|
The USSR was an artificial state. You had several countries that didn't really want to be part of it.
There simply came a point in time where the people decided that they didn't like what was going on around them and you had a leader (Gorbachev) who knew that things had to change. He had a choice, try to string it out until it imploded from within (probably with a lot of civil war and dying) or be proactive and move towards peaceful change.
He chose the latter. As far as I am aware, not that many people have died in the break up of the Soviet Union. Sure, there are some people who probably lament its passing, but the majority of the people are happier reverting back to their former countries - Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, all the stans, etc. etc.
Americans like to think that they were the cause of the downfall of the Soviet Union and Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviet Union. Talk to any Russian and tell them that and they will either laugh at you, or not have any idea of what the hell you are talking about. To them, it was an internal need for some very real fundamental change.
|