THE END OF BIPOLARITY

1. What was the Soviet System? 

• The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) came into being after the socialist revolution in Russia in 1917. The revolution was inspired by the ideals of socialism, as opposed to capitalism, and the need for an egalitarian society.
• This was perhaps the biggest attempt in human history to abolish the institution of private property and consciously design a society based on principles of equality. In doing so, the makers of the Soviet system gave primacy to the state and the institution of the party.
• The Soviet political system centred around the communist party, and no other political party or opposition was allowed. The economy was planned and controlled by the state.
• After the Second World War, the eastern European countries that the Soviet army had liberated from the fascist forces came under the and the economic systems of all these countries were modelled after the USSR.
• This group of countries was called the Second World or the ‘socialist bloc’. The Warsaw Pact, a military alliance, held them together. The USSR was the leader of the bloc control of the USSR. The political welfare schemes. There was no
• The Soviet system, however, became very bureaucratic and authoritarian lack of democracy and freedom of speech stifled people.
• State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.
• Most of the institutions of the Soviet state needed reform: the one-party system represented by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union had tight control over all institutions and was unaccountable to the people. The party refused to recognise the urge of people in the fifteen different republics that formed the Soviet Union to manage their own affairs including their cultural affairs.
• Although, the Soviet Union managed to match the US from time to time, but at great cost. The Soviet Union lagged behind the West in technology, infrastructure (e.g. transport, power), and most importantly, in fulfilling the political or economic aspirations of citizens. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 weakened the system even further.
• Though wages continued to grow, productivity and technology fell considerably behind that of the West. This led to shortages in all consumer goods. Food imports increased every year. The Soviet economy was faltering in the late 1970s and became stagnant.

2. Gorbachev and the Disintegration 

• Mikhail Gorbachev, who had become General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, sought to reform this system. Reforms were necessary to keep the USSR  abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West.
• However, Gorbachev’s decision to normalize relations with the West and democratise and reform the Soviet Union had some other effects
• The people in the East European countries which were part of the Soviet bloc started to protest against their own governments and Soviet control. Unlike in the past, the Soviet Union, under Gorbachev, did not intervene when the disturbances occurred, and the communist regimes collapsed one after another.
• These developments were accompanied by a rapidly escalating crisis within the USSR that hastened its disintegration.
• Gorbachev initiated the policies of economic and political reform and democratisation within the country. The reforms were opposed by leaders within the Communist Party.
• A coup took place in 1991 that was encouraged by Communist Party hardliners. The people had tasted freedom by then and did not want the old-style rule of the Communist Party. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero in opposing this coup. The Russian Republic, where Yeltsin won a popular election, began to shake off centralised control.
• Power began to shift from the Soviet centre to the republics, especially in the more Europeanised part of the Soviet Union, which saw themselves as sovereign states.
• The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain with the Soviet Federation.
• In December 1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, three major republics of the USSR, declared that the Soviet Union was disbanded. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was banned. Capitalism and democracy were adopted as the bases for the post-Soviet. The declaration on the disintegration of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came as a surprise to the other republics, especially to the Central Asian ones. The exclusion of these republics was an issue that was quickly solved by making them founding members of the CIS.
• Russia was now accepted as the successor state of the Soviet Union. It inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council republics.

3. Why did the Soviet Union Disintegrate

Economic Reasons: The economy stagnated because the Soviet economy used much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and military arsenal and the development of its satellite states in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet system (the five Central Asian Republics in particular). This led to a huge economic burden that the system could not cope with. At the same time, ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable about the economic advances of the West. 

Administrative Political:  The Communist Party that had ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not accountable to the people. Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, rampant corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes it had made, the unwillingness to allow more openness in government, and the centralization of authority in a vast land.  Worse Gorbachev’s reforms promised to deal with these problems. Gorbachev promised to reform the economy, catch up with the West, and loosen the administrative system. Members of the communist party felt that their power and privileges were eroding and Gorbachev was moving too quickly. In this ‘tug of war’, Gorbachev lost support on all sides and divided public opinion.

Rise of Nationalism and Desire for Sovereignty: The rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within various republics including Russia and the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia, and others proved to be the final and most immediate cause for the disintegration of the USSR.

4. Timeline of Disintegration of the Soviet Union

•  1985 March: Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; appointed Boris Yeltsin as the head of the Communist Party in Moscow; initiated a series of reforms in the Soviet Union
• 1988: The independence movement begins in Lithuania; later spreads to Estonia and Latvia
• 1989 October: Soviet Union declares that the Warsaw Pact members are free to decide their futures; Berlin Wall falls in November
• 1990 February: Gorbachev strips the Soviet Communist Party of its 72-year-long monopoly on power by calling on the Soviet parliament (Duma) to permit multiparty politics
• 1990 March: Lithuania becomes the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare its independence
• 1990 June: Russian parliament declares its independence from the Soviet Union
• 1991 June: Yeltsin, no longer in the Communist Party, becomes the President of Russia
• 1991 August: The Communist Party hardliners stage an abortive coup against Gorbachev
• 1991 September: Three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania become UN members (later join NATO in March 2004)
• 1991 December: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine decide to annul the 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the CIS (Georgia joins later in 1993); Russia takes over the USSR seat in the United Nations
• 1991 December 25: Gorbachev resigns as the President of the Soviet Union; the end of the Soviet Union

5. Consequences of Disintegration

1) End of Arms Race and Ideological Confrontation: The ideological dispute over whether the socialist system would beat the capitalist system was not an issue any more. Since this dispute had engaged the military of the two blocs, triggered a massive arms race and accumulation of nuclear weapons, and led to the existence of military blocs, the end of the confrontation demanded an end to this arms race and a possible new peace.

