Let's start off with a background story. The Soviet Union was a dream of a revolutionary called Lenin. He wanted a communist revolution and changed Russia from a monarchy to a communist state. This was during and after WWI. How could the second super power fall? Do not think it was Reagan at the Berlin wall asking to tear down that wall. No, it was more complicated than that. The Soviet Union had problems at the core with its ideology (communism), a misguided war that brought, a Trade Union, and the pope that brought down the Soviet Union.
Solidarity: Poland's stand against communism
There are two big things that contributed to the fall of Communism. One was the war in Afghanistan. Second was Solidarity in Poland. This movement began out of a protest of food prices and people were killed in Gdansk 1980. This movement began as trade union called itself Solidarity. Then there were a series of protests in Poland in the 1980s, all of them a part of the Solidarity movement. Pope John Paul II wanted the Soviet Union dissolved. So the Polish people were patriotic in having a pope back up their Solidarity movement. Poland started the idea to dissolve the Soviet Union. This protest was more successful than the Hungarian protest in the 1950's because the Soviets grew weaker politically in the 1980's. You might have known that there was a war between Afghanistan and the Soviets. This war began in 1979 and ended until 1989. It was started to keep communist party in Afghanistan but they clashed with the mujaheddin (backed by the U.S.A.). This war weakened the stagnate Soviet Union economy which lead to more unrest a home. The Russo-Afghan war is compared to the United States' Vietnam. This was just a factor leading to the fall of the Soviet Union. A weakened economy leads to reform that would end the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev came to power and things changed for the Soviet Union. He implemented Glasnost and Perestroika. These reforms allowed free speech (Glasnost) and economic reform (Perestroika). These reforms would have taken place even if it wasn't Gorbachev in power. These reforms however backfired. The newly given free speech was used to criticize the Soviet Union and call for a democratic government. Also the Non-Russian Soviets were the ones who wanted the Soviet Union to dissolve from the Soviet Union more than the Russian Soviets. All regular people of the Soviet Union and Soviet Bloc countries cried for change from a communist government and its horrors. This idea was pushed by the Solidarity movement in Poland. The East Germans have the least in common of all the Soviet Bloc countries and so the disintegration starts at the fringes.
The Berlin wall was a sign of oppression. It was built the keep the Soviet Berliners in their side of the wall and not let them escape to capitalist Berlin. As with all rules or restrictions people break them and there are many wild stories of getting on the other side. It was a matter of time until those words would be heard and acted upon. Ronald Reagan came to Berlin, recognizing the Soviet Union's weakness, asked to tear down the Berlin Wall. East Germany was the first Soviet Bloc country to break away from the Soviet Union. People back in the United States thought he destroyed the Soviet Union, but no, he was just lucky enough to witness the fall and to tip the Soviet Union and Soviet Bloc countries into actually dissolving.
The Soviet Union was huge. There were many soviet states that were on the fringe of Russia's old borders. Just to note these Soviet states obviously did not have Russian culture because they were not apart of the Russian Empire. So the Russian Soviets went to Russify these states through widespread propaganda and force. This Russsification was trying to limit the ethnic languages. This caused resentment and distrust within the Soviet States. One example of this limiting of ethnic expression was the Holodomor or Ukrainian Genocide in 1932-33. So in conclusion after the fall of the Soviet Union these former Soviet States are now free to participate and enjoy being a part of the Global community. Even though the Soviet Union is gone these former states still have close ties to Russia and are influenced by its bigger brother. Don't forget Georgia in 2008.
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