Collapse of Soviet Union

The state exercised totalitarian control over the economy and also controlled every aspect of political and social life. People who dared to argue against Stalin’s policies were arrested and sent to labor camps or executed.

Soviet leaders got rid of his brutal policies but maintained the Communist party's power. They mostly focused on the Cold War with Western powers, engaging in a very expensive and destructive “arms race” with the United States, using the force of their military to suppress anticommunism and to spread it to Eastern Europe.

Non-Communist trade unionists in the Solidarity movement negotiated with the Communist government for freer elections and were successful. This sparked peaceful revolutions throughout Eastern Europe.

Due to Gorbachev’s decision to loosen the policies in Soviet Union.

Independent states start initiating due to the Soviet Union deteriorating at a fast rate.

This left Boris Yeltsin as the new president of the newly independent Russian state.

The Soviet Union ceased to exist as Russia separated into 15 different independent states.