The Fall of the Soviet Union

For most of the 1900s, the Soviet Union was one of the largest and most powerful countries in the world. It was made up of 15 republics, including Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and others. Russia was the largest republic in both land area and population, and Moscow served as the center of the Soviet government.

The Soviet Union had a communist political system in which the Communist Party controlled the government. It also operated a centrally planned economy. Government officials decided what many factories and farms would produce, how resources would be distributed, and what many goods would cost. This system allowed the Soviet government to direct enormous resources toward goals such as industrial development, military production, and the space program. However, central planning could also make it difficult for businesses to respond to what consumers wanted, improve products, or use resources efficiently.

By the 1970s and early 1980s, the Soviet economy was struggling. Economic growth had slowed, shortages of some consumer goods were common, and the government continued to spend heavily on the military. At the same time, many Soviet citizens had limited freedom to criticize the government or openly discuss political problems.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union. He believed major reforms were necessary if the country was going to solve its economic and political problems.

Gorbachev introduced a policy called glasnost, meaning openness. Glasnost allowed greater freedom of speech and discussion. Newspapers and citizens were able to discuss government problems more openly, including problems that had previously been hidden or ignored.

He also introduced perestroika, meaning restructuring. Perestroika was an effort to change the Soviet political and economic systems. The government allowed some private economic activity and experimented with giving businesses more control over their decisions. Political reforms eventually allowed greater competition in elections and reduced some of the Communist Party’s control.

Gorbachev hoped these reforms would strengthen the Soviet Union. Instead, greater openness allowed people to express frustrations that had been building for many years.

Political change was also occurring across Eastern Europe. After World War II, the Soviet Union had established strong influence over communist governments in countries such as Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. These countries were not Soviet republics, but their governments were closely connected to the Soviet Union.

During the late 1980s, protest movements and demands for political reform grew across the region. Gorbachev chose not to use Soviet military force to keep communist governments in power as earlier Soviet leaders had sometimes done.

In 1989, communist governments began losing power across Eastern Europe. That November, the Berlin Wall opened, becoming one of the most visible symbols of the changes sweeping the region.

Change soon accelerated inside the Soviet Union itself.

The Soviet Union contained many different peoples, languages, cultures, and national identities. As central government control weakened, movements for greater independence grew within several Soviet republics.

The Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were among the strongest supporters of independence. Other republics, including Armenia and Ukraine, also developed powerful independence movements.

Gorbachev tried to preserve the Soviet Union by giving its republics greater authority while creating a new agreement that would keep them together in a looser union. At the same time, Boris Yeltsin, who had become president of the Russian republic, was gaining political power and often challenged Gorbachev.

Not everyone supported Gorbachev’s reforms. Some Communist Party, military, and government officials believed the changes had gone too far and were destroying the Soviet system.

In August 1991, a group of hard-line Soviet officials attempted to seize control of the government. They placed Gorbachev under house arrest and announced that they were taking power.

The coup quickly faced resistance. Boris Yeltsin became a leading public opponent of the takeover, and large crowds gathered in Moscow. Parts of the military refused to support the coup. Within several days, the attempt collapsed.

Instead of restoring Soviet authority, the failed coup weakened the Communist Party and Gorbachev even further. More Soviet republics declared independence.

By the end of 1991, the Soviet government could no longer hold the union together. Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus announced that the Soviet Union would cease to exist and helped establish a new organization called the Commonwealth of Independent States.

On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. The Soviet flag was lowered over the Kremlin for the final time. The next day, the Soviet Union formally ceased to exist.

The 15 Soviet republics were now independent countries. Russia became the largest of the newly independent states, with Boris Yeltsin serving as its president.

Gorbachev had begun his reforms hoping to strengthen and preserve the Soviet Union. Instead, economic problems, political reforms, independence movements, conflicts over government power, and the failed August coup all contributed to its collapse.

The end of the Soviet Union also meant a dramatic economic transformation for Russia. Under Boris Yeltsin, the government moved rapidly away from central planning and toward a market economy.

Many businesses that had been owned by the government were sold or transferred to private owners. Prices that had once been set by the government were increasingly determined by markets, and people gained greater opportunities to own businesses and private property.

The transition was extremely difficult for many people. Inflation reduced the value of savings, some factories closed or cut their workforces, unemployment increased, and economic inequality grew. At the same time, private businesses and new economic opportunities expanded.

Russia had changed from the center of a centrally planned Soviet economy into an independent country attempting to build a very different economic system. The other former Soviet republics also faced the challenge of creating new governments and reorganizing their economies after decades within the Soviet Union.