- Date:
- August 18, 1991 - December 31, 1991
- Location:
- Russia
- Soviet Union
- Participants:
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Georgia
- Kazakhstan
- Lithuania
- Moldova
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- Context:
- Cold War
- 1991 Soviet coup attempt
collapse of the Soviet Union
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What was the Soviet Union?
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a northern Eurasian empire that existed from 1922 to 1991. It consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and others.
The USSR was the world's largest country by land area, covering approximately 8,650,000 square miles. It had a diverse population of over 100 nationalities, with East Slavs forming the majority.
The Soviet Union was founded after the 1917 Revolution, succeeding the Russian Empire. The political and economic system was highly centralized and authoritarian, with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) as the dominant force. Public ownership of the means of production was a key feature of the Soviet system.
Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts at reform through perestroika and glasnost led to the end of the USSR. The Soviet Union collapsed due to political, economic, military, social, and nuclear factors. By December 1991, the Soviet Union had virtually ceased to exist, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established.
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Where was the Soviet Union located?
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), existed from 1922 to 1991. It was a large country that covered a big part of Eurasia, stretching from the Baltic and Black Seas all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
At its peak, the U.S.S.R. included 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (S.S.R.): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia (now Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirgiziya (now Kyrgyzstan), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (now Moldova), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Moscow, the capital, remains the capital of Russia today.
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Why did the Soviet Union begin to weaken in the 1980s?
The Soviet Union's weakening in the 1980s stemmed from interconnected political, economic, military, and social factors.
- Political Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) unintentionally unleashed criticism of the Soviet system, diminishing the state's control and emboldening democratic movements.
- Economic Economic stagnation, exacerbated by falling oil prices in the mid-1980s, created shortages and widespread frustration. The perestroika reforms further destabilized the economy, resulting in an economic crisis.
- Military The prolonged and costly involvement in the Afghanistan War (1979-1989) exposed the Soviet army's limitations, fostering dissent and war weariness within the Soviet republics.
- Social The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 revealed the government's lack of transparency, shattering public trust and stimulating environmental activism.
- Cultural Exposure to Western ideas and culture through glasnost heightened public dissatisfaction with the Soviet system.
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Who were some important leaders during the collapse of the Soviet Union?
Several leaders played crucial roles during the collapse of the Soviet Union:
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Mikhail Gorbachev His attempts to democratize the Soviet Union through glasnost and perestroika inadvertently weakened the central power, leading to the eventual breakup of the U.S.S.R..
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Boris Yeltsin As president of the Russian republic, Yeltsin challenged the coup leaders during the August 1991 coup attempt and called for Gorbachev's return. After the coup failed, he emerged as a powerful political figure.
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Leonid Kravchuk As chairman of the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet, Kravchuk supported the Ukrainian independence movement as the central government in Moscow weakened. He became the first democratically elected president of Ukraine in December 1991.
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Nursultan Nazarbayev As the first president of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev opposed the coup attempt and helped form the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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What major events led to the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991?
The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 resulted from intertwined political, economic, and social factors.
-
Political Factors
Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) aimed to reform the Soviet Union but instead opened the door for criticism and democratic movements. The state lost control, and reform movements gained traction. -
Economic Factors
Economic stagnation, shortages, and a growing budget deficit plagued the Soviet Union. A sharp drop in oil prices further exacerbated the economic crisis. The Soviet Union was running hidden budget deficits of 7 or 8 percent of GNP and suffering from extreme inflation that took the form of chronic shortages of consumer goods. -
Social Factors
The Soviet public grew disgusted with corruption, fueling a desire for change. The failed coup against Gorbachev in August 1991, intended to prevent the signing of a treaty that would have strengthened the republics, further hastened the collapse.
These factors, combined with the rise of nationalism and ethnic tensions, led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991.
7 Britannica Sources- Berlin: Berlin united
- Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?
- Soviet Union: The attempted coup
- 20th-century international relations: Why the Soviet retreat?
- Russia: Ethnic relations and Russia’s “near-abroad”
- history of Ukraine: Social developments
- “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!”: Reagan’s Berlin Speech
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How did the collapse of the Soviet Union affect Russia and other countries that were part of it?
The collapse of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991, led to serious disorder and economic chaos in Russia and other former Soviet republics. Russia, named the Russian Federation, started its journey toward democracy and a market economy.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union completed the Cold War's end by extinguishing Leninism in its homeland. However, the emergence of 15 independent states posed numerous new problems. All faced economic distress during the transition to market economies and contained national minorities. Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan possessed sizable stocks of nuclear weapons.
The collapse left some 30 million Russians outside the Russian Federation's borders, mainly in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the Baltic countries. Governments feared Moscow could use these populations to pressure them, but during the 1990s, Moscow refrained from such actions.
