1991 was a far-reaching year in world history, marking the end of a superpower, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The collapse of the Soviet Union not only changed the global political landscape, but also had a profound impact on international relations, the economic order, and cultural ideals.
The collapse of the USSR was not an overnight event, but experienced a long period of internal contradictions and the accumulation of external pressures. At the end of the 80s of the 20th century, the Soviet Union was faced with a serious economic crisis, national strife and the challenges of political reforms. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's "reform and opening-up" policies (known as "glasnost" and "perestroika") aimed at reviving the economy, strengthening democracy, and improving relations with the West, but these reforms also caused deep social upheaval and questioning of the Soviet system.
The year 1991 was a critical turning point. In this year, the ** trend within the Soviet Union intensified, and several union republics began to seek independence. Among them, the three Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - declared independence at the beginning of the year. Subsequently, in August, Ukraine also adopted a declaration of independence. By December, the situation reached a climax.
On December 8, the leaders of the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine signed the Agreement on the Commonwealth of Independent States, announcing the formation of the "Commonwealth of Independent States" (CIS), which effectively marked the end of the Soviet Union as a unified political entity. Just two weeks later, on December 25, 1991, Soviet commander Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation in a televised speech, officially ending his leadership in the Soviet Union. The next day, December 26, the House of Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR held its last meeting and announced the cessation of the existence of the USSR and the official dissolution of the USSR.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all the original 15 union republics became independent sovereign states, of which the Russian Federation inherited most of the territory, resources and international status of the Soviet Union. This historic change has had a wide range of global impacts, including the end of the Cold War, the realignment of the global balance of power, the expansion of the market economy, and the rethinking of communist ideology.
Overall, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a historic milestone that marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new era. This event not only rewrote the world map, but also had a profound impact on international political, economic and social development, and its legacy and lessons are still being reflected on by scholars, politicians and the general public today. The collapse of the Soviet Union