Following the failed coup by the hawks, the power of the CPSU crumbles; strengthened by the suppression of the coup, Yeltsin takes power and abolishes the Communist Party. The collapse of Communism and the Soviet Union; and the end of 46 years of the Cold War. The Cold War caused 8.5 million deaths in 30 countries. For the United States alone, the cost is estimated at around $10 trillion, of which $5.5 trillion was for the development and maintenance of nuclear weapons.
