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Wars and expansion have always led to the emergence of large states. But even huge and invincible powers collapse. Roman, Mongolian, Russian and Byzantine Empires, had in their history both peaks of their power and declines. Let's consider the reasons for the collapse of the largest country of the 20th century. Why the USSR collapsed and what consequences this led to, read our article below.

In what year did the USSR collapse?

The peak of the crisis in the USSR occurred in the mid-1980s. It was then that the Central Committee of the CPSU weakened control over internal affairs countries socialist camp. In Eastern Europe there was a decline of the communist regime. A fall Berlin Wall, the coming to power of democratic forces in Poland and Czechoslovakia, the military coup in Romania - all this is strong weakened the geopolitical power of the USSR.

The period of socialist republics secession from the country fell in the early 90s.

Before this event, there was a rapid exit from the country of six republics:

• Lithuania. First republic to secede Soviet Union. Independence was proclaimed on March 11, 1990, but not a single country in the world then decided to recognize the emergence of a new state.
• Estonia, Latvia, Azerbaijan and Moldova. Period from March 30 to May 27, 1990.
• Georgia. The last republic whose secession occurred before the August State Emergency Committee.

The situation in the country was becoming uneasy. On the evening of December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev addresses the people and resigns as head of state.

Collapse of the USSR: causes and consequences

The demise of the USSR was preceded by many factors, the main one of which was economic crisis.

Analysts and historians cannot give a definite answer to this question, so let’s call main reasons :

• Economic decline. The collapse of the economy led to a shortage of not only consumer goods (TVs, refrigerators, furniture), but also to interruptions in the food supply.
• Ideology. The only communist ideology in the country did not allow people with fresh ideas and new views on life. The result is a long-term lag behind developed countries peace in many areas of life.
• Inefficient production. Bet on simple materials and inefficient production mechanisms, operated at a high cost of hydrocarbons. After the collapse in oil prices that occurred in the early 80s, the country's treasury had nothing to fill, and the rapid restructuring of the economy aggravated the situation in the country.

Consequences of collapse:

• Geopolitical situation. The economic and military confrontation between the two superpowers of the 20th century: the USA and the USSR has ceased.
• New countries. In the territory former empire, which occupied almost 1/6 of the land, new state formations arose.
• Economic situation. None of the countries of the former Soviet Union managed to raise the standard of living of its citizens to the level Western countries. Many of them are in constant economic decline.

Collapse of the USSR and formation of the CIS

In turbulent times for the country, there were timid attempts by the leadership to correct the situation. In 1991, the so-called “ coup d'etat" or "putsch" (putsch). In the same year, on March 17, a referendum was held on the possibility of maintaining the unity of the USSR. But economic situation was so neglected that the majority of the population believed populist slogans and spoke out against it.

After the USSR ceased to exist, new states appeared on the world map. If we do not take into account the countries of the Baltic region, the economies of the 12 countries of the former republics were tightly connected with each other.

In 1991, the issue of cooperation became serious.

• November 1991 Seven republics (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and countries of the Asian region) tried to create a Union of Sovereign States (USS).
• December 1991 On December 8, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, a political pact was signed between Belarus, Russia and Ukraine on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This union initially included three countries.

In December of the same year, some other Asian countries and Kazakhstan expressed their readiness to join the new union. The last one to join the CIS was Uzbekistan (January 4, 1992), after which the membership included 12 countries.

USSR and the price of oil

For some reason, many financial experts, speaking about the end of the Soviet Union, blame the low cost of hydrocarbons for this. In first place is the price of oil, which has almost halved in two years (between 1985 and 1986).

In fact, this does not reflect the overall picture that existed in the USSR economy at that time. With the 1980 Olympics, the country experienced the fastest rise in oil prices in history.. More than 35 dollars per barrel. But systematic problems in the economy (the consequences of 20 years of Brezhnev’s “stagnation”) began precisely from this year.

War in Afghanistan

Another of the many factors that caused the weakening of the Soviet regime - ten year war in Afghanistan. The cause of the military confrontation was successful attempt The United States will change the leadership of this country. Geopolitical defeat near its borders left the USSR with no other options other than to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan.

As a result, the Soviet Union received “its own Vietnam,” which had a detrimental effect on both the country’s economy and undermined the moral foundation of the Soviet people.

