Introduction The economic collapse of the Soviet Union was responsible for the end of the Cold War to a large extent. One of the contributing economic factors that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union was Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms – Glasnost and Perestroika. The independence of the annexed states within the Soviet Union also had a negative impact on the economy of the USSR. A country’s political prowess and influence is based on it’s economic might. It can be seen that this was a factor that contributed to the USSR’s economic demise which ultimately led to the end of the Cold War. Due to the weakened economy of the Soviet Union, it was not in a position to compete on an equal footing with the stable US economy hence, it’s participation …show more content…
Perestroika, a reform introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev, aimed to restructure and rebuild the Soviet economy and was considered to be an “urgent necessity” (Source C). However, Perestroika negatively impacted on the economy of the USSR as it resulted in the masses of the population being poverty-stricken (Source F). This led to the demise to the Soviet economy. Although Perestroika had economic ramifications, Gorbachev’s other reform, Glasnost, had political implications (Source G). Glasnost allowed for openness and freedom of speech so people could criticise the government openly. This caused “mass democratic pressures” by people who noticed that the Soviet government was transitioning and protests occurred as a result of the new political system (Source …show more content…
The annexed states which announced their independence from the Soviet Union included Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It is interesting to note that the independence of these states weakened the Soviet economy as money that was once used to uplift the economy of the USSR was not forthcoming (Source B). The Soviet Union, therefore, was not in a position of economic power and could not compete with the USA. This led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union (Source E). However, it is in the opinion of some historians that the cause for the end of the Cold War was in fact due to the lack of unity and trust within the Soviet (Source