In what year did the process of state collapse begin? Collapse of the USSR. Collapse of the ruble zone
At the current stage of development Russian Federation and neighboring states that are successors of the former USSR, there are a lot of political, economic and cultural problems. Their solution is impossible without a thorough analysis of the events associated with the process of collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This article contains clear and structured information about the collapse of the USSR, as well as an analysis of events and personalities directly related to this process.
Brief background
The years of the USSR are a story of victories and defeats, economic rise and fall. It is known that the Soviet Union as a state was formed in 1922. After this, as a result of many political and military events, its territory increased. The peoples and republics that were part of the USSR had the right to voluntarily secede from it. Repeatedly, the country's ideology emphasized the fact that the Soviet state is a family of friendly peoples.
Regarding the leadership of such a huge country, it is not difficult to predict that it was centralized. The main body of government was the CPSU party. And the leaders of republican governments were appointed by the central Moscow leadership. The main legislative act regulating the legal situation in the country was the Constitution of the USSR.
Reasons for the collapse of the USSR
Many powerful countries are going through difficult times in their development. Speaking about the collapse of the USSR, it should be noted that 1991 was a very difficult and contradictory year in the history of our state. What contributed to this? There are a huge number of reasons that led to the collapse of the USSR. Let's try to dwell on the main ones:
- authoritarianism of government and society in the state, persecution of dissidents;
- nationalist tendencies in the union republics, the presence of interethnic conflicts in the country;
- one state ideology, censorship, ban on any political alternative;
- economic crisis of the Soviet production system (extensive method);
- international fall in oil prices;
- a number of unsuccessful attempts to reform the Soviet system;
- colossal centralization of government bodies;
- military failure in Afghanistan (1989).
These, of course, are not all the reasons for the collapse of the USSR, but they can rightfully be considered fundamental.
The collapse of the USSR: the general course of events
With the appointment of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev to the post of General Secretary of the CPSU in 1985, the policy of perestroika began, which was associated with sharp criticism of the previous government system, the disclosure of KGB archival documents and the liberalization of public life. But the situation in the country not only did not change, but also worsened. The people became more active politically, and the formation of many organizations and movements, sometimes nationalistic and radical, began. M. S. Gorbachev, President of the USSR, repeatedly came into conflict with the future leader of the country, B. Yeltsin, over the withdrawal of the RSFSR from the Union.
National crisis
The collapse of the USSR occurred gradually in all sectors of society. The crisis has come, both economically and foreign policy, and even demographically. This was officially announced in 1989.
In the year of the collapse of the USSR, the eternal problem of Soviet society - a commodity shortage - became apparent. Even essential products are disappearing from store shelves.
Softness in the country's foreign policy results in the fall of regimes loyal to the USSR in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania. New national states are being formed there.
It was also quite turbulent within the country itself. Mass demonstrations begin in the union republics (demonstration in Almaty, the Karabakh conflict, unrest in the Fergana Valley).
There are also rallies in Moscow and Leningrad. The crisis in the country plays into the hands of the radical democrats, led by Boris Yeltsin. They are gaining popularity among the dissatisfied masses.
Parade of sovereignties
In early February 1990, the Party's Central Committee announced the annulment of its dominance in power. Democratic elections were held in the RSFSR and the Union republics, in which radical political forces in the form of liberals and nationalists won.
In 1990 and early 1991, a wave of protests swept across the Soviet Union, which historians later called the “parade of sovereignties.” During this period, many of the union republics adopted Declarations of Sovereignty, which meant the supremacy of republican law over the all-Union law.
The first territory that dared to leave the USSR was the Nakhichevan Republic. This happened back in January 1990. It was followed by: Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Lithuania and Armenia. Over time, all allied states will issue Declarations of their independence (after the GKChP putsch), and the USSR will finally collapse.
The last president of the USSR
The central role in the process of the collapse of the Soviet Union was played by the last president of this state, M. S. Gorbachev. The collapse of the USSR took place against the backdrop of Mikhail Sergeevich’s desperate efforts to reform Soviet society and the system.
M. S. Gorbachev was from Stavropol Territory(Vol. Privolnoe). The statesman was born in 1931 into a very simple family. After graduating from high school, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University, where he headed the Komsomol organization. There he met his future wife, Raisa Titarenko.
During his student years, Gorbachev was involved in active political activities, joined the ranks of the CPSU and already in 1955 he took the position of secretary of the Stavropol Komsomol. Gorbachev moved up the career ladder of a civil servant quickly and confidently.
Rise to power
Mikhail Sergeevich came to power in 1985, after the so-called “era of deaths of general secretaries” (three leaders of the USSR died in three years). It should be noted that the title “President of the USSR” (introduced in 1990) was only borne by Gorbachev; all previous leaders were called General Secretaries. The reign of Mikhail Sergeevich was characterized by thorough political reforms, which were often not particularly thought out and radical.
Attempts at reform
Such socio-political transformations include: prohibition, the introduction of self-financing, money exchange, the policy of openness, acceleration.
For the most part, society did not appreciate the reforms and had a negative attitude towards them. And there was little benefit to the state from such radical actions.
In his foreign policy, M. S. Gorbachev adhered to the so-called “policy of new thinking,” which contributed to detente international relations and ending the arms race. For this position Gorbachev received Nobel Prize peace. But the USSR at that time was in a terrible situation.
August putsch
Of course, attempts to reform Soviet society, and ultimately completely destroy the USSR, were not supported by many. Some supporters Soviet power united and decided to speak out against the destructive processes that were taking place in the Union.
The GKChP putsch was a political uprising that took place in August 1991. His goal is the restoration of the USSR. The 1991 coup was regarded by the official authorities as an attempted coup.
The events took place in Moscow from August 19 to 21, 1991. Among the many street clashes, the main a bright event, which ultimately led the USSR to the collapse, was the decision to create the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP). This was a new body formed by state officials, headed by USSR Vice President Gennady Yanaev.
Main reasons for the coup
The main reason for the August putsch can be considered dissatisfaction with Gorbachev's policies. Perestroika did not bring the expected results, the crisis deepened, unemployment and crime grew.
The last straw for future putschists and conservatives was the President’s desire to transform the USSR into a Union of Sovereign States. After M. S. Gorbachev left Moscow, the dissatisfied did not miss the opportunity for an armed uprising. But the conspirators failed to retain power; the putsch was suppressed.
The significance of the GKChP putsch
The 1991 coup launched an irreversible process towards the collapse of the USSR, which was already in a state of continuous economic and political instability. Despite the desire of the putschists to preserve the state, they themselves contributed to its collapse. After this event, Gorbachev resigned, the structure of the CPSU collapsed, and the republics of the USSR began to gradually proclaim their independence. The Soviet Union was replaced by a new state - the Russian Federation. And 1991 is understood by many as the year of the collapse of the USSR.