Although the USSR installed its own ruler in Kabul, many consider this war, which finally ended in 1989, one of the main reasons for the collapse of the country.

3 more reasons that caused the collapse of the USSR

The country's economy and the war in Afghanistan have become the only reasons who “helped” collapse the Soviet Union. Let's call 3 more events, which occurred in the mid-to-late 90s of the last century, and many began to associate with the collapse of the USSR:

1. A fall " iron curtain». Propaganda Soviet leadership about the “terrible” standard of living in the United States and democratic countries of Europe, collapsed after the fall iron curtain.
2. Man-made disasters. Since the mid-80s, all over the country there have been man-made disasters . The apogee was the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
3. Morality. The low morale of people holding public office helped the development of the country theft and lawlessness .

Now you know why the USSR collapsed. Whether this is good or bad is up to everyone to decide. But the history of mankind does not stand still and, perhaps, in the near future, we will witness the creation of new state unions.

Video about the collapse of the USSR

Collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States

Throughout 1990 and especially 1991, one of the main problems facing the USSR was the problem of signing a new Union Treaty. Work on its preparation led to the emergence of several projects that were published in 1991. In March 1991, on the initiative of M. Gorbachev, an all-Union referendum was held on the question of whether or not to exist the USSR and what it should be like. The majority of the population of the USSR voted to preserve the USSR.

This process was accompanied by an exacerbation of interethnic contradictions that led to open conflicts (pogroms of the Armenian population in Sumgait in 1989, in Baku in 1990, Nagorno-Karabakh, clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the Osh region in 1990, armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia in 1991 year).
The incitement of interethnic conflicts was facilitated by the actions of the Union Center and the army command (the dispersal of demonstrations in Tbilisi by troops in April 1989, the deployment of troops in Baku, the seizure of the television center in Vilnius by the army). As a result of interethnic conflicts, by 1991, about 1 million refugees appeared in the USSR.

The new authorities in the union republics, formed as a result of the 1990 elections, turned out to be more determined to change than the union leadership. By the end of 1990, almost all republics of the USSR adopted Declarations of their sovereignty and the supremacy of republican laws over union ones. A situation arose that observers dubbed a “parade of sovereignties” and a “war of laws.” Political power gradually shifted from the Center to the republics.

The confrontation between the Center and the Republic was expressed not only in the “war of laws”, i.e. situations when the republics declared, one after another, the supremacy of republican laws over union ones, but also in a situation when the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Councils of the union republics adopted laws that contradict each other. Some republics disrupted military conscription; Bypassing the Center, they concluded bilateral agreements on state relations and economic cooperation.

At the same time, both in the Center and locally, fears and fears of the uncontrollable collapse of the USSR were brewing. All this taken together gave special meaning negotiations on a new Union Treaty. In the spring and summer of 1991, meetings of the heads of the republics were held at the residence of the President of the USSR M. Gorbachev, Novo-Ogarevo, near Moscow. As a result of long and difficult negotiations, an agreement was reached, called “9 + 1”, i.e. nine republics and the Center that decided to sign the Union Treaty. The text of the latter was published in the press, the signing of the agreement was scheduled for August 20th.

M. Gorbachev went on vacation to Crimea, to Foros, intending to return to Moscow on August 19. On August 18, some senior officials from state, military and party structures arrived to M. Gorbachev in Foros and demanded that he authorize the introduction of a state of emergency throughout the country. The President refused to comply with these demands.

On August 19, 1991, the Decree of Vice-President G. Yanaev and the Statement of the Soviet leadership were read out on radio and television, in which it was announced that M. Gorbachev was ill and that he was unable to fulfill his duties, and that all power in the country was being taken over by The State Committee for the State of Emergency of the USSR (GKChP) itself was introduced, “to meet the demands of broad sections of the population,” throughout the entire territory of the USSR for a period of 6 months from 4 o’clock on August 19, 1991. The State Emergency Committee included: G. Yanaev - Vice-President of the USSR, V. Pavlov - Prime Minister, V. Kryuchkov - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, B. Pugo - Minister of Internal Affairs, O. Baklanov - first Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, A. Tizyakov - Chairman of the Association state enterprises and industrial, transport and communications facilities of the USSR and V. Starodubtsev - Chairman of the Peasant Union.

