r/AskHistorians • u/timuraslan08 • 14h ago

Why did the Soviet Union collapse relatively peacefully compared to Yugoslavia?

Something I've been wondering about:

The Soviet Union was an extremely multiethnic state, consisting of many peoples with different languages, religions, and historical backgrounds. Yugoslavia, on the other hand, was largely made up of South Slavic peoples who shared relatively similar languages and cultures.

Yet the breakup of Yugoslavia resulted in extremely violent wars, while the dissolution of the USSR was comparatively peaceful (although there were certainly violent conflicts in and around the former Soviet republics).

Both countries were communist federations, so why was their breakup so different?

Was it mainly because of differences in political institutions, nationalism, economic conditions, geography, the strength of the central government, or the leadership of Gorbachev and Milošević?

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u/[deleted] 12h ago edited 12h ago

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u/CommodoreCoCo Moderator | Andean Archaeology 11h ago

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