The nationality politics of 1989 in the Soviet Union according to the Gorbachev Foundation

Abstract

The developments of the year 1989 played a crucial role in the demise of the Soviet Union. Even though the „European” part of the 1989 events is widely well known to the public, the part of the story from the perspective of the Soviet Union lacks coverage. In the following article, the findings of our study of the Gorbachev Foundation’s 1989 archival documents, within the scope of the nationality politics in the Soviet Union, are presented. The review of the chains of events provoked by the Soviet intra-national conflicts will give a reader a better insider understanding of the systemic crisis of the Soviet state.