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What was peak Soviet? Part I

 


In the long historical arc of the Soviet Union, from creation in 1917 to death in 1991, what was the peak? The high point of that arc?

I'd like to suggest: 1959. 

At this time, the Soviet Union was literally leading the human race into outer space, sending out its satellites and in time human beings and daring the other World Power to catch up. Also at that time, it acquired a new ally island-nation just 90 miles away from the United States -- indeed, 90 miles away from the metropolis of Miami. Further, to all appearances there was a great communistic concord between the Soviet Union of this moment and the Peoples' Republic of China.

If, in 1959, you were one of the privileged elite in either Moscow or Peking/Beijing, you would have known that this concord was less than perfect, but you would surely have gone along with that facade. The break did not become an open one until years later.

Soviet control over the eastern half of Europe was unquestioned -- indeed, it had confirmed it at the expense of Hungary not long before, in an act in which the Eisenhower administration quietly acquiesced.  

So ... 1959. Peak Soviet. 

By the time a decade had passed, much had changed. The split between the two great communist powers was out in the open by 1969.  Prominence in the exploration of space was a "torch that passed" into American hands over the course of that intervening decade, punctuated by a dramatic act of flag planting at the end of it.  Castro was clearly still a nuisance to Washington in 1969, but he seemed to be a tolerable one, and the island of Cuba was at least a missile-free zone. The Soviet Union was still an impressive force in the world, and a dangerous one to cross, but its peak was behind it. At least, it looks that way in a rear view mirror.  

Why does it matter? Because I think this is an object lesson in HOW empires fall. Or at least in the timelines.     

More to come. 

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