Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was dissolved on 26 December 1991 by Declaration № 142-Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, formally establishing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a sovereign state and subject of international law.[1] It also brought an end to the Soviet Union's federal government and General Secretary (also President) Mikhail Gorbachev's effort to reform the Soviet political and economic system in an attempt to stop a period of political stalemate and economic backslide. The Soviet Union had experienced internal stagnation and ethnic separatism. Although highly centralized until its final years, the country was made up of 15 top-level republics that served as the homelands for different ethnicities. By late 1991, amid a catastrophic political crisis, with several republics already departing the Union and the waning of centralized power, the leaders of three of its founding members, the Russian, Belorussian, and Ukrainian SSRs, declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed. Eight more republics joined their declaration shortly thereafter. Gorbachev resigned on 25 December 1991 and what was left of the Soviet parliament voted to end itself.
For broader coverage of this topic, see History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991).Date
16 November 1988 – 26 December 1991
(3 years, 1 month, and 10 days)
- Former Soviet republics:
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Armenia
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Azerbaijan
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Belarus[a]
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Estonia
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Georgia
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Kazakhstan
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Kyrgyzstan[b]
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Latvia
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Lithuania
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Moldova[c]
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Russia
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Tajikistan
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Turkmenistan[d]
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Ukraine
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Uzbekistan
- Self-proclaimed breakaway states:
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Abkhazia (1992–present)→→
Artsakh (1991–2023)
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Chechnya (1991–2000)→
Crimea (1992; 2014)→
Gagauzia (1990–1995)
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Karakalpakstan (1992–1993)
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Nakhchivan (1990–1993)→
South Ossetia (1991–present)
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Tatarstan (1992–1994)→
Transnistria (1990–present)
- Nations of the Soviet Union
- Soviet government
- Governments of the republics
- Governments of the autonomous republics
- Nationalist and liberal opposition
- Dissolution of the Soviet Union into 15 independent states
- Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States between eleven independent states
- Several separatist movements in the former autonomies prove successful, with most either failing to combat the militaries of their respective republics or agreeing to rejoin them peacefully
- Numerous military conflicts and ethnic clashes unfold during and after the dissolution, provoking humanitarian crises and leaving many internally displaced
- Republics declare multi-party presidential or semi-presidential systems
- Republics move to adopt capitalist market economy
- Ruble zone active in most of the new states between 1991 and 1994, with national currencies adopted later
- Unified Soviet Armed Forces divided c. 1992–1993
- Black Sea Fleet partitioned and negotiation for relocation between Russia and Ukraine in 1997 until 2017; terminated in 2014
- Issues with value loss of savings of former Soviet citizens
- Issues with social and medical support for veterans of the Soviet–Afghan War
- Relocation of the Soviet Armed Forces from East Germany and the rest of Central Europe
- End of the Cold War with Western Bloc victory
- End of CPSU rule
- Decline of communist and left-wing movements around the world
- China becomes the last major Marxist–Leninist state in the world following economic reforms
- The United States becomes the world's sole superpower
The process began with growing unrest in the country's various constituent national republics developing into an incessant political and legislative conflict between them and the central government. Estonia was the first Soviet republic to declare state sovereignty inside the Union on 16 November 1988. Lithuania was the first republic to declare full independence restored from the Soviet Union by the Act of 11 March 1990 with its Baltic neighbors and the Southern Caucasus republic of Georgia joining it over the next two months.
During the failed 1991 August coup, communist hardliners and military elites attempted to overthrow Gorbachev and stop the failing reforms. However, the turmoil led to the central government in Moscow losing influence, ultimately resulting in many republics proclaiming independence in the following days and months. The secession of the Baltic states was recognized in September 1991. The Belovezha Accords were signed on 8 December by President Boris Yeltsin of Russia, President Kravchuk of Ukraine, and Chairman Shushkevich of Belarus, recognizing each other's independence and creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to replace the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last republic to leave the Union, proclaiming independence on 16 December. All the ex-Soviet republics, with the exception of Georgia and the Baltic states, joined the CIS on 21 December, signing the Alma-Ata Protocol. On 25 December, Gorbachev resigned and turned over his presidential powers—including control of the nuclear launch codes—to Yeltsin, who was now the first president of the Russian Federation. That evening, the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the Russian tricolor flag. The following day, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR's upper chamber, the Soviet of the Republics, formally dissolved the Union.[2] The events of the dissolution resulted in its 15 constituent republics gaining full independence which also marked the major conclusion of the Revolutions of 1989 and the end of the Cold War.[3]
In the aftermath of the Cold War, several of the former Soviet republics have retained close links with Russia and formed multilateral organizations such as the CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and the Union State, for economic and military cooperation. On the other hand, the Baltic states and all of the other former Warsaw Pact states became part of the European Union (EU) and joined NATO, while some of the other former Soviet republics like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have been publicly expressing interest in following the same path since the 1990s, despite Russian attempts to persuade them otherwise.