communism collapsing in EE → but not the end of USSR / cold war yet
- Jan 1990 → Gorbachev visited Baltic state of Lithuania → part of USSR
- leaders made clear that they wanted independence
- they did not want to be part of USSR
- Gorbachev → uncompromising
- would not allow this
- March → Lithuania declared independence nonetheless.
- through it all → Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin emerged as key figure
Change in Soviet policy from Brezhnev Doctrine to Sinatra Doctrine → saw shift from centralised Moscow control to freedom for EE states to choose their own govt
Series of Events leading to Demise of USSR
| 1. Almost as soon as he returned from Lithuania in 1990 → Gorbachev received → similar demand for independence from soviet republic of Azerbaijan. - responded by sending troops to end rioting there. - also sent troops to Lithuania. - May-Jun → crisis worsened | 2. Reformers within USSR → demanded end to communist party’s domination of govt May → Yeltsin → elected as pres. of Russian republic → largest republic in USSR. Yeltsin made it clear → that he saw no future for USSR. said that many republics in USSR should become independent states. |
| 3. July → Ukraine declared state sovereignty other republics followed. end of 1990 → nobody sure what USSR meant any longer. Jan 1991 → events in Lithuania → turned to bloodshed → soviet troops fired on protesters. April → republic of Georgia → declared its independence | 4. USSR was disintegrating. Gorbachev → struggling to hold it together → but members of communist elite had had enough. Aug 1991 → hard liners and leading military officers → attempted coup to take over USSR. Plotters included → Gorbachev’s PM (Pavlov), head of armed forces (Dimitri Yazov). they held Gorbachev prisoner in his holiday home in Crimea. they sent tanks and troops onto the streets. |
| 5. Huge crowds gathered in Moscow. - they strongly opposed this military coup - Yeltsin became leader of popular opposition. - faced with resistance → plotters lost faith in themselves → coup collapsed. | 6. Last ditch attempt by comm party to save USSR → failed few days later → Gorbachev returned to Moscow. he might have survived coup → but had lost his standing as soviet leader. he had to admit → that eh USSR was finished + he with it televised speech on 29 Dec 1991 → Gorbachev announced his resignation as pres. of USSR + end of USSR. event also signalled end of cold war |