Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Background, Events, Reasons & More | UPSC Notes

The Dissolution of the Soviet Union happened on 25th December 1991. It was a major event at the global level. It marked the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the USSR (Soviet Union). It created several new independent republics in Central Asia and the Baltic region and the formation of the Russian Federation. After the Soviet Union dissolved, the Bush administration aimed for economic and political stability in Russia and the former Soviet states. Bush recognized all 12 independent republics, establishing diplomatic ties with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. In February 1992, Baker extended diplomatic relations to Uzbekistan, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Georgia's civil war delayed recognition until May 1992. Yeltsin met Bush at Camp David in February 1992, and a state visit occurred in June. Kazakhstan and Ukraine leaders visited Washington in May 1992.

The Dissolution of the Soviet Union is essential to the UPSC IAS exam syllabus. This topic comes under the World History part of the Mains General Studies Paper 1 syllabus and General Studies Paper -1 of the UPSC Prelims syllabus.

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About the Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The Dissolution of the Soviet Union was a significant event in world history. It happened on 25th December 1991after nearly 74 years of the formation of the USSR. Once, it was one of the most powerful and largest nations in the World, which covered an area of more than 22 million square kilometres. It also had thousands of nuclear weapons at the time of dissolution. The Soviet Union (USSR) broke up into 15 independent nations after the disintegration. It happened during the tenure of Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He came to power in 1985 and brought several reforms in the political and economic spheres of the nation. There were several reasons for this disintegration. These include the reform policies of Mikhail Gorbachev, as discussed in the following sections.

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Origin of the Soviet Union

The following points explain the detailed journey from the formation of the Soviet Union (also called the USSR - The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic) till the incoming of Mikhael Gorbachev as a leader in 1985:

Formation of the USSR (Soviet Union)

The leftist revolutionaries overthrew the regime of Czar Nicholas 2nd in the Russian Revolution in 1917. In the aftermath of the revolution, the Bolshevik Party came to power in Russia during the October Revolution in 1917.

• Bolshevik Party was a revolutionary union that was dedicated to the communist ideas of Karl Marx.
• This event was followed by a long and bloody civil war in Russia between White Army and Red Army.
• The White Army was led by aristocrats. It included monarchists, capitalists, etc. The Red Army was led by the Bolsheviks. 
• This was the period infamously known as the Red Terror. ‘Cheka’ was the secret police of the Bolsheviks that carried out a mass execution of Czarist supporters.
• The Czarist regime fell in 1917. In 1922 finally, a Treaty was signed between Ukraine, Belarus, Transcaucasia and Russia that led to the formation of the USSR (The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic).
  • Transcaucasia included a densely populated region in the south of the Caucasus Mountains. It included three modern states Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
• The Communist Party took control of the newly formed Soviet Union, and Vladimir Lenin led it for 2 years.
• In 1924, Vladimir Lenin died, and the control of the Communist Party came into the hands of Joseph Stalin.

Joseph Stalin Rule (1924 to 1953)

Stalin’s rule was dictatorial and brutal in nature. During his tenure, his policies led to the deaths of millions of people. He kept a Secret Police that eliminated his opponents ar anyone who raised a voice against him. 

• The peak of his terror campaign is known as the Great Purge. It was between 1936 and 1938 that more than 6 lakh citizens were killed, and millions were tortured and imprisoned in the ‘Gulags’, which were his forced labour camps.
• He transformed the Soviet Union into a military and industrial power from an agriculture-based economy. 
• He applied the policy of collective farms. In this policy, the lands and livestock of landowners were forcefully captured and collectivised. The peasants were forced to work on these collective lands now owned by the government.
  • This policy severely reduced agricultural production and led to famine situation.
  • Millions of citizens died in the famines of 1932-33.
  • The famine killed so many people that Stalin had to suppress the results of the 1937 Census to keep it a secret from the World.
• After the end of the 2nd World War, the World was divided into two rival alliances.
  • The first was the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) in 1949. It included the USA, Canada and their European allies. 
  • The USSR formed the second alliance with Eastern Bloc nations of Europe. It was in response to the formation of NATO. This rival alliance was termed as Warsaw Pact’.
  • These two powerful alliances led to the start of the Cold War after 1955.
  • This situation existed till the fall of the USSR in 1991.
• Nikita Khrushchev came to power after Stalin died in 1953.

Nikita Khrushchev (1953 to 1964)

Nikita Khrushchev’s rule is known for several major events, such as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

• Khrushchev brought several political reforms that reversed the repressive policies brought during Stalin’s rule. 
  • He reduced censorships, closed the forced labour camps, freed several political prisoners, improved the living conditions, etc. 
  • These reforms were known as ‘De-Stalinization’.
• Despite all the reforms, Khrushchev’s rule was highlighted by problems such as food shortages and worsening relations with China. The Communist Party leaders were dissatisfied with him and removed him from his post in 1964. 

USA-USSR Space Race

Space became a major area of competition between the USA and the USSR in the Cold War era. In 1957, USSR launched the first artificial satellite, called Sputnik-1, into LEO (Low Earth Orbit). This was followed by sending a cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961. In response, the USA sent Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969. 

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Glasnost Era and Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhael Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1985. He was aimed at reviving the degrading economy and political system of the USSR. For this, he brought several reforms in the Political and Economic spheres of the country. These are classified as Glasnost and Perestroika. 

Glasnost: This was related to Political Openness.

• It gave greater Freedom of Speech to the people and more transparency in the system.
• The reforms included the removal of press restrictions, secret police, more than one party to contest elections, etc.
• It was brought to wipe out the traces of repression initiated during Stalin’s regime.
• Thus, it was in complete contrast to the policies of the predecessors.

