Chapter Notes

Overview

The end of the Cold War was not marked by a great battle, but by a series of dramatic events started by ordinary people. The most powerful symbol of this change was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This wall, which had divided East and West Berlin for 28 years, was torn down by citizens, signaling the beginning of the end for the communist bloc.

This event triggered a chain reaction across Eastern Europe. One by one, communist governments in the region, which were part of the Soviet bloc, were replaced. Germany, divided since the Second World War, was reunified. Surprisingly, the Soviet Union did not intervene with military force as it had in the past. Instead, these massive changes were driven by mass demonstrations. Ultimately, the Soviet Union itself disintegrated. This chapter explores why the 'second world' (the Soviet bloc) collapsed and what the consequences were for the world.

What was the Soviet System?

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed after the socialist revolution in Russia in 1917. This revolution was inspired by the ideals of socialism, which stood in opposition to capitalism. The goal was to create an egalitarian society—one where people are equal—by abolishing private property and designing a society based on principles of equality.

Core Features of the Soviet System

• Primacy of the State and Party: The makers of the Soviet system gave the state and the Communist Party the most important role in society.
• One-Party Rule: The political system was centered around the Communist Party. No other political party or opposition was allowed. The party was unaccountable to the people.
• Planned Economy: The economy was planned and controlled entirely by the state. Land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.

After the Second World War, the Soviet army liberated many East European countries from fascist forces. These countries then came under the control of the USSR, and their political and economic systems were modeled after the Soviet system. This group of countries was known as the Second World or the 'socialist bloc'. They were held together by a military alliance called the Warsaw Pact, with the USSR as its leader.

Strengths of the Soviet System

For a time, the Soviet Union was a great power, second only to the US. Its economy had several strengths:

• Developed Economy: After World War II, the Soviet economy was more developed than the rest of the world, except for the US.
• Resources and Infrastructure: It had vast energy resources (oil, iron, steel), a complex communications network, machinery production, and an efficient transport sector connecting its most remote areas.
• Domestic Production: It had a consumer industry that produced everything from pins to cars.
• Social Welfare: The state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens. The government subsidized basic necessities like health, education, and childcare.

Weaknesses of the Soviet System

Despite its strengths, the Soviet system had deep-seated problems that eventually led to its collapse.

• Authoritarian and Bureaucratic: The system became highly bureaucratic and authoritarian, making life very difficult for citizens. There was a lack of democracy and no freedom of speech.
• Russian Dominance: Although the USSR was made up of fifteen republics, Russia dominated everything. People from other regions felt neglected and suppressed.
• Economic Burden of the Arms Race: The Soviet Union managed to match the US in the arms race, but this came at a tremendous cost, draining resources that could have been used for citizens' welfare.
• Technological Lag: The USSR fell behind the West in technology and infrastructure. Most importantly, it failed to meet the political and economic aspirations of its people.
• Economic Stagnation: By the late 1970s, the Soviet economy was faltering. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 weakened the system further. Productivity and technology fell, leading to shortages of consumer goods, and food imports increased every year.

Gorbachev and the Disintegration

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He recognized that the system needed urgent reform to keep up with the technological revolutions happening in the West. He introduced policies of economic and political reform (perestroika, meaning restructuring) and openness (glasnost).

Gorbachev's decision to democratize the Soviet Union and normalize relations with the West had effects that no one anticipated.

• Collapse of Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe: People in the East European countries of the Soviet bloc began protesting against their own governments. Unlike in the past, Gorbachev’s Soviet Union did not intervene, and the communist regimes collapsed one after another.
• Internal Crisis in the USSR: Gorbachev's reforms were opposed by hardliners within the Communist Party. In 1991, they encouraged a coup to remove him from power.
• Rise of Boris Yeltsin: The people, having tasted freedom, did not want a return to the old style of rule. Boris Yeltsin, who had won a popular election in the Russian Republic, emerged as a national hero by opposing the coup.
• Shift of Power to the Republics: Power began to shift from the central Soviet government to the republics. The more Europeanized republics, in particular, saw themselves as sovereign states.
• Disbanding the Soviet Union: In December 1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus—three major republics—declared that the Soviet Union was disbanded. The Communist Party was banned, and capitalism and democracy were adopted.

Why did the Soviet Union Disintegrate?

The collapse of the world's second most powerful country was due to a combination of long-term weaknesses and immediate factors.

Internal Weaknesses

• Economic Stagnation: The Soviet economy had been stagnant for years, leading to severe shortages of consumer goods. Much of its resources were spent on maintaining a massive military arsenal and supporting its satellite states in Eastern Europe, which created a huge economic burden.
• Political and Psychological Shock: Citizens became more aware of the economic progress in the West. The reality of their own system's backwardness, after years of being told it was superior, came as a shock.
• Administrative and Political Stagnation: The Communist Party, which had ruled for over 70 years, was not accountable to the people. Citizens were alienated by a slow administration, rampant corruption, and the centralization of authority. Party officials enjoyed more privileges than ordinary citizens, and the government lost popular support.

Gorbachev's Reforms as a Catalyst

Gorbachev correctly diagnosed the problems, but his reforms unintentionally accelerated the collapse.

• Uncontrollable Forces: When Gorbachev loosened the system, he set in motion forces and expectations that became impossible to control.
• Divided Public Opinion: He found himself in a "tug of war." Some people felt his reforms were too slow, while others (especially Communist Party members) felt he was moving too quickly and eroding their power. Gorbachev lost support on all sides.

