The Collapse of the USSR and the Resignation of Gorbachev (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
The Collapse of the USSR and the Resignation of Gorbachev
The fragile structure of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was composed of 15 distinct republics with diverse ethnic groups and languages. This multiethnic and multilingual structure had been maintained through the authority of the Communist Party and coercive control rather than genuine unity or consent. Under Gorbachev's leadership, as the power of the Communist Party inevitably diminished through his reform policies, long-suppressed nationalist sentiments surfaced with increasing intensity across various Soviet republics. The weakening grip of central authority created space for nationalist problems that had remained dormant for decades to erupt openly across the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union's multiethnic structure was fundamentally unstable. Rather than being held together by shared identity or democratic consent, it relied on the Communist Party's authority and the threat of force. Once Gorbachev's reforms weakened this central control, the underlying tensions that had been suppressed for decades began to surface rapidly.
The emergence of nationalist movements
The Nagorno-Karabakh crisis (1988)
In 1988, a crisis developed in Azerbaijan when Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-majority region administered by Azerbaijan, demanded separation from Azerbaijan and incorporation into Soviet Armenia. This crisis exposed Gorbachev's difficulties in managing ethnic tensions within the USSR. His decision to side with Azerbaijan demonstrated his insensitivity to the Armenian nationalist movement and revealed his awareness that supporting nationalist movements could trigger further territorial or political demands that might destabilise the entire Soviet structure.
Georgian independence demands (1989)
The Soviet government attempted to diminish separatist sentiments through various measures, but these efforts proved inadequate. In 1989, demands for Georgian independence intensified dramatically, culminating in violent confrontation. When pro-independence marchers demonstrated their aspirations, 20 people were killed. Rather than suppressing ethnic separatism through force, this violence heightened demands for independence and demonstrated the Soviet government's inability to contain nationalist aspirations effectively.
The violent response to Georgian independence demands backfired spectacularly. Instead of crushing the independence movement, the killing of 20 pro-independence marchers actually strengthened separatist resolve and exposed the Soviet government's declining ability to maintain control through force.
Baltic independence movements
Coordination and early organisation (May 1989)
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia had particularly clear aspirations for independence from Soviet control. In May 1989, these three republics convened a Baltic Assembly in Tallinn, Estonia, where they initiated discussions on coordinated action to achieve economic and political sovereignty from the Soviet Union. This marked the beginning of organised, collective resistance to Soviet authority in the Baltic region.
The Baltic Way demonstration (August 1989)
The calls for unity and independence among the Baltic states were powerfully symbolised on 23 August 1989, when approximately two million citizens formed a human chain spanning their three nations. This peaceful demonstration, known as the Baltic Way, stretched across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to mark the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, which had led to their forced annexation by the USSR. This mass demonstration represented one of the most visible expressions of popular opposition to Soviet rule and demonstrated the depth of anti-Soviet sentiment in these republics.
The Baltic Way Demonstration: A Powerful Symbol of Unity
On 23 August 1989, approximately two million people from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia joined hands to form a continuous human chain stretching over 600 kilometres across all three Baltic states. This peaceful demonstration commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the secret agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that had led to the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states in 1940.
The demonstration's timing and scale made it one of the most powerful symbolic acts of resistance in the late Cold War period. By physically linking their three nations, the Baltic peoples demonstrated their shared determination to break free from Soviet control and reclaim their independence.
Declarations of independence (1990)
The momentum generated by the Baltic Way demonstration led to concrete political action. In February 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare its independence from the USSR. Estonia followed with its own declaration of independence in March 1990, and Latvia completed the Baltic states' break from Soviet authority by declaring independence in May 1990. These sequential declarations represented a direct challenge to Soviet sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Soviet attempts to maintain control
Military intervention (January 1991)
Faced with the loss of the Baltic republics, the Soviet government made a final attempt to regain control through military force. In January 1991, Soviet troops were dispatched to Lithuania and Latvia with orders to reassert Soviet authority. This military intervention resulted in violence, with 12 people killed in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. However, this use of force failed to restore Soviet control over the Baltic states.
Gorbachev's strategic failure
The Soviet government under Gorbachev attempted to placate nationalist movements by granting them increased devolved power within the framework of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev, however, failed to employ sufficient force to eliminate these movements entirely. This middle course proved disastrous. By not crushing the independence movements, he allowed them to grow stronger, yet by attempting some coercion, he alienated reformist opinion. Gorbachev's approach managed to retain the support of conservative forces in the USSR who desired firm action to prevent the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but this simultaneously made him enemies among those seeking genuine independence. These problems, combined with the Soviet Union's severe economic difficulties and widespread fears about future security, created numerous opponents for Gorbachev's leadership.
Gorbachev's Strategic Dilemma
Gorbachev found himself trapped between two impossible positions. If he used overwhelming force to crush the independence movements, he would undermine his own reform agenda and alienate international opinion. However, by attempting a middle course of limited coercion combined with devolved power, he satisfied no one. Conservatives viewed him as weak and unwilling to preserve the USSR, while reformists saw him as oppressive and resistant to genuine independence. This strategic failure ultimately made the dissolution of the Soviet Union inevitable.
