The Collapse of the Soviet Union

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Vladimir Lenin created the Soviet Union as a way to merge all of the socialist republics that arose after removing the Czar, into a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. However Lenin died only a few years later in 1924. His predecessor was Joseph Stalin who ruled Russia from 1924 to 1953. He was ruled with an iron fist, and he was responsible for many deaths during his time in power; however, some historians believe that he helped restore order after World War II ended and rebuilt Russia’s economy. Read along to learn about the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Lifer Under the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union included 15 republics. In the communist state everyone had an equal amount of wealth; there were no rich or poor people. Unfortunately for them, this meant that everyone had to do whatever the government said because they didn’t have any other choice – no matter how hard their lives were or what they wanted to do with their future. This ideology clashed with the Western Capitalistic view on life, and it would lead to great rivalry in power, influence, and technology over the following decades. This would be come to known as the Cold War.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev wants to change how things normally operate in the USSR since it is in distress. Gorbachev introduced economic reforms such as perestroika and glasnost, but these failed to stabilize Soviet society because they came too late – people had already lost faith in communism by that point. Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost (societal openness) and perestroika (economic restructuring) opened up multiple channels for anti-Soviet dissent.

Collapse Soviet Union

The Baltic States (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia) were occupied by the Soviet Army in 1940. Stalin orders them to be part of the Soviet Union. In the late 80’s a series of shows of defiance which came to be known as the Singing Revolution would be the steppingstone to the collapse of the Soviet Union. On September 6, 1991 Gorbachev recognizes that the Baltic States are now officially independent. There was also an unsuccessful coup against Gorbachev by Communist Party hard-liners. The rest of the USSR members would also choose independence. On December 25, 1991 Gorbachev officially resigns and effectively ends the USSR.

This Red Scare album contains eight coins and one banknote that circulated in the Soviet Union before it dissolution. The kopek coins and the ruble banknote were the last currency issues in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The coins included in the set are: 1 kopek, 2 kopek. 3 kopek, 5 kopek, 10 kopek, 15 kopek, 20 kopek and 50 kopek. The banknote included is the 1 ruble banknote. This album comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from the American Numismatic Association.

Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-union