The August putsch, the creation and inglorious decline of the GKChP in August 1991, were overgrown with a huge number of versions of "what it was" and "why it happened." Can the actions of the State Emergency Committee be called a coup d'état, and what were the putschists really trying to achieve?
Despite the subsequent many years of legal proceedings, the numerous public speeches of the participants in the coup and its opponents are still not completely clear. And, probably, it will never appear.
In fact, the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR was active from 10 to 21 August 1991. The main declared goal at first was to prevent the collapse of the USSR: the exit to the members of the State Emergency Committee was seen in the new Union Treaty, which Gorbachev planned to sign. The treaty provided for the transformation of the Union into a confederation, while not from 15, but from nine republics. The putschists saw in this the beginning of the end of the Soviet state, not without reason.
And now, at this point, discrepancies begin. It would seem that the main supporter of the Union Treaty was Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev. The main opponents are members and supporters of the GKChP. But later, at the trial and further, one of the leaders of the coup, vice-president of the USSR Gennady Yanayev, argued that "the GKChP documents were developed on behalf of Gorbachev," and other participants in that process generally noted that the prototype of the GKChP was created on March 28, 1991 on meeting with Gorbachev and with his "blessing".
The next point is the behavior of the putschists in the course of the events themselves in relation to the then head of the USSR. It should be recalled that in those days he went on vacation to the Foros dacha in Crimea. Knowing at the same time that everything in the country is completely unsettled, that the people and a huge part of the party and state nomenklatura are dissatisfied with "Perestroika", and, moreover, knowing the attitude to the reformatting of the USSR, in which the citizens of the Union saw simply the dismantling of the country. A referendum on the preservation of the USSR took place on March 17, 1991, and most of the citizens spoke out in favor of the territorial integrity of the state.
Incidentally, this is precisely why the terms "putsch", "revolution" and "coup" in the strict sense are in no way suitable for defining the activities of the State Committee. The GKChP participants just advocated the preservation of the country, its integrity, sovereignty and the preservation of the staus quo, with the curtailment of the most odious perestroika initiatives.
Moreover, when it was finally clear that the GKChP case had been lost, the first thing the putschists did was send a delegation back to Gorbachev on Foros, and some of them were arrested while leaving the plane in Moscow on which they were flying with Gorbachev.
The events of the three August days themselves are also something devoid of logic at first glance. On the one hand, members of the State Emergency Committee declare that Mikhail Gorbachev cannot yet rule the country for health reasons, and and. about. Yanaev becomes the president of the USSR, but at Gorbachev's dacha the telephone connection is cut off only in his office. Communication worked perfectly not only in the security house, but also in the cars of the presidential motorcade. And, moreover, later it turns out that at the dacha "Mikhail Sergeevich has been actively working all these days and signing decrees."
Another goal was to remove from power Boris Yeltsin, the then president of the RSFSR and, as it were, already at that time a political opponent of Gorbachev. But this elimination did not happen either by the method of detention or by the method of an ambush in the forest on the route of the presidential motorcade from the dacha to Moscow.
It did not happen in Moscow either, although all the possibilities were there. Troops have already been brought into the capital, and the people have not yet begun to gather around the White House, where Yeltsin arrived. Moreover, according to some versions, Yeltsin's guards, consisting of KGB officers, were ready to "localize the object," but did not receive the corresponding order, although one of the putschists was the head of the USSR KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov.
In general, the very composition of the members of this State Committee leads to complete bewilderment as to why they did not succeed in their plans. Among the "putschists" were the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the minister of defense, and, as mentioned above, the head of the KGB, and the prime minister and vice president. But the coup failed and they all ended up in the dock.
There are, of course, a number of conspiracy theories. One of them was voiced by Mikhail Poltoranin, the press minister and Yeltsin's supporter during the putsch. It boils down to the fact that the putsch was Gorbachev's greatest provocation.
