The August putsch is a political coup that took place in Moscow in August 1991, the purpose of which was to overthrow the existing government and change the vector of the country's development, preventing the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The August putsch took place from August 19 to August 21, 1991, and became, in fact, the reason for the further collapse of the USSR, although it aimed at a completely different development of events. As a result of the coup, members of the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP), a self-proclaimed body that assumed the duties of the main body of government, wanted to come to power. However, attempts by the State Emergency Committee to seize power failed, and all members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested.
The main reason for the putsch is dissatisfaction with the perestroika policy pursued by M.S. Gorbachev, and the deplorable results of his reforms.
Causes of the August putsch
After a period of stagnation in the USSR, the country was in a very difficult situation - a political, economic, food and cultural crisis flared up. The situation was getting worse every day, it was necessary to urgently carry out reforms and reorganize the economy and the system of government of the country. This was done by the current leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. Initially, his reforms were generally assessed positively and were called "perestroika", but time passed, and the changes did not bring any results - the country plunged deeper and deeper into the crisis.
As a result of the failure of Gorbachev's internal political activities, discontent began to grow sharply in the ruling structures, a crisis of confidence in the leader arose, and not only his opponents, but also recent associates opposed Gorbachev. All this led to the fact that the idea of \u200b\u200ba conspiracy to overthrow the current government began to mature.
The last straw was Gorbachev's decision to transform the Soviet Union into a Union of Sovereign States, that is, in fact, to give the republics independence, political and economic. This did not suit the conservative part of the ruling sector, which stood for maintaining the power of the CPSU and ruling the country from the center. On August 5, Gorbachev leaves for negotiations, and at the same time, a conspiracy to overthrow him begins. The purpose of the conspiracy is to prevent the collapse of the USSR.
Chronology of events of the August putsch
The performance began on August 19 and took only three days. The members of the new government, first of all, read out the documents adopted by them the day before, which especially pointed out the inconsistency of the existing government. First of all, a decree was read out, signed by the Vice-President of the USSR G. Yanayev, which stated that Gorbachev could no longer fulfill the duties of the head of state due to his health condition, so Yanaev himself would take over his duties. Next was read the "statement of the Soviet leadership", which said that a new body of state power, the GKChP, was proclaimed, which included First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council O.D. Baklanov, Chairman of the KGB V.A. Kryuchkov, the Prime Minister of the SSR V.S. Pavlov, Minister of Internal Affairs B.K. Pugo, as well as the president of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction and Transport Objects A.I. Tizyakov. Yanaev himself was appointed head of the State Emergency Committee.
Next, the members of the KGChP turned to citizens with a statement, which said that the political freedoms that Gorbachev gave led to the creation of a number of anti-Soviet structures that sought to seize power by force, destroy the USSR and destroy the country completely. In order to resist this, it is necessary to change the government. On this very day, the leaders of the State Emergency Committee issued the first decree that prohibited all associations that were not legalized in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR. At the same moment, many parties and circles, opposition to the CPSU, were dissolved, censorship was reintroduced, many newspapers and other media outlets were closed.
In order to ensure the new order on August 19, troops were sent to Moscow. However, the GKChP's struggle for power was not easy - the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin, who issued a decree that all executive bodies must strictly obey the President of Russia (RSFSR). Thus, he managed to organize a good defense and resist the Emergency Committee. The confrontation between the two structures ended on August 20 with Yeltsin's victory. All members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested immediately.
On the 21st, Gorbachev returned to the country, who immediately received a series of ultimatums from the new government, to which he was forced to agree. As a result, Gorbachev resigns from the post of chairman of the CPSU Central Committee, dissolves the CPSU, the cabinet of ministers, republican ministries and a number of other state bodies. The collapse of all state structures is gradually beginning.
The meaning and results of the August putsch
The GKChP members conceived the August putsch as a measure that should prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, which by that time was in a deep crisis, but the attempt not only failed, in many respects it was the putsch that accelerated the events that followed. The Soviet Union finally showed itself as an untenable structure, the government was completely reorganized, and various republics gradually began to emerge and gain independence.
The Soviet Union gave way to the Russian Federation.
TASS-DOSSIER. On August 19-22, 1991, 25 years ago, there was an attempted coup d'état in the Soviet Union (known as the "August putsch").
In order to prevent the signing of the Union Treaty, which was supposed to replace the USSR with a new federation of sovereign states, representatives of the top Soviet leadership, headed by Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanayev, removed USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev from power and introduced a state of emergency in the country.
The passivity of the conspirators, the active opposition of the authorities of the RSFSR and a number of other union republics, mass protests of citizens in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities led to the fact that the coup attempt failed.
On the eve of the putsch
On August 18, 1991, a number of senior officials of the Soviet leadership, headed by Yanaev, visited President Gorbachev, who was in his country residence in Foros (Crimea). The purpose of the visit was to try to prevent the signing of the Union Treaty scheduled for August 20.