2) US The Sole Superpower: Bringing in a multipolar system where no one power could dominate. As it turned out, the US became the sole superpower. Backed by the power and prestige of the US, the capitalist economy was now the dominant economic system internationally. Institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund became powerful advisors to all these countries since they gave them loans for their transitions to capitalism. Politically, the notion of liberal democracy emerged as the emerged as the best way to organise political life.

3) Emergence of New Countries: The end of the Soviet bloc meant the emergence of many new countries. All these countries had their independent aspirations and choices. Some of them, especially the Baltic and East European states, wanted to join the European Union and become part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Central Asian countries wanted to take advantage of their geographical location and continue their close ties with Russia and also to establish ties with the West, the US, China and others. Thus, the international system saw many new players emerge, each with its own identity, interests, and economic and political difficulties.

6. Shock Therapy in Post-Communist Regimes

• The collapse of communism was followed in most of these countries by a painful process of transition from an authoritarian socialist system to a democratic capitalist system.
• The model of transition in Russia, Central Asia and East Europe that was influenced by the World Bank and the IMF came to be known as ‘shock therapy
• Each of these countries was required to make a total shift to a capitalist economy, which meant rooting out completely any structures that evolved during the Soviet period. Above all, it meant that private ownership was to be the dominant pattern of ownership of property.
• Privatization of state assets and corporate ownership patterns were to be immediately brought in. Collective farms were to be replaced by private farming.
• Shock therapy also involved a drastic change in the external orientation of these economies. Development was now envisaged through more trade, and thus a sudden and complete switch to free trade was considered essential. The free trade regime and foreign direct investment (FDI) were to be the main engines of change. This also involved openness to foreign investment, financial opening up or deregulation, and currency convertibility.
• Finally, the transition also involved a breakup of the existing trade alliances among the countries of the Soviet bloc. Each state from this bloc was now linked directly to the West and not to each other in the region. These states were thus to be gradually absorbed into the Western economic system.

7. Consequences of Shock Therapy

• It brought ruin to the economies and disaster to the people of the entire region. In Russia, the large state-controlled industrial complex almost collapsed, as about 90 per cent of its industries were put up for sale to private individuals and companies.
• Since the restructuring was carried out through market forces and not by government-directed industrial policies, it led to the virtual disappearance of entire industries. This was called ‘the largest garage sale in history’, as valuable industries were undervalued and sold at throwaway prices.
• Though all citizens were given vouchers to participate in the sales, most citizens sold their vouchers in the black market because they needed the money.
• The value of the ruble the Russian currency, declined dramatically. The rate of inflation was so high that people lost all their savings.
• The collective farm system disintegrated leaving people without food security, and Russia started to import food. The real GDP of Russia in 1999 was below what it was in 1989.
• The old trading structure broke down with no alternative in its place. The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed.
• The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the people into poverty. The middle classes were pushed to the periphery of society, and the academic and intellectual manpower disintegrated or migrated. A mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many economic activities.
• Privatisation led to new disparities. Post-Soviet states, especially Russia, were divided between rich and poor regions. Unlike the earlier system, there was now great economic inequality between people.
• The construction of democratic institutions was not given the same attention and priority as the demands of economic transformation. The constitutions of all these countries were drafted in a hurry and most, including Russia, had a strong executive president with the widest possible powers that rendered elected parliaments relatively weak.
• In Central Asia, the presidents had great powers, and several of them became very authoritarian. For example, the presidents of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan appointed themselves to power first for ten years and then extended it for another ten years. They allowed no dissent.
• Most of these economies, especially Russia, started reviving in 2000, ten years after their independence. The reason for the revival of most of their economies was the export of natural resources like oil, natural gas and minerals. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are major oil and gas producers. Other countries have gained because of the oil pipelines that cross their territories for which they get rent. Some amount of manufacturing has restarted. 

