The collapse of the USSR in 1991 was the result of a process of systemic disintegration (destruction) taking place in its socio-political sphere, social structure and national economy. As a state, he officially ceased to exist on the basis of an agreement signed on December 8 by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, but the events that preceded it began back in January. We will try to restore them in chronological order.
The beginning of the end of the great empire
The first link in the chain of events that gave rise to the political crisis of 1991 and the collapse of the USSR were the events that began in Lithuania after M.S. Gorbachev, who was then the president of the Soviet Union, demanded that the government of the republic restore the previously suspended Soviet Constitution on its territory. His appeal, sent on January 10, was reinforced by the introduction of an additional contingent of internal troops, which blocked a number of important public centers in Vilnius.
Three days later, a statement of the National Salvation Committee created in Lithuania was published, in which its members expressed support for the actions of the republican authorities. In response to this, on the night of January 14, the Vilnius television center was occupied by airborne troops.
First blood
The events were particularly acute on December 20, after riot police arrived from Moscow and began seizing the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania, and as a result of the shootout, four people were killed and about ten were injured. This first blood spilled on Vilnius streets served as a detonator of a social explosion, which resulted in the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
The actions of the central authorities, who tried by force to regain control of the Baltic, led to the most negative consequences for them. Gorbachev became the object of sharp criticism from representatives of both the Russian and regional democratic opposition. Expressing their protest against the use of military force against civilians, E. Primakov, L. Abalkin, A. Yakovlev and several other former associates of Gorbachev resigned.
The Lithuanian government’s response to Moscow’s actions was a referendum on the republic’s secession from the USSR held on February 9, during which over 90% of its members voted for independence. This can rightfully be called the beginning of the process, as a result of which the USSR collapsed in 1991.
An attempt to revive the Union Treaty and the triumph of B.N. Yeltsin
The next stage in the general sequence of events was the referendum held in the country on March 17 of the same year. At it, 76% of USSR citizens spoke in favor of maintaining the Union in an updated form, and the introduction of the post of President of Russia. In this regard, in April 1991, negotiations between the heads of the republics that were part of the USSR on the conclusion of a new Union Treaty began at the presidential residence of Novo-Ogaryovo. M.S. presided over them. Gorbachev.
In accordance with the results of the referendum, the first presidential elections in the history of Russia were also held, in which B.N. won Yeltsin, confidently ahead of other candidates, among whom were such well-known politicians as V.V. Zhirinovsky, N.I. Ryzhkov, A.M. Tuleev, V.V. Bakatin and General A.M. Makashov.
Search for a compromise
In 1991, the collapse of the USSR was preceded by a very complex and lengthy process of redistribution of power between the Union Center and its republican branches. Its necessity was due precisely to the establishment of a presidential post in Russia and the election of B.N. Yeltsin.
This greatly complicated the preparation of a new union treaty, the signing of which was scheduled for August 22. It was known in advance that a compromise option was being prepared, providing for the transfer of a wide range of powers to individual constituent entities of the federation, and leaving only the most important issues for Moscow, such as defense, internal affairs, finances, and a number of others.
The main initiators of the GKChP
Under these conditions, the August events of 1991 significantly accelerated the collapse of the USSR. They entered the history of the country as a coup of the State Emergency Committee (State Emergency Committee), or a failed attempt to carry out a coup. Its initiators were politicians who previously held high government posts, and were extremely interested in maintaining the former regime. Among them were G.I. Yanaev, B.K. Pugo, D.T. Yazov, V.A. Kryuchkov and several others. Their photo is given below. The committee was established by them in the absence of the President of the USSR - M.S. Gorbachev, who was at that time at the Foros government cottage in the Crimea.
Emergency measures
Immediately after the establishment of the State Emergency Committee, it was announced that members would take a number of emergency measures, such as the imposition of a state of emergency in a large part of the country and the abolition of all newly formed power structures, the creation of which was not provided for by the Constitution of the USSR. In addition, the activities of opposition parties, as well as the holding of demonstrations and rallies, were prohibited. In addition, it announced the upcoming economic reforms in the country.
