SUPERPOWER COUNTRY? USSR

WHAT FORMS OF POWER DID THEY HAVE?
1. Geographic
  1. in 1991, was the world's largest state, covering a sixth of the world's inhabited land
  2. Worlds 3rd largest population (285 million in 1991)
  3. large natural reserves of oil and gas
  4. worlds longest border (60000km). bordered Norway, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Romania, China, North Korea, Slovakia, Turkey, Romania, Iran, Afghanistan
  5. five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert, and mountains
2. Economic
  1. world's second largest economy in 1990. Exported petroleum, gas, nuclear fuel
  2. First planned economy and operated a state ownership system
  3. Export partner with the Eastern bloc
  4. 1989, USSR's GDP was $2500bn
3. Cultural
  1. communist ideology
  2. communist propoganda particularly in cinema due to illiterate population
  3. writers, intellectuals, artists had work banned due to censorship - many imprisoned or killed
4. Military
  1. WW2 victory along with USA and UK
  2. By 1930s army was among the largest in history
  3. Largest amount of nuclear weapons
How did USSR maintain its power?
1. One party rule - regulating every aspect of public and private life
2. Promoted communist idea that all are equal - using propoganda to spread its views
3. Repression for those who didn't obey the rules
4. 15 countries were part of USSR - wide extent of power
5. Permanent seat on UN Security Council
6. KGB (USSR secret police, internal security, intellegence org.) world's most effective info gathering organisation
What were the implications of USSR power?
1. Cold War Period 1985-1991
  1. comp. between USSR and USA - world's two emerging superpowers
    1. military coalitions, strategic conventional force deployments, spying and intellegence, propoganda, nuclear races, appeals to neutral nations, rovalry
Why did USSR power decline?
1. Economic strain
  1. huge debt after WW2
  2. after 1975 - fall in oil prices
  3. Imbalance of spending - more money spent than it could afford by buying nuclear weapons etc
  4. couldn't compete with USA's capitalist economy
2. Needs of the people and needs of the gov. were very different "Will of the Masses"
  1. after loosing space race, citizens began to lose faith in government
  2. By 1980s citizens wanted westernized products eg McD's, Pepsi and famous music artists
  3. Estonia demanded independence in 1987 - domino effect of confidence to other countries and violent territorial disputes occurred

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SUPERPOWER COUNTRY? USSR

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