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In most of the East European countries single
party communist rule was established. But with the rise of nationalism people
started to assert their democratic rights.
Soviet empire got another shock when East
Germany was merged with West Germany. It was seen as a defeat of
communism.
There was a split in the Soviet
Communist Party in 1989.
The emphasis on heavy
industry and armament made Russia powerful but failed to meet the
expectations of the people in terms of food production and consumer goods.
As all factors of production-land, property
and factories were owned by the state so it killed people’s incentive to
work.
In 1980s state treasury was empty and people
had to agitate to get their salaries.
The reforms started by Mikhail Gorbachev were not
radical enough to revive the economy instead it created more problems.
The censoring of the books,
plays, music, literature had shocked the creative writers.
Revolution in informational technology had
enabled the soviets to know, hear, and see what is happening outside in the
world.
People could now compare their political
system with that of the system in the west.
There was large scale discontent and this
discontent was transmitted to the masses by intelligentsia.
Russia was
spending large amount of national income in manufacturing weapons than
promoting welfare among the masses.
Russia always wanted
that the eastern Europeon countries should continue to toe the Soviet Line in
everything they did. The policy of interference in the internal affairs was
not liked by many countries.
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