collapse of the Soviet Union

Table of Contents

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Boris Yeltsin and the collapse of the Soviet Union

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1922–91

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

How Mikhail Gorbachev helped end the Cold War and unite Europe

collapse of the Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev: From farmer to statesman

For Students

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.

Comprehension Quiz: Cold War

Read Next

Computer mapping, woman at early 1990s computer

Timeline of the 1990s

Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1922-1991. USSR, Soviet Union.

25th Anniversary of the End of the Soviet Union

President Ronald Reagan deliving his famous speech that challenged the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall, at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, June 12, 1987.

“Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!”: Reagan’s Berlin Speech

Communism - mosaic hammer and sickle with star on the Pavilion of Ukraine at the All Russia Exhibition Centre (also known as VDNKh) in Moscow. Communist symbol of the former Soviet Union. USSR

Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?

Germans from East and West stand on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the November 10, 1989, photo, one day after the wall opened.

Timeline of the 1980s

Discover

Julius Caesar in full Gaius Julius Caesar (100? BCE-44 BCE) statue in Rimini, Italy. Roman general and statesman and dictator

The Time Julius Caesar Was Captured by Pirates

In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.

6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

Albert Einstein in Washington, D.C. c. 1921-1923. Physicist

The Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Science Celebrity

Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

VAN, TURKEY - OCTOBER 25: A building and car ruined during the earthquake of Van-Ercis on October 25, 2011 in Van, Turkey. It is 604 killed and 4152 injured in Van-Ercis Earthquake.

What Is an Aftershock?

Young men throw balloons and glitter from above the mosque at the celebration Eid Al-Fitr after prayers playing with balloons outside of Al-seddeeq mosque, Al-Mansourah, Egypt. 17 July 2015.

Person paying with a credit card using a credit card terminal. Cashless payment, credit card reader

What Is a Cashless Society and How Does It Work?

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

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

KGB

Timeline

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

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.

Comprehension Quiz: Cold War

Thermonuclear hydrogen bomb, code-named MIKE, detonated in the Marshall Islands in the fall of 1952. Photo taken at a height of 12,000 feet, 50 miles from the detonation site. (Photo 3 of a series of 8) Atomic bomb explosion nuclear energy hydrogen energy

Facts You Should Know: The Cold War Quiz