“Annihilate the Fascists!”

Shortly after the Russian revolution, and the dismantling of the Russian Czar – Nicholas II, father to Anastasia (if you’re familiar with the Disney movie which told the legend of her escaping the execution of her entire family), the USSR was established.  It originally consisted of four republics, but grew into one of the “world’s most powerful and influential states” and eventually consisted of 15 republics (Np, 2016).

The entire region was ruled by a Communist Party, one that required the loyalty of all its’ citizens.  It eventually was controlled by a totalitarian, Joseph Stalin, who demanded complete control over every aspect of the region’s political and social life.  Those who denied his policies were arrested.  After his death, the Soviet Union still maintained the Communist Party’s power, but eliminated the brutal policies and focused their energy on the Cold War (Np, 2016).

During the midst of the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union began developing missiles, which sparked the Cuban missile crisis, a confrontation that brought these two regions very close to war.  After a treaty was signed that banned the aboveground testing of nuclear weapons, the Soviet’s were determined to “never again be humiliated by their military inferiority” and began to build a “conventional and strategic force that the United States was forced to match for the next 25 years” (Np. 2015)

How did this affect the Soviet Union’s economy?  Well, for starters – it was estimated that in the mid 1980’s, 70% of the Soviet Union’s industrial output and over 50% of their total output was going towards their military.  A long story short, the Reagan Administration increased the military budget, but the Soviet Union was unable to increase its output going to the military (it needed those outputs for the rest of the economy).  This eventually ended the “arms race” and ended the Cold War.  Without the threat of the United States’ military, there was no reason for the USSR to continue on with their current totalitarian regime and their political system fell apart.  The majority of the republics that made up the USSR are now ran by a federal republic – with a president a prime minster – one that is nominated by the president (Watkins, Nd).

Since the collapse, Russia’s GDP fell to 40% in a 5 year span – while the rest of the world’s increased.  They were even forced to import over 1/3 of their food products by the late 1990’s.  The country still experiences problems economically, and in the early 2000’s their economy plummeted after the arrest of Russian’s wealthiest man – the owner of Yukos Oil Co, one of the world’s top oil suppliers.  While the arrest could have been strictly due to the fraudulent charges, it has also been said that Putin arrested the man to take him out of the political race. Because of these accusations – people question whether Russia has made any progress in the past three decades (Poland, Nd.)

References:

Np. (2015, July 20). Encyclopedia Britannica: Cold War. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/Cold-War

Np. (2016). History: Fall of the Soviet Union. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union

Np. (2016). History: This Day in History – Dec 30. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179144

Poland, M. (Nd.). Russian Economy in the Aftermath of the Collapse of the Soviet Union. Retrieved from http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/03-04/baker%20poland%20p1/ussr.htm

Watkins, T. (Nd.). The Economic Collapse of the Soviet Union. Retrieved from http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/sovietcollapse.htm