A historic turning point in history is the fall of the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union not only threw economic systems and commercial connections in Eastern Europe into disarray, but it also caused instability in several Eastern European nations and raised crime rates and corruption within the Russian government. For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall served as a physical embodiment of the so-called Iron Curtain and Europe's political divides. Mikhail Gorbachev took over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1985, intending to overhaul the country's economy and administration. In an attempt to repair relations with Western European nations and the United States, Mikhail dissolved the secret police and implemented perestroika (economic restructuring). To comprehend the ramifications of the Soviet Union's demise, it is necessary to analyze the root reasons for the Soviet Union's demise.
Gorbachev's weakening of authority had a domino effect, causing Eastern European alliances to collapse, prompting nations like Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia to declare independence. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall collapsed, bringing East and West Germany together within a year and ending the Cold War. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, citizens in Eastern European nations including Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania conducted anti-communist rallies, hastening the demise of communist regimes throughout the former Soviet bloc. Other nations joined the Commonwealth of Independent States, including the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. By 1989's conclusion, eight of the nine surviving republics had proclaimed independence from Moscow, thus dismantling the once-powerful Soviet Union. All previously communist Eastern European authorities had been replaced by democratically elected administrations by the summer of 1990, paving the way for the region's reintegration into the Western economic and political sectors.
The demise of the Soviet Union has several long-term consequences for the global economy and regional foreign commerce. First, its demise boosted the United States' worldwide power and provided a chance for Russian corruption and crimes. It also sparked a slew of cultural shifts and social upheavals in former Soviet republics and smaller communist neighbors. Second, the gross national product of Soviet nations dropped by 20% between 1989 and 1991, ushering in an era of total economic collapse. Third, the collapse of the Soviet Union put Eastern Europe's economic systems and trade connections into disarray and caused instability in several Eastern European nations, and exacerbated crime and corruption within the Russian government. Fourth, the Russian mafia, which had battled to exist throughout the height of communism, rushed in to fill the power vacuum after the Soviet government crumbled. Finally, government infrastructure, ranging from fundamental public utilities to police services, mostly vanished during the collapse.