Introduction

The year is 1988. The USSR is on its last leg, as Moscow’s grip over the country is the weakest it has ever been. The Baltic States have completely spiraled out of control, with Estonia and Latvia even stopping use of their Soviet flag and adopting their native languages as the official language, instead of Russian. 

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The Caucasus are also in disarray as protests grew into rebellions in Stepanakert and Karabakh, with many Armenians and Azerbaijanis demanding not reform from the USSR, but independence altogether. The Moscow government and Gorbachev tried their best to keep the country together by giving people the freedom they so desperately craved.

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By the end of 1988, nearly all Soviet States were governed by liberal and progressionist members of the Communist Party, and people had more freedom of press, religion, national identity and language than they ever did. Yet none of it was enough to quell the rebellions. The people wanted one thing and one thing only, and that was independence. 

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With each passing day it became more and more obvious that the people didn’t want the Union anymore, and that nothing could help it. It seemed giving the people what they want only led them to want more, until there was nothing left to give. So maybe, Premier Gorbachev thought, it was about time for a different approach. Perhaps, a less liberal one.

 

In the 2024 edition of MUNSA, delegates will take on prominent roles in either the 

Council of the Supreme Soviets, trying to hold the country together, or the 

Grand Revolutionary Council, trying their best to beat the Red Army and gain their independence from the Soviet Union. The creativity of our delegates with their pen and paper will decide the outcome of the conflict, as every action they take will tip the scales in one way or the other.