The Soviet Union (USSR): One of the most feared and powerful countries of the 20th century; a union known, in large part, for its highly centralized government and, usually, for its totalitarian rulers such as Josef Stalin. The USSR remained a powerful republic during World War II and the Cold War; however its prosperity began to suffer as the end of the century approached. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the USSR began its descent into what eventually became the separation of the union and the independence of states such as Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, among others. Some scholars blame Stalin, who was known for his draconian governing tactics. Others place the blame on Leonid Brezhnev for destroying the proven command-and-control economy put in place by Stalin and his regime. Finally, Mikhail Gorbachev can be blamed for the collapse due to his attempted reversal to Stalinism by eliminating his possible successors without attempting to heal the economy, along with his policies that encouraged public expression and freedom. When trying to determine under whose rule the USSR began to collapse, one must first determine by what principles the masses begin to seek revolution. Does the revolution arise from unhappiness? If so, were the Soviets truly unhappy when oppressed by Stalin and his reign of terror, or under Brezhnev and his steadily failing economy? From a moral point of view, however, one might assume that the masses would be unhappier under a totalitarian and alarmist government, as can be seen in the countries that were part of the Arab Spring and, on the other side of the economic wealth spectrum, in China, human beings are truly unhappy when they are forced to endure a truly failing economy....... middle of paper...... Gorbachev's political changes that triggered all this were introduced shortly after taking office. There is no doubt that without not only perestroika, but perhaps above all glasnost and demokratizatsiia, the revolution perhaps would not have happened. However, if this had happened, there would have been a greater struggle to maintain power and a possible return to Stalin's brutality. Works Cited: Bacon, Edwin and Mark Sandle. Brezhnev reconsidered. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire:Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.Kesselman. POLS 2313 Comparative Politics of Developing Areas. Comp. Mikhail Molchanov.Toronto: Nelson Education, 2010. Print.Machiavelli, Niccolò. The prince. New York: Knopf Group, 2006. Print.White, Gregory L. “Putin Aide Cites Brezhnev as 'Plus' for Russia.” The Wall Street Journal, Europe 6 Oct. 2011.