Bialowieza Accords
The 1991 Bialowieza Accords were signed on December 8th. Officials of three states - Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - put their signatures on them. The agreements were a document that legislated the collapse of the USSR and the formation of a new organization of mutual assistance and cooperation - the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
As mentioned earlier, the GKChP putsch only weakened the central authorities and thereby accompanied the collapse of the USSR. In some republics, separatist tendencies began to brew, which were actively promoted in the regional media. As an example, we can consider Ukraine. In the country, in a national referendum on December 1, 1991, almost 90% of citizens voted for the independence of Ukraine, and L. Kravchuk was elected president of the country.
In early December, the leader made a statement that Ukraine was abandoning the 1922 treaty on the creation of the USSR. The year 1991, therefore, became the starting point for Ukrainians on the path to their own statehood.
The Ukrainian referendum served as a kind of signal for President Boris Yeltsin, who began to more persistently strengthen his power in Russia.
Creation of the CIS and the final destruction of the USSR
In turn, a new chairman of the Supreme Council, S. Shushkevich, was elected in Belarus. It was he who invited the leaders of neighboring states Kravchuk and Yeltsin to Belovezhskaya Pushcha to discuss the current situation and coordinate subsequent actions. After minor discussions between the delegates, the fate of the USSR was finally decided. The Treaty establishing the Soviet Union of December 31, 1922 was denounced, and in its place a plan for the Commonwealth of Independent States was prepared. After this process, many disputes arose, since the agreement on the creation of the USSR was supported by the Constitution of 1924.
However, it should be noted that the Belovezhskaya Agreements of 1991 were adopted not by the will of three politicians, but by the wishes of the peoples of the former Soviet republics. Just two days after the signing of the agreement, the Supreme Councils of Belarus and Ukraine adopted an act of denunciation of the union treaty and ratified the agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In Russia, on December 12, 1991, the same procedure took place. Not only radical liberals and democrats, but also communists voted for the ratification of the Belovezhskaya Accords.
Already on December 25, USSR President M. S. Gorbachev resigned. So, relatively simply, they destroyed the government system, which had existed for years. Although the USSR was an authoritarian state, there were certainly positive sides to its history. Among them are social security for citizens, the presence of clear government plans for the economy and superior military power. Many people to this day remember life in the Soviet Union with nostalgia.
Exactly twenty years ago, on December 8, 1991, at the Viskuli hunting estate in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the heads of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed an Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which marked the end of the existence of the USSR. The preamble of the document clearly stated: “The USSR as a subject of international law and a geopolitical reality ceases to exist.” On December 21, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan joined the agreement, signing in Almaty (together with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) the Declaration on the Goals and Principles of the New Commonwealth (CIS). Thus, the USSR existed for exactly 69 years.Currently, there is no common point of view among historians and political scientists on what was the main reason for the collapse of the once powerful state. A variety of versions have been and are being expressed. Among the reasons most often cited are, for example, a global conspiracy and betrayal of Gorbachev, a sharp drop in oil prices initiated by the American government, and ongoing financial assistance to countries during the Cold War. socialist camp, the development of the military-industrial complex to the detriment of other spheres of the economy, centrifugal nationalist tendencies inherent in every multinational country and manifested in the form of interethnic contradictions (events in Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus, the Baltics, Transnistria, Central Asia...), the authoritarian nature of Soviet society (persecution of the church, persecution of dissidents, forced collectivism, dominance of one ideology, ban on communication with foreign countries, censorship, lack of free discussion of alternatives), growing discontent of the population due to constant food shortages, shortages of goods and the extensive nature of the Soviet economy, a whole series military-political and man-made disasters (the Afghan war, the Chernobyl accident, the crash of the Admiral Nakhimov airliner, airplane crashes), as well as the concealment of information about them, etc.
Some people prefer to analyze the main reasons comprehensively, while others focus on a single factor. In particular, Russian ex-Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar was sure that the main reason for the collapse of the USSR was the sharp drop in world oil prices, which destroyed the raw material structure of the Soviet economy. He emphasized: “The date of the collapse of the USSR... it is well known. These, of course, are not the Bialowieza Agreements, these are not the August events, these are September 13, 1985. This is the day Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Yamani said that Saudi Arabia would end its policy of curbing oil production and begin to regain its share of the oil market. After which, over the next 6 months, Saudi Arabia's oil production increased 3.5 times. After which prices collapsed.”
Another former prime minister (but already of the USSR), Nikolai Ryzhkov, connected the collapse of the Soviet Union with the activities of Mikhail Gorbachev. “This is the man who destroyed a great country overnight. And the collapse of the CPSU - I’m not saying that the party was ideal then - is also on his conscience. Either he’s a good artist, or he really doesn’t understand what he’s done.” In general, the factor of Gorbachev’s personal responsibility appears very often when analyzing the causes of the collapse of the Soviet state. Political scientist Sergei Kurginyan notes that Gorbachev was guided primarily by the intention to extract his own benefit from his position in the country, “to surrender the party and the political system, the historical role, the great power and great opportunities to exchange for nonsense ... and receive the Nobel Prize.” Famous Russian politician, a member of the United Russia faction, Alexander Khinshtein, believes: “Gorbachev bears personal responsibility for what happened to our country. Largely because of the indecision and inconsistency of the Soviet president, because of his lack of a clear plan of action, the collapse of the state occurred. In my opinion, Gorbachev, like Nicholas II in his time, turned out to be unworthy of the historical mission that fell to his lot.” There are also more radical assessments of the activities of the first and last Soviet president.
Proponents of the “conspiracy theory” believe that the collapse of the USSR is the result of the consistent work of bourgeois-minded layers of the Soviet intelligentsia, to whom Gorbachev’s perestroika provided the widest and, most importantly, legal field of activity. Proponents of this approach readily refer to the famous saying of CIA Director Allen Dulles: “By sowing chaos in the Soviet Union, we will quietly replace their values with false ones and make them believe in these values. Literature, cinema, theaters - they will all depict the basest human feelings. We will in every possible way support and raise the so-called artists who will plant and hammer into human consciousness the cult of sex, violence, sadism, betrayal - in a word, all immorality. We will create chaos and confusion in government. We will quietly, but actively and constantly contribute to the tyranny of officials, bribery, and unprincipled behavior. Honesty and decency will be ridiculed and no one will need it, they will turn into a relic of the past... We will vulgarize and destroy the foundations of morality. We will always place our main emphasis on youth. We will begin to corrupt, corrupt, and corrupt her.”
From their point of view, the perestroika proclaimed by Gorbachev had as its main result an ideological restructuring, and the carriers of the new ideological policy were precisely the radically minded representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia, who traditionally adhered to a Western orientation. It was in the mid-80s that this new elite put itself forward as the sole mouthpiece of the masses, with an emphasis on its monopoly right to the platform and mouthpiece, it also altered the nature of certain events and presented to the masses a perverted model of historical development (in particular, the socialist revolution of 1917 .called a coup, while the change of power was by no means the main feature of such a large-scale event that completely destroyed traditional way of life hopelessly rotten Russian Empire).