On August 20, a kind of manifesto of the State Emergency Committee was published - “Appeal to to the Soviet people" It said that perestroika had reached a dead end (“the results of the national referendum on the unity of the Fatherland have been trampled, tens of millions of Soviet people have lost the joy of life... in the very near future it is inevitable new round impoverishment."). The second part of the “Appeal” consisted of promises from the State Emergency Committee: to hold a national discussion of the draft of the new Union Treaty, restore law and order, support private entrepreneurship, solve food and housing problems, etc.
On the same day, Resolution No. 1 of the State Emergency Committee was published, which ordered that laws and decisions of government and administrative bodies that contradict the laws and Constitution of the USSR be considered invalid, that rallies and demonstrations be prohibited, and that control over funds be established. mass media, they promised to reduce prices, allocate 0.15 hectares of land to those who wanted it, and increase wages.

The first reaction to the fact of the creation of the State Emergency Committee in Kazakhstan was wait-and-see. All republican newspapers, radio and television of the republic conveyed to the population all the documents of the State Emergency Committee. According to the chairman of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company L. Kravchenko, N. Nazarbayev prepared a special video with words of recognition and support for the State Emergency Committee. N. Nazarbayev's televised address was sent to Moscow for broadcast on Channel One, but was not shown.

Published on August 19, N. Nazarbayev’s address “To the People of Kazakhstan” did not contain any assessments of what was happening and boiled down to calls for calm and restraint; it also indicated that a state of emergency was not being introduced on the territory of Kazakhstan. In Almaty on August 19, only a few representatives democratic parties and movements - “Azat”, “Azamat”, “Alash”, “Unity”, “Nevada-Semey”, SDPK, trade union “Birlesy” and others organized a rally and issued a leaflet in which the incident was called a coup d’etat and contained an appeal to the Kazakh people not to be accomplices in the crime and to bring the organizers of the coup to justice.

On the second day of the putsch, August 20, N. Nazarbayev issued a Statement in which he expressed his condemnation of the putsch in cautious terms, but still definitely. In the republic as a whole, many heads of regions and departments actually supported the putschists, developing, with varying degrees of readiness, measures to transition to a state of emergency.

On August 21, the coup failed. Gorbachev M. returned to Moscow. General Prosecutor's Office opened criminal cases against the conspirators. After the defeat of the putsch, a series of actions by the President and Parliament of Kazakhstan followed.

On the same day, the Decree of N. Nazarbayev dated August 22 “On cessation of the activities of organizational structures” was published political parties, others public associations and mass social movements in the bodies of prosecutors, state security, internal affairs, police, state arbitration, courts and customs of the Kazakh SSR."

On August 25, the Presidential Decree “On the property of the CPSU on the territory of the Kazakh SSR” was issued, according to which the property of the CPSU located on the territory of Kazakhstan was declared the property of the state.

On August 28, the Plenum of the CPC Central Committee was held, at which N. Nazarbayev resigned from his duties as the first secretary of the CPC Central Committee. The Plenum adopted two resolutions: on the termination of the activities of the Central Committee of the CPC and on the convening of the XVIII (extraordinary) Congress of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in September 1991 with the agenda “On the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in connection with the political situation in the country and the CPSU.”

On August 30, the Presidential Decree of August 28 “On the inadmissibility of combining leadership positions in government bodies” was published. state power and management with positions in political parties and other socio-political associations.”

August 29 - Decree on the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
In addition, N. Nazarbayev issued decrees “On the formation of the Security Council of the KazSSR”, “On the transfer of state-owned enterprises and organizations of union subordination to the jurisdiction of the government of the KazSSR”, “On the creation of the gold reserve and diamond fund of the KazSSR”, “On ensuring the independence of foreign economic activity of the KazSSR” .

After August 1991, the process of the collapse of the USSR went more at a fast pace. In September 1991, the V (extraordinary) Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR took place in Moscow. At the suggestion of M. Gorbachev, N. Nazarbayev read out the statement of the President of the USSR and senior managers Union republics, which proposed:

• - firstly, to urgently conclude an economic union between the republics;
• -secondly, in the conditions of the transition period, to create the State Council as the highest authority of the USSR.

