The End of Bipolarity | Class 12 Political Science Notes

GORBACHEV AND THE DISINTEGRATION

Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985 and recognized the urgent need to reform the stagnant Soviet system. He initiated policies of economic restructuring (perestroika) and political openness (glasnost) to modernize the USSR and keep pace with technological advances in the West. Gorbachev also sought to normalize relations with Western countries and reduce Cold War tensions. However, these reforms had unintended consequences. The Eastern European countries under Soviet influence began mass protests against their communist governments and Soviet control. Unlike previous decades, the Soviet Union under Gorbachev did not intervene militarily, allowing communist regimes to collapse one after another. Within the USSR, reform efforts faced opposition from Communist Party hardliners, culminating in a failed coup in 1991. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a leader opposing the coup and advocating for democratic reforms. The Russian Republic, under Yeltsin, asserted sovereignty, weakening centralized Soviet control. Nationalist movements in various republics, especially in the European parts of the USSR, intensified demands for independence. By December 1991, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus declared the Soviet Union dissolved and formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Communist Party was banned, and the post-Soviet republics adopted capitalism and democracy. Russia inherited the USSR's UN Security Council seat and nuclear arsenal, marking the definitive end of the Soviet Union.

📊 Diagram: Portraits of key Soviet leaders including Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin illustrate the leadership during the period of reform and disintegration.

🔗 Connection: This section leads to an analysis of the reasons behind the Soviet Union’s disintegration and the broader consequences for global politics.