Subject: Political Science

Ch-2 The End of Bipolarity

Class-12
Overview of the Chapter

This chapter throws light on the causes and consequences of disintegration of Soviet Union
in 1989, by toppling the Berlin wall which was the greatest symbol of Cold war. This
dramatic event and other historical events led to the collapse of the Second World means
Eastern bloc and subsequently ending the Cold war.

Important Terms to remember

1. Bipolarity- ​It is a system where the world is divided between two power blocs as USA
and USSR after the Second World War.

2. Unipolar- ​World is dominated by a single power as USA in the present era.

3. Multipolar world- ​Power is divided among several big powers.

4. CIS- ​Commonwealth of independent states was a loose confederation formed by

erstwhile Soviet states of Russia, Ukraine and Belraus in 1991, later joined the Central
Asian Republics

5. Shock Therapy- ​A model of transition or change in Russia, east Europe and Central Asia
which has been influenced by IMF and World Bank

6. Socialism-​ An ideology propagating state controlled economy

7. Capitalism​- An ideology propagating free market economy.

8. Ruble​- Currency of Russia

9. Egalitarian society- It believes that all people are equally important and should have the
same rights and opportunities in life

10. Coup- ​Illegal takeover of the government by military either through violence or
otherwise

11. Collective security system- A system in which attack on any country is regarded as
threat to all countries and requires a collective response.

12. Glasnost​- It means openness or democratization of the system wherein the citizens were
given the right to get full and correct information about public issues.

13. Perestroika​- It means restructuring of political, economic and administrative reforms

1
Introduction

The Russian Revolution of 1917 which was led by Vladimir Lenin was an event of great significance in
world history. This revolution gave rise to a new type of politico- economic system in Russia.
After the World War II the main aim of Russia was to install communist governments in Eastern
Europe. The revolution was inspired by the ideals of socialism, as opposed to capitalism and the
need for an egalitarian society.

Features of Soviet Political system

1. The leaders of Russia like Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky etc had implicit faith in socialism which
means that all means of production and distribution (Factories, minerals, land, banks etc)
were placed under state control.

2. The makers of the Soviet system gave primary importance to the working class and the
institution of the party that supported the poor people.
3. The Soviet political system centered on the communist philosophy, and no other political
party, or opposition was allowed​.
4. They also abolished the institution of private property and designed the society based on
principles of equality
5. The economy of Soviet Union was planned one and for rapid development of industries,
Five year plans were started in 1928.

How Soviet Union become a superpower?

2
 Soviet Union has been a multinational state wherein people of more than 60 national
communities lived. It had vast reserves of coal, iron, natural gas and bauxite. It had
emerged as a big power after the Second World War. The Soviet economy was one of the
most advanced and competed with the USA. Factors which made Soviet economy a
superpower were:

● It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and
steel, machinery production and a transport sector that connected its remotest areas with
efficiency.
● It had industry that produced everything from pins to cars, though their quality did not
match that of the Western capitalist countries.
● It ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens and the government subsidized
basic necessities including health, education, childcare and other welfare schemes.
● There was no unemployment and state ownership was the dominant form of ownership.
● The dominant form of ownership was state control. Land and productive assets were
managed and regulated by the state.

Why did Soviet Union disintegrate?

Soviet Union was at par with USA as far as arms were concerned. But it was done at a great cost. It
lagged behind the West in technology and infrastructure and even failed to realize the
socio-economic and political aspirations of its people. The invasion of Afghanistan in 1979
further weakened the Soviet system leading it to the verge of stagnation. Perhaps, the internal
weaknesses of Soviet economic, political institutions, economic stagnation, and an
unaccountable and unresponsive political system led to its downfall

Economic reason
● The Soviet economy used much of its resources in maintaining its nuclear and
military arsenal and the development of its satellite states( Hungary, Albania,
Bulgaria, Romania) in Eastern Europe and within the Soviet system (Five Central
Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan).
● This led to a huge economic burden that the system could not cope up with.
● Moreover the ordinary citizens came to know about the economic advances of the
West and saw disparities between their system and the West.
● After years of being told that Soviet system was better than Western capitalism,
the reality of its backwardness came as a political and psychological shock to
them.

