Under the shadow of the great industrial powers of the west, the Soviet Union was forced to rush the process of industrialization in order to catch up with it’s advanced neighboring states. Japan was in a similar position during the 20th century, though Japan’s reaction to the pressure was much more successful than Soviet industrialization. Japan’s industrialization was more prosperous and smooth than Russia’s because of the differences in treatment of factory workers, and adaptations to the developed foreign trade market, which ultimately diminished the efficiency of Russian industrialization. Russia was well aware that the state was in need of great change, even more specifically, the russian finance minister, Sergey Witte, had been writing
From 1928, when the plan started, to 1932 to its end, many factories, dams, power stations and even cities were being built. Despite there being harsh penalties implemented to workers for failure to meet their targets, there was still a significant increase in Russia’s industrial growth in a very short period of time. Just like the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, under Tsar Alexander II, in protest of Stalin’s policies, the peasants, in protest, refused to work harder than they needed too, causing them to destroy livestock and crops, which eventually lead to their unnecessary death. Stalin, just like the Tsarist autocratic regime, was not committed to collectivism but preferred capitalism in his ruling of the Soviet Union. This caused a lot of rebellion from the Kulaks who opposed collectivism.
This was similar to the United States of America, as the US was also trying to industrialize with a purpose of factories and people working in them. A big factor of the industrialization that both America and Russia shared was that both of these countries had a very unfair system for workers. The pay was not great, and people who were poor had it even worse. There is even an old saying that fits this very well, “The rich get richer”. This is true because the people who were already poor, who were working for the money so they could afford things like homes, food, water, and clothing, were staying poor, because their pay was so low that at the rate of them using their money for necessities, they were earning barely enough to afford them.
All these approaches have both economic and political roots. Population dynamics, education, and systemic failures played a role in the changes in both the USSR and US. These dynamics are connected to the. Perestroika, or restructuring,
During the 1930s the Soviet Union went through several changes economically and socially. Some historians see what happened in the Soviet Union at this time as a Second Revolution. However, this is an understatement as the Soviet Union actually went through more than one revolution at this time. This period saw rapid political, social, industrial and agricultural change that shaped the future of the Soviet Union and arguably the 20th century as a whole. All four of these changes worked together to form a rapid socioeconomic revolution.
Glasnost, although not the full granting of free speech, subsequently enabled a view of freedom to long oppressed Soviet citizens (239). Economically, Gorbachev’s perestroika effort, the restructuring of the Soviet system, intended to “decentralize the economy” through greater autonomy in factories and farms, profit incentives and a limited market economy, and the establishment of privately owned businesses and the encouragement of foreign investment (239). However perestroika evolved slowly, generated cynicism domestically, and ultimately failed (246, 266). Although Gorbachev’s economic failure lessened the probability that the Soviet Union could remain intact, perestroika and glasnost facilitated sufficient reform to ignite revolution throughout its sphere of influence (246). Finally, Gorbachev’s conscious decision to remain dormant in the face of these popular revolutions, specifically in East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
The Cold War and the Fall of the Soviet Union Did the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union (USSR) affect US history? I believed that it did and it helped to craft US history. Without the fall of the USSR, the US would not be the superpower that it is today. During the 1940s-1990s, the USA and the USSR fought a war called the Cold War. In this war, the fighting was indirect.
In the Poem, “The Juggler” the speaker develops a very exciting tone which eventually evolves into a very solemn and serious poem through the uses of very strong diction and sophisticated use of personification that helps develop a shift in the tone. Throughout the beginning of the poem, the speaker personifies the balls and uses positive diction which creates a very light hearted and joyful atmosphere to start off the poem. For example, phrases such as “our hearts from brilliance” and “Whee, in the air” helps develop a positive attitude towards juggling for a group of people. The speaker enjoys making “brilliance” with his skillful abilities and just wouldn’t sacrifice that for anything.
During this time, there was a lot of worry and suspicion about communism, which led the government to make decisions that harmed individual freedoms and slowed economic progress. The focus on countering communism and protecting national security meant that the government started to closely watch and control its citizens. This made people afraid to take risks and slowed their creativity and ability to come up with new ideas. Businesses were also hesitant to innovate for fear of being accused of having communist sympathies. As a result, the economy missed out on opportunities for growth and technological advancement.
Comparison of the United States and the Soviet Union Cody Swartz The Soviet Union was a country that took a different approach at governing its people than the United States, instead of taking up Democracy as most modern countries have the Soviets installed a Totalitarian system. A Totalitarian form of government is at the other end of the spectrum compared to Democracy. In the Soviet Union, the market was controlled by the government, there was no mass media, and a massive amount corruption within the government. We don’t hear much about these kinds of countries anymore, because most of them failed.
Two immediate factors include poor leadership and a decrease in the influence of the Soviets over their satellite states. As stated in the textbook, “When Gorbachev became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in March 1985, he was the best-educated, most worldly, and least dogmatic leader of his country since Lenin” (484). Gorbachev himself “blamed his three predecessors for presiding over twenty years of stagnation” and sought to reform the Soviet Union before it buckled under the economic strain (484). The lack of leadership in the Soviet Union allowed the economic situation to become awful, which in turn assisted in the Soviet Union’s demise. Gorbachev and even some of his predecessors allowed reformers to enter the communist bloc to deal with the economic issues, and through this crack capitalism entered Eastern Europe.
When Gorbachev came into power he created reforms Perestroika and Glasnost, which both failed miserably and backfired. Perestroika was an economic reform that attempted to attempt to mend relationships with Western European countries and the US. To do this it would adopt a mix of both communist and capitalist economic systems similar to modern-day China (Longley). This reform was unsuccessful in trying to save the struggling economy and created tension between the hardcore communists and the government of the Soviet Union. This was because the hardcore communist believed in a fully communist society and felt betrayed when their supposed leader went against the communist belief.
Marc Newson is an Australia designer who works in a wide variety of design disciplines. Including furniture design, industrial design and fashion design. He works as a freelancer and collaborates to design different products, systems or environments. As part as of being a furniture and industrial designer, Marc Newson innovates by implementing new materials or technology to create something unique to society. He uses a diverse range of materials and manufacturing techniques and has a unique eye for design.
Russian economy post -WWII from the people's perspective was extremely poor due to the impoverished state of most of the population. Even though most of us weren’t alive during this era of time it still happened and people still went into war. Some of the things that affected Soviet economy were the Five Year Plans and the Eastern Bloc; these things changed and rebuilt Russia's economy. Five-year plans focused on the heavy industry which caused the creation of Shortage economies due to a lack of important resources including food.
The reason Gorbachev’s reforms failed is still debated in scholarly circles. On the one hand, Reformists (Democrats) hoped for more extensive radical reforms. Whereas, the new Communist Party (Republicans) hoped to reduce reforms because they were too radical and destroying traditions of Soviet society. One consensus among scholars was that Gorbachev’s unraveling was his extreme hesitance. Gorbachev tried to appeal to both Republicans and Democrats, but in the process, he undermined both groups.