On September 5, 1991, the congress adopted the Constitutional Law on Power in the Transitional Period, and then resigned its powers to the State Council of the USSR and the then not yet formed Supreme Council of the USSR. This desperate attempt by M. Gorbachev to preserve the Center was unsuccessful - most of The republics did not send their representatives to the State Council.

However, the State Council, consisting of the highest officials republics of the USSR, began its work on September 9, 1991 with the recognition of the independence of the Baltic states. The USSR was officially reduced to 12 republics.
In October, eight union republics signed the Economic Community Treaty, but it was not respected. The process of disintegration increased.

In November 1991, in Novo-Ogarevo, seven republics (Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan) declared their intention to create a new interstate entity - the Union of Sovereign States (USS). The G7 leaders decided to sign a new Union Treaty by the end of 1991. Its initialing was scheduled for November 25, 1991. But this did not happen either. Only ML Gorbachev put his signature, and the project itself was sent for approval to the parliaments of seven republics. It was just an excuse. In fact, everyone was waiting for the outcome of the referendum on Ukrainian independence scheduled for December 1, 1991.

The population of Ukraine, which unanimously voted for the preservation of the USSR in March 1991, voted equally unanimously for the complete independence of Ukraine in December 1991, thereby burying M. Gorbachev’s hopes of preserving the USSR.
The impotence of the Center led to the fact that on December 8, 1991, Belovezhskaya Pushcha, near Brest, the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed an Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This Agreement declared that the USSR as a subject of international law ceased to exist. The reaction of the Asian republics to the creation of the CIS was negative. Their leaders perceived the fact of the formation of the CIS as an application for the creation of a Slavic federation and, as a consequence, the possibility of political confrontation between the Slavic and Turkic peoples.

On December 13, 1991, at an urgently convened meeting in Ashgabat of the leaders of the “five” (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan), the leader of Turkmenistan S. Niyazov (according to N. Nazarbayev) proposed considering the possibility of creating a Confederation of Central Asian States in response to the decisions in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

Ultimately, the leaders of the “five” made it clear that they did not intend to join the CIS as affiliated participants, but only as founders, on an equal basis, on “neutral” territory. Common sense triumphed, decorum was maintained, and on December 21, a meeting of the leaders of the “troika” (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine) and the “five” (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan) took place in Almaty.

At the Alma-Ata meeting, the Declaration () was adopted on the cessation of the existence of the USSR and the formation of the CIS consisting of eleven states.

On December 25, M. Gorbachev signed a Decree relieving himself of the functions of Supreme Commander-in-Chief and announced his resignation from the post of President of the USSR. On December 26, one of the two chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR that was able to convene - the Council of Republics - adopted a formal Declaration on the cessation of the existence of the USSR.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist.
The participants of the Alma-Ata meeting adopted a package of documents,
according to which:

• — the territorial integrity of the states that were members of the Commonwealth was stated;
• — unified command of military-strategic forces and unified control over nuclear weapons were maintained;
• - the highest authorities of the CIS “Council of Heads of State” and “Council of Heads of Government” were created;
• - the open character of the Commonwealth was declared.

The disappearance of the state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991 occurred almost unnoticed by citizens great country, most recently, the overwhelming majority spoke in a national referendum in favor of preserving the Union. Three leaders of the union republics - Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, without having any authority to do so, simply announced the dissolution of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as if they were talking about changing the name of the state.

And USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the guarantor of the existence of the country entrusted to him, chose not to react to this in any way and “fad into history.” Parliament - the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR - tried to disavow the dissolution of the country, but the meeting was declared illegal, isolated, cut off power, and the deputies were threatened with imprisonment. After this, a version was launched that “the USSR collapsed on its own.”

After 25 years, history has not yet fully placed the emphasis on who, how and why destroyed the great power. At the moment, these events are different countries world are presented to schoolchildren taking into account national specifics.

Immediately after the abolition of the State Emergency Committee, the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin suspended the activities of the CPSU on the territory of the Russian Federation, and in November 1991 banned it altogether, which inevitably entailed the liquidation of the CPSU as a single all-Union party. At the same time, the process of fragmentation of the USSR was accelerating. Already in August, the three Baltic republics announced their secession from the USSR. President M.S. Gorbachev signed a decree recognizing this withdrawal. The Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (September 1991) announced its self-dissolution.

