FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION

In December of 1991, as the world watched in amazement, the Soviet Union

disintegrated into fifteen separate countries. Its collapse was hailed by the
west as a victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism,
and evidence of the superiority of capitalism over socialism. The United
States rejoiced as its formidable enemy was brought to its knees, thereby
ending the Cold War which had hovered over these two superpowers since
the end of World War II. Indeed, the breakup of the Soviet Union transformed
the entire world political situation, leading to a complete reformulation of
political, economic and military alliances all over the globe.

What led to this monumental historical event? In fact, the answer is a very
complex one, and can only be arrived at with an understanding of the peculiar
composition and history of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was built on
approximately the same territory as the Russian Empire which it succeeded.
After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the newly-formed government
developed a philosophy of socialism with the eventual and gradual transition
to Communism. The state which the Bolsheviks created was intended to
overcome national differences, and rather to create one monolithic state
based on a centralized economical and political system. This state, which was
built on a Communist ideology, was eventually transformed into a totalitarian
state, in which the Communist leadership had complete control over the
country.

However, this project of creating a unified, centralized socialist state proved

problematic for several reasons. First, the Soviets underestimated the degree
to which the non-Russian ethnic groups in the country (which comprised more
than fifty percent of the total population of the Soviet Union) would resist
assimilation into a Russianized State. Second, their economic planning failed
to meet the needs of the State, which was caught up in a vicious arms race
with the United States. This led to gradual economic decline, eventually
necessitating the need for reform. Finally, the ideology of Communism, which
the Soviet Government worked to instill in the hearts and minds of its
population, never took firm root, and eventually lost whatever influence it had
originally carried.

LIBRO SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND THE ECONOMY 843 LIBRO

FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES 843 LIBRO

By the time of the 1985 rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet
Union’s last leader, the country was in a situation of severe stagnation, with
deep economic and political problems which sorely needed to be addressed
and overcome. Recognizing this, Gorbachev introduced a two-tiered policy of
reform. On one level, he initiated a policy of glasnost, or freedom of speech.
On the other level, he began a program of economic reform known as
perestroika, or rebuilding. What Gorbachev did not realize was that by giving
people complete freedom of expression, he was unwittingly unleashing
emotions and political feelings that had been pent up for decades, and which
proved to be extremely powerful when brought out into the open. Moreover,
his policy of economic reform did not have the immediate results he had
hoped for and had publicly predicted. The Soviet people consequently used
their newly allotted freedom of speech to criticize Gorbachev for his failure to
improve the economy.

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The disintegration of the Soviet Union began on the peripheries, in the non-
Russian areas. The first region to produce mass, organized dissent was the
Baltic region, where, in 1987, the government of Estonia demanded
autonomy. This move was later followed by similar moves in Lithuania and
Latvia, the other two Baltic republics. The nationalist movements in the Baltics
constituted a strong challenge to Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost. He did not
want to crack down too severely on the participants in these movements, yet
at the same time, it became increasingly evident that allowing them to run
their course would spell disaster for the Soviet Union, which would completely
collapse if all of the periphery republics were to demand independence.

After the initiative from Estonia, similar movements sprang up all over the
former Soviet Union. In the Transcaucasus region (in the South of the Soviet
Union), a movement developed inside the Armenian-populated autonomous
region of Nagorno-Karabagh, in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Armenian
population of this region demanded that they be granted the right to secede
and join the Republic of Armenia, with whose population they were ethnically
linked. Massive demonstrations were held in Armenia in solidarity with the
secessionists in Nagorno-Karabagh. The Gorbachev government refused to
allow the population of Nagorno-Karabagh to secede, and the situation
developed into a violent territorial dispute, eventually degenerating into an all-
out war which continues unabated until the present day.

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Once this “Pandora’s box” had been opened, nationalist movements emerged
in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Byelorussia, and the Central Asian republics.
The power of the Central Government was considerably weakened by these
movements; they could no longer rely on the cooperation of Government
figures in the republics.

Finally, the situation came to a head in August of 1991. In a last-ditch effort to

save the Soviet Union, which was floundering under the impact of the political
movements which had emerged since the implementation of Gorbachev’s
glasnost, a group of “hard-line” Communists organized a coup d’etat. They
kidnapped Gorbachev, and then, on August 19 of 1991, they announced on
state television that Gorbachev was very ill and would no longer be able to
govern. The country went into an uproar. Massive protests were staged in
Moscow, Leningrad, and many of the other major cities of the Soviet Union.
When the coup organizers tried to bring in the military to quell the protestors,
the soldiers themselves rebelled, saying that they could not fire on their fellow
countrymen. After three days of massive protest, the coup organizers
surrendered, realizing that without the cooperation of the military, they did not
have the power to overcome the power of the entire population of the country.

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After the failed coup attempt, it was only a few months until the Soviet Union
completely collapsed. Both the government and the people realized that there
was no way to turn back the clock; the massive demonstrations of the “August
days” had demonstrated that the population would accept nothing less than
democracy. Gorbachev conceded power, realizing that he could no longer
contain the power of the population. On December 25, 1991, he resigned. By
January of 1992, by popular demand, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. In its
place, a new entity was formed. It was called the “Commonwealth of
Independent Republics,” and was composed of most of the independent
countries of the former Soviet Union. While the member countries had
complete political independence, they were linked to other Commonwealth
countries by economic, and, in some cases, military ties.
Now that the Soviet Union, with its centralized political and economic system,
has ceased to exist, the fifteen newly formed independent countries which
emerged in its aftermath are faced with an overwhelming task. They must
develop their economies, reorganize their political systems, and, in many
cases, settle bitter territorial disputes. A number of wars have developed on
the peripheries of the former Soviet Union. Additionally, the entire region is
suffering a period of severe economic hardship. However, despite the many
hardships facing the region, bold steps are being taken toward
democratization, reorganization, and rebuilding in most of the countries of the
former Soviet Union.
ALONSO

MANZANO

RANCEL

HEDDERICH

CARDENAS

SEBASTIAN

DE ANDRADE

LOYNAZ

SANCHEZ