In how many states USSR was divided?

Question

Write their names along with the dates of their partion.

Answer 1

After the failed outsing of Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, the USSR was officially dissolved into 15 nations: Russia, Ukraine, Byelarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrghizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Some of those nations claimed independence earlier, but the Soviet government did not recognized those claims and neither did the rest of the world.

The process, however, did not stop there. There are a few ongoing disputes over whether some regions of the newly independent states should be independent nations. Chechnya's bid for independence from Russia is probably the best known; a similar conflict goes on in South Osetia, which is currently a part of Georgia.

Answer 2

States and geographical groupings

The post-Soviet states are typically divided into the following five groupings. Each of these regions has its own common set of traits, owing not only to geographic and cultural factors but also to that region's history in relation to Russia.

Baltic states:
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania

Central Asia:
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

The Caucasus:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Eastern European states:
Belarus
Moldova
Ukraine

Russia:
Russia
Russia, because of its uniquely dominant role in the region, is generally treated as a category unto itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_USSR

Answer 3

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia.

Answer 4

Initially there were four. Eventually, there were fifteen.
Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Estonian SSR, Georgian SSR, Kazakh SSR, Kyrgyz SSR, Latvian SSR, Lithuanian SSR, Moldavian SSR, Russian SFSR, Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR, Ukrainian SSR, and Uzbek SSR. Now go look up the dates. And be sure to note on your homework that you asked for help on the internet.

Answer 5

There were fifteen different "republics" withing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The largest of which was the RSFSR (Russia) there were also some other types of territories that were under the RSFSR.

Answer 6

Show: All answersOldest to newestNewest to oldestRated highest to lowestTotal rating 0 or higherTotal rating higher than -2Total rating higher than -5
Answer hidden due to its low rating Hide

MOM KNOW…Member since: 09 June 2006

Total points: 19,618 (Level 6)

Points earned this week: 572
14%Best answer
5209 answers
MOM KNOWS EVERYTHING
0
Initially there were four. Eventually, there were fifteen.
Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Estonian SSR, Georgian SSR, Kazakh SSR, Kyrgyz SSR, Latvian SSR, Lithuanian SSR, Moldavian SSR, Russian SFSR, Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR, Ukrainian SSR, and Uzbek SSR. Now go look up the dates. And be sure to note on your homework that you asked for help on the internet.

18 hours ago - Report Abuse
2 0

by MOM KNOWS EV...
18 hours ago Answer hidden due to its low rating Show Total rating: 2 2 0

Answer hidden due to its low rating Hide

a a aMember since: 25 October 2006

Total points: 3,389 (Level 4)

Points earned this week: 1055
15%Best answer
908 answers
a a a
0
dissolution of the USSR
Gorbachev (L) accused Boris Yeltsin (R), his old rival and Russia's first post-Soviet president, of tearing the country apart out of a desire to advance his own personal interests.
Gorbachev (L) accused Boris Yeltsin (R), his old rival and Russia's first post-Soviet president, of tearing the country apart out of a desire to advance his own personal interests.

On February 7, 1990 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union agreed to give up its monopoly of power. The USSR's constituent republics began to assert their national sovereignty over Moscow, and started a "war of laws" with the central Moscow government, in which the governments of the constituent republics repudiated all-union legislation where it conflicted with local laws, asserting control over their local economies and refusing to pay tax revenue to the central Moscow government. This strife caused economic dislocation, as supply lines in the economy were broken, and caused the Soviet economy to decline further.

The pro-independence movement in Lithuania, Sąjūdis, established on June 3, 1988, caused a visit by Gorbachev in January 1990 to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, which provoked a pro-independence rally of around 250,000 people. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania, led by Chairman of the Supreme Council Vytautas Landsbergis, declared independence. However, the Soviet Army had a strong presence in Lithuania. The Soviet Union initiated an economic blockade of Lithuania and kept troops there "to secure the rights of ethnic Russians."

On March 30, 1990 the Estonian Supreme Council declared Soviet power in Estonia since 1940 to have been illegal, and started a process to reestablish Estonia as an independent state. The process of restoration of independence of Latvia began on May 4, 1990, with a Latvian Supreme Council vote stipulating a transitional period to complete independence.

