Collapse of the USSR “Gorbachev took on this country like my wife takes on cabbage. He thought that to get rid of the dirt, he could just peel off the top layers of leaves, but he had to keep going until there was nothing left. One man’s opinion/ analogy

I. Mikhail Gorbachev A. Head of the Communist Party in 1985 B. Faced severe economic problems (bureaucracy: confusing procedures, corruption, inefficient)

C. Reforms 1. Perestroika: restructuring of the Soviet economy to make it more efficient & productive. 2. Factory managers, not central planners, allowed to make decisions about how and what to produce 3. Converted factory production from military to consumers goods 4. Made farmers “masters of the land”

C. Reforms (continued) 5. People were allowed to establish their own business. 6. Glasnost: openness and honesty in discussing the country’s problems. (allowed without punishment) 7. Dismissed party corrupt leaders 8. Voters had a choice of more than one candidate for each public office

D. Response to Reform 1. Reforms failed to fix economic problems 2. Some wanted more change 3. Some blamed the changes made 4. A coup was attempted in August 1991 5. Commonwealth of Independent states

Gorbachev resigned in December 1991. F. 74 years after the Revolution, the USSR ceased to exist. What’s next? =>

II. Challenges to Democracy A. Lack of experience in market economies AND political systems B. Frustration – lost confidence in newly elected leaders C. Communist Party officials remain in power in some republics D. Nationalist Conflicts E. International Aid

The Commonwealth & the World Estonia Latvia Lithuania Belarus Ukraine Moldova Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Kazakhstan