12th Class Arts Political Science 2nd Chapter end of bipolarity notes
Chapter 2: End of Bipolarity
- Fall of Berlin Wall
i. The Berlin Wall built during the height of the Cold war in 1961 symbolized the division between
the Capitalist and the Communist world.
ii. The fall of the Berlin wall by common people in Nov 1989 marks the beginning of the end of the
Communist Bloc.
iii. One after another 8 East European countries that were part of the Soviet Bloc replaced the
communist governments in response to mass demonstrations. Eventually, the Soviet Union
also disintegrated.
- Features of the Soviet System
i. The USSR came into being after a revolution in 1917 inspire by the ideas of socialism and
egalitarian society.
ii. The soviet system gave primacy to the State and the Soviet Communist Party.
iii. No other political party was allowed and the economy was planned and controlled by the
State.
Socialist Bloc
i. After the second world war, the East European countries that the Soviet Army has liberated
from the Fascist forces came under the control of USSR.
ii. The political and economic system of all these countries was model after the USSR. This
group of countries was called the second world or the Socialist Bloc. The Warsaw pact a
military alliance held them together and USSR was the leader of the Bloc.
- Features distinguishing Soviet Economy from a capitalist economy
i. After the second world war, the Soviet economy was more developed than the rest of the
world except for the US.
a. Complex communication Network – It had a complex a communications network, vast
energy resources including oil, iron, and steel. Machinery production and a transport
sector connecting its remotest area.
b. Advanced domestic consumer industry – the Soviet Union produced everything from pins
to cars. Though their quality did not match that of the capitalist countries.
c. Minimum standard of living- The Soviet State ensured a minimum standard of living for
all citizens. Govt. subsidized basic necessities including health, education, child care &
other welfare schemes.
d. Absence of unemployment – There was no unemployment state ownership was a
dominant form of ownership and land and productive assets were and controlled by
Soviet State.
- Reasons for the disintegration of Soviet Union
Economic Causes
i. The internal weakness of the Soviet political and economic institutions failed to meet the
aspirations of the people.
ii. The Soviet Union used its resources in maintaining Nuclear and Military Arsenal and the
development of its satellites in East Europe. This led to the huge economic burden that the
system could not cope with.
iii. The Soviet Union lagged behind the West in technology and infrastructure. Ordinary citizens
became more knowledgeable about the economic advance of the West. The backwardness
of the Soviet economic system came as a political and psychological shock to the people.
Political Causes
iv. The Soviet Union had become stagnant in an administrative and political sense. The
communist party that ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not accountable to
people.
v. Corruption was rampant. Lack of democracy and the absence of freedom of speech stifled
people who often expressed their dissent in-jokes and cartoons.
vi. Party bureaucrats gained more privilege than an ordinary citizen. People did not identify with
the system and the government increasingly lost popular backing.
vii. Mikhail Gorbachev promised to reform the economy, catch up with the West, and loosen the
administrative system.
Cultural Causes
viii. The communist party refuse to recognize the urge of people in 15 different republics that
formed the Soviet Union to manage its own affairs including their cultural affairs.
ix. On paper, Russia was only one of the 5 republics but in reality, Russia dominated everything
and people from other republics felt neglected and suppressed.
x. The rise of nationalism and desire for sovereignty within various republics including Russia,
the Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) Ukraine & Georgia and others proved to be
the final and most immediate cause for the disintegration of the USSR.
xi. During the Cold war, many thought that nationalist unrest would be the strongest in the
Central Asian republics given their ethnic and the religious difference with the rest of the Soviet
Union and their economic backwardness. However the unrest was strongest in the
European and prosperous regions of USSR like Russia and the Baltic Republics. People here
felt alienated from the central Asians and concluded that they were paying a very high
economic price for keeping backward area with Soviet Union.
- Shock Therapy
i. The collapse of communism in the countries socialist Bloc was followed by a painful process
for the transition from an authoritarian Socialist system to a Democratic capitalist system.
ii. The model of transition in Russia, Central Asia and east Europe undertook by the World
Bank and the IMF came to be known as shock therapy. Shock therapy varied in its intensity
and speed but its direction and features were quite similar.
a. Capitalist Economy: Shock therapy required these countries to make a total shift to
the capitalist economy, hence any structure that had evolved during the Soviet period were
completely rooted out.
b. Private ownership: Now private ownership was the dominant pattern of ownership.
The privatization of state assets and corporate ownership was undertaken immediately.
c. Private Farming- Collective farms were replaced by private farming and capitalism in
agriculture.
d. Free trade – Shock therapy drastically changes the external orientation of these
economies. Free trade and foreign direct investment were now the main engines of
change in development. Deregulation and currency convertibility were introduced.
e. Trade alliance with the West -Shock therapy involved the break-up of the existing trade
alliances among the countries of the Soviet Bloc. Each state from this Bloc was linked
directly to the West and was gradually absorbed into the Western economic system.
The Western Capitalist states now became the leaders and thus guided and controlled
the development of the region through various agencies and organizations.
- Difference between the Russian & Chinese path/way to market economy
i. In Russia, the concept of Market economy was brought forward by the IMF and World Bank, and
the Russian Govt. was not allowed to take part in this process. In China, the state played and
continues to play a central role in setting up a market economy.
ii. In Russia, the transition from communism to capitalism was sudden and complete. It meant
rooting out completely any structure evolved during Soviet period. China, on the other hand,
followed its own path of the market economy, it did not go for shock therapy but opened its
economy step by step.
iii. In Russia, the shock therapy brought ruin to the economy and disaster upon the people of
the entire region. Large state-controlled industrial complex collapsed as 90% of its industries
were put up for sale to private individuals and companies. Since restructuring was carried
out through market forces & not by Govt. directed industrial policies, it led to the virtual
disappearance of entire industries. In China, the new economic policies helped the economy
to break away from stagnation and the economy including industry & agriculture grew at a
faster pace.
iv. China has become the most important destination for foreign direct investment anywhere in
the world. It has a large foreign exchange reserve that allows it to make big investments in
other countries. As a result of shock therapy the value of Ruble, the Russian currency
declined dramatically. The real GDP of Russia in 1999 was below what it was in 1989. Ten
years after the introduction of shock therapy Russia could revive its economy by exporting
natural resources like oil, natural gas, and minerals.
- India Russia Relationship
i. India has maintained good relations with all the post-communist countries but the strongest
relations are still with Russia.
ii. Indo Russian relations are embedded in the history of trust and common interests.
iii. Russian and India share a vision of multi-polar the world order which allows the co-existence of
several powers in the international system, collective security,. Greater regionalism,
negotiated settlements of international conflicts, an independent foreign policy for all
countries and empowerment and democratization of the UN.
iv. More than 80 bilateral agreements had been signed between India and Russia as part of the
Indo Russian strategic agreement for 2001.
v. India stands to benefits from its relationship with Russia on issues like Kashmir, energy
supplies, sharing information on international terrorism, access to central Asia, and
balancing its relations with China.
vi. Russia has given assistance to India during the oil crisis. India has increased its energy imports
from Russia, and the republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
vii. Russia is important for India’s nuclear energy plans and has assisted India’s space industry
by giving the cryogenic rocket when India needed it.
viii. Russia stands to benefit from its relationship because India is the second-largest arms
market for Russia. The Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia.
ix. Russia and India are collaborating on various scientific projects
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