The+End+of+the+Cold+War

=The cold war ended some time during the 20th century.= =It was reported by some conspiracy theorists that at the time of the war's end the fighting had also ceased.= =Possible reasons for the end of the Cold War include:= =1)Stalin wasn't really up for it any more, unable to overcome the technical difficulties of issuing commands while dead.= =2)Global warming made the possibility of cold wars increasingly less likely.= =3)Authorities realized that metal curtains were much less practical than those made of fabric.= =4)Atomic bombs were rendered useless after the discovery that verbal bullying was worse than physical bullying=



Anyway, getting back on track...

**After the Eastern European Reforms and Revolutions**
The Berlin Wall, symbolising the Cold War as a whole, had come down along with the Iron Curtain at the end of the 1989 revolutions. This marked the fall of the Eastern Communist governments, and gave hope to a now undivided Europe. The collapse of this great power caused many of the Soviet Republics (puppet states of the USSR) to seek independence as a nation free of Moscow's influence. The demise that they were witnessing was enough to convince them that as a free and sovereign state, they would take a turn for the better. These strong feelings prevailed in the Baltic States, as first Lithuania, then Estonia and Latvia declared independence and became free nations in 1990 and 1991 respectively.

The other Republics held more open elections as a part of their journey to self-rule, and the lesser degree of Soviet presence in these elections led to the voting in of some anti-Communist candidates.

**August 1991**


The fall of traditional Communist rule in Eastern Europe caused a group of hard-line Soviets to launch a coup in August 1991. They wanted to halt the rapid change being brought upon their once great Empire, and led by Vice-President Gennady Yanayev, overthrew their enemy, the Communist Party General Secretary, Gorbachev.



The coup was defeated by the efforts of Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the force he rallied, made up of the people and some of the armed forces. The defeat of Yanayev restored Gorbachev to power, but the coup had greatly undermined his power and authority.



**The Fall of the USSR**
In the aftermath of the August coup, the Baltic States were granted independence in September, followed by the withdrawal of Ukraine from the USSR in December. The power of the Russian Empire was now at an all time low, and seeing this, made the decision to concede victory to the US. The USSR was officially dissolved on 31 December 1991, instead split into 15 separate nations as of this date.