Why Did The Soviet Union Fail

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Cold War Assignment
How does the Soviet Union go from one of the most powerful, and influential governments across Eastern Europe, to losing all democratic control and power over the span of 5 decades? Although there is often many different reasons a country’s entire democratic power completely fails, evidence in this presentation will convince you that the fall of Soviet Union was caused by events during and surrounding the Cold War.
During early July of 1956, leader of the Soviet Union at the time, Joseph Stalin had died. Joseph Stalin was a totalitarian leader; some might even compare him to Hitler. His power was maintained by terror and fear over people, and during his 30-year reign of power, him and his regime killed millions of people, …show more content…
This was all made possible due to a new Solidarity trade union made by workers. The new union aimed at making a “democratic state ruled by law and implementing the principles of social justice”. The Solidarity was created after the Polish government announced a 100% increase in the price of some foods in July 1980. The rise in prices was an attempt to fix the countries struggling economy. Following the price rises, workers right across the country went on strike. They demanded freedom of the press, release of political prisoners and right to form independent unions. Eventually, after two months, the demands of the people were met, as the government couldn’t afford to have workers on strike. The solidarity became a popular movement, as what the union was promising was a lot better for Polish people then what the current communist government was offering at the time. As the solidarity became more and more popular, the government didn’t like the fact that there was so much support for it, so they decided to ban the union and imprison the leader of the solidarity. However, the economic crisis continued across much of Poland, and despite price increases of several foods, wages were so insufficient that workers could not even afford to buy the newly raised prices of foods. The large following of the solidarity continued, and the government had to give in again, as they were essentially driving themselves into the ground with the economic crisis. The solidarity was legalised and freedom of the press was allowed. Communists also agreed that the Polish parliament would be democratically elected. On the 18th of June 1989, the Solidarity union won 35% of seats of the lower house and 99% of seats in the upper house. The huge defeat put an end to communism in Poland and sparked problems for the Soviets as well. As the Polish were the first to break away from communism in Europe, the huge win in the
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