The collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Throughout 1990 and especially 1991, one of the main problems facing the USSR was the problem of signing a new Union Treaty. The work on its preparation led to the appearance of several drafts, which were published in 1991. In March 1991, at the initiative of Mikhail Gorbachev, an all-Union referendum was held on the question of whether or not to be the USSR and what it should be like. The majority of the population of the USSR voted for the preservation of the USSR.
This process was accompanied by an aggravation of interethnic contradictions, which led to open conflicts (pogroms of the Armenian population in Sumgayit in 1989, in Baku in 1990, Nagorno-Karabakh, clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the Osh region in 1990, an armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia in 1991).
Kindling ethnic conflicts the actions of the Union Center and the army command (dispersal of the demonstration in Tbilisi in April 1989 by the troops, the entry of troops into Baku, the seizure of the television center in Vilnius by the army) contributed. As a result of interethnic conflicts, by 1991, about 1 million refugees appeared in the USSR.
The new authorities in the union republics, formed as a result of the 1990 elections, turned out to be more determined to change than the union leadership. By the end of 1990, practically all the republics of the USSR had adopted Declarations of their sovereignty, of the supremacy of republican laws over union laws. A situation arose that observers dubbed the "parade of sovereignties" and the "war of laws." Political power gradually moved from the center to the republics.
The confrontation between the Center and the Republic was expressed not only in the "war of laws", i.e. a situation when the republics declared one after another the supremacy of republican laws over the union ones, but also in a situation when the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviets of the Union republics passed laws that contradicted each other. Individual republics frustrated military conscription; bypassing the Center, they entered into bilateral agreements on state relations and economic cooperation.
At the same time, both in the Center and in the localities, fears and fears of an uncontrolled collapse of the USSR were ripening. All this taken together gave particular importance to the negotiations on a new Union Treaty. In the spring and summer of 1991, meetings of the heads of the republics were held at Novo-Ogaryovo, the residence of the President of the USSR M. Gorbachev, near Moscow. As a result of long and difficult negotiations, an agreement was reached, called "9 + 1", i.e. nine republics and the Center, which decided to sign the Union Treaty. The text of the latter was published in the press, the signing of the agreement was scheduled for August 20th.
M. Gorbachev went on vacation to the Crimea, to Foros, intending to return to Moscow on 19 August. On August 18, some senior officials from state, military and party structures arrived at M. Gorbachev in Foros and demanded that he authorize the introduction of a state of emergency throughout the country. The President refused to comply with these demands.
On August 19, 1991, the Decree of Vice-President G. Yanaev and the Statement of the Soviet leadership were read on radio and television, in which it was announced that M. Gorbachev was ill and unable to fulfill his duties, and that he took full power in the country itself the State Committee for the State of Emergency of the USSR (GKChP), which was introduced, "meeting the demands of the general population", throughout the USSR for a period of 6 months from 4 o'clock on August 19, 1991. The GKChP included: G. Yanaev - Vice President of the USSR, V. Pavlov - Prime Minister, V. Kryuchkov - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, B. Pugo - Minister of Internal Affairs, O. Baklanov - First Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, A. Tizyakov - Chairman of the Association state enterprises and objects of industry, transport and communications of the USSR and B. Starodubtsev - chairman of the Peasants' Union.
On August 20, a kind of manifesto of the GKChP was published - "Appeal to the Soviet people." It said that perestroika had reached a dead end (“the results of the national referendum on the unity of the Fatherland were trampled on, tens of millions lost the joy of life Soviet people... in the very near future, a new round of impoverishment is inevitable.”). The second part of the "Appeal" consisted of the promises of the State Emergency Committee: to hold a nationwide discussion of the draft of the new Union Treaty, to restore law and order, to support private entrepreneurship, to solve food and housing problems, etc.
On the same day, Decree No. 1 of the State Emergency Committee was published, which ordered to invalidate laws and decisions of authorities and administrations that contradicted the laws and the Constitution of the USSR, to ban rallies and demonstrations, to establish control over the media, promised to reduce prices, allocate 0, 15 hectares of land and raise wages.
The first reaction to the fact of the creation of the State Emergency Committee in Kazakhstan was expectant and conciliatory. All republican newspapers, radio and television of the republic conveyed to the population all the documents of the State Emergency Committee. According to the chairman of the USSR State Radio and Television L. Kravchenko, N. Nazarbayev prepared a special video with words of recognition and support for the State Emergency Committee. N. Nazarbayev's televised address was sent to Moscow for broadcast on the first channel, but was not shown.
N. Nazarbayev’s appeal “To the people of Kazakhstan” published on August 19 did not contain any assessment of what was happening and was reduced to calls for calm and restraint, it also indicated that a state of emergency was not introduced on the territory of Kazakhstan. In Alma-Ata, on August 19, only a few representatives of democratic parties and movements - Azat, Azamat, Alash, Unity, Nevada-Semey, the SDPK, the Birlesy trade union, and others, gathered a rally and issued a leaflet , in which the incident was called a coup d'état and called on the people of Kazakhstan not to be accomplices in the crime and to bring the organizers of the coup to justice.
