Who or what killed the Soviet Union? How three Davids undermined Goliath
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12539841 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Walter C Clemens (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 136-158 |
| Publication date | 1997-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Nationalism and Ethnic Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1353-7113 • E-ISSN: 1557-2986 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13537119708428496 |
| OpenAlex | W1967918834 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 12 |
The sources of Soviet collapse intertwined, but Baltic independence movements were as weighty as any factors in subverting the USSR. As the imperial core faltered, nationalists in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gained strength, and links frayed between the authorities at the centre and political actors on the periphery. Activists in each Baltic republic used Gorbachev's platform of perestroika, glasnost’ and legality to assert their nation's sovereignty in specific domains, such as resources and the environment, but soon escalated to demand sovereignty overall ‐ independence. When the Kremlin complained and threatened repressive action, Baits stood fast. Depending on legal and moral force, including non‐violent resistance, they showed the centre to be irresolute. Fostering separatism in other republics, including a Russia led by Boris Yeltsin, Baits triggered multiple challenges to empire. Gorbachev's counter, a planned ‘Union of Sovereign States’, ignited the August 1991 putsch that effectively ended the USSR. Following the abortive coup, Russia and the world recognized Baltic independence
Economic history · Empire · Independence (probability theory · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Principle of legality · Sociology · Sovereignty · Soviet union · Territorial integrity · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Law · Soviet and Russian History
The Baltic revolution
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Ethnopolitics and the Transition to Democracy
Protest, Power, and Change
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation
The War Ledger
Soviet Centrifugalism
Will the Non-Russians Rebel
The Death of Soviet Communism
Empires
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.07 |
| Citation span | 1999 - 2003 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |