The end of a superpower - The collapse of the Soviet Union | DW Documentary

[Music] moscow 30 years after the collapse of the soviet union on the banks of the moskva river the gleaming towers of a new business district stretch into the sky presenting a confident picture of the new russia a short distance away above the kremlin the red star of the soviet union still glimmers and at red square in the mausoleum lies the leader of the october revolution of 1917. vladimir lenin the long lines in front of the mausoleum may have disappeared but the kremlin has remained the center of power it is led by vladimir putin the president

of the russian federation he rules over a country that even without the former soviet republics is still the largest in the world russia in the kremlin a new government has long since taken over but across the country the old symbols are as powerful as ever the legacy of the former soviet union is a complex one the soviet empire covered a sixth of the earth's surface and was home to 280 million people the collapse of this giant super state in 1991 was an event unprecedented in history a superpower abolished itself since then 15 new states have

been struggling to find their place in the world order some have gravitated towards western europe while others look to china but all are defined by their relationship to russia instead of the red soviet banner today the russian flag flies over the kremlin [Music] the collapse of the soviet union brought hopes of independence and prosperity for the former soviet republics as well but what remains of these streams what does this new freedom look like which old conflicts have flared up again who has won who has lost and what role does russia play in this post-soviet power

struggle [Music] moscow today at first glance the russian capital looks much like any western metropolis consumerism is in even in wealthy moscow the soviet chapter of history is still not fully closed the past has left a deep impression leading many to ask what was good in soviet times and what has changed for the better [Music] everyone believed that things would continue to get better because of democracy armenia the smallest of the former soviet republics no longer even shares a border with russia at the military cemetery in the capital yerevan new graves are constantly being added

they bear witness to ongoing war and suffering in the caucasus a permanent conflict has been raging for decades between armenia and azerbaijan both sides lay claim to the region of nagorno-karabakh with its majority armenian population fighting over this mountain enclave goes back to soviet times when gun battles and pogroms on both sides cost countless lives for those caught up in the war the scars run deep aveda venisyan and his son gevorg are armenians who live in nagorno-karabakh they were soldiers like their friend raya haveyan yet they are also civilians arvid runs a sports school his

son studies computing and their friend is a businessman the most recent fighting ended in defeat in part because azerbaijan received military support from turkey the prospect of peace with their azerbaijani neighbours has never seemed more remote than it does today living alongside such an enemy is no longer possible or at least very unlikely the joy and pride you saw in people's faces for 30 years has disappeared the sparkle in their eyes has gone a lot has changed during the 44 day war no western country took any concrete measures to help us the war was stopped

the war zone in the summer of 2021 a fragile ceasefire is in place between armenia and azerbaijan like here at this border control point it is monitored by russian peacekeepers last year azerbaijan recaptured significant parts of nagorno-karabakh armenia was forced to cede the lost territory these three armenians meet every day to play chess they remember the soviet era and have long since grown weary of war 30 years ago we took their land now they've taken it back if the russians hadn't come they would have slaughtered us independence lasting peace is still a distant prospect the

people here consider themselves armenian the country's flag is always present [Music] and armenian sides are directly facing each other today it is peaceful one year ago this was the front line where gunfire was exchanged but beyond the region itself this war barely registers despite it lasting for the past three decades on europe's external border there are people living right over there they keep [Music] an old church in the middle of the war zone the azerbaijanis are shiite muslims while the armenians practice christianity their respective religions are an important part of their national identity and one

reason for the decades-old conflict [Music] the people here armenia is a small country covering just 30 000 square kilometers the journey from the border to yerevan the capital is not far for months avid avenisian has been bringing his son to the hospital [Music] was here injured in the war but in stepanaket the capital of nagorno-karabakh long-term care for wounded soldiers is not available i was injured on the 21st of october last year by a cluster bomb it was the very first day that these weapons were deployed [Music] after the hospital father and son visit the

cemetery together the last heavy fighting in 2020 saw thousands more soldiers lose their lives many of them still very young barely even adults just because they're no longer in this world doesn't mean they are no longer with us as long as we are alive so are they the conflict in the caucasus has had far-reaching consequences nato member turkey supports the muslim nation of azerbaijan france however is on the side of the armenians russia is attempting to remain neutral after all moscow values good relations with the oil-rich azerbaijan this is not how the armenians imagined their

