In 1917 revolution swept away the Tsarist system under which Russia had assimilated its neighbouring states. Led by Lenin, the Communist party transformed this empire into the most powerful states the world has known. Under Stalin industrialization was followed by terror, resistance to Nazi invasion, and the Cold War. As a superpower under his successors, Khrushchev and Brezhnev, the Soviet Union appeared invincible, but with Mikhail Gorbachev came political reforms which resulted in the collapse of Communism in December 1991 and the emergence of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This book, based on first-hand knowledge of the Soviet system since the Khrushchev period and research into both Soviet history and contemporary politics, provides an analysis of the developments which brought an end to Communist Party rule and the breakup of the USSR. It should be of interest to undergraduates studying history and politics; students of comparative politics and Russian studies, journalists, politicians, diplomats and interested readers.
- ISBN10 0198780664
- ISBN13 9780198780663
- Publish Date 1 December 1992
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 27 August 1999
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Oxford University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 139
- Language English