Yanaev, as well as Oleg Baklanov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, Oleg Shein, Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for organizational and party work, Valery Boldin, Chief of Staff of the USSR President, and Valentin Varennikov, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, demanded that the president stop signing the treaty, create a State Committee for USSR (GKChP) and introduce a state of emergency in the country. However, Mikhail Gorbachev did not give his consent to these conditions.
On the same day, returning to Moscow, Yanayev signed a decree entrusting himself from the next day with the powers of the President of the USSR "in connection with the impossibility" of their execution by Gorbachev "for health reasons," as well as a decree establishing the State Emergency Committee. The committee, in addition to Yanaev, included USSR Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov, Defense and Internal Affairs Ministers Dmitry Yazov and Boris Pugo, Chairman of the Union State Security Committee (KGB) Vladimir Kryuchkov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council Oleg Baklanov, Chairman of the USSR Peasant Union Vasily Starodubtsev, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial Facilities, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR, Alexander Tizyakov.
With its first decree, the State Emergency Committee introduced a state of emergency "in certain localities" of the USSR on August 19, and also banned the holding of mass events and suspended the activities of all political parties and movements, except for the CPSU and the Komsomol.
Chronicle of events 19-22 August 1991
On August 19, 1991, at six o'clock in the morning, on the radio and on the Central Television of the USSR, the "Statement of the Soviet Leadership", adopted by the members of the State Emergency Committee, was read, in which it was announced that the President of the USSR was removed from power and a state of emergency was declared. On the morning of the same day, KGB units blocked Gorbachev at his residence in Foros, the connection was cut off. Troops were sent to Moscow, the outskirts of Leningrad, Tallinn, Tbilisi and Riga. In the Baltic republics, troops and militia took control of a number of government and media buildings.
RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin refused to obey the GKChP and declared his actions an "anti-constitutional coup." In Moscow, several thousand people gathered at the House of Soviets of the RSFSR, and the construction of barricades began. Rallies against the Emergency Committee were also held in Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Tyumen and other cities of Russia.
In the evening, the first and only press conference of the members of the State Emergency Committee was held at the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was broadcast live by the Central Television of the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting. Yanaev, Pugo, Baklanov, Starodubtsev and Tizyakov spoke to the journalists. Answering the question about the whereabouts of the President of the USSR, Yanaev replied that Gorbachev was "on vacation and treatment in the Crimea" and expressed the hope that soon he "will be in the ranks and we will work together."
Events in the Soviet Union sparked a worldwide reaction. The leaders of Libya Muammar Gaddafi, Palestinian Yasser Arafat, Serbia Slobodan Milosevic and Iraqi Saddam Hussein expressed their support for the Emergency Committee. In particular, Gaddafi called the coup attempt "well done."
In turn, the leaders of European states - British Prime Minister John Major, French President Francois Mitterrand, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Spanish Prime Minister Filipe Gonzalez and a number of others - condemned the putschists. US President George W. Bush issued a statement in which he demanded the return of the USSR President to power and supported Yeltsin's actions to restore order.
In the union republics, most of the leaders initially took a wait-and-see attitude towards the events in Moscow, but later declared that the actions of the State Emergency Committee were unconstitutional. In Latvia, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, it was announced that they were ready to start a strike in the event of the coming of the putschists to power. All acts of the State Emergency Committee were recognized as illegal on the territory of the republics. Among those who supported the actions of the organizers of the coup attempt were the first secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of Azerbaijan and Ukraine Ayaz Mutalibov and Stanislav Gurenko, as well as the chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus Nikolai Dementey.
The leadership of a number of Russian regions also supported the actions of the State Emergency Committee (Ryazan Region, Krasnodar Territory, etc.). The head of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev, speaking on August 20 at a meeting of the presidential council of the republic, said that the orders of the committee should be carried out in the region.
On August 20, 150 thousand people took part in the rally against the State Emergency Committee, which took place in Moscow, in Leningrad, 300 thousand people joined a similar protest action.
On the same day, Yeltsin took over the powers of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces in Russia and created the Ministry of Defense of the RSFSR. A curfew was imposed in Moscow. The defenders of the White House (House of Soviets of the RSFSR) were expecting a night assault on the building, which became the headquarters of the opponents of the State Emergency Committee.
On the night of August 21, three protesters, Dmitry Komar, Vladimir Usov and Ilya Krichevsky, were killed in a clash between the GKChP opponents and troops in the center of Moscow. These were the only human casualties during the entire attempted coup. Later, on August 24, 1991, by Gorbachev's decrees, all three were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union "for courage and civic valor displayed in defending democracy and the constitutional order of the USSR."
