The collapse of the USSR causes as complex as the consequences. The restructuring of one of its tasks was to reform the state system of the Union. The beginning of glasnost opened up the possibility of media coverage of such facts that had never before been brought to them. Immediately the question was raised about the impossibility of independent development of some ethnic groups inhabiting it (of which there were not so few). Gradually, the contradictions that had accumulated before that, but were not discussed publicly, became visible. Since 1988, such contradictions began to spill over into ethnic conflicts (Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, etc.). One by one republics began to declare their decision to secede from the Union. The Baltic countries were the first to insist on this . Already in 1990, Lithuania proclaimed its own independence, which accelerated the withdrawal from the Union of Latvia and Estonia.
The country's leadership took some measures to prevent the collapse of the USSR. A 1991 referendum was held in which the people were given the right to speak out on the issue of preserving the Union. Most citizens supported a unified socialist state, but many supported the idea of introducing a presidential post in Russia. On June 12, elections were held, as a result of which M. Gorbachev came to power. There was a need for the separation of power between the republics. A draft Union Treaty was prepared (9 republics + 1 President of the USSR). It was planned to sign the document on August 22. That never happened.
On August 19, the State Committee on the State of Emergency was created, troops were brought into Moscow. The President of the USSR was virtually arrested at the Crimean cottage. On August 22, members of the Emergency Committee were arrested, and Gorbachev returned to Moscow. And in September, the development of a new treaty on the creation of a confederate Union of sovereign (rather than Soviet) states began. However, on December 8, 1991, the leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine announced the creation of the CIS. So the final collapse of the USSR was framed. Until the end of December, another 8 republics joined it. December 25, Gorbachev announced his resignation.
The collapse of the USSR is called peaceful and bloodless. Many people think that you should not regret it, since the events that took place in December 1991 became the most successful version of the imminent collapse of the empire. According to a group of researchers, if Moscow tried to preserve the Union, then millions of people would be completely possible. However, if you look more closely at what the collapse of the USSR was and what its consequences are, you can find many reasons to doubt the bloodlessness of this event.
The problem of liquidation of the Union is still one of the most discussed in political circles. Assessment of events is far from unambiguous. Of all the modern prominent political figures in Russia, only Putin calls the collapse a tragic event and a geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.
Not so long ago, material was published on the Internet that assessed the consequences of the collapse of the Union in terms of loss of human life. According to these data, the number of these victims reached figures from 100,000 to 600,000 people. First of all, we are talking about direct losses during hostilities in the territory of the former USSR: in Karabakh, Transnistria, South Ossetia, Chechnya, Abkhazia and Tajikistan.
The named 100,000 dead are officially confirmed statistics. But you need to understand that maintaining objective records during the war is impossible. Take at least the conditions in Karabakh during the conflict. If we add to this the indirect losses due to the collapse of healthcare in the territories involved in the war, rampant crime, a massive stoppage of production, total alcoholization and drug addiction, despair that has affected millions of people, it becomes clear that the figure can be increased by almost an order of magnitude. The collapse of the USSR was not as peaceful as it seems at first glance.