SMIC, vol. XXII, 2023, pp. 201-211.

https://doi.org/10.62616/smic.2023.22.10

The full text is available accessed CEEOL / Textul integral al studiului poate fi accesat prin CEEOL:
https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1226408

Simion GHEORGHIU, Dezintegrarea URSS în istorigrafia rusă: impactul factorului politic / The Disintegration of the USSR in Russian Historiography: The Impact of Politics

Abstract

More than 30 years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there are still debates in the Russian Federation about whether the USSR collapsed (in Russian, raspalsea) or whether it was destroyed (in Russian, razvalili). Accepting one version or the other is trivially simple. So is rejecting them. To admit the destruction thesis is to fall for conspiracy theories, quite widespread in Russia: allegedly, organizations, such as the CIA, or individuals, such as M.S. Gorbachev or B.N. Yeltsin, deliberately imploded the Union. Relatedly, acknowledging that the USSR collapsed all by itself, for objective historical reasons, is seen as neglecting the role of personalities and their ability to react to the challenges of the times in which they lived. The article highlights the most widespread views in Russian historiography about on this debate. It also explores how political dynamics affected such historiographical discussions.

Keywords: End of the Soviet Union, historiography, Mikhail Gorbachev, Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin.