The Dissolution of the USSR

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[joesmith]

My mom told me that she was taking a course on the soviet union at university when the collapse happened. Apparently, when they came in the day after, the teacher told the class "so, I guess this is a history class now".

[Ericisnotachannel]

Fun fact about Gorbachev, he was the first (and only) leader of the USSR that was actually born in the USSR, the rest were born in the Russian Empire.

[chiroquacker]

For me personally, the cold war officially ended on January 1, 1998. That was the day the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, appeared in a pizza hut television commercial. IMO, that is a legitimate major event in world history.

[jerrysstories]

Here's an fascinating perspective on this:
As a teenage intern, I got to attend a talk in California by a retired KGB colonel. During the Q&A, I asked him why the USSR fell. I asked this question of many people with inside knowledge, fascinated by the diversity of conflicting answers I got. The KGB colonel's astonishing answer was: "Yuri Andropov's crackdowns on corruption."
His reason was the Soviet system was horribly corrupt, but not the KGB because that was where the serious Soviet ideologs went. So when Andropov, head of the KGB, came to power, his priority was ending corruption, and he fearlessly arrested scores of corrupt officials.
But what he didn't understand was the corruption was the only thing making the system function at all. Bribery helped people get around stupid, counter-productive, naive rules and regulations. Workers could buy high-quality boots, clothes, tools, etc that actually worked unlike the state's production quota garbage. Illegal businesses let people earn extra money and buy necessary goods/services. Even many state industries depended on black market supplies -- which were often produced in the state's own factories but off the books and using black market inputs.
So the lesson is, when you create a completely irrational system of rules, you absolutely depend for survival on rule-breakers. Andropov killed the USSR by cutting off its illegal lifeblood.

[GhostDivision]

About the 5 year plans there was a nice joke going around those days that: the 5 year plan had to be completed in 4 years, three person job had to be done by two men for one man pay. :)

[joncarter]

I was 5 when the USSR collapsed, still remember having to be told repeatedly in school that the maps were wrong and the USSR didn't exist anymore... we still had maps with the USSR on until senior school which was 1997!

[arturoarambula]

I was a sophomore in high school when the USSR dissolved. I remember thinking that we would never again live in fear of a major war again. It was my father, a Vietnam War veteran, who said "son there's always someone else to fight".

[deathsicon]

I'm pretty sure the real reason was that in the summer of 91 the metal band Pantera played a show in Moscow that was so heavy the Soviet Union collapsed under it's weight

[Mr.Septon]

I am surprised that you have not created yet another channel - Soviet Projects - and I would watch the hell out of it

[gyrfalcon]

I was a sophomore in high school when this happened (in the USA). For two days we watched the news in every class. Scenes of people standing on the wall in West and East Berlin, hugging each other and full of joy, made me well up with tears. It still does.

[RolandDenzel]

I got to see a piece of the Berlin Wall on my last visit to Bulgaria. I remember calling my dad (a German American) in 89 to tell him the wall was finally down. It's still emotional.

This was really good, Simon. Thanks.

[MaxwellAerialPhotography]

How long did the Soviet Union last?
69 years
Nice

[JCMills]

I was one of the many guys that worked on the Minuteman nuclear missile underground sites. Nobody was happier than us to see the end of the cold war!

[Bubbaist]

I remember the day that the Soviet Union officially ended. What stood out to me was what an anti-climax it was. By that time it was over in all but name. There was a feeling of, “oh, it’s still around?”

[brennen.m.]

I saw the thumbnail and literally said “Now this is a Megaproject”

[Battle_Beard]

“It’s Christmas Day…” tell us how you really feel about the fall of the Soviet Union, Simon. 😂

[jeast]

Definitely want the other 12 5 year plans, either here or side projects

[localenterprisebroadcastin]

“They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work”- Soviet worker

[ilyafilru]

I lived in Russia during the 80s and 90s. It was a crazy fucking time.

[jamo]

The fact that the dissolution of the USSR did not lead to a full civil war like Yugoslavia is a massive diplomatic achievement