August Coup Attempt - 1991
Author: Linda DeLaine
Publication: Website
Date:
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Summary: Ten years later, we take a look back at the August 19 coup attempt in Russia. Led by the Gang of Eight, men who owed their political careers to Mikhail Gorbachev, attempted establish a new dictatorship.
In the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of openness and reform; glasnost and perestroika; unleashed an unexpected epidemic of independence movements within the Soviet Union. People were, technically, free to speak their minds, demonstrate and protest. Perestroika opened the door for the leaders of the collection of states to demand more control over their individual regions and, eventually, sovereignty from the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev may have envisioned a second revolution in Russia but never a coup attempt. After his election as president in February 1990, many feared the onset of another dictatorship. In fact, Gorbachev's actions seemed to contradict his policies of perestroika. During the October session of parliament, Gorbachev opposed the so called 500 Days Plan which would have moved the centralized Soviet economy to a market economy within the following two years. Always in favor of uskoreniye (acceleration), Gorbachev seemed to be slowing things down. Many speculated that he had lost his nerve or was backing down now that he was president. In any event, it did not seem certain where he stood or what he would do next.
In December 1990, Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigned. This was a great blow to Gorbachev and a public embarrassment as Shevardnadze tendering his resignation in public to the 2,000 members of the Congress of People's Deputies. Shevardnadze did not resign suddenly or on a whim. For several months, he had been very vocal regarding his concerns, We are going back to the terrible past. Reactionaries are gaining power. Reformers have slumped into the bushes. A dictatorship is coming. No one knows what this dictatorship will be like, what kind of dictator will come to power and what order will be established.
In December 1990, Gorbachev appointed Boris Pugo as Interior Minister. Pugo was Latvian and the head of the KGB in Riga. Immediately, he called for actions against Lithuania which had declared its independence from the Soviet Union in March 1990. Moscow responded by establishing an economic blockade of Lithuania. On January 20, 1991, contributing to further unrest, Soviet troops clashed with Latvians in Riga. Five demonstrators were killed causing thousands to actively protest against the government.
Boris Yeltsin was a Communist and the head of the Russian Congress of People's Deputies. Yeltsin wanted to speed up reforms and called for the formation of an independent Russia. Yeltsin announced that he would sponsor a rally in Moscow to present and gain support for his ideals. Pugo saw this as a direct challenge to Gorbachev's authority and accused Yeltsin as being a neo-Bolshevik who just wanted to storm the Kremlin. Gorbachev reacted by banning the rally and reinstated state censorship of all media.
On March 28, 1991, Yeltsin's rally went on as planned with thousands in attendance. Gorbachev ordered troops to monitor and control the event which ended up going off without incident. This was a critical moment for Gorbachev. He realized that he must form a positive relationship with Yeltsin in order to stay in power.
By June, many of Gorbachev's top advisers were getting very nervous. Many saw the writing on the wall and warned Gorbachev of a possible impending plot against him from within his own government. Gorbachev brushed off these warnings, believing that no one would have the nerve to attack him.
Boris Yeltsin was elected President of the Russian republic on June 12, 1991, and was inaugurated on July 10. Yeltsin's election came exactly one year after Russia declared itself an independent and sovereign state.
By this time, Gorbachev's popularity at home was almost nonexistent even though he was praised by the international community for his reform attempts. Many promises and failed reform attempts had comprised Gorbachev's five year tenure. In reality, the gross national product fell roughly 10 percent and the cost of goods was up over 50 percent. Faced with a very dissatisfied population and a government that was barely functional, Gorbachev left Moscow and headed to the Crimea for a vacation and to put the finishing touches on the new union treaty. He honestly did not believe that he or his office were in any danger.
Gorbachev with President Ronald Reagan
and VP George Bush, NYC, 1988
Next page The Coup Begins >Page 1, 2, 3, 4
Russia
Changes
The Events of August 1991 and the Russian
Constitution
A. S. Durgo (Editor)
Library Binding, 162pp.
Nova
Science Publishers, Incorporated
January 1992
