When the dissolution of the USSR was officially recognized. Why did the USSR collapse? history of the collapse of the Soviet Union, causes and consequences

The collapse of the USSR- processes of systemic disintegration that took place in the economy (national economy), social structure, public and political sphere of the Soviet Union, which led to the demise of the USSR on December 26, 1991.

The collapse of the USSR led to the independence of 15 republics of the USSR and their appearance on the world political arena as independent states.

background

The USSR inherited most of the territory and the multinational structure of the Russian Empire. In 1917-1921. Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Tuva gained independence. Some territories in 1939-1946. were annexed to the USSR (the Polish campaign of the Red Army, the annexation of the Baltic states, the annexation of the Tuva People's Republic).

After the end of World War II, the USSR had a huge territory in Europe and Asia, with access to the seas and oceans, colossal natural resources, a developed economy of the socialist type, based on regional specialization and interregional economic ties. In addition, the leadership of the "countries of the socialist camp" was under the partial control of the authorities of the USSR.

In the 70-80s, interethnic conflicts (riots of 1972 in Kaunas, mass demonstrations 1978 in Georgia, the events of 1980 in Minsk, the December events of 1986 in Kazakhstan) were insignificant, the Soviet ideology emphasized that the USSR was a friendly family of fraternal peoples. The USSR was headed by representatives of various nationalities (Georgian I. V. Stalin, Ukrainians N. S. Khrushchev, L. I. Brezhnev, K. U. Chernenko, Russians Yu. V. Andropov, Gorbachev, V. I. Lenin). Russians, the most numerous people, lived not only on the territory of the RSFSR, but also in all other republics. Each of the republics of the Soviet Union had its own anthem and its own party leadership (except for the RSFSR) - the first secretary, etc.

Management multinational state It was centralized - the country was headed by the central bodies of the CPSU, which controlled the entire hierarchy of authorities. The leaders of the union republics were approved by the central leadership. This actual state of affairs was somewhat different from the idealized construction described in the Constitution of the USSR. By the results of the agreements reached at the Yalta Conference, the Byelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR had their representatives in the UN from the moment it was founded.

After Stalin's death, some decentralization of power took place. In particular, it has become a strict rule to appoint a representative of the titular nation of the corresponding republic to the post of first secretary in the republics. The second party secretary in the republics was a protege of the Central Committee. This led to the fact that local leaders had a certain independence and unconditional power in their regions. After the collapse of the USSR, many of these leaders were transformed into presidents of the respective states (except for Shushkevich). However, in Soviet times, their fate depended on the central leadership.

Reasons for the collapse

Currently, among historians there is no single point of view on what was the main reason for the collapse of the USSR, and also on whether it was possible to prevent or at least stop the process of the collapse of the USSR. Possible reasons include the following:

• centrifugal nationalistic tendencies inherent, according to some authors, to each multinational country and manifested in the form of interethnic contradictions and the desire of individual peoples to independently develop their culture and economy;
• authoritarian character Soviet society(persecution of the church, persecution of dissidents by the KGB, forced collectivism);
• the dominance of one ideology, ideological blindness, a ban on communication with foreign countries, censorship, the lack of a free discussion of alternatives (especially important for the intelligentsia);
• growing dissatisfaction of the population due to shortages of food and the most necessary goods (refrigerators, televisions, toilet paper, etc.), ridiculous prohibitions and restrictions (on the size of a garden plot, etc.), a constant lag in living standards from developed Western countries;
• disproportions in the extensive economy (characteristic of the entire existence of the USSR), which resulted in a constant shortage of consumer goods, a growing technical lag in all areas of the manufacturing industry (which in an extensive economy can only be compensated for by high-cost mobilization measures, a set of such measures under common name"Acceleration" was adopted in 1987, but there were no longer economic opportunities to implement it);
• crisis of confidence in the economic system: in the 1960s-1970s. The main way to deal with the inevitable shortage of consumer goods in a planned economy was to rely on the mass character, simplicity and cheapness of materials, most enterprises worked in three shifts and produced similar products from low-quality materials. The quantitative plan was the only way to assess the effectiveness of enterprises, quality control was minimized. The result of this was a sharp drop in the quality of consumer goods produced in the USSR, as a result, already in the early 1980s. the term "Soviet" in relation to goods was synonymous with the term "low quality". The crisis of confidence in the quality of goods became a crisis of confidence in the entire economic system as a whole;
• a number of man-made disasters (plane crashes, the Chernobyl accident, the crash of the Admiral Nakhimov, gas explosions, etc.) and the concealment of information about them;
• unsuccessful attempts to reform the Soviet system, which led to stagnation and then the collapse of the economy, which led to the collapse political system(economic reform of 1965);
• the decline in world oil prices, which shook the economy of the USSR;
• monocentric decision-making (only in Moscow), which led to inefficiency and loss of time;
• defeat in the arms race, the victory of "Reaganomics" in this race;
• The Afghan war, the Cold War, the ongoing financial assistance to the countries of the socialist bloc, the development of the military-industrial complex to the detriment of other sectors of the economy ruined the budget.

The possibility of the collapse of the USSR was considered in Western political science (Hélène d'Encausse, The Divided Empire, 1978) and the journalism of Soviet dissidents (Andrey Amalrik, Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984?, 1969).

Course of events

Since 1985, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, M. S. Gorbachev, and his supporters began the policy of perestroika, the political activity of the people increased sharply, mass movements and organizations were formed, including radical and nationalist ones. Attempts to reform the Soviet system led to a deepening crisis in the country. In the political arena, this crisis was expressed as a confrontation between the President of the USSR Gorbachev and the President of the RSFSR Yeltsin. Yeltsin actively promoted the slogan about the need for the sovereignty of the RSFSR.

General crisis

The collapse of the USSR took place against the backdrop of a general economic, foreign policy and demographic crisis. In 1989, for the first time, the beginning of the economic crisis in the USSR was officially announced (growth of the economy is replaced by a fall).

In the period 1989-1991. the main problem of the Soviet economy - a chronic commodity shortage - reaches its maximum; practically all basic goods disappear from free sale, except for bread. Rated supply in the form of coupons is being introduced throughout the country.

Since 1991, for the first time, a demographic crisis has been recorded (the excess of deaths over births).

Refusal to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries entails the massive fall of the pro-Soviet communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989. In Poland, the former leader of the Solidarity trade union Lech Walesa comes to power (December 9, 1990), in Czechoslovakia - the former dissident Vaclav Havel (December 29, 1989). In Romania, unlike other countries of Eastern Europe, the communists were removed by force, and the dictator-president Ceausescu, along with his wife, was shot by a tribunal. Thus, there is an actual collapse of the Soviet sphere of influence.

A number of interethnic conflicts flare up on the territory of the USSR.

The first manifestation of tension during the Perestroika period was the events in Kazakhstan. On December 16, 1986, a protest demonstration took place in Alma-Ata after Moscow tried to impose its protege V.G. This demonstration was suppressed by internal troops. Some of its members "disappeared" or were imprisoned. These events are known as "Zheltoksan".

The most acute was the Karabakh conflict that began in 1988. Mutual ethnic cleansings are taking place, and in Azerbaijan this was accompanied by mass pogroms. In 1989, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR announces the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijan SSR begins a blockade. In April 1991, a war actually begins between the two Soviet republics.

In 1990, riots took place in the Fergana Valley, a feature of which is the mixing of several Central Asian nationalities (the Osh massacre). The decision to rehabilitate the peoples deported by Stalin leads to an increase in tension in a number of regions, in particular, in the Crimea - between the returned Crimean Tatars and Russians, in the Prigorodny region of North Ossetia - between Ossetians and returned Ingush.

Against the backdrop of a general crisis, the popularity of radical democrats led by Boris Yeltsin is growing; it reaches its maximum in the two largest cities - Moscow and Leningrad.

Movements in the republics for secession from the USSR and the "parade of sovereignties"

On February 7, 1990, the Central Committee of the CPSU announced the weakening of the monopoly on power, within a few weeks the first competitive elections were held. Many seats in the parliaments of the union republics were won by liberals and nationalists.

During 1990-1991. so-called. "parade of sovereignties", during which all the Union (one of the first was the RSFSR) and many of the autonomous republics adopted Declarations of Sovereignty, in which they challenged the priority of all-Union laws over republican ones, which began a "war of laws". They also took action to control local economies, including refusing to pay taxes to the federal and federal Russian budgets. These conflicts have cut many economic ties, further worsening economic situation in the USSR.

The first territory of the USSR, which declared independence in January 1990 in response to the Baku events, was the Nakhichevan ASSR. Before the August coup, two union republics (Lithuania and Georgia) declared independence, four more refused to join the proposed new Union (SSG, see below) and transitioned to independence: Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Armenia.

With the exception of Kazakhstan, there were no organized movements or parties in any of the Central Asian union republics that aimed at achieving independence. Among the Muslim republics, with the exception of the Azerbaijani Popular Front, the movement for independence existed only in one of the autonomous republics of the Volga region - the Ittifak party of Fauzia Bayramova in Tatarstan, which since 1989 has advocated the independence of Tatarstan.

Immediately after the events of the GKChP, independence was proclaimed by almost all the remaining union republics, as well as several autonomous ones outside of Russia, some of which later became the so-called. unrecognized states.

The process of secession of the Baltics

Lithuania

On June 3, 1988, the Sąjūdis movement “in support of Perestroika” was founded in Lithuania, which tacitly set as its goal the secession from the USSR and the restoration of an independent Lithuanian state. It held thousands of rallies and was actively working to promote its ideas. In January 1990, Gorbachev's visit to Vilnius gathered on the streets of Vilnius a huge number of supporters of independence (although formally it was about "autonomy" and "expansion of powers within the USSR"), numbering up to 250 thousand people.

On the night of March 11, 1990, the Supreme Council of Lithuania, headed by Vytautas Landsbergis, proclaimed the independence of Lithuania. Thus, Lithuania became the first of the union republics to declare independence, and one of the two that did so before the August events and the State Emergency Committee. The independence of Lithuania was not recognized then either by the central government of the USSR or by other countries (except Iceland). In response to this, the Soviet government launched an "economic blockade" of Lithuania in mid-1990, and later military force was also used.

The central union government undertook forceful attempts to prevent the achievement of independence by the Baltic republics. Starting from January 11, 1991, the Soviet units occupied the Press House in Vilnius, television centers and nodes in cities, and other public buildings (the so-called "party property"). On January 13, paratroopers of the 7th GVDD, with the support of the Alpha Group, stormed the TV tower in Vilnius, stopping republican television broadcasting. The local population put up massive opposition to this, as a result of which 13 people were killed, including an officer of the Alpha detachment, dozens of people were injured. On March 11, 1991, the KPL (CPSU) formed the Lithuanian National Salvation Committee, army patrols were introduced on the streets. However, the reaction of the world community and the increased influence of the liberals in Russia made further military actions impossible.

