The Soviet Union collapsed with dramatic speed in the last quarter of 1991. Between August and December, 10 republics seceded from the union, largely out of fear of another coup. By the end of September, Gorbachev no longer had the ability to influence events outside of Moscow.

There were many factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, including political policies, economics, defense spending, and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Find out more about how this political entity dissolved.

Dec 16, 2024 · Collapse of the Soviet Union, sequence of events that led to the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. on December 31, 1991. The reforms implemented by President Mikhail Gorbachev and the backlash against them hastened the demise of the Soviet state.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985–1991 (Routledge, 2016). Matlock, Jr. Jack F., Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union, Random House, 1995, ISBN 0-679-41376-6; Oberdorfer, Don. From the Cold War to a New Era: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1983–1991 (2nd ed. Johns Hopkins UP ...

Dec 3, 2020 · The Soviet Union’s failing post-World War II economy and weakened military, along with public dissatisfaction with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s loosened economic and political policies of perestroika and glasnost, contributed to its ultimate collapse.

Feb 17, 2011 · Professor Archie Brown explains the reasons behind the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union, and examines how such an authoritarian system could be dismantled peacefully. The speed with...

Apr 17, 2018 · After more than 40 years of the world seeming to teeter on the brink of a nuclear holocaust, the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States had ended. What had been the world’s...

Dec 16, 2024 · Collapse of the Soviet Union - End of Communism, Gorbachev, Glasnost/Perestroika: The collapse of the coup led to the demise of Soviet communism. The CPSU had failed to produce a modern dynamic state and society.

For much of the 20th century, the Soviet Union was the largest country in the world: a vast and seemingly permanent superpower locked in a Cold War with the West. But in 1991, it simply ceased to exist, pushing the world into an entirely new geopolitical reality. But how did such a swift collapse happen?

This section explains the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of communism, and the resulting political, economic and societal shifts which brought about major conflict and change both in former Soviet states and in Western Europe.