Answer:
When the Soviet Union's oil and gas revenue dropped dramatically, the USSR began to lose its hold on Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, Gorbachev's reforms were slow to bear fruit and did more to hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union than to help it. ... On December 25, Gorbachev resigned as leader of the USSR.
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"wealthy landowners" were members of the aristocracy in Byzantine society since this aristocracy was composed a small elite. The shopkeepers and small-scale merchants constituted the poor majority.