Leningrad journalist A. G. Nevzorov (host of the popular program "600 seconds") covered events in the republic. On January 15, 1991, on the First Program of Central Television, his television film-report entitled "Ours" about the January events of 1991 near the Vilnius TV tower was shown, which runs counter to the interpretation in foreign, as well as in the Soviet liberal media. In his report, Nevzorov glorified the Vilnius OMON, loyal to Moscow, and Soviet troops located on the territory of Lithuania. The plot caused a public outcry, a number of Soviet politicians called it a fake, aiming to justify the use of troops against civilians.

On the night of July 31, 1991, unknown persons (later it was established that they were employees of the Vilnius and Riga OMON detachments) at the checkpoint in Medininkai (on the border of Lithuania with the Byelorussian SSR) 8 people were shot, including traffic policemen, employees of the Regional Protection Department and 2 fighters of the Aras special forces detachment of the self-proclaimed Republic of Lithuania. It is worth noting that earlier, for several months before this incident, OMON officers with “Our” stripes came to the border, using physical force to disperse unarmed Lithuanian customs officers and set fire to their trailers, which Nevzorov demonstrated in his reports. One of the three 5.45 caliber assault rifles from which the Lithuanian border guards were killed was subsequently discovered at the base of the Riga OMON.

After the August events of 1991, the Republic of Lithuania was immediately recognized by most countries in the world.

Estonia

In April 1988, the Popular Front of Estonia was formed in support of perestroika, which formally did not set as its goal the exit of Estonia from the USSR, but became the basis for achieving it.

In June-September 1988, the following public events, which went down in history as the “Singing Revolution”, where protest songs were performed, and campaign materials and badges of the Popular Front were distributed:

• Night song festivals on the Town Hall Square and on the Singing Field, held in June, during the traditional Days of the Old Town;
• rock concerts held in August;
• musical and political event "Song of Estonia", which, according to the media, brought together about 300,000 Estonians, that is, about a third of the number of the Estonian people, held on September 11, 1988 at the Singing Field. During the last event, the dissident Trivimi Velliste publicly voiced a call for independence.

On November 16, 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopted the Declaration of Estonian Sovereignty by a majority of votes.

On August 23, 1989, the Popular Fronts of the three Baltic republics held a joint action called the Baltic Way.

On November 12, 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopted the Decree “On the historical and legal assessment of the events that took place in Estonia in 1940”, recognizing the declaration of July 22, 1940 on the entry of the ESSR into the USSR as illegal.

On March 30, 1990, the Supreme Council of the ESSR adopted a decision on the state status of Estonia. Confirming that the occupation of the Republic of Estonia by the Soviet Union on June 17, 1940 did not interrupt the de jure existence of the Republic of Estonia, the Supreme Council recognized the state power of the Estonian ESSR as illegal from the moment it was established and proclaimed the restoration of the Republic of Estonia.

On April 3, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a law declaring legally null and void the declarations of the Supreme Soviets of the Baltic republics on the annulment of entry into the USSR and subsequent decisions arising from this.

On May 8 of the same year, the Supreme Council of the ESSR decided to rename the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic into Republic of Estonia.

On January 12, 1991, during a visit to Tallinn by the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin, between him and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia Arnold Ruutel, the “Treaty on the Foundations of Interstate Relations between the RSFSR and the Republic of Estonia” was signed, in which both parties recognized each other as independent states.

On August 20, 1991, the Estonian Supreme Council adopted a resolution “On the State Independence of Estonia”, and on September 6 of the same year, the USSR officially recognized the independence of Estonia.

Latvia

In Latvia in the period 1988-1990. there is a strengthening of the Popular Front of Latvia, which advocates independence, the struggle against the Interfront, which advocates the preservation of membership in the USSR, is growing.

On May 4, 1990, the Supreme Council of Latvia proclaims the transition to independence. On March 3, 1991, the demand was reinforced by a referendum.

A feature of the secession of Latvia and Estonia is that, unlike Lithuania and Georgia, before the complete collapse of the USSR as a result of the actions of the State Emergency Committee, they did not declare independence, but a “soft” “transitional process” to it, and also that, in order to gain control on its territory in the conditions of a relatively small relative majority of the titular population, republican citizenship was granted only to persons living in these republics at the time of their accession to the USSR, and their descendants.

Separation of Georgia

Beginning in 1989, a movement for secession from the USSR emerged in Georgia, which intensified against the backdrop of the escalation of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. On April 9, 1989, clashes with troops took place in Tbilisi with casualties among the local population.

On November 28, 1990, during the elections, the Supreme Council of Georgia was formed, headed by the radical nationalist Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who later (May 26, 1991) was elected president in a popular vote.

On April 9, 1991, the Supreme Council declared independence based on the results of a referendum. Georgia became the second of the union republics to declare independence, and one of the two (with the Lithuanian SSR) that did so before the August events (GKChP).

The autonomous republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were part of Georgia, declared their non-recognition of the independence of Georgia and their desire to remain part of the Union, and later formed unrecognized states (in 2008, after the armed conflict in South Ossetia, their independence was recognized in 2008 by Russia and Nicaragua, in 2009 by Venezuela and Nauru).

Branch of Azerbaijan

In 1988, the Popular Front of Azerbaijan was formed. The beginning of the Karabakh conflict led to the orientation of Armenia towards Russia, at the same time led to the strengthening of pro-Turkish elements in Azerbaijan.

After the anti-Armenian demonstrations in Baku at the beginning demanded independence, they were suppressed on January 20-21, 1990 by the Soviet Army with numerous casualties.

Separation of Moldova

Since 1989, the movement for secession from the USSR and state unification with Romania has been intensifying in Moldova.

In October 1990, Moldovans clashed with the Gagauz, a national minority in the south of the country.

June 23, 1990 Moldova declared sovereignty. Moldova proclaimed independence after the events of the State Emergency Committee: August 27, 1991.

The population of eastern and southern Moldova, seeking to avoid integration with Romania, announced the non-recognition of the independence of Moldova and proclaimed the formation of the new republics of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and Gagauzia, which expressed a desire to remain in the Union.

Branch of Ukraine

In September 1989, the movement of Ukrainian national democrats Narodny Rukh of Ukraine (People's Movement of Ukraine) was founded, which participated in the elections on March 30, 1990 in the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council) of the Ukrainian SSR was in the minority with the majority of members of the Communist Party of Ukraine. On July 16, 1990, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Ukrainian SSR.

As a result of the plebiscite, the Crimean region becomes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within the Ukrainian SSR. The referendum is recognized by the government of Kravchuk. In the future, a similar referendum is held in the Transcarpathian region, but its results are ignored.

After the failure of the August coup, on August 24, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR adopted the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, which was confirmed by the results of a referendum on December 1, 1991.

Later, in Crimea, thanks to the Russian-speaking majority of the population, the autonomy of the Republic of Crimea was proclaimed as part of Ukraine.

Declaration of Sovereignty of the RSFSR

On June 12, 1990, the First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR. The Declaration affirmed the priority of the Constitution and Laws of the RSFSR over the legislative acts of the USSR. Among the principles of the declaration were:

• state sovereignty (clause 5), ensuring everyone's inalienable right to a decent life (clause 4), recognition of universally recognized norms of international law in the field of human rights (clause 10);
• norms of people's power: recognition of the multinational people of Russia as the bearer of sovereignty and source of state power, their right to the direct exercise of state power (clause 3), the exclusive right of the people to own, use and dispose of the national wealth of Russia; the impossibility of changing the territory of the RSFSR without the will of the people expressed through a referendum;
• the principle of ensuring that all citizens, political parties, public organizations, mass movements and religious organizations have equal legal opportunities to participate in the management of state and public affairs;
• separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers as the most important principle of the functioning of the rule of law state in the RSFSR (paragraph 13);
• development of federalism: a significant expansion of the rights of all regions of the RSFSR.

Parade of sovereignties in the autonomous republics and regions of the RSFSR

On August 6, 1990, the head of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, Boris Yeltsin, made a statement in Ufa: "take as much sovereignty as you can swallow".

From August to October 1990, there is a "parade of sovereignties" of the autonomous republics and autonomous regions of the RSFSR. Most autonomous republics proclaim themselves Soviet socialist republics within the RSFSR, the USSR. On July 20, the Supreme Soviet of the North Ossetian ASSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the North Ossetian ASSR. Following this, the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Karelian ASSR was adopted on August 9, the Komi SSR on August 29, the Udmurt Republic on September 20, the Yakut-Sakha SSR on September 27, the Buryat SSR on October 8, the Bashkir SSR-Bashkortostan on October 11, and on October 18 - Kalmyk SSR, October 22 - Mari SSR, October 24 - Chuvash SSR, October 25 - Gorno-Altai ASSR.

Attempted secession of Tatarstan

On August 30, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Tatar ASSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan. In the declaration, unlike some allied and almost all other autonomous Russian (except Checheno-Ingushetia) republics, it was not indicated that the republic was either part of the RSFSR or the USSR, and it was announced that as a sovereign state and subject international law it concludes treaties and alliances with Russia and other states. During the mass collapse of the USSR and later Tatarstan, with the same wording, adopted declarations and resolutions on the act of independence and joining the CIS, held a referendum, and adopted a constitution.

On October 18, 1991, the Decree of the Supreme Council on the act of state independence of Tatarstan was adopted.

In the fall of 1991, in preparation for the signing on December 9, 1991 of the Treaty establishing the SSG as a confederal union, Tatarstan again announced its desire to join the SSG independently.

December 26, 1991, in connection with the Bialowieza agreements on the impossibility of establishing the SSG and the formation of the CIS, a Declaration was adopted on the entry of Tatarstan into the CIS as a founder.

At the end of 1991, a decision was made and at the beginning of 1992, an ersatz currency (a surrogate means of payment) was put into circulation - Tatarstan coupons.

"Chechen Revolution"

In the summer of 1990, a group of prominent representatives of the Chechen intelligentsia came up with the initiative to hold the Chechen National Congress to discuss the problems of reviving national culture, language, traditions, and historical memory. On 23-25, the Chechen National Congress was held in Grozny, which elected an Executive Committee headed by its chairman, Major General Dzhokhar Dudayev. On November 27, the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, under pressure from the executive committee of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Chechen-Ingush Republic. On June 8-9, 1991, the 2nd session of the First Chechen National Congress was held, which declared itself the National Congress of the Chechen People (OKChN). The session adopted a decision to depose the Supreme Council of the CHIR and proclaimed Chechen Republic Nokhchi-cho, and proclaimed the Executive Committee of the OKCHN headed by D. Dudayev as a temporary authority.