freedom and independence thirty years ago fifteen soviet republics became independent states one day part of soviet territory the next foreign countries [Music] how can you see ukrainians better russians or armenians as foreigners and these places as foreign countries it's very difficult in russia foreign policy expertise in regard to post-soviet space is very weak even the experts acknowledge this this sounds strange and paradoxical they were part of the same country for so many years but the foreign ministry has only a few experts for ukraine belarus and the caucasus there are far more who specialize in the

usa germany france or the benelux countries a complex legacy despite the dissolution the old dependencies continued to exist the entire infrastructure of roads and railways power lines and oil and gas pipelines was built according to the needs of the soviet union and its centralized power base in moscow the institute of economics at the academy of sciences is examining the relationships to moscow as they were and as they are now ruslan greenberg is the institute's director this long-time confidant of mikhail gorbachev has reached a simple conclusion you have to understand that all states of the post-soviet

region have one single principle when it comes to their relationship with russia and it's been this way for 30 years achieving a maximum of economic advantage from russia while having a minimum of political obligations the soviet union was formed in 1922 as a joining together of the union republics voluntarily at least this is how it was framed in the constitution but the right to secede from the union had never been tried in practice and certainly not a withdrawal of all its members but in 1991 that is what happened the country dissolved into its constituent parts

[Music] the west looked on amazed at the rapid disintegration and 25 million russians were left in shock they suddenly found themselves inhabitants of other countries compounded by the uncertainty of whether they would be accepted there as citizens or be allowed to keep their homes and land vladislav belov is the director at the center of german studies he is no political ally of vladimir putin but he agrees with the president's claim that the fall of the soviet union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century one can agree with his statement if by geopolitics you

primarily mean the interests of certain people and if we consider the fates of millions of those who due to the unconstitutional i repeat unconstitutional dissolution of the ussr found themselves trapped behind the borders of the country in which they thought they lived i'm talking about 25 million russian speaking citizens who overnight woke up to find themselves living in another country today we are in one country tomorrow we wake up and find ourselves in another these people were treated as second class and that is of course a catastrophe at first there were attempts to rebuild the

ruins following the collapse of the soviet union the torrid palace and saint petersburg was to become the seat of the commonwealth of independent states a loose organization of the former soviet republics however the three baltic states georgia and ukraine withdrew or chose not to participate and the commonwealth of the remaining states exists only on paper no summits have been held in years the cis has no power gerhard mangod works at the university of innsbruck in austria and is one of the west's most renowned russia experts he also sees the cis as a failed attempt to

continue the legacy of the soviet union in moscow although in moscow under yeltsin there was certainly the expectation that some kind of confederation would be possible but as the armenian president said at the time this confederation of independent states was more like a vehicle for an amicable divorce and indeed that's all it was it's incredible that this association still exists today at least on paper because no one wants to kill the baby as it were by dissolving the organization entirely but it simply has no practical political significance anymore the baltic states played a special role

estonia latvia and lithuania were the first to break away from the soviet union and successfully pursue their own path their relationship to russia is frosty [Music] vilnius the lithuanian capital the viewing platform of the tv tower is a popular attraction from here one can see how the city has changed in the last 20 years alone around 50 000 new apartments have been built more than anywhere else in the baltic states in the center is the country's parliament since independence it is known again as the zemas ruslanas baranovas is a philosophy graduate and works for an

mp of the social democrat party we've integrated into the european union and the west and our living standards have increased the borders were opened up for us and many lithuanians emigrated to western europe but at the same time our main problem is inequality inequality of incomes unequal opportunities thirty years ago lithuania was home to 3.7 million inhabitants but then the exodus began nine hundred thousand lithuanians left the country young people especially most of them well educated went to find work in the west a huge problem for this small republic despite this the capital and the

country as a whole has embraced the modern world annual economic growth has long been around three percent and lithuania has one of the best fiberglass internet networks in all of europe but lithuanians also have a strong sense of national history and identity these photos in the parliament recall the independence movement of 1989. our history is our guide and many things that are going on in society now are linked to our past the goal of our security and foreign policy is to make sure that history does not repeat itself lithuania has long felt part of the

