Cold war era

Introduction
The cold war is said to be a continuation of the political conflicts among countries, military pressure and the economic struggle that exists among different nations after the Second World War. The cold war is mostly between the USSR and its satellite states and powerful nations like the US. The main countries in this war do not have direct clashes but they fight through military alliances, using nuclear arm, using political spies, propagandas and by use of technology like space races

Communism
Communism is said to be a social organization in which coalitions of non powerful countries are abolished and property is controlled by the powerful country. The country also controls political parties and social movements in the country. The formation of the eastern block and the satellite states is as a result of the disagreement between the USSR and the United States. The two countries have disagreed on how they will position themselves in Europe after the Second World War. This disagreement has occurred despite the two states being allies against the Axis (countries opposing the allies during the Second World War). Allies are the countries that are opposing the Axis in the Second World War. These countries have been involved in the Second World War because they are being intruded by the powerful nations or have been threatened by the powerful countries to invade or be invaded or the countries are concerned that these powerful nations will control the world. The disagreement between the US and the USSR has created the eastern block with the eastern European countries it is occupying; it has named some as the soviet social republics and the others as the satellite states. The eastern block means the soviet block and also the communist block. After creating this block USSR has introduced block politics in it. This means that the soviet governments will be controlling the media and the political issues in those countries. The soviet governments will also be responsible for the emigration process as they will restrict movement in the country. Communism includes politics, emigration restrictions, economy (Easton, 2004).

Politics of the eastern block
Politics in the eastern block are controlled by the communist governments that have been established by the USSR. The governments have adopted the block politics. The government formed contained evidences of democracies from the western countries so that they can hide the idea of communism. After the governments are formed then the communist parties are allowed to take control of administrative activities. The communist parties are also supposed to control the political issues, the administration police and the organizations in the society. The communism mechanism also allows the political parties to control the countries' economy thus preventing any other powerful country from taking control. This has led to political conflicts in the western block thus hindering development (Easton, 2004).

Emigration restrictions
Several countries in the eastern block and the satellite states have restricted emigration. These countries have developed measures to control movement from one country to another and also inside the countries. For example Russia has restricted emigration by use of passports and controlling departure of immigrants. In Ukraine the government has issued rules that control traveling in the country. These rules have stopped all departures making unlawful emigration difficulty. The country has also strengthened its borders preventing emigration. Most countries have employed internal passports to control the internal movement of their citizens. After creation of the eastern block the governments have restricted the movement of the newly occupied states except under certain conditions. This has forced many people to run away to Germany (Easton, 2004).

Economy
The eastern block has been depending on the Soviet Union for its goods and services. This has made the country to have slow growth due to lack of materials and market. The country's economic plan is controlled by a five year plan that is dived into monthly sections. The governments have attempted to meet their targets even if there is no market for the produced goods. This has been a big challenge to the citizens and the country as they are not able to realize economic growth (Easton, 2004).

Most countries in the eastern block and the satellite state have used various methods to build democratic governments and also get good economic growth. Capitalism and economic growth in most countries is as a result of the liberalization. Most countries have used parliamentary elections like Hungary and others strikes and protests to fight for freedom. Many policies have been established in various countries that guarantee the countries' economic growth (Easton, 2004).

The collapse of the USSR
The collapse of the USSR is as a result of many factors. For example the economic policy the USSR government is using has led the country into a serious crisis. This is because the policy has made the country to have a shortage of food like meat and sugar. This has made the country to introduce again the wartime system of distributing food to the citizens. This system uses food cards that enable the government to limit food to the population for almost a month. The economic policy has also made the country to have deficits hence retarded growth in economy. The creation of democratic governments in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe has made the power of the USSR party to be undermined thus adding more political problems to the organization. Most citizens in the Moscow country have called for independence. This is because the citizens want freedom of speech and any other freedom in the country and a new government that will meet their demands. These calls have created pressure in USSR thus contributing to its collapse. Another reason is the nationalist's mood that has taken hold in Georgia and Ukraine. This nationalist's mood has resulted into riots in Alma ata causing many people to be hurt and the USSR to look for other ways of solving problems in the union. Citizens in the various countries that are part of USSR want to have independent control of their affairs.

This action has affected the USSR as the leaders have lost control of the countries and can't tackle any issues that are arising because they are not prepared and have no enough powers. The USSR union has been dominated by a series of violence that have cropped up in many nations as people are opposing the leadership of USSR in many countries making people to die hence affecting the organization as it lacks trust and support. Most non Russian republicans have approved laws making the republican language the official language. This has made the Russian language to be ignored. Many countries have also experienced blood protests like the Uzbekistan and these protests have brought the union and the republic into confrontation. Thus affecting the reputation of the organization.

The signing of the anniversary Nazi soviet pact in July has also revealed the division in the union as the union does not include Baltic countries and the division of the Poland country into two. This has caused disappointments to the Baltic citizens as they see this as oppression from the USSR. The failure of the treaty to include the Baltic countries has resulted to the collapse of the communist block. The collapse of this block has brought hope in USSR since Gorbachev has seen this as an opportunity to expand his policy to USSR. This opportunity has made Gorbachev to be elected as the secretary general of the union hence disadvantaging the union because he has reduced the party powers by abolishing the control of the media by the party and also broadcasting.

The union has faced several coups that have led to the formation of the commonwealth of independent countries by presidents from different countries like Ukraine and Russia. This has resulted to the countries having new political parties and governments that are democratic. The above problems and later the formation of commonwealth organizations have made the USSR to die. This action has forced Gorbachev to resign together with his party members (Easton, 2004).

The eastern block countries and the satellite countries have faced problems in their struggle for new economies. This includes the poor economic growth as a result of shortages in required materials and high prices. The restrictions put by the soviet governments have also slowed economic growth and political issues. The countries have also faced imperialism. This is whereby the powerful countries dominate the underdeveloped either directly by use of political means, or indirectly by use of economic measure so that the country can steal the wealth of the poor countries. This also includes the exploitation of employees in the dominated countries. The countries could have used dialogue and policies to help them in achieving economic growth. This is because riots, protests and violence have harmful effects (Easton, 2004).

Conclusion
The cold war has been a big challenge to economic growth in many countries. This is because of the measures the Soviet Union has been implementing in the countries. For example the use of emigration measures that restrict movement, the limited supply of goods and services in the eastern block countries and the satellite states, imperialism and political conflict. This has forced the countries to use riots, violence, and protests in order to achieve capitalism. Thus the methods bring more harm than benefits.


Reference
Easton, K. (2004).Daily life in the Soviet Union. Greenwood Publishing Group, page 24