What was Soviet system? Assess any four features of Soviet system.

Explanation

Soviet system was introduced after Socialist Revolution in Russia in 1917. It was based on the principle of egalitarian society and planned economy controlled by the state. Its four features can be summed up in the following ways:
(i) The Soviet state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens and the government subsidised basic necessities including health education, childcare and other welfare schemes. (ii) It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and steel, machinery production and a transport sector that connected its remotest areas with efficiency. (iii) It had a domestic consumer industry that produced everything though their quality did not match that of the western capitalist countries. (iv) There was no unemployment, state ownership was the dominant factor owned and controlled by the Soviet state