Of course, there are also opponents of the version about the decisive influence of an external factor. In this case, attention is drawn to the fact that the political elite of the USSR, especially from the mid-60s, themselves ceased to believe in the official ideology of the country and turned into bearers of bourgeois values (it is significant that the head of state Leonid Brezhnev collected cars). At the same time, corruption, bribery and patronage became an integral mechanism for resolving issues; they permeated almost all spheres of activity, and the very need for membership in the ranks of the Communist Party was dictated not by ideological considerations, but exclusively by mercantile ones (membership in the party was a career necessity). The most acute contradiction between the official ideology and the bearers of this ideology, which was so anecdotally and clearly manifested at all hierarchical levels (from the Politburo to individual housing maintenance offices) and undermined from the inside - from the point of view of supporters of this approach - the foundations of the Soviet state.
In all likelihood, it is impossible to single out one main reason for the collapse of the USSR. Most versions, even with very different degrees of validity and argumentation, still have the right to exist. However, the approach in any case should be comprehensive. Just as comprehensive should be the assessment of the USSR itself - a country unprecedented in world history, where, along with unprecedented losses, there were also achievements unprecedented in world history.
Eleven years before the collapse of the USSR
On the morning of May 20, 1980, Ronald Reagan (US President) received William Casey (Director of the CIA), who presented Reagan with new information about the state of affairs in the USSR, namely, Casey presented unofficial classified materials about problems in the USSR economy. Reagan loved to read such information on the USSR and in his diary on March 26, 1981, he wrote the following: The USSR is in a very bad situation, if we refrain from loans, they will ask others for help, because otherwise they will die of hunger. Casey personally selected all the information on the USSR, bringing his old dream closer - collapse of the USSR.
On March 26, 1981, W. Casey arrived with a report to Reagan. Casey provided new information about the state of affairs in the USSR:
The USSR is in a very difficult situation, there is an uprising in Poland, the USSR is stuck in Afghanistan, Cuba, Angola and Vietnam. Casey insisted that there was no better time to collapse of the USSR does not exist. Reagan agreed and Casey began preparing his proposals for collapse of the USSR.
Members of the working group leading the collapse of the USSR
Ronald Reagan, William Joseph Casey, George H. W. Bush, Caspar Willard Weinberger
In early 1982, Casey, at a closed meeting in the White House, proposed plan for the collapse of the USSR. For some senior Reagan administration officials, the proposal collapse of the USSR came as a shock. Throughout the 70s, the West and Europe accustomed themselves to the idea that they should not fight with the USSR, but negotiate. The majority believed that there was simply no other way in the era of nuclear weapons. The NSDD plan was aimed in the other direction. On January 30, 1982, at a meeting of the working group, Casey’s plan for launching covert offensive operations against the USSR was adopted; classified as top secret, it was called the “NSDD plan” (directive of the Reagan administration in the matter of US strategy, goals and aspirations in relations with the USSR). The NSDD plan clearly stated that the next goal of the United States was no longer coexistence with the USSR, but a change in the Soviet system. The entire working group recognized the necessary achievement of one goal - collapse of the USSR!
The essence of the NSDD plan for the collapse of the USSR boiled down to the following:
- Secret, financial, intelligence and political assistance to the Polish Solidarity movement. Goal: maintaining the opposition in the center of the USSR.
- Significant financial and military assistance to the Afghan Mujahideen. Goal: the spread of war on the territory of the USSR.
- Secret diplomacy in the countries of Western Europe. Goal: limit the USSR's access to Western technologies.
- Psychological and information war. Goal: technical disinformation and destruction of the USSR economy.
- The growth of weapons and maintaining them at a high technological level. Goal: undermining the economy of the USSR and exacerbating the resource crisis.
- Cooperation with Saudi Arabia to reduce world oil prices. Goal: a sharp reduction in the flow of hard currency into the USSR.
CIA Director W. Casey realized that it was useless to fight the USSR; the USSR could only be destroyed economically.
Preparatory stage for the collapse of the USSR
In early April 1981, CIA Director W. Casey went to the Middle East and Europe. Casey had to solve 2 problems: falling oil prices and increasing resistance in Afghanistan. Therefore, Casey visited Egypt (supplier of weapons to the Afghan mujahideen). Here Casey told President Mohammed Anwar al-Sadat (a friend of the CIA) that the weapons that Egypt was supplying to the Afghan Mujahideen were scrap! The USSR could not be defeated with it, and offered financial assistance so that the supply of modern weapons could begin. However, Sadat was not destined to carry out the instructions of the CIA chief, because. 6 months later he was shot dead. But the United States still managed to supply the Afghan Mujahideen with weapons worth $8 billion!!! This is how the Mujahideen acquired the first Stinger air defense system. This is the largest covert operation since World War II.
Next, the CIA chief visited Saudi Arabia. The CIA analytical department calculated that if oil prices on the world market fell by just 1 dollar, the USSR would lose from 500 million to 1 billion dollars a year. In return, Casey promised the sheikh protection from possible revolutions, protection for family members, supplies of weapons, and guaranteed the inviolability of personal deposits in US banks. The sheikh agreed to the proposal, and oil production in Saudi Arabia skyrocketed. So in 1986, the USSR's losses from falling oil prices amounted to $13 billion. Experts already realized then that Gorbachev would not be able to carry out any breakthrough or restructuring. Modernization required 50 billion dollars, which was taken away from the USSR by the NSDD plan.
Casey also managed to convince the Sheikh of the secret participation of Saudi Arabia in Afghan war and the strengthening of the Afghan Mujahideen by the Saudis. The sheikh's money was used to recruit the modest owner of a construction company, Osama bin Laden (terrorist No. 1 in the world).
After Saudi Arabia, the CIA chief visited Israel. The first points have already begun to work, the next stage of the collapse of the USSR is information and psychological warfare, without which collapse of the USSR it might not have happened. According to Casey, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad was to play a decisive role. Casey suggested that Israel use American spy satellites to obtain information about Iraq's nuclear facilities, as well as materials on Syria. In response, Israel opened part of its residency in the USSR to the CIA. The channels have been established.
The beginning of the implementation of the plan for the collapse of the USSR
The United States decided to carry out economic sabotage against Poland. One of the authors of this plan was Zbigniew Brzezinski. The meaning of this plan was that Western partners supplied enterprises to Poland with the assurance that they would take the products produced at these enterprises in the form of payment, and after the launch of the enterprise they refused to take the products. Thus, sales of products were slowed down, and the amount of Polish foreign currency debt went up. After this sabotage, Poland was in large debts; cards for goods began to be introduced in Poland (cards were even introduced for diapers and hygiene products). After this, workers' strikes began; the Poles wanted to eat. Cargo Polish crisis fell on the economy of the USSR, Poland was provided with financial assistance in the amount of 10 billion dollars, but Poland's debt remained in the amount of 12 billion dollars. Thus began a revolution in one of the socialist countries.
