Poll of the Day > Did Soviet Union lose because of Afghanistan war?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like i heard it is what bankrupted the union economically. As in that was the turning point seeing how failed system socialism/communism was.

But just wondering your views on it?

No, the USSR fell due to poor infrastructure and planning, with too much emphasis on military spending and not enough focus on keeping the domestic economy afloat.

Basically, the USSR fell into exactly the same trap that Tsarist Russia had fallen into to create the USSR in the first place. Those who fail to learn from the past, etc etc.


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I believe you were asked to stop making topics
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

No, the USSR fell due to poor infrastructure and planning, with too much emphasis on military spending and not enough focus on keeping the domestic economy afloat.

Yeah.. what i said.

But socialism/communism doesnt reward the guy who works on stuff. While i am very communist when it comes to sharing online, private businesses is a way to be rewarded for your hard work. Socialism/communism comes more across as a hippy fantasy system

I just believe people who work hard has earned the right to get rewarded for the hard work and effort that person has made

It didn't help but the collapse started before the invasion of Afghanistan. Millions of Soviet citizens faced starvation and didn't even have access to the most basic of needs. The constant shortages caused a massive backlash as more and more people refused to buy into the Communist ideology. After the invasion, Ronald Reagan cut off the Soviet economy from the rest of the world and drove oil and gas prices to some of the lowest levels in decades which further hurt their economy. Gorbachev's attempt to restructure the political system (can't remember the two biggest policies were called) didn't work nearly fast enough. Poland experienced a political revolution in 89' which brought on further revolutions. Berlin Wall also comes down in 89'. Communist party attempted a coup in 91' which failed and further destabilized the USSR. Gorbachev resigns on Christmas of 91'. December 31st, 1991, the USSR ceases to exist.
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Keebs05 posted...

It didn't help but the collapse started before the invasion of Afghanistan. Millions of Soviet citizens faced starvation and didn't even have access to the most basic of needs. The constant shortages caused a massive backlash as more and more people refused to buy into the Communist ideology. After the invasion, Ronald Reagan cut off the Soviet economy from the rest of the world and drove oil and gas prices to some of the lowest levels in decades which further hurt their economy. Gorbachev's attempt to restructure the political system (can't remember the two biggest policies were called) didn't work nearly fast enough. Poland experienced a political revolution in 89' which brought on further revolutions. Berlin Wall also comes down in 89'. Communist party attempted a coup in 91' which failed and further destabilized the USSR. Gorbachev resigns on Christmas of 91'. December 31st, 1991, the USSR ceases to exist.

Thanks. I appreciate the informative information

Kappa02 posted...

Yeah.. what i said.

No.

The USSR in Afghanistan was a symptom, not the cause. Even if they'd stayed out of Afghanistan, they would have experienced the same collapse, merely slightly later.

It's the same as people who like to claim that the US escalating military spending under Reagan forced the USSR to match spending to keep themselves competitive, which ultimately bankrupted them (thus implying Reagan single-handedly killed Communism). While that ALSO played a role, and helped accelerate the process, the real problems were there long before 1980.

People always like to point to things like bread lines being indicative of the USSR's economy being weak, but it's been established that there were farms in the USSR that were producing so much food that it was left to rot in the fields, because what was actually lacking was the infrastructure to move goods and wealth from one place to another. It was administrative problems more than purely economic ones, or economic weakness caused by military spending.


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Kappa02 posted...

Yeah.. what i said.

No.

The USSR in Afghanistan was a symptom, not the cause. Even if they'd stayed out of Afghanistan, they would have experienced the same collapse, merely slightly later.

It's the same as people who like to claim that the US escalating military spending under Reagan forced the USSR to match spending to keep themselves competitive, which ultimately bankrupted them (thus implying Reagan single-handedly killed Communism). While that ALSO played a role, and helped accelerate the process, the real problems were there long before 1980.

People always like to point to things like bread lines being indicative of the USSR's economy being weak, but it's been established that there were farms in the USSR that were producing so much food that it was left to rot in the fields, because what was actually lacking was the infrastructure to move goods and wealth from one place to another. It was administrative problems more than purely economic ones, or economic weakness caused by military spending.

I think i see what you mean. Though i appreciate that you clarify it. Since i dont know everything hehe ^^

Kappa02 posted...

Since i dont know everything

anything*
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Because the USSR was stupid and should have switched over to capitalism, they probably still would have been around (as the USSR) if they did
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CacciatoPart3 posted...

Kappa02 posted...

Since i dont know everything

anything*

: (