On the second day of the putsch, August 20, N. Nazarbayev issued a Statement in which, in cautious terms, but nevertheless definitely expressed his condemnation of the putsch. On the whole, in the republic, many heads of regions and departments actually supported the putschists, having developed, with varying degrees of readiness, measures for the transition to a state of emergency.
On August 21, the coup failed. Gorbachev M. returned to Moscow. General Prosecutor's Office instituted criminal proceedings against the conspirators. After the putsch was defeated, a series of actions by the President and the Parliament of Kazakhstan followed.
On the same day, the Decree of N. Nazarbayev dated August 22 “On the termination of the activities organizational structures political parties, other public associations and mass social movements in the bodies of procurators, state security, internal affairs, police, state arbitration, courts and customs of the Kazakh SSR.
On August 25, the Decree of the President “On the property of the CPSU on the territory of the Kazakh SSR” was issued, according to which the property of the CPSU located on the territory of Kazakhstan was declared the property of the state.
On August 28, the Plenum of the CPC Central Committee was held, at which N. Nazarbayev resigned from his duties as First Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. The plenum adopted two resolutions: on the termination of the activities of the Central Committee of the CPC and on the convening in September 1991 of the XVIII (extraordinary) Congress of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan with the agenda "On the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in connection with the political situation in the country and the CPSU."
On August 30, the Decree of the President of August 28 “On the inadmissibility of combining leadership positions in public authorities and administration with positions in political parties and other socio-political associations.
August 29 - Decree on the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.
In addition, N. Nazarbayev issued decrees “On the formation of the Security Council of the Kazakh SSR”, “On the transfer of state enterprises and organizations of union subordination to the jurisdiction of the government of the Kazakh SSR”, “On the creation of a gold reserve and diamond fund of the Kazakh SSR”, “On ensuring the independence of the foreign economic activity of the Kazakh SSR” .
After August 1991, the process of disintegration of the USSR went faster. In September 1991, the V (extraordinary) Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was held in Moscow. At the suggestion of M. Gorbachev, N. Nazarbayev read out the statement of the President of the USSR and the top leaders of the union republics, which proposed:
On September 5, 1991, the congress adopted the Constitutional Law on Power in the Transitional Period, and then resigned its powers to the State Council of the USSR and the then-unformed Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This desperate attempt by M. Gorbachev to preserve the Center was unsuccessful - most of the republics did not send their representatives to the State Council.
However, the State Council, which consisted of the highest officials republics of the USSR, began its work on September 9, 1991 with the recognition of the independence of the Baltic states. The USSR was officially reduced to 12 republics.
In October, eight union republics signed the Treaty on the Economic Community, but it was not respected. The process of disintegration was growing.
In November 1991, in Novo-Ogarevo, already seven republics (Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan) announced their intention to create a new interstate entity - the Union of Sovereign States (USG). The G7 leaders decided to sign a new Union Treaty before the end of 1991. On November 25, 1991, his initialing was scheduled. But that didn't happen either. Only ML Gorbachev put his signature, and the draft itself was sent for approval to the parliaments of seven republics. It was just an excuse. In fact, everyone was waiting for the outcome of the referendum on the independence of Ukraine scheduled for December 1, 1991.
The population of Ukraine, which in March 1991 unanimously voted for the preservation of the USSR, in December 1991 equally unanimously voted for the complete independence of Ukraine, thereby burying M. Gorbachev's hopes of preserving the USSR.
The impotence of the Center led to the fact that on December 8, 1991, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, near Brest, the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed the Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This Agreement proclaimed that the USSR ceased to exist as a subject of international law. The reaction of the Asian republics to the creation of the CIS was negative. Their leaders perceived the fact of the formation of the CIS as an application for the creation of a Slavic federation and, as a result, the possibility of political confrontation between the Slavic and Turkic peoples.
On December 13, 1991, at an urgently convened meeting in Ashgabat of the leaders of the "five" (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan), the head of Turkmenistan S. Niyazov (according to N. Nazarbayev) proposed to consider the possibility of creating a Confederation of Central Asian States in response to decisions in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
Ultimately, the leaders of the "five" made it clear that they did not intend to join the CIS as affiliated participants, but only as founders, on an equal footing, on "neutral" territory. Common sense prevailed, decency was observed, and on December 21 in Alma-Ata a meeting of the leaders of the "troika" (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine) and the "five" (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan) took place. 
At the Alma-Ata meeting, a Declaration was adopted () on the cessation of the existence of the USSR and the formation of the CIS as part of eleven states.
On December 25, M. Gorbachev signed a Decree on the removal of the functions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and announced his resignation from the post of President of the USSR. December 26, one of the two chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which managed to convene - the Council of Republics adopted a formal Declaration on the cessation of the existence of the USSR.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist.
The participants of the Alma-Ata meeting adopted a package of documents
according to which:
Speaking of the Soviet Union, it must be pointed out that it was a rather difficult period in the history of the state. That is why the reasons for his split are so diverse.
