On December 8, 1991, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus declared that the Soviet Union had "ceased to exist." Twenty-five years later, we look back on some key milestones -- inside and outside the Soviet Union – on the road to its collapse.
End Of An Empire
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April 1989: The Tbilisi tragedy. Soviet troops attack pro-independence demonstrators with nerve gas and shovels. The crackdown claims the lives of 20 people, including a 16-year-old girl who is beaten to death. The year continues disastrously for the U.S.S.R. as Soviet-imposed communist regimes in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and Czechoslovakia come crashing down.
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November 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall. A bungled press conference by an East German official gives the impression that the borders between East and West are open and curious crowds pour onto the streets. Faced with thousands of excited Berliners, panicked border guards lower their weapons and let people through. A trickle becomes a flood and the wall is soon destroyed.
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December 1989: Revolution in Romania. After scores of civilians are killed in a crackdown on antigovernment demonstrators, communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu makes a speech aimed at demonstrating the people’s "devotion" to him and his equally hated wife. Remarkable live footage of the address broadcasts the moment crowds begin jeering and the omnipotent tyrant shrinks into a confused old man. As people flood the streets the Ceausescus flee in a helicopter. They are soon caught and executed by firing squad.
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January 1990: In the Caucasus, independence movements begin to crack along ethnic lines. On the streets of Azerbaijan, about 90 Armenians are killed in a pogrom, some of them tortured to death. When Soviet troops move in, ostensibly to stop the violence, more than 100 Azeris are killed. Vast crowds gather for the funerals (pictured) of Azerbaijani victims of the Soviet crackdown.