Gorbachev

Gorbachev's Reforms
One of the biggest conflicts that occurred during the twentieth century has to be the Cold War. A huge conflict involving the United States, Soviet Union, and their allies. This was not a conflict characterized by gore and bloodshed, but rather by the terror inflicted in people and the ambition for power of both countries. This epic conflict finally ended due to thecollapse of the Soviet Union during the late eighties and early nigh ties under Mikhail Gorbachev's presidency. The many reforms that were included in Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika worked out as a catalyst for the downfall of the Soviet Empire during the Cold War. Though some people say that the falling of this evil empire was inevitable there is no doubt that Gorbachev helped complete this goal.It is imperative to analyze and empathize the Soviet Unions' powerful empire in order to understand its downfall. Prevailing with a central government, the Soviet Union had in its time the second largest economy. It was a strong empire economically speaking and had a lot of influence in the global economy though they were kind of isolated. The economy was growing rapidly as the five-year planwent on and other modernizations started taking place. The hands of the government were forging the economy. Before this plan took place the Soviet's economy went around the agrarian sector, this was about to change. Government started creating factories in order to create a more industrialized nation and within those factories there was a lot of military pressure taking place. This governmentimposition lead to an exploitation of the working people and even though it raised the economic level of the Soviet Union it really hurt the people. Soon the USSR became a "highly industrialized economy" that had grown "more rapidly than any other nation beforehand" (Mikhail Gorbachev). The Soviet Union kept growing at a low but steady rate, which was kind of frightening for the rest of the world.

Ataround the late seventies and early eighties things got even worst because the Soviet's major rival, the United States, was having a rough time with their economy. The Vietnam war as well as the OPEC oil embargo had created a recession. This economic issue gave an advantage to the Soviets. But this would not go beyond fears and terror because a communist economy was almost compelled to fail. Thateventually happened to the USSR.
The whole Five-year plan and all the other imposed by state reforms in the long run made nothing else but an image of a strong economy but with weak pillars. As companies and corporations multiplied, the reunions the businessmen had with government officials in order to arrange government reforms (this is a hampering product of a communist regime) became harder toarrange and weakened the state control over these companies. This is only one example of how the communist regime failed to create a stable economy. (GORBACHEV'S ECONOMIC REFORMS)

Gorbachev knew this, he knew and felt the pressure of a stagnant economy and a growing population demanding more consumers' goods. In an attempt to arrange things and make them better he started "demanding harder workand greater discipline and attacking corruption" (179, William G. Hyland). Again those requests made did nothing else than hurt the people and were only the answer to the superficial aspects of the problem, truth is that what was needed to really fix things up had to be an infrastructural reform, Gorbachev was aware of this too.

Mikhail Gorbachev though was president of a communist nation andwas said to follow the Marxist- Stalinist ideas, reviewed the past of the Soviet Union and analyzed that the solution for socio-economic problems wasn't going to be achieved through this communist ideas. Gorbachev brought innovative ideas, something quite dangerous because under the Brezhnev power and other presidents, they had promoted the tradition of being "hostile to any innovation" (180,...