The Crumbling Soviet System
1980-1991
Brezhnev- ordered an invasion of Afghanistan in 1979
- US did nothing at first....then began sending the Afghan mujahadeen weapons
- war turned into a real mess for Russia after 1984
Brezhnev died in 1982
Leadership problem: the Russian Communist leaders were old (80+)
Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko - became the dictators for a year apiece
Mikhail Gorbachev- younger- became the dictator in 1985
Gorbachev- attempted to make major changes to solve the Soviet Union's problems
- perestroika: "restructuring" - started allowing some capitalism
- glasnost: "openness"- desired open discussion of the Soviet Union's problems
Turmoil- Gorbachev's changes caused people to become very dissatisfied with the Soviet system
- people in Russia began to question the government
Gorbachev- ended the Afghan war in 1988
- hoped to have a peaceful solution