8. Tensions and Conflict

• In Russia, two republics, Chechnya and Dagestan, have had violent secessionist movements. Moscow’s method of dealing with the Chechen rebels and indiscriminate military bombings have led to many human rights violations but failed to deter the aspirations for independence
• In Central Asia, Tajikistan witnessed a civil war that went on for ten years till 2001. The region as a whole has many sectarian conflicts. In Azerbaijan’s province of Nagorno-Karabakh, some local Armenians want to secede and join Armenia.
• In Georgia, the demand for independence came from two provinces, resulting in a civil war. There are movements against the existing regimes in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.
• Countries and provinces are fighting over river waters. All this has led to instability, making life difficult for the ordinary citizen.
• The Central Asian Republics are areas with vast hydrocarbon resources, which have brought them economic benefits. Central Asia has also become a zone of competition between outside powers and oil companies.
• The region is next to Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and close to West Asia. After 11 September 2001, the US wanted military bases in the region and paid the governments of all Central Asian states to hire bases and to allow aeroplanes to fly over their territory during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• However, Russia perceives these states as its ‘Near Abroad’ and believes that they should be under Russian influence.
• China has interests here because of the oil resources, and the Chinese have begun to settle around the borders and conduct trade.
• In Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two, with the Czechs and the Slovaks forming independent countries.
• But the most severe conflict took place in the Balkan republics of Yugoslavia. After 1991, it broke apart with several provinces like Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declaring independence. Ethnic Serbs opposed this, and a massacre of non-Serb Bosnians followed. The NATO intervention and the bombing of Yugoslavia followed the inter-ethnic civil war.

9. India and Post-Communist Countries

• India has maintained good relations with all the post-communist countries. But the strongest relations are still those between Russia and India. India’s relations with Russia are an important aspect of India’s foreign policy.
• Russia and India share a vision of a multipolar world order. What they mean by a multipolar world order is the co-existence of several powers in the international system, collective security (in which an attack on any country is regarded as a threat to all countries and requires a collective response), greater regionalism, negotiated settlements of international conflicts, an independent foreign policy for all countries, and decision making through bodies like the UN that should be strengthened, democratised, and empowered
• India stands to benefit from its relationship with Russia on issues like Kashmir, energy supplies, sharing information on international terrorism access to Central Asia, and balancing its relations with China.
• Russia stands to benefit from this relationship because India is the second largest arms market for Russia. The Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia. Since India is an oil-importing nation, Russia is important to India and has repeatedly come to its assistance of India during its oil crises
• India is seeking to increase its energy imports from Russia and the republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Cooperation with these republics includes partnership and investment in oilfields.
• Russia is important for India’s nuclear energy plans and assisted India’s space industry by giving, for example, the cryogenic rocket when India needed it. Russia and India have collaborated on various scientific projects.

During the Cold War era, India and the USSR enjoyed a special relationship which led critics to say that India was part of the Soviet camp. It was a multi-dimensional relationship:

• Economic: The Soviet Union assisted India’s public sector companies at a time when such assistance was difficult to get. It gave aid and technical assistance to steel plants like Bhilai, Bokaro, Visakhapatnam, and machinery plants like Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., etc. The Soviet Union accepted Indian currency for trade when India was short of foreign exchange.
• Political: The Soviet Union supported India’s positions on the Kashmir issue in the UN. It also supported India during its major conflicts, especially during the war with Pakistan in 1971. India too supported Soviet foreign policy in some crucial but indirect ways.
• Military: India received most of its military hardware from the Soviet Union at a time when few other countries were willing to part with military technologies. The Soviet Union entered into various agreements allowing India to jointly produce military equipment.
• Culture: Hindi films and Indian culture were popular in the Soviet Union. A large number of Indian writers and artists visited the USSR.

10. Some Important Leaders

• Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) Founder of the Bolshevik Communist Party; leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the founder-head of the USSR during the most difficult period following the revolution (1917-1924); an outstanding theoretician and practitioner of Marxism and a source of inspiration for communists all over the world
• Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) Successor to Lenin and led the Soviet Union during its consolidation (1924-53); began rapid industrialization and forcible collectivisation of agriculture; credited with Soviet victory in the Second World War; held responsible for the Great Terror of the 1930s, authoritarian functioning and elimination of rivals within the party
•  Nikita Khrushchev(1894-1971) Leader of the Soviet Union (1953-64); denounced Stalin’s leadership style and introduced some reforms in 1956; suggested “peaceful coexistence” with the West; involved in suppressing popular rebellion in Hungary and in the Cuban missile crisis
• Leonid Brezhnev (1906-82) Leader of the Soviet Union (1964- 82); proposed  Asian Collective Security system; associated with the détente phase in relations with the US; involved in suppressing a popular rebellion in Czechoslovakia and in invading Afghanistan
• Mikhail Gorbachev (Born 1931) Last leader of the Soviet Union (1985-91); introduced economic and political reform policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness); stopped the arms race with the US; withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and eastern Europe; helped in the unification of Germany; ended the Cold War; blamed for the disintegration of the Soviet Union
• Boris Yeltsin (Born 1931) was The first elected President of Russia (1991- 1999); rose to power in the Communist Party and was made the Mayor of Moscow by Gorbachev; later joined the critics of Gorbachev and left the Communist Party; led the protests against the Soviet regime in 1991; played a key role in dissolving the Soviet Union; blamed for hardships suffered by Russians in their transition from communism to capitalism

11. Political map of the Commonwealth of Independent States