Early in the morning of August 21, Yazov gave the order to withdraw troops from the capital. The GKChP delegation went to Foros to see Gorbachev, but he refused to negotiate. Yanaev, who headed the Emergency Committee, signed a decree on the dissolution of the committee and the invalidity of all decisions he had previously made. In turn, Yeltsin issued a decree canceling the orders of the State Emergency Committee, and the prosecutor of the RSFSR Valentin Stepankov issued an order to arrest its members.
On the night of August 22, the plane with Gorbachev and the Vice-President of the RSFSR Alexander Rutskoi and the Prime Minister of the RSFSR Ivan Silaev, who accompanied him, landed at the Vnukovo-2 airport near Moscow. On the same day, the main members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested - Yanaev, Kryuchkov, Yazov. USSR Interior Minister Boris Pugo committed suicide. In Moscow, near the White House (House of Soviets of the RSFSR), a massive rally of winners took place. On it, Yeltsin announced his decision to make the historical white-blue-red canvas the state flag of Russia. The corresponding decree was signed by the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.
Subsequent events of 1991
On August 23, 1991, by his decree, Yeltsin suspended the activities of the Communist Party of the RSFSR, which supported the State Emergency Committee, in Russia. On August 24, Gorbachev announced his resignation as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The text of the document also contained an appeal to the members of the Central Committee about the need to dissolve the party. On November 6, Yeltsin's decree banned the activities of the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR in Russia, all organizational structures were disbanded, and the party property was transferred to state ownership.
On December 8, at the Viskuli estate (Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus), the heads of the RSFSR, the Belarusian and Ukrainian SSRs signed an agreement on the termination of the existence of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 25, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a law on renaming the republic into the Russian Federation. In the evening of the same day, Gorbachev spoke live on Central Television with a statement of resignation from the post of President of the USSR.
On December 26, 1991, the Council of Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a declaration according to which the Soviet Union ceased to exist as a state and subject of international law in connection with the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
An acute crisis of confidence in the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev, his inability to effectively lead the country and control the socio-political situation manifested itself in his defeats in the fight against political opponents both "on the right" and "on the left."
The last attempt to strengthen the Union power was the coming to power in August 1991 of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP). The GKChP included persons holding the highest government posts in the USSR. The main events began on 19 August and lasted for three days. On the first day, the documents of the leaders of the coup d'etat were announced. Vice-President of the USSR G. Yanaev, in a decree issued on his behalf, announced his entry into the "performance of the duties of the President of the USSR" "due to the impossibility for health reasons of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev performing his duties." The "Statement of the Soviet leadership" announced the formation State Committee for the State of Emergency composed of:
O.D. Baklanov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council;
V.A. Kryuchkov, Chairman of the KGB of the USSR;
V.V. Pavlov, Prime Minister of the USSR;
B.K. Pugo, Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR;
V.A. Starodubtsev, Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR;
A.I. Tizyakov, President of the Association of State Enterprises;
D.T. Yazov, Minister of Defense of the USSR;
G.I. Yanaev, vice president of the USSR.
The Emergency Committee issued an Appeal to the Soviet people, in which it was reported that gorbachev's perestroika collapsed, that taking advantage of the freedoms provided, extremist forces arose that took a course towards the elimination of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the state and the seizure of power at any cost, and therefore the State Emergency Committee takes full power into its own hands due to the need to protect the existence of the USSR and its Constitution. On August 19, the State Emergency Committee of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 1, which suspended the activities of parties, public organizations and mass movements, prohibited meetings, street marches, demonstrations, strikes, and the mass media were to come under the control of the State Emergency Committee.
August 19 by decision GKChP to Moscow troops were brought in... At the same time, the organizers of the coup did not dare to arrest B.N. Yeltsin, as well as other leaders of Russia. Telephones and international communications of the White House were not cut off. At a press conference organized on August 19, the leadership of the State Emergency Committee behaved nervously, its leader G. Yanayev was shaking his hands. The GKChP leaders could not provide a medical certificate about M.S. Gorbachev.
The Russian authorities, headed by the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin. In the Decree of the President of the RSFSR of August 19, 1991, the actions of the GKChP were declared illegal: "all decisions made by the so-called GKChP shall be considered illegal and invalid on the territory of the RSFSR" and it was said about the transfer of all executive bodies of the USSR to the direct subordination of the President of Russia. B.N. Yeltsin also made an appeal "To the citizens of Russia" in which he called on the population to fight the State Emergency Committee. The White House, in which the Russian government is located, was able to start organizing resistance to the putsch without delay.
B.N. Yeltsin reassigned "all the executive authorities of the USSR, the USSR Ministry of Defense, operating on the territory of the RSFSR."
The overwhelming majority of the population of Russia did not offer resistance to the coming to power of the State Emergency Committee. During such a short period of time in power, the majority of citizens were unable to determine their attitude towards it. Confusion was the predominant mood in society.
