NEW UNION TREATY

Also called the All-Union Treaty or the Union Treaty, the New Union Treaty was the proposed replacement for the original Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. During 1991, independence movements in theBaltic States,Georgia, and elsewhere promptedMikhail Gorbachevto allow devolution of power to theunion republicsin an effort to hold the country together. While the majority of Soviet citizens supported preserving the union, the republican leadership, includingBoris Yeltsinas the leader of theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic(RSFSR), backed a loosening of the ties between the Soviet Socialist Republics.The new entity, tentatively titled the Union of Sovereign States (originally the Union of Soviet Sovereign States to preserve theRussian languageacronym of the USSR), was to be created on 20 August 1991 but was preempted by theAugust Coupone day before the treaty-signing ceremony (Georgia,Estonia,Latvia,Lithuania,Moldova, andArmeniawere not signatories to the agreement). In the wake of the failed putsch, the leaders ofBelarus,Ukraine, and the RSFSR (now the Russian Republic) established theCommonwealth of Independent States, effectively bringing about thedissolution of the Soviet Union.

See alsoAll-Union Referendum.