According to this Soviet and Russian official, "Gorbachev used them (GKChP. - Ed.) in the dark. In his usual manner, he said or hinted: muzhiks, we are losing power, our country. I myself cannot return the USSR to the required mode of functioning, I have an image of a democrat in the world. I'm going on vacation, you tighten the screws here, close the newspapers. I'll come back, unscrew some nuts, the world will calm down. The people who got into the Emergency Committee sincerely wanted to save the country. When everything started spinning, they rushed to him: come back, Mikhail Sergeevich. And he washed his hands: I don't know anything. The Moors have done their job. "
This version finds indirect confirmation in Gorbachev's policy towards the CPSU. The fact is that Mikhail Sergeevich tried with all his might to reduce the influence of the party both on himself and on the state as a whole. And as a result of the suppression of the GKChP, the action of the CPSU was suspended, and then, literally a few months later, the party was generally disbanded. But the problem is that the existence of the Communist Party did not suit not only Gorbachev, but also Yeltsin, who, in addition to the party, was not satisfied with Gorbachev himself.
And on this occasion, there is another version, in which it was Yeltsin who became the main beneficiary of the putsch and it was he who, at least, knew about the upcoming events, as he knew that nothing bad would happen to him. Mikhail Vasiliev writes about this in his investigation material.
According to him, "Gorbachev in 1991 suited only a small group of bureaucrats as a leader. Patriots who could not forgive him for scandalous concessions to the West, and democrats who dream of overthrowing the central government, and a rapidly impoverished people dreamed of his departure. one powerful force without a clear leader, but with enormous potential.
Part of the party elite and special services took a clear course towards capitalizing the USSR in order to privatize its immense resources. And they did not need the chatterbox Gorby. But who instead of him? Where can one find such a leader of "the same blood" to speak the same language with them, but be popular among the people? After all, otherwise the change in the social order would have been impossible.
The answer lies on the surface - this is Boris Yeltsin. "
Further, the author leads to the fact that the head of the KGB and one of the putschists Kryuchkov was in collusion with Yeltsin and understood how everything would end in the end. However, this version has one very significant inconsistency, namely the hot, to the point of exceeding his own powers, the desire of Yeltsin to condemn and imprison the putschists.
In general, it should start with the fact that no one was eager to plant the putschists. And at the first opportunity the prisoners were released on recognizance not to leave. As a result, they, of course, spent from a year to a year and a half in Matrosskaya Tishina, but upon leaving they were able not only to take part in rallies and demonstrations, but also to run and be elected to the Russian parliament. And then to get under the amnesty, with which everything was also more than interesting. First and foremost, the amnesty was announced even before the end of the trial, in violation of both procedural norms and formal logic. How can you grant amnesty to people for whom a judicial verdict has not yet been announced? As a result, an additional meeting had to be held to settle all legal norms.
Secondly, according to the memoirs of the then Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Kazannik, he called and warned Yeltsin that the State Duma would include in the lists of amnestied putschists. To which, according to Kazannik, Yeltsin replied sharply: "They will not dare!" Nevertheless, they dared, and Yeltsin imposed his resolution on this decision, which read "Kazannik, Golushko, Yerina. Not to release anyone from those arrested, but to investigate the criminal case in the same manner." But Kazannik refused to follow the resolution despite telephone conversations in which Yeltsin reiterated: "You won't dare to do that." By the way, the 1993 White House defenders were also released under that amnesty.
And most importantly, one of the members of the Emergency Committee, Valentin Varennikov, refused the amnesty and eventually won the case in 1994. However, the rest of the putschists, even agreeing to the amnesty, in the end did not plead guilty to "high treason", and on the whole it is clear why.
As for Yeltsin's desire for a final investigation and, most likely, a guilty verdict for members of the Emergency Committee, there was a certain political symbolism in this. It was necessary to show that the return to the USSR is so marginal that it is simply criminal, that there is simply no reverse move. Well, the demonstration that now he is the sovereign master in the country was also useful. However, it did not work out. And it did not work out so much that many high-ranking government officials even of that time called this trial a "farce."
