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Dissolution of the Soviet Union

1988–1991 breakup of the sovereign state

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 21, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

The Soviet Union was formally dissolved and ceased to exist as a sovereign state and subject of international law on December 26, 1991. It also brought an end to the Soviet Union's federal government and to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to reform the Soviet political and economic system in an attempt to stop a period of political and economic stagnation.

Editorial summary

“Dissolution of the Soviet Union” enters the record as 1988–1991 breakup of the sovereign state. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Dissolution, Soviet and Union can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1991—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Dissolution, Soviet and Union.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Dissolution of the Soviet Union” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Dissolution, Soviet and Union provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1991.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Dissolution of the Soviet Union”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Dissolution of the Soviet Union primary sources, Dissolution of the Soviet Union archive and Dissolution research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Dissolution of the Soviet Union” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.