What caused citizens of communist countries to grow increasingly unhappy with their governments in the late 20th century?
1 Answer
The pressures of the cold war predominantly
Explanation:
Communist societies do not generate as much wealth as capitalist ones - that's not a criticism of communism its a deliberate feature of communism
But the cold war was "fought" out as a war of national power and prestige:
The Arms race - each side trying to build more/better weapons systems
The Space race - each side trying to conquer space first
Both of those place huge economic strain on the economy, but the capitalist systems were much better able to cope with it, indeed in many ways the comparative wealth of western countries was a product of the arms race
The Communist system was forced to divert more and more funds away from social needs to arms/space, leaving a ever growing gp between living standards in the west and the east
This led to growing dissatisfaction in the east