Creation of the CIS
M.S. Gorbachev, refusing his post Secretary General The Central Committee of the CPSU continued to fight for the union treaty, receiving limited support only from the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Central Asian republics. In September, on Gorbachev’s initiative, work began on the idea of ​​forming a Union of Sovereign States instead of the USSR, which was supposed to be actually a confederation, but with the institution of a single presidential power (very reduced). Essentially it was last try The center, agonizing under powerful pressure from the republican ruling elites striving for undivided power, to prevent the uncontrolled collapse of the USSR and the inevitable disasters of millions ordinary people. History has its own opinion.

On December 8, 1991, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (B.N. Yeltsin, L.M. Kravchuk, S.S. Shushkevich) announced the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This act went down in history as the Belovezhskaya Agreement.
The “Agreement on the Creation of the CIS,” adopted at the same time, stated that “the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a subject of international law and a geopolitical reality ceases to exist.” However, formally the Union continued to exist, since the other republics, which, according to the Constitution, were co-founders of a single state along with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, did not declare their withdrawal from it. Therefore, from an international legal point of view, the USSR disappeared from political map world on December 21, 1991, when in Almaty the heads of eight more republics (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) joined the Belovezhskaya Agreement, faced with a fait accompli. December 25 M.S. Gorbachev resigned from the post of President of the USSR. Three days later, the RSFSR was proclaimed the Russian Federation.

A.A. Levandovsky, Yu.A. Shchetinov, S.V. Mironenko. Russian history. XX – beginning of XXI century. Textbook for 11th grade educational institutions. Moscow, publishing house "Prosveshchenie", 2013

Belarus

On December 8, 1991, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the 1922 treaty on the creation of the USSR was denounced (declared invalid) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was created. The CIS includes 12 countries. The capital of the CIS was the city of Minsk.

After the declaration of independence, the formation of bodies began government controlled, the armed forces were created, the customs service, banking system, etc. were organized.

On December 8, 1991, the leaders of the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine, in the absence of Gorbachev, created the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 21 of the same year, representatives of 11 Soviet republics met and signed documents establishing the CIS. Those gathered informed Gorbachev in writing that the USSR no longer existed, and the latter was forced to admit this fact. On the evening of December 25, he announced his resignation from the highest leadership post of the USSR, after which he transferred the right to dispose of nuclear weapons to Yeltsin.

After this, students are asked to think about two questions: “If the events of August 19, 1991 had not occurred, could the USSR continue to exist?” and “Even if the August events had not happened, was the collapse of the Soviet Union predetermined?”

« The World History. XX century", textbook for 9th grade high school, team of authors, People's Jiaoyu Publishing House, Beijing, 2016.

World History: Patterns of Interaction. Textbook for senior high school. Team of authors, McDougle Littell Publishing House, 2009.

The attempted coup also played a role decisive role in accelerating the process of collapse of the Soviet Union. Estonia and Latvia quickly declared their independence. Soon other republics followed this example. Although Gorbachev advocated unity, no one listened to him. By early December, all 15 republics declared independence.

Yeltsin met with leaders of other republics to chart a new course. They agreed to form the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS, a loose federation of former Soviet territories. Only the Baltic republics and Georgia refused to join. The formation of the CIS meant the death of the Soviet Union. On Christmas Day (December 25, 1991 - Ed.) 1991, Gorbachev announced his resignation as President of the Soviet Union, a country that had ceased to exist.

The collapse of the USSR formally began in 1990, when some Soviet republics declared independence. Lithuania was the first to do this, followed by Estonia and Latvia. The USSR government recognized the independence of the Baltic republics in September 1991. In December 1991, Ukraine declared independence. The Russian government, headed by Boris Yeltsin, also began to pursue an independent policy. At the end of December 1991, all Soviet republics became independent states.
Instead of the USSR, the Commonwealth of Independent States arose.