The US administration was confident that the outbreak of a revolutionary fire in one of the USSR countries would lead to destabilization throughout the USSR. The Kremlin leadership, in turn, understood where the wind of change was blowing, intelligence reported that Polish revolutionaries were receiving financial assistance from Western countries (1.7 thousand newspapers and magazines, 10 thousand books and brochures were published underground, underground printing houses operated), on the radio “ Voice of America" and "Free Europe" Polish revolutionaries received hidden orders about when and where to strike. Moscow has repeatedly pointed out the danger coming from abroad and has begun to prepare for intervention. CIA intelligence decided to counter Moscow with the following trump card: Casey flies to Rome, where a key figure with influence on the Poles was located - this was the Pole Karol Jozef Wojtyla, after his enthronement - John Paul II (Primate of the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005). The CIA remembered well how the Poles greeted John Paul II when he returned to his homeland. Then millions of excited Poles met their compatriot. After meeting Casey, he begins to actively support the Polish resistance and personally met with resistance leader Lech Walesa. Catholic Church begins to financially support the resistance (distributes humanitarian aid received from Western charitable foundations), provides shelters for oppositionists.
Report of the Director of the CIA on the collapse of the USSR
In February 1982, at a meeting in the oval office of the White House, the CIA director again reported on the work done. The loss of tens of millions of dollars, the tense situation in Poland, the protracted war in Afghanistan, instability in the socialist camp, all this led to the emptying of the USSR treasury. Casey also said that the USSR is trying to replenish the treasury with Siberian gas supplied to Europe - this is the Urengoy-6 project. This project was supposed to provide the USSR with colossal funds. In addition, Europe was very interested in the construction of this gas pipeline.
The failure of the Urengoy-6 project as one of the reasons for the collapse of the USSR
The Soviet Union was supposed to lay a gas pipeline from Siberia to the borders of Czechoslovakia, but imported pipes were required for the installation. It was then that the US administration introduced a ban on the supply of oil equipment to the USSR. But Europe, which was interested in gas, and which, by agreement with the USSR, had a significant 25-year discount on gas, secretly (the government secretly supported smuggled suppliers) continued to supply the necessary equipment to the USSR. The US administration sent its own man to Europe, who campaigned for Europe for American coal, natural gas from the North Sea, and also for synthetic fuels. But Europe, feeling the benefits of cooperation with the USSR, continued to secretly help the USSR build a gas pipeline. Then Reagan again ordered the CIA to deal with this problem. In 1982, the CIA developed an operation according to which gas equipment was supplied to the USSR through a long chain of intermediaries, the software of which was deliberately introduced with errors. These errors were exploited after installation, resulting in large explosions on highways. As a result of these sabotages, Urengoy-6 was never completed, and the USSR again suffered losses in the amount of 1 trillion. dollars. This became one of the reasons for the bankruptcy and collapse of the USSR.
Another secret operation to collapse the USSR
On March 23, 1983, Reagan proposed deploying a system that would destroy enemy nuclear missiles in space. Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or " star Wars“The essence of the program was to create a large-scale missile defense system with space-based elements. According to this program, the United States was supposed to launch satellites with laser weapons into geostationary orbits, which would constantly be located above the base of nuclear missiles and at the time of their launch could shoot them down. The US administration, with the help of this program, intimidated the USSR and continued to deplete the USSR economy. The United States was led to believe that one day all Soviet missiles would become a pile of unnecessary metal. Soviet scientists began to study SDI and came to the conclusion that for laser weapons to work, powerful energy pumping was needed, and in order to hit a flying missile, the diameter of the laser beam had to be the size of a pinhead, and according to scientists’ calculations, the diameter of the missile’s laser beam turned into a circle of light diameter 100 sq. meters. Scientists have proven that SDI is a bluff! But the Soviet Union continued to devote too much effort and time to SDI, and the United States acted from a position of strength in the missile defense negotiations with the USSR.
Gorbachev also tried to somehow raise the economy of the USSR, he was counting on high oil prices, but oil prices fell from 35 to 10 dollars per barrel. Instead of improvement, Soviet citizens felt deterioration, store shelves became empty, and soon, as during the Second World War, cards appeared. The collapse of the USSR has entered its final stage.
http://www.russlav.ru/aktualno/raspad-sssr.html
| I am not authorized to speak for everyone, because, quite possibly, someone in the USSR lacked bandits, prostitutes, executioner cops, unemployment, corrupt officials, terrorist attacks, inflation, ethnic conflicts, refugees, paid education and paid medicine, stupid TV series and mediocre pop music on TV, drug addiction, pedophiles, Ksyusha Sobchak, Courchevel for some and garbage dumps... [See the continuation of the text after the photo report. - ed.]. ... because the USSR was not a glamorous country  This is not a circle of modellers and designers! These are Soviet children training on models to attack skyscrapers in America.  On September 1, a terrible disaster came to the home of every Soviet person. Trouble said: “Study, study and study!”
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On August 18, 2010, A. Kommari wrote and posted on the Internet on his blog open letter to the Soviet communists.
I present it in full. And I also subscribe to every word of this letter!
Dear Soviet communists!
I am not authorized to speak for everyone, because, quite possibly, someone in the USSR lacked bandits, prostitutes, executioner cops, unemployment, corrupt officials, terrorist attacks, inflation, ethnic conflicts, refugees, paid education and paid medicine, stupid TV series and mediocre pop music on TV, drug addiction, pedophiles, Ksyusha Sobchak, Courchevel for some and garbage dumps for others, defaults and economic crises, monetization of conscience and capitalization of humanity.
I can only speak for myself. Because personally, I didn’t need all of the above at all.
Between you and me, not everything worked out well for you, but some things worked out well..., it didn’t work out at all, but, looking at what happened after you left, I no longer have any complaints about you. I officially declare that I am taking off all of them that I had then. Because all the bad things that happened with you have remained with us, they have only increased and grown many times over. And even your muttering “our dear Leonid Ilyich” is now dearer to me than the cheerful Dmitry Anatolyevich - because the first fought, raised virgin soil and built cities, factories and BAM, and the second ate a hamburger and got an iPhone on the ball. He also has all the Deep Purple records. That, in fact, is all he did in his life - and for the life of me, I don’t understand why he rules the Russian people. And the CPSU, despite the fact that there is little left of Lenin’s party in it, seems to be some kind of Areopagus of sages and highly moral personalities - if you look at the “current ones” (yes, and maybe I won’t talk about “Ours” and about the “Young guard"? because other than swearing about them I am not able to write anything at all). Unfortunately, everything that I wrote about in the first lines of my letter to you has been added.
But the good things that were with you are no longer there and never will be.
So thank you for being there. For the smile of Yuri Gagarin, for the red flag over Berlin, for the Soviet Army, equipped with first-class tanks and aircraft, for the confidence that no one will ever attack my country, because they will get it in such a way that it won’t seem a little, for nuclear icebreakers, for that they preserved the great Russian classical culture - and the culture of other peoples of the Union - from vulgarity and the laws of the market, for science, for observatories, for synchrophasotrons, for the magazine “Astronomical Calendar of a Schoolchild” at the cost of five kopecks and the magazine “Kvant” at the price of ten kopecks, which my not very rich mother prescribed, for the mountains of the North Caucasus, on which you could relax and ski without fear of getting a bullet from a bearded fanatic, for the free radio circle in which I assembled my first transistor radio, for the doctors who made surgery on the eyes of my little daughter, for being proud of the vastness of the country in which you live, for the fact that we were all our own - Russians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Jews, Chukchis and 150 others different nations and nationalities, for an awesome sense of equality between people - a thing that simply cannot be understood by those who did not live then.
