The 1991 coup in brief. GKChP (state emergency committee)

GKChP is an abbreviation for the name of the State Committee for the State of Emergency, created by several senior 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 CPSU Central Committee Gennady Ivanovich Yanaev

Background

Economic restructuring

In 1982, the long-time head of the Soviet Union, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, 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 Country of Soviets. In 1985, the post of General Secretary and, therefore, the absolute ruler of the destinies of 250 million Soviet citizens was taken by M. S. Gorbachev. Aware of the complexities of the Soviet economy and its increasing lag behind Western countries, Gorbachev made an attempt to invigorate the socialist economic system by introducing market elements into it.
Alas, having said “A”, one must definitely continue, that is, one concession to the ideological enemy was followed by another, a third, and so on until complete capitulation

• 1985, April 23 - at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Gorbachev proclaimed a course to accelerate - improve the existing economic system
• 1985, May - Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee “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 Activities”
• 1987, January - at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, the task of radical restructuring of economic management was put forward
• 1987, January 13 - Resolution of the Council of Ministers authorizing the creation of joint ventures
• 1987, February 5 - Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the creation of cooperatives for the production of consumer goods”
• 1987, June 11 - Law “On the transfer of enterprises and organizations in sectors of the national economy to full self-financing and self-financing”
• 1987, June 25 - The Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee considered the issue “On the party’s tasks for a radical restructuring of economic management.”
• 1987, June 30 - the law “On 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 - the first cooperative bank in the USSR (“Soyuz Bank”) was registered in Chimkent (Kazakh SSR)

The measures taken did not bring results. In 1986, the budget deficit doubled compared to 1985
The resolution of the CPSU Central Committee “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 on free sale (juices, cereals, caramels, etc.), a sharp increase in moonshine and increase in mortality due to poisoning with counterfeit alcohol and surrogates. Due to low world energy prices, the flow of foreign currency into the budget has decreased. Large-scale accidents and disasters have become more frequent (1986, May - Chernobyl). In the fall of 1989, sugar coupons were introduced

“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 - resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On the concept of transition to a market economy”
• 1990, October - resolution “Main directions for stabilizing the national economy and transition to a market economy”
• 1990, December - the USSR government 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

However, in 1991 there was an 11% decline in production, a 20-30% budget deficit, and a huge external debt of $103.9 billion. Food, soap, matches, sugar, detergents were distributed on cards, but the cards were often not purchased. Republican and regional customs offices appeared

Restructuring Ideology

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 to us. This is a political issue. Without glasnost there is no and cannot be democracy, political creativity of the masses, their participation in governance.”

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

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

• 1987, January - T. Abuladze’s anti-Stalin film “Repentance” was released on screens across the country.
• 1987, January - the documentary film “Is it easy to be young?” was shown. directed by Juris Podnieks
• 1987, February - 140 dissidents released from prison
• 1987 - unlimited subscriptions to newspapers and magazines allowed
• 1987, October 2 – release of the independent television program “Vzglyad”
• 1988, May 8 - the Democratic Union organization of dissidents and human rights activists was 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 of Councils at all levels
• 1988, November 30 - 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”, “Ogonyok”)
• 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 the country's problems were openly discussed for the first time, some actions of the authorities were criticized, and proposals and alternatives were put forward. The congress sessions were broadcast live and listened to throughout the country.
• 1989, December 12-24 - at the Second Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, Boris Yeltsin, who headed the group of democrats, received a demand for the abolition of Article 6 of the USSR Constitution, 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

Collapse of the USSR

The Soviet Union was based on violence and fear, or discipline and respect for authority, as you like. 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 anti-communist rallies (in August-September 1988 in Moscow). However, the biggest problems were caused to Moscow by interethnic conflicts and the activities of national republics, whose leaders, 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 Almaty
• 1988, November-December - aggravation of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh
• 1989, June - pogrom of Meskhetian Turks in the Fergana 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 the 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 - proclamation of the Transnistrian Republic
• 1991, January 8-9 - bloody clashes between the army and demonstrators in Vilnius
• 1991, March 31 - referendum on 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 fall - Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan, were to sign a new treaty, terminating the union of 1922 and creating a new state entity - a confederation instead of a federation

State Emergency Committee. Briefly

In order to prevent the creation of a new state and save the old one - the Soviet Union, part of the party elite formed the State Committee for the State of Emergency. Gorbachev, who was vacationing in Crimea at that moment, was isolated from the events taking place

Composition of the Emergency Committee

*** 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 at 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 Peasant Union of the USSR
*** Tizyakov - President of the Association of State Enterprises of the USSR
*** Shenin - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee
*** 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, demand that Gorbachev 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 Crimea after a meeting with Gorbachev
• 1991, August 18 - Yazov ordered preparations for 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