Rados Lusic, Ljubodrag Dimic. Story. Textbook for the eighth grade of basic school. Publishing house "Freska", Belgrade, 2016

Kazakhstan

Collapse of the USSR

December 1991 was full of political events. The main one among them is the collapse of the USSR. On December 8, in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, the leaders of the RSFSR, Belarus, and Ukraine gathered and signed a document on the loss of force of the 1922 treaty on the creation of the USSR.
“We,” the document said, “Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, who signed the Union Treaty in 1922 and are the founders of the USSR, declare that the USSR as a subject of international law and from the point of view of its geopolitical position has ceased to exist.”
From that time on, the USSR legally ceased to exist and the Commonwealth of Independent States appeared.
On December 13, 1991, a meeting of the leaders of the republics took place in Ashgabat Central Asia and Kazakhstan. They announced support for the decisions taken in Minsk.
Thus, one of the largest empires in the world, the Soviet Union, collapsed. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Estonia received state independence for centuries. All these states have thousand-year history, national economy, culture. Therefore, it would be unfair if these countries did not revive their national statehood.

“History of Kazakhstan (from the beginning of the 20th century to the present)”, textbook for 9th grade secondary schools, M.K. Kozybaev, K.N. Nurpeis, K.M. Zhukeshev, Mektep publishing house, Almaty, 2013.

Bulgaria

As a result of the putsch and the ban on the Communist Party, which was the main unifying force in the USSR, all republics declared their independence. Yeltsin and the presidents of Ukraine and Belarus decided to dissolve the USSR and instead decided to create the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The president of a state that no longer existed, Gorbachev, resigned on December 25, 1991.

Evgenia Kalinova, Serge Berstein, Pierre Milza. History and civilization. Textbook for 10th grade. Sofia, publishing house Prosveta & Riva & Prozorets, 2012

E.I. Pometun, N.N. Gupan. History of Ukraine. Level 11 standard. Publishing house "Osvita".

On August 24, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR temporarily stopped the activities of the Communist Party of Ukraine for supporting the rebellion and on the same day unanimously adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.
The people of Ukraine demonstrated to the whole world their desire for freedom and their own statehood. Ukraine, as a democratic state, has taken the path of civilized development. The day of the proclamation of the Act of Independence of Ukraine is celebrated as a public holiday - Independence Day.

In the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada “On the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine,” it was decided on December 1, 1991 to hold a republican referendum to confirm the Act of Declaration of Independence. In accordance with this Act, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Resolution “On Military Formations in Ukraine,” which subordinated all troops stationed on the territory of the republic. The resolution provided for the creation of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and Armed Forces republics.

At the same time, an investigation began into the activities of the bodies of the CPSU and the Communist Party of Ukraine on the territory of Ukraine during the coup.
The declaration of independence strengthened separatist tendencies in individual regions In Ukraine, in particular, a movement has developed for the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to Russia or even granting it the status of full independence. This movement was actively supported in Crimea by the banned Communist Party of Ukraine. Separatist associations of Odessa, Nikolaev and Kherson came up with the idea of ​​​​forming the so-called Novorossiya in the south of Ukraine. The need to revive the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic, artificially formed in 1918, was discussed in the Donbass.

Nevertheless, even under such circumstances, the Verkhovna Rada refused to sign the union treaty and scheduled an All-Ukrainian referendum for December 1, 1991.

To the question on the referendum ballot: “Do you confirm the “Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine”?” 90.32% of voters answered: “Yes, I confirm.” In Crimea, 67.5% of citizens took part in the voting and 54.1% of them supported the idea of ​​Ukrainian independence.
Simultaneously with the All-Ukrainian referendum, for the first time in the history of the Ukrainian people, the President of Ukraine was popularly elected on an alternative basis. Six candidates were nominated, who became spokespersons for the ideas of different political parties and movements. According to the results of the elections that took place on December 1, 1991, Leonid Kravchuk became the first president after the declaration of independence of Ukraine.

On December 5, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada adopted an appeal to the parliaments of the peoples of the world, which noted the invalidity of the 1922 treaty on the formation of the USSR regarding Ukraine.

On December 8, 1991, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), President of Russia B. Yeltsin, President of Ukraine L. Kravchuk and Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus S. Shushkevich signed an agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

In March 1990, at an all-Union referendum, the majority of citizens spoke in favor of preserving the USSR and the need to reform it. By the summer of 1991, a new Union Treaty was prepared, which gave a chance to renew the federal state. But it was not possible to maintain unity.

