Why Did The Soviet Union Collapse

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At one point considered a great empire, the Soviet Union is also known for its great collapse. There are many arguments and viewpoints on why the Soviet Union collapsed; however, by looking closely at the history and laws of the Soviet Union it is clear why it collapsed. The Soviet Union collapsed for two reasons: a failed economy and a unfavorable geography. The failing economy of the Soviet Union was a major contributor to the collapse of the Soviet Union as a whole. Much of the failure economically comes from the failure of central planning. According to 1977 constitution of the USSR in the Soviet Union, socialism was to reign supreme and the economy was to be planned by the central Soviet government. “ The Soviet state is organized and functions on the principle of democratic centralism, namely the electiveness of all bodies of state authority from the lowest to the highest, their accountability to the people, and the obligation of lower bodies to observe the decisions of higher ones. Democratic centralism combines central leadership with local initiative and creative activity …show more content…

The Soviet Union was territorially vast, stretching down as far as central Asia and Eastern Europe. With a territory so vast, it is incredibly hard to manage and dictate from Moscow. The Soviet Union was simply too large for influence of a centrally planned state to make its way everywhere (Suny 1998). In addition, the Soviet Union contained various different ethnic groups, religions, and languages that made unification much less likely. According to the USSR constitution of 1977 territories of the Soviet Union did maintain the right to succeed. Thus ultimately leading to mass succession into various independent states weakening and then ultimately ending the Soviet Union. The inability to geographically and nationalistically unite the Soviet Union was a major contributor to its

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