Question by sara: How did the ending of the soviet union effect political and economic russia?
The Era of Communism may have ended with the breakup of the Soviet Union, but its effects will long remain on Russian political & economic geography. Explain what was the Communist political & economic system, & its effects.
I’ve been all over the internet…I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for.
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Answer by mambomike282
Communism if nothing else, brought stability to the Soviet States. In the communist system, certain things were guaranteed. A job, pay, a place to live, healthcare, etc… Everything was controlled, everyone was controlled to a certain extent and there was only one political party. The community party!
We in the west believed that Capitalism and democracy should be spread, just as they believed communism should be spread. In a capitalistic society, you have the ability to prosper more than in a communist state, but you also have the ability to fail more than in a communist state. In the first years of the end of the Soviet Union, inflation and lack of goods created havok throughout the former soviet states. The state was no longer capable of meeting all the needs of the people. Russian attitudes towards capitalism rapidly deteriorated, remembering the stability that came with the former soviet union.
The Russians are a proud people with a grand history. The loss of their “super-power” status was a major blow to pride and the suffering that went with it only made it worse. Since then, Russian politics have evolved significantly and have come more than full circle. The “old guard” have re-secured power under Putin (former KGB Officer) and has made major efforts to reclaim some of its former status as a major superpower, including bullying or reabsorbing some former Soviet Satellite states.
Corruption has reached a fever pitch in the power vacuum and the Russian Mafia has never been stronger. Russia continues to deal with 3rd world countries and sell arms from its largely obsolete, yet massive arsenal.
In a way, the ending of the Soviet Union, was simply a “breather” for the Russians and gave them an opportunity to “re-join” the European community and restructure a plan for the 21st century. Russian nationalism is high and Russians now seek to reclaim what they feel is their rightful place in world affairs. Its a waiting game while the Russians help their allies position themselves against western influence. We could very easily see a new cold war and in many ways, we already are.
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Troy says
One thing that occurred with the end of communism is that a few opportunistic union leaders were able to buy important industries at very cheap prices and began to control big parts of the Russia's economy. These people became immensely rich overnight and those who dueled in the middle became poor very soon. National products lost their value because the government opened the markets to international products so a lot of people lost their jobs in the process of welcoming goods from other places. Uncertainty and momentary stages of panic created speculation in the market and caused huge inflation. There was less money to spend in health, housing and education when at the same time many were losing their houses since the properties were claimed by those who could buy them. Remember that under communism the government owned almost everything and when the policy changed they sold the property to those with the most money, not necessarily to those who had managed it.
As for the rest of the Soviet Nations (not Russia) Russia had maintained most of the industry and natural resources within its confines (save for Ukraine and perhaps the Baltic states) and the rest of the countries depended on Russian industry for their manufactured goods and also natural resources like gas and fuel. When the federation ended these smaller and poorer countries had to one to rely on to obtain their products and had to start from zero to develop their own economic infrastructure.