On January 13, 1991, Soviet troops, along with KGB Spetsnaz group Alfa, stormed the Vilnius TV Tower in Vilnius to suppress the free media. This ended with 14 unarmed Lithuanian civilians dead and hundreds more injured. On the night of July 31, 1991 Russian OMON from Riga, the Soviet military headquarters in the Baltics, assaulted the Lithuanian border post in Medininkai and killed seven Lithuanian servicemen. This further weakened the Soviet Union's position, internationally and domestically.

On March 17, 1991, in a Union-wide referendum 78 % of all voters voted for the retention of the Soviet Union in a reformed form. The Baltics, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova boycotted the referendum. In each of the other nine republics, a majority of the voters supported the retention of the renewed Soviet Union.

On June 12, 1991, Yeltsin won 57% of the popular vote in the democratic elections for the post of president of the Russian SFSR, defeating Gorbachev's preferred candidate, Nikolai Ryzhkov, who won 16% of the vote. In his election campaign, Yeltsin criticized the "dictatorship of the center", but did not suggest the introduction of a market economy. Instead, he said that he would put his head on the railtrack in the event of increased prices. Yeltsin took office on July 10.

[edit] The August Coup

Main article: Soviet coup attempt of 1991

Faced with growing republic separatism, Gorbachev attempted to restructure the Soviet Union into a less centralized state. On August 20, 1991, the Russian SFSR was scheduled to sign the New Union Treaty, which was to convert the Soviet Union into a federation of independent republics with a common president, foreign policy and military. The new treaty was strongly supported by the Central Asian republics, which needed the economic power and common markets of the Soviet Union to prosper. However, the more radical reformists were increasingly convinced that a rapid transition to a market economy was required, even if the eventual outcome included the disintegration of the Soviet state. Disintegration of the USSR also accorded the desire of local authorities, such as Yeltsin's presidency, to establish full power over their territories. In contrast to the reformers' lukewarm approach to the new treaty, the conservatives and remaining patriots of the USSR, still strong within the CPSU and military establishment, were completely opposed to anything which might contribute to the weakening of the Soviet state.

On August 19, 1991, Gorbachev's vice president Gennadi Yanayev, prime minister Valentin Pavlov, defense minister Dmitriy Yazov, KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, and other senior officials acted to prevent the signing of the union treaty by forming the "State Committee on the State Emergency." The "Committee" put Gorbachev (vacationing in Foros, Crimea) under house arrest and attempted to restore the union state. The coup leaders quickly issued an emergency decree suspending political activity and banning most newspapers.

While coup organizers expected some popular support for their actions, the public sympathy in Moscow was largely against them. Thousands of people came out to defend the "White House" (Yeltsin's office), then the symbolic seat of Russian sovereignty. The organizers tried but ultimately failed to arrest Boris Yeltsin, who rallied mass opposition to the coup.

After three days, on August 21, the coup collapsed, the organizers were detained, and Gorbachev returned as president of the Soviet Union. However, Gorbachev's powers were now fatally compromised as neither union nor Russian power structures heeded his commands. Through the autumn of 1991, the Russian government took over the union government, ministry by ministry. In November 1991, Yeltsin issued a decree banning the CPSU throughout the Russian republic. As a result, many former apparatchiks abandoned the Communist Party in favor of positions in new government structures.

After the coup, the Soviet republics accelerated their process towards independence, declaring their sovereignty one by one. Their local authorities started to seize property located on their territory. On September 6, 1991, the Soviet government recognized the independence of the three Baltic states, which the western powers had always held to be sovereign. Yet, in the battle of power, on October 18 Gorbachev and the representatives of 8 republics (excluding Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldavia, Ukraine and the Baltic States) signed an agreement on forming a new economic community. Then on December 1, 1991, Ukraine reaffirmed its independence after a popular referendum wherein 90% of voters opted for independence.

Meanwhile, the situation of the Soviet economy continued to deteriorate. By December 1991, food shortages in central Russia resulted in the introduction of food rationing in the Moscow area for the first time since World War II. However, Gorbachev, as President of the USSR, and his government were still opposed to any rapid market reforms in the country's collapsing economy, such as Yavlinsky's "500 Days" economic program. To break Gorbachev's opposition, Yeltsin decided to disband the Soviet Union in accordance with the Treaty of the Union of 1922 and therefore to remove Gorbachev and the government of the USSR from power. This was seen as a forced measure to save the country from a complete economic collapse and was at the time widely supported by Russia's population. The step was also enthusiastically supported by the governments of Ukraine and Belarus, which were parties of the Treaty of 1922 along with Russia.

