The Soviet totalitarian regime held the many nations of the USSR together for almost three quarters of a century; the disintegration of this political system brought with it economic and political instability as well as civil wars in the separated states. Why did the collapse of the communist regime in the Soviet Union have such a negative impact? The states struggled to coordinate market mechanisms and private ownerships into their economies. Rebellions and radical reform leaders emerged and years of ethnic tensions and feelings of frustrated nationalism erupted in this new, open society that Gorbachev created. The anti-Soviet revolution in 1991 shattered the authoritarian grasp of the Soviet Union¡s communist party. As the Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian leaders declared on Dec. 8th 1991 ¡§The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ¡K is ceasing its existence¡ (Mandelbaum 355).
             Mikhail Gorbachev ascended to power in 1985, bringing with him new ideas for radical changes in a struggling nation. Gorbachev demanded reforms however he did not anticipate the consequences. Society¡s dissatisfaction, dissolutionment and despair with the way communism operated resulted in change (Resnick 7). Gorbachev¡s reforms included glasnost (openness), democratization, and perestroika (economic restructuring). Glasnost ended information restrictions and permitted public discussion about the past and present. Citizens who had been too terrified to speak broke their silence. This ¡§openness¡ had a revolutionary impact on the Soviet Union for its citizens had lived ¡§under a regime that felt no hesitation in executing innocent ¡K that best hope of surviving lay in ¡K abandoning any thought of independent public activity ¡K and withdrawing into one¡s private world¡ (Mandelbaum 6). Gorbachev recommended introducing a market economy that included privatization and democratic freedom. His economic perestroika restru...