But still, why did the formation of the CIS occur? Many of the following events contributed to this:
1. Social and economic crisis, as a result of which there was a rupture of economic ties between the republics, national conflicts appeared, which contributed to the destruction of the Soviet system.
So, in 1988, the Baltic states, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are heading for an exit from Soviet Union. In the same year, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict begins. And in 1990, all the republics declare sovereignty.
2. The collapse of the CPSU, which caused the creation of a multi-party system in 90-91, in turn, the existing parties proposed to dissolve the Union.
The collapse of the USSR and the formation of the CIS also occurred due to the fact that the union center, not having the strength to retain power in a democratic way, uses military force (in Tbilisi, Baku, Riga, Vilnius and Moscow, as well as in Dushanbe, Ferghana, etc.). All these events were also facilitated by the threat of creating another Union Treaty, the development of which took place in Novo-Ogaryovo by the representatives of the republics.
The discussion of the treaty ended with a vote, as a result of which the majority of those present spoke in favor of preserving the Soviet Union. According to the new project, the disintegration and creation of the SSG, that is, equal sovereign republics, was foreseen. The signing of the treaty was scheduled for August 20, 1991, but many republics refused to do so and announced the creation of independent states.
Many people who at that time held high positions in the Soviet Union advised L. Gorbachev to install in the country, but he refused. Most of the state leadership made an attempt to seize power, it did not allow the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the CIS. However, the coup attempt failed as the populace defended their political freedoms.
This fact contributed to the acceleration of the split of the Union, Gorbachev lost his authority, and Yeltsin gained popularity. Soon eight republics declared their independence.
Already on December 8, the Union Treaty ceased to exist, while Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, during the negotiations, reached an agreement on the creation of the CIS, subsequently they invited other states to join this Commonwealth.
The collapse of the USSR and the formation of the CIS opened up new opportunities for the former republics. Many agreements were signed between (on collective security, on the settlement of integration in various fields, on cooperation and partnership, on the creation of a single financial space). Thus, over the entire period of the existence of the CIS, more than nine hundred were signed regarding defense, security, openness of borders, and so on.
If we consider the consequences of the collapse of the USSR, the following should be noted:
1. The world has become one economic, political and information system.
2. A large number of new states appeared, as well as republics that previously waged fierce wars among themselves.
3. The United States and begin cooperation with the former republics.
Thus, the fall of the Soviet Union had a number of reasons, it was inevitable. Subsequently, instead of republics, independent states appeared with their own economy, politics, culture and standard of living. Although there are negative consequences of education in general, the expression of the will of the masses was heard and achieved.
Exacerbation of interethnic conflicts. In the mid-80s, the USSR included 15 union republics: Armenian, Azerbaijan, Belorussian, Georgian, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Latvian, Lithuanian, Moldavian, RSFSR, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Ukrainian and Estonian. Over 270 million people, representatives of over a hundred nations and nationalities, lived on its territory. According to the official leadership of the country, the national question was resolved in the USSR in principle and the republics were actually aligned in terms of the level of political, socio-economic and cultural development. Meanwhile, the inconsistency of national policy has given rise to numerous contradictions in interethnic relations. Under the conditions of glasnost, these contradictions grew into open conflicts. The economic crisis that engulfed the entire national economic complex exacerbated interethnic tension.
In 1986, mass rallies and demonstrations against Russification took place in Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan). The reason for them was the appointment of G. Kolbin, Russian by nationality, as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. Public discontent has taken open forms in the Baltic republics, Ukraine, and Belarus. The public, led by the popular fronts, demanded the publication of the Soviet-German treaties of 1939, the publication of documents on the deportations of the population from the Baltic states and from the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus during the collectivization period, and on the mass graves of victims of repression near Kurapaty (Belarus). There has been an increase in armed clashes between ethnic conflicts.
In 1988, hostilities began between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory inhabited mainly by Armenians, but which was part of the AzSSR. An armed conflict between Uzbeks and Meskhetian Turks broke out in Fergana. New Uzen (Kazakhstan) became the center of interethnic clashes. The appearance of thousands of refugees is one of the results of the conflicts that have taken place. In April 1989, mass demonstrations took place in Tbilisi for several days. The main demands of the demonstrators were: the implementation of democratic reforms and the independence of Georgia. The Abkhaz population spoke out for revising the status of the Abkhaz ASSR and separating it from the Georgian SSR.
"Parade of Sovereignties". Since the end of the 80s, the movement for secession from the USSR in the Baltic republics has intensified. At first, the opposition forces insisted on the recognition mother tongue official in the republics, on taking measures to limit the number of people moving here from other regions of the country, and on ensuring the real independence of local authorities. Now the demand for the separation of the economy from the all-Union national economic complex has come to the fore in their programs. It was proposed to concentrate the management of the national economy in local administrative structures and recognize the priority of republican laws over all-Union ones. In the autumn of 1988, in the elections to the central and local authorities the authorities of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were defeated by representatives of the popular fronts. They declared their main task to achieve complete independence, the creation of sovereign states. In November 1988, the Declaration of State Sovereignty was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR. Identical documents were adopted by Lithuania, Latvia, the Azerbaijan SSR (1989) and the Moldavian SSR (1990). Following the declarations of sovereignty, the elections of the presidents of the former Soviet republics took place.