And most importantly, for the fact that, no matter how we messed up at times, we built the best and most humane system in history. If not for ourselves, then for our children. But not only for ours, by the way.
Everything became bad without you, dear Soviet communists, very bad. And, most importantly, it will obviously be even worse. It was this year that showed that when everything is covered, problems will begin in earnest - the authorities will run away. Like rats. Because they have somewhere to run. That our country is actually not intended for the common man to live in. Albeit modestly. As in front of you.
That's all I would like to convey to you, comrades Soviet communists. Wherever you are, I hope you can hear me.
Sincerely,
Alexander Kommari, 1/260 millionth of the former Soviet people."
http://www.za-nauku.ru//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5033&Itemid=41
Piercing pain Belovezhya
Today, December 8, is a gloomy day in all respects. On this day in 1991, the Soviet Union disappeared. In Belarusian Viskuly, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, presidents Boris Yeltsin (RSFSR), Leonid Kravchuk (Ukraine) and Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Belarusian SSR Stanislav Shushkevich signed the Belovezhskaya Agreement, liquidating the great country with the stroke of a pen.THREE LEADERS have signed the death warrant for a future for which several generations have fought for more than seven decades. Soviet people: on the civil fronts, during the years of collectivization and industrialization, during the Great Patriotic War and in the subsequent years of restoration, construction, creation, and space exploration. Difficult, maybe not as much as others wanted, but development nonetheless.
The heroes of the act of signing, at any opportunity, remembered and remember those events, without hiding their pleasure. Is it possible that Shushkevich is annoyed by the reproaches that in Viskuli “everyone was dead drunk, and the agreement was the result of a dead drunk.” It turns out, no, as he claims - not dead. Drank in moderation. And there were toasts. Having killed the country, they drank to each other's health. Between toasts, not forgetting to first inform the head of the United States about what he had done. To this day, defenders of Belovezhiya claim that the USSR was terminally ill and collapsed on its own, since economic system, chosen by the Stalinist CPSU(b), turned out to be untenable.
AND TODAY they are trying to convince US that the market model is much more effective. Just yesterday, talking about the fate of the Ukrainian army, we asked what efficiency of the modern economy can be judged by a simple comparison? If the Soviet “inefficient” national economic complex had enough strength to create a powerful defensive shield using the latest science and technology and maintain it in proper condition, then with a “super-efficient” market economy we are not able to maintain a tenfold reduced army. There is no longer any question of replenishing it with samples of the latest technology.
Those who were directly involved in the destruction of the USSR are trying to lead people away from the truth and accurate assessments, to silence the true reasons and embellish the role of traitors to the Motherland. The plan for the collapse of the Soviet Union began to be implemented Western countries led by the United States immediately after World War II, when it finally became clear to the imperialists that it was impossible to defeat the USSR with the help of military force and direct aggression. And it is quite possible to destroy it from within with the help of traitors and unwitting accomplices. After the collapse, gradually dismember the Union into small components and destroy them one by one, taking over the territories richest in their resources.
ALL THIS HAPPENED before our eyes. The tragedy of the USSR is not only that last years His existence, spiritual degenerates like Gorbachev, Yakovlev, Shevardnadze came to power in the country and the party. The “liquidation” of the USSR, the betrayal of millions of citizens who died in the Great Patriotic War, all who developed its economy, military and scientific power, created global political influence, great culture, became possible with the “help” of ordinary Soviet citizens, who also betrayed the country with their indifference . Everyone is guilty who did not stand up to defend their Motherland, as our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers did in 1941-43. There was also nowhere to retreat in 1991. But they retreated.
Today, three-quarters of Russians and most Ukrainians and Belarusians regret the Soviet Union. After all, only now has it become clear that, in general, for everything we have lost we have to pay the same terrible price as during the Great Patriotic War. Commensurable both in human sacrifices, and in moral and material aspects.
REFLECTING ABOUT today, you involuntarily come to the conclusion: that in order to move forward, you need to go back.
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The collapse of the USSR in 1991 was the result of the process of systemic disintegration (destruction) that took place in its socio-political sphere, social structure and national economy. As a state, it officially ceased to exist on the basis of a treaty signed on December 8 by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, but the events preceding it began in January. Let's try to restore them in chronological order.
The beginning of the end of a great empire
The first link in the chain of events that gave rise to the political crisis of 1991 and the collapse of the USSR were the events that began in Lithuania after M.S. Gorbachev, who was then the president of the Soviet Union, demanded that the government of the republic restore the previously suspended application of the Soviet Constitution on its territory. His appeal, sent on January 10, was reinforced by the introduction of an additional contingent of internal troops, who blocked a number of the most important public centers in Vilnius.
Three days later, a statement was published by the National Salvation Committee created in Lithuania, in which its members expressed support for the actions of the republican authorities. In response to this, on the night of January 14, the Vilnius television center was occupied by airborne troops.
First blood
The events took on particular urgency on December 20, after riot police units arriving from Moscow began seizing the building of the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and as a result of the resulting shootout, four people were killed and about ten were injured. This first blood shed on the streets of Vilnius served as the detonator of a social explosion, which resulted in the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
The actions of the central authorities, who tried to restore control over the Baltic states by force, led to the most negative consequences for them. Gorbachev became the object of sharp criticism from representatives of both the Russian and regional democratic opposition. Expressing protest against the use of military force against civilians, E. Primakov, L. Abalkin, A. Yakovlev and a number of other former associates of Gorbachev resigned.
The Lithuanian government’s response to Moscow’s actions was a referendum on the republic’s secession from the USSR, held on February 9, during which over 90% of its participants spoke in favor of independence. This can rightfully be called the beginning of the process that resulted in the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
An attempt to revive the Union Treaty and the triumph of B.N. Yeltsin
The next stage in the general series of events was the referendum held in the country on March 17 of the same year. At it, 76% of USSR citizens spoke in favor of preserving the Union in an updated form and introducing the post of President of Russia. In this regard, in April 1991, at the presidential residence Novo-Ogarevo, negotiations began between the heads of the republics that were part of the USSR on concluding a new Union Treaty. They were chaired by M.S. Gorbachev.
In accordance with the results of the referendum, the first victory in the history of Russia was held, in which B.N. won. Yeltsin, confidently ahead of the other candidates, among whom were such well-known politicians as V.V. Zhirinovsky, N.I. Ryzhkov, A.M. Tuleev, V.V. Bakatin and General A.M. Makashov.
Searching for a compromise
In 1991, the collapse of the USSR was preceded by a very complex and lengthy process of redistribution of power between the union center and its republican branches. Its necessity was determined precisely by the establishment of the presidential post in Russia and the election of B.N. Yeltsin.
This significantly complicated the drafting of a new union treaty, the signing of which was scheduled for August 22. It was known in advance that a compromise was being prepared, providing for the transfer of a wide range of powers to individual subjects of the federation, and leaving only the most important issues, such as defense, internal affairs, finance and a number of others, to Moscow.
