FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION

RONALD REAGAN

• Called the soviet union an "evil empire"
• Gave military aid to the Afghan rebels
• Told the leader of the soviet bloc to tear down the wall
• Was elected president in 1980
• Began a military buildup and new arms race

LEONID BREZHNEV(POLICIES)

• Emphasized heavy industry
• More access to Western style of music
• More access to Western style of dress
• More access to Western style of art
• Punished anyone who spoke against him

LEONID BREZHNEV (PROBLEMS FACED)

• Discouraged efficiency
• Led to indifference
• No incentive to work hard
• People preferred to work on private plots than on work brigades
• Very corrupt

MIKHAIL GORBACHVE (COLD WAR)

• The accession of him to power in S.U. Brought an end to Cold War.
• Encouraged glasnost
• Stopped giving Soviet support to Communist governments
• Made agreement with U.S. (INF)
• "New Thinking" led to stunning changes

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (PERESTROIKA)

• Wanted to start a market eceonomy
• Consumers influenced what was produced
• Limited free enterprise
• Some private property
• Realized was doomed for failure

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (THE END)

• Soviet unions first (and last) president
• Faced multi-ethnicity problems
• Struggled to deal with problems created by his reforms
• Nationalist movements emerged
• Was arrested on august 19,1991 by a group of conservative leaders

BORIS YELTSIN

• President of the Russian Republic
• Introduced a free market economy
• Used brutal force to keep province in Russia
• He opposed NATO's proposed expansion
• Resigned at the end of 1999

VLADIMAR PUTIN

• Elected president in 2000
• Vowed to adopt a more assertive international role
• Launched reforms to boost growth and budget revenues
• Replaced boris Yeltsin as president
• Vowed to bring Chechnya under control

HOW MANY YEARS WERE THEY IN POWER?

THANK YOU!