Whether the collapse of the Soviet empire was inevitable, or whether it was the result of the betrayal and evil will of the three presidents of the Slavic republics who wanted to gain more power, there is no clear assessment of this process. Consensus was reached only on who benefited from the creation of fifteen independent states.
Elites in power in the newly independent states divided the former public property. The population was put on the brink of survival. The agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States was signed in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on December 8, 1991. This document finally buried a large country and created an amorphous Union of Independent States on its ruins. The CIS was to become the basis for a new federal state. But, having tasted the "air of freedom" and "controlling", the signatories quickly forgot about it.
Background
The signing of the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States was preceded by events that began with the election of M.S. Gorbachev as Secretary General. Since the mid-80s, reforms began in the country that caused deep damage to the country's economy. The declared anti-alcohol campaign, acceleration programs, publicity were either ill-conceived, or serious mistakes were made in their implementation. The country's leadership, more engaged in international affairs, where there were some successes, almost neglected domestic politics. All changes in political and economic life led to an increase in contradictions between the national republics and Moscow.
In 1988, the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict began in Nagorno-Karabakh. In the Baltic republics, separatist movements grew. In June 1991, the election of Boris N. Yeltsin as president of Russia finally launched the process of destruction. The country received a president who invited everyone to take power as much as they could. The position of Russia in the person of its leadership, which decided to gain independence from other republics, played a decisive role in the collapse of the country.
Last hit
In March 1991, a referendum was held in the Soviet Union, as a result of which 76.4% of the voters voted in favor of preserving the country. The President of the USSR made an attempt to save the country. As part of the Novo-Ogarevsky process, a draft document was developed that was supposed to restart the Soviet project. The preparation of a new document, which was supposed to determine the contours of the renewed union, was attended by representatives and leadership of all Soviet republics. During the discussion in November 1991 at the State Council, which included the president and leaders of the republics, the future of the country was discussed. When voting, seven republics spoke in favor of creating a new union state. Several options for the political structure of the future union of sovereign states were discussed. As a result, we settled on a confederate device.
In accordance with the prepared document, the republics received independence and sovereignty, and the center was delegated the functions of coordinating economic activity, foreign policy and defense issues. At the same time, the post of president of the new union remained. Both Yeltsin and Shushkevich stated that they believe in the creation of a new union. However, the August coup thwarted signing plans and launched a spontaneous sovereignization process. Within three months, eleven republics declared their independence. The Soviet Union in September 1991 recognized the independence of the three Baltic republics that separated from it. The activities of almost all central authorities were virtually paralyzed. The prepared yet another version of the document on the creation of a new union state was also not signed. In December, in a referendum, the vast majority of the population of Ukraine voted for independence. President of Ukraine Kravchuk announced the annulment of the agreement on the formation of the USSR of 1922. The very next day, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine.
Without informing President Gorbachev, the leadership of the three Slavic republics gathered in Belarus, in the government residence of Viskuli, located in the famous reserve Belovezhskaya Pushcha. So, a logical chain was forever entrenched in history: the collapse of the USSR - the Bialowieza Accords - the creation of the CIS.
Members
Stanislav Shushkevich, the recently elected Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus, invited the presidents of Russia (Yeltsin) and Ukraine (Kravchuk) to Belovezhskaya Pushcha to discuss the situation in the still common country. Therefore, the Agreement on the Creation of the CIS, signed later at the government residence of Viskuli, was called the Bialowieza Agreement.
The heads of republics arrived with the heads of government. The Belarusian government was represented by V. Kebich, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, V. Fokin, Ukrainian Prime Minister. Apart from Yeltsin, Russia was attended by Shokhin and Burbulis. In addition, A. Kozyrev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR, and State Advisor S. Shakhrai, who already had the outline of the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, came to the meeting. Later, the same Shahrai wrote that they had no intention of destroying the Soviet Union, they only ensured that the process went peacefully.
How was the process
As Shushkevich later wrote, he invited them to his place when they walked around the park in Novo-Ogaryovo in between meetings in order to negotiate in a quiet place, as Moscow was crushing. The government of the three countries gathered at the government residence of Viskuli, where the Agreement on the Creation of the CIS was signed, on December 7, 1991. According to the Belarusian leader, they intended to discuss oil and gas supplies from Russia. President Kravchuk wrote in his memoirs that they wanted to get together and talk about the failure to work out a mutually acceptable position and that other approaches and some other solution should be sought. The head of the Belarusian government (V. Kebich) wrote that the Russian delegation initiated the signing of the Bialowieza Agreement on the creation of the CIS. The Ukrainian and Belarusian sides did not know that such a document would be signed. When the meeting began at the Viskuli residence, Yeltsin handed over to Kravchuk Gorbachev's offer. Ukraine could make any changes to the Novoogarevsky document on the creation of a new state before signing it. Russia said it would sign the agreement only after Ukraine. The President of Ukraine refused, and they began to discuss possible cooperation projects. As Kebich V. wrote later, Russian officials who arrived had already prepared materials for signing the Agreement on the Creation of the CIS. The leaders of the three republics, who were at the forefront of the creation of the CIS, began to discuss the future structure of the post-Soviet space, where they would exclude the power structures of the Soviet Union from the future model of relations between the new independent states. Representatives of the parties prepared the final documents overnight.