Possible reasons include the following:

· The USSR was created in 1922. as a federal state. However, over time, it increasingly turned into a state controlled from the center and leveling out the differences between the republics and subjects of federal relations. The problems of inter-republican and interethnic relations have been ignored for many years. During the years of perestroika, when interethnic conflicts became explosive and extremely dangerous, decision-making was postponed until 1990-1991. The accumulation of contradictions made disintegration inevitable;

· The USSR was created on the basis of recognition of the right of nations to self-determination; the federation was built not on a territorial, but on a national-territorial principle. In the Constitutions of 1924, 1936 and 1977. contained norms on the sovereignty of the republics that were part of the USSR. In the context of a growing crisis, these norms became a catalyst for centrifugal processes;

· the unified national economic complex that developed in the USSR ensured the economic integration of the republics. However, as economic difficulties grew, economic ties began to break down, the republics showed tendencies towards self-isolation, and the center was not ready for such a development of events;

· the Soviet political system was based on strict centralization of power, the real bearer of which was not so much the state as the Communist Party. The crisis of the CPSU, its loss of its leading role, its collapse inevitably led to the collapse of the country;

· the unity and integrity of the Union was largely ensured by its ideological unity. The crisis of the communist value system created spiritual vacuum, which was filled with nationalist ideas;

· political, economic, ideological crisis that the USSR experienced in last years its existence, led to the weakening of the center and the strengthening of the republics and their political elites. For economic, political, and personal reasons, the national elites were interested not so much in preserving the USSR as in its collapse. The “Parade of Sovereignties” of 1990 clearly showed the mood and intentions of the national party-state elites.

Consequences:

· the collapse of the USSR led to the emergence of independent sovereign states;

· the geopolitical situation in Europe and throughout the world has radically changed;

· the breakdown of economic ties has become one of the main reasons for the deep economic crisis in Russia and other countries - successors of the USSR;

· serious problems have arisen related to the fate of Russians who remained outside Russia, and national minorities in general (the problem of refugees and migrants).

1. Political liberalization has led to an increase in the number of informal groups that have become involved in political activities since 1988. The prototypes of future political parties were unions, associations and popular fronts of different directions (nationalist, patriotic, liberal, democratic, etc.). In the spring of 1988, the Democratic Bloc was formed, which included Eurocommunists, Social Democrats, and liberal groups.

An opposition Interregional Deputy Group was formed in the Supreme Council. In January 1990, an opposition democratic platform emerged within the CPSU, whose members began to leave the party.

Political parties began to form. The CPSU's monopoly on power was lost, and from mid-1990 a rapid transition to a multi-party system began.

2. The collapse of the socialist camp (“Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia (1989), events in Romania (1989), the unification of Germany and the disappearance of the GDR (1990), reforms in Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria.)

3. The growth of the nationalist movement. Its reasons were the deterioration of the economic situation in national regions, the conflict of local authorities with the “center”). Clashes began on ethnic grounds; since 1987, national movements have acquired an organized character (the movement Crimean Tatars, movement for the reunification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, movement for the independence of the Baltic states, etc.)

At the same time, a draft of a new Union Treaty was developed, significantly expanding the rights of the republics.

The idea of ​​a union treaty was put forward by the popular fronts of the Baltic republics back in 1988. The center adopted the idea of ​​a treaty later, when centrifugal tendencies were gaining strength and there was a “parade of sovereignties.” The question of Russian sovereignty was raised in June 1990 at the First Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation. The Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Federation was adopted. This meant that the Soviet Union as a state entity was losing its main support.

The Declaration formally delimited the powers of the center and the republic, which did not contradict the Constitution. In practice, it established dual power in the country.

The example of Russia strengthened separatist tendencies in the union republics.

However, the indecisive and inconsistent actions of the country's central leadership did not lead to success. In April 1991, the Union Center and nine republics (with the exception of the Baltic, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova) signed documents declaring the provisions of the new union treaty. However, the situation was complicated by the outbreak of a struggle between the parliaments of the USSR and Russia, which turned into a war of laws.

At the beginning of April 1990, the Law on Strengthening Responsibility for Encroachments on the National Equality of Citizens and Violent Violation of the Unity of the Territory of the USSR was adopted, which established criminal liability for public calls for the violent overthrow or change of the Soviet social and state system.

But almost simultaneously with this, the Law on the procedure for resolving issues related to the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR was adopted, which regulated the procedure and procedure for secession from the USSR through a referendum. A legal way to leave the Union was opened.

