The Economic and Social Fallout of the Soviet Union's Dissolution
This chapter explores the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, highlighting the economic challenges faced by Russia, including the collapse of the Soviet economy, inflation, and the disappearance of reserves. It also delves into the social issues, such as declining birth rates, suicides, organized crime, and the availability of former athletes and soldiers for mercenary work.
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In the words of historian and noted Russian scholar Dr. Matthew Raphael Johnson, the Soviet Union was the only empire to fall without a war. To the ordinary Russian citizen, however, the 1990s were no less tragic as life expectancy, average income, and birthrates all plummeted as crime, alcoholism and unemployment all rose. As the nation descended into the depths of despair, a new Oligarch class emerged controlling the commanding heights of production, principally in the natural resource and heavy industry sectors, coming to dominate not just the economy but with politics under the Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Only until the current President Vladimir Putin rose to power, ironically with the help of major oligarch Boris Berezovsky who was later exiled along with many others, did the Russian people begin to recover economically and in national pride.
