collapse of the Soviet Union

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Boris Yeltsin and the collapse of the Soviet Union

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1922–91

Mikhail Gorbachev

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collapse of the Soviet Union

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collapse of the Soviet Union: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	dissolution of the Soviet Union
Date	August 18, 1991 - December 31, 1991
Location	Russia • Soviet Union
Participants	Armenia • Belarus • Estonia • Georgia • Kazakhstan • Latvia • Lithuania • Moldova • Russia • Ukraine
Context	Cold War • 1991 Soviet coup attempt

Photos and Videos

Boris Yeltsin and the collapse of the Soviet Union

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1922–91

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

collapse of the Soviet Union

Commonwealth of Independent States

How Mikhail Gorbachev helped end the Cold War and unite Europe

Mikhail Gorbachev: From farmer to statesman

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Topics

KGB

Timeline

Harry Truman's presidency: World War II, the atomic bomb, and the Cold War

Truman Doctrine

March 12, 1947

George C. Marshall

Marshall Plan

April 1948 - December 1951

Berlin blockade and airlift

Berlin blockade

June 24, 1948 - May 12, 1949

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

Warsaw Pact

May 14, 1955 - July 1, 1991

Francis Gary Powers

U-2 Incident

May 5, 1960 - May 17, 1960

Bay of Pigs invasion

Bay of Pigs invasion

April 17, 1961

Brandenburg Gate

Berlin crisis of 1961

August 1961

Kennedy announces U.S. naval blockade of Cuba

Cuban missile crisis

October 22, 1962 - November 20, 1962

John F. Kennedy: Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

August 5, 1963

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

1969 - 1979

Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions

October 1973 - February 9, 1989

Korean Air Lines flight 007

September 1, 1983

Reagan, Ronald; Gorbachev, Mikhail

Reykjavík summit of 1986

October 11, 1986 - October 12, 1986

Boris Yeltsin and the collapse of the Soviet Union

collapse of the Soviet Union

August 18, 1991 - December 31, 1991

Key People

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

president of Soviet Union

Boris Yeltsin

Boris Yeltsin

president of Russia

Shevardnadze, Eduard

Eduard Shevardnadze

Soviet foreign minister and president of Georgia

Aleksandr Nikolayevich Yakovlev

Soviet economist and official

Oleg Baklanov

Soviet politician

Quiz

Wreckage of the U-2 spy plane shot down inside the Soviet Union in 1960. U-2 spy plane incident, U-2 affair, Cold War.

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Facts You Should Know: The Cold War Quiz