❇️️ Berlin's Wall :-
🔹was a symbol of division between the eastern and western camps . Berlin is the capital of the country of Germany in the continent of Europe . The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 , a symbol of the Cold War, was demolished by the public on 9 November 1989 . It stood for 28 years. And it was 150 KM long .
❇️️ Soviet Union ( U. S. S. R. ) :-
🔹 The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics ( U.S.S.R. ) came into existence after the Russian Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 .
🔹 There were a total of 15 republics in the Soviet Union, that is, the Soviet Union was formed by joining 15 different countries .
🔹The Soviet Union was created keeping in mind the interests of the poor. It was made according to socialism and communist ideology.
- 1) Russia
- 2) Ukraine
- 3) Georgia
- 4) Belarus
- 5) Uzbekistan
- 6) Armenia
- 7) Azerbaijan
- 8) Kazakhstan
- 9) Kirtisthan
- 10) Moldova
- 11) Turkmenistan
- 12) Tajikistan
- 13) Latvia
- 14) Lithuania
- 15) Estonia
❇️️ Soviet system :-
🔹 The centralized plan for building an egalitarian society in the Soviet Union, based on state control and directed by the communist party would be called the Soviet system.
🔹In other words, the Soviet system is the system by which the Soviet Union developed itself.
❇️ Features of Soviet System :-
- The Soviet system was opposed to the capitalist system and inspired by the ideals of socialism.
- The Soviet system had a planned economy.
- The Communist Party was dominant.
- Minimum standard of living facility, no unemployment.
- There was an advanced communication system.
- The main form of ownership is state ownership.
- The state had control over the means of production.
❇️️ Countries of other world :-
🔹 The countries of Eastern Europe were molded on the lines of the socialist system, they were called the countries of the socialist camp or the other world.
Difference between communist Soviet economy and capitalist American economy :-
| Soviet economy | Economy of the United States |
| (i) wholly controlled by the state | (i) Minimum State Intervention |
| (ii) Planned economy | (ii) based on free economic competition |
| (iii) Non-existence of personal capital | (iii) Importance of personal capital. |
| (iv) Inspired by socialist ideals | iv) Capitalist theory of maximum profit. |
| (v) State ownership of the means of production. | v) Market control over the means of production. |
❇️️ Mikhail Gorbachev :-
🔹 In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev adopted political reforms and democratization, he implemented economic reforms in the name of restructuring (perestroika) and openness (glasnost) .
❇️️ Declaration of end of Soviet Union :-
🔹 In 1991, the countries of Eastern Europe under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin and Russia, Ukraine and Belarus announced the end of the Soviet Union. 15 new countries emerged as CIS ( Commonwealth of Independent States ).
🔹 Shortcomings of Communist rule in Soviet Union :-
🔹 The Communist Party ruled the Soviet Union for 70 years and this party was no longer accountable to the people.
❇️ It had the following drawbacks: -
- The Soviet Union had become administratively and politically stagnant under communist rule.
- Massive corruption was rampant and the government was incapable of correcting mistakes.
- The vast country had a centralized government system.
- The power base was slipping away. There were also leaders of some dictatorial nature in the Communist Party who had no concern with the people.
- Party officials were given more privileges than ordinary citizens.
❇️ Reasons for the dissolution of the Soviet Union :-
- Failure to fulfill the political and economic aspirations of the citizens.
- The bureaucracy's grip on the Soviet system.
- Bad governance of Communist Party.
- The Soviet Union invested more of its money and resources in Eastern Europe so that it would remain under their control.
- Giving wrong information to the people that the Soviet Union was a development tax.
- Optimizing the use of resources on nuclear weapons.
- Lagging behind the West in technology and infrastructure.
- Russia's prominence.
- To oppose the reforms made by Gorbachev.
- Economy stagnant and shortage of consumer goods.
- The rise of nationalist sentiments and the desire for sovereignty.
- The Soviet system being authoritarian, the party not being accountable to the people.
❇️ Consequences of the dissolution of the Soviet Union :-
- The Cold War conflict ended. The fall of another world.
- The rise of a polar world i.e. American hegemony.
- The end of the arms race, the end of the Soviet camp and the rise of 15 new countries.
- Institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund became advisors to powerful countries.
- Russia became the successor of the Soviet Union.
- Power relations changed in world politics.
- Question mark on socialist ideology or domination of capitalist liberal system.
- Shock therapy was adopted.
- The importance of liberal democracy increased.
❇️ Consequences of the disintegration of Soviet Union in developing countries like India :-
🔹America got more opportunities to intervene in the domestic politics of developing countries.
🔹Push the Communist ideology.
🔹American dominance over the world's important organizations (IME, World Bank)
🔹Facilitating uncontrolled entry of multinational companies into India and other developing countries.
❇️️ A Polar World :-
🔹Having a superpower in the world.
🔹After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a polar world was established.
🔹At that time there was no country in the world to challenge American supremacy.
🔹The capitalist economy dominated the world because the socialist economy failed.
