Originally posted by webbrave
this is nonsense. How did the country survive before the war then? SU had enough resources of its own to be self-sufficient - loss of markets and break of export/import links was rather painful, but couldn't lead to SU collapse.
During the 20's, the NEP (Novaïa Ekonomitcheskaïa Politika) helped a lot until 1929... NEP was instaured in 1921 because Lenine said " a country cannot pass from Middle Age to Communism without a capitalist age". Economy was liberalize, private propriety was authorized, limited free trade and monetary economy, foreign investments and foreign technical help.
After that the first 5 years plan and the forced collectivization begin to ruin the country.
During the 30's, Soviet people survived because if somebody complained, he just disaspeared...
During the war, Soviet people survived because it was The Great Patriotic War, so you can be hungry but the victory over the facists is more important.
In the 50's, Soviet people survived because they have a hope to rebuild a new country and the today difficulties were the war's fault.
Just before WWII and just after ???
Gulags were full of millions of prisoners working free for the government and asking only a little food to survive, it help a lot.
Break of export/import links was very important, because after 1990, nobody in Eastern Europe want no more low quality soviet products and they don't want to sell their products for nothing. After SU fall, Russia became again an important trade partner because ex-satellites countries became equal partners in economic relations, no more exchange products against products, but hard cash payments.
Eastern countries also suffered from break of trade relations, no more cheap oil and no more market for their industrial combinats with their also low quality products, who were very shortly close.
Bye,
