1. REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF COMMUNISM IN THE SOVIET UNION

2. 1.The social and economic impact of the Cold War on the Soviet Union was too great

3. Success in space and nuclear research but poor standard of living

4. Drab and overcrowded housing and lack of consumer goods

5. Poor agricultural and industrial productivity

6. It already led to détente (relaxation of tensions) in the 1960s and 1970s

7. Footnote: Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968
Alexander Dubcek – Socialism with a face

8. 2. The long-drawn out Soviet Invasion and Occupation Afghanistan (1979 – 1987)
Caused by fears of militant Islam spreading from Iran into Afghanistan and into Soviet Union borders. Also caused by fears of growing US influence in Pakistan

9. Economic aid to support pro-Soviet governments in Eastern Europe
US 3 billion annually

10. 3. Military intervention in third-world countries

11. 4. Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ Program and Soviet reaction to SDI / Strategic Defense Initiative
Defence expenditure already consumed as much as 50% of the state budget

12. 5. Centralized state planning of the economy was inefficient.
Low productivity, false statistics to meet high targets, corruption

14. 6. Demoralized citizenry – little motivation to work hard
Free health care, free education, employment, subsidized housing with little material or monetary incentives for higher productivity. That means you work at the pace equivalent to a snail.

15. 7. Gorbachev’s Perestroika or restructuring
Privatization of state-owned businesses and profiteering

16. Perestroika led to higher prices of goods and wages unable to keep up with increased prices of goods. It led to inflation.

17. It led to higher food prices because the government control on the price of essential necessities were removed. It led to long queues and food shortages

18. Perestroika led to heightened expectations and more dissatisfaction

19. 8. Gorbachev’s Glasnost or ‘openness’
Allow for different opinions, less censorship, greater religious freedom, more freedom

20. Glasnot led to criticisms against Gorbachev for failing to improve the economy

21. Glasnot led to failings of past communist governments
The stagnation of military events in Afghanistan

22. Nuclear accident in Chernobyl

23. Atrocities of the Stalin period
Atrocities of the Stalin period. Forced migration of people Stalin distrusted Stalin’s purges Famine caused by his forced collectivization programs

24. 5. The spread of nationalism to the Soviet Union (15 republics)
Together with democratic reforms in Eastern Europe, various republics demanded independence

25. Armenians in Arzerbaijan demanded the right to join Armenia.

26. Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and the Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Uzekistan, Turkmenistan)

27. 6. The Final Blow – Coup against Gorbachev by right wing conservative communist politicans

28. Boris Yeltsin and his defence of democracy
Boris Yeltsin and his defence of democracy. The refusal of the army to shoot civilian demonstrators

29. Christmas 1991: Resignation of Gorbachev and setting up of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)