Thirty years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, an event unprecedented in history that still has a major impact on the region. At the height of its power, the Soviet Union had a population of 280 million and covered roughly one-sixth of the Earth’s surface.
In 1991, the communist superpower collapsed, creating 15 new countries overnight, some more successful than others 30 years later. The Deutsche Welle program “The Collapse of the Soviet Union” examines how the large-scale historical upheavals of the early 1990s will affect the region in 2021 from a sociocultural and geopolitical perspective.
The Soviet Union was formed in 1922 as a federation of republics that until 1991 included Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and others.
However, the reality is that until the dissolution of the Federation, its government and economy were highly concentrated in Moscow.
Nationalist movements emerged in these republics in the mid-1980s. Their desire for the freedom, prosperity, and sovereignty of the Commonwealth eventually led to secession.
These former Soviet republics have now had to fend for themselves, transitioning into democracies—some more authoritarian than others—and adapting to the new economic system, now market-based.
Russia, of course the largest of the 15 countries, retained most of the Soviet Union’s assets and military power, as well as its prestige on the international stage. The Baltic states in the west became pro-European and joined NATO, while the countries in East and Central Asia maintained ties with Russia or allied themselves with China.
Even if these countries appear at first glance to be steeped in Western-style freedom, ideology, and consumerism, the Soviet chapter of their shared history leaves many unanswered questions. Under Union rule, economic equality prevails rather than a society divided into rich and poor.
Religious practices are also allowed, never banned and (mostly) tolerated. As these countries enjoy more religious freedom in 2021, conflicts based on theology are increasing. Secession and religious wars were almost non-existent in the USSR, as the needs and welfare of the Soviet state always came first. Finally, decades of ethnic conflict, especially between Armenia and Azerbaijan, were kept to a minimum under Soviet rule.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as a geopolitical catastrophe. He also said that those who do not mourn the Soviet Union have no heart, and those who want to go back to the past have no brains.
Since DW made the movie, Russia has invaded Ukraine in early 2022. The complex intersection of historical, political and cultural issues in the region is far from resolved.
Directed by: Michael Schmidt, Martin Striegel
