Lessons 3 · 1 lessons · Sh. Ergashev, B. Xodjayev, J. Abdullayev. World History (1991–2017): textbook for Grade 11 of secondary schools and for students of secondary specialised and vocational institutions. 1st edition. “Turon-Iqbol”, Tashkent, 2018
3
The breakup of the Soviet state and the declarations of independence in the former Soviet republics
Textbook: pp. 15–18
GoalDescribe the stages of the dissolution of the USSR, the creation of the CIS and the problems that the newly independent republics faced.
New words
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) · Mustaqil Davlatlar Hamdo‘stligi (MDH)sovereignty · suverenitetauthoritarian regime · avtoritar rejim“colour revolution”, a mass protest movement that changes a government · «rangli inqilob»
Explanation
On 19–21 August 1991 part of the Soviet leadership tried to remove Gorbachev, but the attempt failed and the republics’ drive for independence grew stronger. On 8 December 1991 the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared that the USSR had ceased to exist as a legal entity and announced the creation of the CIS; on 21 December eleven republics signed the Alma-Ata Declaration. On 25 December 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president. The Baltic republics did not join the CIS, Georgia left it in 2009, and Ukraine stopped taking part in its activity from 2014 on. The new states faced broken economic links, rising prices and the task of building a political system from scratch; in many of them strong presidential power and authoritarian methods took root. About 25 million ethnic Russians were left outside Russia, which raised questions of borders, language and citizenship.
Worked examples
A chain of dates: 19–21 August 1991 – attempted coup; 31 August – Uzbekistan declared independence; 8 December – the Belovezha Accords; 21 December – the Alma-Ata Declaration; 25 December – Gorbachev’s resignation.
Uzbekistan was one of the founders of the CIS but followed a policy of not joining military-political blocs. It has been a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation since 2001 and an observer in the Eurasian Economic Union since 2020.
Class activity
At the board fill in two columns, “The CIS: benefits and problems”: students take turns adding one point to each column, and then the class decides which points are supported by evidence from the textbook.
Practice
1
The leaders of which three republics declared the USSR ended on 8 December 1991?
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
2
Which former republics did not join the CIS in 1991?
The Baltic republics: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
3
What practical importance did the CIS have for the new states? Give two examples.
It helped preserve economic and humanitarian links and provided a forum for settling disputed questions through negotiation.
4
Why did authoritarian systems form in many former Soviet republics? Give two reasons.
Democratic institutions were absent or weak and governing habits were used to centralized power; in the economic slump a strong president was seen as a guarantor of “stability”.
