Question

Why did communism in the Soviet Union collapse in the late 1980s?

Consider:
Political factors: What did leaders in the Soviet Union, the United States, and Europe do to further the fall of communism?

Military factors: What effect did military policies and actions in the United States and in the Soviet Union have?

Economic factors: What effect did the economic situation in the Soviet Union have?

Social/cultural factors: What was the attitude of the people of the Soviet bloc countries? What impact did glasnost have? What was the impact of dissidents?

Answer 1

The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union was caused by a combination of political, military, economic, and social/cultural factors. Politically, the Soviet Union was in a state of stagnation, with leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev unable to respond to the changing needs of the people. In the United States, President Reagan and his administration implemented policies such as the Strategic Defense Initiative and increased military aid to Afghanistan that put pressure on the Soviet Union. Economically, the Soviet Union could not keep up with the capitalist countries of the West, leading to a collapse of public morale. This was exacerbated by the social/cultural atmosphere of the Soviet bloc countries, which had become increasingly dissatisfied with the Soviet Union's policies of repression and censorship. Finally, glasnost and the emergence of dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov and Alexander Solzhenitsyn helped to bring down the Soviet Union by giving voice to the grievances of the people.

Step-by-step explanation: