Putsch 1991 briefly. GKChP (State Committee for the State of Emergency)

The GKChP is an abbreviation for the State Committee for the State of Emergency, which was created by several top functionaries of the Communist Party of the USSR on August 19, 1991 to save the collapsing Soviet Union. The formal head of the committee was the vice-president of the USSR, member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Gennady Ivanovich Yanaev

background

Economic restructuring

In 1982, the long-term head of the Soviet Union, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, L. I. Brezhnev, died. With his death, the period of relatively calm, stable, more or less prosperous life of the USSR ended, which began for the first time since the formation of the Land of Soviets. In 1985, MS Gorbachev took the post of General Secretary and, consequently, the absolute master of the fate of 250 million Soviet citizens. Aware of the complexities of the Soviet economy, its growing lag behind Western countries, Gorbachev made an attempt to cheer up the socialist economic system by introducing elements of the market into it.
Alas, having said “A”, you should definitely continue, that is, one concession to the ideological enemy was followed by another, a third, and so on until complete surrender

• 1985, April 23 - at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Gorbachev proclaimed a course towards acceleration - improving the existing economic system
• 1985, May - Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism"
• 1986, February 25-March 6 - XXVII Congress of the CPSU. It defined the task of "improving socialism"
• 1986, November 19 - The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Law "On individual labor activity"
• 1987, January - at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the task of a radical restructuring of economic management was put forward
• January 13, 1987 - Decree of the Council of Ministers allowing the creation of joint ventures
• 1987, February 5 - Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On the creation of cooperatives for the production of consumer goods"
• 1987, June 11 - the law "On the transfer of enterprises and organizations of sectors of the national economy to full self-support and self-financing"
• 1987, June 25 - The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the issue "On the tasks of the party for a radical restructuring of economic management."
• 1987, June 30 - the law "On the state enterprise (association)" was adopted, redistributing powers between ministries and enterprises in favor of the latter
• 1988, May 26 - Law "On Cooperation in the USSR"
• 1988, August 24 - in Chimkent (Kazakh SSR) the first cooperative bank in the USSR ("Soyuz-bank") was registered

The measures taken did not bring results. In 1986, the budget deficit doubled compared to 1985
The resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism" led to more than 20 billion losses in budget revenues, the transition to the category of scarce products that were previously freely available (juices, cereals, caramel, etc.), a sharp increase in home brewing and an increase in mortality due to poisoning with counterfeit alcohol and surrogates. Due to low world prices for energy carriers, the inflow of foreign currency to the budget has decreased. Large-scale accidents and catastrophes became more frequent (1986, May - Chernobyl). Sugar stamps were introduced in the fall of 1989.

“In a Murmansk store near the bazaar, for the first time after the war, I saw food cards - coupons for sausage and butter (V. Konetsky “No one will take away the path we have traveled”, 1987)

• 1990, June - Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the concept of transition to a market economy"
• 1990, October - resolution "Main directions for the stabilization of the national economy and the transition to a market economy"
• 1990, December - the government of the USSR, headed by N. Ryzhkov, was dismissed. The Council of Ministers of the USSR was transformed into the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, headed by Prime Minister V. Pavlov
• 1991, January 23-25 ​​- exchange of 50- and 100-ruble banknotes for new banknotes
• 1991, April 2 - double price increase for all products

Nevertheless, in 1991 there was an 11% decline in production, a 20-30% budget deficit, and a huge foreign debt of $103.9 billion. Products, soap, matches, sugar, detergents were distributed by cards, cards were often not stocked. Republican and regional customs appeared

Ideological restructuring

The introduction of elements of capitalism into the Soviet economic mechanism forced the authorities to change their policy in the field of ideology. After all, it was necessary to somehow explain to the people why the capitalist system, which had been criticized for 70 years, suddenly turned out to be in demand in their country, the most advanced and rich. The new policy was called glasnost

• 1986, February-March - at the 27th Congress of the CPSU, Gorbachev said:

  “The issue of expanding publicity is of fundamental importance for us. This is a political issue. Without glasnost, there is not and cannot be democracy, the political creativity of the masses, their participation in governance.

• 1986, May - at the V Congress of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR, his entire board was unexpectedly re-elected
• 1986, September 4 - the order of Glavlit (the censorship committee of the USSR) to focus the attention of censors only on issues related to the protection of state and military secrets in the press
• 1986, September 25 - Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the termination of the jamming of the broadcasts of the Voice of America and the BBC
• 1986, December - Academician Sakharov returned from exile in Gorky
• 1987, January 27 - Gorbachev at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU:

  “We should not have areas that are closed to criticism. The people need the whole truth... More than ever, we need more light now, so that the party and the people know everything, so that we don’t have dark corners where mold would start up again. ”

• 1987, January - the anti-Stalinist film "Repentance" by T. Abuladze was released on the screens of the country
• 1987, January - the documentary film "Is it easy to be young?" directed by Juris Podnieks
• February 1987 - 140 dissidents released from prison
• 1987 - unlimited subscription to newspapers and magazines is allowed
• 1987, October 2 - the release of the independent television program "Vzglyad" on television
• 1988, May 8 - an organization of dissidents and human rights activists, the Democratic Union, is founded, positioning itself as an opposition party to the CPSU
• 1988, June 28-July 1 - at the XIX All-Union Party Conference of the CPSU, a decision was made on alternative elections of deputies to the Soviets of all levels
• November 30, 1988 - Jamming of all foreign radio stations is completely prohibited in the USSR
• 1987-1988 - publication of literary works banned in the USSR, articles about the past of the USSR were published in magazines and newspapers, refuting established myths ("New World", "Moscow News", "Arguments and Facts", "Spark")
• 1989, March 26 - the first free elections to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR
• 1989, May 25 - the First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR opened in Moscow, at which for the first time the problems of the country were openly discussed, some actions of the authorities were criticized, proposals and alternatives were put forward. The meetings of the congress were broadcast live and listened to throughout the country.
• 1989, December 12-24 - at the II Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, Boris Yeltsin, who led a group of democrats, demanded the abolition of Article 6 of the Constitution of the USSR, which stated that "the CPSU is the leading and guiding force" in the state

Perestroika, acceleration, glasnost - the slogans of the policy pursued by M. S. Gorbachev

The collapse of the USSR

The Soviet Union was based on violence and fear, or discipline and respect for authority, as one likes. As soon as the people discovered a certain lethargy and helplessness in the actions of the state, some freedom, actions of disobedience began. Somewhere there were strikes (in the spring of 1989 in the mines), somewhere there were anti-communist rallies (in August-September 1988 in Moscow). However, inter-ethnic conflicts and the activities of national republics caused the biggest problems for Moscow, the leaders of which, sensing the weakness of the Center, decided to take all power in the territory under their control.

• 1986, December 17-18 - anti-communist protests of Kazakh youth in Alma-Ata
• 1988, November-December - aggravation of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia because of Nagorno-Karabakh
• 1989, June - pogrom of the Meskhetian Turks in the Ferghana Valley
• 1989, July 15-16 - bloody clashes between Georgians and Abkhazians in Sukhumi (16 dead).
• 1989, April 6 - anti-Soviet rally in Tbilisi, suppressed by the army
• 1990, January - unrest in Baku, suppressed by the Army
• 1990, June - conflict between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the city of Osh
• 1990, March 11 - Declaration of Independence of Lithuania
• 1990, May 4 - Declaration of Independence of Latvia
• 1990, May 8 - Declaration of Independence of Estonia
• 1990, June 12 - declaration of independence of the RSFSR
• 1990, September 2 - the proclamation of the Transnistrian Republic
• 1991, January 8-9 - bloody clashes between the army and demonstrators in Vilnius
• 1991, March 31 - a referendum on the independence of Georgia
• 1991, April 19 - conflict between Ingush and Ossetians, one dead

On August 20, 1991, the former republics of the USSR, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and in the autumn - Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan, were to sign a new treaty that terminated the union from 1922 and created a new state formation - a confederation instead of a federation

GKChP. Briefly

For the sake of preventing the creation of a new state and saving the old - the Soviet Union, part of the party elite formed the State Committee for the State of Emergency. Gorbachev, who was resting in the Crimea at that moment, was isolated from the ongoing events.

Composition of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

*** Achalov - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Colonel General
*** Baklanov - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council
*** Boldin - Chief of Staff of the President of the USSR
*** Varennikov - Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces
*** Generalov - head of security of the residence of the President of the USSR in Foros
*** Kryuchkov - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR
*** Lukyanov - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
*** Pavlov - Prime Minister of the USSR
*** Plekhanov - Head of the Security Service of the KGB of the USSR
*** Pugo - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR
*** Starodubtsev - Chairman of the Peasants' Union of the USSR
*** Tizyakov - President of the Association of State Enterprises of the USSR
*** Shenin - member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU
*** Yazov - Minister of Defense of the USSR
*** Yanaev - Vice President of the USSR

• 1991, August 15 - the text of the new Union Treaty was published
• 1991, August 17 - Kryuchkov, Pavlov, Yazov, Baklanov, Shenin, Boldin at a meeting decide to introduce a state of emergency from August 19, require Gorbachev to sign the relevant decrees or resign and transfer powers to Vice President Yanaev
• 1991, August 17 - the conspirators decided to send a delegation to Gorbachev demanding the introduction of a state of emergency and non-signing of the Treaty
• 1991, August 18 - Yanaev in the Kremlin met with members of the delegation who returned from the Crimea after a meeting with Gorbachev
• 1991, August 18 - Yazov ordered to prepare the entry of troops into Moscow
• 1991, August 19 - Yanaev signed a decree on the formation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

GKChP Resolution No. 1 introduced a ban
- rallies
- demonstrations
- strikes
- activities of political parties, public organizations, mass movements
- issues of some central, Moscow city and regional socio-political publications
- the allocation of 15 acres of land to all interested residents of cities for gardening and gardening

• 1991, August 19 - parts of the Taman motorized rifle division, the Kantemirovskaya tank division, the 106th (Tula) airborne division entered Moscow
• 1991, August 19 - people opposing the GKChP began to gather near the building of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, on Manezhnaya Square, in the evening B. Yeltsin spoke to them, reading out the Decree "On the illegality of the actions of the GKChP"
• 1991, August 20 - the confrontation between Muscovites, led by Yeltsin and the State Emergency Committee, continued. There were rumors about the preparation of a forceful dispersal of the protesters, the storming of the White House, on TV they suddenly showed a true story about what was happening near the White House
• 1991, August 21 - at 5 o'clock in the morning Yazov ordered the withdrawal of troops from Moscow
• 1991, August 21 - at 17:00, a delegation of the State Emergency Committee arrived in Crimea. Gorbachev refused to accept it and demanded to restore contact with the outside world
• 1991, August 21 - At 9 o'clock in the evening, Vice-President Yanaev signed a decree in which the State Emergency Committee was declared dissolved, and all its decisions were invalid
• 1991, August 21 - at 10 p.m., the Prosecutor General of the RSFSR Stepankov issued a decree on the arrest of members of the State Emergency Committee ( more details about the August Putsch are written on Wikipedia)

Outcome of the GKChP

• 1991, August 24 - Ukraine declared state independence
• 1991, August 25 - Belarus
• 1991, August 27 - Moldova
• 1991, August 31 - Uzbekistan
• 1991, October 27 - Turkmenistan
• 1991, August 31 - Kyrgyzstan
• 1991, September 9 - Tajikistan
• 1991, September 21 - Armenia
• 1991, October 18 - Azerbaijan
• 1991, December 8 - in Viskuli near Brest (Belarus), President of the RSFSR B. Yeltsin, President of Ukraine L. Kravchuk and Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus S. Shushkevich signed an Agreement on the disintegration of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Perestroika, acceleration, glasnost, the State Emergency Committee - all these attempts to fix, restore the Soviet state machine were in vain, because it was inseparable and could only exist in the form in which it was

DUSHANBE, August 19 - Sputnik. Twenty-five years ago, an attempted coup d'etat took place in the USSR: a self-proclaimed authority was created in Moscow - the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP), which lasted until August 21, 1991.

On the night of August 18-19, 1991, representatives of the top leadership of the USSR, who disagreed with the reform policy of the country's President Mikhail Gorbachev and the draft of a new Union Treaty, created the USSR State Emergency Committee.

The main goal of the putschists was to prevent the liquidation of the USSR, which, in their opinion, was to begin on August 20 at the time of the signing of the Union Treaty. According to the treaty, the USSR was to be transformed into a federation. The new federal state was supposed to be called the Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics, with the former abbreviation - the USSR.

The GKChP included Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanaev, Prime Minister of the USSR Valentin Pavlov, Minister of the Interior of the USSR Boris Pugo, Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Yazov, Chairman of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the USSR Vladimir Kryuchkov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council Oleg Baklanov, Chairman Vasily Starodubtsev of the Peasants' Union of the USSR, Alexander Tizyakov, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Objects of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR.

They were actively supported by Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Valentin Varennikov, Head of the USSR Presidential Administration Valery Boldin, Politburo member and Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Oleg Shenin, Head of the Security of the President of the USSR Vyacheslav Generalov, Head of the Security Directorate of the KGB of the USSR Yuri Plekhanov, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Anatoly Lukyanov and some others.

The GKChP relied on the forces of the KGB (the Alfa group), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the Dzerzhinsky division) and the Ministry of Defense (the Tula airborne division, the Taman motorized rifle division, the Kantemirovskaya tank division).

The State Radio and Television provided informational support to the putschists. The nominal head of the conspirators was the vice-president of the USSR Gennady Yanaev.

On August 19, 1991, the day before the signing of the new Union Treaty, the media broadcast the "Statement of the Soviet leadership", which stated that due to the impossibility for health reasons of Gorbachev's performance of the duties of the President of the USSR, in accordance with Article 127.7 of the Constitution of the USSR, the powers of the President of the USSR transferred to Vice-President Gennady Yanaev, a state of emergency is introduced in certain areas of the USSR for a period of six months from four o'clock Moscow time on August 19, 1991, and the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP USSR) is formed to govern the country.

GKChP Resolution No. 1 ordered the suspension of the activities of political parties, public organizations, and prohibited the holding of rallies and street processions. Decree No. 2 prohibited the publication of all newspapers, except for the newspapers Trud, Rabochaya Tribuna, Izvestia, Pravda, Krasnaya Zvezda, Sovetskaya Rossiya, Moskovskaya Pravda, Leninskoe Znamya, Rural Life ".

Almost all TV programs have stopped broadcasting.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who at that time was on vacation in Crimea, was isolated at a government dacha in the Crimean village of Foros.

On the morning of August 19, troops and military equipment occupied key points on the highways leading to the center of Moscow and surrounded the area adjacent to the Kremlin. Several dozen tanks came close to the House of the Supreme Council and the Government of the RSFSR on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment (White House).

In total, about four thousand military personnel, 362 tanks, 427 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) were brought to Moscow. Additional units of the Airborne Forces (VDV) were deployed in the vicinity of Leningrad, Tallinn, Tbilisi, and Riga.

The response was mass demonstrations and protest rallies in Moscow, Leningrad and a number of other cities in the country.

The resistance to the putschists was led by the President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin and the leadership of Russia. Yeltsin signed Decrees No. 59 and No. 61, where the creation of the GKChP was qualified as an attempted coup d'état; Union executive authorities, including law enforcement agencies, were reassigned to the President of the RSFSR.

The House of Soviets of the RSFSR (White House) became the center of resistance to the GKChP. At the call of the Russian authorities, masses of Muscovites gathered at the White House, among whom were representatives of various social groups from the democratically inclined public, students, intellectuals to veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

On the very first day, a tank company of the Taman division went over to the side of the White House defenders.

Boris Yeltsin, standing on a tank, read out an "Appeal to the Citizens of Russia", in which he called the actions of the GKChP "a reactionary, anti-constitutional coup" and called on the country's citizens "to give a worthy answer to the putschists and demand that the country be returned to normal constitutional development." The appeal was signed by the President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Ivan Silaev, acting. Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Ruslan Khasbulatov.

On the evening of August 19, a press conference of members of the State Emergency Committee was shown on television. Valentin Pavlov, who developed a hypertensive crisis, was absent from it. The members of the GKChP were visibly nervous; the whole world went around the footage of Gennady Yanaev's shaking hands.

Volunteer detachments of defenders gathered around the White House to defend the building from the assault of government troops.

On the night of August 21, in an underground transport tunnel at the intersection of Kalininsky Prospekt (now Novy Arbat Street) and Sadovoye Koltso, three civilians were killed while maneuvering an infantry fighting vehicle - Dmitry Komar, Vladimir Usov and Ilya Krichevsky.

Within three days it became clear that the society did not support the performance of the State Emergency Committee.

© Sputnik / Sergey Titov

On the morning of August 21, the withdrawal of troops from Moscow began, at 11:30 an emergency session of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR was held. On August 22, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and his family returned to Moscow on a Tu-134 plane of the Russian leadership.

All members of the GKChP (with the exception of Boris Pugo, who committed suicide) and the Deputy Minister of Defense, General of the Army Valentin Varennikov, who helped them, as well as a number of other figures (including Anatoly Lukyanov, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) were arrested. They were charged under article 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (treason).

On February 23, 1994, members of the GKChP were released from prison under an amnesty declared by the State Duma.

© Sputnik / Yuri Abramochkin

After the failed coup attempt on August 21, 1991, all members of the GKChP were arrested, with the exception of Boris Pugo, Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, who committed suicide.

From the point of view of the creators of the GKChP themselves, their actions were aimed at restoring the rule of law in the USSR and stopping the collapse of the state. Their actions did not receive a legal assessment, since all the arrested participants in the State Emergency Committee were amnestied even before the trial. Only V. I. Varennikov, who was not a member of the committee, voluntarily appeared before the court, and was acquitted.

Formation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

Preparing to create a committee

From the "Conclusion on the materials of the investigation of the role and participation of officials of the KGB of the USSR in the events of August 19-21, 1991":

... in December 1990, the chairman of the KGB of the USSR Kryuchkov V. A. instructed the former deputy head of the PGU of the KGB of the USSR Zhizhin V. I. and the assistant to the former first deputy chairman of the KGB of the USSR Grushko V. F. Egorov A. G. to work out possible primary measures to stabilize situation in the country in the event of a state of emergency. From the end of 1990 to the beginning of August 1991, V. A. Kryuchkov, together with other future members of the State Emergency Committee, took possible political and other measures to introduce a state of emergency in the USSR by constitutional means. Having not received the support of the President of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, from the beginning of August 1991 they began to implement specific measures to prepare for the imposition of a state of emergency by illegal means.

From August 7 to 15, Kryuchkov V.A. repeatedly held meetings with some members of the future GKChP at the secret facility of the PGU of the KGB of the USSR, codenamed UABCF. In the same period of time, Zhizhin V.I. and Egorov A.G., at the direction of Kryuchkov, corrected the December documents on the problems of introducing a state of emergency in the country. They, with the participation of the then commander of the airborne troops, Lieutenant General Grachev P.S., prepared for Kryuchkov V.A. data on the possible reaction of the country's population to the introduction of a state of emergency in the constitutional form. The content of these documents was then reflected in official decrees, appeals and orders of the State Emergency Committee. On August 17, Zhizhin V.I. participated in the preparation of the abstracts of V.A. Kryuchkov’s speech on television in the event of a state of emergency.

The participants in the conspiracy at various stages of its implementation assigned the KGB of the USSR a decisive role in:

• removal from power of the President of the USSR by isolating him;
• blocking possible attempts by the President of the RSFSR to resist the activities of the State Emergency Committee;
• establishing permanent control over the whereabouts of the heads of the authorities of the RSFSR, Moscow, known for their democratic views, people's deputies of the USSR, the RSFSR and the Moscow City Council, major public figures with a view to their subsequent detention;
• the implementation, together with units of the Soviet Army and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of storming the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, followed by the internment of persons captured in it, including the leadership of Russia.

From August 17 to 19, some special forces of the KGB of the USSR and special forces of the PGU of the KGB of the USSR were put on high alert and redeployed to pre-allocated places to participate, together with units of the SA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in measures to ensure the state of emergency. On August 18, by the forces of specially created groups, President of the USSR Gorbachev was isolated in a resting place in Foros, and the President of the RSFSR Yeltsin and other opposition-minded persons were placed under surveillance.

Members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

1. Baklanov Oleg Dmitrievich (b. 1932) - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
2. Kryuchkov Vladimir Alexandrovich (1924-2007) - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
3. Pavlov Valentin Sergeevich (1937-2003) - Prime Minister of the USSR.
4. Pugo Boris Karlovich (1937-1991) - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
5. Starodubtsev Vasily Alexandrovich (b. 1931) - Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
6. Tizyakov Alexander Ivanovich (b. 1926) - President of the Association of State Enterprises and Objects of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR.
7. Yazov Dmitry Timofeevich (b. 1923) - Minister of Defense of the USSR, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
8. Yanaev Gennady Ivanovich (b. 1937) - Vice-President of the USSR, Chairman of the State Emergency Committee, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

Political positions of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

In its first appeal, the State Emergency Committee assessed the general mood in the country as very skeptical about the new political course for dismantling the highly centralized federal structure of the country's government, the one-party political system and state regulation of the economy, condemned the negative phenomena that the new course, according to the compilers, caused to life, such as speculation and the shadow economy, proclaimed that “the development of the country cannot be based on a drop in the living standards of the population” and promised a tough restoration of order in the country and a solution to the main economic problems, without mentioning, however, specific measures.

Events 19-21 August 1991

After the August events

"Accomplices" and "sympathizers"

After the failure of the August coup, in addition to the members of the State Emergency Committee, some persons were brought to justice, according to the investigation, who actively contributed to the State Emergency Committee. All of them were released under an amnesty in 1994. Among the "accomplices" were:

• Lukyanov Anatoly Ivanovich (born 1930) - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; his appeal was broadcast on TV and radio along with the main documents of the State Emergency Committee.
• Shenin Oleg Semyonovich (1937-2009) - member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
• Prokofiev Yuri Anatolyevich (born 1939) - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, 1st Secretary of the CPSU MGK.
• Varennikov Valentin Ivanovich (1923-2009) - army general.
• Boldin Valery Ivanovich (1935-2006) - Head of the General Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
• Medvedev Vladimir Timofeevich (born 1937) - KGB general, head of Gorbachev's security.
• Ageev Geny Evgenievich (1929-1994) - Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR.
• Generalov Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (born 1946) - head of security at Gorbachev's residence in Foros

Trial of the GKChP

Formally, it turns out that each of these people, except for Varennikov, who accepted the amnesty, sort of agreed that he was guilty, and kind of agreed that he was guilty of what he was accused of, including 64 th article. Formally so. But they all accepted the amnesty with the caveat: “I am innocent. And only because we are tired, we are tired, in the interests of society, in the interests of the state, responding to the decision of the State Duma on amnesty, only therefore we accept the amnesty.

see also

Notes

Links

• Chronicle: ,
• Decrees No. 1 and No. 2 of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR.
• Why did the GKChP lose (an excerpt from the book by A. Baigushev)
• We saved the Great Country / Valentin Varennikov
• R. G. Apresyan. Popular resistance to the August putsch

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "GKChP USSR" is in other dictionaries:

State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP USSR)- On the night of August 18-19, 1991, representatives of the top leadership of the USSR, who disagreed with the reform policy of President Mikhail Gorbachev and the draft of the new Union Treaty, created the State Committee for the State of Emergency in ... 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 of performing Mikhail Gorbachev for health reasons ... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

During the August Putsch, the GKChP (State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR), a self-proclaimed body consisting of a number of senior government officials of the USSR on the night of August 18-19, 1991, the Committee made an unsuccessful attempt ... ... Wikipedia

The August coup is an attempt to remove Mikhail Gorbachev from the presidency of the USSR and change his course, undertaken by the self-proclaimed State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP) on August 19, 1991.

On August 17, a meeting of future members of the GKChP took place at the ABC facility, a closed guest residence of the KGB. It was decided to introduce a state of emergency from August 19, form the State Emergency Committee, require Gorbachev to sign the relevant decrees or resign and transfer powers to Vice President Gennady Yanaev, detain Yeltsin at the Chkalovsky airfield upon arrival from Kazakhstan for a conversation with Minister of Defense Yazov, proceed further depending on the outcome of the negotiations.

On August 18, representatives of the committee flew to the Crimea to negotiate with Gorbachev, who was on vacation in Foros, in order to obtain his consent to the introduction of a state of emergency. Gorbachev refused to give them his consent.

At 4:32 p.m., all types of communications were cut off at the presidential dacha, including the channel that provided control of the strategic nuclear forces of the USSR.

At 0400 hours, the Sevastopol regiment of the USSR KGB troops blocked the presidential dacha in Foros.

From 06.00 All-Union Radio begins to broadcast messages about the introduction of a state of emergency in some regions of the USSR, the decree of the Vice-President of the USSR Yanaev on his assumption of the duties of the President of the USSR in connection with the illness of Gorbachev, the statement of the Soviet leadership on the creation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR, the appeal of the State Emergency Committee to the Soviet people.

22:00. Yeltsin signed a decree on the annulment of all decisions of the State Emergency Committee and on a number of reshuffles in the State Radio and Television.

01:30. The Tu-134 plane with Rutskoi, Silaev and Gorbachev landed in Moscow at Vnukovo-2.

Most members of the GKChP were arrested.

Mourning for the dead has been declared in Moscow.

From 12.00 the rally of the winners near the White House began. In the middle of the day, Yeltsin, Silaev and Khasbulatov spoke at it. During the rally, the demonstrators carried a huge banner of the Russian tricolor; The President of the RSFSR announced that a decision had been made to make the white-azure-red banner the new state flag of Russia.

The new state flag of Russia (tricolor) was installed for the first time on the top point of the building of the House of Soviets.

On the night of August 23, by order of the Moscow City Council, with a massive gathering of protesters, the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky on Lubyanka Square was dismantled.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

The events that took place from August 18 to 21, 1991, during which an attempted coup d'état was made, was called the August putsch. During this period, President Gorbachev was blocked by the top leadership of the USSR, with a 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"?

GKChP (State Committee for the State of Emergency) is a body (most often referred to in the form of an abbreviation) that was created by the top leadership of the USSR.

The composition of 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 August 21, 1991).


• Baklanov Oleg Dmitrievich(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(Minister of Defense of the USSR).


• Starodubtsev Vasily Alexandrovich(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 activity of the GKChP was officially regarded and named as the August Putsch.

Attempts by the GKChP to seize power were unsuccessful, on August 22 all members of this committee were arrested, and the legitimate president took up his duties.

The political and state crisis in the USSR reached its climax by 1991, according to many experts, the state inevitably had only a few months to exist, since there was 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 believes that it was an attempted coup d'état, with the aim of seizing power, and someone - that it was the last desperate attempt to save the Soviet Union from an obviously impending collapse.

Goals of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

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, while the political goals included improving the standard of living of the population. Let's look at these goals in more detail.

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, which such a new agreement led to, we can see on 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 positions, since if a new union treaty was signed, their powers or positions in general would actually be abolished. However, after the failure of the coup, Yanaev claimed that the members of the GKChP did not stick to their posts.

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 change, as was sung in the then popular song of V. Tsoi. The standard of living was inexorably falling, 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 remove Gorbachev from office and change the political course of the country.

The State Committee for the State of Emergency promised to freeze and reduce prices, as well as distribute land plots of 15 acres free of charge. As such, the GKChP did not announce an action plan and economic steps, most likely, they simply did not have such specific action plans.

Course of events

During his vacation, in the city of Foros on the state. dacha, at the direction of the "putschists", the President of the USSR Gorbachev was blocked by employees of specially created units, while all communication channels were turned off for him.

From 8 o'clock in the morning, radio announcers read out a message stating that, for health reasons, the President of the USSR Gorbachev cannot perform his duties, and these powers are transferred to the Vice President of the USSR Yanaev. The report also spoke about the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the USSR and the 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 being broadcast, including the famous Swan Lake ballet. Broadcasting of other channels is disabled. The ECHO of Moscow radio station broadcasts to Moscow.

The suburban dacha of RSFSR President 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 commander of Alpha is given the command to release Yeltsin from the dacha to Moscow, but this decision, in fact, became fatal for the GKChP.

Upon arrival in Moscow, Yeltsin and other leaders of the RSFSR give a press conference at which they do not recognize the GKChP, calling their actions a coup, and calling on everyone to a general strike. People are starting to flock to the White House. Yeltsin's statement on 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 the psychological pressure of the crowd, goes over to the side of the people and Yeltsin. Then a significant historical event occurs: Yeltsin reads 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 the country and must speak to the people, convenes a congress of people's deputies of the USSR, and also calls for a general strike.

The gathered people are building barricades of trolleybuses and improvised metal objects in order to block the approaches to the White House of heavy military equipment.

In the evening, the GKChP holds a press conference that looks more like justifying its actions than any statements. The video clearly shows that the “putschists” are worried. You can watch the press conference below.

From the evening news release of the Vremya program, the country learns about ongoing events. Even then it becomes clear that the "putschists" are not succeeding in a coup.

In the morning, people are gathering at the White House, where a 200,000-strong rally against a coup d'état is taking place. 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 people from the civilian population die. The assault attempt failed.

Realizing the failure of the GKChP, members of its 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 shots also became historical. After that, he reads 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 coup ends.

At a 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 declaring independence began to snowball.

All participants and accomplices of the GKChP were arrested. In 1993, a trial began over them, which ended with an amnesty for almost all of them. Army General Varennikov refused the amnesty, but was acquitted, since the court did not see any criminal acts in his actions.

Numerous documentaries have been made about the events of this period. You can watch the video chronicle of those days in this video.

A fragment of the transfer of the Namedni, dedicated to the August coup.