The main initiators of the creation of the State Emergency Committee
Under these conditions, the events of August 1991 significantly accelerated the collapse of the USSR. They went down in the history of the country as a putsch by the State Emergency Committee (GKChP), or a failed attempt to carry out a coup. Its initiators were politicians who had previously held high government positions and were extremely interested in preserving the previous regime. Among them were G.I. Yanaev, B.K. Pugo, D.T. Yazov, V.A. Kryuchkov and a number of others. Their photo is shown below. The committee was established by them in the absence of the President of the USSR - M.S. Gorbachev, who was at the Foros government dacha in Crimea at that time.
Emergency measures
Immediately after the establishment of the State Emergency Committee, it was announced that its members would take a number of emergency measures, such as the introduction of a state of emergency in a large part of the country and the abolition of all newly formed power structures, the creation of which was not provided for by the Constitution of the USSR. In addition, the activities of opposition parties, as well as demonstrations and rallies, were prohibited. In addition, it was announced about economic reforms being prepared in the country.
The August 1991 putsch and the collapse of the USSR began with the order of the State Emergency Committee to send troops into the largest cities of the country, including Moscow. This extreme, and, as practice has shown, very unreasonable measure, was taken by the committee members to intimidate the people and give their statement more weight. However, they achieved just the opposite result.
The inglorious end of the coup
Having seized the initiative into their own hands, representatives of the opposition organized rallies of thousands in a number of cities across the country. In Moscow, more than half a million people became their participants. In addition, opponents of the State Emergency Committee managed to win over the command of the Moscow garrison to their side and thereby deprive the putschists of their main support.
The next stage of the coup and the collapse of the USSR (1991) was the trip of members of the State Emergency Committee to Crimea, which they undertook on August 21. Having lost the last hope of taking control of the actions of the opposition led by B.N. Yeltsin, they went to Foros to negotiate with M.S. Gorbachev, who, by their order, was isolated there from outside world and was actually in the position of a hostage. However, the very next day all the organizers of the coup were arrested and taken to the capital. Following them, M.S. returned to Moscow. Gorbachev.
Last efforts to save the Union
This is how the 1991 coup was prevented. The collapse of the USSR was inevitable, but attempts were still made to preserve at least part of the former empire. To this end, M.S. When drafting a new union treaty, Gorbachev made significant and previously unforeseen concessions in favor of the union republics, giving their governments even greater powers.
In addition, he was forced to officially recognize the independence of the Baltic states, which actually launched the mechanism for the collapse of the USSR. In 1991, Gorbachev also made an attempt to form a qualitatively new democratic union government. Popular democrats, such as V.V., were invited to join it. Bakatin, E.A. Shevardnadze and their supporters.
Realizing that in the current political situation it was impossible to maintain the previous structure of the state, in September they began preparing an agreement on the creation of a new confederal Union, into which the former were to enter as independent entities. However, work on this document was not destined to be completed. On December 1, a nationwide referendum was held in Ukraine, and based on its results, the republic seceded from the USSR, thereby canceling out Moscow’s plans to create a confederation.
The Belovezhskaya Agreement, which marked the beginning of the creation of the CIS
The final collapse of the USSR occurred in 1991. Its legal basis was an agreement concluded on December 8 at the government hunting dacha “Viskuli”, located in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, from which it received its name. Based on a document signed by the heads of Belarus (S. Shushkevich), Russia (B. Yeltsin) and Ukraine (L. Kravchuk), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was formed, putting an end to the existence of the USSR. The photo is shown above.
Following this, eight more republics of the former Soviet Union joined the agreement concluded between Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The document was signed by the heads of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The leaders of the Baltic republics welcomed the news of the collapse of the USSR, but refrained from joining the CIS. Georgia, headed by Z. Gamsakhurdia, followed their example, but soon, after E.A. came to power as a result of the coup that took place in it. Shevardnadze, also joined the newly formed Commonwealth.
The out-of-work president
The conclusion of the Belovezhskaya Agreement caused an extremely negative reaction from M.S. Gorbachev, who until then held the post of President of the USSR, but after the August putsch was deprived of real power. Nevertheless, historians note that there is a significant share of his personal guilt in the events that took place. No wonder B.N. Yeltsin said in one of his interviews that the agreement signed in Belovezhskaya Pushcha did not destroy the USSR, but merely stated this long-ago accomplished fact.
Since the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the position of its president was also abolished. In this regard, on December 25, Mikhail Sergeevich, who remained out of work, submitted his resignation from his high post. They say that when he came to the Kremlin two days later to pick up his things, the new President of Russia, B.N., was already in full control of the office that had previously belonged to him. Yeltsin. I had to come to terms with it. Time moved inexorably forward, opening the next stage in the life of the country and making the collapse of the USSR in 1991, briefly described in this article, a part of history.
Collapse of the USSR
At the end of 1991, the Soviet Union, one of the two largest powers in the world, ceased to exist. What led to the collapse of the USSR? How these events took place, not so distant, but had a huge impact on the further course of human history.
Reasons for the collapse of the USSR
Of course, such a large power could not collapse just like that. There were many reasons for the collapse of the USSR. The main one was the strong dissatisfaction of the overwhelming majority of the population with the existing regime. This dissatisfaction was of a socio-economic nature. Socially, people wanted freedom: Gorbachev’s perestroika, which initially raised expectations of change, did not live up to the people’s hopes. New slogans and ideas, new leaders, more courageous and radical (at least in words), found a much greater response in people's hearts than the actions of the existing government. In economic terms, monstrous fatigue has accumulated from constant shortages, queues, from the knowledge that there, in the distant capitalist West, people live much better. At that time, few people followed oil prices, the collapse of which was one of the reasons for the catastrophe in the economy. It seemed like change the system and everything would be fine. In addition, the Soviet Union was a multinational state, and at the time of crisis, national sentiments (as well as interethnic contradictions) manifested themselves especially clearly. But another important reason collapse of the USSR became the lust for power of the new leaders. The collapse of the country and the formation of several new ones allowed them to satisfy their ambitions, and therefore they took advantage of popular discontent and tore the Soviet Union into pieces. The public mind is quite easy to manipulate when people are angry. The people themselves went to the streets to rally and the new power-hungry, of course, could not help but take advantage of this. However, entering the realm of conjecture, one can assume that other countries actively tried to take advantage of the reasons that led to the collapse of the USSR. Unlike modern “orange-pink” revolutions, the collapse of the Soviet Union was not due to their political “technologies”, but they tried to snatch all sorts of advantages for themselves, different ways supporting certain individuals from among the “new leaders”.