[edit] Formation of the CIS and official end of the USSR
Map of the CIS
Map of the CIS

On December 8, 1991, the leaders of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian republics met in Belavezhskaya Pushcha and signed the Belavezha Accords declaring the Soviet Union dissolved and replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Gorbachev described this as a constitutional coup, but it soon became clear that the development could not be halted.

On December 12, 1991, the legislature of the Russian Soviet Republic formally accepted the secession of Russia from the Soviet Union, by ratifying the Belavezha Accords and denouncing the 1922 Treaty on the creation of the Soviet Union.

On December 17, 1991, twelve of the fifteen soviet republics signed the European Energy Charter in the Hague as if they were sovereign states, along with 28 other European countries, the European Community and four non-European countries.
The Soviet flag as it was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time.
The Soviet flag as it was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time.

Doubts remained over the authority of the Belavezha Accords to effect the dissolution of the Soviet Union, since they were signed by only five of the Soviet Republics. However, on December 21, 1991, the representatives of all Soviet Republics, except Georgia, signed the Alma Ata Protocol, confirming the dissolution of the Union and also making several provisions consequential to the extinction of the USSR. Also on that same date, all former Soviet republics, except the three Baltic States, agreed to join the CIS. The documents signed at Alma Ata on December 21 also authorized Russia to succeed the UN membership of the USSR, which meant that Russia would take the USSR seat in the Security Council. On December 24th, 1991, the Soviet Ambassador to the UN delivered to the Secretary General a letter by Russia´s president, Boris Yeltsin, informing him that, in virtue of that agreement, Russia was the successor State to the USSR for the purposes of UN membership. This document was circulated among the other member states of the UN, and, there being no objection, it was declared accepted on December 31.

On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev, yielding to the inevitable, resigned as president of the USSR, declaring the office extinct and ceding all the powers still vested in it to the president of Russia: Yeltsin. On the night of that same day, the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time over the Kremlin. Finally, a day later on December 26, 1991, the Supreme Soviet recognized the extinction of the Union and dissolved itself. By December 31, 1991 all official Soviet institutions had ceased operations as individual republics assumed the central government's role.

[edit] Summary

The four principal elements of the old Soviet system were the hierarchy of soviets, ethnic federalism, state socialism, and Communist Party dominance. Gorbachev's programs of perestroika and glasnost produced radical unforeseen effects that brought that system down. As a means of reviving the Soviet state, Gorbachev repeatedly attempted to build a coalition of political leaders supportive of reform and created new arenas and bases of power. He implemented these measures because he wanted to resolve serious economic problems and political inertia that clearly threatened to put the Soviet Union into a state of long-term stagnation.

But by using structural reforms to widen opportunities for leaders and popular movements in the union republics to gain influence, Gorbachev also made it possible for nationalist, orthodox communist, and populist forces to oppose his attempts to liberalize and revitalize Soviet communism. Although some of the new movements aspired to replace the Soviet system altogether with a liberal democratic one, others demanded independence for the national republics. Still others insisted on the restoration of the old Soviet ways. Ultimately, Gorbachev could not forge a compromise among these forces and the consequence was the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[edit] Post-Soviet restructuring

Main article: History of post-Soviet Russia

In order to restructure the Soviet administrative command system and implement transition to a market-based economy, Yeltsin's shock program was employed within days of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The subsidies to money-losing farms and industries were cut, price controls abolished, ruble moved toward convertibility. New opportunities for Yeltsin's circle and other entrepreneurs to seize the former state property were created thus restructuring old state-owned economy within a few months. After obtaining power, the vast majority of "idealistic" reformers gained huge possessions of state property using their positions in the government and became business oligarchs in a manner that appeared antithetical to an emerging democracy. Existing institutions were conspicuously abandoned prior to the establishment of new legal structures of the market economy such as those governing private property, overseeing financial markets, and enforcing taxation.

Market economists believed that the dismantling of the administrative command system in Russia would raise GDP and living standards by allocating resources more efficiently. They also thought the collapse would create new production possibilities by eliminating central planning, substituting a decentralized market system, eliminating huge macroeconomic and structural distortions through liberalization, and providing incentives through privatization.

Since the USSR's collapse, Russia has faced many problems that free market proponents in 1992 did not expect: among other things, 25% of the population now lives below the poverty line, life expectancy has fallen, birthrates are low, and the GDP has halved. These problems led to a series of crises in the 1990s, which nearly led to election of Yeltsin's Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov, in the 1996 presidential election.

