Facing Down the Soviet Union

Facing Down the Soviet Union PDF Author: Kristan Stoddart
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137440333
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Facing Down the Soviet Union reveals for the first time the historic deliberations regarding the Chevaline upgrade to Britain's Polaris force, the decisions to procure the Trident C-4 and then D-5 system from the Americans in 1980 and 1982. It also details the decision to base Ground Launched Cruise Missiles in the UK in 1983.

Facing Down the Soviet Union

Facing Down the Soviet Union PDF Author: Kristan Stoddart
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137440333
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Facing Down the Soviet Union reveals for the first time the historic deliberations regarding the Chevaline upgrade to Britain's Polaris force, the decisions to procure the Trident C-4 and then D-5 system from the Americans in 1980 and 1982. It also details the decision to base Ground Launched Cruise Missiles in the UK in 1983.

The Development of Capitalism in Russia

The Development of Capitalism in Russia PDF Author: Vladimir I. Lenin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781410213006
Category : Capitalism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
CONTENTS The Development of Capitalism in Russia The Theoretical Mistakes of the Narodnik Economists The Differentiation of the Peasantry The Landowners' Transition from Corvée to Capitalist Economy The Growth of Commercial Agriculture The First Stages of Capitalism in Industry Capitalist Manufacture and Capitalist Domestic Industry The Development of Large-Scale Machine Industry The Formation of the Home Market

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

The Collapse of the Soviet Union PDF Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781076230294
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading The Cold War moved into one of its most dangerous phases after Brezhnev's death as both sides deployed nuclear weapons within alarming proximity in Europe. A NATO exercise, "Operation Able Archer," almost led to a Soviet miscalculation, and when the Soviets shot down a South Korean airliner in September 1983, claiming it had strayed into Soviet airspace, the Cold War became very tense indeed. After going through three elderly leaders in three years, Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen as the new General Secretary at the relatively youg age of 54 in March 1985. Gorbachev hoped to build the Soviet economy to relieve the persistent shortages of consumer goods it faced, which were caused by enormous military spending of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev tried to introduce some economic reforms, but they were blocked by communist hardliners. Gorbachev then came to the belief that the Soviet economy could not improved without political reform as well. Limited political reforms, such as broadcasting uncensored debates in which politicians openly questioned government policy, backfired when they energized eastern European opposition movements which began to overthrow their communist governments in 1989. Gorbachev was unwilling to reoccupy these eastern European nations and use the Soviet army to put down these revolts. Inspired by the revolts in Eastern Europe, the small Soviet Baltic republics, which had long chafed under Russian rule, also began to clamor for independence from the Soviet Union. In 1990, Gorbachev allowed non-Communist party politicians to run for office throughout the Soviet Union, and the Communist Party lost to independence candidates in six Soviet republics, including the three Baltic republics. The Baltic republics then declared independence from the Soviet Union. In comparison with other Soviet leaders, Gorbachev was leader of the USSR for a relatively short period, but the changes that took place under his leadership were monumental, including some that were intended and others that were unforeseen. Gorbachev oversaw the end of the Cold War and the peaceful transition away from communism in Central and Eastern Europe, and he ended the war in Afghanistan and many other proxy conflicts in the developing world. Gorbachev improved relations with the West and developed enough trust with President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush to decommission thousands of nuclear weapons. He also liberalized the political environment within the Soviet Union itself, increased accountability, and brought in a certain degree of democracy. Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1990, but his regime also left a legacy of turbulence and destruction in its wake. As a result of his policies, many Soviet people rose up against the status quo, demanding national self-determination and reviving old grievances. Gorbachev could not prevent the USSR from disbanding at the end of 1991, leaving much of the country's economy in ruins and nationalist and ethnic conflicts that are still unresolved today. Gorbachev was more popular abroad than he was at home, and in many respects, historians are still debating the costs and benefits of the last Soviet General Secretary's approach. The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The History of the USSR Under Mikhail Gorbachev examines the final years of their empire, and how it all came crashing down in a relatively short period of time. Along with pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the collapse of the Soviet Union like never before.

Collapse

Collapse PDF Author: Vladislav M. Zubok
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300262442
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union—showing how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms led to its demise “A deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times “[A] masterly analysis.”—Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong with five thousand nuclear-tipped missiles and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century. Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances—and the fragility of authoritarian state power.

