History Internal Assessment

Lileuri Lene

Mott Hall Bronx High School

(002935-0035 )

Word Count: 1,513words

How did the aftermath of the Cold War affect the economics of the Soviet Union?
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Section A: Evaluation of Sources

The focus of this investigation is How did the aftermath of the cold war affect the

economics of Soviet Union? The first source that I have carefully chosen for this investigation

is an excerpt called The Soviet Union-- a country study written by Raymond E. Zickel in

Washington D.C in 1989. This source is relevant to my investigation because it gives an insight

as to what happened domestically in Soviet, what were the reasons for the start of the Cold War,

and a very deep analysis as to what were the affect the Cold War left Soviet Union in. My second

source that I will be using in my investigation is called Russian Economy in the Aftermath of

the Collapse of the Soviet Union written by Marshall Poland. This source is equally relevant to

my investigation because it gives an overview on the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Source: Excerpt from The Soviet Union-- A Country Study

Historians will find this excerpt particularly valuable towards their research around this

topic because it allows the historian to gain insight as to what was occurring in the Soviet Union

economics two years before the Cold War started. This source was written by Raymond E.

Zickel, an author that has written several history books. The purpose for this source was to

inform the the U.S government at the time about the occurring events that was going on in the

Soviet Union. The source gives factual details as to what were the reasons for Soviet Union

joining the cold war, how aggressive Soviet Union became to recuperate after World War 2,
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mentions the involvement the Soviet Union had with other countries, and mentions vividly what

the effects were of the Cold War.

Nevertheless, this source does have its limitations. This source is a research that was

finalized in May of 1989. When this research was concluded the Cold War was still ongoing.

This source could possibly be missing some valuable information because the Cold War ended in

1991 and this research was finalized in 1989. Therefore, things were left out the paper.

Source: Russian Economy in the Aftermath of the Collapse of the Soviet Union

Historians will find this source valuable because it dives into the issues that the Soviet

Union had before their government failed and when their economics turned for the worse. This

source was written by Marshall Poland who was a student at the time of writing this paper. The

purpose for this source was It continues to be valuable because it also includes primary sources

from other people who conducted the same research. It also includes specific dates, times, and

leaders after the cold war.

This source does include some limitations though. Since this was a source that was

conducted many years after the Cold War came to end.

Section B: Investigation

The Cold War Before the Cold War began in 1947, Russia was involved in a gruesome

World War for the second time. Even though they were very victorious in the outcome of the

war, their economy went through a devastating struggle. After World War II, ... a quarter of the

country's capital resources had been destroyed, and industrial and agricultural output in 1945 fell

far short of prewar levels (Zickel, 1). Just two years before the start of the Cold War, the

economy of the Soviet Union was already in a major crisis. They were limited on resources,
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there was limited production of materials being produced, and lastly there was barely any crops

being grown. To resolve this issue, the Soviet Union gained help from several countries like

Britain, Sweden, and Germany. Although, the Soviet Union only ...emphasized heavy industry

while neglecting agriculture and consumer goods...steel production was twice its 1940 level, but

the production of many consumer goods and foodstuffs was lower than it had been in the late

1920s (Zickel, 1). The Soviet Union was head on ready for reconstruction and to help their

economy but did it in all the wrong ways. They were too focused getting production done that

they forgot to consider their people. If a country produces too much of something the prices

skyrocket which then become unaffordable. If a product becomes unaffordable then the

consumers wouldn't be able to buy the product therefore there will be no money transaction. By

also neglecting agriculture, there is no crops being made which leads to no food being in the

markets and no crops being traded between countries. The Soviet Union still went into the Cold

War with an economics issue but the aftermath of the Cold War left a bigger negative impact on

them.

After the Cold War, the Soviet Unions leader, Boris Yeltsin, got rid of communism that

was in the country. This change highly impacted the economy they were in. Yeltsin plan was for

the prices o f common products, which had been controlled by the government, would be set

free by the end of the year, and privatization would begin (Poland, 2). This meant that prices of

products would no longer be set by the government. Prices would now be set by the owners of

the company and it could be set to any price they desired. This caused major problems for the

economy because the people never got this much freedom and this caused for several things to

go wrong. Inflation caused prices to go up three hundred percent in the first month, and 2,591
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percent by the end of 1992 (Freeze, 414). By allowing the people to set their own prices it

allowed for people to go way over their heads and set prices at a insane high. Consumer goods

became unaffordable. This reform made the government weaker instead of enhancing it.

Factories were forced to shut down. Since the government could no longer support their

production (financially support their goods), one by one, factories closed down. This resulted in

a lot of job losses. ...by 1992 about fifty percent of Russian population lived below poverty

line (Poland, 3). With people losing their jobs, they became homeless. People werent able to

gain money. As a result, shelves became empty and material prices raised (Perlo, 1).

With the information that was presented in this investigation, it became vividly clear that

the Soviet Union economy took a toll for the worse before and after the Cold War. Not only did

the aftermath of the Cold War affect the government but it also the people itself. The Cold War

left the government with a decision of making a drastic change like allowing the people to set

their own prices which wasnt the best decision at the time. This lead to stocks being down,

employment ratings to go up, and lose of money transaction.

Section C: Reflection

In the end, this investigation lead me learn many more things that I never knew about the

Soviet Union after the Cold War. It also strengthened my ability to think and write like any other

historian world. Before writing this paper, I knew that I had to conduct very strategic research

before beginning anything. I had to make sure that my sources were good enough to use and cite

it. I found out that it was very hard to accomplish this. It is actually very difficult to find sources

but also very good sources that can be relied upon. In order to know that my sources were good,
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I constructed an OPVL (Origin, Purpose, Value, Limitations) to make sure that I was using

reliable sources.

As I went through my investigation, I learned how bad of state the Soviet Union was in.

There were such a stable country during both World Wars that I never would of that they would

have plummeted down into a Great Depression. Although, a difficulty I had writing this paper

was actually analyzing the quotesquotes that I have taken out from the sources. This was because

when you think of history, no one ever thinks about analyzing and/or questioning its reliability.

When a person hears about history they will just think oh that is true because it is in a textbook

or that the historian must really know what they are talking about.

Bibliography

Zickel, E. Raymond. "Soviet Union 1945-1985." Soviet Union 1945-1985. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec.

2016.

Poland, Marshall. "Russian Economy in the Aftermath of the Collapse of the Soviet Union."Russian

Economy in the Aftermath of the Collapse of the Soviet Union. Marshall Poland, n.d. Web. 19 Dec.

2016.

Freeze, Gregory L., ed. Russia: a history. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Victor Perlo, Former Chairman, Economics Commission, CPUSA. "Victor Perlo, Former Chairman,

Economics Commission, CPUSA." MLToday: Marxism-Leninism Today. US Classics, 22 Sept. 2013.

Web. 23 Dec. 2016.

"The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2016.
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