18 hours ago - Report Abuse
0 3

by a a a
18 hours ago Answer hidden due to its low rating Show Total rating: -3 0 3

Answer hidden due to its low rating Hide

baadevoMember since: 26 January 2007

Total points: 530 (Level 2)

Points earned this week:
--%Best answer

baadevo
0
There were fifteen different "republics" withing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The largest of which was the RSFSR (Russia) there were also some other types of territories that were under the RSFSR.

18 hours ago - Report Abuse
0 1

by baadevo
18 hours ago Answer hidden due to its low rating Show Total rating: -1 0 1

Answer hidden due to its low rating Hide

NCMember since: 26 June 2006

Total points: 19,184 (Level 6)

Points earned this week:
--%Best answer

NC
0
After the failed outsing of Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, the USSR was officially dissolved into 15 nations: Russia, Ukraine, Byelarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrghizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Some of those nations claimed independence earlier, but the Soviet government did not recognized those claims and neither did the rest of the world.

The process, however, did not stop there. There are a few ongoing disputes over whether some regions of the newly independent states should be independent nations. Chechnya's bid for independence from Russia is probably the best known; a similar conflict goes on in South Osetia, which is currently a part of Georgia.

17 hours ago - Report Abuse
0 0

by NC
17 hours ago Answer hidden due to its low rating Show Total rating: 0 0 0

Answer hidden due to its low rating Hide

Mansoor …Member since: 23 March 2007

Total points: 103 (Level 1)

Points earned this week:
--%Best answer

Mansoor S
0
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia.

8 hours ago - Report Abuse
0 0

by Mansoor S
8 hours ago Answer hidden due to its low rating Show Total rating: 0 0 0

Answer hidden due to its low rating Hide

cloudyMember since: 02 August 2006

Total points: 9,676 (Level 5)

Points earned this week:
--%Best answer

cloudy
0
States and geographical groupings

The post-Soviet states are typically divided into the following five groupings. Each of these regions has its own common set of traits, owing not only to geographic and cultural factors but also to that region's history in relation to Russia.

Baltic states:
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania

Central Asia:
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

The Caucasus:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Eastern European states:
Belarus
Moldova
Ukraine

Russia:
Russia
Russia, because of its uniquely dominant role in the region, is generally treated as a category unto itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/former_ussr...

6 hours ago - Report Abuse
1 0

Answer 7

dissolution of the USSR
Gorbachev (L) accused Boris Yeltsin (R), his old rival and Russia's first post-Soviet president, of tearing the country apart out of a desire to advance his own personal interests.
Gorbachev (L) accused Boris Yeltsin (R), his old rival and Russia's first post-Soviet president, of tearing the country apart out of a desire to advance his own personal interests.

On February 7, 1990 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union agreed to give up its monopoly of power. The USSR's constituent republics began to assert their national sovereignty over Moscow, and started a "war of laws" with the central Moscow government, in which the governments of the constituent republics repudiated all-union legislation where it conflicted with local laws, asserting control over their local economies and refusing to pay tax revenue to the central Moscow government. This strife caused economic dislocation, as supply lines in the economy were broken, and caused the Soviet economy to decline further.

The pro-independence movement in Lithuania, Sąjūdis, established on June 3, 1988, caused a visit by Gorbachev in January 1990 to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, which provoked a pro-independence rally of around 250,000 people. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania, led by Chairman of the Supreme Council Vytautas Landsbergis, declared independence. However, the Soviet Army had a strong presence in Lithuania. The Soviet Union initiated an economic blockade of Lithuania and kept troops there "to secure the rights of ethnic Russians."

On March 30, 1990 the Estonian Supreme Council declared Soviet power in Estonia since 1940 to have been illegal, and started a process to reestablish Estonia as an independent state. The process of restoration of independence of Latvia began on May 4, 1990, with a Latvian Supreme Council vote stipulating a transitional period to complete independence.

On January 13, 1991, Soviet troops, along with KGB Spetsnaz group Alfa, stormed the Vilnius TV Tower in Vilnius to suppress the free media. This ended with 14 unarmed Lithuanian civilians dead and hundreds more injured. On the night of July 31, 1991 Russian OMON from Riga, the Soviet military headquarters in the Baltics, assaulted the Lithuanian border post in Medininkai and killed seven Lithuanian servicemen. This further weakened the Soviet Union's position, internationally and domestically.