The attempted coup d'etat in the USSR on August 19-21, 1991 became a catalyst for the political situation in the republic. On August 19, at the initiative of the Vainakh Democratic Party, a rally in support of the Russian leadership began on the central square of Grozny, but after August 21 it began to be held under the slogan of the resignation of the Supreme Council, along with its chairman, for "Aiding the putschists", as well as re-elections of parliament. On September 1-2, the 3rd session of the OKCHN declared the Supreme Council of the Chechen-Ingush Republic deposed and transferred all power on the territory of Chechnya to the Executive Committee of the OKChN. On September 4, the Grozny television center and the Radio House were seized. Chairman of the Grozny Executive Committee Dzhokhar Dudayev read out an appeal in which he named the leadership of the republic "criminals, bribe takers, embezzlers" and announced that with "On September 5, before the democratic elections are held, power in the republic passes into the hands of the executive committee and other general democratic organizations". In response, the Supreme Soviet declared a state of emergency in Grozny from 00:00 on September 5 to September 10, but six hours later the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet lifted the state of emergency. On September 6, the chairman of the Supreme Council of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Doku Zavgaev, resigned, and acting. Ruslan Khasbulatov became chairman. A few days later, on September 15, the last session of the Supreme Council of the Chechen-Ingush Republic took place, at which a decision was made to dissolve itself. As a transitional body, the Provisional Supreme Council (VVS) was formed, consisting of 32 deputies.

By the beginning of October, a conflict arose between supporters of the OKCHN Executive Committee, headed by its chairman Hussein Akhmadov, and his opponents, headed by Y. Chernov. On October 5, seven of the nine members of the Air Force decided to remove Akhmadov, but on the same day the National Guard seized the building of the House of Trade Unions, where the Air Force met, and the building of the republican KGB. Then they arrested the prosecutor of the republic Alexander Pushkin. The next day, the OKCHN Executive Committee “for subversive and provocative activities” announced the dissolution of the Air Force, taking over the functions "revolutionary committee for the transitional period with full power".

Declaration of Sovereignty of Belarus

In June 1988, the Belarusian Popular Front for Perestroika was officially established. Among the founders were representatives of the intelligentsia, including the writer Vasil Bykov.

On February 19, 1989, the organizing committee of the Belarusian Popular Front held the first authorized rally demanding the abolition of the one-party system, which gathered 40,000 people. The BPF rally against the supposedly undemocratic nature of the 1990 elections gathered 100,000 people.

Following the results of the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR, the Belarusian Popular Front managed to form a faction of 37 people in the parliament of the republic.

The Belarusian Popular Front faction became the center of uniting the pro-democracy forces in the parliament. The faction initiated the adoption of a declaration on the state sovereignty of the BSSR, proposed a program of large-scale liberal reforms in the economy.

1991 referendum on the preservation of the USSR

In March 1991, a referendum was held in which the overwhelming majority of the population in each of the republics voted for the preservation of the USSR.

In the six union republics (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia), which had previously declared independence or transition to independence, an all-union referendum was not actually held (the authorities of these republics did not form Central Election Commissions, there was no universal vote of the population ) with the exception of some territories (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria), but at other times independence referendums were held.

Based on the concept of a referendum, it was supposed to conclude a new union on August 20, 1991 - the Union of Sovereign States (USS) as a soft federation.

However, although the overwhelming majority of votes were cast in the referendum in favor of preserving the integrity of the USSR, it had a strong psychological impact, calling into question the very idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe inviolability of the union.

Draft new Union Treaty

The rapid growth of the processes of disintegration is pushing the leadership of the USSR, headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, to the following actions:

• Holding an all-union referendum, in which the majority of voters voted for the preservation of the USSR;
• Establishment of the post of President of the USSR in connection with the prospect of the loss of power by the CPSU;
• The project of creating a new Union Treaty, in which the rights of the republics were significantly expanded.

Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to save the USSR were dealt a serious blow with the election of Boris Yeltsin on May 29, 1990 as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. This election took place in stubborn struggle, on the third attempt and with a margin of three votes over the candidate from the conservative part of the Supreme Council, Ivan Polozkov.

Russia was also part of the USSR as one of the union republics, representing the vast majority of the population of the USSR, its territory, economic and military potential. The central bodies of the RSFSR were also located in Moscow, like the all-Union ones, but they were traditionally perceived as secondary in comparison with the authorities of the USSR.

With the election of Boris Yeltsin as the head of these authorities, the RSFSR gradually took a course towards declaring its own independence, and recognizing the independence of the other union republics, which made it possible to remove Mikhail Gorbachev, dissolving all the all-union institutions that he could lead.

On June 12, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration on State Sovereignty, establishing the priority of Russian laws over the union ones. From that moment on, the all-Union authorities began to lose control over the country; "parade of sovereignties" intensified.

On January 12, 1991, Yeltsin signs an agreement with Estonia on the foundations of interstate relations, in which the RSFSR and Estonia recognize each other as sovereign states.

As Chairman of the Supreme Council, Yeltsin was able to achieve the establishment of the post of President of the RSFSR, and on June 12, 1991 he won the popular elections for this position.

GKChP and its consequences

A number of state and party leaders, under the slogans of maintaining the unity of the country and in order to restore strict party-state control over all spheres of life, attempted a coup d'état (GKChP, also known as the "August putsch" on August 19, 1991).

The defeat of the coup actually led to the collapse of the central government of the USSR, the resubordination of power structures to republican leaders and the acceleration of the collapse of the Union. Within a month after the putsch, the authorities of almost all the union republics declared their independence one after another. Some of them held referendums on independence to give legitimacy to these decisions.

Since the withdrawal of the Baltic republics from the USSR in September 1991, it consisted of 12 republics.

On November 6, 1991, by decree of the President of the RSFSR B. Yeltsin, the activities of the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR on the territory of the RSFSR were terminated.

The referendum in Ukraine, held on December 1, 1991, in which independence supporters won even in such a traditionally pro-Russian region as Crimea, made (according to some politicians, in particular, B. N. Yeltsin) the preservation of the USSR in any form finally impossible.

On November 14, 1991, seven of the twelve republics (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) decided to conclude an agreement on the creation of the Union of Sovereign States (USG) as a confederation with its capital in Minsk. The signing was scheduled for December 9, 1991.

Declaration of independence by the republics of the USSR

Union republics

Republic	Declaration of sovereignty	Declaration of Independence	De jure independence
Estonian SSR
Latvian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
Georgian SSR
Russian SFSR
Moldavian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
Byelorussian SSR
Turkmen SSR
Armenian SSR
Tajik SSR
Kirghiz SSR
Kazakh SSR
Uzbek SSR
Azerbaijan SSR

ASSR and AO

• January 19 - Nakhichevan ASSR.
• August 30 - Tatar ASSR (formally - see above).
• November 27 - Chechen-Ingush ASSR (formally - see above).
• June 8 - Chechen part of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR.
• September 4 - Crimean ASSR.

None of the republics fulfilled all the procedures prescribed by the USSR law of April 3, 1990 "On the procedure for resolving issues related to the secession of a union republic from the USSR." The State Council of the USSR (established on September 5, 1991, a body consisting of the heads of the union republics chaired by the President of the USSR) formally recognized the independence of only three Baltic republics (September 6, 1991, resolutions of the USSR State Council No. GS-1, GS-2, GS-3). On November 4, V. I. Ilyukhin opened a criminal case against Gorbachev under Article 64 of the RSFSR Criminal Code (treason) in connection with these decisions of the State Council. According to Ilyukhin, by signing them, Gorbachev violated the oath and the Constitution of the USSR and damaged the territorial integrity and state security of the USSR. After that, Ilyukhin was fired from the USSR prosecutor's office.

The signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords and the creation of the CIS

In December 1991, the heads of the three republics, the founders of the USSR - Belarus, Russia and Ukraine gathered in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (the village of Viskuli, Belarus) to sign an agreement on the creation of the SSG. However, early agreements were rejected by Ukraine.

On December 8, 1991, they stated that the USSR was ceasing to exist, announced the impossibility of forming the SSG and signed the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The signing of the agreements caused a negative reaction from Gorbachev, but after the August coup, he no longer had real power. As B. N. Yeltsin later emphasized, the Belovezhskaya Accords did not dissolve the USSR, but only stated its actual disintegration by that time.

On December 11, the USSR Committee for Constitutional Supervision issued a statement condemning the Belovezhskaya Accord. This statement had no practical consequences.

On December 12, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, chaired by R. I. Khasbulatov, ratified the Belovezhskaya Accords and decided to denounce the RSFSR union treaty of 1922 (a number of lawyers believe that the denunciation of this treaty was pointless, since it became invalid in 1936 with the adoption of the USSR constitution) and about the recall of Russian deputies from the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (without convening a Congress, which was regarded by some as a violation of the Constitution of the RSFSR in force at that time). As a result of the recall of the deputies, the Council of the Union lost its quorum. It should be noted that formally Russia and Belarus did not declare independence from the USSR, but only stated the fact of the termination of its existence.

On December 17, the Chairman of the Council of the Union, K. D. Lubenchenko, stated the absence of a quorum at the meeting. The Council of the Union, renamed the Meeting of Deputies, turned to the Supreme Council of Russia with a request to at least temporarily cancel the decision to recall Russian deputies so that the Council of the Union could resign itself. This appeal was ignored.

On December 21, 1991, at a meeting of presidents in Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan), 8 more republics joined the CIS: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the so-called Alma-Ata agreement was signed, which became the basis of the CIS.

The CIS was founded not as a confederation, but as an international (interstate) organization, which is characterized by weak integration and the absence of real power in the coordinating supranational bodies. Membership in this organization was rejected by the Baltic republics, as well as Georgia (it joined the CIS only in October 1993 and announced its withdrawal from the CIS after the war in South Ossetia in the summer of 2008).

Completion of the collapse and liquidation of the power structures of the USSR

The authorities of the USSR as a subject of international law ceased to exist on December 25-26, 1991. Russia declared itself the successor of the USSR's membership (and not the legal successor, as is often erroneously stated) in international institutions, assumed the debts and assets of the USSR, and declared itself the owner of all the USSR's property abroad. According to data provided by the Russian Federation, at the end of 1991, the liabilities of the former Soviet Union were estimated at $93.7 billion, and assets at $110.1 billion. Vnesheconombank's deposits amounted to about $700 million. The so-called "zero option", according to which the Russian Federation became the successor of the former Soviet Union in terms of external debt and assets, including foreign property, was not ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which claimed the right to dispose of the property of the USSR.

On December 25, President of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev announced the termination of his activities as President of the USSR "for reasons of principle", signed a decree resigning as the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Armed Forces and transferred control of strategic nuclear weapons to President of Russia B. Yeltsin.