By the way, later the fate of most of the putschists turned out to be favorable. For the most part, they occupied high positions in government, public and commercial structures. In general, they quickly turned from the Soviet into the new Russian elite. Some of them, even in spite of their more than solid age, continue to work actively to this day.
25 years ago, an attempted coup d'etat took place in the USSR. The putsch itself was unsuccessful, but it effectively ended the existence of the Soviet Union. In August 1991, Mikhail POLTORANIN worked in Boris Yeltsin's team and was an active participant in those events. Later, while holding the posts of Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and Minister of the Press, he headed the interdepartmental commission on declassifying documents of the CPSU.
These documents gave him the key to understanding the processes taking place in the country that led to its collapse. He told the correspondent of Nasha Versiya Ksenia Veretennikova how the August putsch should be understood in the context of these processes.
- Mikhail Nikiforovich, 25 years have passed, and the history of the putsch is still incomprehensible. First of all, the questions are raised by the behavior of the company of putschists, who, it seems, had no plan. Tanks were brought into Moscow, but at the same time they did not even try to suppress the resistance of the unarmed defenders of the White House, easily surrendering in the end at the mercy of the winner. The feeling remained that the putschists had neither a definite goal, nor a leader who could make decisions.
- The leader was. He sat all this time in Foros, not held by anyone.
- Do you mean Gorbachev? But why did he need it?
- Five years ago, I assessed the State Emergency Committee as the greatest provocation of Gorbachev. Now, however, I have become softer in my assessments and I call this story the result of Mikhail Sergeevich's stupid dexterity and cowardice.
- And what did he want to achieve, after all, above the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which he held, there are only stars?
- Yes, but this post is easy to lose, and it could happen very soon. Therefore, it was necessary to forestall events, make a mess, scare and enter Moscow on a white horse ...
"The KGB played a big role in plundering the country"
“… A victor and a liberator. Was this the secret plan?
- Yes. But it turned out to be very badly organized. About people like Gorbachev, they say: "from the rear wheel and into the heavens." He remained as a combine operator. Although it is not even a matter of the scale of the personality of one general secretary. This is a long story, and it is about the bad governance of the country, which led to difficult problems, and there were no reformers to rectify the situation. At the same time, the problems grew, and their solution had to be dealt with, but who did it and how? It is known that back in 1970, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Alexei Kosygin and Chairman of the KGB Yuri Andropov came to the conclusion: the country can no longer exist in its former form, something needs to be changed. Kosygin launched a reform of the decentralization of national economic planning - the republics were asked to find resources themselves and engage in planning. But they didn't like the idea. It was then that they found a "way out": we need to get rid of the "ballast" - to destroy the country by cutting off Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Armenia. Perhaps there was a plan to keep part of the Baltic states. The main goal was to isolate Russia from the USSR and make it an appendage of the West, to supply the Western world with what it needs. Namely - oil, gas. In a word, what we are now supplying. At the same time, the destruction of the high-tech economy began. The authors of the plan decided that the market was busy and we would not be allowed there. But we were in second place after the United States in the development of electronics, even Japan lagged behind us. In 1974, funding for high technologies was reduced and money was transferred to the development of gas and oil fields. There was a project for the transfer of northern rivers to Central Asia. I kept thinking: what kind of idiocy? And when the archives were declassified, I rummaged through the documents and found out: they were already preparing to sell water, along with the sale of oil and gas, coal, timber, and mineral fertilizers.
- Who are these "they"? This was even before Gorbachev became general secretary.
- But Andropov has already pushed him for this role. Gorbachev himself then hatched completely different plans, he wanted to create a welfare state with a multi-party system and private property. But for the implementation of such plans, a team is needed, and he was slipped into "economists" - Nikolai Ryzhkov and Leonid Abalkin. These guys started destroying the economy. Here are a couple of examples. Since 1988, the law on the state enterprise has come into force. According to it, the state was not responsible for the obligations of the enterprise, the enterprise - for the obligations of the state. The ministry did not lower the plan any more, the enterprise did what it wanted. The economy has become a one-way street. Then came the law on cooperation. And such documents came off the assembly line. The customs were forbidden to detain the cargo of cooperatives, cooperatives were allowed to leave the proceeds behind the cordon, to create their own cooperative banks.
