The Soviet Union: Rise and Fall of A Superpower

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The Soviet Union Rise and Fall of A Superpower
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The Bolshevik Revolution

• 1917 Russia Pulls out of WWI
• Russia plunges into civil war
• Vladmir Lenin leads the Bolsheviks in
  successfully ending the revolution
• Lenin attempts to install communism (Marx/Engels
  ideological version)
• Lenin Dies, Josef Stalin eliminates other leaders
  and rules with an Iron Fist

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The Soviet Union Rise and Fall of A Superpower

• After WWII, the Soviet Union was a superpower.
• Stalin still was firmly in control
• He poured money into industry, science, and the
  military.
• His Labor camps forced political prisoners to
  toil for their country.

Gulag Work Camps
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Soviet Union Rise and Fall of a Superpower

• After Stalin died in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev
  became the next communist head. He allowed more
  freedom. Citizens enjoyed low rents, free health
  care, and jobs for almost everyone.
• However, they waited in long lines to buy goods.
  

In 1962, Khrushchev nearly set off a war when he
sent missiles to Cuba.
Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro
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Soviet Union Rise and Fall of a Superpower

• Under Leonid Brezhnev Soviet life got worse. He
  jailed critics.
• He talked to limiting arms but began military
  buildup. Brezhnev insisted he could send troops
  to any Warsaw Pact nation.

Warsaw Pact Generals
Leonid Brezhnev
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Soviet Union Rise and Fall of a Superpower

• In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. He
  reshaped the economy and allowed some private
  business in a process called perestroika.
  (restructuring of USSR into a similar state that
  Lenin had begun)
• Soviets gained new freedom. However, new
  policies caused food and medicine shortages.
• The Gorbachev reforms sparked demands for
  democracy in Eastern Europe. They also led Soviet
  republics to seek independence.

Mikhail Gorbachev
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Soviet Union Rise and Fall of a Superpower

• In 1991the Soviet union Disbanded
• The republics formed the commonwealth of the
  Independent States.
• Boris Yeltsin, the Russian president, became the
  Commonwealth leader.
• He faced hard times. New nations had to make
  peace among ethnic groups, end food shortages,
  and set up trade.

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Causes

• Leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev
• Openness to democratic ideas(Glasnost)
• Reshaping of economy and government(perestroika)
• Economic problems
• Freedom movement in Eastern Europe

FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION
Effects

• Formation of the commonwealth of Independent
  States
• Loss of role as world superpower
• End of the Cold War
• Economic hardships
• Conflicts between pro-communist and
  pro-democratic groups
• Minority revolts and civil conflicts