The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The End of an Empire

by Andrew Langley

At midnight on December 31, 1991, the flag of the Soviet Union came down for the last time, signaling the end of Soviet power and the end of the communist dream. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Soviet leaders had aimed to establish communism throughout the world. But early idealism turned to dictatorship, fueling the long, terrifying stalemate of the Cold War. By 1989, the Soviet Union was tottering, unable to control its own inhabitants or compete with the West. Its collapse changed global politics forever.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

96 pages, Library Binding

First published August 31, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book - which is intended for a young adults audience - traces in a simplifed, yet easy to understand, manner, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, a story that is endlessly fascinating given that many of us in our lifetime experienced the terror of the Cold War antagonsm and then the euphoria of the end of the Cold War - first with the lessening of tensions in the Gorbachev era, and finally with the unravelling and end of communist rule in E. Europe. The world-historical collapse of communism in country after country is still hard to believe given that the various countries that emerged from the era of communist domination had seemed so wedded to ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, determined to overwhelm the world with communism. At least, this was the reality of the Soviet Union - its E. European satellites were perpetually restive, but still appeared to be part of a solid political bloc, committed to world revolution and the advancement of communism. Yet one by one they all disavowed their ideology, and went on the "capitalist road." These countries weren't progressing as fast as their capitalist neighbors, and they also probably did not want to be under the thumb, one way or another, of Moscow. That Russia itself overthrew communism, after having been the first country to have a communist revolution, was and remains baffling, if not astounding. The idea may have been that they no longer would have the financial obligations to the many constituent parts of the Soviet Union, if they allowed each republic to leave the Union, and thus would do better (have more money for Russians). Sadly, the reality after the collapse proved economically catastrophic, at least for a few years. Russia went down the drain initially, and is still struggling to build itself up as a capitalist country around 30 years later. Why it has failed to diversify but instead bases its economy on oil/gas exports may have something to do with the centralization of its economy even post communism. Today, a handful of oligarchs are at the top of the pyramid of power in Russia; yesterday, it was a handful of communist who were calling the shots. It seems decentralization is just not possible in Russia; the question is why. The answer to that question may have something to do with the history of the country, subject at first to monarchy (centralization), then communist dictatorship (centralization), then capitalist strong-man rule (centralization). In each case, control of money and power is held in the hands of the few.

Here are a few quotes:

"[Lenin]... was convinced that the old capitalist system was about to collapse throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. He believed there would be a global revolution in which ordinary people would overthrow their leaders, abolish private property, and treat each other as equals. In the end, he said, the whole world would become communist."

"...Bolshevik rule became a dictatorship every bit as harsh as that of the Romanov rulers."

"At the end of 1945... ....[Stalin's] ... main objective ... was to create a buffer zone along the order with the West, which would protect the Soviet Union against any land attack from that direction. ... he [also] wanted to increase the size and power of his empire by taking firm control of neighboring countries."

"...every year, [prior to the collapse of the USSR] about $3 billion went [from the USSR] to support other communist countries."

"[In August 1989] Hungary began to take down the wire fences on its border with Austria. This was truly the first break in the Iron Curtain. It allowed refugees from the communist states of East Europe to cross Hungary and reach the West. The East German government was outraged by this break in the borders and appealed to Moscow for help. Gorbachev refused to send Soviet troops to stop the refugees because he knew that this would harm relations with the West. The decision not to use force was to play a vital role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. On November 9, the East German leaders gave up and resigned. It was announced that the border between East and West Germany would be reopened. The next morning, the guards opened the gates in the Berlin Wall, and thousands of people joyfully flooded through."

"[The failure of the August 1991 coup by Russian communist party hard-liners] ... was ...the end for the Communist Party in the Soviet Union. Vast crowds marched on the party headquarters in Moscow. They were angry with the senior officials who had been behind the coup. On August 24, Gorbachev resigned as head of the Communist Party. He dissolved the Central Committee, the country's ruling body, and within a few days, communist activity had stopped throughout the U.S.S.R."

"The Cold War ... had affected every country in the world and brought the fear of nuclear devastation into every home. Then suddenly, within just a few months, one of the those superpowers had vanished. The balance of global politics had shifted dramatically."

"Soviet rule had been harsh, but it had kept a large number of different nations and peoples under control. It had also provided cash and technical support to help their economies. When the republics became independent, they lost most of this."

[chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

im finally done reading for my research paper!!!!! now i can finally read books that i actually want to read 🥹

this book was a lot better for research though then the other one i read and it told it in a way that was lowk interesting AND it was short, so reading this wasnt too bad

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for homeschool history and it is a simple, clear description of Soviet history, some of which occurred during my lifetime, but that I hadn't paid much attention to.

[Derek]

I recuse myself on rating this book since I think I had some small part in the production of this book.

[Chrissi · Rating 4 out of 5]

After listening to The Eastern Border podcast, I thought I'd brush up on some Soviet history. Reading a few other short books as well to frame my mind a bit around something I know so little of.