Why was the Soviet Union confident about its power and status up until the early 1970s

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union and set out to bring the country out of crisis.

His two most important reforms were called Glasnost and Perestroika .

Explanation:

Glasnost or transparency improved freedom of expression

in following ways:

● freedom of press

● access to Western press

● the creation of political unions that opposed communism

● banned books that challenged Soviet history or

Communist rule were published in large editions

● dissidents were released from prison

● greater religious tolerance

● freedom to travel to Western countries

perestroika or restructuring of the  government and economy led to

changes in the following ways:

● farmers were allowed to sell

goods on the free market

● appointed new members to the

Secretariat and reduced the

size of the bureaucracy

● supported limited private

ownership