But the coup was doomed, because the leadership of the GKChP advocated obsolete socialist values, in which the majority of the population no longer believed. An attempt to establish a state of emergency in the country ended in failure in Moscow. About 100 thousand Muscovites have concentrated around the House of Soviets in Moscow to support the Russian leadership. Most of the troops brought into Moscow went over to the side of B.N. Yeltsin. The outcome of the confrontation between the Emergency Committee and the Russian authorities was decided 20 August, when B.N. Yeltsin and his entourage were able to turn the tide of events in their favor and took control of the situation in Moscow. On August 21, the leaders of the State Emergency Committee flew to the Crimea, to Foros, to the President of the USSR, allegedly isolated by them. In the evening of the same day, the members of the State Emergency Committee were returned to Moscow and arrested. M.S. also returned to Moscow. Gorbachev. On August 22, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declared the creation of the State Emergency Committee illegal. On the same day M.S. Gorbachev made a statement that he qualifies everything that happened as a coup d'etat. On the same day, a criminal case was initiated against members of the State Emergency Committee. On August 23, during a meeting with deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, he was asked to immediately sign a decree on the dissolution of the CPSU... The President of the USSR accepted this and other ultimatums. The next day, August 24, 1991, M.S. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, dissolved the union cabinet of ministers. Central Committee of the CPSU announced the dissolution. B.N. Yeltsin suspended the activities of the Russian Communist Party and banned the activities of parties in the Armed Forces of the USSR on the territory of the RSFSR. On August 24 B.N. Yeltsin signed a decree appointing his representatives to the territories and regions of the RSFSR. As a result of all the events that occurred, not only the communist regime fell, but also collapsed state-party structures cementing the USSR.
The disintegration of all other state structures began: the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was dissolved, and for a transitional period until the conclusion of a new union treaty between the republics, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR became the highest representative body of power; instead of the cabinet of ministers, a powerless inter-republican economic committee was created, most of the union ministries were liquidated. The Baltic republics, which had been seeking independence for two years, received it. Other republics passed laws that strengthened their sovereignty and made them virtually beyond Moscow's control.
On December 8, 1991, the Presidents of the Russian Federation (B. Yeltsin), Ukraine (L. Kravchuk) and Belarus (S. Shushkevich) in Belovezhskaya Pushcha signed an agreement on the termination of the existence of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. At a meeting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev was not even invited.
On December 21, in Alma-Ata, 11 republics that were previously part of the USSR (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan) signed a Declaration confirming the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Soviet Union ceased to exist.
December 25, 1991 President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev announced on Central Television that he had voluntarily resigned as President.
The collapse of the USSR is the result of the impact of a whole sum of objective and subjective factors. Permanent failures of economic reforms M.S. Gorbachev encouraged the republics to leave the Union. The weakening of the power of the CPSU, this pivot of the Soviet system, also led to the collapse of the USSR.
Literature
Barsenkov, A.S. Introduction to modern Russian history (1985-1991): A course of lectures. - M .: Aspect-Press, 1991 .-- S. 213-236.
Sogrin, V.V. Political history of modern Russia. 1985-2001: from Gorbachev to Putin / V.V. Sogrin. - M .: Publishing house "Ves Mir", 2001. - S. 86-102.
August 1991 coup
08/19/16, 10:00 Chapter 2
Why was it all
Anastasia Melnikova, columnist for Russia Today News Agency
25 years ago, on August 18, 1991, the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP) was created in the USSR, it included the Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanayev, as well as party officials and leaders from the government, the KGB and the army. Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanaev was declared acting. President - "due to the impossibility of Mikhail Gorbachev's performance of his duties for health reasons."
All this was done under the pretext of stabilizing the situation in the country, but in fact the GKChP was created to disrupt the signing of the treaty on the Union of Sovereign States.
Recall that at the referendum on March 17, 1991, the majority of the country's citizens voted for the preservation and renewal of the Soviet Union (Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Estonia did not vote). After the referendum, a project was developed for the conclusion of a new union, implying a decentralized federation.
On August 3, Mikhail Gorbachev speaks on television with a statement that the union agreement will be open for signing from August 20, the text of the agreement is published in Pravda on August 15. The signing of this version of the treaty was thwarted precisely because of the attempt to remove Gorbachev from power by the participants of the State Emergency Committee and their introduction in the country of the State of Emergency.
Chapter 3Before the putsch
In fact, the ideological platform of the August putsch was the Word to the People, published on July 23, 1991, an appeal by a group of politicians and cultural figures. Among the signatories to the appeal were Valentin Varennikov, Vasily Starodubtsev and Alexander Tizyakov, as well as Gennady Zyuganov, Alexander Prokhanov, Valentin Rasputin.
They criticized the policies of Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as their allies, calling to prevent the collapse of the USSR. The style of the main author of the appeal is easy to guess (this is Alexander Prokhanov):
“... Why are crafty and eloquent rulers, clever and cunning apostates, greedy and rich money-grubbingers, mocking us, mocking our beliefs, taking advantage of our naivety, seize power, take away wealth, rob the people of houses, factories and lands, cut the country to pieces? , quarreling and fooling us? ... "
It was an attempt to unite the army and the people in the fight against the inevitable evil - the collapse of the Soviet Union. The letter was resonant, but rather exacerbated the political situation than rallied the nations.
