The rise in nationalism

Gorbachev's reforms
- purges --> getting rid of the Brezhnevites and purge of local leaders he thought were corrupt was followed by his appointments of his own supporters which tended to be Russian --> this sparked resentment in the Republics
- economic decline --> livings standards decreased in the Republics around the time that Russian leaders took over so they blamed them
- Glasnost --> exposed how ethnic minorities had been attacked, showed how much better the West was and allowed nationalists groups to publish propaganda
Growing unrest
- 1988 --> nationalist protests broke out in Azerbaijan between Armenian and Azerbaijani nationalists
- 1989 --> Uzbeks massacred the Muslim minority of Meskhetians --> Soviet authorities were unable to restore peace
- 1989 --> Georgian nationalists protested against the rights of the Abkhazian minority --> Soviet authorities used force to restore peace but their actions were called the Tbilisi Massacre
- Nationalism also grew in Russia + Chernobyl revelations led to a rise in environmentalist groups
- 1988 --> "Popular Fronts" emerged in the Baltic States which were dedicated to gaining independence
The Sinatra Doctrine 1989
- Gorbachev renounced the USSR's "right" to intervene in the affairs of other socialist nations
- he said they should find their own path to Communism
- led to revolutions across Eastern Europe culminating in the destruction of the Berlin Wall in Nov 1989
Democratisation
- allowed nationalists to organise themselves, win elections and assert their desire for independence
- March 1990 --> Parliament of Lithuania declare themselves independent --> Gorbachev calls it illegal and puts economic sanctions on them (lifted in the summer) but there was no resolution to the issue
- May 1990 --> Yeltsin insists Russian laws are superior to Soviet laws
Baltic independence
- Estonia --> declare sovereignty in Nov 1988
- Lithuania --> declare independence in March 1990, when economic sanctions failed force was used and 14 people were killed --> Ukrainian miners organised protests and Yeltsin told Red Army to disobey orders + began making Russian Army
Treaty negotiations
- Gorbachev proposed a new treaty in 1990 with a more decentralised union to be signed on the 21st August 1991
The coup
- 18th August --> 8 senior officials announced the establishment of the Emergency Committee to replace Gorbachev's government
- Yeltsin headed resistance to the coup, demanding Gorbachev be brought back (had the support of the army)
- Coup collapsed on the 21st August
Break-up of the USSR
- Yeltsin's authority strengthened by his role in the coup --> 23rd August he suspended the Communist Party and banned it on the 6th Nov
- Gorbachev's authority was weakened as he stuck by the Party after the coup so the public lost faith in him
- Fears that he would reverse his earlier reforms, more Republics declared their independence
Independence
- Gorbachev tried to save the USSR
- 1 Dec 1991 --> Ukraine votes for independence
- 21st Dec 1991 --> Yeltsin and leaders of Ukraine and Belarus signed the Minsk Agreement which replaced the USSR with CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)

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Economic weaknesses of the USSR