west an exhibition about the so-called forest brothers partisans who fought against the soviet occupation until 1953 is currently on display at the zamasu the younger generation can take democracy for granted emil pasco chimaite studied educational science in germany but vilnius has remained her [Music] i was talking about this with my grandparents just yesterday we were discussing what we have gained after 30 years of independence my generation and young people in general are often told even my parents say this that we don't know what freedom is because we've never lived in a country without freedom we

can't appreciate what freedom means because we can just get on with our lives and believe this is normal and this is probably true emil belongs to an organization that wants to influence the political discourse in lithuania [Music] youth debate through our work here in lithuania we organize programs that are supported by the european union so every day i am living the values of the european union i consider myself to be more if i'm allowed to say this a citizen of europe lithuania's ties to the west are becoming closer every year in 2004 the country joined

nato along with its baltic neighbors estonia and latvia and four other members of the former eastern bloc military spending in lithuania now makes up around two percent of gdp in 2021 nato carried out exercises here reflecting a deep mistrust of russia another legacy of the soviet era but the baltic countries are home to a large russian minority who do not want to give out their identity ruslanas knows this well his own father is russian i think russian influence today takes on a more hybrid form such as influence over television which a lot of people in

lithuania still watch and over the internet for many people russian is the only foreign language they know and so if they want any information beyond what's provided by lithuanian tv and websites they'll go straight to the russian platforms lithuania sees russia as a potential aggressor and is counting on support from nato and the european union [Music] in moscow there is little sympathy for this position not even at the influential and critical journal russia for globalness russia in global affairs if i were polish or from one of the baltic countries i might also see things but

when you look at it from a rational perspective it's not at all clear why russia would attack poland or the baltic states what would it achieve the idea that russia wants to test nato's readiness and thereby prove its incapability is in my opinion complete fantasy of course we don't agree with nato but no one here wants to risk another world war just to test nato what would be the point putin is nevertheless demonstrating russia's military strength by carrying out its own maneuvers on the borders to the nato countries tension is building on both sides military

marches in front of the kremlin the message russians should be proud of their army while the west and nato should be deterred the country is a fortress under siege says putin so its people must stand together last year russia spent 4.3 percent of its gdp on its military under yeltsin the army was humiliated insulted under-financed and its soldiers left to starve when putin came to power in 2000 it was suddenly paradise on earth there was peace and happiness and today we have a strong army and military careers are desirable again this is all part of

the propaganda the imperial mindset of the former soviet union persists in russia today legitimized through the victory of the red army over hitler's germany in the second world war 27 million dead the great patriotic war as the russians call it has left its mark on almost every family among russians but also ukrainians belarusians kazakhs and kyrgyz these memories also shape today's society this belief that we russians are a significant power one that can push back against hostile pressure and hostile influences from the outside world this is an important part of our collective identity this belief

in the soviet union and russia's unique authority and that we are a special civilization this compensates for the feelings of dependence poverty and humiliation that people have in their private lives what might seem strange for western visitors is for russians completely normal a mural of georgie shukov the great second world war commander proudly overlooking an inner city shopping street this modern-day veneration of wartime heroes sends another message never again will this once glorious army present such a shameful image to the world as it did after the collapse of the soviet union [Music] today russia is

showing its strength again investing in new atomic weapons the military industrial complex established in soviet times is now experiencing a renaissance [Music] but the country as a whole is paying a heavy price the political leadership is making the mistake of believing that a 21st century superpower needs only to define itself militarily and russia is only a superpower in military terms not economically not financially not technologically and not demographically the purchasing power of the russian people is increasing at a slower rate than almost anywhere in europe still some slight growth is currently predicted for the russian

economy but that is mainly due to higher commodity prices russia's companies are simply not innovative enough there is barely any investment in infrastructure many of the country's transport arteries are in a state of disrepair i regret that we have not been able to achieve an economic miracle of the kind seen in china transparently at least in terms of transport infrastructure we still only have one motorway from moscow to some petersburg it's an embarrassment our main transport route towards the east connecting moscow with beijing is still being rebuilt it's an embarrassment moscow well yes moscow has