On June 12, 1990, the First Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Russia. It legislated the priority of republican laws over union ones. B.N. became the first president of the Russian Federation. Yeltsin, vice-president - A.V. Rutskoy.
The declarations of the Union republics on sovereignty were placed in the center political life the question of the continued existence of the Soviet Union. The IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (December 1990) spoke in favor of preserving the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and its transformation into a democratic federal state. The congress adopted a resolution "On general concept union treaty and the procedure for its conclusion. "The document noted that the basis of the renewed Union would be the principles set forth in the republican declarations: the equality of all citizens and peoples, the right to self-determination and democratic development, territorial integrity. In accordance with the decision of the congress, an all-Union referendum was held to solving the problem of preserving the renewed Union as a federation of sovereign republics.76.4% of the total number of persons participating in the vote were in favor of preserving the USSR.
The end of the political crisis. In April-May 1991, negotiations were held with M.S. Gorbachev with the leaders of nine union republics on the issue of a new union treaty. All participants in the talks supported the idea of creating a renewed Union and signing such an agreement. His project called for the creation of the Union of Sovereign States (USG) as a democratic federation of equal Soviet sovereign republics. Changes were planned in the structure of government and administration, the adoption of a new Constitution, and a change in the electoral system. The signing of the agreement was scheduled for August 20, 1991.
The publication and discussion of the draft of a new union treaty deepened the split in society. Adherents of M.S. Gorbachev saw in this act an opportunity to reduce the level of confrontation and prevent danger civil war in the country. The leaders of the "Democratic Russia" movement put forward the idea of signing a temporary treaty for up to one year. During this time, it was proposed to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly and to transfer to it for decision the question of the system and procedure for the formation of all-Union authorities. A group of social scientists protested against the draft treaty. The document prepared for signing was regarded as the result of the capitulation of the center to the demands of the national separatist forces in the republics. Opponents of the new treaty rightly feared that the dismantling of the USSR would cause the disintegration of the existing national economic complex and deepen the economic crisis. A few days before the signing of a new union treaty, opposition forces attempted to put an end to the reform policy and stop the collapse of the state.
On the night of August 19, the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev was removed from power. A group of statesmen declared that it was impossible for M.S. Gorbachev, due to his state of health, to perform presidential duties. A state of emergency was introduced in the country for a period of 6 months, rallies and strikes were prohibited. The creation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR was announced. It included Vice-President G.I. Yanaev, Prime Minister B.C. Pavlov, KGB Chairman V.A. Kryuchkov, Minister of Defense D.T. Yazov and other representatives of power structures. The GKChP declared its tasks to overcome the economic and political crisis, interethnic and civil confrontation and anarchy. Behind these words was the main task: the restoration of the order that existed in the USSR before 1985.
Moscow became the center of the August events. Troops were brought into the city. A curfew was set. The general population, including many employees of the party apparatus, did not support the members of the State Emergency Committee. President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin urged citizens to support the legally elected authorities. The actions of the GKChP were regarded by him as an unconstitutional coup. The transfer was announced Russian President all all-union executive bodies located on the territory of the republic.
On August 22, members of the GKChP were arrested. One of the decrees of B.N. Yeltsin stopped the activities of the CPSU. On August 23, its existence as a ruling state structure was put an end to.
The events of August 19-22 brought the collapse of the Soviet Union closer. At the end of August, Ukraine announced the creation of independent states, and then other republics.
In December 1991, a meeting of the leaders of the three sovereign states of Russia (BN Yeltsin), Ukraine (L. Kravchuk) and Belarus (S. Shushkevich) took place in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (BSSR). On December 8, they announced the termination of the union treaty of 1922 and the termination of the activities of the state structures of the former Union. At the same time, an agreement was reached on the creation of the CIS Commonwealth of Independent States. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist. In December of the same year, eight more former republics joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (Alma-Ata Agreement).
"Perestroika", conceived and carried out by some of the party and state leaders with the aim of democratic changes in all spheres of society, has ended. Its main result was the collapse of the once mighty multinational state, completion Soviet period development in the history of the Fatherland. In the former republics of the USSR, presidential republics were formed and operated. Among the leaders of sovereign states were many former party and Soviet workers. Each of the former Soviet republics independently searched for ways out of the crisis. In the Russian Federation, this task was to be solved by President B.N. Yeltsin and the democratic forces supporting him.
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Kazakh National Agrarian University
Department: Social disciplines
Performed)_______________________________
Checked by: ______________________________
Almaty 2010
Introduction
Chapter I. Disintegration processes in the USSR
1. Confrontation between the center and the republics
2. Nationalism and separatism. Parade of Sovereignties
3. Trying to strengthen the allied power. Novoogarevsky process
Chapter II. The collapse of the USSR
1. Resumption of the Novoogarevsky process
2. Draft contract OSSG
3. Creation of the CIS
Chapter III. Formation and development of the CIS
1. Reasons for integration
2. Our homeland - the CIS
3. Commonwealth documents
Conclusion
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
In December 1991, the Alliance of Russian Socialist Republics ceased to exist. Several republics that were previously part of the Soviet Federation announced the development of on-site former USSR new inter public education- Commonwealth of Independent Countries.
Disintegration processes began in the Russian Union already in the mid-1980s. During this period, in the conditions of the weakening of the ideological dictate and the omnipotence of the CPSU, a crisis of the national-state structure of the country manifested itself. It turned out that there are many ethnic conflicts in the country, which surfaced in the atmosphere of openness (for example, the Georgian-Abkhaz, Armenian-Azerbaijani). Nationalist movements were gaining strength in the republics, which were partly supported by the republican administration, which feared for its fate in the light of the uncertain prospects of the CPSU. In a number of republics, relations between the titular civilizations and the Russians escalated. The administration of the Russian Union attempted to bring the nationalist movements under control by encouraging "the growth of the state consciousness of all nations." But, as it turns out, the government of the country did not have a program for solving state problems, the ability to respond in time and perfectly to the aggravation of ethnic conflicts. As a result, armed clashes escalated into interethnic wars. Attempts to solve the problem of nationalism with the help of troops did not lead to positive results, and even more pushed the national movements to fight for secession from the USSR.
The growing economic crisis contributed to the weakening of the union. M. Gorbachev and the central government, obviously unable to cope with the task of overcoming the economic recession and reforming the economy, every year lost authority both among the people and with the administration of the union republics.
The center failed to develop a new unifying ideology to replace the outdated communist one. As a result of all this, the state center, left without a supranational idea, objectively worked against one country.
In this work, we will try to trace the main stages of the collapse of the USSR and the establishment of new relationships between the former Russian republics within the CIS.
CHAPTER I. DISINTEGRATION PROCESSES IN THE USSR
Nationalism and separatism appeared in the first years of perestroika. On December 17-19, 1986, in Alma-Ata, under the pretext that Kolbin was appointed to the post of first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan instead of Kunaev, thousands of young Kazakhs made a mess. Two Russian combatants died, more than a thousand people turned to the medical institution for help. Troops were used to restore order. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region has escalated into a war. All attempts to stop this conflict came to nothing.
Along with spontaneous manifestations of nationalism, nationalist organizations, the so-called Popular Fronts, were created. The movement for national independence gained greater momentum in the Baltic republics.
One of the forms of this struggle was the criticism of Russian history. In August 1987, in connection with the anniversary of the conclusion of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact, demonstrations were held in the Baltic states demanding the publication of hidden protocols and telling the public about mass departations in Stalin's time. On November 16, 1988, the Supreme Council of Estonia approved changes and additions to the Constitution of the Republic, allowing its highest authorities to suspend the laws of the USSR. A declaration on the sovereignty of the republic was immediately adopted. On November 17-18, the Supreme Council of Lithuania introduced an addition to the Constitution on granting the status of a municipal language to the Lithuanian language. Similar additions were made to the Constitutions of Estonia (December 1988) and Latvia (May 1989). In 1989, the Popular Fronts of the Baltic States declared the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact illegal, and, consequently, the inclusion of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the USSR was illegal. V. Landsbergis, the leader of the Lithuanian People's Front "Sąjūdis", announced in the "Manifesto of Lithuanian Freedom" that his organization aims to seize power in the republic and proclaim its complete independence. The same goals were proclaimed by the Popular Fronts of Estonia and Latvia.
In April 1989, a rally was held in Tbilisi under the slogans "Independence of Georgia" and "Down with the Russian Empire." The government of Georgia was confused. The Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Republic appealed to the Central Committee of the CPSU with a request to introduce a state of emergency. It was decided to send troops to Tbilisi. On the night of April 8-9, the rally was dispersed by troops. 16 people died. These actions gave a powerful impetus to the development of the state movement in Georgia.
In May-June 1989, the First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was held. At it, the more radical deputies demanded the dismantling of the "unitary imperial state" and the formation of a new voluntary federation. But at this congress, representatives of state movements did not achieve support for their own demands.
Having suffered a defeat at the congress, the nationalists tried to resolve the issue of independence in the Supreme Soviets of their own republics. The political struggle in the republics reached unusual sharpness. Republican communist parties tried to resist the state movements that were gaining strength, but they lost their former influence and solidity, and the Lithuanian Communist Party split into two independent parties. The zeal of the management of some republican communist parties to rely on the support of the center undermined their authority and played into the hands of the nationalists. The results of the elections to the Supreme Soviets of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia turned out to be bad for the communists. In the Supreme Soviets of these republics, the majority were supporters of state independence, who began to decide steps to secede from the USSR. But even in the republics in which the Communists received most of the votes in the elections, the Supreme Soviets, one after another, began to adopt Declarations of State Sovereignty, proclaiming, first of all, the supremacy of republican laws over union laws.
The so-called "parade of sovereignties" and "war of laws" began in the country. On June 12, 1990, a declaration on the municipal sovereignty of the RSFSR was adopted ("for" - 907 deputies, "against" - 13, "abstained" - 9), on July 16 a declaration on the sovereignty of Ukraine, on July 27 - a declaration on the sovereignty of Belarus. In August, the decision to declare sovereignty was taken by the Supreme Council of Armenia, in October - by the Supreme Councils of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In June of the same year, at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR, it was decided to stop funding the activities of the KGB and the military commissariat of the ESSR from the republican budget. In August, the session of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR decided to stop the Decree of the President of the Russian Union on the territory of the republic "On the prohibition of the creation of armed formations not provided for by the legislation of the USSR, and the seizure of weapons in the variants of its illegal storage."
In September, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Ukraine by a special decree banned the sale of agricultural products beyond the borders of the republic in excess of established dimensions her export. At the end of 1990, our Motherland decided to reduce contributions to the union budget by 5 times. On July 21, 1990, on the day of the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of Russian power in Lithuania and Latvia, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Lithuania published a statement in which July 21 was assessed as "a day of resentment, shame and misfortune." The Supreme Council of Latvia announced the declaration of the Seimas dated July 21, 1940 "On the entry of Latvia into the USSR", which is no longer valid from the moment of its adoption.
Sovereignization took place not only in the union, but also in the autonomous republics. In the RSFSR, the Mongolian, Bashkir, Kalmyk, and Chuvash autonomous republics declared their own municipal sovereignty. In Moldova, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Russian Socialist Republic and the Gagauz Republic were proclaimed as part of the renewed USSR.
In the spring of 1990, the Supreme Soviets of the Baltic republics adopted declarations of independence. The Russian Alliance was on the verge of collapse. The allied authorities, who did not want to expand the rights and independence of the republics, tried to suspend the processes of sovereignization.
It turned out to be problematic for the center to do this with the help of military force. In the options for introducing troops, the country's administration acted inconsistently and indecisively. Tbilisi actions in 1989, and then tests by force to prevent the Baltic republics from the USSR (the clashes between protesters and OMON units in January 1991 in Vilnius and Riga; 14 people were killed in the capital of Lithuania), ended in casualties and attempts by the political administration to shift all the blame on the military. M. Gorbachev stated that he was not informed about the upcoming military operations. Regarding the events in the Baltic states, the President of the USSR made an ambiguous statement, from which it followed that the clashes occurred spontaneously, the military acted without instructions from above: "The events that took place in Vilnius and Riga are by no means an expression of the strip of presidential power for which That is why I resolutely reject all speculations, all suspicions and slander because of what... Actions in the Baltics appeared in a situation of the most severe crisis: illegal acts, gross violation of civil rights, discrimination against people of other nationalities, irresponsible behavior towards the army, servicemen and their families have created that environment, that atmosphere where such clashes and massacres can simply arise on the most unexpected occasions.This is where the source of the catastrophe happened, and not in which mythical orders from above ... As the President, I see the main task in not allow the confrontation to escalate, restore the situation ... At the same time , no unauthorized acts on the part of the troops are unacceptable. "*
In the spring of 1991, the allied authorities tried to exert forceful pressure on the administration of Russia. On the opening day of the Third Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR, troops were sent to Moscow to support the removal of B. Yeltsin from the post of chairman of the Supreme Soviet, which was being prepared at the congress by communist deputies. But it had the exact opposite effect. The removal of Yeltsin did not take place. Moreover, it was decided to introduce the post of president in the RSFSR. M. Gorbachev was obliged to admit his mistake. The troops were withdrawn from the capital.
The confrontation between the Russian and allied authorities played a crucial role in the fate of the USSR. Almost all the republics did not decide on radical steps, waiting for how the struggle in Moscow would end. Affairs management of Russia and the Union began to escalate after Russia adopted a declaration of sovereignty. The intensification of the confrontation between them was facilitated by different vision further economic and political transformations in the country. Russian management did not hide his own zeal to transform the economy on a market basis, to put an end to the autocracy of the CPSU. The conservatives who dominated the allied power structures opposed this. The specifics of this confrontation lay in the fact that both the liberals, as B. Yeltsin was called by the Russian authorities, and the conservatives proceeded from the premise that perestroika had reached a dead end and it was necessary to urgently change the course of reforms. The conservatives called for a return to socialist, class values, while the liberals called for bourgeois ones. Both those and the rest subjected M. Gorbachev to strong criticism.
M. Gorbachev was obliged to maneuver between these two last points of view, not daring to resort to firm measures to restore the former USSR or break with the CPSU and embark on radical market reforms. In order to strengthen the central government and strengthen his own position, Gorbachev took the initiative to introduce the post of President of the USSR. The presidential elections were held on March 15, 1990 at the III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. M. Gorbachev became president, as expected. But the increase in power status could not save him from the loss of authority among the people. In addition, the election of Gorbachev as president at a congress, and not by popular vote, deprived him of the necessary legitimacy, which severely doomed his presidential activity to failure.
As president, M. Gorbachev focused his efforts primarily on preserving the Union, agreeing to some concessions to the republics, to signing a new union contract. Perhaps he had no other choice. According to some estimates, Gorbachev had one chance to maintain himself as an influential political figure - to successfully complete the process of reforming the USSR and conclude a new alliance agreement.
