Today in History, December 8th
On December 8, 1991, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus formed the CIS, effectively ending the Soviet Union. Plus the 1941 war declaration and John Lennon.
Published · Last updated
December 8 is best known for 1991, when the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the agreement that created the Commonwealth of Independent States and effectively ended the Soviet Union. It is also the day the U.S. declared war on Japan in 1941 and the day John Lennon was killed in New York City in 1980.
The big story: Three republics sign away the Soviet Union (1991)
On December 8, 1991, the elected leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed an agreement forming the Commonwealth of Independent States, a new and looser association meant to replace the crumbling Soviet Union. Three of the USSR’s own republics were, in effect, writing it out of existence. The ground had been shifting for months. A hard-line Communist coup attempt in August had failed, leaving Mikhail Gorbachev weakened and Russia’s Boris Yeltsin stronger, while independence movements gained ground from the Baltics to the Caucasus. Ukraine held an independence referendum on December 1, a week before the agreement. After that, events moved fast. The Commonwealth formally came into being on December 21, when leaders met at Alma-Ata. On December 25, Gorbachev resigned, and the Soviet flag over the Kremlin was lowered and replaced by the Russian tricolor. The United States went on to recognize the 12 newly independent republics. A superpower that had shaped most of the 20th century ended not with a war but with signatures and a change of flags.
More events on December 8
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1794 | A wind-driven fire destroyed more than 200 buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans. |
| 1854 | Pope Pius IX proclaimed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. |
| 1863 | Abraham Lincoln proposed a conciliatory plan for bringing the Confederate states back into the Union after the Civil War. |
| 1914 | A German naval squadron tried to raid the Falkland Islands and was defeated by the British fleet. |
| 1940 | The Chicago Bears beat Washington 73-0 in the NFL Championship Game. |
| 1941 | Congress declared war on Japan the day after Pearl Harbor; Montana’s Jeannette Rankin cast the only vote against it. |
| 1949 | China’s Nationalist government moved its capital to Taiwan. |
| 1980 | Former Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed in New York City. |
| 1987 | Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the superpowers’ nuclear arsenals. |
| 1993 | President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law. |
| 2010 | SpaceX became the first commercial company to send a spacecraft, its Dragon capsule, into orbit and bring it back to Earth. |
| 2024 | Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was ousted after 13 years of civil war. |
Born on December 8
- 1542: Mary, Queen of Scots, born at Linlithgow Palace.
- 1886: Diego Rivera, Mexican muralist.
- 1894: James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist, born in Columbus, Ohio.
- 1925: Sammy Davis Jr., singer, dancer, actor and member of the Rat Pack.
Keep reading
Sources
- On This Day: December 8, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- This Day in History: December 8, History.com
- Commonwealth of Independent States, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The Collapse of the Soviet Union, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State