The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR in December 1990 voted to preserve the USSR.

However, the collapse of the USSR was already in full swing. In October 1990, at the congress of the Ukrainian Popular Front, the struggle for the independence of Ukraine was proclaimed; The Georgian parliament, in which nationalists received a majority, adopted a program for the transition to a sovereign Georgia. Political tension remained in the Baltic states.

In November 1990, the republics were offered a new version of the union treaty, in which, instead of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics was mentioned.

But at the same time, bilateral agreements were signed between Russia and Ukraine, mutually recognizing each other’s sovereignty regardless of the Center, between Russia and Kazakhstan. A parallel model of the union of republics was created.

4. In January 1991, a monetary reform was carried out, aimed at combating the shadow economy, but which caused additional tension in society. The population expressed dissatisfaction with the shortage of food and necessary goods.

B.N. Yeltsin demanded the resignation of the President of the USSR and the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

A referendum on the issue of preserving the USSR was scheduled for March (opponents of the Union questioned its legitimacy, calling for the transfer of power to the Federation Council, consisting of the top officials of the republics). The majority of voters were in favor of preserving the USSR.

5. At the beginning of March, miners of Donbass, Kuzbass and Vorkuta began a strike, demanding the resignation of the President of the USSR, the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a multi-party system, and the nationalization of the property of the CPSU. The official authorities could not stop the process that had begun.

The referendum on March 17, 1991 confirmed the political split in society; in addition, a sharp increase in prices increased social tension and swelled the ranks of strikers.

In June 1991, elections for the President of the RSFSR were held. B.N. was elected Yeltsin.

Discussion of drafts of the new Union Treaty continued: some participants at the meeting in Novo-Ogarevo insisted on confederal principles, others on federal ones. It was planned to sign the agreement in July - August 1991.

During the negotiations, the republics managed to defend many of their demands: the Russian language ceased to be the state language, the heads of the republican governments participated in the work of the Union Cabinet of Ministers with the right to a decisive vote, enterprises of the military-industrial complex were transferred to the joint jurisdiction of the Union and the republics.

Many questions about both the international and intra-Union status of the republics remained unresolved. Questions remained unclear about union taxes and the management of natural resources, as well as the status of the six republics that did not sign the agreement. At the same time, the Central Asian republics concluded bilateral agreements with each other, and Ukraine refrained from signing an agreement until the adoption of its Constitution.

In July 1991, the President of Russia signed a decree on departition, which prohibited the activities of party organizations in enterprises and institutions.

6. On August 19, 1991, the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP) was created, declaring its intention to restore order in the country and prevent the collapse of the USSR. A state of emergency was established and censorship was introduced. Armored vehicles appeared on the streets of the capital.

The President and Parliament of the RSFSR refused to obey the orders of the State Emergency Committee, adopting their own decrees and orders.

Indecision of members of the Emergency Committee, split in the troops, resistance of the population big cities(Moscow, Leningrad, etc.), the support provided to the President of the RSFSR Yeltsin by a number of governments around the world, etc., led to the failure of attempts to restore order in the country.

Gorbachev, who returned to Moscow on August 22, lost his political initiative, influence and power. After the August events, the process of the collapse of the USSR and the liquidation of central government institutions accelerated.

The Central Committee of the CPSU was dissolved, the party's activities were suspended and then banned by the President of Russia. The competence of the KGB has been sharply reduced by removing a number of functions and departments from it. There have been significant personnel changes in the power structures and management of the media.

Following the failure of the coup, eight republics declared their independence, and the three newly formed independent Baltic states were recognized by the USSR in September.

In December, the Presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in Minsk announced that the Soviet Union no longer exists and that they formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), open to all states of the former Union (Belovezhskaya Agreement). Later, eight more republics joined the CIS, after which Gorbachev announced the termination of his functions as President of the USSR.

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” demanded 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 Warsaw Pact countries 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 declared their sovereignty, including the RSFSR and part autonomous republics. 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 this opinion of the people was 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, whether the President of the USSR himself participated or did not participate in the putsch exist different opinions), they staged a coup d'état with the stated 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 display of “ Swan Lake"on TV, as well as unprecedented popular unity in overthrowing 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. It 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.