Dissolution of the Soviet Union (nov 16, 1988 – dec 26, 1991)

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The Soviet Union was dissolved as a sovereign state on 26 December 1991, marking the end of the federal government and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to reform the Soviet political and economic system. The country had experienced internal stagnation and ethnic separatism, with 15 top-level republics serving as homelands for different ethnicities. By late 1991, several republics had left the Union and Gorbachev continued to wane centralized power.

The process began with growing unrest in the country's constituent national republics, leading to an incessant political and legislative conflict between them and the central government. Estonia declared state sovereignty inside the Union on 16 November 1988, Lithuania declared full independence on 11 March 1990, and Georgia joined it over the next two months.

During the failed 1991 August coup, communist hardliners and military elites attempted to overthrow Gorbachev and stop the failing reforms. However, the turmoil led to many republics proclaiming independence in the following days and months. The secession of the Baltic states was recognized in September 1991, and the Belovezha Accords were signed on 8 December by President Boris Yeltsin of Russia, President Kravchuk of Ukraine, and Chairman Shushkevich of Belarus, creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to replace the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last republic to leave the Union, proclaiming independence on 16 December.

All ex-Soviet republics, except for Georgia and the Baltic states, joined the CIS on 21 December, signing the Alma-Ata Protocol. Russia became the Soviet Union's de facto successor state. On 25 December, Gorbachev resigned and turned over his presidential powers to Yeltsin, who became the first president of the Russian Federation. The Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the Russian tricolor flag.

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