(President Fyodorov's utmost priority was to prevent further collapse of Russia and Russian society)
Famine in Russia was narrowly avoided thanks to the efforts of President Fyodorov and Prime Yavlinsky. President Fyodorov, taking into account the disastrous food situation in Russia, appealed to the international community for help. Thanks to the immediate shipments of agricultural products from the United States, Europe and other countries, the situation could be stabilized by the Russian government. Furthermore, Prime Minister Yavlinsky successfully negotiated financial aid from the G7 group to stabilize the financial and economic situation in the country. While hardliners decried Fyodorov's and Yavlinsky's actions as treason, the population was grateful to the government, as their quick actions brought relief to the struggling population. In the meantime, republics leaders' message to President Fyodorov has put him in a dilemma – Fyodoror could either fight for preservation of the USSR tooth and nail together with Gorbachev, or coordinate the end of the Soviet state together with republic leaders and thus prepare for a major geopolitical shift, on terms that would be most favorable to Russia. After many hours of consultations with Yavlinsky and his closest political allies, Fyodorov decided for a
"controlled demolition of the USSR".
(Prime Minister Yavlinsky was a mastermind behind of Russian economic transformation)
At the same time, the utmost priority for the Russian government was a prevention of total socio-political and economic collapse in Russia. The government's plan included the following points:
- gradual transition from socialist command economy to capitalist system;
- opening of the Russian market to foreign companies, goods and investments;
- reduction of military budget to be redirected towards socio-economic relief efforts;
- privatization of state owned agricultural lands and collectives;
- low tax rate and little bureaucratic time for opening of new companies;
- establishment of special economic zones;
- reorganization of state-owned defense assets;
- further anti-corruption campaign;
- introduction of new legal codes to protect the population from economic exploitation.
(Fyodorov during speech justifying his recent policies in regards to the Communist Party of RSFR)
The first step of Fyodorov's plan of controlled demolition of the USSR, was a presidential decree that
completely separated the Communist Party of RSFSR from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the Russian territory, which in reality meant the end of Gorbachev's influence in Russia. Using popular support, Fyodorov subordinated the party to himself, which allowed him to implement his political vision without taking into account Gorbachev's objections. In the meantime, without Gorbachev's knowledge Fyodorov negiotiated the dissolution of the Soviet Union with republics leaders, which resulted in
the Belovezha Accords, which was an agreement declaring that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had effectively ceased to exist and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place as a successor entity. The documentation was signed at the state dacha near Viskuli in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus on 8 December 1991, by leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Turkmenia and Uzbekistan. As a result of the Belovezha Accords, the following international organizations would be established:
- Commonwealth of Independent States (including all signatory states)
- Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area (including all signatory states)
- Eurasian Economic Union (including all signatory states)
- Eurasian Customs Union (including all signatory states)
- Collective Security Treaty Organization (including all signatory states with except for Ukraine and Azebaijan)
Furthermore, President Fyodorov was able to reach agreements with individual republics, which resulted in:
- respect for rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people in other republics;
- dual citizenship for Russians and Russian-speaking people;
- Russian naval and military bases in Sevastopol to be leased for 99 years;
- formation of various common bodies in regard to discussion about pricing of natural resources;
- common development bank with headquarters in Moscow;
- nuclear warheads stockpiled in other republics to be shipped to Russia.
On 12 December, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR formally ratified the Belavezha Accords, denounced the 1922 Union Treaty, and recalled the Russian deputies from the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The legality of this ratification raised doubts among some members of the Russian parliament, since according to the 1978 RSFSR Constitution consideration of this document was in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR. Additionally, the Soviet Constitution did not allow a republic to unilaterally recall its deputies. However, no one in either Russia or the Kremlin objected. Any objections from the latter would have likely had no effect, since what was left of the Soviet government had effectively been rendered impotent long before December. A number of lawyers believe that the denunciation of the union treaty was meaningless since it became invalid in 1924 with the adoption of the first constitution of the USSR. Later that day, Gorbachev hinted for the first time that he was considering stepping down. On the surface, it appeared that the largest republic had formally seceded. However, this is not the case. Rather, Russia apparently took the line that it did not need to follow the secession process delineated in the Soviet Constitution because it was not possible to secede from a country that no longer existed.