At the same time, some characters from the KGB were exporting gold from the country. By planes!
At Sheremetyevo, gold bars were stacked on the tarmac on the runway. Here they were stuffed into wooden boxes and folded under the seats of passenger planes, taken to Switzerland and sold there to jewelers. The KGB played a big role in the collapse and plunder of the country.
- And how did you get rid of the “tail” - subsidized republics? After all, it is impossible to simply take and exclude from the "reliable stronghold of friendship of peoples."
- Very simple. We created conditions for them to run themselves. In July 1991, there was a peak of such negative circumstances that could blow up the country. By this time, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Moldova were announced to secede from the USSR. Gorbachev was preparing a union treaty on the creation of a union of sovereign states. There was an idea: to make all the autonomous republics equal with the union ones. There is Russia, there is Chechen-Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, etc. on a par with it. If this happened, civil wars would flare up along the entire perimeter of the USSR. It was obvious, and the country was seething. District committees, republican city committees demanded to hold a congress and remove Gorbachev. The congress was scheduled for November. And then it became clear to Gorbachev that he would be thrown off along with his team. And he said: guys, go for it.
How? Prior to that, back in December 1990, Gorbachev instructed the chairman of the KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov, to prepare a draft decree on the introduction of a state of emergency in the USSR. I saw Gorbachev's signature under these documents.
- And then they came up with the GKChP - the fifth wheel in someone else's game? Is that why the actions of the committee members were so vague?
- There were such powerful people as the Minister of General Machine Building of the USSR Oleg Baklanov, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial Objects Alexander Tizyakov, the same Valentin Pavlov, Prime Minister of the USSR. How could they decide to shoot people? Did they think that Gorbachev would then renounce them, call them to blame for the fact that he was blocked in Foros? After all, he planned to return all in white and again rule the country.
But it turned out that I lost everything - both initiative and leadership. That is the kind of person he is: he knows how to dive, but he does not know how to dive.
"The republics were saluted"
- What did you do during the putsch?
- Officially - I was resting, I just went on vacation on August 18. We then lived in a dacha in Arkhangelskoye, next to the editor-in-chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Valentin Logunov. With him midnight and marked the beginning of my vacation - playing chess over a "glass of tea". The next day there was a coup. Together with him, we composed an appeal to the people. Then we went to Moscow, where Yeltsin performed in a tank. If this whole "putsch" were serious, then the first thing the putschists had to do was to detain and intern Yeltsin and the entire team. And we calmly entered Moscow and began to act.
- And if you were interned?
- I do not know. Perhaps the country would have taken a different path, and it is not a fact that it would have turned out to be more destructive than the one that led us to the current situation.
- But still, was there a chance to keep the USSR?
- I was. It was Gorbachev who said that the State Emergency Committee destroyed the country. In fact, when they first declared a state of emergency, the republics were saluted. There were different scenarios for the development of events. The country was tired of uncontrollability and was ready to accept the center of power if it appeared. Yeltsin and I then called Nursultan Nazarbayev to find out what he was going to do. He replied that he had worked hard with the documents and did not know what was going on. Meanwhile, my friend was with him, and he later said that he and Nazarbayev were just watching on TV how the tanks were going across Moscow.
The events that took place from 18 to 21 August 1991, during which an attempted coup d'état was attempted, was called the August putsch. During this period, the top leadership of the USSR blocked President Gorbachev, with the further introduction of a state of emergency in the country, and the government of the country was taken over by the GKChP created by the "putschists".
What is the "August putsch" and "GKChP"?
The GKChP (State Committee for a State of Emergency) is a body (most often referred to as an abbreviation) that was created by the top leadership of the USSR.
The GKChP planned to realize their goals by introducing a state of emergency in the country and blocking Gorbachev at his dacha in Crimea. At the same time, troops and special forces of the KGB were brought into Moscow.
