The eroding Soviet empire

The fall of the Soviet Union, in ‘real time.’

This simple map of the U.S.S.R. was published as part of the Sept. 5, 1991 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. Bright colors highlight the various constituent regions of the Soviet Union and descriptive text at the bottom of the sheet provides details on growing movements toward political sovereignty. The domino effect of the republic’s independence movements could not be stopped, despite Moscow’s best efforts to control the transition.

Additional text on the right side of the page covers the coup attempt that took place the month earlier and concludes with a cautiously optimistic outlook for a New Union. “Gorbachev agrees to grand independence to the Baltics and wins preliminary approval for a plan to restructure the Soviet Union into a confederation of sovereign states, but faces stubborn opposition from traditional lawmakers.”

Source: The Undoing of the U.S.S.R.