The collapse of the USSR was documented and officially signed on December 8, 1991 by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. From this moment began a new stage in the life of the 15 former Union republics that were previously part of the great power.
Tipping time
1991 was a difficult and crucial year in the history of the USSR. Perestroika, which marked the end of the 80s, could not solve the tasks. The population of the state refused to live under the old regime, although, according to polls, the majority of the inhabitants of the USSR remained supporters of keeping the country united. But at that time there was no possibility to change the existing system while maintaining a single power.
June 12, 1991 B.N. Yeltsin became president of Russia. And on the night of August 19 of that year, a group of officials composed of Vice President G. Yanayev, KGB Chairman V. Kryuchkov, Defense Minister D. Yazov, Prime Minister V. Pavlov organized the State Emergency Committee (state emergency committee). A state of emergency was introduced in the country, and the activities of democratic parties and electronic media were suspended. There was a so-called putsch, which put an end to the old system of government.
From that moment on, the fate of a great power was predetermined. To a greater extent, its leader M. Gorbachev, who met the August events at the cottage in Foros. In domestic historiography there is no clear view of the question of whether the first and last president of the USSR was held by force or whether it was his voluntary choice.
System crisis background
The USSR as a great power was formed in 1922. At first it was a federal entity, but over time it turned into a state with power concentrated exclusively in Moscow. Republican authorities, in fact, received orders for execution from Moscow. The natural process was their dissatisfaction with this state of affairs, at first timid, eventually turning into open confrontation. A surge of ethnic conflicts occurred during the perestroika period, for example, the events in Georgia. But even then the problems were not solved, but were driven even more inward, the solution of the problems was postponed “until later”, information about discontent was not available to ordinary people, because it was carefully hidden by the authorities.
The USSR was originally created on the basis of recognition of the right of national republics to self-determination, that is, the state was built on a national-territorial basis. This right was enshrined in the Constitutions of 1922, 1936 and 1977. It just prompted the republic to secede from the USSR.
The collapse of the USSR was also facilitated by the crisis, which overtook the central government in the late 80s. Republican political elites decided to seize the opportunity to break free of the Moscow yoke. In many republics of the former Soviet Union, the actions of the central Moscow authorities in relation to them were considered just such. And in the modern political world the same opinion still exists.