On December 26, the session of the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which retained the quorum - the Council of the Republics (formed by the Law of the USSR of 05.09.1991 N 2392-1), - from which at that time only representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were not recalled, adopted under the chairmanship of A. Alimzhanov, declaration No. 142-N on the demise of the USSR, as well as a number of other documents (decree on the dismissal of judges of the Supreme and Supreme Arbitration Courts of the USSR and the Collegium of the USSR Prosecutor's Office (No. 143-N), resolutions on the dismissal of the chairman State Bank V. V. Gerashchenko (No. 144-N) and his first deputy V. N. Kulikov (No. 145-N)). December 26, 1991 is considered the day the USSR ceased to exist, although some institutions and organizations of the USSR (for example, the USSR State Standard, the State Committee for Public Education, the Committee for the Protection of the State Border) still continued to function during 1992, and the Committee for Constitutional Supervision of the USSR was not at all officially dissolved.

After the collapse of the USSR, Russia and the "near abroad" constitute the so-called. post-Soviet space.

Consequences in the short term

Transformations in Russia

The collapse of the USSR led to the almost immediate start of a broad program of reforms by Yeltsin and his supporters. The most radical first steps were:

• in the economic field - the liberalization of prices on January 2, 1992, which served as the beginning of "shock therapy";
• in the political field - the ban on the CPSU and the KPRSFSR (November 1991); liquidation of the Soviet system as a whole (September 21 - October 4, 1993).

Interethnic conflicts

In the last years of the existence of the USSR, a number of interethnic conflicts flared up on its territory. After its collapse, most of them immediately entered the phase of armed clashes:

• Karabakh conflict- the war of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh for independence from Azerbaijan;
• the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict - the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia;
• the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict - the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia;
• Ossetian-Ingush conflict - clashes between Ossetians and Ingush in the Prigorodny district;
• Civil war in Tajikistan - inter-clan civil war in Tajikistan;
• The first Chechen war - the struggle of Russian federal forces with separatists in Chechnya;
• conflict in Transnistria - the struggle of the Moldovan authorities with the separatists in Transnistria.

According to Vladimir Mukomel, the number of those killed in interethnic conflicts in 1988-96 is about 100 thousand people. The number of refugees as a result of these conflicts amounted to at least 5 million people.

A number of conflicts did not lead to a full-scale military confrontation, however, they continue to complicate the situation in the territory of the former USSR until now:

• tensions between Crimean Tatars and the local Slavic population in Crimea;
• the position of the Russian population in Estonia and Latvia;
• state affiliation of the Crimean peninsula.

The collapse of the ruble zone

The desire to isolate themselves from the Soviet economy, which had entered a phase of acute crisis since 1989, prompted the former Soviet republics to introduce national currencies. The Soviet ruble was preserved only on the territory of the RSFSR, however, hyperinflation (in 1992 prices increased 24 times, in the next few years - an average of 10 times a year) almost completely destroyed it, which was the reason for replacing the Soviet ruble with the Russian one in 1993 . From July 26 to August 7, 1993, a confiscatory monetary reform was carried out in Russia, during which treasury notes of the State Bank of the USSR were withdrawn from the monetary circulation of Russia. The reform also solved the problem of separating the monetary systems of Russia and other CIS countries that used the ruble as a means of payment in domestic money circulation.

During 1992-1993. practically all union republics introduce their own currencies. The exception is Tajikistan ( Russian ruble remains in circulation until 1995), the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (introduces the Transnistrian ruble in 1994), partially recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia (the Russian ruble remains in circulation).

In a number of cases, national currencies originate from the coupon system introduced in the last years of the existence of the USSR by turning one-time coupons into a permanent currency (Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Georgia, etc.).

It should be noted that the Soviet ruble had names in 15 languages ​​- the languages ​​of all the union republics. For some of them, the names of national currencies initially coincided with the national names of the Soviet ruble (karbovanets, manat, rubel, som, etc.)

The collapse of the unified Armed Forces

During the first months of the existence of the CIS, the leaders of the main union republics are considering the formation of a unified armed forces of the CIS, but this process has not received development. The USSR Ministry of Defense functioned as the Main Command of the Joint Armed Forces of the CIS until the October events of 1993. Until May 1992, after the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev, the so-called. the nuclear suitcase was in the possession of the Minister of Defense of the USSR Yevgeny Shaposhnikov.

the Russian Federation

The first military department appeared in the RSFSR in accordance with the law "On Republican Ministries and State Committees of the RSFSR" dated July 14, 1990, and was called the "State Committee of the RSFSR for Public Security and Cooperation with the USSR Ministry of Defense and the KGB of the USSR." In 1991, it was reformed several times.

The own Ministry of Defense of the RSFSR was established temporarily on August 19, 1991, and abolished on September 9, 1991. During the 1991 putsch, the authorities of the RSFSR also attempted to establish Russian Guard, the formation of which was entrusted by President Yeltsin to Vice President Rutskoi.

It was supposed to form 11 brigades numbering 3-5 thousand people. each. In a number of cities, primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg, volunteers began to be accepted; in Moscow, this recruitment was terminated on September 27, 1991, by which time the commission of the Moscow mayor's office had managed to select about 3 thousand people for the proposed Moscow brigade of the national guard of the RSFSR.

A draft of the corresponding decree of the President of the RSFSR was prepared, the issue was worked out in a number of committees of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. However, the corresponding decree was never signed, and the formation of the National Guard was discontinued. From March to May 1992, Boris Yeltsin was and. about. Minister of Defense of the RSFSR.

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were formed by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin dated May 7, 1992 No. 466 “On the Creation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”. In accordance with this decree, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is being re-created.

On May 7, 1992, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin assumed the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, although the law “On the President of the RSFSR” in force at that time did not provide for this.

On the Composition of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Order Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 7, 1992 No. 466 “On the Creation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” and the act “On the Composition of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”, approved by the President of the Russian Federation on May 7, 1992, I order: Include in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: associations, formations, military units, institutions, military educational institutions, enterprises and organizations of the Armed Forces of the former USSR stationed on the territory of the Russian Federation; Troops (forces) under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation stationed on the territory of the Transcaucasian Military District, the Western, Northern and Northwestern Groups of Forces, the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, the Caspian Flotilla, 14 Guards. army, formations, military units, institutions, enterprises and organizations on the territory of Mongolia, the Republic of Cuba and other states. Send the order to a separate company. Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General P. Grachev

On January 1, 1993, instead of the charter of the Armed Forces of the USSR, temporary general military charters of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation came into effect. December 15, 1993 adopted the Charter of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In Estonia in the period 1991-2001. in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Council of Estonia of September 3, 1991, the Defense Forces (est. Kaitsejoud, Russian Ka?ytseyyyud), including the Armed Forces (est. Kaitsevagi, Russian Kaytsevyagi; army, aviation and navy; formed on the basis of conscription) numbering about 4500 people. and the voluntary paramilitary organization "Union of Defense" (Est. Kaitseliit, Russian National League) up to 10 thousand people.

Latvia

In Latvia, the National Armed Forces (Latvian. Nacionalie brunotie specki) up to 6 thousand people, consisting of the army, aviation, navy and coast guard, as well as the voluntary paramilitary organization "Guardian of the Earth" (literally; Latvian. Zemessardze, Russian Ze?messardze).

Lithuania

The Lithuanian Armed Forces (lit. Ginkluotosios pajegos) numbering up to 16 thousand people, consisting of the army, aviation, navy and special forces, formed on the basis of conscription until 2009 (since 2009 - on a contract basis), as well as volunteers.

Ukraine

At the time of the collapse of the USSR, there were three military districts on the territory of Ukraine, numbering up to 780 thousand military personnel. They included numerous formations of the Ground Forces, one missile army, four air armies, an air defense army and the Black Sea Fleet. On August 24, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada adopts a resolution on the subordination of all the Armed Forces of the USSR located on its territory to Ukraine. These included, in particular, 1272 intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, there were also large stocks of enriched uranium. On November 3-4, 1990, the Ukrainian Nationalist Society (UNS) was created in Kyiv. On August 19, 1991, to resist the troops of the State Emergency Committee, the UNSO

Currently, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ukr. Armed Forces of Ukraine) number up to 200 thousand people. Nuclear weapons have been taken to Russia. They are formed on an urgent call (21,600 people as of spring 2008) and on a contract basis.

Belarus

At the time of the death of the USSR, the Belarusian military district was located on the territory of the republic, numbering up to 180 thousand military personnel. In May 1992, the district was dissolved, on January 1, 1993, all military personnel were asked to swear allegiance to the Republic of Belarus, or quit.

At the moment, the Armed Forces of Belarus (Belor. Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus) number up to 72 thousand people, are divided into the army, aviation and internal troops. Nuclear weapons have been taken to Russia. Formed on call.

Azerbaijan

In the summer of 1992, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan put forward an ultimatum to a number of units and formations of the Soviet Army stationed on the territory of Azerbaijan to transfer weapons and military equipment to the republican authorities in pursuance of the decree of the President of Azerbaijan. As a result, by the end of 1992, Azerbaijan received enough equipment and weapons to form four motorized infantry divisions.

The formation of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan took place in the conditions of the Karabakh war. Azerbaijan has been defeated.

Armenia

The formation of the national army began in January 1992. As of 2007, it consists of ground forces, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, and Border Troops, and has up to 60 thousand people. Closely interacts with the army of the territory with an unsettled status Nagorno-Karabakh (Defense Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, up to 20 thousand people).

Due to the fact that at the time of the collapse of the USSR there was not a single military school on the territory of Armenia, the officers of the national army are trained in Russia.

Georgia

The first national armed formations already existed at the time of the collapse of the USSR (the National Guard, founded on December 20, 1990, also the Mkhedrioni paramilitary formations). Units and formations of the disintegrating Soviet Army become a source of weapons for various formations. In the future, the formation of the Georgian army takes place in an environment of a sharp aggravation of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, and armed clashes between supporters and opponents of the first president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia.

In 2007, the strength of the Armed Forces of Georgia reaches 28.5 thousand people, divided into Ground Forces, Air Force and Air Defense, Navy, National Guard.

Kazakhstan

Initially, the government announces its intention to form a small National Guard of up to 20 thousand people, entrusting the main tasks for the defense of Kazakhstan to the CSTO Armed Forces. However, already on May 7, 1992, the President of Kazakhstan issued a decree on the formation of a national army.

Currently, Kazakhstan has up to 74 thousand people. in regular troops, and up to 34.5 thousand people. in paramilitaries. It consists of the Ground Forces, Air Defense Forces, Naval Forces and the Republican Guard, four regional commands (Astana, West, East and South). Nuclear weapons have been taken to Russia. Formed by conscription, service life is 1 year.

Section of the Black Sea Fleet

The status of the former Black Sea Fleet of the USSR was settled only in 1997 with the division between Russia and Ukraine. For several years he maintained an indefinite status, and served as a source of friction between the two states.

