First, Gorbachev decided to loosen Soviet control over countries in Eastern Europe. This would lead to an independent, democratic movement that would lead to the collapse of the Berlin wall. Second, Gorbachev chose to withdraw from the Soviet-Afghan war and meet with Ronald Reagan to limit nuclear weapons and end the cold war. Third, Gorbachev allowed elections with a multi-party system which would slowly lead to democratization of the Soviet Union and eventually help lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union itself. Gorbachev believed in glasnost which allowed for freedom of speech and press and perestroika which decentralized economic decision making. He promoted both of these ideas which further lead to democratization in the Soviet Union as well as its imminent collapse.
As Gorbachev’s policies were going into effect, many countries that were part of the Soviet Union wanted independence from the Soviet Union. The Baltic States pressed for their independence and violent uprisings took place in Latvia and Lithuania. In addition to states threatening to leave, Gorbachev was facing other domestic issues like pressure for himself and the Communist party to retain power. This would eventually lead to a coup against Gorbachev that would try to diminish Gorbachev's power and propel Yeltsin, the President of Russia, into power. The coup would ultimately fail and seal the fate of the Soviet Union which would fall on December 26, 1991.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union
https://www.britannica.com/story/why-did-the-soviet-union-collapse
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/collapse-soviet-union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev
I find it very interesting that you chose to talk about the collapse of the Soviet Union. You also mentioned that decentralizing power and encouraging freedom of speech led to its collapse. The reason for this was that by decentralizing power from the massive communist bureaucracy through perestroika and encouraging freedom of speech, this opened the floodgates to criticism of the whole Soviet apparatus. Perestroika, which exhibited the worst of the capitalist and communist systems through inflation and economic mismanagement, hastened this demise. The combination incited independence movements throughout Eastern Europe, fatally wounded the Communist Party, and resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union
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