1. Decline of the Soviet Union

2. The Brezhnev Era Alexi Kosygin and Leonid Brezhnev replaced Nikita Khrushchev when he was removed from office in 1964 Brezhnev emerged as the dominant leader in the 1970s He was not interested in any reforms and believed that Eastern Europe needed to remain in Soviet control Brezhnev Doctrine  Soviet Union has the right to intervene if communism was threatened in another communist state

3. The Brezhnev Era Brezhnev benefitted from détente (a relaxation of tensions and improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union In the 1970s, the two superpowers signed SALT (strategic arms limitation treaty) I and II and the Ballistic Missile Treaty, which limited nuclear arms With the feeling of being more secure, Soviet leaders relaxed their authoritarian rule and allowed more access to Western music, dress, and art However, dissidents (people who spoke out against the regime) were still suppressed

4. The Brezhnev Era In his economics policies, Brezhnev continued to emphasize heavy industry However, two problems weakened the Soviet economy: –The central government was a huge, complex, but inefficient bureaucracy that led to indifference –Many collective farmers preferred working their own small private plots to laboring the collective work brigades By the 1970s, the Communist ruling class become complacent and corrupt Party and state leaders, army leaders, and secret police (KGB), enjoyed a high standard of living However, Brezhnev did not want to tamper with the party leadership and state bureaucracy

5. The Cold War Intensifies By the 1970s, détente allowed U.S. grain and consumer goods to be sold to the Soviet Union However, détente collapsed in 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan The Soviet Union wanted to restore a pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan and the U.S. viewed it as an act of expansion To show his disapproval, president Jimmy Carter canceled U.S. participation in the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow He also placed an embargo on the shipment of U.S. gain to the Soviets

6. The Cold War Intensifies Relations worsened when Ronald Reagan became president He called the Soviet Union an “evil empire” and began a military buildup and a new arms race Regan also gave military aid to the Afghan rebels, helping to maintain a war that the Soviet Union could not win

7. Gorbachev and Perestroika By 1980, the Soviet Union had a declining economy, a rise in infant mortality rates, a dramatic surge in alcoholism, and poor working conditions A small group of reformers emerged and, eventually, Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen as leader in March 1985 Perestroika  restructuring of the Soviet system –At first, this meant restructuring the economy –Gorbachev wanted a market economy that was more responsive to consumers –It would have limited free enterprise so that some businesses would be privately owned and operated –However, he realized that this would not work in the established political system

8. Gorbachev and Perestroika Glasnost  a policy of perestroika that encouraged Soviet citizens and officials to discuss openly the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet Union At the 1988 Communist Party conference, Gorbachev set up a new Soviet parliament of elected members, the Congress of People’s Deputies It met in 1989, the first such meeting in the country since 1918 He then created a new state presidency –Under the old system, the most important position was the first secretary of the Communist Party

9. End of the Cold War Mikhail Gorbachev’s rise to power in the 1980s brought about a drastic end to the Cold War His “new thinking” – his willingness to rethink Soviet foreign policy – led to many changes Gorbachev made an agreement with the United States in 1987, the Intermediate Range INF Treaty –Eliminated intermediate range nuclear weapons –Both superpowers wanted to slow down the arms race

10. End of the Cold War Gorbachev stopped giving Soviet military support to Communist governments in Eastern Europe This led to the potential of overthrowing those governments A mostly peaceful revolutionary movement swept through Eastern Europe in 1989 The reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, was a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved The long rivalry between the superpowers was over

11. End of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union included 92 ethnic groups and 112 languages As Gorbachev relaxed the control of the Soviet Union, old ethnic tensions grew Nationalist movements began throughout the former republics of the Soviet Union The conservative leaders of the traditional Soviet institutions – the army, government, KGB, and military industries – were worried that the breakup of the Soviet Union would end their privileges

12. End of the Soviet Union On August 19, 1991, a group of these conservative leaders arrested Gorbachev and tried to seize power The attempt failed when the new president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, along with thousands of Russians, resisted the rebel forces in Moscow The Soviet Republics eventually moved towards full independence Ukraine voted for independence on December 1, 1991 and Belarus did the same weeks later

13. Russia Under Yeltsin Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991 and he turned over his responsibilities to Boris Yeltsin, the new president of Russia Yeltsin was committed to introducing a free market economy as quickly as possible Economic hardships and social disarray were made worse by a rise in organized crime

14. Russia Under Yeltsin Yeltsin also faced a problem in Chechnya, a province in the south that wanted to secede from Russia and become independent Yeltsin used brutal force against the Chechens to keep the province as part of Russia Yeltsin also dealt with former Soviet satellite states, like Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, who wanted to join NATO

15. Russia Under Putin At the end of 1999, Yeltsin resigned and was replaced by Vladimir Putin, who was elected president in 2000 Putin, a former KGB officer, was widely seen as someone who wanted to keep a tight rein on government power In July 2001, Putin launched reforms to boost growth and budget revenues The reforms included the free sale and purchase of land and tax cuts

16. Russia Under Putin Putin also applied for Russia’s admission to the World Trade Organization and worked out a special partnership with the European Union Despite the changes, the business climate remained somewhat uncertain, and this stifled foreign investment Since Putin’s reforms, Russia experienced a budget surplus and a growing economy Much of this growth is due to oil and gas exports

17. Russia Under Putin Russia often uses its supplies of oil and gas as a political lever to wield power over former Soviet states and to influence world energy prices A trans-Siberian oil pipeline, which was completed in 2009, had Asia more dependent on Russian oil Chechnya and terrorism also continues to be a problem for Russia In 2002, Chechen terrorists took about 600 Russian hostage in a Moscow theater Between 2002-2004, terrorist attacks in Russia killed an estimated 500 people

18. A New Russia Russia still faces problems like rising alcoholism, criminal activities, and a decline of the traditional family system In 2008, Dmitry Medvedev became president of Russia Putin could not run for reelection because of limit’s in Russia’s constitution Many question the validity of the 2008 presidential because few opposition candidates participated Putin became prime minister and it is unclear how much power they share In 2012, Putin became president of Russia once again