Political reason
3
 ● The Soviet Union had become stagnant in an administrative and political sense as
well.
● The Communist party which was ruling for last 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,
centralization of authority, unwillingness to allow more openness in government.
● Party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens, so people could
not identify them with the system and ultimately the government lost popular
backing.

Gorbachev’s reforms
● Mikahil Gorbachev, ​the General Secretary of the Communist Party wanted to
reform the Soviet system. Reforms, he thought were necessary to keep USSR
abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West.
But his decision to normalize relations with the West and democratize and reform
the Soviet Union had effects that were not anticipated. His reforms led to protest
by people in the East European countries (Soviet bloc) against their own
governments. His reforms were opposed by leaders within the Communist Party
and it led to a coup in 1991. Boris Yeltsin emerged as national hero in opposing
this coup.
● Gorbachev sought to reform the Soviet system in 1985 because he thought it was
necessary to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological
revolutions taking place in the West.
● His reforms were Prestroika​- means restructuring of economy and ​Glasnost​-
means openness or freedom
● But he carried out his reforms and loosened the system, he set in motion forces
and expectations that few could have predicted and became virtually impossible
to control.
● These were sections of Soviet society which felt that he moved much faster and
were disappointed and impatient with his methods.
● Others especially members of the Communist party felt that their power and
privileges were being eroded and he was moving too quickly.
● In this tug of war Gorbachev lost support from all sides and divided public
opinion.

Rise of Nationalism
● The rise of Nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within the various republics
including Russia and the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) Ukraine,
Georgia and other proved to be the final and most immediate cause for the
disintegration of USSR.
4
Consequences of Disintegration of USSR

The collapse of bipolarity or the second world of the Soviet Union and the communist regimes of
Eastern Europe had profound consequences for world politics:

1. First of all it meant the ​end of Cold war confrontations​. 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, had triggered
a massive arms race and accumulation of nuclear weapons and led to military blocs,
the end of confrontations demanded an end to this arms race and a possible new
peace.
2. Power relations in world politics changed and, therefore, the relative influence of
ideas and institutions also changed. The end of cold war left open only two
possibilities: either the remaining superpower would dominate and create a unipolar
system or different countries or groups of countries could become important players
in the international system thereby bringing in a multi polar system where no power
could dominate.
As it turned out the US became the sole superpower and the capitalist economy was now the
dominant economic system internationally. Institutions like World Bank and IMF
became powerful advisors to all these countries since they gave them loans for their
transitions to capitalism
3. The end of the Soviet bloc meant the ​emergence of many new countries​. All these
countries had their own independent aspirations and choices. Some of them especially
the Baltic and east European states wanted to join the European Union and become
part of NATO. The Central Asian countries wanted to take advantage of their
geographical location and continue their close ties with Russia and also with the
West, US, China and others.

Shock Therapy in Post- Communist Regimes

Shock therapy means treating a person by administering some shock or blow. After the end of
communist rule something like this happened in Russia. An effort was made to establish a new
type of order in place of then existing politico-economic system wherein the economy which was
in the hands of state was to be owned by private individuals, communist dictatorship was to
replace by democratic institutions.

After the collapse of communism, all most all countries which were under the control of
USSR witnessed the process of transition from an authoritarian Socialist system to a democratic
5
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’​.

Features of Shock therapy

● It involved a drastic change in the external orientation of these economies.

● Free trade was considered essential.
● The free trade regime and Foreign Direct Investment were to be the main engines
of change.
● This involved Deregulation or opening up and currency convertibility.
● It also involved the breakup of the existing trade alliances among the countries of
Soviet Bloc.
● Each state from this bloc was now linked directly to the West and not to each
other in the region.
● Collective farms were to replace by private farming
● Privatization of state owned assets.
● Capitalist economy to be the dominant form of economy.

Consequences of Shock Therapy

● The Shock therapy brought ruins to the economies and disaster upon the people of
the entire region.

