class 12th political science ,Chapter 2 The End of Bipolarity

                                                          

OVERVIEW

  The Berlin Wall, which had been built at the height of the Cold War and was its greatest symbol, was toppled by the people in 1989.
 Germany, divided after the Second World War, was unified.
 One after another, the eight East European countries that were part of the Soviet bloc replaced their communist governments in response to mass demonstrations.
 The Soviet Union stood by as the Cold War began to end, not by military means but as a result of mass actions by ordinary men and women.
  the Soviet Union itself disintegrated.

 WHAT IS The Berlin Wall ? 

The Berlin Wall symbolised the division between the capitalist and the communist world. Built in 1961 to separate East Berlin from West Berlin, this more than 150 kilometer long wall stood for 28 years and was finally broken by the people on 9 November 1989.

 WHAT WAS THE SOVIET SYSTEM?

 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 Soviet system is basically the power of the society run by USSR or Russia. They believed in communism where all the people were benefitted in the society The Soviet political system centred around the communist party, and no other political party or opposition was allowed. After the Second World War, the east European countries that the Soviet army had liberated from the fascist forces came under the control of the USSR. The political 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 Soviet Union became a great power after the Second World War except for the US had a complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and steel.
  The Soviet state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens, and the government subsidised
 basic necessities including health, education, childcare and other welfare schemes. There was no unemployment
 State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state. The Soviet system, however, became very bureaucratic and authoritarian, making life very difficult for its citizens 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. Russia dominated everything, and people from other regions felt neglected and often suppressed. In the arms race, the Soviet Union managed to match the US from time to time, but at great cost. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 weakened the system even further. The Soviet economy was faltering in the late 1970s and became stagnant.

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.
  Gorbachev’s decision to normalise relations with the West and democratise and reform the Soviet Union had some other effects that neither he nor anyone else intended or anticipated
 The people in the East European countries which were part of the Soviet bloc started to protest against their own governments and Soviet control
 Disintegration started
  Gorbachev initiated the policies of economic and political reform and democratisation within the country
  Communist Party opposed reforms
  The people had tasted freedom by then and did not want the old-style rule of the Communist Party  Boris Yeltsin opposed this coup, Yeltsin won a popular election, began to shake off centralised control Power shift from the Soviet centre to the republics,
  1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, three major republics of the USSR, declared that the Soviet Union was disbanded.,
 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.  Russia was now accepted as the successor state of the Soviet Union
  Russia accepted all the international treaties and commitments of the Soviet Union
  The old Soviet Union was thus dead and buried

 WHY DID THE SOVIET UNION DISINTEGRATE?

 1.Economic Weakness The weakness of the economy was the major cause of dissatisfaction among the people in USSR. There was sever shortage of consumer items. The reason for economics weakness were the following. 1. Huge military spending. 2. Maintenance of satellite states in Easter Europe. 3. Maintenance of the Central Asian Republics within the USSR 2. Political Un-accountability The communist party regime (single party rule) for around 70 years turned authoritarian. There was widespread corruption, nepotism and lack of transparency. Gorbachev’s decision to allow elections with a multi-party system and create a presidency for the Soviet Union began a slow process of democratization that eventually destabilized Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. 3. Gorbachev’s reforms Once people started to enjoy freedom under Micheal Gorbachev’s reforms, they demanded more. The demand grew into a big force which turned difficult to control. The people wanted to catch up with the west quickly 4. Rise of nationalism Rise of nationalism among countries like Russia, Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia etc is the most important and immediate cause of disintegration of the USSR. The national feeling was strong among the more prosperous areas in USSR and not in Central Asian republics. Ordinary people among prosperous republics didn’t like to pay big price to uplift the backward Central Asian republics Consequences of the disintegration of the USSR 1. The fall of second world. 2. The period marked the end of many communist regimes in response to mass protests. 3. End of cold war: End of arms race, end of ideological confrontations. 4. Change in power equations: Unipolar world, capitalist ideology, IMF, World Bank etc. 5. Emergence of new countries and new alliances – Eg: Baltic countries aligned with NATO

. SHOCK THERAPY IN POST-COMMUNIST REGIMES 

A painful process of transition from a 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’.

CONSEQUENCES OF SHOCK THERAPY

  As about 90 per cent of its industries were put up for sale to private individuals and companies sold at throwaway price.
  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 real GDP of Russia in 1999 was below what it was in 1989
  The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the people into poverty
  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 Tensions and Conflicts Most of the former Soviet Republics are prone to conflicts, and many have had civil wars and insurgencies. Some of these are:

(A) RUSSIA 

1. 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.

 (B) CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS

 1. Tajikistan witnessed a civil war that went on for ten years till 2001. The region as a whole has many sectarian conflicts.
 2. In Azerbaijan’s province of Nagorno-Karabakh, some local Armenians want to secede and join Armenia.
 3. In Georgia, the demand for independence has come from two provinces, resulting in a civil war. There are movements against the existing regimes in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.
 4. Countries and provinces are fighting over river waters. All this has led to instability, making life difficult for the ordinary citizen

(C) EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

 1. In eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two, with the Czechs and the Slovaks forming independent countries.
 2. 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.
3. 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.

 . INDIA AND POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRIES 

India has maintained good relations with all the postcommunist 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.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.