Fall of communist regimes
Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, who started perestroika, introduced such concepts as “glasnost” and “democracy” into use. In addition, he made a sharp rapprochement with our former enemies: Western countries. The foreign policy of the USSR changed radically: “new thinking” required qualitative changes. A number of friendly meetings were held with the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan. In an effort to gain a reputation as a democratic leader, Mikhail Gorbachev behaved differently on the world stage than his predecessors. Sensing weakness, “our new friends” sharply became more active in the countries Warsaw Pact and began to use tactics of displacing undesirable regimes from within, which they then repeatedly used, and which later became known as “color revolutions.” The pro-Western opposition received great support, but most importantly, the people were actively instilled with the idea that the current leaders were guilty of all sins and that the “movement towards democracy” would bring people freedom and prosperity. Such propaganda ultimately led not only to the fall of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, but also to the collapse of the USSR: without realizing it, Gorbachev was cutting off the branch on which he was sitting. Poland was the first to rebel, then Hungary, followed by Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. The transition from communism in these countries took place peacefully, but in Romania Ceausescu decided to suppress the uprising by force. But times have changed: the troops went over to the side of the protesters, and the communist leader was shot. Among these events, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of the two Germanys stand out. The division of the former fascist power was one of the results of the Great Patriotic War and to unite them, simply the will of the people was not enough; the consent of the Soviet Union was a necessary condition. Subsequently, after the collapse of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, who agreed to the reunification of Germany, claimed that in exchange he received a promise from Western countries about the non-entry of the countries of the former Warsaw Pact into NATO, but this was not legally formalized in any way. Therefore, our “friends” rejected the fact of such an agreement. This is just one example of the numerous mistakes of Soviet diplomacy during the collapse of the USSR. The fall of communist regimes in 1989 became a prototype of what would begin to happen in the Soviet Union itself less than a year later.
Parade of sovereignties
Sensing the weakness of the regime, local leaders, indulging liberal and nationalist sentiments among the people (perhaps even encouraging them), began to take more and more power into their own hands and declare the sovereignty of their territories. While this has not yet led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has increasingly undermined it, just as pests gradually turn a tree into dust from the inside until it collapses. The population's trust and respect for the central government fell, following declarations of sovereignty, the priority of local laws over federal ones was announced, and tax revenues to the union budget were reduced, since local leaders kept them for themselves. All this was a strong blow to the economy of the USSR, which was planned, not market, and largely depended on the clear interaction of territories in the field of transport, industry, etc. And now in many areas the situation was increasingly reminiscent of the fable of the swan, the crayfish and the pike, which increasingly weakened the country’s already weak economy. This inevitably affected the people, who blamed everything on the communists and who increasingly wanted a transition to capitalism. The parade of sovereignties began with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, then Lithuania and Georgia followed suit. In 1990 and 1991, all union republics, including the RSFSR and some autonomous republics, declared their sovereignty. For leaders, the word “sovereignty” was synonymous with the word “power”; for ordinary people, it was synonymous with the word “freedom”. The overthrow of the communist regime and collapse of the USSR were approaching...
Referendum on preserving the USSR
An attempt was made to preserve the Soviet Union. In order to rely on broad sections of the population, the authorities offered the people to give the old state a renewed look. They seduced people with promises that the Soviet Union in a “new package” would be better than the old one and held a referendum on preserving the USSR in an updated form, which took place in March 1991. Three quarters (76%) of the population were in favor of maintaining the state, which was supposed to stop collapse of the USSR, preparation of the draft of a new Union Treaty began, the post of President of the USSR was introduced, which, naturally, became Mikhail Gorbachev. But when was this opinion of the people seriously taken into account in big games? Although the Union did not collapse, and the referendum was an all-Union one, some local “kings” (namely Georgian, Armenian, Moldavian and three Baltic) sabotaged the vote in their republics. And in the RSFSR, on June 12, 1991, elections for the President of Russia took place, which were won by Boris Yeltsin, one of Gorbachev’s opponents.
The August 1991 coup and the State Emergency Committee
However, Soviet party functionaries were not going to sit idly by and watch the collapse of the USSR, and, consequently, the deprivation of their power. Taking advantage of the absence of Gorbachev, who was on vacation in Faros, Crimea (by the way, whether he knew or not, The President of the USSR himself participated or did not participate in the putsch, there are different opinions), they staged a coup d'état with the declared goal of preserving the unity of the Soviet Union. Subsequently, it received the name of the August putsch. The conspirators created the State Committee for a State of Emergency, and put Gennady Yanaev at the head of the USSR. In the memory of Soviet people, the August putsch was remembered primarily for the round-the-clock showing of “Swan Lake” on TV, as well as for the unprecedented national unity in the overthrow of the “new government”. The putschists had no chance. Their success was associated with a return to earlier times, so the protest sentiments were too strong. The resistance was led by Boris Yeltsin. This was his finest hour. In three days, the State Emergency Committee was overthrown, and the legitimate President of the country was released. The country rejoiced. But Yeltsin was not the kind of person to pull chestnuts out of the fire for Gorbachev. Gradually he took more and more powers. And other leaders saw a clear weakening of central power. By the end of the year, all republics (except the Russian Federation) declared their independence and secession from the Soviet Union. The collapse of the USSR was inevitable.
Bialowieza Accords
In December of the same year, a meeting was held between Yeltsin, Kravchuk and Shushkevich (at that time - the Presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus), at which the liquidation of the Soviet Union was announced and a decision was made to create the Union of Independent States (CIS). It was a strong blow. Gorbachev was indignant, but there was nothing he could do. On December 21, in the capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty, all other union republics, except the Baltic and Georgia, joined the CIS.
Date of collapse of the USSR
On December 25, 1991, the out-of-work Gorbachev announced his resignation as president “for reasons of principle” (what else could he do?) and handed over control of the “nuclear suitcase” to Yeltsin. The next day, December 26, the upper house of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted declaration No. 142-N, which stated the termination of the existence of the state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In addition, a number of administrative institutions of the former Soviet Union were liquidated. This day is legally considered the date of the collapse of the USSR.
Thus occurred the liquidation of one of the largest and most powerful powers in history, due both to the “help of Western friends” and to the internal incapacity of the existing Soviet system.
Exactly 20 years ago, on December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev laid down his powers of the President of the USSR, and The Soviet Union ceased to exist.
Currently, there is no consensus among historians on what was the main reason for the collapse of the USSR, and also on whether it was possible to prevent this process.
We remember the events of 20 years ago.
Demonstration in the center of Vilnius for the independence of the Republic of Lithuania on January 10, 1990. In general, the Baltic republics were at the forefront of the struggle for independence, and Lithuania was the first of the Soviet republics to proclaim it on March 11, 1990. The USSR Constitution was terminated on the territory of the republic and the Lithuanian Constitution of 1938 was restored. (Photo by Vitaly Armand | AFP | Getty Images):
The independence of Lithuania was not recognized then either by the government of the USSR or by other countries. In response to the declaration of independence, the Soviet government undertook an “economic blockade” of Lithuania, and from January 1991 military force was used - the capture of television centers and other important buildings in Lithuanian cities.