One way or another, but M. Gorbachev sought to preserve the Alliance as a Federation, to throw very huge opportunities behind the center, to sign the Union Contract as soon as possible. In the middle of November 1990, the president of the USSR, at a meeting of the governing union republics, proposed an 8-point program to bring the USSR out of the economic and political crisis. Most of the proposals were focused on strengthening, expanding and concentrating the supreme executive power in the USSR. It was supposed to transform the Federation Council into a permanent body, consisting of the governing republics, to reorganize the entire executive power, subordinating it specifically to the president. In addition, take urgent measures to strengthen the rule of law, social protection of certain categories of people, etc. The leaders of the republics did not approve of this plan.
M. Gorbachev made another attempt to strengthen the central government at the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. The Congress endowed the President with additional opportunities. Namely, he received the right to specifically manage the government, headed the Federation Council and the USSR Security Council. The post of vice-president was introduced, to which G. Yanaev was appointed.
But in reality, the central government not only did not strengthen, but weakened day by day. In the data published in April 1991 on the situation in the country, it is indicated that less than 40% of the planned cash receipts from the republics fell into the union budget. In this situation M. Gorbachev decided to appeal to the people. On March 17, 1991, a referendum was held on the preservation of the Russian Union. The population of 9 union republics took part in it. Most of them voted for the preservation of the renewed Union.
The results of the referendum prompted Gorbachev to intensify the negotiation process on reforming the union country. But time has already been lost. Some republics, firmly oriented towards secession from the Union, did not take a role in the negotiations.
These negotiations, which began in April 1991, were called the Novoogarevsky process, after the name of the residence of the President of the USSR near Moscow, where they took place. 9 union republics (RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan) and the union center took part in the Novoogarevo process as an independent participant in the discussions.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a state that existed from 1922 to 1991 in Europe and Asia.
After World War II, the USSR, along with the United States, was a superpower. The Soviet Union dominated the world socialist system and was also a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The collapse of the USSR was characterized by a sharp confrontation between representatives of the central union authorities and the newly elected local authorities (Supreme Soviets, presidents of the union republics). In 1989-1990, all republican councils adopted declarations of state sovereignty, some of them - declarations of independence. On March 17, 1991, in 9 of the 15 republics of the USSR, an All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR was held, in which two-thirds of the citizens voted for the preservation of the renewed union. But the central authorities failed to stabilize the situation. The failed coup d'etat of the GKChP was followed by the official recognition of the independence of the Baltic republics. After the All-Ukrainian referendum on independence, where the majority of the population voted for the independence of Ukraine, the preservation of the USSR as a state entity became virtually impossible, as stated in the Agreement on the Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, signed on December 8, 1991 by the heads of the three union republics - Yeltsin from the RSFSR ( Russian Federation), Kravchuk from Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) and Shushkevich from the Republic of Belarus (BSSR). The USSR officially ceased to exist on December 26, 1991. At the end of 1991 the Russian Federation was recognized as the successor state USSR in international legal relations and took his place in the UN Security Council.
The collapse of the USSR -- the processes of systemic disintegration that took place in the economy (national economy), social structure, social and political sphere of the Soviet Union, which led to the demise of the USSR on December 26, 1991.
The collapse of the USSR led to the independence of 15 republics of the USSR and their appearance on the world political arena as independent states.
Causes and prerequisites for the collapse of the USSR
If we summarize what researchers and politicians usually point to, then it will be possible to single out the following objective and subjective factors that led to the collapse of a great state in the recent past.
First, these are centrifugal factors historical order. These should include, first of all, the ways and means of forming the Russian state.
Systematically, methodically over the course of several centuries, expanding its borders mainly through the seizure and conquest of new territories and the forcible subjugation of new peoples, the Russian Empire, like any other, initially carried a powerful charge of self-destruction, self-disintegration. All it needed was a favorable moment for it to happen. Such a moment happened twice in the 20th century: in the late 10s-early 20s and in the late 80s-early 90s. In each of these cases, a sharp weakening of the central government was immediately used by all non-Russian peoples in order, if not to get rid of the diktat of the Center, then at least to noticeably weaken it. The peculiarity of the second case is that the leadership of the RSFSR also spoke out against the "hated Center".
Some of the goals of the formation of the USSR and the specific practice of Stalin's national policy can also be attributed to the central factors of a historical nature. In addition, many peoples and especially national elites did not like the class and, in general, very expensive foreign policy line of Moscow, associated with international support in the international arena for the struggle of peoples against imperialism, capitalism and colonialism for socialism. All this repulsed Moscow, increased dissatisfaction with its political line and, in the final analysis, abundantly nourished centrifugal tendencies.
But if until a certain historical moment the peoples of the USSR and their elites were forced to put up with their subordinate position, then as their level of socio-economic development increased, accompanied by the growth of national self-consciousness, the accumulation of political experience by the elites, their desire to expand and strengthen their rights grew, often met with resistance from the center. Opposition and confrontation between the two forces led to an increase in confrontation, to an increase in tension between the Center and the republics, the further, the more striving to improve their status. And if in the 60s and 70s the central party and state authorities decided to renounce unitary relations and switched in practice to truly federal relations with strong elements of a confederation, then the disintegration of the USSR would certainly not have happened.
