History of the United States (1980–1991) which the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony." Nationalist agitation in the Baltic States for independence led to first Lithuania and then the other two states, Estonia and Latvia, declaring independence from the Soviet Union. On December 26, 1991, the USSR was officially disbanded, breaking up into fifteen constituent parts. The Cold War was over, and the vacuum left by the collapse of governments such as in Yugoslavia and Somalia revealed or reopened other animosities concealed by decades of authoritarian rule. While there was a certain reluctance among the U.S.
1991 Soviet Union referendum People's Deputies of the USSR in accordance with the law on the referendum of the USSR" On January 16, 1991 the Supreme Council USSR decided that to: An official referendum had been held in Estonia on 3 March 1991 on whether to re-establish the Estonian republic that had been occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. The result was 77.8% in favour of re-establishing the Estonian republic. Latvia also held an official referendum on 3 March 1991, when the overwhelming majority voted to re-establish the independent Latvian republic. Consequently, in these republics pro-Soviet front-organisations organised voluntary referendums without official sanction.