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collapse of the Soviet Union, sequence of events that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991. The former superpower was replaced by 15 independent countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The coup against Gorbachev
That the Soviet Union was disintegrating had been subtly apparent for some time, but the final act began at 4:50 pm on Sunday, August 18, 1991. Soviet Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev was at his dacha in the Crimean resort of Foros when he was contacted by four men requesting an audience. They were his chief of staff, Valery Boldin; Oleg Baklanov, first deputy chairman of the U.S.S.R. defense council; Oleg Shenin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU); and Gen. Valentin Varennikov, chief of the Soviet Army’s ground forces. They were accompanied by KGB Gen. Yury Plekhanov, chief of security for party and state personnel. Their unexpected arrival aroused Gorbachev’s suspicions, and, when he tried to use the phone, it was dead. They had come to demand, in the name of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the U.S.S.R., that Gorbachev sign a document declaring a state of emergency and transferring power to his vice president, Gennady Yanayev. They were taken aback when Gorbachev refused and rebuked them as treasonous blackmailers.
Gorbachev and his family were placed under house arrest by Gen. Igor Maltsev, commander-in-chief of the Soviet Air Defense Troops. Both Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, later stated that they had fully expected to be killed. Although outside communication had been cut off, Gorbachev was able to get word to Moscow and confirm that he was fit and well. Members of Gorbachev’s personal bodyguard remained loyal throughout the episode, and they were able to fashion a simple receiver so that the imperiled president could learn what was happening beyond the walls of the dacha. BBC and Voice of America broadcasts kept Gorbechev abreast of the coup’s progress and international reaction to it.
Just after 6:00 am Moscow time on August 19, TASS and Radio Moscow proclaimed that “ill health” had prevented Gorbachev from executing his duties and that, in accordance with Article 127-7 of the Soviet constitution, Yanayev had assumed the powers of the presidency. Yanayev headed an eight-member Emergency Committee. Its other members were Baklanov; Vladimir Kryuchkov, chairman of the U.S.S.R. KGB; Premier Valentin Pavlov; Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo; Vasily Starodubtsev, chairman of the Farmers’ Union; Aleksandr Tizyakov, president of the U.S.S.R. Association of State Enterprises; and Minister of Defense Marshal Dmitry Yazov. They soon issued Resolution No. 1, which banned strikes and demonstrations and imposed press censorship. There was also an address to the Soviet people claiming that “mortal danger hangs over our great fatherland.”
The planned signing on August 20 of a new union treaty that would have weakened central control over the republics appeared to explain the timing of the coup. A sharp attack on the union treaty by Anatoly Lukyanov, chairman of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet, was distributed by TASS early on August 19. The U.S.S.R. Cabinet of Ministers met later that morning, and most of the ministers supported the coup. All but nine newspapers were banned.
Tanks appeared on the streets of Moscow, and the city’s population immediately began attempting to dissuade troops from obeying orders. Protesters began gathering around the White House, the Russian parliament building, and started erecting barricades. At 12:50 pm Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin climbed atop a tank in front of the White House, condemned the coup and called for an immediate general strike. He later issued a presidential edict declaring the coup illegal and the plotters “criminals” and “traitors.” Russian officials were not to obey the orders of the Emergency Committee. At 5:00 pm Yanayev and the other coup leaders held a press conference. Yanayev claimed that the country had become “ungovernable” but hoped that his “friend President Gorbachev” would eventually return to his post. The president was “very tired” and was being “treated in the south,” Yanayev explained. He appeared visibly nervous, and his hands trembled during the presentation.
Yeltsin appealed to the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Aleksey II, to condemn the coup. The patriarch criticized Gorbachev’s detention and anathematized those involved in the plot. Meanwhile, in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Lieut. Gen. Viktor Samsonov declared himself chairman of the Leningrad State of Emergency Committee and placed the city under military control. However, Leningrad’s mayor, Anatoly Sobchak, returned from Moscow by air, aided by KGB agents who opposed the coup. Sobchak rallied the opposition and appealed to soldiers to hand over officers who had helped organize the coup. In the process, he won over Samsonov, who promised not to move troops into the city. In Moscow some elite tank regiments defected and took up defensive positions around the White House.
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On August 20 Yeltsin issued a presidential edict stating that he was taking control of all military, KGB, and other forces in Russian territory. U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush telephoned Yeltsin and assured him that normal relations with Moscow would resume only after Gorbachev was back in office. That night fighting broke out between troops and demonstrators near the White House, and three protesters were killed. The expected assault on the White House did not materialize, however, and it became clear that the coup leaders’ orders were not being obeyed. Belatedly, on August 21, the CPSU Secretariat demanded a meeting between Gorbachev and Yanayev. The coup collapsed, and the plotters were arrested while trying to flee. The U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet reinstated Gorbachev and annulled all the decrees of the Emergency Committee. Yeltsin decreed that all enterprises in Russia were under his government’s control.