Four key factors in the collapse of the Soviet Union
On December 25, 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev stepped down, symbolizing the official end of the superpower in global history, and the world was shocked. Although some blame NATO pressure and the strategic intentions of the United States, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
In fact, the collapse of the Soviet Union stemmed from the deep-seated problems inside, and the "Outline of the History of the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union" revealed four key internal causes: first, the bankruptcy of the planned economic system, the state controlled everything, but ignored the vitality of the market economy and the importance of free competition, which in essence eroded the foundation of civilization; Second, the lack of a market economy stifles innovation and efficiency, leading to the self-disintegration of the economic system; The third is the rigidity of the Soviet model, which could not adapt to the rapidly changing world, which ultimately led to its inevitable decline.
All this tells us that even a powerful Soviet Union can hardly escape the impact of internal contradictions.
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union reveals that the late Soviet economy was in disorder, production was weak and discipline was lost, material shortages were getting worse, inflation was raging like a storm, the fiscal crisis was deep, and the treasury was too empty to maintain.
Although the pace of reform was started in a hurry, it was powerless to face the brink of collapse. What was once a tight grassroots control of villages and individuals was futile until the state collapsed.
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union Declassified reveals that the Soviet Union's failure was due to its unitary centralized system, and the grassroots were limited by formalism and rigid rules, such as the appointment system and corruption, which had not been eradicated for a long time.
With the simultaneous implementation of economic and political reforms, the total rejection of the old system has led to the shrinkage and dysfunction of grassroots institutions. In the end, internal contradictions accumulated until the August 19 coup, which became a fatal blow to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
However, the national complexity that the Soviet Union had faced from the beginning to the end, which was supposed to be solved through policy, increased the difficulties that could not be solved.
The Revelation of the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union reveals that the highly centralized federal structure has led to profound injustices and contradictions, and that the expansion of Great Russianism has caused tensions between various nationalities and union republics, and the rights and interests of non-subject nationalities have been damaged, such as the forced migration of the Stalin era and the artificial intervention of the Gorbachev period.
Ethnic conflicts were in full swing, and the precedent of the three Baltic states, such as the one that led the tide of disintegration of the entire Union. The Soviet Union tried to save itself through reforms, but the result was an intensification of the economy, politics and national problems, and although the original intention of the reforms was good, due to the lack of theoretical preparation of the leadership, the superficial understanding of the internal situation, the oversimplification of the problems and the use of administrative means, the reform program was deeply imprinted with the traces of the old system, deviated from the overall interests of the country, and became an instrument of individual power.
Eventually, the red flag fell, Soviet history came to an end, and power disappeared along with the foundation of the state.
With the rise of the Soviet Union, the beacon fire of October was like a beacon, illuminating China's unique path towards modernization; Its decline and the ripples of drastic changes in Eastern Europe not only triggered the profound global politics, but also set a firm direction under the imprint of China's reform and opening up.
It can be said that two key turning points in China's history were profoundly shaped by the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Without understanding the history of the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, it is difficult to gain insight into the deep logic of China's modernization process, let alone grasp the context of China's reality and future.