changed but i expected to see this all over russia for roads and the infrastructure to be improved across the country the money has disappeared but nothing has been built now russia is looking for strong partners all the more so since relations with western europe have cooled russia and china are working together on the huge intercontinental project known as the new silk road hopes are high for large profits and growth china is pursuing a very cautious policy towards russia by not actively letting russia feel that it's the junior partner at least in economic and financial matters

because historically china has always been and still is afraid that russia can easily switch sides and align itself with the west and this should be prevented at all costs russia has refocused its attention on central asia in order to secure its traditional sphere of influence the central asian republics have welcomed this in large part as a counterweight to china their increasingly dominant neighbor yet the opposite is true in ukraine where the majority of the country looks to the west rather than the east of all the former soviet republics ukraine was probably best place to make

a success of its independence but today the country finds itself in crisis president volodymia zelensky has failed to fulfill his people's hopes for peace and prosperity ukraine today is the most corrupt country in europe making a formal alliance with western europe extremely difficult the country is deeply divided while people in western ukraine overwhelmingly support joining nato and the european union the east of the country feels a strong connection with russia especially in luhansk regions industrialized during the soviet era known as donbas was home to protests against the national government in kiev a pro-russian minority took

issue with the ukrainian state propelled by fears that they would be discriminated against in a western-leaning nationalist ukraine ethnic russians make up a large minority of the population 8 million out of 42 million citizens with backing from russia these protests turned into a separatist uprising a civil war that has set the whole of europe on edge and shows no signs of obesing donbass was never ukrainian in terms of language and traditions my mother comes from eastern ukraine she comes from the zappos who settled along the dawn when i visited her village as a five-year-old i

didn't understand the word so who am i exactly my mother is ukrainian my father is russian for my wife's parents is the other way around my mother-in-law comes from western ukraine a 100 percent zapanetsuka in 2014 the crimean peninsula in southern ukraine became the scene of an escalation in the russian ukrainian conflict today russia claims crimea as a part of its federation a huge new bridge is being built to connect the peninsula to the russian mainland it's intended to send a message to the world we have taken back crimea it's a show of strength towards

former soviet states demonstrating what happens if they turn against russia orchestrated by moscow the overwhelmingly ethnic russian population had already elected a separatist parliament this led to the annexation of the territory by russia what western europe saw as a flagrant breach of international law was presented by russia as a free decision by the majority of people in crimea this was a real election i admit probably not everything was carried out in line with international law but this was not a military occupation it was not an annexation it was a declaration of will by the people

of in russia it is hard to find anyone who does not consider crimea to be a part of russian territory a new russian patriotism has taken hold 30 years after the fall of the soviet union for some perhaps also encouraged by memories of its former greatness we were a large country we still are a large country that's just a fact that's when my parents fell in love and everything positive that they associate with their lives back then they also associate with the soviet union in the soviet union people were tricked those in power promised one

thing but did something completely different [Music] it was a very simplistic idea of what the future would bring we will drive out the communists the communists will disappear and a new life will be possible everyone thought that the good parts of socialism which used to be would remain and that these benefits would be supplemented by two new aspects firstly consumer choice and secondly freedom and that together would be perfect happiness the transition from a socialist command economy to a capitalist market economy was abrupt and came almost without warning is today a successful business consultant for

her what occurred back then was akin to shock therapy you have to understand that we've been living inside the soviet system the right to private ownership was not recognized even today we have a very specific relationship to property rights and entrepreneurship in russia so imagine what it was like back then for people who had been concerned with completely different matters like science or culture and then suddenly forced to become more decided to become business owners because they wanted to somehow live and survive privatization was a part of this shock therapy [Music] the privatization was chaotic

and forced through without regard for the consequences at the end of the 1990s russia was plunged into a major economic crisis for older people in particular memories of this time are painful the ruble was dramatically devalued gdp halved child mortality rose to frightening new levels and life expectancy was shorter than in the third world all compounded by unprecedented corruption at the highest levels of power all this discredited the concept of democracy and the very term democracy in the eyes of most russians democracy almost became a dirty word due to the experiences people had with the

