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The Fall of the Soviet Union

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The Fall of the Soviet Union
THE DREAM THAT FAILED: THE FALL OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE

Research Question: What factors contributed to the collapse of the USSR in 1991?

Paper Word Count: 3,982

The work contained within is my own – unless otherwise cited _________________________________________

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that contributed to the collapse of the USSR. Did Mikhail Gorbachev’s political reforms cause the collapse of the Soviet Union? Or did the combination of internal and external factors of the post-­‐Stalin era contribute to the irreversible disintegration of the USSR. This paper investigates and responds to these inquiries. This investigation focuses on the post-­‐Stalin era (1953-­‐1991). This essay is structured to analyze and evaluate the main factors responsible for the collapse of the USSR based on the analysis of a variety of primary sources, such as textbooks and credited articles, and numerous secondary sources, which represent the historiography surrounding the roles played by pre-­‐Gorbachev Soviet leaders,
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