🔹America's military spending and the quality of military technology were so good that no country in the world could challenge it.
🔹He also dominated international organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
🔹 His jeans, Coke, Pepsi etc. were dominating cultures around the world.
❇️️ Cost of arms race :-
🔹 The Soviet Union gave a tough competition to the US in the arms race, but in terms of technology and infrastructure, it lagged behind the western countries.
🔹 In terms of productivity and quality, it lagged far behind the countries of the West.
❇️️ Shock Therapy :-
🔹Shock therapy literally means the treatment of trauma. After the fall of communism, the republics of the Soviet Union were asked to adopt the model of transition from communism to capitalism, guided by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This is called shock therapy.
❇️️ Features of Shock Therapy :-
- The main form of ownership is private ownership. Privatization of state property.
- The collective farm was converted into a private farm.
- Cultivation was done by capitalist method.
- Adoption of free trade system.
- Mutual convertibility of currencies.
- Linked to the economic system of Western countries.
- Apart from capitalism, no alternative system was accepted.
❇️️ Results of shock therapy :-
🔹 A complete failure, Russia's industrial structure collapsed.
🔹 The fall in the Russian currency, the ruble.
🔹 The old system of social welfare destroyed.
🔹 Government concession ended, most of the people became poor.
🔹 90 percent of the industries were sold to private hands or companies at low prices (one-and-a-half) prices, which is called the largest garage sale in history.
🔹 Economic inequality increased.
🔹 There was a food crisis.
🔹 The rise of the mafia class.
🔹 There was a sharp division between the rich and the poor.
🔹Weak Parliament and more powers to the President leading to authoritarian President's rule.
❇️️ Garage Cell :-
🔹 Shock therapy crippled the economies of those East Asian countries which had previously been under communist rule.
🔹 In Russia, the entire state-controlled industrial structure collapsed. About 90 percent of the industries were sold to private hands or companies.
🔹This reconstruction of the economic structure, as the market forces were doing rather than the industrial policy directed by the government, so this step proved to be a sabotage to all the industries. It is known as the 'largest garage cell in history'.
❇️️ The reason for the occurrence of conditions like garage-cell :-
🔹 Important industries were underestimated and sold at throwaway prices.
🔹 Although all citizens were given rights letters to participate in this great sale, most of the citizens sold their rights letters to black marketers because they needed money.
🔹The value of the Russian currency, the ruble, declined dramatically. Inflation increased so much that people's deposits kept going.
❇️️ Areas of conflict and tension :-
🔹Most of the republics of the former Soviet Union are conflict prone areas. The interference of external forces has also increased in these countries. Violent separatist movements took place in Russia's two republics, Chechnya and Dagestan. Czechoslovakia was divided into two parts - Czech and Slovakia.
❇️️ Arab Spring :-
🔹Protests and mass movements for democracy began in West Asian countries in the 21st century.
🔹One such movement is known as the Arab Spring.
🔹It started with the suicide of Mohamed Bouzzi in Tunisia in 2010.
❇️️ Methods of protest :-
- (i) strike
- (ii) Dharna
- (iii) March
- (iv) Rally
❇️️ Reason for protest :-
- (i) Public discontent
- (ii) Poverty
- (iii) Dictatorship
- (iv) Human Rights Violation
- (v) Corruption
- (vi) unemployment
❇️️ Balkan region :-
🔹The Balkan Republic was divided into several provinces due to the civil war of Yugoslavia. In which Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Croatia declared themselves independent.
❇️️ Baltic region :-
🔹The Baltic region of Lithuania declared itself independent in March 1990. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became members of the United Nations in 1991. Joined NATO in 2004.
❇️️ Central Asia :-
🔹 The civil war in Tajikistan of Central Asia lasted for 10 years i.e. till 2001. There are also civil wars in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia. Central Asian republics have huge reserves of petrol. For this reason, this sector has also become an arena of competition from outside forces and oil companies.
❇️Former communist country and India :-
🔹 India has good relations with former communist countries, especially with Russia.
🔹 Both have a dream of a multipolar world.
🔹 Both countries believe in coexistence, collective security, territorial sovereignty, independent foreign policy, settlement of international conflicts through dialogue, strengthening of the United Nations and democracy.
🔹80 bilateral agreements signed by India and Russia in 2001 India is a buyer of Russian arms.
🔹 Import of oil from Russia. Russian help in nuclear planning and space planning.
🔹 Efforts to increase energy imports with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
🔹Promotion of economic ties including defense, nuclear energy, space mission between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 17th annual summit between Russia and India during the BRICS summit in Goa in December 2016. Emphasis was placed on giving and achieving their goals.
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History – Themes
in Indian History |
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Pol
Science – Contemporary World Politics |
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– Politics
in India since Independence |
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Geography – Indian
People and Economy |
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– Fundamental of Human Geography |
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Chapter 1: - Population: Distribution, Density, Growth
and Composition |
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Chapter 12: - Geographical Perspective on Selected
Issues and Problems |
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