Post Soviet Union- Breaking of the Union(1982-1991)

Two developments took over the decade that followed after the cold war: the increasingly apparent crumbling of the Soviet Union's economic and political structures, and the attempts to fix it. Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union at the time, announced a plan to recover and modernize Soviet communism. Gorbachev plan was essentially a disaster and by 1990 the Soviet government lost control over economic conditions. Due to price control, there were shortages of almost all products, reaching their peak in the end of 1991, when people had to stand in long lines and were lucky enough to buy even the essentials. By December, the shortages had resulted in the introduction of food rationing in Moscow and Saint Petersburg for the first time since World War II. The Soviet Union was breaking and on December 25, 1991 the union was no more. Now the Russian Federation was in control and major changes were planned as the economy, the population, jobs, and welfare of a country were at stake.

Protesters tear down a statue after the USSR was
dissolved.
Location: Russia
Date: December 26, 1991