The fate of the only full-fledged Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Fleet Kuznetsov is noteworthy: it was completed by 1989. In December 1991, due to its uncertain status, it arrived from the Black Sea and joined the Russian Northern Fleet, which remains to this day. At the same time, all aircraft and pilots remained in Ukraine, re-staffing took place only in 1998.

The Varyag aircraft carrier (of the same type to Admiral Kuznetsov), which was being built simultaneously with the Admiral Kuznetsov, was at 85% readiness by the time the USSR collapsed. Sold by Ukraine to China.

Nuclear-free status of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan

As a result of the collapse of the USSR, the number of nuclear powers increased, since at the time of the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords, Soviet nuclear weapons were deployed on the territory of four union republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The joint diplomatic efforts of Russia and the United States of America led to the fact that Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan renounced the status of nuclear powers, and transferred to Russia the entire military nuclear potential that ended up on their territory.

• On October 24, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution on the non-nuclear status of Ukraine. On January 14, 1992, a trilateral agreement between Russia, the United States and Ukraine was signed. All atomic charges are being dismantled and taken to Russia, strategic bombers and missile launch silos are being destroyed with US money. In return, the United States and Russia provide guarantees for the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

On December 5, 1994, a Memorandum was signed in Budapest, by which Russia, the United States and Great Britain pledged to refrain from the use of force, economic coercion and convene the UN Security Council to adopt necessary measures if there is a threat of aggression against Ukraine.

• In Belarus, the nuclear-free status is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution. The United States and Russia provide guarantees of independence and territorial integrity.
• Kazakhstan during 1992-1994 transfers to Russia up to 1150 units of strategic nuclear weapons.

Status of the Baikonur Cosmodrome

With the collapse of the USSR, the largest Soviet cosmodrome, Baikonur, finds itself in a critical situation - funding collapsed, and the cosmodrome itself ended up on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its status was settled in 1994 with the conclusion of a long-term lease agreement with the Kazakh side.

The collapse of the USSR entails the introduction by the new independent states of their citizenship, and the replacement of Soviet passports with national ones. In Russia, the replacement of Soviet passports ended only in 2004; in the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, they continue to circulate to this day.

Citizenship of Russia (at that time - citizenship of the RSFSR) was introduced by the Law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation" of November 28, 1991, entered into force from the moment of publication on February 6, 1992. In accordance with it, citizenship of the Russian Federation is granted to all citizens of the USSR, permanently residing in the territory of the RSFSR on the day the law enters into force, unless within a year after that they declare their renunciation of citizenship. On December 9, 1992, the Decree of the Government of the RSFSR No. 950 “On temporary documents certifying the citizenship of the Russian Federation” was issued. In accordance with these regulations, the population was issued inserts in Soviet passports on Russian citizenship.

In 2002, a new Law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation" came into force, establishing citizenship in accordance with these inserts. In 2004, as noted above, Soviet passports are being replaced by Russian ones.

Establishment of a visa regime

Of the republics of the former USSR, Russia, as of 2007, maintains a visa-free regime with the following:

• Armenia,
• Azerbaijan (stay up to 90 days),
• Belarus,
• Kazakhstan,
• Kyrgyzstan (stay up to 90 days),
• Moldova (stay up to 90 days),
• Tajikistan (with Uzbek visa),
• Uzbekistan (with Tajik visa),
• Ukraine (stay up to 90 days).

Thus, the visa regime exists with the former Soviet Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), as well as Georgia and Turkmenistan.

Status of Kaliningrad

With the collapse of the USSR, the territory Kaliningrad region, included in the USSR after the Second World War and in 1991 administratively part of the RSFSR, also became part of the modern Russian Federation. At the same time, it was cut off from other regions of the Russian Federation by Lithuanian and Belarusian territory.

In the early 2000s, in connection with the planned entry of Lithuania into the European Union, and then into the Schengen zone, the status of transit ground communication between Kaliningrad and the rest of the Russian Federation began to cause certain friction between the authorities of the Russian Federation and the European Union.

Status of Crimea

On October 29, 1948, Sevastopol became a city of republican subordination within the RSFSR (belonging or not belonging to the Crimean region was not specified by the laws). The Crimean region was transferred in 1954 by the law of the USSR from the RSFSR to the Soviet Ukraine, as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada (“reunification of Russia and Ukraine”). As a result of the collapse of the USSR, an area became part of independent Ukraine, the majority of whose population is ethnic Russians (58.5%), pro-Russian sentiments are traditionally strong, and the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation is deployed. In addition, the main city of the Black Sea Fleet - Sevastopol - is a significant patriotic symbol for Russia.

During the collapse of the USSR, Crimea holds a referendum on February 12, 1991 and becomes the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within Ukraine, on September 4, 1991, the Declaration on the Sovereignty of Crimea was adopted, on May 6, 1992 - the Constitution of Crimea.

Crimean attempts to secede from Ukraine were thwarted, and in 1992 the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was established.

As a result of the collapse of the USSR, there was an uncertainty of borders between the former Soviet republics. The process of border delimitation dragged on until the 2000s. The delimitation of the Russian-Kazakh border was carried out only in 2005. By the time of entry into the European Union, the Estonian-Latvian border was actually destroyed.

As of December 2007, the border between a number of newly independent states was not delimited.

The absence of a delimited border between Russia and Ukraine in the Kerch Strait led to a conflict over the island of Tuzla. Disagreements over borders led to Estonian and Latvian territorial claims against Russia. However, some time ago, the Border Treaty between Russia and Latvia was signed and in 2007 came into force, resolving all painful issues.

Claims for compensation from the Russian Federation

In addition to territorial claims, Estonia and Latvia, which gained independence as a result of the collapse of the USSR, put forward to the Russian Federation, as the successor of the USSR, demands for multimillion-dollar compensation for their inclusion in the USSR in 1940. After the entry into force in 2007 of the Border Treaty between Russia and Latvia, painful territorial issues between these countries were removed.

The collapse of the USSR in terms of law

USSR legislation

Article 72 of the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 determined:

The procedure for the implementation of this right, enshrined in law, was not observed (see above), however, it was legitimized mainly by the internal legislation of the states that left the USSR, as well as subsequent events, for example, their international legal recognition by the world community - all 15 former Soviet republics are recognized by the world community as independent states and are represented in the UN. Until December 1993, the Constitution of the USSR was valid on the territory of Russia in accordance with Article 4 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation - Russia (RSFSR), despite numerous amendments made to it, excluding the mention of the USSR.

International law

Russia declared itself the successor of the USSR, which was recognized by almost all other states. The rest of the post-Soviet states (with the exception of the Baltic states) became the legal successors of the USSR (in particular, the obligations of the USSR under international treaties) and the corresponding union republics. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia declared themselves the successors of the respective states that existed in 1918-1940. Georgia declared itself the successor of the Republic of Georgia 1918-1921. Moldova is not a successor to the MSSR, since a law was passed in which the decree on the creation of the MSSR was called illegal, which is perceived by many as a legal justification for the TMR's claims to independence. Azerbaijan declared itself the successor of the ADR, while maintaining some of the agreements and treaties adopted by the Azerbaijan SSR. Within the framework of the UN, all 15 states are considered successors of the corresponding union republics, in connection with which the territorial claims of these countries to each other (including the pre-existing claims of Latvia and Estonia to Russia) are not recognized and the independence of state entities that were not in number of union republics (including Abkhazia, which had such a status, but lost it).

Expert assessments

There are different points of view on the legal aspects of the collapse of the USSR. There is a point of view that the USSR formally still exists, since its dissolution was carried out in violation of legal norms and ignoring the popular opinion expressed in the referendum. This point of view is repeatedly disputed by supporters of the opinion that it is pointless to require observance of formal rules from such significant geopolitical changes.

Russia

• No. 156-II of the State Duma "On deepening the integration of the peoples who united in the USSR, and the abolition of the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of December 12, 1991 "On the denunciation of the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR"";
• No. 157-II of the State Duma "On the legal force for the Russian Federation - Russia of the results of the USSR referendum on March 17, 1991 on the issue of preserving the USSR."

The first of the Decrees invalidated the corresponding Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of December 12, 1991 and established that “legislative and other regulatory legal acts arising from the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of December 12, 1991 “On the denunciation of the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR”, will be adjusted as the fraternal peoples move along the path of ever deeper integration and unity.
By the second of the Decrees, the State Duma denounced the Belovezhskaya Accords; The resolution read, in part:

1. To confirm for the Russian Federation - Russia the legal force of the results of the USSR referendum on the question of preserving the USSR, held on the territory of the RSFSR on March 17, 1991. 2. To note that the officials of the RSFSR, who prepared, signed and ratified the decision to terminate the existence of the USSR, grossly violated the will of the peoples of Russia on the preservation of the USSR, expressed at the USSR referendum on March 17, 1991, as well as the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which proclaimed the desire of the peoples of Russia to create a democratic legal state as part of the renewed USSR. 3. To confirm that the Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States of December 8, 1991, signed by the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin and the State Secretary of the RSFSR G.E. Burbulis and not approved by the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR - the highest body of state power of the RSFSR, and has no legal force in the part relating to the termination of the existence of the USSR.

On March 19, 1996, the Federation Council sent Appeal No. 95-SF to the lower house, in which it called on the State Duma “to return to the consideration of the mentioned acts and once again carefully analyze possible consequences their adoption”, referring to the negative reaction of “a number of statesmen and public figures of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States”, caused by the adoption of these documents.

In a response to the members of the Federation Council, adopted by the Resolution of the State Duma of April 10, 1996 No. 225-II of the State Duma, the lower chamber actually disavowed its position expressed in the Resolutions of March 15, 1996, indicating:

… 2. The Resolutions adopted by the State Duma are primarily of a political nature, they assess the situation that has developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, responding to the aspirations and hopes of the fraternal peoples, their desire to live in a single democratic state of law. Moreover, it was the Decrees of the State Duma that contributed to the conclusion of a quadripartite Treaty between the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic on deepening integration in the economic and humanitarian fields... 3. The Treaty on the Formation of the USSR of 1922, which the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR “denounced” on December 12, 1991, did not exist as an independent legal document. The original version of this Treaty was subjected to a radical revision and, already in a revised form, was included in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924. In 1936, a new Constitution of the USSR was adopted, with the entry into force of which the Constitution of the USSR of 1924 ceased to operate, including the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR of 1922. In addition, the Decree of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of December 12, 1991 denounced the international treaty of the Russian Federation, which, in accordance with the norms of international law codified by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969, was not subject to denunciation at all. 4. The Resolutions adopted on March 15, 1996 by the State Duma in no way affect the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, and even more so of other member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In accordance with the Constitution of the USSR of 1977, the Russian Federation, like other union republics, was a sovereign state. This excludes all kinds of unjustified assertions that, allegedly, with the adoption of the Resolutions of March 15, 1996 by the State Duma, the Russian Federation "ceases" to exist as an independent sovereign state. Statehood does not depend on any treaties or regulations. Historically, it is created by the will of the peoples. 5. Resolutions of the State Duma do not and cannot liquidate the Commonwealth of Independent States, which in the current conditions is actually a real-life institution and which must be used to the maximum to deepen integration processes...