On March 17, 1991, in a Union-wide referendum 78 % of all voters voted for the retention of the Soviet Union in a reformed form. The Baltics, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova boycotted the referendum. In each of the other nine republics, a majority of the voters supported the retention of the renewed Soviet Union.

On June 12, 1991, Yeltsin won 57% of the popular vote in the democratic elections for the post of president of the Russian SFSR, defeating Gorbachev's preferred candidate, Nikolai Ryzhkov, who won 16% of the vote. In his election campaign, Yeltsin criticized the "dictatorship of the center", but did not suggest the introduction of a market economy. Instead, he said that he would put his head on the railtrack in the event of increased prices. Yeltsin took office on July 10.

[edit] The August Coup

Main article: Soviet coup attempt of 1991

Faced with growing republic separatism, Gorbachev attempted to restructure the Soviet Union into a less centralized state. On August 20, 1991, the Russian SFSR was scheduled to sign the New Union Treaty, which was to convert the Soviet Union into a federation of independent republics with a common president, foreign policy and military. The new treaty was strongly supported by the Central Asian republics, which needed the economic power and common markets of the Soviet Union to prosper. However, the more radical reformists were increasingly convinced that a rapid transition to a market economy was required, even if the eventual outcome included the disintegration of the Soviet state. Disintegration of the USSR also accorded the desire of local authorities, such as Yeltsin's presidency, to establish full power over their territories. In contrast to the reformers' lukewarm approach to the new treaty, the conservatives and remaining patriots of the USSR, still strong within the CPSU and military establishment, were completely opposed to anything which might contribute to the weakening of the Soviet state.

On August 19, 1991, Gorbachev's vice president Gennadi Yanayev, prime minister Valentin Pavlov, defense minister Dmitriy Yazov, KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, and other senior officials acted to prevent the signing of the union treaty by forming the "State Committee on the State Emergency." The "Committee" put Gorbachev (vacationing in Foros, Crimea) under house arrest and attempted to restore the union state. The coup leaders quickly issued an emergency decree suspending political activity and banning most newspapers.

While coup organizers expected some popular support for their actions, the public sympathy in Moscow was largely against them. Thousands of people came out to defend the "White House" (Yeltsin's office), then the symbolic seat of Russian sovereignty. The organizers tried but ultimately failed to arrest Boris Yeltsin, who rallied mass opposition to the coup.

After three days, on August 21, the coup collapsed, the organizers were detained, and Gorbachev returned as president of the Soviet Union. However, Gorbachev's powers were now fatally compromised as neither union nor Russian power structures heeded his commands. Through the autumn of 1991, the Russian government took over the union government, ministry by ministry. In November 1991, Yeltsin issued a decree banning the CPSU throughout the Russian republic. As a result, many former apparatchiks abandoned the Communist Party in favor of positions in new government structures.

After the coup, the Soviet republics accelerated their process towards independence, declaring their sovereignty one by one. Their local authorities started to seize property located on their territory. On September 6, 1991, the Soviet government recognized the independence of the three Baltic states, which the western powers had always held to be sovereign. Yet, in the battle of power, on October 18 Gorbachev and the representatives of 8 republics (excluding Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldavia, Ukraine and the Baltic States) signed an agreement on forming a new economic community. Then on December 1, 1991, Ukraine reaffirmed its independence after a popular referendum wherein 90% of voters opted for independence.

Meanwhile, the situation of the Soviet economy continued to deteriorate. By December 1991, food shortages in central Russia resulted in the introduction of food rationing in the Moscow area for the first time since World War II. However, Gorbachev, as President of the USSR, and his government were still opposed to any rapid market reforms in the country's collapsing economy, such as Yavlinsky's "500 Days" economic program. To break Gorbachev's opposition, Yeltsin decided to disband the Soviet Union in accordance with the Treaty of the Union of 1922 and therefore to remove Gorbachev and the government of the USSR from power. This was seen as a forced measure to save the country from a complete economic collapse and was at the time widely supported by Russia's population. The step was also enthusiastically supported by the governments of Ukraine and Belarus, which were parties of the Treaty of 1922 along with Russia.