transition to a supposedly democratic system during the 1990s and even today we see surveys from independent institutes that suggest only around a fifth of russian people would like to live in a western-style democracy but what do ordinary russians think of their country one of the best-known public polling institutes the levada center regularly poses this question the center operates free of state control and is therefore treated with suspicion [Music] when at the end of the yeltsin era we asked russians what they expected from the next president most people expressed two hopes first that the country would

find a way out of the economic crisis and achieve an increase in living standards and second that russia would be restored to the position of superpower that it held during the ussr and putin with his demagogue his rhetoric his strengthening of the military and the country's power structures seemed ready to fulfill these expectations vladimir putin's first term in office began in 2000 and he immediately tightened the reins to the country's powerful oligarchs he made clear that a new era had arrived he promised that they would be free to go about their business unhindered and their

companies would not be renationalized in return they would grant him their unwavering loyalty his message was this stay out of politics and i will leave you in peace most russians applauded this the current ruling party achieves its political aims much like the old communist party did through domination it's like the old joke that was going around under yeltsin whichever party we create will always end up with the communists so there's no alternative on the other hand the russian political establishment the russian power structure is much more flexible than the soviet one it is capitalist but

not only russia has a highly centralized authoritarian government take belarus nestled between russia and the european union due to their shared history and related languages belarus was always a reliable ally for russia now it appears shaky even the national flag makes no secret of the country's close ties to its soviet past only the hammer sickle and star have been replaced reminders of the soviet union are ubiquitous both in the capital minsk and across the country the country's economy is centrally controlled with a mixture of private and state ownership an absence of democratic structures and high

levels of media censorship have earned it international condemnation since 1994 belarus has been ruled continuously by the autocrat alexander lukashenko a one-time soviet political officer since his re-election in 2020 opposition to his government has become louder hundreds of thousands of belarusians have taken to the streets demanding democracy and lukashenko's resignation in kazakhstan too a president with autocratic tendencies has ruled for many years yet with other and for russia more favorable conditions thanks to its oil and gas supplies kazakhstan is the richest country in the region its long-serving former leader nusultan nazarbayev was a member of

the politburo of the communist party in soviet times [Music] unlike kazakhstan the once poor soviet republics of uzbekistan kyrgyzstan turkmenistan and tajikistan initially struggled with their new freedom they were too dependent on the centralized seat of power in moscow [Music] millions of people from the former soviet republics in central asia have come to russia as migrant workers especially to the cities of moscow and saint petersburg they work on building sites in the service sector or in agriculture people from the caucasus meanwhile often work as itinerant traders their wages are usually the most important source of

income for their families back home most foreign workers come from here kyrgyzstan in the capital bishkek life is shaped both by islam and the legacies of the soviet era [Music] a suburb of bishkek early in the morning in one of these houses lives rita igeshova she is a tailor by trade her husband and two of her five children live and work in russia she also spent several years there together with her daughter sultanat she is taking the bus to work at the market here rita owns a small shop selling lingerie bought with savings from her

work in russia should be on friendly terms and they should maintain these important links in the future uzbekistan tajikistan all of them kazakhstan over are russian citizens and are working there my daughter and my son have decided to stay there every family has someone who works in russia whether it's the husband wife daughter or son islam in the country is a recently revived legacy of pre-soviet times nearby is an imposing russian orthodox church national heroes from centuries past are revered as are others from the more recent soviet era kyrgyzstan has six and a half million

inhabitants eight hundred thousand of them are ethnic russians alongside kyrgyz russian is also an official language here rita cannot understand why so many of her fellow kyrgyz are embracing islam under pressure from muslim men more and more women no longer go out to work instead accepting to stay at home and be housewives uh i think women's rights were better in the soviet union women were more equal today women are becoming more religious wearing head scarfs or veils they don't have a voice anymore do you understand they have no identity the south of the country is

home to many us in the past there have been outbreaks of violence between them and the kyrgyz one reason they're differing expressions of religious faith the uzbeks tend to follow a very strict interpretation of islam while the kyrgyz are more moderate [Music] today islam is allowed to shine again in kyrgyzstan in jalalabad the imam is the uzbek he completed his theology studies back in soviet times as imam the 66 year old is not only a religious leader but also a kind of mayor in his local district in my opinion life in the soviet union was

