Why Did Joseph Stalin Change The Soviet Union

While the second world war was coming to a close, Joseph Stalin, of the Soviet union was one of the major powers. He had gained enough power to persuade and influence many people and nations. This persuasion allowed him to create a communist/totalitarian state where he brutally punished his own people. Towards the end of the Second World War he had enough power and persuasive capability to claim 15 Eastern European nations under the empire of the Soviet Union. He promised in the Yalta Conference he would allow free elections, but he never fell through on his promise. Instead he implanted communist governments that were extreme police States. After Stalin’s death in 1953, two more extreme communist leaders took his place. The leaders following them, however, would leave them in the right direction.

Mikhaill Gorbachev was the most driven Soviet union leader towards democracy.

Although he didn't state his democratic intentions, you can obviously see what he wanted for the country through three main reforms. His first reformed was a policy known as glasnost. This means openness, which indeed it brought. With this policy it opened churches, released dissidents from prison, allowed the publication of books by previously banned authors, looked into a broad range of issues, and finally had the ability to criticize officials. This change the Soviet union dramatically. His next reform was perestroika, or economic restructuring. This allowed for local managers to have The ability to impose more rules and regulations over their farms and factories. It also included people being able to open small private businesses. The ability to impose more rules and regulations over there farms and factories. Is third reform was called democratization. Elections now involved the people to choose their preferred candidate from a much broader range of people. All of his efforts led the Soviet Union in the right direction. However, other issues

arose.

Although Gorbachev’s reforms were praised by the people, the wealthy and communist party followers were not pleased. They wanted the old Soviet Union back where communism was its main priority. These people were called hard-liners, and they fought back against Gorbachev. On August 18, 1991, the hardliners went and housebound Gorbachev in his vacation home on the Black Sea. They pleaded and begged him for him step down from his position. The government and Boris Yeltsin, who was a member of Parliament, fought back against these hardliners and forced them to stop protesting. This communist party coup brought down the party. Along with that came the breaking of the Soviet Union’s empire. Latvia and Estonia declared which inspired others to do as well. The Soviet Union as an empire was now no longer. Yeltsin now took power after Gorbachev stepped down in 1991.

Dalton was hit hard immediately by having to go to war with Chechnya, an area in southwestern Russia that contains mostly Muslims. They claimed their independence in 1991, but was not recognized as independent by Yeltsin and Russia. This forced them to fight back against the Chechens. The damage they did was in Grozny where they attacked so hard that it didn't even seem like a town was once there. They signed a cease-fire in 1996 but new in arising issues brought them back to war in 1999. However, this time Yeltsin did not have to deal with it: Vladimir Putin, the new president of Russia, had to.

Russia announced in 2002 that they speculated the war in Chechnya would start to whine down. 80,000 troops were promised to be pulled out of Chechnya. However, their promise never fell through. Forces from Chechnya Took over a theater in Moscow in October 2002. More than 150 people died and others were wounded. After this, Putin would still have to deal with other problems that shaped Russia. The economy and social aspects of Russia or now being looked at as declining. Within the decade of 1992 and 2002, many reforms took place that had many impacts that left dramatic results side effects. 30,000 to 50,000 children were assumed to be homeless and about half were suspected to be under 13. Domestic violence in unemployment skyrocketed. One the other hand, The population, standard of living, and the average life expectancy he declined. Putin still has to deal with these issues today and many others as well.