The August 1991 coup attempt
In August 1991, a group of communist hardliners who believed that Gorbachev's policies had failed attempted to seize power through a coup. These conspirators felt that the Soviet Union required a return to tighter, more orthodox communist controls to prevent its disintegration. The coup attempt failed to achieve its objectives, but the damage to Gorbachev's authority proved irreversible. Although he survived the coup physically, his political position deteriorated dramatically and was never restored to its former strength.
The failed August 1991 coup was a watershed moment. While the hardliners failed to seize power, their attempt revealed the depth of opposition to Gorbachev within the Soviet establishment. More importantly, the coup's failure demonstrated that there was no viable path back to orthodox communism. The Soviet system had reached a point of no return.
Gorbachev's resignation as General Secretary
On 24 August 1991, in the aftermath of the failed coup, Gorbachev resigned from his position as General Secretary of the Communist Party. He actively encouraged the dissolution of the Central Committee and all Party bodies, effectively acknowledging that the Communist Party could no longer serve as the unifying force for the Soviet republics. At this stage, eight republics (including the Baltic states, Caucasus republics, and Ukraine) were cooperating while maintaining their distance from Soviet structures. However, without the Communist Party serving as the binding element, the final unifying factor holding the USSR together had vanished.
The final dissolution of the Soviet Union
Formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (December 1991)
In December 1991, the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine convened in Minsk and established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This new organisation represented a loose association of former Soviet republics but signalled the effective abandonment of the Soviet Union as a unified state structure.
The end of the USSR (26 December 1991)
On 26 December 1991, the USSR Supreme Soviet formally voted to dissolve itself and officially end the existence of the Soviet Union. This legislative action provided the legal conclusion to the process of Soviet disintegration that had been unfolding throughout the year. The dissolution marked the definitive end of the Soviet state that had existed since 1922.
Yeltsin seizes power
The day following the Supreme Soviet's vote to dissolve the USSR, Russia's president, Boris Yeltsin, seized Gorbachev's office in the Kremlin. This action symbolised the complete transfer of power from Soviet structures to the newly independent Russian Federation. Gorbachev, once the most powerful figure in the communist world, became what contemporaries described as "yesterday's man". The final line separating the Cold War era from a new period in international relations had been drawn.
The End of an Era
The Commonwealth of Independent States was created as a loose framework to maintain some cooperation between former Soviet republics, but it represented a fundamentally different structure from the USSR. Unlike the highly centralised Soviet Union, the CIS was a voluntary association that acknowledged the full sovereignty of its member states. Its formation in December 1991 made the continued existence of the USSR impossible.
Gorbachev's final statement
On 25 December 1991, one day before the formal dissolution, Gorbachev delivered his resignation speech as president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In this statement, he explained his decision to discontinue his activities as president due to the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Gorbachev declared that he firmly supported the independence of nations and sovereignty for the republics, while simultaneously expressing his commitment to preserving the union state and maintaining the integrity of the country.
However, Gorbachev acknowledged that developments had taken a different direction. He stated that the policy of dismembering the country and disuniting the state had prevailed, something he could not accept. While his position regarding independence for republics had not changed following the Alma-Ata meeting and its decisions, he maintained his conviction that such decisions should have been made through popular will rather than imposed by political leaders. Nevertheless, Gorbachev pledged to work towards ensuring that agreements signed at that time would lead towards genuine concord in society and facilitate an exit from the crisis and the reform process.
Key figure: Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1931-2007)
Boris Yeltsin emerged as the dominant figure in post-Soviet Russia. He became head of the Communist Party in Moscow in 1986 and subsequently served as president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic between 1990 and 1991. From 1991 onwards, he assumed the presidency of the newly formed Russian Federation following the USSR's dissolution.
Yeltsin played a critical role in managing the federation's secession from the Soviet Union and overseeing the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. His political positions included strong support for nuclear disarmament and a programme of increased privatisation within the Russian Federation. His seizure of Gorbachev's office in the Kremlin following the USSR's dissolution symbolised the definitive end of Soviet authority and the beginning of a new era of Russian statehood independent from communist structures.
Key Points to Remember:
- The Soviet Union's structure (15 multiethnic republics held together by Communist Party authority) became unstable as Gorbachev's reforms weakened central control, allowing nationalist movements to emerge
- The Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) coordinated their independence efforts through events like the Baltic Assembly (May 1989) and the Baltic Way demonstration (August 1989), eventually declaring independence in early 1990
- The August 1991 coup by communist hardliners failed but fatally weakened Gorbachev's authority, leading to his resignation as General Secretary on 24 August and the dissolution of the Communist Party
- The Commonwealth of Independent States was created in December 1991 by Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, and the USSR formally ceased to exist on 26 December 1991 when the Supreme Soviet voted to dissolve itself
- Boris Yeltsin's seizure of power in the Kremlin marked the definitive end of the Soviet era and the beginning of the Russian Federation, whilst Gorbachev became politically irrelevant, representing "yesterday's man" in a transformed political landscape