1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt. The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a three-day political crisis from 19 to 21 August 1991. A group of eight high-ranking Soviet officials, the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP), attempted to seize control of the country from President Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup's failure, marked by decisive public resistance led by Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, fatally weakened the authority of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and precipitated the final collapse of the Soviet Union by year's end.

Background

The coup attempt was the culmination of deepening political and economic crises within the Soviet Union during the late 1980s and early 1990s. President Mikhail Gorbachev's reform policies of perestroika and glasnost had unleashed forces that destabilized the centralized state. The rise of nationalist movements in Baltic republics like Lithuania and the Caucasus, along with the election of reformist Boris Yeltsin as President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, created a powerful rival center of power in Moscow. A key immediate trigger was the impending signing of the New Union Treaty on 20 August 1991, which would have transformed the USSR into a much looser federation, a prospect hardline communists and military leaders found unacceptable. Key architects of the coup included KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, Minister of Defence Dmitry Yazov, and Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov.

The coup

In the early hours of 19 August, while Mikhail Gorbachev was under house arrest at his dacha in Foros, Crimea, the plotters announced the formation of the State Committee on the State of Emergency via state media. They deployed Soviet Army units, including the Taman Division and Kantemirovskaya Division, and KGB Alpha Group special forces into Moscow, surrounding key government buildings and imposing censorship. The plotters' critical failure was their inability to arrest Boris Yeltsin, who rallied at the Russian White House, the seat of the RSFSR government. From atop a T-80 tank, Yeltsin denounced the coup as illegal and called for a general strike. Thousands of Muscovites erected barricades to defend the building, and key military units, including the 106th Guards Airborne Division, defected to Yeltsin's side. A planned assault by the KGB's Alpha Group was disobeyed, and by 21 August, the coup had collapsed.

Aftermath

The immediate aftermath saw the plotters, including Vladimir Kryuchkov and Dmitry Yazov, arrested, while Mikhail Gorbachev returned to Moscow politically weakened. The real victor was Boris Yeltsin, who swiftly issued decrees banning the Communist Party of the Soviet Union activities on Russian soil and seizing its assets. The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspended the Party's activities nationwide. In the following months, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics effectively disintegrated as Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states declared independence. The final act came in December 1991 with the Belovezh Accords between Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, which dissolved the USSR and created the Commonwealth of Independent States. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President on 25 December 1991.

Legacy

The failed coup is widely regarded as the pivotal event that directly caused the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War. It cemented the political ascendancy of Boris Yeltsin and the sovereignty of Russia, while discrediting communist ideology. The dramatic images of defiance at the White House became enduring symbols of popular resistance to authoritarianism. The event also triggered a complex and often tumultuous transition for the former Soviet republics, including the War in Abkhazia and the First Chechen War. In Russia, the anniversary is commemorated by some as a day of democratic triumph, though its legacy remains contested in the nation's historical memory. Category:1991 in the Soviet Union Category:Coups d'état in the Soviet Union Category:August 1991 events