Chapter 4Who was part of the Emergency Committee
The main organizer of the trial was the chairman of the KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov. All information flowed to him - including the results of surveillance and wiretapping of most officials.
Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanayev became the nominal head of the State Emergency Committee - he was convinced that he could be the only legitimate head of state during a state of emergency. He did not agree for a long time, demanded to provide him with certificates about the poor health of Mikhail Gorbachev, about the impossibility of fulfilling his duties as president. It was clear that Yanayev was not going to lead the coup, but legally, power should have passed to him as vice president (in the event of Gorbachev's incapacity).
In those August days, the President of the USSR really had some health problems (sciatica), but not so serious as to resign from his powers: there could be no question of any incapacity. All the more so in the Soviet Union, where most of Gorbachev's predecessors ruled the country in a much worse state of health.
Nevertheless, Gennady Yanayev, as vice president, became the country's interim leader. He also signed documents on the formation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency. In addition to the vice president, the committee included Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov, Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Anatoly Lukyanov, KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov, Interior Minister Boris Pugo and others.
Issues in the State Emergency Committee were resolved collegially, there was no obvious leader whose opinion could become decisive. And this, by the way, is one of the reasons for the failure of the coup: none of the committee members wanted to take responsibility for the possible bloodshed, no one gave the order to arrest Gorbachev or Yeltsin, or to start military operations.
Chapter 5Yeltsin's supporters
Boris Yeltsin, in the absence of President Gorbachev, who was actually blocked in Foros, managed to form a team of like-minded people around himself (Rutskoy, Silaev, Khasbulatov, Shakhrai, Burbulis, then Grachev and Lebed).
The GKChP did not have complete control over its own forces. For example, parts of the Taman division went over to the side of the defenders of the White House. On the tank of this division, Yeltsin made an appeal to the people. The appeal that got into the news bulletins, shown on television, undoubtedly influenced the mood of the people - more and more defenders flocked to the House of Soviets (White House), leaflets with the appeal were distributed throughout Moscow, "messengers" went to the army units to convince the people to side with the people ...
Boris Yeltsin acted decisively and competently, practically not doing anything that was expected of him in the State Emergency Committee. He did not resign, did not obey the decrees of the State Emergency Committee, did not flee the city for fear of arrest, did not start hostilities, did not ask for asylum at the American embassy (although everything was prepared for this).
The logic and actions of Yeltsin were supported by tens of thousands of defenders of the White House: in conditions when it is completely incomprehensible what is happening with the president of the USSR, where he is and why he is not acting, in Moscow and other regions of the country there is a legitimate authority of the legally elected Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who accused the State Emergency Committee in an attempt at a coup d'etat and treason.
Chapter 6What did Gorbachev do
Video footage of Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife descending the plane on the night of August 22, spread all over the world: the President of the USSR was released from illegal confinement and returned to Moscow.
Further, the information about how Gorbachev spent his time in Foros varies significantly. The official version is that the Gekachepists actually placed him under house arrest in the Crimean residence, blocking access to any kind of communication, after the President of the USSR refused to declare a state of emergency. On August 18, a group of comrades flew to him (Varennikov, Baklanov, Shenin, Boldin) - to persuade him to abandon the signing of the new Union Treaty scheduled for August 20.
They did not receive any consent from Mikhail Gorbachev - neither to introduce an emergency, nor to break the contract. However, according to the testimony of the former Deputy Defense Minister Valentin Varennikov and other participants in the meeting, the President, saying goodbye, shook their hand and said: “Damn you, do what you want. But report my opinion. "
"Do what you want" is just the introduction of a state of emergency in the country. Why did Gorbachev not take any measures to prevent the Emergency Committee, why did he not order, say, to detain the arrivals of the participants in the future coup d'etat (after all, the President of the USSR is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces), why did not he communicate his position to the Soviet people and the world press?
He lost the control levers, refusing to introduce an emergency, but in this case he would have been supported by Boris Yeltsin, the leadership of the RSFSR and some other republics of the Union.
Later, testimonies began to appear, interviews with border guards and Mikhail Gorbachev's security that no one in the Crimean residence had isolated him, the plane was at his disposal, and it was possible to use the telephone connection. However, those who blocked the president, the supreme commander in chief of their country in Foros, were threatened with the article "Treason to the Motherland," so they could say whatever they wanted.
In any case, Mikhail Gorbachev could have stopped the creation of the State Emergency Committee in different ways, but he did not, explaining later that he did not want to allow an armed confrontation and the inevitable victims.
Chapter 7Three days in August
On the night of August 19, Gennady Yanayev signs a document establishing the State Committee for a State of Emergency. The GKChP Resolution No. 1 states the introduction of a state of emergency for six months "in certain localities of the USSR", the prohibition of rallies and strikes, the suspension of the activities of political parties and public organizations that prevent the normalization of the situation, as well as the allocation of 15 acres of land for personal use.
Boris Yeltsin holds meetings and telephone conversations with his supporters, including R.I. Khasbulatov, A. A. Sobchak, G. E. Burbulis, S. M. Shakhrai, M. N. Poltoranin. The appeal "To the citizens of Russia" is sent by fax, Yeltsin signs a decree "On the illegality of the actions of the Emergency Committee."
At 7 in the morning, on the orders of Defense Minister Yazov, the Kantemirovskaya tank division, the Taman motorized rifle division, and the 106th Airborne Division were moving to Moscow.
Boris Yeltsin arrives at the White House (Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR) and organizes a center of resistance to the actions of the Emergency Committee. Spontaneous rallies are gathering at Krasnopresnenskaya embankment and at Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, at St. Isaac's Square in Leningrad.
Echo of Moscow becomes the mouthpiece of the opponents of the GKChP - Russian TV transmitters were turned off.
Tens of thousands of people gather in the center of Moscow and virtually block the movement of military equipment. Yeltsin at the White House reads an appeal to the citizens of Russia from a tank of the Taman division. The protesters are building barricades and forming detachments of (unarmed) militias.
At 5 pm, a press conference of the State Emergency Committee was held at the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at which Gennady Yanayev said that Mikhail Gorbachev's course on democratic transformations would be continued, that the President of the USSR was on vacation and treatment in Crimea and would return to work after “recovering”.
At 9 pm Boris Yeltsin speaks at a rally outside the White House, reporting that Russian leaders will not leave the building of the House of Soviets anywhere. A tank company of the Taman Guards Division was allowed through the barricades to the White House, the crews of the vehicles declared their loyalty to the government of the RSFSR. The paratroopers of the 106th division arrived at the White House, along with Major General Alexander Lebed.
The program "Vremya" unexpectedly aired the material of correspondent Sergei Medvedev with video footage in which Yeltsin read out the decree "On the illegality of the actions of the Emergency Committee" (by the way, in 1995 Sergei Medvedev will become the press secretary of the Russian president).
At night, the Russian deputies dispersed to the military units near Moscow, urging the military to go over to their side.
The next day, a group of Russian leaders met with GKChP member Anatoly Lukyanov, demanding that the GKChP cease its activities (no ultimatum or threats to start hostilities were expressed).
In the afternoon of August 20, about 200 thousand people gather at the White House, Ruslan Khasbulatov, Ivan Silaev, Alexander Rutskoy, Eduard Shevardnadze and others are speaking at the meeting with Yeltsin.
The GKChP planned to start the assault on the White House, but no one dared to launch a military operation - there could have been many casualties both among the peaceful defenders of the House of Soviets and among the military.
Boris Yeltsin announces the temporary assumption of the duties of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces in Russia and appoints Konstantin Kobets as Minister of Defense of the RSFSR. He gives orders to return troops to their places of permanent deployment.
At night on the Garden Ring, an army patrol clashes with demonstrators, soldiers shoot over their heads.
In the tunnel under Novy Arbat, soldiers are using military weapons, demonstrators tried to stop the movement of military equipment, two peaceful demonstrators were shot, one was accidentally crushed (Dmitry Komar, Vladimir Usov and Ilya Krichevsky).
The defenders of the White House have more and more supporters among the military, General Gromov announces that Dzerzhinsky's division has not moved into the center of Moscow, and the internal troops will not participate in the assault, and the Air Force Commander-in-Chief Yevgeny Shaposhnikov suggests that Defense Minister Yazov withdraw troops from Moscow. He is supported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Igor Chernavin and the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces Yuri Maksimov.
At 10 o'clock, the session of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, chaired by Ruslan Khasbulatov, begins, a statement condemning the State Emergency Committee is adopted at it.
A few hours later, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution in which it declared unlawful the dismissal of Mikhail Gorbachev from his duties and demanded that Vice President Yanaev cancel the decrees on the state of emergency.
Vice-President of the RSFSR, Prime Minister Ivan Silaev and other Russian leaders, as well as more than 30 armed police officers, fly to Foros Gorbachev.
On the evening of August 21, Vice President Yanaev signed a decree dissolving the State Emergency Committee. An hour later, the Prosecutor General of the RSFSR Valentin Stepankov issues an order on the arrest of former members of the State Emergency Committee.
Chapter 8After the putsch
Mikhail Gorbachev returns to Moscow, victorious rallies and rock concerts of the Mashina Vremeni, Alisa, Cruise, Corrosion of Metal, and Mongol Shuudan groups are already taking place at the White House. The historical flag of Russia (tricolor), which later became the state flag, was first installed at the top of the building of the House of Soviets.
