The Collapse of the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union or Union of Soviet Socialist Republic is existed from 1922 to 1991. As an offshoot of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Soviet Union grew to a union of fifteen republics. The Soviet Union was the foremost communist country during those times. It came to rival the United States as superpowers.

The collapse of the Soviet Union began when it failed to invade Afghanistan during the 1980s. The Afghan invasion was an attempt by the Soviet Union to have a significant and strategic influence in the Middle East which was the major oil supplier in the world. The Afghan War lasted until the Soviet pullout in 1988. This led to the decline of Soviet's influence in world politics.

Also, in late 1980s, the communist countries in Eastern Europe known as the Iron Curtain began to crumble. Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, East Germany, Poland among others toppled its communist governments. The culmination of this is the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany in 1989. This led to the further diminishing of Soviet Union's political power.

While these world events where happening, social unrest due to declining economic conditions began to take root among the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union. Decades of oppression, which reached its height during the authoritarian rule of Josef Stalin in the 1940s and 1950s, contributed to the economic decline.

The Soviet leader at the time, Mikhail Gorbachev responded by instituting reforms such as glasnost and perestroika. The reforms made it possible for Soviet citizens to enjoy certain freedoms such as right to information. These reforms have significance since these were indications that the once authoritarian Soviet leadership is gradually losing its political power within its borders.

The republics within the Soviet Union also contributed to the collapse. Once granted by the Soviet Union, some of the republics began holding referendums on whether to remain with the Soviet Union or secede.

In March 17, 1991, a referendum was held to determine the preservation of the Soviet Union. Nine out of the fifteen republics voted to preserve the Soviet Union. This made the Soviet Union into a looser federation.

A coup led by hard-line communists aimed at restoring the central government's control over the republics failed in August 1991. This event led to the increase in the popularity of Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia, while diminishing the influence of Gorbachev.

The Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991 after the republics declared the dissolution of the Soviet Federation.