From the perspective of national development, it is mainly divided into developed countries and developing countries, and developed countries are generally countries with strong economies and strong countries, such as the United States, Germany, Britain, France, etc. However, no matter how strong the country is, it may not be a developed country, the most typical of which is the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was one of the most powerful superpowers after World War II, but even so, it was not yet a developed country, or even far from a developed country.
After World War II, the Soviet Union exploded and became one of the superpowers, on an equal footing with the United States, and the second largest superpower in the world. Moreover, in the 70s and 80s, the momentum of the Soviet Union even surpassed the United States at one point, almost comparing the United States, and even in the military field, the United States lagged behind to a considerable extent.
The United States has long been a developed country, but the Soviet Union has never become a developed country, not only that, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has developed to the present, there is no way to become a developed country. Why is that? The Soviet Union is so powerful, why is it not yet a developed country? In fact, there are mainly three points.
First, the foundation is too weak.
After the October Revolution, the Soviet Union was established on the basis of Tsarist Russia at that time, when its own national foundation was very poor, and Tsarist Russia was the poorest and most backward country in Europe at that time, so it can be said that it was destitute. Moreover, after the Civil War and World War II, the country was even more destroyed, which made the Soviet Union have a poor foundation.
Coupled with the republics that were joined later, the Caucasus, and Central Asia are synonymous with poverty. Therefore, on this basis, it was almost impossible for the Soviet Union to develop into a developed country for decades, and the United States became a developed country for more than 200 years, so the foundation was too weak.
Second, the economic structure is unbalanced.
In a developed country, the most basic is the income level and economic strength of residents, in order to judge the national development and the resident development index. But the Soviet Union, though powerful and superpower, was clearly top-heavy. Heavy industry is developed, while light industry is backward, so the people's lives cannot be improved, and the quality of life of residents is very poor. Moreover, the situation in the Soviet Union at that time was that the people had no money, the government had money, and the per capita income level did not meet the standards of the developed countries, which was also an important point.
Third, only the military is developed.
In the Soviet era, in addition to the key areas, such as the European part of Russia, there were also parts of Ukraine that were more developed. Most of the whole was still very backward, and the Soviet Union was tightening its belt to aid other weak Asian, African and Latin American countries. Domestic production has not improved, and little money has been invested in other sectors except for substantial investment in the military sector. Thus, the Soviet Union was at best a militarily developed country, and otherwise underdeveloped.
Therefore, in essence, although the Soviet Union is very powerful, it is only superficial, and the people are not living well. Therefore, the prosperity of a country must be the prosperity of the entire population, not the country is strong, but the residents are very bitter, just like the Soviet Union, the final direction can only be short-lived, and the destruction cannot be avoided. Therefore, although the Soviet Union has the aura of a superpower, it is a developing country in its bones, and it is difficult to support the development of the country, which is the main reason for the rapid disintegration of the Soviet Union.