have had enough searching the web everyone tellling you it in the title only to read it does not actually give you the answer... Help guy's & gal's...... (lol) Need it by the morning... ;-) Come on lads no answers I'm still trawling the net trying to make sense of it all.....

michele babe's what a subject to take on, how far do you want to go back? how much time have you got? or better still how much paper. he he. Who set the question? I'll ask my friend she has been there and has a interest in the U.S.S.R.

 

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Guest starspirit

The spread of communication coincided with a more tolerant leader in Gorby who genuinely seemed to want to bring the USSR into the western world - although looking back with the benefit of hindsight I have to wonder whether it was really worth it - but that maybe is for a new thread?

 

It also coincided more or less with a huge and escalating arms race which the Yanks clearly won together with the desire of the two Germanies to reunite and Polish union rebellion etc etc.

 

Unrest throughout the empire spread so quickly and so deeply that in the end there was little the Ruskies could do to stop it so rather than lose face they went along with it.

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Unfortunately Twooks, the "other" countries allowed freedom of speech to become the starting blocks for freedom fighters, fed by corruption endemic in their genetic make up. Tribalism in other words.

Until the anglo-saxon genes filter through all the populations, rebelion will continue.

Eventually, all will become as placid as the English, who accept beaurocracies that dictate all aspects of living, from high taxation, control of movement, diversification of established customs, and continuing changes, to keep everyone uncertain of their individual futures.

Thanks for the compliment Michelle. Regarded as a high accolade !

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Guest Frank Wilkinson

The real answer is much more prosaic. Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader was in New York/>/> for a meeting of the United Nations. In the early hours of the morning, whilst being driven to his hotel he felt hungry and his driver took him to an all-night restaurant. Like St. Paul/> on the road to Damascus/>/> he had a sudden revelation and realised how free enterprise actually delivered the goods to the people. He simply was amazed that businesses generally try to fit in with the needs of their customers and that if there is a need for food at three in the morning, someone will eventually supply it.

 After returning to Moscow/>/> he set about overturning the old-style state-run Soviet Empire and introduced capitalism. Like Chicago/>/> with Prohibition many decades ago, the country has suffered from a far too quick change from one system to another but eventually, this will settle down.

 His job was made easier of course by some of the explanations already given in this thread, such as people’s realisation of how living standards in the western democracies were streets ahead of the Communist U.S.S.R. and the growing demand from the independent republics to be free of the yoke of Moscow/>/>.

 However, all of this began with one man’s ability to be able to buy a meal in the early hours of the morning in New York City/>/>!

 On such small things are great events begun!

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yeah, nice one Frank, didn't realise McDonald's were capable of inspiring such thoughts [JOKE!!! honest - I know you didn't mention Ronald's friends]

My other somewhat flip remark was actually directed more at the hijacking of truth by the media here and USA's apparent inability to register anything beyond their immediate borders.

I think Orwell's 1984 should be on a required list for everyone, with regular reptitions about every 10 years or so. 

It's not what you write / say that is important so much as the way it is understood.

B-)

'life is too short to be surrounded by morons' - midge ure

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