The August 1991 coup and the collapse of the USSR began with the order of the State Emergency Committee on the introduction of troops into the largest cities of the country, including Moscow. This extreme, and, as practice has shown, a very unreasonable measure, was taken by committee members to intimidate the people and give their statement more weight. However, they achieved exactly the opposite result.
The inglorious end of the coup
Having seized the initiative, opposition representatives organized rallies in several cities of the country. In Moscow, more than half a million people became their participants. In addition, the opponents of the GKChP managed to win over the command of the Moscow garrison and thereby deprive the putschists of their main support.
The next stage of the putsch and collapse of the USSR (1991) was the trip of members of the Emergency Committee to the Crimea, undertaken by them on August 21. Having lost his last hope of taking control of the actions of the opposition led by B.N. Yeltsin, they went to Foros to negotiate with M.S. Gorbachev, who, by their order, was isolated there from the outside world and was in fact a hostage. However, the very next day, all the organizers of the coup were arrested and taken to the capital. Following them, M.S. returned to Moscow. Gorbachev.
Recent efforts to save the Union
So they prevented the coup of 1991. The collapse of the USSR was inevitable, but attempts were still made to preserve at least part of the former empire. To this end, M.S. Gorbachev, when drafting a new union treaty, made significant and previously unforeseen concessions in favor of the union republics, giving their governments even greater powers.
In addition, he was forced to officially recognize the independence of the Baltic states, which actually launched the mechanism of the collapse of the USSR. In 1991, Gorbachev also made an attempt to form a qualitatively new democratic union government. Popular democrats, such as V.V. Bakatin, E.A. Shevardnadze and their supporters.
Recognizing that under the current political situation it is impossible to maintain the previous structure of the state, in September they began preparing an agreement on the creation of a new confederate Union, into which the former republics of the USSR were to enter as independent entities. However, work on this document was not destined to be completed. On December 1, a nationwide referendum was held in Ukraine, and based on its results, the republic withdrew from the USSR, which crossed out Moscow’s plans to create a confederation.
The Bialowieza Agreement, which laid the foundation for the creation of the CIS
The final collapse of the USSR occurred in 1991. His legal justification was the agreement concluded on December 8 at the government hunting cottage "Viskuli" located in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, from which he got his name. On the basis of a document signed by the heads of Belarus (S. Shushkevich), Russia (B. Yeltsin) and Ukraine (L. Kravchuk), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was formed, putting an end to the existence of the USSR. Photo above.
Subsequently, eight more republics of the former Soviet Union joined the agreement concluded between Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. On December 21, the heads of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan signed their signatures on the document.
The leaders of the Baltic republics welcomed the news of the collapse of the USSR, but abstained from joining the CIS. Georgia, headed by Z. Gamsakhurdia, followed suit, but soon after E.A. came to power as a result of the coup d'etat Shevardnadze also joined the newly formed Commonwealth.
President out of work
The conclusion of the Bialowieza Agreement caused an extremely negative reaction from M.S. Gorbachev, who until then held the post of president of the USSR, but after the August coup, was deprived of real power. Nevertheless, historians note that in the events that have taken place there is a significant proportion of his personal guilt. No wonder B.N. Yeltsin said in an interview that the agreement signed in Belovezhskaya Pushcha did not destroy the USSR, but merely noted this long-standing fact.
Since the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the post of its president was abolished. In this regard, on December 25, Mikhail Sergeyevich, who remained out of work, filed a letter of resignation from his high post. It is said that when he came to the Kremlin two days later to pick up his things, then the new president of Russia, B.N. Yeltsin. I had to come to terms. Time inexorably moved forward, opening the next stage in the life of the country and making history of the collapse of the USSR of 1991, briefly described in this article.