[edit] Formation of the CIS and official end of the USSR
Map of the CIS
Map of the CIS

On December 8, 1991, the leaders of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian republics met in Belavezhskaya Pushcha and signed the Belavezha Accords declaring the Soviet Union dissolved and replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Gorbachev described this as a constitutional coup, but it soon became clear that the development could not be halted.

On December 12, 1991, the legislature of the Russian Soviet Republic formally accepted the secession of Russia from the Soviet Union, by ratifying the Belavezha Accords and denouncing the 1922 Treaty on the creation of the Soviet Union.

On December 17, 1991, twelve of the fifteen soviet republics signed the European Energy Charter in the Hague as if they were sovereign states, along with 28 other European countries, the European Community and four non-European countries.
The Soviet flag as it was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time.
The Soviet flag as it was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time.

Doubts remained over the authority of the Belavezha Accords to effect the dissolution of the Soviet Union, since they were signed by only five of the Soviet Republics. However, on December 21, 1991, the representatives of all Soviet Republics, except Georgia, signed the Alma Ata Protocol, confirming the dissolution of the Union and also making several provisions consequential to the extinction of the USSR. Also on that same date, all former Soviet republics, except the three Baltic States, agreed to join the CIS. The documents signed at Alma Ata on December 21 also authorized Russia to succeed the UN membership of the USSR, which meant that Russia would take the USSR seat in the Security Council. On December 24th, 1991, the Soviet Ambassador to the UN delivered to the Secretary General a letter by Russia´s president, Boris Yeltsin, informing him that, in virtue of that agreement, Russia was the successor State to the USSR for the purposes of UN membership. This document was circulated among the other member states of the UN, and, there being no objection, it was declared accepted on December 31.

On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev, yielding to the inevitable, resigned as president of the USSR, declaring the office extinct and ceding all the powers still vested in it to the president of Russia: Yeltsin. On the night of that same day, the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time over the Kremlin. Finally, a day later on December 26, 1991, the Supreme Soviet recognized the extinction of the Union and dissolved itself. By December 31, 1991 all official Soviet institutions had ceased operations as individual republics assumed the central government's role.

[edit] Summary

The four principal elements of the old Soviet system were the hierarchy of soviets, ethnic federalism, state socialism, and Communist Party dominance. Gorbachev's programs of perestroika and glasnost produced radical unforeseen effects that brought that system down. As a means of reviving the Soviet state, Gorbachev repeatedly attempted to build a coalition of political leaders supportive of reform and created new arenas and bases of power. He implemented these measures because he wanted to resolve serious economic problems and political inertia that clearly threatened to put the Soviet Union into a state of long-term stagnation.

But by using structural reforms to widen opportunities for leaders and popular movements in the union republics to gain influence, Gorbachev also made it possible for nationalist, orthodox communist, and populist forces to oppose his attempts to liberalize and revitalize Soviet communism. Although some of the new movements aspired to replace the Soviet system altogether with a liberal democratic one, others demanded independence for the national republics. Still others insisted on the restoration of the old Soviet ways. Ultimately, Gorbachev could not forge a compromise among these forces and the consequence was the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[edit] Post-Soviet restructuring

Main article: History of post-Soviet Russia

In order to restructure the Soviet administrative command system and implement transition to a market-based economy, Yeltsin's shock program was employed within days of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The subsidies to money-losing farms and industries were cut, price controls abolished, ruble moved toward convertibility. New opportunities for Yeltsin's circle and other entrepreneurs to seize the former state property were created thus restructuring old state-owned economy within a few months. After obtaining power, the vast majority of "idealistic" reformers gained huge possessions of state property using their positions in the government and became business oligarchs in a manner that appeared antithetical to an emerging democracy. Existing institutions were conspicuously abandoned prior to the establishment of new legal structures of the market economy such as those governing private property, overseeing financial markets, and enforcing taxation.

Market economists believed that the dismantling of the administrative command system in Russia would raise GDP and living standards by allocating resources more efficiently. They also thought the collapse would create new production possibilities by eliminating central planning, substituting a decentralized market system, eliminating huge macroeconomic and structural distortions through liberalization, and providing incentives through privatization.

Since the USSR's collapse, Russia has faced many problems that free market proponents in 1992 did not expect: among other things, 25% of the population now lives below the poverty line, life expectancy has fallen, birthrates are low, and the GDP has halved. These problems led to a series of crises in the 1990s, which nearly led to election of Yeltsin's Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov, in the 1996 presidential election.