The world watched in amazement as the Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen different countries in the December of 1991. The West celebrated the triumph over socialism. The United States rejoicing as the Cold war, which started near the end of WW II, finally ended. The end of the Soviet System changed the entire world’s political situation, reformulating political, economic, and military alliances all over the globe.
The fall of the Soviet Union started in the non-Russian areas, such as the Baltic Region, which is the place it all started. In 1987, Estonia demanded autonomy, in which Lithuania and Latvia followed suit not to long after. The movements established a tough competition for Gorbachev’s policy. Even though it was evident that allowing the nationalist to run like have would spell disaster for the Soviet’s, he didn’t want to crack down to hard on him. Similar movements sprang up all over former Soviet territory. Inside Armenian-populated region, Nagorno-Karabagh, the ethnically linked Armenian population demanded to be commended to join the Republic of Armenia. After the Gorbachev Government refused, the situation turned into an all out war, one that is still debated today.
After this cat was let out of the bag, the nationalist emerged in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Byelorussia, and the Central Asian Republics. The power of the Central government was weakened so much by these movements that they could not rely on the help of the Government figures in the republics. In August of 1991, the Soviet Union put in a last ditched effort to save them-selves. A group of Communist planed a coup d'état, a rebellion, and kidnapped Gorbachev. 19 August 1991, they announced that Gorbachev was very ill and could not govern anymore. Riots and massive protests went up in flames in Moscow, Leningrad, and other major cities of the Soviet Country. The captors tried to bring in military forces to stop the riots, but the soldiers turned as well, saying that they would not fire on their fellow patriots. After three days of massive protests, the Communist realized that without the backing of the military, they did not have the power to gain the control they wanted, and held up their white flag and surrendered. It was only a few months until the collapse of the Soviet Union, and both the people and government knew that there was no way to turn back the clock and change what had been done. The “August Days” were the people’s ways of showing that they would not accept anything less than democracy. Realizing that he could not contain the power of the people, Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, and by January of 1992, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. In its place, the “Commonwealth of Independent Republic,” was born.
The fall of the Soviet Union started in the non-Russian areas, such as the Baltic Region, which is the place it all started. In 1987, Estonia demanded autonomy, in which Lithuania and Latvia followed suit not to long after. The movements established a tough competition for Gorbachev’s policy. Even though it was evident that allowing the nationalist to run like have would spell disaster for the Soviet’s, he didn’t want to crack down to hard on him. Similar movements sprang up all over former Soviet territory. Inside Armenian-populated region, Nagorno-Karabagh, the ethnically linked Armenian population demanded to be commended to join the Republic of Armenia. After the Gorbachev Government refused, the situation turned into an all out war, one that is still debated today.
After this cat was let out of the bag, the nationalist emerged in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Byelorussia, and the Central Asian Republics. The power of the Central government was weakened so much by these movements that they could not rely on the help of the Government figures in the republics. In August of 1991, the Soviet Union put in a last ditched effort to save them-selves. A group of Communist planed a coup d'état, a rebellion, and kidnapped Gorbachev. 19 August 1991, they announced that Gorbachev was very ill and could not govern anymore. Riots and massive protests went up in flames in Moscow, Leningrad, and other major cities of the Soviet Country. The captors tried to bring in military forces to stop the riots, but the soldiers turned as well, saying that they would not fire on their fellow patriots. After three days of massive protests, the Communist realized that without the backing of the military, they did not have the power to gain the control they wanted, and held up their white flag and surrendered. It was only a few months until the collapse of the Soviet Union, and both the people and government knew that there was no way to turn back the clock and change what had been done. The “August Days” were the people’s ways of showing that they would not accept anything less than democracy. Realizing that he could not contain the power of the people, Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, and by January of 1992, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. In its place, the “Commonwealth of Independent Republic,” was born.
Works Cited
"Fall of the Soviet Union." Cold War Museum. Web. 12 May 2016. <http://www.coldwar.org/articles/90s/fall_of_the_soviet_union.asp>.