More than twenty years ago, an event took place that largely influenced the entire further course of the historical process. At the end of December 1991, the USSR flag was lowered in the Kremlin, and a three-color Russian banner took its place. Thus ended an entire era associated with the existence of the world's first socialist state. Until now, historians and politicians argue about what caused the collapse of the Soviet state.
The collapse of the Soviet Union: coincidence or pattern?
In territorial terms, the Soviet Union was a semblance of the Russian Empire, occupying a huge area located on the territory of parts of Europe and Asia. These expanses were once mastered by the mighty spirit of the Russian people and other nations that inhabited a truly endless state. The state stretches from the North Pole to the Pamirs, from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific coast.
Was the collapse of the USSR inevitable? Some publicists and public figures believe that the collapse of the communist regime was a foregone conclusion long ago. The planned economy, which could not withstand competition with the market economy, inevitably had to collapse.
The collapse of the Soviet Union is also associated with aggravated interethnic contradictions, which were caused by natural causes.
On the eve of the collapse, the great power was in dire need of structural economic reforms and renewal of the state and political system. Bourgeois historians are convinced that the system of power based on the dominant role of the Communist Party was outdated, ineffective and no longer met the requirements of the time. Therefore, the collapse of the USSR was natural and necessary.
Those who adhere to communist views are inclined to blame for the destruction of the USSR both external forces hostile to the then ruling regime in the country and internal enemies, most of whom themselves belonged to the ruling political elite in the Soviet Union. The actions of political leaders, which led to disastrous results in the economy and politics, the communists call the main factor in the collapse of the Land of the Soviets, which could have been prevented.
Who is to be considered responsible for the collapse of the USSR?
Those who remember the Soviet Union well at the end of its existence know that it did not collapse overnight. The collapse of the state was preceded by many years of preparation on the part of ardent opponents of the Soviet system abroad and within the country. And, oddly enough, one of the main destroyers of this system was the political and state elite of the USSR.
The highest party leaders acted not so much out of calculation as out of stupidity and thoughtlessness. Convincing themselves with hopes for the well-being of the Soviet system, the party leaders announced that developed socialism had been built in the Soviet Union. This approach did not take into account the real exacerbation of the class struggle in the international arena and the fact that inside the country also raised their heads the forces that were interested in a radical change in economic relations and the political system.
After the abolition of the sixth article of the Constitution, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union lost its leading role in society. Subsequently, the USSR adopted a number of government decrees in the field of the national economy, which directly contradicted the principles of building a socialist economy.
The creation of conditions for the development of the so-called cooperative movement became a prerequisite for the restoration of the capitalist system. The collapse of socialism was a foregone conclusion.
Subsequent events unfolded with dizzying speed by historical standards and took on the character of a direct confrontation between M. S. Gorbachev, who was the president of the USSR, and B. N. Yeltsin, who claimed the role of the new leader of the renewed Russia. Researchers almost unanimously consider the failure of a part of the leadership of the USSR to correct the current situation by creating the State Emergency Committee as a "point of no return" to the socialist past from the impending capitalist future.
The external forces hostile to it should not be excluded from the list of those responsible for the collapse of the USSR. Western countries did not just observe the political processes in the Soviet Union. They actively encouraged the destructive policies of the Soviet elite, supported nationalist protests, and exercised ideological influence throughout the USSR in a variety of ways. Ultimately, it was the Western powers that were most beneficial for the Soviet Union in its former form to cease to exist.
