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Gorbachev is nominated General Secretary of the CPSU.
A committed communist with firm convictions around the necessity of reform, his attempts to democratize the Soviet political system and modernize the economy would ultimately see the downfall of his state. -
Nuclear reactor in Ukraine explodes
The explosion is caused by a faulty reactor design and inadequately trained personnel. Attempts by the Government to conceal the disaster directly contradict Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost (‘openness’ and ‘transparency’) on the world stage, and directly harm the Soviet populace through premature death and internal displacement. This cover up would continue, in part, for years to come. -
The end of the Cold War
Two key events occur in 1989 to this effect. The first is the conclusion of the Soviet-Afghan War, a problem Gorbachev inherited from his predecessors which had raged for nine years at great human cost. The second is the wave of mostly peaceful revolutions against communist governments in Eastern Europe. -
Elections to the new parliament are held
The CPSU directly controls only one-third of the seats, making these the most democratic elections Russia has seen since 1917. This is an important step in breaking the CPSU’s monopoly on power. Rather than solidifying Gorbachev’s support base, voters are drawn to more radical democrats like Boris Yeltsin. -
The ‘Baltic Way’, is formed to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939.
The Pact had formed the basis for the illegal annexation of the three states by the Soviet Union in 1940. Though Gorbachev claimed “we can say the nationalities issue has been resolved for our country”, ethnic nationalism, partially enable by glasnost’s exposition of such controversial aspects of Soviet history, undermined the legitimacy of Soviet rule in these republics. -
Soviet tanks undertake military operations in Lithuania and Latvia.
In Lithuania alone, 14 civilians are killed, and hundreds more injured. Moscow’s intolerance for the ever-growing nationalism in the non-Russian constituent republics, especially in the Baltics, led to this display of force. These events, however, have the opposite effect to what was intended. Rather than intimidating the nationalist movements, the violence only strengthens their cause. -
Yeltsin elected as first President of the Russian Federation.
On 12 June 1991, Yeltsin was elected as the first President of the Russian Federation, received 45,552,041 votes, representing 57.30 percent of the number who took part in the vote, and well ahead of Nikolai Ryzhkov, who, despite the support of the federal authorities, received only 16.85%. -
A coup d’état against Gorbachev takes place in Moscow.
‘State Committee on the State of Emergency’ (GKChP) is formed by representatives of the Soviet State, KGB, CPSU, and the military-industrialists. -
Coup is broken. Soviet Union has just days to live.
Mass protests occur in Moscow when the coup is announced, and Yeltsin famously clambers atop a tank outside the Russian Parliament to give a speech denouncing the “right-wing, reactionary, anti-constitutional coup d’etat”. Three civilians are killed in clashes with the military. The coup is undermined by the weakness, indecision, and alcoholism of its instigators. -
Gorbachev gives his farewell speech.
Gorbachev is forced to concede his position to Yeltsin, the inaugural President of the Russian Federation. The Union is replaced with a much weaker Commonwealth of Independent States, which does not include many of the former constituent republics. One day later, the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet votes both itself and the Soviet Union out of existence, formally bringing the empire to an end.