Resolution of the State Emergency Committee 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
- allocation of 15 acres of land for gardening work to all city residents who wish to do so

• 1991, August 19 - units of the Taman Motorized Rifle Division, the Kantemirovskaya Tank Division, and the 106th (Tula) Airborne Division entered Moscow
• 1991, August 19 - people opposing the State Emergency Committee began to gather near the building of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, on Manezhnaya Square, in the evening Boris Yeltsin spoke to them, reading out the Decree “On the illegality of the actions of the State Emergency Committee”
• 1991, August 20 - the confrontation between Muscovites led by Yeltsin and the State Emergency Committee continued. There were rumors about preparations for a forceful dispersal of protesters, an assault on the White House, and TV suddenly showed a true story about what was happening near the White House
• 1991, August 21 - at 5 a.m. Yazov gave the order to withdraw troops from Moscow
• 1991, August 21 - at 17:00 a delegation of the State Emergency Committee arrived in Crimea. Gorbachev refused to accept her 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 declaring the State Emergency Committee dissolved and all its decisions invalid
• 1991, August 21 - at 22 o'clock, 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)

Result of the State Emergency Committee

• 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 collapse of the USSR and on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Perestroika, acceleration, glasnost, the State Emergency Committee - all these attempts to correct and 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, there was an attempted coup in the USSR: a self-proclaimed authority was created in Moscow - the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP), which existed 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 policies of the country's President Mikhail Gorbachev and the draft of the new Union Treaty, created the State Emergency Committee of the USSR.

The main goal of the putschists was to prevent the liquidation of the USSR, which, in their opinion, should have begun on August 20 during the signing of the Union Treaty. According to the agreement, the USSR was to transform into a federation. The new federal state was supposed to be called the Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics, with the previous abbreviation - USSR.

The State Emergency Committee included Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanaev, Prime Minister of the USSR Valentin Pavlov, Minister of Internal Affairs 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 Defense Council of the USSR Oleg Baklanov, Chairman Peasant Union of the USSR Vasily Starodubtsev, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR Alexander Tizyakov.

They were actively supported by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Valentin Varennikov, Chief of Staff of the USSR President Valery Boldin, Politburo member and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Oleg Shenin, Chief of the USSR Presidential Security 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 State Emergency Committee relied on the forces of the KGB (Alpha group), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Dzerzhinsky division) and the Ministry of Defense (Tula Airborne Division, Taman Motorized Rifle Division, Kantemirovskaya Tank Division).

State Television and Radio provided information support to the putschists. The nominal head of the conspirators was USSR Vice President Gennady Yanaev.

On August 19, 1991, the day before the signing of the new Union Treaty, the media broadcast a “Statement of the Soviet leadership”, which stated that due to the impossibility for health reasons of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev to fulfill 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 passed to Vice President Gennady Yanaev, a state of emergency was 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) was formed to govern the country.

Resolution No. 1 of the State Emergency Committee ordered the suspension of the activities of political parties and public organizations, and prohibited the holding of rallies and street marches. Resolution No. 2 prohibited the publication of all newspapers except the newspapers "Trud", "Workers' Tribune", "Izvestia", "Pravda", "Red Star", "Soviet Russia", "Moskovskaya Pravda", "Lenin's Banner", "Rural Life" ".

Almost all television programs stopped broadcasting.

USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who was on vacation in Crimea at that time, 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 very close to the House of the Supreme Soviet and 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 into Moscow. Additional units of the Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) were transferred to 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 Russian leadership. Yeltsin signed Decrees No. 59 and No. 61, where the creation of the State Emergency Committee was qualified as an attempt at a coup; Allied executive authorities, including security forces, were reassigned to the President of the RSFSR.

The House of Soviets of the RSFSR (White House) became the center of resistance to the State Emergency Committee. At the call of the Russian authorities, masses of Muscovites gathered at the White House, among whom were representatives of a wide variety of social groups from the democratically minded public, students, intelligentsia 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 “Address to the Citizens of Russia,” in which he called the actions of the State Emergency Committee a “reactionary, anti-constitutional coup” and called on the citizens of the country to “give a worthy response to the putschists and demand to return the country 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 Council 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 State Emergency Committee were noticeably nervous; The whole world went around the footage of Gennady Yanaev’s shaking hands.

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

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

Within three days, it became clear that society did not support the State Emergency Committee’s speech.

© Sputnik / Sergey Titov

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

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

On February 23, 1994, members of the State Emergency Committee 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 State Emergency Committee were arrested, with the exception of the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo, who committed suicide.

From the point of view of the creators of the State Emergency Committee 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 arrested members of 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 Emergency Committee

Preparing to create a committee

From the “Conclusion on the materials of the investigation into the role and participation of USSR KGB officials 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 V.I. Zhizhin and the assistant of the former first deputy chairman of the KGB of the USSR V.F. Grushko. Egorov A.G. to carry out the study of possible primary measures for stabilization situation in the country in case 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 introduction of a state of emergency by illegal means.

From August 7 to 15, V. A. Kryuchkov repeatedly held meetings with some members of the future State Emergency Committee at the secret facility of the PGU KGB of the USSR, code-named UABCF. During the same period of time, V.I. Zhizhin and A.G. Egorov, at the direction of Kryuchkov, carried out adjustments to 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 P.S. Grachev, prepared data for V.A. Kryuchkov on the possible reaction of the country's population to the introduction of a state of emergency in a constitutional form. The content of these documents was later reflected in official decrees, appeals and orders of the State Emergency Committee. On August 17, Zhizhin V.I. participated in the preparation of theses for V.A. Kryuchkov’s speech on television in the event of a state of emergency.

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

• removing the President of the USSR from power by isolating him;
• blocking possible attempts by the President of the RSFSR to resist the activities of the State Emergency Committee;
• establishing constant control over the whereabouts of the heads of government bodies of the RSFSR, Moscow, people's deputies of the USSR, the RSFSR and the Moscow City Council, known for their democratic views, and major public figures with a view to their subsequent detention;
• carrying out, together with units of the Soviet Army and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an assault on the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR with the subsequent internment of persons captured there, including the Russian leadership.

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 heightened combat readiness and redeployed to pre-designated places to participate, together with units of the SA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in measures to ensure the state of emergency. Using specially created groups, on August 18, USSR President Gorbachev was isolated in a vacation spot in Foros, and RSFSR President Yeltsin and other opposition-minded individuals were placed under surveillance.

Members of the Emergency Committee

1. Baklanov Oleg Dmitrievich (b. 1932) - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
2. Kryuchkov Vladimir Aleksandrovich (1924-2007) - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
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 CPSU Central Committee.
5. Starodubtsev Vasily Aleksandrovich (b. 1931) - Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
6. Tizyakov Alexander Ivanovich (b. 1926) - President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications Facilities of the USSR.
7. Yazov Dmitry Timofeevich (b. 1923) - Minister of Defense of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
8. Yanaev Gennady Ivanovich (b. 1937) - Vice-President of the USSR, Chairman of the State Emergency Committee, member of the CPSU Central Committee.

Political positions of the State Emergency Committee

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

Events of August 19-21, 1991

After the August events

"Accomplices" and "sympathizers"

After the failure of the August putsch, in addition to members of the State Emergency Committee, some persons were brought to criminal liability, who, according to the investigation, actively assisted the State Emergency Committee. All of them were released under an amnesty in 1994. Among the “accomplices” were:

• Anatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov (born 1930) - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; his address 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 CPSU Central Committee.
• Prokofiev Yuri Anatolyevich (born 1939) - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.
• Varennikov Valentin Ivanovich (1923-2009) - army general.
• Boldin Valery Ivanovich (1935-2006) - head of the General Department of the CPSU Central Committee.
• Medvedev Vladimir Timofeevich (born 1937) - KGB general, head of Gorbachev’s security.
• Ageev Geniy ​​Evgenievich (1929-1994) - Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR.
• Generalov Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (b. 1946) - head of security at Gorbachev’s residence in Foros

Trial of the State Emergency Committee

Formally, it turns out that each of these people, except Varennikov, who accepted the amnesty, seemed to agree that he was guilty, and seemed to agree 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’m 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 the amnesty, only for this reason we accept the amnesty.”

see also

Notes

Links

• Chronicle: ,
• Resolutions No. 1 and No. 2 of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR.
• Why the State Emergency Committee lost (excerpt from the book by A. Baigushev)
• We saved a Great Country / Valentin VARENIKOV
• R. G. Apresyan. Popular resistance to the August coup

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what “USSR State Emergency Committee” 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 policies of the country’s President Mikhail Gorbachev and the draft of the new Union Treaty, created the State Committee for the State of Emergency in ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

State Emergency Committee: August 19 - 21, 1991- On August 19, 1991, at six o’clock in the morning Moscow time, a “Statement of the Soviet leadership” was broadcast on radio and television, which read: “Due to the impossibility for health reasons of Gorbachev’s execution of Mikhail ... ... 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 putsch was an attempt to remove Mikhail Gorbachev from the post of President of the USSR and change his course, undertaken by the self-proclaimed State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP) on August 19, 1991.

On August 17, a meeting of future members of the State Emergency Committee 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, demand Gorbachev to sign the relevant decrees or resign and transfer powers to Vice President Gennady Yanaev, Yeltsin to be detained at the Chkalovsky airfield upon arrival from Kazakhstan for a conversation with Defense Minister Yazov, further action depending on the results of the negotiations.

