The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, said he was always against the collapse of the country on the anniversary of its historic referendum.
The Soviet government attempted to slow the dissolution of the union of Communist states by holding a referendum in 1991, asking citizens if they opposed or supported their republic remaining a Soviet Republic or not. Although the vote was overwhelmingly ‘for’ remaining in the Soviet Union, many members such as the Baltic and the South Caucasus republics did not hold the referendum at all and instead declared full independence through alternative referenda.
Others, such as Kazakhstan …read more
Source: Newsweek
