Collapse of the Soviet

Union

Russian Civil War (1918-1920)

After the Bolshevik revolution the
Bolsheviks became the rulers of Russia
however there were many who opposed
them such as loyalists and people who
wanted a democracy. The Civil war was
the red army Bolsheviks and the white
army of groups that opposed them . It
kept the Soviets and eliminated their
enemies .

Creation of the politburo (1919)

The Politburo was the main governing body

of the Communist party in The USSR. Made
the Soviet Union have able to be governed.

Stalin Five year plan (1928)

Five years plans were Started by Stalin to
industrialize the USSR and to catch up to
the rest of the world. Helped the Soviet
Union Indutrailize

World War II
In the beginning of world War 2 Stalin Was in a
non aggression treaty with Hitler however that
changed when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union
and Stalin Joined the allies creating as second
front for the war. WWII was good an Bad for
Russia it lost more men then any other nation
at nearly 20 million however since it was on
the winning side it gained land and part of
berlin.

Joe 1( August 29 1949)

The First Nuclear was the bomb used in the
first nuclear bomb test by the Soviet Union.
This was good for the Soviet Union it made
the Nation more powerful with a new
powerful weapon.

Hydrogen Bomb (1950)

The Hydrogen bomb was a bomb that

that United States made that was
more powerful then any other before .
This was bad for the Soviet Union
because their enemies had a better
weapon than themselves

Warsaw Pact (1955)

The Warsaw pact was an alliance of Countries in
the Soviet Bloc of Europe in response to the
creation of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO)
Good for the Soviet Union Because now that had
an alliance to help against the Anti Soviet
Alliance NATO

Sputnik(1957)

Was the first manmade object to be sent

to the upper atmosphere and ushered in
the space race of the Cold War.
It increased the reputation of Soviet
Science and Engineering and put the Soviet
Union in the lead of the Space race

Laika and Sputnik 3 (1957)

After the Success of the first launch Soviets
sent another rocket in Space but this time it
had a dog named Laiki with it to test of life
forms could survive the launch to space
Good for the USSR because that
accomplished this task before anyone else
boosting once again its reputation.

Creation of the Berlin Wall(1958)

Wall made between east and west berlin to
Stop People from leaving east Berlin into west.
After the west wanted to make Berlin and
independent City.
Bad for the Soviet Union because its creation
strained the already bad relationship it had
with western countries.

Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)

Invasion lead by the Soviet Union and its
major Allies in the Warsaw pact to stop
liberal reforms that were taking place
Was bad publicity for the Soviets
because it was compared to what Hitler
had done to Czechoslovakia.

SALT 1 (1972)

Was an arm stance control agreement between the

soviet Union and the United states
Good because it improved relationships between the
Soviet Union and United States

SALT II (June 18, 1979)

SALT II was a continuation of the

previous SALT talks that sought to stop
the production of nuclear weapons
once again was good because it
improved relations between the
controls and by limiting weapons
lowered the threat of a hot war

Soviet-Afghan War (1979)

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan
because Muslims wanted to overthrow the
communist leader.
This was bad because it ended the good
relations between the Soviet Union and
the U.S. and gave it bad publicity

Gorbashev Become leader (1979)

Became the youngest leader since Stalin.
Brought democratic reforms to the Union.
Was bad because his reforms made the
people no longer fear the communist party
and ultimately lead to the destruction of
the nation

Chernobyl Disaster (1986)

Chernobyl, a nuclear plant in the Ukrainian
city of Pripyat, was the scene of a massive
nuclear accident in which released 100
times the radiation as the Nagasaki
bombing and Hiroshima bombing combined,
Embarrassed the Soviet Union and cast
doubt on the effectiveness of Soviet
technology

Glasnost (1986)
translated as "openness part of Gorbachev
political and economic reform agenda that was
meant to shift the soviet union to be more
democratic but still keep the ideas of
communism
Bad because the reforms made the people no
longer fear the communist party and ultimately
lead to the end of the soviet union

Voting reforms by Gorbachev (1987)

Gorbachev allowed the people to elect people
from a list of candidates instead of people
approved by the communist party
Bad for the soviet union because reforms were
always chosen over communist leaders

Lithuania and Latvia protests (1989)

The Two nations protested being part of the
soviet Unions and wanted to be independent.
During it 2 million people formed a human
chain dubbed the Baltic way.
Bad for the Soviet Union because it made it
look bad because Gorbachev had to step
down because he got bad publicity for the
way he handled the situation

Fall of berlin wall (October 19890

East Germany gave in to pressure
from massive demonstrations in
major East German cities and
brought down the wall separating the
city for decade.
Bad because this event basically
ended communist east Germany

Gorbachev steps down

After the failure of the august coup the communist
party stopped all activities and all the republics of
the soviet unions declared independence Gorbachev
resigned as president of the union a nation that no
longer existed
Bad because that marked the end of the union has a
country

Boris Yeltsin Becomes president

after Gorbachev stepped down Boris Yeltsin became the
first democratically elected president of Russia. He worked
to steer Russia towards capitalism.
Bad because he tried to make Russia a capitalist and steered
it away from communism

Response
The soviet union collapsed because Gorbachev weakened the
communist party power by giver people more free elections and
shifting the economy to be more capitalist. This made people lose
fear of the party and cried out for freedom. They lost all faith in
communism after the bad economy and lower standard of living
that came with it. The fall was inevitable because with communism
people have little motivation to improve and because society in the
USSR rewarded silence and things almost never change. This would
make communism not be able to keep up with the ever changing
world

Bibliography
"Warsaw Treaty Organization." World History: The Modern Era.
ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014
"Berlin Wall." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2014.
Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
"Chernobyl disaster." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO,
2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.