Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union — Independence Timeline

Switch tabs to see Soviet republics / Warsaw Pact / sphere of influence.

Soviet Republics — 15

Founded in 1922, dissolved in 1991. The largest country in the world by area.

Warsaw Pact (1955–1991)

A military alliance created to counter NATO. The USSR + 7 Eastern European states.

• Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania
• Albania withdrew in 1968 after protesting the invasion of Czechoslovakia
• Map shows current borders (East Germany→Germany, Czechoslovakia→Czechia+Slovakia)

Soviet Sphere of Influence

Countries that had military or economic alliances with the USSR during the Cold War.

• Cuba — Only Soviet ally in the Western Hemisphere. 1962 Missile Crisis
• North Korea — Established with Soviet support. Major backer during the Korean War (1950)
• Vietnam — One of the USSR's largest military aid recipients
• Afghanistan — Soviet invasion in 1979. The USSR's Vietnam
• Mongolia — The first Soviet satellite state outside Europe (since 1924)
• Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia — African socialist regimes
• Syria, Iraq, Libya — Major Middle Eastern importers of Soviet weapons

Order of Soviet Dissolution

Starting with Lithuania in 1990, the republics fell like dominoes.

#	Republic	Independence Declared
1	Lithuania	11 March 1990
2	Latvia	4 May 1990
3	Armenia	23 August 1990
—	USSR preservation referendum	17 March 1991
4	Georgia	9 April 1991
—	August Coup	19–22 August 1991
5	Estonia	20 August 1991
6	Ukraine	24 August 1991
7	Belarus	25 August 1991
8	Moldova	27 August 1991
9	Azerbaijan	30 August 1991
10	Uzbekistan	31 August 1991
11	Kyrgyzstan	31 August 1991
12	Tajikistan	9 September 1991
13	Turkmenistan	27 October 1991
—	Belovezha Accords (Russia exits)	8 December 1991
14	Kazakhstan	16 December 1991

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — 9 members today

Formed in December 1991 right after the Soviet collapse. The 3 Baltic states refused to join from the start.

Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova.

• Georgia — Withdrew in 2009 (after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War)
• Ukraine — Officially withdrew in 2018 (following the 2014 Crimea crisis)
• Turkmenistan — Associate member only
• Baltic states — Refused from the start. "We were occupied, not voluntary members"

Key Events

Date	Event
11 March 1990	Lithuania declares independence — the first to leave
17 March 1991	USSR preservation referendum — 76% voted yes. But the Baltics, Georgia, Armenia, and Moldova boycotted
19–21 August 1991	August Coup — Hardliners try to overthrow Gorbachev. Fails in 3 days. Triggers a rush of independence declarations
1 December 1991	Ukrainian independence referendum — 92.3% vote yes. Preserving the USSR becomes impossible
8 December 1991	Belovezha Accords — Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus declare "the USSR has ceased to exist"
25 December 1991	Gorbachev resigns. The Soviet flag is lowered over the Kremlin
26 December 1991	USSR officially dissolved