The second reason is political: of all the former Russian republics and autonomous republics, only Tatarstan and Chechnya refused to ratify the 1992 Russian Federation Treaty that established Yeltsin's present Russian Federation. ... According to The Year in Review 1996 at CNN.com, the conflict raged on for a year and a half before, in the beginning of 1996, President Boris Yeltsin agreed to end it, fearing it was about to claim yet another casualty, his political career. Yeltsin who had dispatched the troops in 1994 to crush the revolt was up for re-election in 1996, and feared the war m...

• Word Count: 1634
• Approx Pages: 7

THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION The main reason for the decline, and ultimate collapse, of the Soviet Union was the failure of the economic system. The need to improve economic performance led to wide-ranging changes in the economy and politics. The failure of the economic system was due to inherent weaknesses that were escalated by external factors. In particular the Cold War (1945-1989) led to enormous spending on the arms race and the space race. This hastened the demise of the Soviet Union. ...

• Word Count: 1987
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School