Dissolution of the USSR and the Establishment of Independent Republics, 1991

A series of events from 1989 to 1991 led to the final collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), paving the way for the establishment of new, independent republics in the Baltics and Central Asia and the creation of the Russian Federation.

Formally established in 1922, at its height the USSR was composed of fifteen republics, the largest of which was Russia. In 1987, seventy years after the 1917 revolution that established a communist state in Russia, the Soviet Union was in decline. Severe economic problems combined with an international arms race and evidence of imperial overstretch made reforms necessary if the unified nation was to survive. Taking office as chief of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the leader of the USSR in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to implement the necessary reforms through his dual policies of "perestroika," or economic restructuring, and "glasnost," or political openness. At the same time, he applied his "new thinking" to Soviet foreign policy, hoping to end the Cold War with the United States and the strains the conflict had placed on the economy.

Although Gorbachev implemented extensive economic reforms and introduced limited democratic elections, none of his measures were successful in arresting economic decline, and he was too committed to the idea of socialism to introduce a true free market system. As Gorbachev struggled to find solutions to fight stagnation, in the spring of 1990, Boris Yeltsin was elected President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in a popular election. Yeltsin was a threat to Gorbachev's centralized power for several reasons. As leader of the largest republic in the USSR, his opinions would have a great deal of sway. Because he, unlike Gorbachev, moved to make his post democratically elected and then won the open elections, his leadership held more legitimacy in the minds of the people. Yeltsin also began to make proposals to detach his republic from the larger Soviet system, such as suggesting that Russia be granted economic autonomy, and he made the personal decision to leave the Communist Party. Over the course of the summer of 1990, all fifteen republics of the former Soviet Union followed Russia's lead, and one by one they declared themselves to be sovereign states. Although the U.S. Government hoped for continued political stability under Gorbachev, it also sought the emergence of a free market economy in Eastern Europe. The latter was not acceptable to Gorbachev, and he faced increasing challenges from the free market-oriented Boris Yeltsin.

In an effort to hold the USSR together, Gorbachev first attempted military crackdowns on republics declaring independence, but he quickly changed strategies and announced incentives, such as added autonomy and a new All-Union Treaty, in an effort to keep the breakaway republics in the union. Finally, in the summer of 1991, Gorabchev reached an agreement with a number of the republics in which they would become sovereign, but remain loosely federated. Before the final agreement was signed, however, a group of Soviet loyalists attempted a coup to preserve the splintering Soviet Union. After the military failed to fall into line, however, the coup fell apart. In the wake of the coup attempt, Gorbachev faced blame for allowing the hardliners behind it to reach their relatively high positions of power. He stepped aside, and Yeltsin led Russia into the new, post-Soviet era.

In the wake of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the now independent states of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Belarus came together to create the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). With the exception of Georgia and the Baltic States, the former Soviet Republics joined the CIS by the end of the year. Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all also established their independence in 1991.

The total collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 took many in the West by surprise. The fundamental factors that contributed to collapse, including economic stagnation and the overextension of the military, were rooted in Soviet policies, but the Cold War and the U.S. policy of containment played a role as well. Cold War competition with the United States that had fed Soviet expansionism and the arms race helped to create the economic conditions that preceded the collapse. At the same time, both Reagan and his successor, President George H. W. Bush, had maintained good relationships with Gorbachev and provided assistance in support of his policies and reforms. As President, Bush tried to support Gorbachev in his efforts to maintain stability and unity in the Russian empire and pushed for drastic nuclear disarmament agreements. When Yeltsin took power in the wake of the failed coup attempt, the Bush Administration was forced to rethink its policy, and shift toward cooperation with the new Russian leader. The two leaders signed the START II treaty limiting nuclear arms soon after Yeltsin came to power, and Bush hosted Yeltsin on his first state visit to the United States in the summer of 1992. Perhaps the most important policy decision Bush made in the wake of the Soviet collapse was the one not to declare a U.S. victory in the Cold War but instead to allow the situation to play itself out in Eastern Europe and to work with the results.

Although the Bush policy appeared cautious and detached during the progressive dismemberment of the former superpower, there were points of particular interest. Of great concern was the potential for proliferation of Soviet nuclear weapons, which were divided between bases in several republics and no longer under central control following the dissolution of the USSR. Other questions involved Soviet international debt as well as Soviet representation in international organizations. In the end, the Russian Federation became the successor state for the Soviet Union, which meant that it took responsibility for weapons control and disposal, for outstanding debt, but also for the Soviet seat on the UN Security Council.

The collapse of the Soviet Union had vital implications for U.S. foreign policy. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States had created a sort of bipolar stability, as the two hegemonic powers balanced one another. The expectation was that the end of the East-West conflict would mean international stability, but this hope was not borne out, as civil wars and other conflicts in the developing world presented new challenges. In the spring of 1991, as the U.S.S.R. was splintering, the United States faced its first post-Cold War challenge in the form of the Gulf War; for the first time since World War II, the United States went to war with the full support of the Soviet leadership - a sign of a potential future of partnership in creating a more secure world order. Moreover, the disintegration of Yugoslavia took place when Cold War rivalries were replaced by ethnic disputes, and the conflict that followed eventually involved U.S. troops in a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union and the democratization of its Eastern European satellites, the end of the Cold War conflict between the communist East and capitalist West resulted in an increased uncertainty in many parts of the world.