FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION

RONALD REAGAN

• Elected president in 1980
• Called the Soviet Union an "evil empire"
• Military build up and new arms race
• Gave military aid to the afgahn rebels
• The Cold War was intensified

LEONID BREZHNEV/POLICIES/ACTIONS

• Emphasized heavy industry
• Benefited from the more relaxed atmosphere associated with dente
• Emerged as the dominant leader in the 70's
• He was determined to keep eastern europe in communist hands
• The Soviet Union was roughly equal to the u.s in nuclear arms

LEONID BREZHNEV/PROBLEMS

• By the 70's the soviet union had become complacent and corrupt.
• Collective farmers had no incentive to work hard.
• Weakened the soviet economy.
• Goverments central planning led to a huge complex bureaucracy.
• They worked their own small private plots to laboring in the collective work brigades.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV/COLD WAR

• To power in the Soviet Union in 1985 eventually brought a dramatic end to the Cold War
• The reunification Germany on October 3,1990 was a powerful symbol of the Cold War
• Political changes helped bring an end to both the soviet union and the Cold War
• Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to end the Cold War
• Mikhail Gorbachev is one of the prominent figures who are believed to have had their part in bringing to end to the Cold War

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV/PERESTROIKA

• Perestroika means restructuring economic policy
• From the start, he preached the need for radical reforms
• He wanted to start an economy, where consumers influence what is produced
• This economy would have limited free enterprise
• Gorbachev realized that an attempt to reform the economy without political reform would be doomed to failure

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV/THE END

• One of the problems was the multiethnic nature of the Soviet Union
• Gorbachev struggled to deal with problems unleashed by his reforms
• The break up of the Soviet union would mean an end to their privileges
• The Soviet Union now move on for complete independence
• An era had begun in new independence states

BORIS YELTSIN

• President of Russia Republic
• Resisted the rebel forces
• Soviet republics moved for independence
• Announced that Soviet Union "ceased power"
• Introduced a free market

VLADIMIR PUTIN

• President of Russia in 2000
• Vowed to adopt international role
• Launched reforms to boost growth
• Reforms included free sale
• Russia experienced budget surplus

GROUP MEMBERS