Thus, the denunciation did not entail any practical consequences.

Ukraine

During the inauguration of the first President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, Mykola Plavyuk (the last President of the UNR in exile) presented Kravchuk with the state regalia of the UNR and a letter, where he and Kravchuk agreed that independent Ukraine, proclaimed on August 24, 1991, is the legal successor of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

Ratings

Estimates of the collapse of the USSR are ambiguous. The opponents of the USSR in the Cold War perceived the collapse of the USSR as their victory. In this regard, in the United States, for example, one can often hear disappointment in victory: the “Russians” who lost the war are still a nuclear power, protect national interests, interfere in foreign policy disputes, and so on. "The loser didn't lose... the loser doesn't think they've lost... and doesn't behave like the loser has since 1991," former US Strategic Nuclear Forces Commander Gen. Eugene Habiger said in an interview aired on the channel's Rehearsal for the End of the World CNN.

On April 25, 2005, President of Russia V. Putin in his message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation stated:

A similar opinion was expressed in 2008 by the President of Belarus A. G. Lukashenko:

The first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin in 2006 emphasized the inevitability of the collapse of the USSR and noted that, along with the negative, one should not forget about its positive aspects:

A similar opinion was repeatedly expressed by the former chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, S.S. Shushkevich, who noted that he was proud of his participation in the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords, which formalized the disintegration of the USSR that actually took place by the end of 1991.

In October 2009, in an interview with the editor-in-chief of Radio Liberty Lyudmila Telen, the first and only President of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev admitted his responsibility for the collapse of the USSR:

According to the data of the sixth wave of regular international surveys of the population within the framework of the Eurasian Monitor program, 52% of the polled residents of Belarus, 68% of Russia and 59% of Ukraine regret the collapse of the Soviet Union; do not regret, respectively, 36%, 24% and 30% of respondents; 12%, 8% and 11% found it difficult to answer this question.

Criticism of the collapse of the USSR

Some parties and organizations refused to recognize the collapse of the Soviet Union (for example, the Bolshevik Platform in the CPSU). According to some of them, the USSR should be considered a socialist country occupied by the Western imperialist powers with the help of new methods of warfare that drove the Soviet people into an informational and psychological shock. For example, O.S. Shenin has been the head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since 2004. Sazhi Umalatova presents orders and medals on behalf of the Presidium of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. Rhetoric about betrayal "from above" and calls for the liberation of the country from economic and political occupation are used for political purposes by Colonel Kvachkov, who received an unexpectedly high rating in the 2005 elections to the State Duma.

Critics consider the occupation of the USSR a temporary phenomenon and note that “The Soviet Union continues to exist de jure, in the status of a temporarily occupied country; de jure, the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 continues to operate, the legal personality of the USSR in the international arena is preserved”.

Criticism is justified by numerous violations of the Constitution of the USSR, the Constitutions of the Union republics and the current legislation, which, according to critics, accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union. Those who disagree to recognize the USSR as broken up elect and support the Soviets in the cities and republics of the Soviet Union, still electing their representatives to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Supporters of the Soviet Union refer to their important political achievement as being able to keep their Soviet passport when taking Russian citizenship.

The ideology of the occupied country and the inevitable liberation of the Soviet people from the "Americans" is reflected in contemporary art. For example, it can be clearly seen in the songs of Alexander Kharchikov and Vis Vitalis.

December 26, 1991 is the official date of the collapse of the USSR. A day earlier, President Gorbachev announced that, for "reasons of principle," he was retiring from his post. On December 26, the Supreme USSR adopted a declaration on the collapse of the state.

The collapsed Union included 15 Soviet Socialist Republics. The successor of the USSR was the Russian Federation. Russia declared sovereignty on June 12, 1990. Exactly one and a half years later, the leaders of the country announced their withdrawal from the USSR. Legal "independence" December 26, 1991.

The Baltic republics proclaimed their sovereignty and independence earlier than anyone else. Already on 16 1988, the Estonian SSR declared its sovereignty. A few months later in 1989, the Lithuanian SSR and the Latvian SSR also declared sovereignty. Even Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania received legal independence somewhat earlier than the official collapse of the USSR - on September 6, 1991.

On December 8, 1991, the Union of Independent States was created. In fact, this organization failed to become a real Union, and the CIS turned into a formal meeting of the leaders of the participating states.

Among the Transcaucasian republics, Georgia was the fastest to secede from the Union. The independence of the Republic of Georgia was declared on April 9, 1991. The Republic of Azerbaijan declared independence on August 30, 1991, and the Republic of Armenia on September 21, 1991.

From August 24 to October 27, Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan announced their withdrawal from the Union. For the longest time, besides Russia, Belarus (left the Union on December 8, 1991) and Kazakhstan (left the USSR on December 16, 1991) did not announce their withdrawal from the USSR.

Failed attempts at independence

Some Autonomous regions and the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics had also previously attempted to secede from the USSR and declare independence. In the end, they succeeded, though together with the republics to which these autonomies were part.

On January 19, 1991, the Nakhichevan ASSR, which was part of the Azerbaijan SSR, tried to secede from the Union. After some time, the Nakhichevan Republic, as part of Azerbaijan, managed to leave the USSR.

At present, a new union is being formed on the territory of the post-Soviet space. The unsuccessful project of the Union of Independent States is being replaced by integration in a new format - the Eurasian Union.

As part of the Russian Federation, Tatarstan and Checheno-Ingushetia left the Soviet Union, which had previously tried to leave the USSR on their own. The Crimean ASSR also failed to gain independence and withdrew from the USSR only together with Ukraine.

The collapse of the USSR is one of the most important events XX century. Until now, the meaning and reasons for the collapse of the Union cause heated discussions and various kinds of disputes both among political scientists and ordinary people.

Causes of the collapse of the USSR

Initially, the highest ranks of the largest state in the world planned to preserve the Soviet Union. To do this, they had to take timely measures to reform it, but in the end it happened. There are various versions that convey the possible causes in sufficient detail. For example, researchers believe that initially, when the state was created, it should have become entirely federal, but over time the USSR turned into a state and this gave rise to a series of inter-republican and inter-republican problems that were not given due attention.

During the years of perestroika, the situation escalated considerably and acquired an extremely character. In the meantime, the contradictory ones were gaining more and more scale, economic difficulties became insurmountable, and it became completely clear that the collapse. It is also worth noting that at that time essential role in the life of the state, the Communist Party played, which even in a sense was a more significant bearer of power than the state itself. It was precisely what happened in the Communist system of the state that became one of the reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed.

The Soviet Union collapsed and ceased to exist at the end of December 1991. The consequences of the collapse took on an economic character, because it caused the collapse a large number established links that have been established between business entities, and also led to a minimum value of production and its . At the same time, access to foreign markets ceased to have a guaranteed status. The territory of the collapsed state has also significantly decreased, and the problems associated with the insufficient development of infrastructure have become more tangible.

The collapse of the Soviet Union affected not only economic relations and states, but also had political consequences. The political potential and influence of Russia has significantly decreased, and the problem of small segments of the population who lived at that time in the territory that did not belong to their fatherlands became acute. This is only a small part of the negative consequences that befell Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"The indestructible union of the republics of the free" - with these words began the anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. For decades, citizens of the major state on the the globe sincerely believed that the Union is eternal, and no one could even think about the possibility of its collapse.

The first doubts about the inviolability of the USSR appeared in the mid-1980s. 20th century. In 1986 there was a protest demonstration in Kazakhstan. The reason was the appointment of a person who had nothing to do with Kazakhstan to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Republic.

In 1988, a conflict followed between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, in 1989 - clashes between Abkhazians and Georgians in Sukhumi, a conflict between Meskhetian Turks and Uzbeks in the Fergana region. The country, which until now was in the eyes of its inhabitants a "family of fraternal peoples", is turning into an arena of interethnic conflicts.

To a certain extent, this was facilitated by the crisis that hit the Soviet economy. For ordinary citizens, this meant a shortage of goods, including food.

Parade of Sovereignties

In 1990, competitive elections were held in the USSR for the first time. Nationalists who are dissatisfied with the central government gain an advantage in republican parliaments. The result was the events that went down in history as the "Parade of Sovereignties": the authorities of many republics begin to challenge the priority of all-Union laws, establish control over the republican economies to the detriment of the all-Union. In the conditions of the USSR, where each republic was a "workshop", the collapse of economic ties between the republics exacerbates the crisis.

Lithuania became the first union republic to declare its secession from the USSR, this happened in March 1990. Only Iceland recognized the independence of Lithuania, the Soviet government tried to influence Lithuania through an economic blockade, and in 1991 used military force. As a result, 13 people died and dozens of people were injured. The reaction of the international community forced an end to the use of force.

Subsequently, five more republics announced their independence: Georgia, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia and Moldova, and on June 12, 1990, the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR was adopted.

union treaty

The Soviet leadership seeks to preserve the disintegrating state. In 1991, a referendum was held on the preservation of the USSR. In the republics that have already declared their independence, it was not held, but in the rest of the USSR, the majority of citizens are in favor of maintaining it.

A draft union treaty is being prepared, which was supposed to transform the USSR into a Union of Sovereign States, having the appearance of a decentralized federation. The signing of the agreement was planned on August 20, 1991, but was thwarted as a result of an attempted coup d'état undertaken by a group of politicians from the inner circle of Soviet President M. Gorbachev.

Belovezhskaya agreement

In December 1991, a meeting was held in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), which was attended by the leaders of only three union republics - Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. It was planned to sign a union treaty, but instead the politicians stated the cessation of the existence of the USSR and signed an agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It was not, and not even a confederation, but an international organization. The Soviet Union ceased to exist as a state. The liquidation of his power structures after that was a matter of time.

The Russian Federation became the successor of the USSR in the international arena.

Sources:

• The collapse of the USSR in 2019

The 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. The work on its preparation led to the appearance of several drafts, which were published in 1991. In March 1991, at the initiative of Mikhail Gorbachev, an all-Union referendum was held on the question of whether or not to be the USSR and what it should be like. The majority of the population of the USSR voted for the preservation of the USSR.

