Evaluation:
Published: 14.04.2004.
Language: English
Level: Secondary school
Literature: n/a
References: Not used
  • Essays 'An In Depth Look at Russia', 1.
  • Essays 'An In Depth Look at Russia', 2.
  • Essays 'An In Depth Look at Russia', 3.
Extract

Introduction Top of Page Background: The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered…

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