The Rise of Nationalism

The final and most immediate cause for the disintegration was the rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within the various republics.

• Desire for Sovereignty: Republics including Russia, the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Ukraine, and Georgia began to assert their independence.
• Alienation in Prosperous Regions: Ironically, nationalist dissatisfaction was strongest not in the poorer Central Asian republics, but in the more "European" and prosperous parts of the USSR. People in these regions felt alienated from the Central Asians and concluded they were paying too high an economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Soviet Union.

Consequences of Disintegration

The collapse of the Soviet Union had profound and lasting consequences for world politics.

1. End of Cold War Confrontations

The ideological dispute between socialism and capitalism was over. This meant an end to the massive arms race, the accumulation of nuclear weapons, and the existence of opposing military blocs (NATO and the Warsaw Pact). This opened the possibility for a new era of peace.

2. Change in Global Power Relations

• A Unipolar World: The end of the Cold War left the US as the sole superpower, creating a unipolar system.
• Dominance of Capitalism: The capitalist economy, backed by the power of the US, became the dominant economic system internationally.
• Influence of Western Institutions: Institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) became powerful advisors to former communist countries, giving them loans for their transition to capitalism.
• Rise of Liberal Democracy: The idea of liberal democracy emerged as the best way to organize political life.

3. Emergence of New Countries

The end of the Soviet bloc meant the emergence of many new countries, each with its own independent aspirations.

• The Baltic and East European states wanted to join the European Union and NATO.
• The Central Asian countries wanted to maintain close ties with Russia while also establishing relationships with the West, the US, and China.
• The international system now had many new players, each with its own identity, interests, and challenges.

Shock Therapy in Post-Communist Regimes

The collapse of communism was followed by a painful transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist one. The model of transition used in Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, influenced by the World Bank and IMF, came to be known as 'shock therapy'.

Features of Shock Therapy

• Total Shift to Capitalism: This required rooting out all structures from the Soviet period. Private ownership became the dominant form of property.
• Privatisation: State assets and corporate ownership were to be immediately privatized. Collective farms were to be replaced by private farming.
• Free Trade and Foreign Investment: The transition relied on more trade, a complete switch to free trade, and foreign direct investment (FDI) as the main engines of change.
• Break-up of Old Alliances: The existing trade alliances among the countries of the Soviet bloc were broken. Each state was now linked directly to the West and was to be gradually absorbed into the Western economic system.

Consequences of Shock Therapy

Instead of leading to a promised utopia, shock therapy brought economic ruin and disaster to the people of the region.

• Collapse of Industry: In Russia, the large state-controlled industrial complex collapsed. About 90 percent of its industries were sold to private individuals and companies. This was called 'the largest garage sale in history', as valuable industries were undervalued and sold at throwaway prices.
• Currency Devaluation and Inflation: The value of the Russian currency, the ruble, declined dramatically. High inflation wiped out people's savings.
• Food Insecurity: The collective farm system disintegrated, leaving people without food security. Russia, once a major producer, began to import food.
• Destruction of Social Welfare: The old system of social welfare was destroyed. The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the population into poverty.
• Rise of a 'Mafia': A mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many economic activities.
• Growing Inequality: Privatisation led to new disparities. There was now great economic inequality between people.
• Weak Democratic Institutions: The construction of democratic institutions was not given priority. Constitutions were drafted in a hurry, creating strong presidents with wide powers and relatively weak parliaments. This led to authoritarianism in some countries, especially in Central Asia.

Most of these economies, especially Russia, only started to revive around the year 2000, mainly due to the export of natural resources like oil, natural gas, and minerals.

Tensions and Conflicts

Many of the former Soviet republics are prone to conflict, civil wars, and insurgencies.

• In Russia: The republics of Chechnya and Dagestan have had violent secessionist movements.
• In Central Asia: Tajikistan witnessed a civil war that lasted for ten years. The region is also a zone of competition between outside powers like Russia, the US, and China due to its vast hydrocarbon resources.
• In Eastern Europe: While Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Balkan republic of Yugoslavia broke apart violently. Provinces like Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence, leading to a brutal inter-ethnic civil war.

India and Post-communist Countries

India has maintained good relations with all the post-communist countries, but its strongest relationship is with Russia. This relationship is built on a history of trust and common interests.

India and the USSR: A Special Relationship

During the Cold War, India and the USSR enjoyed a multidimensional relationship:

• Economic: The USSR assisted India's public sector companies (like steel plants) and accepted Indian currency for trade when India was short of foreign exchange.
• Political: The USSR supported India’s position on the Kashmir issue in the UN and supported India during the 1971 war with Pakistan.
• Military: India received most of its military hardware from the Soviet Union.
• Culture: Hindi films and Indian culture were very popular in the Soviet Union.

India and Russia Today

• Shared Vision of a Multipolar World: Both India and Russia share a vision of a multipolar world order, where several powers co-exist in the international system. They advocate for collective security, negotiated settlements of conflicts, and decision-making through a strengthened and democratized UN.
• Strategic Partnership: More than 80 bilateral agreements have been signed between the two countries as part of the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001.
• Mutual Benefits:
  • For India: Russia is a key partner on issues like Kashmir, energy supplies (oil and nuclear), sharing information on international terrorism, and access to Central Asia.
  • For Russia: India is the second-largest arms market for Russia.
• Scientific Collaboration: Russia has assisted India’s space industry, for example, by providing the cryogenic rocket when India needed it.