1. In Russia the large state-controlled industrial complex almost collapsed, as about

90% of its industries were put up for sale to private individuals and companies
2. This was called the ‘largest garage sale’ in history as valuable industries were
undervalued and sold at throwaway prices.
3. The value of Ruble, the Russian currency declined dramatically.
4. The rate of inflation was so high that people lost all their savings.
5. The collective farm system disintegrated leaving people without food security,
and Russia started to import food.
6. The real GDP of Russia in 1999 was below what it was in 1989.
7. The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed.
8. The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the people into
poverty.
9. The middle classes were pushed to the periphery of society and the academic and
intellectual manpower disintegrated or migrated.
10. A mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many
economic activities.
11. Privatization led to new disparities. Post Soviet states especially Russia was
divided between rich and poor regions.
12. The construction of democratic institutions was not given the same attention and
priority as the demands of economic transformation.
13. All these countries including Russia had a strong executive President with widest
possible powers that rendered elected parliaments weak.

6
 14. A judicial culture and independence of judiciary was yet to be established in most
of these countries.

How did the economies of post-communist countries revived​?

● Most of these countries especially Russia started reviving in 2000 with the export
of natural resources like oil, natural gas and minerals.
● Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan an Uzbekistan were major
producers of oil and gas.
● Other countries gained because of the oil pipelines that cross their territories for
which they get rent and also manufacturing started.

As a result of shock therapy about half of Russia’s 1500 banks and other financial
institutions went bankrupt. Russia’s second largest bank-INKOMBANK, went bankrupt in
1998.

Tensions and Conflicts in former Soviet republics after disintegration

● Most of the former Soviet Republics are prone to conflicts and many have had
civil wars and insurgencies.

1. In Russia, two republics, Chechnya and Dagestan have had violent secessionist
movements.
2. In Central Asia, Tajikistan witnessed a civil war that went on for 10 years till 2001. In
Georgia, the demand for independence has come from two provinces resulting in a civil
war.
3. Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, there are movements against the existing rulers.
4. The Central Asian Republics are areas with vast hydrocarbon resources and have become
a zone of competition between outside powers and oil companies.
5. In eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two- with the Czechs and the
Slovaks forming independent countries
6. Most severe conflict took place in the Balkan republic of Yugoslavia which broke in
1991 with several provinces like Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia

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.
● Indo-Russian relations are embedded in a history of trust and common interests
and are matched by popular perceptions.
● Russia and India share a vision of a multipolar world order which means
coexistence of several powers in the international system, collective security,
greater regionalism, negotiated settlements of international conflicts, independent
foreign policy for all countries and decision making through bodies like UN.
● More than 80 bilateral agreements have been signed between India and Russia as
part of the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001.

7
 ● 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 India military gets most of its hardware from Russia, imports oil from it.
● India is seeking to increase its energy imports from Russia and the republics of
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
● Russia is important for India’s nuclear energy plans and assisted India’s space
industry by giving the cryogenic rocket when India needed it.

India and USSR relations

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 for 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

8
 Map work

Republics of Soviet Union

S.No New name of the Republic Earlier name as a member of

Soviet Union

1 Russian Union The Russian Soviet Federative

socialist republic

9
2 Ukraine The Ukranian Soviet Socialist
Republic

3 Uzbekistan The Uzbek Soviet Socialist

Republic

4 Belarus The Byelorussian Soviet

socialist republic

5 Kazakhstan The Kazakh Soviet socialist

republic

6 Georgia The Georgian Soviet socialist

republic

7 Azerbaijan The Azerbaijan Soviet

Socialist republic

8 Lithuania The Lithuanian Soviet

socialist republic

9 Armenia The Armenian Soviet socialist

republic

10 Moldavia The Moldavian Soviet

socialist Republic

11 Latvia The Latvian Soviet socialist

Republic

12 Kirghistan The Kirghiz Soviet socialist

Republic

13 Tajikstan The Tajiz Soviet socialist

Republic

14 Turkmenistan The Turkmen Soviet socialist

Republic

15 Estonia The Estonian Soviet socialist

Republic

10
11