Perestroika: This was related to Economic Restructuring. 

• Under this set of reforms, the economic system of the USSR shifted from a Communist towards a Communist-Capitalist hybrid system.
• He allowed the privatisation of some industries and reduced government control over them.
• Strict Government regulations and restrictions were removed on the industries. 

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Impact of Gorbachev’s Reforms

Despite having good intentions behind the reforms, these reforms backfired and, in a way, hastened the process of the Dissolution of the USSR, as explained below:

• The reforms of Gorbachev were expected to give results in the long term. But the immediate loosening of control over the Soviet Union was detrimental to the crumbling political system.
• It appeared like giving up control over the old system without bringing in the new system. 
• The states of Eastern Europe got more freedom to revolt against the regime under the new reforms. 
• For Example, anti-government protests in Latvia, Kazakhstan, Crimea, Baltic States, Armenia, etc., happened in 1986-87.
• He introduced the policy of Non-Intervention in matters of other’s countries. Under this policy, he ordered the pullback of his forces from Afghanistan. He also ordered a reduction of the presence of his troops in Eastern Europe.
• This weakened the morale of the forces and brought Communist leadership against Gorbachev. 

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Revolution of 1989

The Revolution of 1989 was a series of events that brought an end to Communism in the Eastern European states. Eventually, they culminated in the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. These events are explained below in detail:

• The revolution began in Poland in the 1980s with the formation of a Non-Communist Trade Union called ‘Solidarity’.
• It led anti-Communist social movements in the country. 
• In the early 1980s, they were repressed by the Soviet government, but under Gorbachev’s rule, they were legalised and allowed to participate in the 1989 Parliamentary elections.
• The Solidarity Union got an overwhelming majority by winning 99 out of 100 seats in the 1989 Parliamentary elections in Poland.
• The next in line was Hungary. It began opening its borders to Austria. This was against the ‘Iron Curtain’ policy of the USSR, which kept its states separate from the contact of the West.
• By October 1989, the communist rule had come to an end in Hungary. It allowed a multi-party system, adopted a new constitution, and brought a competitive system of elections.
• Hungary opened its borders with Austria and started a chain reaction that ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989. 
• It symbolically marked the destruction of the policy of Iron Curtains imposed by the USSR and the end of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe.
• Other states like Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia also joined the list of overthrowing the communist government.
• One critical fact is that these revolutions were generally peaceful in nature, except that of Romania. 
• The 1989 revolution in Romania was very violent. The revolutionaries killed the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu along with his wife.

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Disintegration of the USSR

The following are the events that finally culminated in the Disintegration of the USSR:

• The freedom obtained by states under the Glasnost reforms led to a wave of independence movements.
• Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania demanded freedom from the Soviet Union in 1989. They were the first to make such demands. 
• Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia followed them. 
• The last try to stop the reforms started by Gorbachev and hold control over the USSR was attempted by some hardline communist members. 
• In August 1991, the senior communist leaders put Gorbachev under house arrest and forcibly tried to seize control over the USSR but failed.
• On 24th August 1991, Mikhael Gorbachev dissolved the central committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). He also dissolved all the party units of his government and resigned as its general secretary.
• The Secession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Baltic countries) was recognised in September 1991. 
• Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus signed the Belovezha Accord on 8th December 1991. It declared the fall of the USSR and the establishment of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).
• It was on 25th December 1991 that Gorbachev gave up his presidential powers and resigned. He handed over his powers along with the nuclear launch codes to the President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin.
• This also marked the conclusion of the 1989 Revolution and Cold War.

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Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?

There were several significant reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union (USSR). These are explained below:

Policies of Mikhael Gorbachev

His reform policies of Glasnost (political Openness) and Perestroika (economic restructuring) didn’t work. The reforms of Gorbachev were expected to give results in the long term. But the immediate loosening of control over the Soviet Union was detrimental to the crumbling political system. The state lost its control over the states, which led to the rise of revolutionary movements.

Economic Stagnation

The Soviet economy suffered from mismanagement. There was a stagnation of the economy coupled with the rise of the black market. Wage hikes and printing more money led to a high rise in inflation. The management of fiscal policy was poor. The country faced major fiscal issues during the fall in oil prices in 1986. The application of Perestroika reforms only increased the problems of the economy.

High Military Spending

Even during the period of economic stagnation, the military spending of the Soviet Union was very high. It is estimated that it was somewhere between 10 to 20% of the total GDP. This further weakened the state.

Nuclear Disaster

Shortly after Gorbachev came to power, a nuclear disaster occurred in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on 26th April 1986. The radioactive fallout was 400 times that of the bomb on Hiroshima. Initially, the Soviet Government suppressed the news of the severity of the disaster to the World. But, soon, the truth came to the surface, and the government lost its trust and legitimacy in the eyes of its states and the rest of the World.

Setback in Afghanistan

The involvement of the USSR army in Afghanistan from the 1979 to 1989 period was a failure. Around 15 thousand Soviet soldiers, out of the millions of those involved, lost their lives in the adventure. More than 1 million Afghani civilians were killed, and more than 4 million were displaced. These atrocities and setbacks developed dissent in the minds of people against the regime.

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Conclusion

The Dissolution of the Soviet Union was a major turning point in world history. It marked the end of the Cold war and a new beginning in the world of politics. Eventually, it characterized the dominance of the USA as the new superpower. The consequence of Dissolution of the Soviet Union affected those countries who emerged from its ashes. As they had to struggle to switch from socialist policies to market based economies. It reshaped the balance of power and ended an era in world politics. 

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