Losing the Long Game

Losing the Long Game PDF Author: Philip H. Gordon
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250217040
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
Foreign Affairs Best of Books of 2021 "Book of the Week" on Fareed Zakaria GPS Financial Times Best Books of 2020 The definitive account of how regime change in the Middle East has proven so tempting to American policymakers for decades—and why it always seems to go wrong. "It's a first-rate work, intelligently analyzing a complex issue, and learning the right lessons from history." —Fareed Zakaria Since the end of World War II, the United States has set out to oust governments in the Middle East on an average of once per decade—in places as diverse as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan (twice), Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The reasons for these interventions have also been extremely diverse, and the methods by which the United States pursued regime change have likewise been highly varied, ranging from diplomatic pressure alone to outright military invasion and occupation. What is common to all the operations, however, is that they failed to achieve their ultimate goals, produced a range of unintended and even catastrophic consequences, carried heavy financial and human costs, and in many cases left the countries in question worse off than they were before. Philip H. Gordon's Losing the Long Game is a thorough and riveting look at the U.S. experience with regime change over the past seventy years, and an insider’s view on U.S. policymaking in the region at the highest levels. It is the story of repeated U.S. interventions in the region that always started out with high hopes and often the best of intentions, but never turned out well. No future discussion of U.S. policy in the Middle East will be complete without taking into account the lessons of the past, especially at a time of intense domestic polarization and reckoning with America's standing in world.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

The Collapse of the Soviet Union PDF Author: Andrew Langley
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 9780756520090
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
At midnight on December 31, 1991, the flag of the Soviet Union came down for the last time, signaling the end of Soviet power and the end of the communist dream. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Soviet leaders had aimed to establish communism throughout the world. But early idealism turned to dictatorship, fueling the long, terrifying stalemate of the Cold War. By 1989, the Soviet Union was tottering, unable to control its own inhabitants or compete with the West. Its collapse changed global politics forever.

Russia Upside Down

Russia Upside Down PDF Author: Frank H. Columbus
Publisher: Nova Biomedical Books
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
If the people killed or starved to death by the Soviets were laid out end to end they would stretch half way to the moon. This compelling novel of life in the Soviet Union tells an upfront and personal story of a family who lived through the birth, life and death of perhaps the worst monster state ever to exist on earth. We shudder through the social upheavals of the 1920s, the terror of the 30s and the horror of WWII. We catch the mood of enthusiasm at first for Khrushchev and the bitter disappointment that came soon after as his economic policies failed. We discover that the smiling Khrushchev turned out to be one of the worst persecutors of the Church in history. Then we take an emotional roller-coaster ride through the years of Brezhnev, Andropov and the other old men. At last we meet Mikhail Gorbachev whose new thinking rapidly becomes old thinking. At last the Soviet Union dies -- or does it? The Kuladze family story is also a remarkable and tender love story in a world where life and death could hinge on intonation, nuance or thinking unapproved thoughts. It is a world in which Christening a baby must be done in total secrecy, yet millions do it anyway. The reader will never be the same after reading this absorbing and thoughtful book.

Revelations from the Russian Archives

Revelations from the Russian Archives PDF Author: Diane P. Koenker
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781780393803
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 836

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Book Description


The Cold War: a Very Short Introduction

The Cold War: a Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Robert J. McMahon
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198859546
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Vividly written and based on up-to-date scholarship, this title provides an interpretive overview of the international history of the Cold War.

The Last Superpower Summits

The Last Superpower Summits PDF Author: Svetlana Savranskaya
Publisher: Central European University Press
ISBN: 9633861713
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1080

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Book Description
This book publishes for the first time in print every word the American and Soviet leaders – Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and George H.W. Bush – said to each other in their superpower summits from 1985 to 1991. Obtained by the authors through the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S., from the Gorbachev Foundation and the State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow, and from the personal donation of Anatoly Chernyaev, these previously Top Secret verbatim transcripts combine with key declassified preparatory and after-action documents from both sides to create a unique interactive documentary record of these historic highest-level talks – the conversations that ended the Cold War. The summits fueled a process of learning on both sides, as the authors argue in contextual essays on each summit and detailed headnotes on each document. Geneva 1985 and Reykjavik 1986 reduced Moscow's sense of threat and unleashed Reagan's inner abolitionist. Malta 1989 and Washington 1990 helped dampen any superpower sparks that might have flown in a time of revolutionary change in Eastern Europe, set off by Gorbachev and by Eastern Europeans (Solidarity, dissidents, reform Communists). The high level and scope of the dialogue between these world leaders was unprecedented, and is likely never to be repeated.