As far as breakups of authoritarian regimes go, the Soviet Union's breakup was mostly peaceful with no major wars breaking out between the separatist states.
Whatever violence there was in the break up was restricted to Central Asia and the Caucasus. In chronological order...
(Feel free to correct me if I'm missing anything)
While these outbreaks of violence are undeniable, they could've gotten worse. I read somewhere on Facebook that if the Soviet Union's breakup was delayed, it could've resulted in revanchist wars between the separatist states.
So, what could've happened to delay the Soviet Union's breakup to such an extent that there are full blown wars between the separatist states over territory, ethnicity, religion, etc and what would've happened in the event of such events?
Whatever violence there was in the break up was restricted to Central Asia and the Caucasus. In chronological order...
- 9 April 1989 in which 21 anti-Soviet demonstrators in Georgia were massacred by the Red Army
- the 1990 'Black January' event in Azerbaijan in which the Red Army violently cracked down on Azerbaijani nationalists resulting in the deaths of a estimated 300 civilians
- Anti-Armenian riots in Tajikistan in 1990
- Riots between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz people in Kyrgyzstan in 1990
(Feel free to correct me if I'm missing anything)
While these outbreaks of violence are undeniable, they could've gotten worse. I read somewhere on Facebook that if the Soviet Union's breakup was delayed, it could've resulted in revanchist wars between the separatist states.
So, what could've happened to delay the Soviet Union's breakup to such an extent that there are full blown wars between the separatist states over territory, ethnicity, religion, etc and what would've happened in the event of such events?