The Soviet BreakupJose CanalesKaleb Marcotte2nd Hour

During a long Cold War the USSR became really weakSoviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev passed a policy that gave the citizens the freedom of speechThis policy was called 'Glasnost'The reform caused many problems, people began to speak out against the governmentFirst Estonia asked to secede from the republicThis triggered many other countries to also begin speaking out against the government in hope to secede

All of this caused many bloody disputes Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia, and the Central Asian republics kept pushing to secede In August of 1991 the USSR was giving upA group of communist kidnapped Gorbachev and later in August 19 announced that Gorbachev was really ill Many protests broke out in major cities in RussiaThe were ordered to hold back the protestors but they also rebelledKnowing that they had lost the USSR finally gave up in December 26, 1991

Lithuanians in Vilnius. Lithuania was the first Country to secede from the USSR

Citizens of soviet Azerbaijan block off military tanks off the road. January 22, 1990.

Soviet paratroopers inspect Lithuanian weapons. Gorbachev forced Lithuanians to Surrender their weapons. March 26, 1990

Lithuanians protesting in Vilnius. This wall protected the Lithuanians from a possible Soviet army attack on them.

A Soviet soldier waving the Russian flag as armed troops leave Moscow.

DefinitionsPeriphery: the edge or outskirts, as of a city or urban area.Reform: the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory.Restructuring: to change, alter, or restore the structure Perestoika: Russian. the program of economic and political reform in the Soviet Union initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986.

Resourceshttp://www.theatlantic.com/http://www.coldwar.org/