Communism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Dissolution of the Soviet Union === {{further|Dissolution of the Soviet Union}} With the fall of the [[Warsaw Pact]] after the [[Revolutions of 1989]], which led to the fall of most of the former [[Eastern Bloc]], the Soviet Union was dissolved on 26 December 1991. It was a result of the declaration number 142-Н of the [[Soviet of the Republics]] of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Alimzhanov |first=Anuarbek |date=1991 |url=http://vedomosti.sssr.su/1991/52/#1561#1082 |title=Deklaratsiya Soveta Respublik Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR v svyazi s sozdaniyem Sodruzhestva Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv |script-title=ru:Декларация Совета Республик Верховного Совета СССР в связи с созданием Содружества Независимых Государств |language=ru |trans-title=Declaration of the Council of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in connection with the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220173637/http://vedomosti.sssr.su/1991/52/#1561 |archive-date=20 December 2015 |work=[[Vedomosti]] |volume=52}}. [[wikisource:ru:Декларация Совета Республик ВС СССР от December 26, 1991 № 142-Н|Declaration № 142-Н]] {{in lang|ru}} of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, formally establishing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a state and subject of international law.</ref> The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former [[Soviet republics]] and created the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]], although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do it at all. On the previous day, Soviet president [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] (the eighth and final [[leader of the Soviet Union]]) resigned, declared his office extinct, and handed over its powers, including control of the [[Cheget]], to Russian president [[Boris Yeltsin]]. That evening at 7:32, the [[Soviet flag]] was lowered from the [[Kremlin]] for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary [[Russian flag]]. Previously, from August to December 1991, all the individual republics, including Russia itself, had seceded from the union. The week before the union's formal dissolution, eleven republics signed the [[Alma-Ata Protocol]], formally establishing the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]], and declared that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/22/world/end-soviet-union-text-declaration-mutual-recognition-equal-basis.html |title=The End of the Soviet Union; Text of Declaration: 'Mutual Recognition' and 'an Equal Basis' |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 December 1991 |access-date=30 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1225.html |title=Gorbachev, Last Soviet Leader, Resigns; U.S. Recognizes Republics' Independence |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 December 1991 |access-date=27 April 2015}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page