This process was accompanied by an aggravation of interethnic contradictions, which led to open conflicts (pogroms of the Armenian population in Sumgayit in 1989, in Baku in 1990, Nagorno-Karabakh, clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the Osh region in 1990, an armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia in 1991 year).
The actions of the Union Center and the army command (dispersal of a demonstration in Tbilisi in April 1989 by the troops, the entry of troops into Baku, the seizure of the television center in Vilnius by the army) contributed to the incitement of interethnic conflicts. 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, practically all the republics of the USSR had adopted Declarations of their sovereignty, of the supremacy of republican laws over union ones. A situation arose that observers dubbed the "parade of sovereignties" and the "war of laws." Political power gradually moved 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. a situation when the republics declared one after another the supremacy of republican laws over the union ones, but also in a situation when the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviets of the Union republics passed laws that contradicted each other. Individual republics frustrated military conscription; bypassing the Center, concluded bilateral agreements on public relations and economic cooperation.

At the same time, both in the Center and in the localities, fears and fears of an uncontrolled collapse of the USSR were ripening. All this taken together gave particular importance to the negotiations on a new Union Treaty. In the spring and summer of 1991, meetings of the heads of the republics were held at Novo-Ogaryovo, the residence of the President of the USSR M. Gorbachev, near Moscow. As a result of long and difficult negotiations, an agreement was reached, called "9 + 1", i.e. nine republics and the Center, which 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 the Crimea, to Foros, intending to return to Moscow on 19 August. On August 18, some senior officials from state, military and party structures arrived at 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 on radio and television, in which it was announced that M. Gorbachev was ill and unable to fulfill his duties, and that he took full power in the country itself the State Committee for the State of Emergency of the USSR (GKChP), which was introduced, "meeting the demands of the general population", throughout the USSR for a period of 6 months from 4 o'clock on August 19, 1991. The GKChP 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 of State Enterprises and Objects of Industry, Transport and Communications of the USSR and B. Starodubtsev - Chairman of the Peasants' Union.

On August 20, a kind of manifesto of the GKChP was published - "Appeal 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 on, tens of millions of Soviet people have lost the joy of life ... in the very near future, a new round of impoverishment is inevitable."). The second part of the "Appeal" consisted of the promises of the State Emergency Committee: to hold a nationwide discussion of the draft of the new Union Treaty, to restore law and order, to support private entrepreneurship, to solve food and housing problems, etc.
On the same day, Decree No. 1 of the State Emergency Committee was published, which ordered to invalidate laws and decisions of authorities and administrations that contradicted the laws and the Constitution of the USSR, to ban rallies and demonstrations, to establish control over the media, promised to reduce prices, allocate 0, 15 hectares of land and raise wages.

The first reaction to the fact of the creation of the State Emergency Committee in Kazakhstan was expectant and conciliatory. 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 Radio and Television 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 the first channel, but was not shown.

N. Nazarbayev’s appeal “To the people of Kazakhstan” published on August 19 did not contain any assessment of what was happening and was reduced to calls for calm and restraint, it also indicated that a state of emergency was not introduced on the territory of Kazakhstan. In Alma-Ata, on August 19, only a few representatives of democratic parties and movements - Azat, Azamat, Alash, Unity, Nevada-Semey, the SDPK, the Birlesy trade union, and others, gathered a rally and issued a leaflet , in which the incident was called a coup d'état and called on Kazakhstanis 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, in cautious terms, but nevertheless definitely expressed his condemnation of the putsch. On the whole, in the republic, many heads of regions and departments actually supported the putschists, having developed, with varying degrees of readiness, measures for the transition to a state of emergency.

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

On the same day, the Decree of N. Nazarbayev dated August 22 “On the termination of the activities organizational structures political parties, other public associations and mass social movements in the bodies of procurators, state security, internal affairs, police, state arbitration, courts and customs of the Kazakh SSR.

On August 25, the Decree of the President “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 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 in September 1991 of the XVIII (extraordinary) Congress of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan 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 Decree of the President of August 28 “On the inadmissibility of combining leadership positions in public authorities and administration 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 Kazakh SSR”, “On the transfer of state enterprises and organizations of union subordination to the jurisdiction of the government of the Kazakh SSR”, “On the creation of a gold reserve and diamond fund of the Kazakh SSR”, “On ensuring the independence of the foreign economic activity of the Kazakh SSR” .

After August 1991, the process of disintegration of the USSR went faster. In September 1991, the V (extraordinary) Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was held in Moscow. At the suggestion of M. Gorbachev, N. Nazarbayev read out the statement of the President of the USSR and the top leaders of the union republics, which proposed:

• - firstly, to immediately conclude an economic union between the republics;
• -Secondly, in the conditions of the transitional period, create the State Council as the supreme body of power in 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-unformed Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This desperate attempt by M. Gorbachev to preserve the Center was not crowned with success - most of the republics did not send their representatives to the State Council.

Nevertheless, the State Council, which consisted of the highest officials of the 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 Treaty on the Economic Community, but it was not respected. The process of disintegration was growing.

In November 1991, in Novo-Ogarevo, already seven republics (Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan) announced their intention to create a new interstate entity - the Union of Sovereign States (USG). The G7 leaders decided to sign a new Union Treaty before the end of 1991. On November 25, 1991, his initialing was scheduled. But that didn't happen either. Only ML Gorbachev put his signature, and the draft 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 the independence of Ukraine scheduled for December 1, 1991.

The population of Ukraine, which in March 1991 unanimously voted for the preservation of the USSR, in December 1991 equally unanimously voted for the complete independence of Ukraine, thereby burying M. Gorbachev's hopes of preserving the USSR.
The impotence of the Center led to the fact that on December 8, 1991, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, near Brest, the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed the Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This Agreement proclaimed that the USSR ceased to exist as a subject of international law. 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 result, the possibility of a 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 head of Turkmenistan S. Niyazov (according to N. Nazarbayev) proposed to consider the possibility of creating a Confederation of Central Asian States in response to decisions in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

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

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

On December 25, M. Gorbachev signed a Decree on the removal of the functions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and announced his resignation from the post of President of the USSR. December 26, one of the two chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which managed 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:

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

Eleven years before the collapse of the USSR

On the morning of May 20, 1980, Ronald Reagan (US President) received William Casey (CIA Director), who provided Reagan with new information about the state of affairs in the USSR, namely, Casey presented unofficial secret materials about problems in the economy of the USSR. Reagan liked to read such information about the USSR and in his diary on March 26, 1981 he made the following entry: the USSR is in a very bad position, if we refrain from loans, they will ask for help from others, 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 position, there is an uprising in Poland, the USSR is stuck in Afghanistan, Cuba, Angola and Vietnam. Casey insisted that the best time to the collapse of the USSR does not exist. Reagan agreed and Casey began to prepare his proposals for collapse of the USSR.

Members of the working group leading the collapse of the USSR

Ronald Reagan, William Joseph Casey, George W. Bush, Caspar Willard Weinberger

In early 1982, Casey, in a private meeting at the White House, proposed plan for the collapse of the USSR. For some senior Reagan administration officials, the proposal for collapse of the USSR came as a shock. Throughout the 1970s, the West and Europe accustomed themselves to the idea that it was necessary not to fight with the USSR, but to negotiate. Most believed that there was simply no other way in the era of nuclear weapons. The NSDD plan went the other way. On January 30, 1982, at a meeting of the working group, the Casey plan was adopted to deploy covert offensive operations against the USSR, under the heading top secret, it was called the "NSDD plan" (the Reagan administration's directive on the strategy, goals and aspirations of the United States in relations with the USSR). The NSDD plan clearly stated that the next US goal was no longer coexistence with the USSR, but to change the Soviet system. The whole 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 was as follows:

1. Secret, financial, intelligence and political assistance Polish solidarity movement. Purpose: to preserve the opposition in the center of the USSR.
2. Significant financial and military assistance to the Afghan Mujahideen. Purpose: the spread of war on the territory of the USSR.
3. Secret diplomacy in the countries of Western Europe. Purpose: to limit the access of the USSR to Western technologies.
4. Psychological and information warfare. Purpose: technical misinformation and the destruction of the economy of the USSR.
5. The growth of weapons and maintaining them at a high technological level. Purpose: undermining the economy of the USSR and exacerbating the crisis of resources.
6. Cooperation with Saudi Arabia to reduce world oil prices. Purpose: a sharp decrease in the receipt of hard currency in the USSR.

CIA Director W. Casey realized that it was useless to fight the USSR, the USSR could only be destroyed economically.

The preparatory stage for the collapse of the USSR

In early April 1981, CIA Director W. Casey traveled to the Middle East and Europe. Casey had to solve 2 problems: lower oil prices and increased resistance in Afghanistan. Therefore, Casey visited Egypt (a supplier of weapons for the Afghan Mujahideen). Here Casey told President Mohammed Anwar al-Sadat (a friend of the CIA) that the weapons that Egypt supplies to the Afghan Mujahideen are scrap! With him, the USSR cannot be defeated, and suggested financial assistance to start deliveries modern weapons. However, Sadat was not destined to follow 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 dollars!!! So the Mujahideen got the first Stinger air defense system. This is the largest covert operation since World War II.

The CIA chief then visited Saudi Arabia. The analytical department of the CIA calculated that if oil prices on the world market fell by only $1, then the USSR would lose between $500 million and $1 billion a year. In return, Casey promised the sheikh protection from possible revolutions, protection for family members, the supply of weapons, guaranteed the inviolability of personal deposits in US banks. The sheikh agreed to the proposal, and oil production in Saudi Arabia jumped up sharply. So in 1986, the losses of the USSR from the fall in oil prices amounted to 13 billion dollars. Experts already realized then that Gorbachev would not be able to carry out any breakthrough and perestroika. Modernization required 50 billion dollars, and it was them that the NSDD plan took away from the USSR.
Casey also managed to persuade the sheikh into the secret participation of Saudi Arabia in afghan war and the strengthening of the Afghan Mujahideen by the Saudis. At the time, the modest owner of a construction company, Osama bin Laden (terrorist No. 1 in the world), was recruited with the money of the sheikh.

After Saudi Arabia, the CIA chief visited Israel. The first points have already begun to work, the next stage in the collapse of the USSR is an information and psychological war, without which the collapse of the USSR might not have been. As conceived by Casey, Israeli intelligence 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. 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, assuring 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, the sale of products was slowed down, and the amount of Polish foreign currency debt climbed up. After this sabotage, Poland was heavily indebted, in Poland they began to introduce cards for goods (cards were even introduced for diapers and hygiene products). After that, workers' strikes began, the Poles wanted to eat. The burden of the Polish crisis fell on the economy of the USSR, Poland received financial assistance in the amount of 10 billion dollars, but Poland's debt remained at 12 billion dollars. Thus began a revolution in one of the socialist countries.