The GKChP members were arrested, interrogations began, most of the committee members stated that they did not plan to remove Gorbachev from the presidency and begin the assault on the White House.
USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo committed suicide when he learned that a group had left for him to arrest him. On August 24, the body of Marshal Sergei Akhromeev, who worked as an adviser to the President of the USSR, was found in his office in the Kremlin, his suicide note said: "I cannot live when my Fatherland is dying and everything that I have always considered the meaning of my life is destroyed."
On August 26, Nikolai Kruchina, manager of the CPSU Central Committee, fell from the balcony of his apartment and crashed to death.
The GKChP members were deprived of their posts, held for some time in prison, then released on recognizance not to leave and amnestied. In February 1994, the only defendant in the GKChP case, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR Valentin Varennikov, refused to accept the amnesty and was brought to trial. In August of the same year he was acquitted for lack of corpus delicti.
On August 29, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR suspends the activities of the CPSU throughout the USSR.
The historic white-blue-red tricolor became the symbol of victory over the State Emergency Committee; on November 1, 1991, it was legally approved as the state flag of Russia.
© AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
TASS-DOSSIER. On August 19-22, 1991, 25 years ago, an attempted coup d'état organized by members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP) in the USSR took place in the Soviet Union.
The editorial staff of TASS-DOSSIER prepared a note on how the fate of the GKChP participants developed after August 1991.
GKChP members
The GKChP consisted of eight people. The head of the committee was the vice-president of the USSR, Gennady Yanayev, who assumed the powers of the president of the Soviet Union on August 19, 1991. Also members of the State Emergency Committee were the Prime Minister of the USSR Valentin Pavlov, the Ministers of Defense and Internal Affairs of the USSR Dmitry Yazov and Boris Pugo, Chairman of the Union Committee for State Security (KGB) Vladimir Kryuchkov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council Oleg Baklanov, Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR Vasily Starodubtsev, Alexander Tizyakov, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial Facilities, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR.
Arrests of GKChP participants
On August 21, 1991, the Prosecutor General of the RSFSR Valentin Stepankov issued an arrest warrant for all members of the State Emergency Committee. On August 22, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decision to detain Baklanov and Starodubtsev, who were People's Deputies of the Soviet Union.
On the same day, Yanaev, Kryuchkov, Yazov and Tizyakov were arrested. Pugo committed suicide. On August 23, the remaining members of the State Emergency Committee were detained - Pavlov, Baklanov and Starodubtsev. All of them were placed in the Matrosskaya Tishina remand prison (SIZO) in Moscow. The members of the State Committee were charged under item "a" of Art. 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR ("Treason to the Motherland in order to seize power").
Release from arrest
On June 6, 1992, Starodubtsev was released from the pre-trial detention center for health reasons. On January 26, 1993, the remaining members of the State Emergency Committee were released on recognizance not to leave. On February 23, 1994, all of them were amnestied by the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the first convocation. On May 6, 1994, on the basis of a parliamentary decree "On the Declaration of Political and Economic Amnesty", the criminal case against members of the State Emergency Committee was terminated.
Gennady Yanaev
On September 4, 1991, he was removed from the post of vice-president of the USSR at the 5th Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. After his release from the detention center, he took part in the congresses and public events of the Communist Party. He was a consultant to the Committee of Veterans and Disabled People of the State Service "Homeland and Honor", and also headed the Fund for Assistance to Children with Disabilities from Childhood.
In 2002-2010. served as Head of the Department of Russian History and International Relations of the Russian International Academy of Tourism. He died on September 24, 2010 in Moscow after a long illness, was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery in the capital.
Valentin Pavlov
He was dismissed from the post of Prime Minister of the USSR by decree of Mikhail Gorbachev on August 22, 1991 (on August 28, this decision was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR). In 1993, while in the "Matrosskaya Tishina" remand prison, he wrote the book "August from the Inside: Gorbachev-putsch".
In 1994 he headed his own consulting company "Doverie". In 1994-1995. served as President of Chasprombank, in 1996-1997. was the chief financial advisor to the president of Promstroybank Yakov Dubenetsky.
Since 1998 he worked as vice-president of the American firm Business Management Systems (specialized in computer technology). In the late 1990s. He was vice president of the Free Economic Society of Russia, headed the Institute for Research and Development of Regions and Industries at the International Union of Economists, was vice president of the International Academy of Management and chairman of its academic council.
In 2002 he suffered a heart attack. He died on March 30, 2003 after a massive stroke, and was buried in Moscow at the Pyatnitskoye cemetery.
Dmitry Yazov
On August 22, 1991, by decree of the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, he was relieved of his post as Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union (on August 28, the decision was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR). For a year and a half he did not receive a pension (issued in 1993), his son was expelled from the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On February 7, 1994, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, Yazov was dismissed from military service.