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

At 16.32, all types of communications were turned off at the presidential dacha, including the channel that provided control of the strategic nuclear forces of the USSR.

At 04.00, 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, a decree of the Vice-President of the USSR Yanaev on his assumption of duties as President of the USSR in connection with Gorbachev’s ill health, a statement by the Soviet leadership on the creation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR, an appeal from 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 Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.

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

Most members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested.

Moscow declared mourning for the victims.

The winners' rally at the White House began at 12.00. In the middle of the day, Yeltsin, Silaev and Khasbulatov spoke at it. During the rally, demonstrators brought out 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 at the top of the building of the House of Soviets.

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

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

The events that took place from August 18 to August 21, 1991, during which a coup attempt was made, 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 control of the country was taken by the State Emergency Committee created by the “putschists”.

What is the “August Putsch” and the “GKChP”?

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

The State Emergency Committee 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).


• 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 CPSU Central Committee).


• 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 activities of the State Emergency Committee was officially regarded and named as the August Putsch.

Attempts by the State Emergency Committee to seize power were unsuccessful; on August 22, all members of this committee were arrested, and the legitimate president began to fulfill his duties.

The political and state crisis in the USSR reached its apogee by 1991; according to many experts, the state inevitably had only a few months left to exist, since there were a lot of them, even without the creation of the State Emergency Committee, which actually acted as a catalyst for the collapse of the country.

There is still no consensus in society about the State Emergency Committee and the August Putsch. Some believe that this was an attempt at a coup d'état with the aim of seizing power, and others believe that it was a last desperate attempt to save the Soviet Union from the clearly approaching collapse.

Goals of the State Emergency Committee

The goals of the State Emergency Committee, in essence, can be divided into two groups: state and political. State goals included preventing the collapse of the USSR, and 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 were part of the USSR, which envisaged the creation of a confederation between these states (Union of Sovereign States), which, in essence, 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, what such a new agreement led to, 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 State Emergency Committee was to preserve their own positions, since when a new union treaty was signed, their powers or positions in general would actually be abolished. However, after the failure of the putsch, Yanaev argued that the members of the State Emergency Committee did not hold on to their positions.

Political goals

The political goals of the State Emergency Committee were to carry out economic and social reforms. The people were tired of their hard life and really really wanted change, as was sung in V. Tsoi’s song, which was popular at that time. The standard of living fell inexorably, the crisis gripped almost all spheres of life in the USSR, and the only way out of this situation, according to the “putschists,” was the removal of Gorbachev from his post and a change in the country’s political course.

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

Course of events

During my vacation, in the city of Foros on the state. At the dacha, at the direction of the “putschists”, USSR President Gorbachev was blocked by employees of specially created units, and all communication channels were cut off to him.

From 8 o'clock in the morning, radio announcers read out a message that, for health reasons, USSR President Gorbachev is unable to fulfill his duties, and these powers are transferred to USSR Vice President Yanaev. The message also spoke about the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the USSR and the State Emergency Committee was being formed to effectively govern the country.

On central television, all television programs have been canceled and concerts are being broadcast, including the famous ballet “Swan Lake”. Broadcasting of other channels is disabled. The radio station “ECHO of Moscow” broadcasts to Moscow.

The country 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 Alpha commander is given the command to release Yeltsin from the 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 on everyone for a general strike. People are starting to flock to the White House. Yeltsin's statement to Moscow is broadcast by the radio station ECHO of Moscow.

Meanwhile, the “putschists” send 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 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 at the dacha and must speak to the people, convenes the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, and also calls for a general strike.

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

In the evening, the State Emergency Committee holds a press conference, which looks more like a justification for its actions than any statements. The video clearly shows that the “putschists” are worried. You can watch this press conference below.

From the evening news broadcast of the Vremya program, the country learns about the events taking place. Even then it becomes clear that the “putschists” are not succeeding in the coup.

In the morning, people flock to the White House, where a 200,000-strong rally against the coup is taking place. In the evening, demonstrators prepare for the assault. A curfew is introduced in Moscow. Special Forces Alpha refuses to carry out the assault order. As a result of the tank assault, three civilians die. The assault attempt failed.

Realizing the failure of the State Emergency Committee, members of its committee decided to go to Gorbachev in Foros, but he refused to accept them. Along with this, representatives of the RSFSR fly to Foros to pick up Gorbachev.

At 00:04 Gorbachev flies to Moscow, these shots also became historical. After that, he reads an appeal to the people on television.

Gorbachev then holds a press conference in which he assesses 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. 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 State Emergency Committee were arrested. In 1993, a trial began against them, which ended in an amnesty for almost all of them. Army General Varennikov refused the amnesty, but was acquitted because the court did not find criminal acts in his actions.

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

A fragment of the Namedni program dedicated to the August putsch.