Establishment of a state emergency committee. GKChP - what does it mean?

There is another year in the history of the Russian state that can be called revolutionary. When the country became tense to the limit, and Mikhail Gorbachev could no longer influence even his immediate circle, and they tried in every possible way to resolve the current situation in the state by force, and the people themselves chose who to give their sympathies to, the 1991 putsch occurred.

Old leaders of the state

Many leaders of the CPSU, who remained committed to conservative management methods, realized that the development of perestroika was gradually leading to the loss of their power, but they still remained strong enough to prevent the market reform of the Russian economy. By doing this they tried to prevent the economic crisis.

And yet, these leaders were no longer authoritative enough to use persuasion to hinder the democratic movement. Therefore, the only way out of the current situation, which seemed most possible for them, was to declare a state of emergency. No one then expected that in connection with these events the coup of 1991 would begin.

The ambiguous position of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, or the removal of leadership

Some conservative figures even tried to put pressure on Mikhail Gorbachev, who had to maneuver between the old leadership and representatives of the democratic forces in his inner circle. These are Yakovlev and Shevardnadze. This unstable position of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev led to him gradually losing support from both sides. And soon information about the upcoming coup began to leak into the press.

From April to July, Mikhail Gorbachev prepared an agreement, called “Novo-Ogarevo”, with the help of which he was going to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union. He intended to transfer the bulk of the powers to the authorities of the union republics. On July 29, Mikhail Sergeevich met with Nursultan Nazarbayev and Boris Yeltsin. The main parts of the agreement were discussed in detail, as well as the upcoming removal of many conservative leaders from their posts. And this became known to the KGB. Thus, events were increasingly approaching the period that in the history of the Russian state began to be called the “August 1991 putsch.”

Conspirators and their demands

Naturally, the leadership of the CPSU was concerned about the decisions of Mikhail Sergeevich. And during his vacation, she decided to take advantage of the situation using force. Many famous personalities took part in this peculiar conspiracy. It was who at that time was the chairman of the KGB, Gennady Ivanovich Yanaev, Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov, Valentin Sergeevich Pavlov, Boris Karlovich Pugo and many others who organized the 1991 putsch.

On August 18, the State Emergency Committee sent a group representing the interests of the conspirators to Mikhail Sergeevich, who was vacationing in Crimea. And they presented him with their demands: to declare a state of emergency in the state. And when Mikhail Gorbachev refused, they surrounded his residence and cut off all types of communications.

Provisional Government, or Expectations Not Met

In the early morning of August 19, about 800 armored vehicles were brought into the Russian capital, accompanied by an army of 4 thousand people. It was announced in all the media that the State Emergency Committee had been created, and all powers to govern the country were transferred to it. On this day, waking up people who turned on their TVs could only see an endless broadcast of the famous ballet called “Swan Lake”. This was the morning when the August 1991 coup began.

The people responsible for the conspiracy claimed that Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was seriously ill and temporarily unable to govern the state, and therefore his powers were transferred to Yanaev, who was vice president. They hoped that the people, already tired of perestroika, would side with the new government, but the press conference they organized, where Gennady Yanaev spoke, did not make the right impression.

Yeltsin and his supporters

A photograph of Boris Nikolaevich, taken at the time of his speech to people, was published in many newspapers, even in Western countries. Several officials agreed with Boris Yeltsin's opinion and fully supported his position.

Putsch 1991. Briefly about the events that occurred on August 20 in Moscow

A huge number of Muscovites took to the streets on August 20. They all demanded the dissolution of the State Emergency Committee. The White House, where Boris Nikolayevich and his supporters were, was surrounded by defenders (or, as they were called, those resisting the putschists). They built barricades and surrounded the building, not wanting the old order to return.

Among them were a lot of native Muscovites and almost the entire elite of the intelligentsia. Even the famous Mstislav Rostropovich specially flew from the United States to support his compatriots. The August 1991 putsch, the reasons for which was the reluctance of the conservative leadership to voluntarily give up their powers, rallied a huge number of people. Most countries supported those who defended the White House. And all the leading television companies broadcast the events taking place abroad.

Plot failure and the return of the President

A demonstration of such mass disobedience prompted the putschists to decide to storm the White House, which they scheduled for three in the morning. This terrible event resulted in more than one victim. But overall the putsch failed. Generals, soldiers and even most Alpha fighters refused to shoot at ordinary citizens. The conspirators were arrested, and the President returned safely to the capital, canceling absolutely all orders of the State Emergency Committee. This is how the August 1991 coup ended.

But these few days greatly changed not only the capital, but the whole country. Thanks to these events, it occurred in the history of many states. ceased to exist, and the political forces of the state changed their alignment. As soon as the 1991 putsch ended, on August 22, rallies representing the country's democratic movement were held again in Moscow. On them, people carried banners of the new tricolor national flag. Boris Nikolayevich asked the relatives of all those killed during the White House siege for forgiveness, since he could not prevent these tragic events. But overall the festive atmosphere remained.