Signing
The Bialowieza agreements on the creation of the CIS were signed by the leaders of three countries - B. Yeltsin from Russia, S. Shushkevich from Belarus, L. Kravchuk from Ukraine. As the Ukrainian president later wrote, he signed the documents quickly without coordination or discussion. In addition to the Bialowieza Agreement, the parties issued a statement stating that the development of a new union agreement had failed and announced the termination of the existence of the Soviet Union and the organization of a new integration association - the CIS.
Countries have pledged to comply with international treaties, including control over the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Naturally, they laid the blame for the political and economic crisis on the center and pledged to carry out reforms. The parties to the Agreement on the Establishment of the CIS announced that the Commonwealth is open for accession by any state.
Immediately after signing B. Yeltsin called the American President George W. Bush and secured his support for international recognition of the elimination of the USSR. M. Gorbachev and N. Nazarbayev learned about this later. The agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, signed on December 8, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev called unconstitutional and said that the three republics can not decide for everyone else. However, the process of scattering into "national apartments" was launched; the leaders of the three now independent states no longer wanted to obey anyone.
Bialowieza Agreement
In the preamble to the Agreement on the Establishment of the CIS, signed by the leaders of the RSFSR, Belarus and Ukraine, these three independent states were declared countries that signed the constituent agreement on the end of the existence of the Soviet Union. It was further written that, taking into account the historical interconnections between the peoples and for the development of further relations, the parties decided to establish the Commonwealth of Independent States. But already these relations will be built as the cooperation of sovereign independent states on the basis of international law and respect for each other's sovereignty.
Each party guaranteed the observance of fundamental rights and freedoms to the population, including civil, political, economic and all other rights, to all citizens, regardless of nationality or other differences. The agreement establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States also recognized territorial integrity and existing borders. Countries pledged to develop cooperation in all areas of activity, including in the economy and domestic politics. At the same time, they promised to maintain overall control over strategic forces, including nuclear weapons, and to provide a unified policy regarding the retirement benefits of military personnel. By the agreement on the creation of the CIS, the regulatory bodies of the new union were supposed to be located in Minsk.
Who is to blame
When the conspirators gathered to go to Belovezhskaya Pushcha, they also invited the head of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev to come. Yeltsin, like his friend, called him on a plane and invited him to a meeting, saying that they were going to solve important issues. The President of Kazakhstan at that time flew to Moscow. Shushkevich later wrote that everyone heard, since the speakerphone was turned on, that he promised to refuel and fly. However, after meeting with the president of the USSR, Nazarbayev changed his mind. The President of Kazakhstan then repeatedly stated that he would never have signed the Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The fact that the leaders of the three republics gathered in the government residence of Viskuli, the Belarusian KGB timely informed the country's leadership, including Soviet President Gorbachev. In the vicinity of the hunting grounds, KGB special forces were sent, surrounding the forest, employees were waiting for an order to arrest the conspirators. The reliability of this information was confirmed by the President of Belarus Lukashenko. However, no order was received, the central authorities were completely paralyzed, including law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor's office and the USSR security service. As they later wrote: it would still be possible to restore unity in the country, destroyed by the confrontation between Yeltsin and Gorbachev. What was needed was the political will of the first leader. According to relatives of Mikhail Sergeyevich and himself, he did not order the arrest of the leaders of the three republics, because it "smelled of civil war" and bloodshed. It all ended only with statements by Gorbachev, the constitutional committee, individual groups of deputies that the country could not be dissolved by a decision of the three republics and that the decision was invalid.
Further events
For the entry into force of the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States it was necessary to ratify it by the parliaments of the countries. The parliaments of Ukraine and Belarus, one day after the signing of the Agreement, namely, December 10, 1991, ratified the agreement, while simultaneously denouncing the agreement on the formation of the USSR of 1922.
It turned out to be more difficult in Russia, on December 12, the Supreme Council voted for the same package of documents (Agreement, Treaty on the Creation of the USSR) and also adopted a resolution on the country's withdrawal from the USSR. At the same time, an absolute majority of the deputies voted in favor, including the Communists, who also wanted independence. Both the ruling bloc voted for the exit, for the adoption of laws from which the speaker of the parliament, Ruslan Khasbulatov, and the largest opposition faction, the Communists of Russia, led by Gennady Zyuganov, campaigned. True, Zyuganov himself always denied that he was for leaving the Soviet Union. A number of members of the Supreme Council, and later recognized by Khasbulatov, wrote that for ratification it was necessary to convene the Congress, the highest legislative body, since the decisions affected the foundations of the constitutional system.
A brief history of the creation of the CIS
After ratification of the agreement by the parliaments of the three countries, negotiations began on the entry into the Commonwealth of other former union republics. The leaders of many of the new independent countries have declared their readiness to join the Agreement, provided that they are also announced by the founders. At the end of December 1991, in the capital of Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata, a Protocol was signed to the agreement on the creation of the CIS, which was signed by the leaders of the former Soviet republics, with the exception of the three Baltic republics and Georgia. The document says that all signatory countries on an equal footing create the Commonwealth of Independent States. Although the dissolution of the USSR was announced in the Bialowieza Agreement, however, even after the departure of the three republics, the rest formally remained part of the Soviet state. After signing the Protocol to the agreement on the creation of the CIS from the standpoint of international law, the USSR finally ceased to exist. In this regard, President Gorbachev M. S. resigned on December 25. The CIS countries, together with the protocol, signed the Alma-Ata Declaration, in which they confirmed the basic principles for creating a new CIS. In December 1993, Georgia entered the CIS, which, after the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, seceded from it. In 2005, Turkmenistan lowered its status as a member of the union to an associate.