Since 1998, he held the post of chief military adviser to the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the RF Ministry of Defense, and was also the chief adviser-consultant to the head of the Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces. In 1999 he wrote his memoirs "Strikes of Fate: Memoirs of a Soldier and a Marshal". After the re-establishment of the Service of Inspectors General of the RF Ministry of Defense in 2008, he was its leading analyst (inspector general). He also headed the "Officers' Brotherhood" fund of the National Association of Associations of Reserve Officers of the Armed Forces (established in September 2001), the public organization "Committee in Memory of Marshal Zhukov".
Lives in Moscow.
Vladimir Kryuchkov
On August 22, 1991, by decree of the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, he was relieved of the post of Chairman of the KGB of the USSR. On October 4, 1994, he was dismissed from the state security agencies for retirement. Since the mid-1990s. - Member of the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Company (JSC) Region, part of Vladimir Yevtushenkov's holding AFK Sistema.
According to media reports, the company was an information and analytical center within the holding. Also in the 1990s-2000s. was an advisor to the Experimental Creative Center of the Russian political scientist Sergei Kurginyan.
In 1996, he wrote a two-volume memoir "Personal File". Since 1997, he was a member of the organizing committee of the Movement in Support of the Army, Defense Industry and Military Science, created by Lieutenant-General, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the second convocation Lev Rokhlin. The media also reported that in 1998-1999. Kryuchkov was an adviser to the director of the FSB of Russia, Vladimir Putin, but this information has not been officially confirmed. On May 7, 2000, he was invited to the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Oleg Baklanov
Since 1994, he was a member of the governing bodies of the Russian National Union of Sergei Baburin. In 2004-2007, when Baburin was the deputy speaker of the Duma, Baklanov served as his adviser. He also worked as an advisor to the president of the joint-stock commercial bank Mir. In 2006, he owned 34% of shares in the limited liability company Zenit DB (wholesale trade). According to media reports, at the turn of the 2000-2010s. Was the chairman of the board of directors of OJSC "Corporation" Rosobschemash "(rocketry).
He headed the regional public organization "Society of Friendship and Cooperation of the Peoples of Russia and Ukraine". In 2004, during the presidential elections in Ukraine, he supported Viktor Yanukovych. Currently - Chairman of the Board of the International Union of Public Associations of Friendship and Cooperation with the CIS countries "Kievan Rus". Lives in Moscow. In 2012 he published a book of memoirs and diaries "Space is my destiny. Notes from" Matrosskaya Tishina ".
Vasily Starodubtsev
After his release from the pre-trial detention center, he returned to work as chairman of the agro-industrial complex "Novomoskovskoye" and the collective farm. IN AND. Lenin (Tula region), which he headed before his arrest. In February 1993 he became a co-founder of the Agrarian Party of Russia, and later became a member of its governing bodies. On December 12, 1993, he was elected a deputy of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation of the first convocation (he was active until 1995), was a member of the committee on agrarian policy. Since June 1994, by order of the government, he was included in the board of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Russian Federation.
On January 22, 1995 he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. March 23, 1997 was elected governor of the Tula region. (62.82% of the votes), re-elected in 2001. He held this post until April 29, 2005. In December 1995, at the elections to the State Duma, he was included in the top three of the federal list of the Agrarian Party of Russia, did not pass to the Duma (the party did not overcome 5 percent barrier). 2007-2011 - Deputy of the State Duma of the fifth convocation. He was elected on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation from the Tula region. He was a member of the faction of the same name, was a member of the State Duma committee on agrarian issues.
At various times he also headed public organizations of agricultural producers: the Agrarian and Agroindustrial Union of Russia, the Peasant Union of the CIS. On December 4, 2011, he was re-elected to parliament on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. On December 30 of the same year, he died suddenly in Novomoskovsk. He was buried in the village of Spasskoye, Novomoskovsk district, Tula region.
Alexander Tizyakov
In December 1995, at the elections to the State Duma of the second convocation, he put forward his candidacy from the electoral bloc "Union of Patriots" (it included the Russian National Cathedral of Alexander Sterligov and the All-Russian Officers' Assembly of Vladislav Achalov). The block did not break the 5 percent barrier. In 2003 he ran for parliament from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, took 14th place in the Ural regional group. When distributing deputy mandates to the Duma did not pass.
He was also engaged in business activities. According to SPARK-Interfax, he was a co-founder of a number of companies in the Sverdlovsk region: Antal LLC (wholesale trade in industrial equipment), Insurance company Severnaya Kazna LLC, Vidikon LLC (chipboard production), Fideliti LLC (production of consumer goods), etc.
Currently - co-owner (45%) of LLC "Science 93". The main type of its activity is indicated "leasing its own non-residential real estate". Lives in Yekaterinburg. He is a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, was the chairman of the Yekaterinburg regional public movement "In support of the army and defense power of the Russian Federation."