Question

Which of the following is considered a major reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union during the late 1980s and early 1990s?

A
The soviet military was unable to properly defend its borders from the invading Germans during the 1980s.

B
The struggling soviet command economy could not keep up with a western free market system.

C
There was unrestricted mass migration of former soviet citizens to other western European nations.

D
Most farmland in the Soviet Union was rendered useless after the environmental disaster at Chernobyl, and the population began to starve.

Answer 1

Answer: B

The struggling soviet command economy could not keep up with a western free market system.

Explanation: The decline of the Soviet economy is sometimes explained by exoge- nous shocks, like the troubles in the oil industry, the coal strike in the first quarter of 1990, the collapse of trade with Eastern Europe following its liberation, the plant shutdowns for environmental reasons, and the regional frictions in the USSR.