What effect did communism have on the Soviet Union?
342512
The Soviet Union was not true communism, it was a dictatorship with classes like rich and poor, I don't really see much difference then what we have here in America other then we get to vote our own poison.
49824
To some degree, the answer to your question depends on which side of the Iron Curtain you sided with.  Americans will blame the Russians (soviets) and Russians blame Americans.\n\nI think it is the US fear of communism and the policy of containment that started the Cold War.
619219
Marshall Plan was a catalyst that stimulated many countries in the Soviet Unions influence to "go west" and choose democracy and capitalism instead of east and accept communism. It showed the economic advantages of it through the aid they received, and worked flawlessly to show up Stalin, and communism, who chose to build a wall instead of trying to improve the part of Germany in their influence, or any other nation. Germany's loans to pay off its war reparations, and by other nations for reconstruction, from US soon became part of the whole foreign policy and American influence ordeal. As now they had ties with US, that allowed it to exert more control over these foreign entities.
1005166
Probably because the rest of the world saw the USSR as a major threat to their way of lives and the US as protectors.  It's ironic that we are now percieved as the major threat to their way of lives.
290333
Capitalism at least gives people the chance of getting out of poverty.  Communism only the upper party leaders have money.  In communism everyone is poor, everyone has to wait in lines for goods, merchandice is poor quality.\n\nMillions have died because of communism.  Freedom of speech is non-exsistent.  Famines due to government controls.  Communism essentially makes government god.  Give me capitalism and give me freedom.
681363
Strasveetya!  You really need to study more about the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, its a very intereting time in history.  Most of the American movies, by the way, called the Soviet Union "Russia."  For many, many years our countries were the worst of enemies.  It started around the end of World War II, and officially ended when Yeltsin took power.  Why?  Because America believed communism to be the greatest evil, and the Soviet Union believed capitalism to be the greatest evil.  We were in a state that is known as a cold war.  A cold war is essentially a state of war, but at a constant state of cease-fire.  Some shots were fired, mainly planes shooting down other planes, but no major battles were fought between the two countries.  However, we had enough nuclear missiles pointed at each other to completely destroy all life on this planet several times over.  The Cold War was never more tense than when Khrushchev and Kennedy were presidents, and Khrushchev said on international television that the Soviet Union would crush America (taking off his shoe and pounding it for all to see while he said it).  I believe two of the greatest leaders our nations ever had were Gorbachev and Reagan.  They did much to clam things down, and both began the process of disarming our nuclear missiles.  Slava Bog!
1017835
The idea of communism itself is not bad. It fundamentally seeks to create equality for everyone. Were true communism implemented for anything else besides humans, it would work quite well. It is the human nature of greed that destroys all communistic ideologies.\n\nThe communists countries that exist today (as well as in the past) don't stand a chance because it is essentially impossible for everyone to be equal. Inequalities exist as a rule in human hierarchy.\n\nThe hate (I'd rather refer to it as fear) that Americans have for communism stems from the things we've witnessed communism can do. Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and the list goes on.\n\nA democratic nation would therefore be more desireable than a communistic one, since it acknowledges this hierarchy but also allows room for change. Another good point about it is that a capitalist economy can be supported, which is definitely good for the consumer since companies have to provide quality to survive in such a market. \n\nA true democracy would be like utopia, too, just like communism. But the U.S. also does not have a true democracy. If we did, the electoral college wouldn't exist.
268165
these is no change at all cause it just a changing of a dictator to another dictator... only a change of political ideas but no drastic change to the country itself... yes yes Russia became a world wide threat because of its communist belief but its simply just on the outside politically and still people continuing to suffer like throughout the history of Russia so there is no change
22083
The Soviets exhausted too much of their resources and drained their country. Socialism is great; in theory.
311153
I have been in Moscow and i saw that they were more powerful when they have a communist regime.They had an unity.I am looking at China and they are very powerful too.\n\nSo, i think communism is not bad.
1170831
China's communism is much deeper rooted than the Soviet System.  One thing you can say for the Chinese is that they do evolve to new systems when they are better.  You can see this slow change over the thousands of years that China has existed.  Kinda makes you feel like a baby country when you think the US has only been around for 200 years.
92449
A key problem for the Soviets had been the fact that large numbers of people were leaving East Berlin and migrating to the West. This posed a fundamental challenge to Soviet claims that the communist system was superior to the Western capitalist model, particularly given the stark difference between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin. The creation of the Berlin wall put an emphatic stop to the movement of people between East and West Berlin, helping to stabilize a dangerous flashpoint between the USA and the USSR in the process.
156128
McCarthyism happened in the 1950s.  Groups of people (actors, news reporters, etc) were suspected of being communists - with no basis or foundation for the suspicion.  Many people were banned from doing their work because of their suspected communist ties.  This was during an era called the "Cold War" which was between the end of World War II and the mid 1980's.  At this time, the United States and Russia (then called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - USSR or Soviet Union) were sworn enemies of each other.  The USSR was a communist state.  When the USSR collapsed in the mid 80s and early 90s the two nations resolved their differences.\n\nCommunism is an economic system where the state owns the means of production, and everybody is supposedly treated equally - as opposed to capitalism (which the USA has) where the more you work the more $$$ you make, and the more $$$ you make the 'better off' you are.
1130785
After world war2 the soviet  block set themselves up as a cross trading group of nations.These nations were heavily dependant on the ussr.While in the west all of the nations were indepedant of each other and prospered.With the collapse of the soviet union(ussr)the economy of these countries was found wanting
424743
It dramatically decreased the chance of total nuclear annihilation, because many of  the thousands of nukes that the Soviets controlled were decommissioned.   It probably increased the chances of a nuclear terrorist attack, because a number of nukes, nuclear material, and Soviet Nuclear Scientists were stolen, sold, or hired on the black market.   This allowed a group with 20-40 million dollars to become a limited nuclear power.   Don't worry about the country with 500 nuclear weapons.  Just worry about the guy who wants just one.
486358
Communism is almost non-existant in developed countries. Although during the Soviet reign, they have split Germany in half, which I guess- you could call a crime. Look into Ronald Reagan and the Brandenburg Gate, he had an address there, against the Soviets, very powerful.
588471
Wow, both of these answerers got it pretty wrong (it wasn't a revolution that ended the USSR for starters).   This is still at tremendous subject however - I couldn't answer it without a few hours of writing I'm not willing to do to help you avoid your homework, so I suggest you start researching.  Even the wikipedia entries on the USSR, Afghanistan and Chernobyl would be good places to start.