The Fall of the Soviet Union

In August 1991 there was an attempted coup in the Soviet Union as communist hard-liners sought to re-establish the dominance of Soviet rule in Russia and its satellite states. The coup attempt collapsed after three days and it eventually led to the collapse of communism. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary on 24 August and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR suspended the activities of the party on 29 August. Following this, later former soviet states declared their independence which has radically reshaped the world in the decades since. As Russia attempts to reassert its influence in Ukraine, we have searched the archives for this episode in which Dan is joined by historian and holocaust survivor Peter Kenez to help understand the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its ongoing consequences.

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