good there was religious freedom and religion was valued the state didn't interfere and it respected religious boundaries they didn't monitor us as much and tell us what to do a proper religion was preached there were no band or terrorist organizations back then no hesbis wahhabis or salafists and we never preached anything that was forbidden we taught how to pray correctly and how the faithful should treat one another but today there are more extremist organizations and the state must be more careful kyrgyzstan defines itself as a secular state yet there's no telling how strong an influence

a radical form of islam could become here imam madaliev preaches a moderate interpretation of the faith every friday the mosques are full alhamdulillah religious there's a mosque in the atheist soviet union the imam was a civil servant and earned a monthly salary today he earns his income through the mosque's own bakery and a butcher shop he receives donations and runs a small farm even he the imam must head out to the fields after work each day to gather hay this is the reality of life for a religious leader in kyrgyzstan misses the soviet union in

the soviet union everyone was equal rich and poor were on the same level even i as an imam earned 80 rubles a month these days everyone is divided up into rich and poor back in the capital bishkek this building houses the headquarters of a local ngo one of the activists is dinara or nova these women are campaigning for more democracy and against corruption corruption here has reached new heights it's out of control the people in power there in my opinion primarily to enrich themselves and not to govern or to help the country they want to

turn politics into a business opportunity for themselves the fact that an ngo can publicly promote its goals in this way distinguishes kirkus society from other countries in central asia but dinara a russian language teacher by profession wants to get even more involved she supports the new reform party because as she says there are too few truly democratic parties in kyrgyzstan at the last elections there were 78 different parties on the ballot but only three four or five of them are democratic and liberal and that is concerning that's why such new parties are important there is

a demand for more new parties in our society at the edges of this once multi-ethnic state the russian army has long seen itself as a guarantor of stability since the end of the soviet union these border regions have been the sites of violent power struggles often with the participation of russian troops such as here in the now autonomous czech republic the chechen wars were viewed very negatively by the wider population both the first and the second around 55 to 65 percent of russians saw these wars as unjust and felt it important that they should be

ended as quickly as possible the journalist anna politkovskaya had reported for years on the brutality of the chechen war and corruption at the upper levels of the russian army in october 2006 she was shot dead in front of her moscow apartment block was her assassination ordered by political circles around the kremlin or was the chechen leadership responsible despite trials and sentences handed down the real masterminds were never identified the killing was seen in russia as a warning to critics of the regime but if we look at the situation clearly and objectively there is really no

serious opposition in russia that could pose major difficulties for the kremlin or be considered a threat the principle of show strength and crush descent obviously works this principle recalls the power mechanisms of soviet times in the 1960s the term homo sovieticos was coined the soviet citizen defined by conformist values and attitudes many people in the former soviet republics remain shaped by these fundamental values even today [Music] the soviet citizen developed the skills required to survive in a repressive state he learned to deceive the state to tolerate its arbitrary judgments to feign loyalty towards it all

while taking care of his own problems and trying to survive in this hard and repressive environment the advent of putin and his authoritarian system was no accident but rather a continuation of the soviet regime [Music] there is only one real difference to the soviet union today the blessing no longer comes from a single all-powerful party putin the one-time member of the communist party now has the backing of a different authority the russian orthodox church the church has no objection to the strengthening of conservative values in russia [Music] thirty years ago the red flag of the

soviet union was taken down from the kremlin hardly anyone objected we entered red square 300 people who had come to speak out against this astonishing decision and there were 287 million people in the ussr i always say for one million citizens only a single person showed up to protect the soviet union [Music] it was very strange russia is the largest of the successor states it is still struggling to find its place between europe and asia [Music] the developments of the past 30 years have been confusing and difficult as a result russia has regained its status

as a global political player but at the same time it's fallen far short of where it could be today with a more visionary leadership [Music] western european style democracy is not a model russia is trying to emulate pride in russia's greatness and an appeal to its shared traditions these are what will make the country strong [Music] that's why there is such a longing for one's childhood for the school years for our time as students but that's not much about the soviet union putin was right when he said anyone who doesn't mourn the soviet union has

no heart but anyone who would go back to what it was has no head thirty years later the dreams of the past have been replaced by new realities whether the collapse of the soviet union really was a geopolitical catastrophe or rather a new opportunity that some of its former states have been slow to grasp only time will tell [Music]