Republics of The Soviet Union - The Republics and The Dissolution of The Soviet Union

The Republics and The Dissolution of The Soviet Union

In the final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics and they were called Soviet republics. The republics played an important role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, glasnost and perestroika were intended to revive the Soviet Union. However, they had a number of effects which caused the power of the republics to increase. First, political liberalization allowed the governments within the republics to gain legitimacy by invoking democracy, nationalism or a combination of both. In addition, liberalization led to fractures within the party hierarchy which reduced Soviet control over the republics. Perestroika allowed the governments of the republics to control economic assets in their republics and withhold funds from the central government. Finally, by December 15th, all 15 republics declared independence.

Throughout the late 1980s, the Soviet government attempted to find a new structure which would reflect the increasing power of the republics. These efforts proved unsuccessful, and in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed as the republic governments seceded. The republics then all became independent states, with the post-Soviet governments in most cases consisting largely of the government personnel of the former Soviet republics.