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History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)

The history of the Soviet Union from 1982 through 1991 spans the period from the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's death until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Due to the years of Soviet military buildup at the expense of domestic development, and complex systemic problems in the command economy, Soviet output stagnated. Failed attempts at reform, a standstill economy, and the success of the proxies of the United States against the Soviet Union's forces in the war in Afghanistan led to a general feeling of discontent, especially in the Soviet-occupied Baltic countries and Eastern Europe.[1]

Greater political and social freedoms, instituted by the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, created an atmosphere of open criticism of the communist regime, and also perestroika. The dramatic drop of the price of oil in 1985 and 1986 profoundly influenced actions of the Soviet leadership.[2]


Nikolai Tikhonov, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, was succeeded by Nikolai Ryzhkov, and Vasili Kuznetsov, the acting Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, was succeeded by Andrei Gromyko, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs.


Several republics began resisting central control, and increasing democratization led to a weakening of the central government. The Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991 when Boris Yeltsin seized power in the aftermath of a failed coup that had attempted to topple the reform-minded Gorbachev.

Rise of Gorbachev[edit]

In addition to the failing economy, the prolonged war in Afghanistan, often referred to as the Soviet Union's "Vietnam War", led to increased public dissatisfaction with the Communist regime. Also, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 added motive force to Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika reforms, which eventually spiraled out of control and caused the Soviet system to collapse.[20]

Historiography[edit]

According to Boris N. Mironov, by 2020 Russian scholars had produced over 300 books, 3000 articles, and 20 dissertations trying to explain the collapse. Two approaches were taken. The first is to look at the short term, 1985-1991, emphasizing personalities. external causes and policy mistakes. The second looks at long-term economic, political, cultural, and social structures.[45]

Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union

Cold War (1985–91)

(1991–present)

History of the Russian Federation

Index of Soviet Union-related articles

Predictions of the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Reagan Doctrine

(Eastern Europe)

Revolutions of 1989

Adelman, Jonathan R., and Deborah Anne Palmieri. The dynamics of Soviet foreign policy (Harpercollins, 1989).

Andrew, Christopher and Vasili Mitrokhin. The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World (Basic Books, 2005).

Downing, Taylor. Reagan, Andropov, and a World on the Brink (2018)

The End of the Soviet Empire: The Triumph of the Nations (Basic Books, 1992), ISBN 0-465-09818-5

d'Encausse, Hélène Carrère

Fenzel, Michael R (2020). No Miracles: The Failure of Soviet Decision-Making in the Afghan War. Stanford University Press.  978-0-8047-9910-2. OCLC 1178769176.

ISBN

Fischer, Ben B. A Cold War conundrum: the 1983 soviet war scare (Central Intelligence Agency, Center for the Study of Intelligence, 1997).

online

(19 April 2007). "The Soviet Collapse: Grain and Oil". AEI Online. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2009.

Gaidar, Yegor

Gaidar, Yegor (2006). The Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia. Brookings Institution Press.  978-0-8157-3114-6. OCLC 1020251020.

ISBN

Hough, Jerry F. "Soviet politics under Andropov." Current History 82.486 (1983): 330–346.

online

Kort, Michael G. The Soviet colossus: history and aftermath (Routledge, 2019)

Marples, David R. The collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985–1991 (Routledge, 2016).

Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union, Random House, 1995, ISBN 0-679-41376-6

Matlock, Jr. Jack F.

Oberdorfer, Don. From the Cold War to a New Era: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1983–1991 (2nd ed. Johns Hopkins UP, 1998).

Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire, Vintage Books, 1994, ISBN 0-679-75125-4

Remnick, David

Steele, Jonathan. Soviet Power (1984)

Strayer, Robert. Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?: Understanding Historical Change (Routledge, 2016).

The Revenge of the Past: Nationalism, Revolution, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union, Stanford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8047-2247-1

Suny, Ronald Grigor

Taubman, William. Gorbachev: His Life and Times (2017)

Volkogonov, Dimitri. Autopsy for an empire: The seven leaders who built the Soviet regime (1998). pp. 329–534.

Winters, Paul A. Turning Points in World History – The Collapse of the Soviet Union (1998) short essays by experts

by Professor Archie Brown

Reform, Coup and Collapse: The End of the Soviet State

collected by Vladimir Bukovsky

Soviet Archives

from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives

End of the Soviet Union

September–December 1991, in the last months of the USSR

Candid photos of the Eastern Bloc

Making the History of 1989