Why did the Soviet Union collapse

The Soviet Union collapsed back in the 80s and although there is more than just one cause responsible for the downfall of the Union, the main reason was undoubtedly the economic condition of the USSR at that moment. The collapse of the Soviet Union became unavoidable once the West started to win the “Cold War” by getting ahead in the arms race against the East. Perhaps the biggest reason behind the United States of America’s booming economy and the USSR’s declining economy was in their ideology. The socialist government of the Soviet Union could not match up with the wealthy capitalist government of the USA, and thus they not only lost the arms race, but also lost even the means to hold the Union together any longer. The citizens themselves started to depend on foreign imports for almost anything, be it clothes or electronics because everything that was made domestically was being used by the military.

An event that contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union was the Chernobyl Disaster. After that event, the Russians began to lose faith in the government and a countrywide sense of depression settled within the minds of the citizens. The economic condition and the Chernobyl disaster had already had a very negative effect on the mind of the citizens, but the failure of the Afghan war policy further worsened the situation. The turmoil was heightened when the rift between the government and the people widened because of the lack of independent news agencies. The Samizdat, a paper independent of the Union government and run by rebels, also contributed to the negative apprehensions and doubts in the minds of the people against their secretive government. Even the departments within the government were so detached from each other that it hindered smooth functioning of the state as a whole. As almost nobody knew about the poor economic conditions of the Soviet Union until the government had to admit it in 1988, it was impossible to recover from that point. The ill-treatment of the people with free thoughts and the sending of anybody who tried to inform the people of the intentions of the government to the labor camps made it clear that the government would do anything to keep their intentions and policies secret. It was only natural for the citizens to be afraid of the government and feel alienated from the institution after realizing this.

Political, economical and strategic mistakes by the government were responsible for the downfall of the Soviet Union and after observing the condition of the USSR at that time and analyzing the reasons as to why the communist government failed so miserably in the end, it can now be said that certain aspects of the socialist system as applied by the USSR must be changed if ever there has to be any hope for a successful communist nation.