Reasons for the failure of the coup, or the final collapse of communist power

The 1991 coup ended. The reasons that led to its failure are quite obvious. First of all, the majority of people living in the Russian state no longer wanted to return to the times of stagnation. Distrust in the CPSU began to be expressed very strongly. Other reasons are the indecisive actions of the conspirators themselves. And, on the contrary, quite aggressive on the part of the democratic forces, which were represented by Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, who received support not only from the large masses of the Russian people, but also from Western countries.

The 1991 coup not only had tragic consequences, but also brought significant changes to the country. He made it impossible to preserve the Soviet Union, and also prevented the further expansion of the power of the CPSU. Thanks to the decree signed by Boris Nikolayevich on the suspension of its activities, after some time all Komsomol and communist organizations throughout the state were dissolved. And on November 6, another decree finally banned the activities of the CPSU.

Consequences of the tragic August coup

The conspirators, or representatives of the State Emergency Committee, as well as those who actively supported their positions, were immediately arrested. Some of them committed suicide during the investigation. The 1991 coup took the lives of several ordinary citizens who defended the White House building. These people were awarded titles and their names forever entered the history of the Russian state. These are Dmitry Komar, Ilya Krichevsky and Vladimir Usov - representatives of Moscow youth who stood in the way of moving armored vehicles.

The events of that period forever erased the era of communist rule in the country. The collapse of the Soviet Union became obvious, and the main public masses fully supported the positions of the democratic forces. The putsch had such an impact on the state. August 1991 can safely be considered the moment that sharply turned the history of the Russian state in a completely different direction. It was during this period that the dictatorship was overthrown by the popular masses, and the choice of the majority was on the side of democracy and freedom. Russia has entered a new period of its development.

On August 19, 1991, representatives of the top leadership of the USSR, who opposed the actual liquidation of the Soviet Union as a federal state and its replacement with a confederal “Union of Sovereign States,” attempted to interfere with this process by introducing a state of emergency in the country.

USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who actively promoted the SSG project, was isolated at a state dacha in the Crimean Foros (according to other sources, having taken a neutral position, Gorbachev withdrew from the events, awaiting their outcome).

The State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP) assumed full responsibility for the fate of the country. By decision of the State Emergency Committee, from 4 a.m. on August 19, 1991, a state of emergency was introduced throughout the USSR for a period of six months.

From the State Emergency Committee’s appeal to the Soviet people:

“...The reform policy launched on the initiative of M. S. Gorbachev, conceived as a means of ensuring the dynamic development of the country and democratization of public life, has reached a dead end for a number of reasons. The initial enthusiasm and hopes were replaced by unbelief, apathy and despair. The authorities at all levels have lost the trust of the population. Politics has crowded out concern for the fate of the Fatherland and the citizen from public life. Evil mockery of all state institutions is being instilled. The country has essentially become ungovernable..."

The loud statements of the State Emergency Committee, however, did not entail equally decisive actions. The introduction of troops into Moscow was not followed by attempts to disperse rallies of political opponents and suppress the actions of the leadership of the RSFSR led by Boris Yeltsin, who declared the actions of the State Emergency Committee an attempt at a coup.

On the evening of August 21, the State Emergency Committee was dissolved, and its members were arrested within several days. The government, which announced its intention to save the country, never took real action.

Residents of the USSR remembered the events of August 19-21, 1991 most of all for the television broadcast of the Swan Lake ballet. The ballet, which was repeated several times, was replaced by other programs that could not be broadcast for political reasons.

The detained members of the State Emergency Committee were kept in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center, and from June 1992 to January 1993 they were released on their own recognizance. On February 23, 1994, the defendants in the “GKChP case” were granted amnesty by the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The State Committee for the State of Emergency included 8 people:

- Vice-President of the USSR, Acting President of the USSR;
• - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council;
• - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR;
• - Prime Minister of the USSR;
• - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR;
• - Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR;
• — President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications Facilities of the USSR;
• - Minister of Defense of the USSR.

The Vice President of the USSR, who became the formal head of the State Emergency Committee, was poorly suited to the role of leader. The trembling of the hands of a very nervous Yanaev at a press conference of the State Emergency Committee for his political opponents became evidence of the uncertainty of the “junta leader” in his actions. On August 21, Yanaev resignedly signed documents dissolving the State Emergency Committee and canceling all its decisions.

Gennady Yanaev. Photo: RIA Novosti

Journalist Mikhail Leontyev cited Yanaev’s phrase from his conversation during the days of the “putsch” with the head of the KGB Vladimir Kryuchkov: “Understand my character, if even one dies, I won’t be able to live.”

Arrested on August 22, Yanaev gave a frank interview to a journalist in prison Andrey Karaulov, in which he said that the State Emergency Committee documents were developed with the knowledge of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who back in April 1991 ordered the security forces to begin preparing measures in the event of a state of emergency being introduced in the country. The interview with Yanaev was not published on the personal orders of the then Head of VGTRK Oleg Poptsov.