The GKChP included almost all the leaders of the highest echelon of power:
- Yanaev Gennady Ivanovich (Vice-President of the USSR, Acting President of the USSR from August 19 to 21, 1991).
- Oleg D. Baklanov (First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council).
- Kryuchkov Vladimir Alexandrovich (Chairman of the KGB of the USSR).
- Pavlov Valentin Sergeevich (Prime Minister of the USSR).
- Pugo Boris Karlovich (Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR).
- Yazov Dmitry Timofeevich (USSR Minister of Defense).
- Vasily Starodubtsev (member of the Central Committee of the CPSU).
- Tizyakov Alexander Ivanovich (President of the Association of State Enterprises and Associations of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR).
The period of the so-called GKChP activity was officially regarded and named as the August putsch.
The attempts of the State Emergency Committee to seize power were unsuccessful, as early as August 22, all members of this committee were arrested, and the legitimate president began to fulfill his duties.
By 1991, the political and state crisis in the USSR reached its climax, according to many experts, the state inevitably had only a few months to exist, since there were a lot, even without the creation of the State Emergency Committee, which actually acted as a catalyst for the collapse of the country.
Until now, there is no consensus in society about the State Emergency Committee and the August putsch. Someone thinks that this was an attempt at a coup d'état, with the aim of seizing power, while others - that it was the last desperate attempt to save the Soviet Union from an obviously approaching collapse.
Goals of the Emergency Committee
At that time, no one had any doubts that Gorbachev's "Perestroika" policy was clearly a failure. The standard of living in the country deteriorated significantly: prices were constantly rising, money was depreciating, and there was a huge shortage of all kinds of goods in stores. In addition, the control of the “center” over the republics was weakening: the RSFSR already had “its own” president, while protest moods were prevalent in the Baltic republics.The goals of the State Emergency Committee, in fact, can be divided into two groups: state and political. The state goals included preventing the collapse of the USSR, and the political goals were improving the living standards of the population. Let's consider these goals in more detail.
State goals
Initially, the "putschists" wanted to preserve the integrity of the USSR. The fact is that on August 20, it was planned to sign a new union treaty between the republics that are part of the USSR, which involved the creation of a confederation between these states (the Union of Sovereign States), which, in fact, meant the actual collapse of the USSR and the formation of a new union based on independent republics ... This is exactly what the "GKChPists" wanted to prevent, to which such a new agreement led, we can see in the example of the CIS, with the creation of which the Soviet Union collapsed and the republics began to exist independently of each other.
Some historians believe that the main goal of the GKChP was to preserve their own posts, since when a new union agreement was signed, their powers or even posts would actually be abolished. However, after the failure of the coup, Yanayev argued that the members of the State Emergency Committee did not hold on to their positions.
Political goals
The political goals of the GKChP were to carry out economic and social reforms. The people were tired of the hard life and really really wanted changes, as was sung in the popular song of V. Tsoi at that time. The standard of living fell inexorably, the crisis covered almost all spheres of life in the USSR, and the only way out of this situation, according to the "putschists", was to dismiss Gorbachev and change the country's political course.
The State Emergency Committee promised to freeze and reduce prices, as well as distribute land plots with an area of \u200b\u200b15 acres for free. As such, the GKChP did not voice the action plan and economic steps; most likely, they simply did not have such specific action plans.
Course of events
The events of the August putsch unfolded as follows.During his vacation in the city of Foros in the state. dacha, at the direction of the "putschists" by the employees of specially created units, the President of the USSR Gorbachev was blocked, while all communication channels were cut off to him.
From 8 o'clock in the morning, radio announcers read out a message that, due to health reasons, the President of the USSR Gorbachev could not fulfill his duties, and these powers were transferred to the Vice-President of the USSR Yanaev. Also, the message spoke about the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the USSR, and a State Emergency Committee is being formed for the effective management of the country.