On 17 December 1991, along with 28 European countries, the European Economic Community, and four non-European countries, the three Baltic Republics and nine of the twelve remaining Soviet republics signed the European Energy Charter in the Hague as sovereign states. On the same day, members of the lower house of the union parliament (Council of the Union) held a meeting of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union. The meeting adopted a statement in connection with the signing of the Belovezhskaya Agreement and its ratification by the parliaments of signatory states, in which it noted that it considers the decisions made on the liquidation of state power and administration bodies illegal and not meeting the current situation and the vital interests of the peoples and stated that in the event further complication of the situation in the country reserves the right to convene in the future the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.
(Leadership of various republics discussing the future cooperation)
On 18 December, the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Council of Republics) adopted a statement, according to which it accepts with understanding the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States and considers it a real guarantee of a way out of the acute political and economic crisis. Gorbachev met with Fyodorov and accepted the fait accompli of the Soviet Union's dissolution. On the same day, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR adopted a statute to change Russia's legal name from "Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic" to "Russian Federation", showing that it was now a fully sovereign state. On 21 December, representatives of 11 of the 12 remaining republics – all except Georgia – signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which confirmed the dissolution of the Union and formally established the CIS. They also "accepted" Gorbachev's resignation. The command of the Armed Forces of the USSR was entrusted to the Minister of Defense Yevgeny Shaposhnikov. Even at this moment, Gorbachev had not made any formal plans to leave the scene yet. However, with a majority of republics now agreeing that the Soviet Union no longer existed, Gorbachev bowed to the inevitable, telling CBS News that he would resign as soon as he saw that the CIS was indeed a reality.
In a nationally televised speech in the evening of 25 December, Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union – or, as he put it, "I hereby discontinue my activities at the post of President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." He declared the office extinct, and ceded all of its powers (such as control of the nuclear arsenal) to Fyodorov. On the night of 25 December, at 7:32 p.m. Moscow time, after Gorbachev appeared on television, the Soviet flag was lowered and the State Anthem of the Soviet Union was played for the last time and the Russian tricolor was raised in its place at 7:45 pm, symbolically marking the end of the Soviet Union. In his parting words, Gorbachev defended his record on domestic reform and détente, but conceded, "The old system collapsed before a new one had time to start working." On that same day, the President of the United States George H. W. Bush held a brief televised speech officially recognizing the independence of the 11 remaining republics.
Gorbachev's speech, as well as the replacement of the Soviet flag with the Russian flag, symbolically marked the end of the Soviet Union. However, the final legal step in the Soviet Union's demises came on 26 December, when the Soviet of Republics, the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, voted the Soviet Union out of existence (the lower chamber, the Soviet of the Union, had been unable to work since 12 December, when the recall of the Russian deputies left it without a quorum). The following day Yeltsin moved into Gorbachev's former office, though the Russian authorities had taken over the suite two days earlier. The Soviet Armed Forces were placed under the command of the Commonwealth of Independent States, but were eventually subsumed by the newly independent republics, with the bulk becoming the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. By the end of 1991, the few remaining Soviet institutions that had not been taken over by Russia ceased operation, and individual republics assumed the central government's role.
The Alma-Ata Protocol also addressed other issues, including UN membership. Notably, Russia was authorized to assume the Soviet Union's UN membership, including its permanent seat on the Security Council. The Soviet Ambassador to the UN delivered a letter signed by Russian President Fyodorov to the UN Secretary-General dated 24 December 1991, informing him that by virtue of the Alma-Ata Protocol, Russia was the successor state to the USSR. After being circulated among the other UN member states, with no objection raised, the statement was declared accepted on the last day of the year, 31 December 1991.
(End of an era and a new beginning)
Wiki links:
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org