Welcome to Russian History Retold.

Episode number 199.

Why did the Soviet? episode number 199.

Why did the Soviet Union collapse?

Last time we recounted the attempted coup of Mejail Gorbachev in 1991. This week I'm going to go over some of the main reasons

the Soviet Union collapsed shortly after the overthrow attempt. The reasons are many and it would be near impossible to cover them all, but I'll try to share with you what I think are the main reasons.

The standard argument used in the West is that the underlying concept of communism was the reason the Soviet Union was destined to fail.

This is the most straightforward answer and one that may be indeed a significant contributing factor in the collapse of one of the great powers of the second half of the 20th century.

My question that I hope to give some meaning to is why is this the reason?

Was it because there was no incentive to work harder?

Was it because there was such an enormous bureaucracy in place that nothing could be done?

Was it due to the lack of honest discussion about the problems that they were facing in the country?

Was it the sheer size of the Soviet Union that made it inherently ungovernable?

Was it purely an economic issue that had its beginnings with the disastrous Russian Civil War and compounded by the terrible losses caused by the Great Patriotic War,

also known as World War II, may be and very likely a combination of all these reasons and more.

Many of you listening to this podcast were alive and aware of the events going on in

1991. An equal number, anyone under the age of 45, were not. I was 33 when it all

went down and I could still remember the stunning speed by which the collapse happened. As I recounted in

episode one, my Russian history professor, Dr Paul average, at Queens College in

New York City, had predicted the fall in 1977. He told all of us in the

class that the Soviet Union had about 20 years left before it would fade into oblivion. I would venture to say that not one person

in the class believed him, but there it is. He was right, just off by a few years. So what was the reason he gave us back then and is there

...