All TV programs have been canceled on central television and concerts are broadcast, including the famous Swan Lake ballet. The broadcasting of other channels is turned off. The ECHO of Moscow radio station is broadcasting to Moscow.
The country dacha of the President of the RSFSR Yeltsin is surrounded by employees of the Alpha unit. As soon as he learns about the creation of the State Emergency Committee and the attempts of the state. coup - decides to go to the White House. The Alpha commander is given the command to release Yeltsin from his dacha to Moscow, but this decision, in fact, became fatal for the State Emergency Committee.
Upon arrival in Moscow, Yeltsin and other leaders of the RSFSR give a press conference at which they do not recognize the State Emergency Committee, calling their actions a coup, and call everyone to a general strike. People are beginning to come to the White House. Yeltsin's statement to Moscow is broadcast by the ECHO of Moscow radio station.
Meanwhile, the "putschists" are sending a tank battalion to the White House, which, having not received further orders from the command, after negotiations and psychological pressure from the crowd, goes over to the side of the people and Yeltsin. Then a landmark historical event takes place: Yeltsin reads out an appeal to citizens from one of the tanks, in which he declares the illegality of the State Emergency Committee and their decrees, that Gorbachev is blocked in his dacha and must speak to the people, convene a congress of USSR People's Deputies, and also calls for a general strike.
The gathered people are building barricades of trolley buses and improvised metal objects in order to block the approaches to the White House of heavy military equipment.
In the evening, the Emergency Committee holds a press conference, which looks more like justifying its actions than any statements. The video clearly shows that the "putschists" are worried. You can watch this press conference below.
The country learns about the current events from the evening news release of the Vremya program. Even then it becomes clear that the coup d'etat is not going to work out for the "putschists"
In the morning, people gather to the White House, where a 200,000-strong rally against the coup d'état is being held. In the evening, the demonstrators are preparing for the assault. A curfew is being introduced in Moscow. Alpha Special Forces refuses to carry out the assault order. As a result of the tank assault, three civilians are killed. The assault attempt failed.
Realizing the failure of the State Emergency Committee, members of his committee decided to go to Gorbachev in Foros, but he refuses to accept them. Along with this, representatives of the RSFSR fly to Foros for Gorbachev.
At 00:04 Gorbachev arrives in Moscow, these footage also became historical. After that, he read out an appeal to the people on television.
Then Gorbachev holds a press conference in which he gives an assessment of the events. After this press conference, the State Emergency Committee is actually liquidated and the August putsch ends.
At the rally on August 22, the protesters decide to make the pre-revolutionary tricolor flag of the RSFSR: white, red, blue flag. And at midnight, the monument to Dzerzhinsky, erected opposite the KGB, was dismantled at the request of the protesters.
After these events, the statehood of the USSR begins to actively collapse, with the declaration of independence by Ukraine, then these processes of declaration of independence rolled like a snowball.
All participants and accomplices of the GKChP were arrested. In 1993, a trial began over them, which almost all ended with an amnesty. Army General Varennikov refused the amnesty, but was acquitted, since the court did not see any criminal acts in his actions.
Many documentaries have been filmed about the events of this period. You can watch the video chronicle of those days in this video.
Fragment of the program Namedni dedicated to the August putsch.
August 1991 putsch
08/19/16, 10:00 am 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 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 due to 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 will be 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 the introduction of a state of emergency in the country.
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 those who signed 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 the crafty and eloquent rulers, clever and cunning apostates, greedy and rich money-grubbing, mocking us, mocking our beliefs, taking advantage of our naivety, seized 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 that he be provided 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 did indeed have some health problems (sciatica), but not so serious as to resign: there could be no question of any incapacity. Moreover, 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 GKChP were resolved collegially, there was no clear 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 persuade the people to take the side of the people ...
Boris Yeltsin acted decisively and competently, virtually 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).
Yeltsin's logic and actions 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 performing his duties, in Moscow and other regions of the country there is the 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 how Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife descended 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, information on 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 hands with them 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-in-Chief of the Armed Forces), why did he not bring his position to the attention of the Soviet people and the world press?