In the Foto: USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev at a meeting with residents of Vilnius, Lithuania, January 11, 1990. (Photo by Victor Yurchenk | AP):
Weapons confiscated from local police in Kaunas, Lithuania, March 26, 1990. USSR President Gorbachev ordered Lithuania to hand over its firearms to the Soviet authorities. (Photo by Vadimir Vyatkin | Novisti AP):
One after another, the Soviet republics declare their independence. In the Foto: crowd blocks the way to Soviet tanks on the approach to the city of Kirovabad (Ganja) - the second largest city in Azerbaijan, January 22, 1990. (AP Photo):
The collapse (collapse) of the USSR occurred against the background of general economic, political and demographic crisis. In the period 1989-1991. The main problem of the Soviet economy came to the surface - a chronic commodity shortage. Almost all basic goods, except bread, disappear from free sale. In almost all regions of the country, rationed sales of goods using coupons are being introduced. (Photo by Dusan Vranic | AP):
Rally of Soviet mothers near Red Square in Moscow, December 24, 1990. About 6,000 people died in 1990 while serving in the Soviet armed forces. (Photo by Martin Cleaver | AP):
Manezhnaya Square in Moscow was repeatedly the site of mass rallies, including unauthorized ones, during perestroika. In the Foto: another rally, at which more than 100 thousand participants demand the resignation of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, and also oppose the use of military force Soviet army in relation to Lithuania, 20 January 1991. (Photo by Vitaly Armand | AFP | Getty Images):
Anti-Soviet leaflets on a wall erected in front of the Lithuanian parliament as a defense against an assault by Soviet troops, January 17, 1991. (Photo by Liu Heung Shing | AP):
On January 13, 1991, Soviet troops stormed the television tower in Vilnius. The local population offered active resistance, as a result, 13 people died and dozens were injured. (Photo by Stringer | AFP | Getty Images):
And again Manege Square in Moscow. March 10, 1991 was held here largest anti-government rally throughout the history of Soviet power: hundreds of thousands of people demanded Gorbachev’s resignation. (Photo by Dominique Mollard | AP):
A few days before the August coup. Mikhail Gorbachev at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 1991
August putsch August 19, 1991 was an attempt to remove Gorbachev from the post of President of the USSR, undertaken by the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP) - a group of figures from the leadership of the CPSU Central Committee, the USSR government, the army and the KGB. It led to radical changes in the political situation in the country and an irreversible acceleration of the collapse of the USSR.
The actions of the State Emergency Committee were accompanied by the declaration of a state of emergency, the deployment of troops into the center of Moscow, and the introduction of strict censorship in the media. The leadership of the RSFSR (Boris Yeltsin) and the leadership of the USSR (President Mikhail Gorbachev) qualified the actions of the Emergency Committee as a coup. Tanks near the Kremlin, August 19, 1991. (Photo by Dima Tanin | AFP | Getty Images):
Leaders of the August Coup, members of the State Emergency Committee from left to right: Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo, Vice President of the USSR Gennady Yanaev and Deputy Chairman of the Defense Council under the President of the USSR Oleg Baklanov. Press conference on August 19, 1991 in Moscow. Members of the State Emergency Committee chose the moment when Gorbachev was away - on vacation in Crimea, and announced his temporary removal from power, allegedly for health reasons. (Photo by Vitaly Armand | AFP | Getty Images):
In total, about 4 thousand military personnel, 362 tanks, 427 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles were brought into Moscow. In the Foto: the crowd is blocking the movement of the column, August 19, 1991. (Photo by Boris Yurchenko | AP):
Russian President Boris Yeltsin comes to the “White House” (Supreme Council of the RSFSR) and organizes a center of resistance to the actions of the State Emergency Committee. Resistance takes the form of rallies that gather in Moscow to defend the White House and create barricades around him, August 19, 1991. (Photo by Anatoly Sapronyenkov | AFP | Getty Images):
However, members of the State Emergency Committee did not have complete control over their forces, and on the very first day, parts of the Taman division went over to the side of the defenders of the White House. From the tank of this division he said his famous message to assembled supporters Yeltsin, August 19, 1991. (Photo by Diane-Lu Hovasse | AFP | Getty Images):
President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev delivers a video message August 19, 1991. He calls what is happening a coup d'état. At this moment, Gorbachev is blocked by troops at his dacha in Crimea. (Photo by NBC TV | AFP | Getty Images):
As a result of a clash with the military three people died- White House defender. (Photo by Dima Tanin | AFP | Getty Images):
(Photo by Andre Durand | AFP | Getty Images):
Boris Yeltsin speaks to supporters from the White House balcony, August 19, 1991. (Photo by Dima Tanin | AFP | Getty Images):
On August 20, 1991, more than 25,000 people gathered in front of the White House to support Boris Yeltsin. (Photo by Vitaly Armand | AFP | Getty Images):
Barricades at the White House, August 21, 1991. (Alexander Nemenov | AFP | Getty Images):
On the evening of August 21, Mikhail Gorbachev contacted Moscow and canceled all orders of the State Emergency Committee. (AFP Photo | EPA | Alain-Pierre Hovasse):
August 22 all members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested. The army began to leave Moscow. (Photo by Willy Slingerland | AFP | Getty Images):
The streets greet the news of the failed coup, August 22, 1991. (AP Photo):
President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin announced that a decision had been made to make a white-azure-red banner new state flag of Russia. (AFP Photo | EPA | Alain-Pierre Hovasse):
Announced in Moscow mourning for the dead, August 22, 1991. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov | AFP | Getty Images):
Dismantling the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky at Lubyanka, August 22, 1991. It was a spontaneous outburst of revolutionary energy. (Photo by Anatoly Sapronenkov | AFP | Getty Ima):
Dismantling barricades near the White House, August 25, 1991. (Photo by Alain-Pierre Hovasse | AFP | Getty Images):
The August putsch led to irreversible acceleration of the collapse of the USSR. On October 18, the Constitutional Act “On State Independence of the Azerbaijan Republic” was adopted. (Photo by Anatoly Sapronenkov | AFP | Getty Images):
A month after the August events, on September 28, 1991, a grand rock festival "Monsters of Rock". The grandees and legends of world rock music “AC/DC” and “Metallica” took part in it. Neither before nor after, nothing else of this magnitude happened in the vastness of the Soviet Union. According to various estimates, the number of spectators ranged from 600 to 800 thousand people (the figure is also called 1,000,000 people). (Photo by Stephan Bentura | AFP | Getty Images):
Dismantled monument to Lenin from the center of Vilnius, Lithuania, September 1, 1991. (Photo by Gerard Fouet | AFP | Getty Images):
Joy local population about withdrawal of Soviet troops from Chechnya, Grozny, September 1, 1991. (AP Photo):
After the failure of the August putsch, on August 24, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR adopted Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. It was confirmed by the results of the referendum on December 1, 1991, in which 90.32% of the population who came to the polling stations voted for independence. (Photo by Boris Yurchenko | AP):
By December 1991, 16 Soviet republics declared their independence. On December 12, 1991, the withdrawal of the Russian Republic from the USSR, which actually ceased to exist, was proclaimed. Mikhail Gorbachev was still the president of a non-existent state.
December 25, 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev announces the termination of his activities as President of the USSR “for reasons of principle”, signed a decree resigning from the powers of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Union Armed Forces and transferred control of strategic nuclear weapons to Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
Soviet flag has been flying over the Kremlin for the last few days. IN New Year 1991-1992 a new Russian flag was already flying over the Kremlin. (Photo by Gene Berman | AP):
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