Editing Republics of the Soviet Union (section)

== Dissolution of the Soviet Union ==
{{Further|Dissolution of the Soviet Union}}

Starting in the late 1980s, under the rule of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the Soviet government undertook a program of political reforms (''[[glasnost]]'' and ''[[perestroika]]'') intended to liberalise and revitalise the Union. These measures, however, had a number of unintended political and social effects. Political liberalisation allowed the governments of the union republics to openly invoke the principles of democracy and nationalism to gain legitimacy. In addition, the loosening of political restrictions led to fractures within the Communist Party which resulted in a reduced ability to govern the Union effectively. The rise of nationalist and right-wing movements, notably led by [[Boris Yeltsin]] in Russia, in the previously homogeneous political system undermined the Union's foundations. With the central role of the Communist Party removed from the constitution, the Party lost its control over the State machinery and was banned from operating after [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|an attempted coup d'état]].

Throughout this period of turmoil, the Soviet government attempted to find a new structure that would reflect the increased authority of the republics. Some autonomous republics, like [[Tatarstan]], [[Checheno-Ingushetia]], [[Abkhazia]], [[South Ossetia]], [[Crimea]], [[Transnistria]], [[Gagauzia]] sought the union statute in the New Union Treaty. Efforts to found a [[New Union Treaty]], however, proved unsuccessful and the republics began to secede from the Union. By 6 September 1991, the Soviet Union's [[State Council of the Soviet Union|State Council]] recognized the independence of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] bringing the number of union republics down to 12. On 8 December 1991, the remaining leaders of the republics signed the [[Belavezha Accords]] which agreed that the USSR would be dissolved and replaced with a [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]. On 25 December, President Gorbachev announced his resignation and turned all executive powers over to Yeltsin. The next day the [[Soviet of Nationalities|Council of Republics]] voted to [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolve the Union]]. Since then, the republics have been governed independently with some reconstituting themselves as liberal parliamentary republics and others, particularly in [[Central Asia]], devolving into highly autocratic states under the leadership of the old Party elite.