Summary of Evidence On December 25th of 1991, the Soviet Union officially fell apart under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, a newly elected President after a fail coup d'etat, after which Gorbachev resigned. ... With the reform of all structures, Yeltsin attempted to transform a centrally planned economy to a capitalist order. ... Yeltsin introduced a free-market economy and a new spending plan that cut government spending and was intended to shrink inflation by as much as 12%. ... Yeltsin introduced the shares-for-loans program which was meant to sell off government property. ... Yeltsi...

• Word Count: 1763
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In September 1997, a former Russian general, and top security advisor to Boris Yeltsin, Alexander Lebed, told CBS program 60 Minutes that ten suitcase sized nuclear bombs were missing from the nuclear arsenal. ...

• Word Count: 1452
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

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