The US administration was sure that the revolutionary fire that had begun in one of the countries of the USSR would lead to destabilization throughout the USSR. The Kremlin leadership, in turn, understood where the wind of change was blowing from, intelligence reported that Polish revolutionaries were receiving financial assistance from Western countries (1.7 thousand newspapers and magazines were published underground, 10 thousand books and brochures were operating, underground printing houses were operating), on the radio " The Voice of America and Free Europe, Polish revolutionaries received covert orders about when and where to strike. Moscow repeatedly pointed out the outgoing danger from abroad and began to prepare for intervention. CIA intelligence decided to oppose Moscow with the following trump card: Casey flies to Rome, where there was a key figure with influence on the Poles - it was the Pole Karol Jozef Wojtyla, after 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 with Casey, he begins to actively support the Polish resistance and personally met with resistance leader Lech Walesa. The Catholic Church begins to financially support the resistance (distributes humanitarian aid received from Western charitable foundations), provides shelter for the opposition.

Report of the CIA director on the collapse of the USSR

In February 1982, at a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, the director of the CIA again reported on the work done. The loss of tens of millions of dollars, the tense situation in Poland, the protracted war in Afghanistan, the instability in the socialist camp, all this led to the fact that the treasury of the USSR was empty. 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 give the USSR colossal funds. In addition, Europe was strongly interested in the construction of this gas pipeline.

Disruption of the Urengoy-6 project as one of the reasons for the collapse of the USSR

From Siberia to the borders of Czechoslovakia, the gas pipeline was supposed to be laid by the Soviet Union, but imported pipes were required for laying. It was then that the US administration imposed 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 tacitly supported smuggling suppliers) continued to supply the necessary equipment for the USSR. The US administration sent its man to Europe, who campaigned in Europe for American coal, natural gas from the North Sea, as well as 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 instructed 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 bugged. These bugs were exploited after installation, resulting in large explosions on highways. As a result of these sabotage, Urengoy-6 was never completed, and the USSR again suffered losses in the amount of 1 trillion. dollars. This was one of the reasons for the bankruptcy and collapse of the USSR.

Another covert operation to destroy the USSR

On March 23, 1983, Reagan proposed deploying a system that was supposed to destroy enemy nuclear missiles in space. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or "Star Wars" was the essence of the program and was reduced to the creation of 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 be constantly above the place where nuclear missiles were based and could shoot them down at the time of their launch. The US administration, with the help of this program, intimidated the USSR and continued to drain the economy of the USSR. The United States was told 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 powerful energy pumping was needed for the operation of laser weapons, and in order to hit a flying rocket, the diameter of the laser beam should be the size of a pinhead, and according to scientists, the diameter of the laser beam from the rocket turned into a circle of light with a diameter of 100 sq. meters. Scientists have argued that SDI is a bluff! But the Soviet Union continued to devote too much time and effort to SDI, while the United States acted from a position of strength in negotiations on missile defense with the USSR.

Gorbachev also tried to somehow raise the economy of the USSR, he counted on high oil prices, but oil prices fell from 35 to 10 dollars per barrel. Instead of improvement, Soviet citizens felt worse, store shelves became empty, and soon, as during the Second World War, cards appeared. The collapse of the USSR entered its final stage.

Date of the collapse of the USSR

Date of the collapse of the USSR December 26, 1991. As a result the collapse of the USSR the territory of Russia has decreased in comparison with the territory of the USSR by 24%, and the population has decreased by 49%. The unified armed forces and the single currency fell apart, and interethnic conflicts sharply escalated.

In most of the articles on our website, we touch on everyday issues and reveal the secrets of their solution. But sometimes, sitting at home in the evening, I want to read real secrets that relate to more global issues and topics that will cause questions and disputes for many generations. Today we will try to consider the reasons for the collapse of the USSR and touch on the consequences of its collapse a little, because this topic still causes ambiguous opinion among the majority. But well, let's go back more than 20 years ago and evaluate the situation of that time.

Causes of the collapse of the USSR

Consider the most basic versions of why the USSR collapsed. In order to analyze the reasons for the collapse of the USSR, someone returns to 1991, during the days of the August Putsch, and someone returns to 1985, when the “perestroika” Gorbachev came to power. But personally, I am inclined to think that we need to go back to the 1980s, it was then that the so-called point of no return began, from which the countdown of the existence of the USSR began. So let's start in order.

1. Personnel shortage

   Probably one of the main reasons for the collapse of the USSR is the shortage of party personnel. To do this, it is enough to remember, thanks to whom the USSR was formed and who was its leadership initially? At first they were, in fact, fanatics of their idea, revolutionaries who sought to overthrow the tsarist regime and build communism, where all people are equal and, working, will live in abundance. After the war, the leadership positions in the USSR were occupied by ex-military, this disciplined old generation, which had an ardent communist ideology, they really wanted to build communism. Most of them could not even allow the thought that at least one penny from the state budget was stolen, really state benefits and they used their official position, but this can be ignored at all, especially when compared with today's leaders. However, this old generation could not last forever, when the leaders began to die to replace them, they could not find worthy personnel, or they simply did not let the worthy ones in, since the rest had their own plans.

   Probably, it all started from the moment when "dear" Leonid Ilyich became completely "bad", many witnesses of that period noted that Gen.Sek. very strongly "surrendered", and quite quickly and strongly. The reason for this, many historians call "Brezhnev's injections", which were pricked by a nurse, an employee of the KGB. At the same time, the logical chain converges, Andropov was the chairman of the KGB at that time, he had long been aiming for the place of Brezhnev, and it is quite possible that such injections were really purposefully administered to worsen the state of health of Leonid Ilyich. Andropov's dream came true, in November 1982 he headed the state after the death of Brezhnev, at the age of 69.

   But Andropov's reign ended after 15 months, because before taking up the post of General Secretary, he knew that he did not have long to live, but, nevertheless, he was so high post occupied. Andrpov's death was the second funeral in 2 years, when the last funeral of the Soviet leader was in 1953. The second consecutive death of the head of the country in such a short period of time could not but affect the country, in all its spheres. Andropov's place was taken by Chernenko, who at that time was already 72 years old, but Konstantin Ustinovich also died almost a year after his appointment to the main post of the country. The third funeral for the USSR was a blow, the country is losing the ideological fundamentalists of communism, and also does not have a clear development path, since Andropov and Chernenko had their own plans, but did not manage to realize them.

   Among the people even began to walk jokes on this topic. Understanding such an absurd situation, the Politburo decides to elect the relatively young Gorbachev as the head of the country, who at that time was 54 years old, and he was really young in the political bureau, from that moment the collapse of the USSR began to occur at an irreversible pace, Gorbachev became the catalyst for this process.

   The incompetence of the new leadership headed by Gorbachev, as well as new personnel in the political. the bureau and leadership of the country, who eventually turned out to be traitors, the desire of the leaders of the union republics to secede and make their countries independent in order to lead them themselves - all this is the result of Gorbachev's perestroika.

   

2. "Everyone pulled the blanket over himself"

   As mentioned just above, all the leaders of the allied states "pulled the blanket over themselves" and they all wanted independence. Perestroika weakened the tight control, both over the leaders and over the people. As a result, all the leaders of the allied states, one way or another, tried to separate and proclaim independence at the opportunity. The destruction of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany added fuel to the fire. Mass protests and unrest in the Baltic States and in some other republics brought their own imbalance.

   The beginning of the end happened in August 1991, when the "August putsch" took place, as a result of this coup d'état, within a month, the Baltic countries left the USSR. After that, the Soviet Union began to crumble. This also includes the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, where a military clash began between the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan USSR, Moldova, etc.

   Against the backdrop of all these events, after the referendum on "preserving the union", the leadership of the union republics nevertheless declared independence.

3. Ideology has outlived its usefulness

   It's no secret that the USSR rested on communist ideology, it was propagated from everywhere. From birth, the child was instilled with communist values, even starting from kindergarten, and especially at school, in which all students became Octobrists, and after that - pioneers, and so on. More than one generation lived according to this scheme, but the years passed, the world changed, and the communist ideology could not resist it.

   The main ideologists of the country and leaders passed away and in their place, as was said in the first reason, incompetent people came who did not believe in communism, they did not need it. Moreover, the people themselves stopped believing in him, especially when the crisis began.

   The rallies suppressed by special services and the persecution of opposition figures were probably one of the keys to the successful existence of the USSR, but during perestroika, the opposition became more active and launched an active unhindered activity.

   Perhaps this reason can be attributed to Chernobyl disaster, since it dealt a significant blow both to the reputation of the USSR and its leaders, and affected people. The Soviet system, which forced builders into the framework for the delivery of objects within a certain time frame, and to coincide with the communist holidays, has made itself felt, and very cruelly - Chernobyl tragedy. The fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, just like all the previous three units, was put into operation with violations, according to experts, the fourth power unit could not be operated at all, since it did not meet safety standards, the builders had to hand it over on time. This factor, as well as the looseness of the system and the experiments carried out on that ill-fated night, became fatal in everything. Deliberate concealment of the consequences of the explosion, further aggravated the situation. In the end, all this was a powerful blow to the entire Soviet system and across the country as a whole.

4. Crisis in all areas

   As they say: the fish rots from the head, and so it happened with the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was not a strong leader, and in order to keep such big country- needed strong man. The country needed radical reforms, but all the reforms undertaken were failures. The lack of goods on the shelves, their constant shortage, huge queues, the depreciation of money - all these are the consequences of perestroika. People are simply tired of living like this, or rather, surviving, without any prospect that this crisis will ever end.

   

5. "Pepsi Cola and Jeans"

   With the advent of Gorbachev to power, the iron curtain began to slowly rise, and Western fashion poured in to us, its main attributes, perhaps, were jeans and Pepsi-Cola. Seeing how they live in the west, how they dress, what they drive, etc. Soviet citizens wanted the same. By the end of the 80s, the word "Lenin" and "communism" became the subject of ridicule, people smelled freedom and wanted change, which was reflected in the song of V. Tsoi.

6. The Americans still won

   Everyone knows that America was the main enemy of the USSR. There has always been a confrontation between the USA and the USSR, and in almost everything. Both countries were considered superpowers and fought for world domination, and the ideologies and worldviews of the two countries were completely different.

   There is a version that Gorbachev collaborated with the United States, it was not for nothing that they called him " good guy". There is also an opinion that Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko were killed, and all traces of these murders lead to the CIA. The neutralization of the entire old party nomenklatura, of that temper, and the appointment of Gorbachev, a pro-democratic politician, played into the hands of the Americans. The Cold War of that time ended peacefully and in cold blood. Why go to war with the weapon system if you can help this system outlive itself...

Afterword

These, in my opinion, are the main reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed. Someone, for sure, will be inclined to one of the versions, but someone, including myself, is inclined to all these versions, that is, all the reasons listed above provoked the collapse of the USSR in the aggregate, some of them to a greater extent, some to a lesser extent, but, nevertheless, all of the above played a role.

As for the consequences, we can see them ourselves, not a single country that was part of the USSR, after the collapse, acquired the values ​​that it aspired to. But, nevertheless, you should not be nostalgic about the USSR, since life was then closed, it’s just that people were kinder, and there was less theft of government officials, that’s the whole secret of a fabulous time.