He lost 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, witness testimony 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 afterwards.
In any case, Mikhail Gorbachev could have stopped the creation of the State Emergency Committee in various 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, by order of the Minister of Defense 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 GKChP opponents - 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 towards democratic reforms 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 broadcasts an article by correspondent Sergei Medvedev with video footage in which Yeltsin reads 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 Rutskoi, Eduard Shevardnadze and others are speaking at the many-hour rally together with Yeltsin.
The State Emergency Committee planned to begin 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 on the territory of 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, an army patrol clashes with demonstrators on the Garden Ring, 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 Air Force Commander 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 begins, chaired by Ruslan Khasbulatov, at which a statement condemning the State Emergency Committee is adopted.
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, are flying to Foros Gorbachev.
On the evening of August 21, Vice President Yanayev 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, Metal Corrosion, 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, the manager of the CPSU Central Committee Nikolai Kruchina fell from the balcony of his apartment and crashed to death.
The members of the State Emergency Committee 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 Defense Minister 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 territory of the USSR.
The historic white-blue-red tricolor became the symbol of victory over the State Emergency Committee; on November 1, 1991, it was legislatively approved as the state flag of Russia.
© AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
On the night of August 18-19, 1991, representatives of the top leadership of the USSR, who disagreed with the reform policy of Mikhail Gorbachev and the draft of a new Union Treaty, created the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP of the USSR) ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers
August putsch The collapse of the USSR Demonstrations in Moscow during the putsch Date ... Wikipedia
Confrontation between the branches of government in Russia Tanks of the Taman division with officer crews shoot the House of Soviets of Russia. Date September 21, October 4, 1993 ... Wikipedia
- (also known as the Pavlovian reform by the name of the USSR Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov) exchange of large banknotes in January April 1991. The reform pursued the goal of getting rid of the excess money supply in cash ... ... Wikipedia
In the USSR (also known as the Pavlovsk reform by the name of the USSR Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov), the exchange of large banknotes in January April 1991. The reform pursued the goal of getting rid of the excess money supply in cash ... ... Wikipedia
Monetary reform of 1991 in the USSR (also known as the Pavlovian reform after the name of the USSR Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov) exchange of large banknotes in January April 1991. The reform was aimed at getting rid of the excess money supply ... Wikipedia
Monetary reform of 1991 in the USSR - On January 22, 1991, the last Soviet monetary reform began, which was named Pavlovsky in honor of its creator, Minister of Finance, and later Prime Minister of the USSR Government, Valentin Pavlov. It was a confiscatory currency reform, ... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers
The August putsch of the State Emergency Committee. Chronicle of events 19-22 August 1991 - On August 17, a meeting of future members of the State Emergency Committee took place at the ABC facility of the closed guest residence of the KGB. It was decided to introduce a state of emergency from August 19, to form a State Emergency Committee, to require Gorbachev to sign the relevant decrees or ... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers
GKChP: August 19 - 21, 1991 - On August 19, 1991, at six o'clock in the morning Moscow time, the "Statement of the Soviet leadership" was broadcast on radio and television, which read: "Due to the impossibility for health reasons of Mikhail Gorbachev ... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers
Books
- The August 1991 putsch. How it was, Ignaz Lozo. Tanks on the streets of Moscow, a state of emergency, the Soviet president under house arrest in his summer residence in Crimea: it was the dramatic culmination of the perestroika era - the putsch against ...
- Committee 1991. The Untold Story of the KGB of Russia, Leonid Mlechin. People far from power do not even suspect that sophisticated intrigues are at the heart of big politics, and even good goals are achieved by very base means. Sometimes, over time, we learn ...
- Confrontation. Chronicle of three days and nights on August 19-21, 1991. Leningrad - St. Petersburg, A. Veretin, N. Miloserdova, G. Petrov. Dear Readers! You are holding in your hands a book that, on a strictly documentary basis, will tell you about the event that went down in the history of the Russian state as the coup on August 19-21, 1991. You…
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