Explain the effects of disintegration of Soviet Union
Answers
For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall was a tangible representation of the so-called Iron Curtain and the political divisions in Europe. When Mikhail Gorbachev took control of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1985, he did so with the intention of revamping the country’s economy and government. He dismantled the secret police and introduced perestroika (economic restructuring) in an attempt to begin mending relationships with Western European countries and the United States. By studying the consequences of the collapse of the USSR, students today can gain an understanding of how the end of the Cold War affected U.S. and Soviet relationships, and how it led to the current political and economic climate between the two countries.