Question

Why did the Soviet Union decline during the 1980s?

Answer 1

Several factors

Explanation:

In the eighties, Ronald Reagan was president of the USA and raised the defence budget until it represented one third of the federal budget and the Soviet Union was unable to catch up.

The Soviet Union had internal contradictions that were impossible to cope with, indeed the economy lacked dynamism and the standard of living was much lower than in the United States. Indeed its socialistic economy with the Soviet state owning everything was unable to compete with western economies.