In addition to the historical factors mentioned above, the following circumstances also played an important role in the collapse of the USSR. First, the ever-increasing lag of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries from the liberal-democratic states of the West and East. The system of state socialism was more and more obviously losing the competition to its main rival, the liberal-democratic system, primarily in terms of the living standards of the population. This discredited socialism, prompted us to think about the reasons for lagging behind, "to look for new ways of development." In this situation, liberation from the shackles and dictates of Moscow, the acquisition of genuine sovereignty was considered by many national republics almost as a panacea for all ills.
In addition to the above reasons, which were of an internal nature, external factors also played an important (but, from my point of view, not the main) role in the collapse of the USSR. This is, first of all, the systematic, purposeful massive anti-Soviet, anti-communist propaganda of Western intelligence services, the comprehensive support of nationalist forces and centrifugal tendencies in the USSR. Superimposed on other factors mentioned above, external factors accelerated the process, which in the fall of 1991 became not only very fast, but also difficult to control. Only the unified will of the Center and the republics could take control of the situation. But there was no such will. The political will, on the contrary, was fragmented and directed mainly against the Center. In this situation, the decision of the "troika" to terminate the union treaty of December 30, 1922 and create the Commonwealth of Independent States was justified and continues to be justified by them as inevitable, as the only true and possible at that time, as a decision that brought out the problem of relations between the union republics and the central power from a dead end. B. Yeltsin, in his book "Notes of the President", published in 1994, and L. Kravchuk, the President of Ukraine at that time, and S. Shushkevich, the then Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus, consider it exactly this way.
What did the destruction of the USSR lead to, what did the creation of the CIS give, were the hopes that were placed on this formation in December 1991 justified?
In short, the blow dealt to the USSR in August, and then in December 1991, was so strong and comprehensive that practically all the Union republics that were part of it, like many millions of their inhabitants, still cannot recover from it. It could not be otherwise, if one does not forget that practically all the main agreements reached in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on December 8, 1991 were subsequently ignored by all CIS countries. Neither the decision "on cooperation in conducting economic reform", neither the desire to "preserve a single monetary unit - the ruble", nor the agreement "to take under joint control the issue of money, to carry out the same type of budget, tax policy, to coordinate foreign economic policy, to ensure "each other freedom of transit", nor the decision "on the timing of price liberalization from January 2", on ensuring the unity of the military-strategic space, on the creation of a defensive alliance "with a unified command of strategic armed forces", nor other vital for each individual republic and for all together, the decisions were never implemented and remained essentially declarations of intent. Although during the six years of the existence of the CIS, many documents have been signed that were supposed to promote progress along the path of integration, centrifugal disintegration trends are still developing in the post-Soviet space, and the former "brothers of the united Soviet family of peoples" are moving further and further away from each other, although they do kind of getting closer. In general, there was little benefit from the creation of the CIS, and this is already recognized in the Russian government, not to mention the governments of other republics. In particular, V. Serov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government, who oversees relations with the CIS states in the government, stated at the end of February 1997 that less than a tenth of more than 800 agreements signed by Russia with the CIS countries are in force. Serov's conclusion is quite categorical: "Russia is catastrophically losing its influence in these countries." Another Russian statesman, former Russian Minister for Cooperation with the CIS Countries A. Tuleev, characterizes the state of affairs in the Commonwealth even more critically. The trouble is, Tuleev believes, that the integration processes in the post-Soviet space "have no mechanisms for execution." According to the former minister, there is no such mechanism in the Treaty on the Union of Russia and Belarus, signed on April 2, 1997.
If the form of the commonwealth is ineffective for countries and peoples that were once part of a single state, then the question arises: what other form will be effective? Is there such a form at all? Is it not too late and not utopian to talk about some new forms?
In my opinion, the issue of the future structure and organization of the post-Soviet space will be decided taking into account the pragmatic vital interests of the former Soviet republics. What are these interests? From my point of view, they consist in a single economic and military-strategic space, a single defense and a single armed forces, a single monetary unit (let's say that, by analogy with the "euro" introduced in the EU, it will be "eaz"), in general in everything that was supposed to be carried out by agreement in Belovezhskaya Pushcha and which is more in line with the confederal form of the device, and not the form of an amorphous community.
In a word, it is economic, financial, defense and other interests that will push and even force the ruling circles of the former Soviet republics to advance along the path of integration. And the more the economies of the post-Soviet republics improve, the more their need for strong, stable and full-scale economic, financial, scientific, technical and other ties with countries near and far abroad will grow stronger. If the moment is not missed (the economic revival in the post-Soviet space is just beginning), if one shows the desire and will, economic and other relations can not only be restored to the same extent, but also developed on a new basis.
But this will take many years and effort. And this, most likely, will happen already with a new generation of politicians, which will not be burdened with the old baggage of mutual grievances and claims and which will put at the forefront all their own foreign policy the vital interests of their peoples, not the elites, and rational pragmatism.