In January 1993, Yanaev was released from custody on his own recognizance, and in February 1994, the ex-head of the State Emergency Committee was granted amnesty.

Subsequently, Gennady Yanaev did not take an active part in political life, working as a consultant to the committee of veterans and disabled people in the civil service, as well as heading the Fund for Assistance to Children with Disabilities from Childhood.

In recent years, Yanaev served as head of the department of national history and international relations of the Russian International Academy of Tourism.

Gennady Yanaev died on September 24, 2010 from cancer. He was buried at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in the capital.

Baklanov, who represented the military-industrial complex in the State Emergency Committee, did not play an active role in the events of August 1991, however, he was arrested along with the rest of the “junta members.” Like most other members of the State Emergency Committee, he was in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center until January 1993, after which he was released on his own recognizance. In February 1994, Baklanov was granted amnesty. His arrest affected the career of his son, Baklanov Jr., who worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was forced to resign.

Oleg Baklanov. Photo: RIA Novosti

After the amnesty, Baklanov returned to work related to enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Recently, Baklanov served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Rosobschemash.

The head of the KGB of the USSR was one of the “ideological inspirers” and informal leaders of the State Emergency Committee. However, Kryuchkov never gave the order to the KGB units to take active action against Boris Yeltsin and other political opponents. In particular, the Alpha unit, as early as August 19, had the opportunity to arrest Yeltsin before his arrival in Moscow, but Kryuchkov did not do this, fearing “unpredictable consequences.” Arrested on August 22, Kryuchkov remained in custody until January 1993, after which he was released and amnestied in February 1994.

Vladimir Kryuchkov. Photo: RIA Novosti

In subsequent years, Kryuchkov served as the Board of Directors of Region JSC, and was also an advisor Head of the FSB of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The former head of the KGB was a member of the organizing committee of the Movement in Support of the Army, participated in the work of the council of veterans of state security workers, and wrote several memoirs.

He died on November 23, 2007 from a heart attack and was buried with military honors at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in the capital.

The Prime Minister of the USSR was an active supporter of the creation of the State Emergency Committee, but in the August days of 1991 he became one of its most passive participants. Unlike his colleagues, he did not fly to negotiations with Gorbachev in Foros, but was removed from his post and arrested while in the hospital.

Valentin Pavlov. Photo: RIA Novosti

After the amnesty in 1994, Pavlov returned to financial activity, heading Chasprombank. Later, the ex-Prime Minister of the Soviet Union worked as an adviser to Promstroibank, was an employee of a number of economic institutions, and deputy chairman of the Free Economic Society.

As one of the most active members of the State Emergency Committee, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Boris Karlovich Pugo, was planned to be arrested first. On August 22, an extremely motley group of comrades, including the Chairman of the KGB of the RSFSR, went to Pugo’s apartment, ahead of the capture group. Victor Ivanenko, 1st Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and future active participant in the shooting of the White House Victor Erin, Deputy Prosecutor General of the RSFSR Evgeniy Lisina and deputy Grigory Yavlinsky.

Boris Pugo. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Eugene M

What happened at the apartment of the head of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs still remains unclear. According to Yavlinsky, Pugo and his wife were still alive, but were near death. According to the main version, the Pugo couple tried to commit suicide, and the minister first shot his wife and then himself. Pugo died a few minutes later, and his wife died in the hospital a day later without regaining consciousness.

Boris and Valentina Pugo are buried at the Troekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow.

In the August days of 1991, Starodubtsev, who was responsible for the agricultural complex, was preparing the draft Decree “On Saving the Harvest.” Arrested on August 22, Starodubtsev was the first member of the State Emergency Committee to be free - he was released from the pre-trial detention center for health reasons in June 1992.

Starodubtsev returned to work in the Agrarian Union, and in 1993 he became a deputy of the Federation Council.

Vasily Starodubtsev. Photo: RIA Novosti

After the amnesty in 1994, business executive Starodubtsev made the most successful political career among his colleagues in the Emergency Committee in the new Russia, holding the post of governor of the Tula region from 1997 to 2005.

In 2007 and 2011, Starodubtsev was elected to the Russian State Duma on the lists of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Died on December 30, 2011 from a heart attack. He was buried in the rural cemetery of the village of Spasskoye, Novomoskovsk district, Tula region, next to the graves of his wife and son.

Industrialist Alexander Tizyakov as part of the State Emergency Committee was not a random person. In July 1991, he signed the “Word to the People” published in the newspaper “Soviet Russia”, in which politicians and cultural figures spoke out against the actions of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin and for the preservation of the Soviet Union.

However, during the three days of the existence of the State Emergency Committee, Tizyakov did not have time to move on to active work to save Soviet industry.

Alexander Tizyakov. Photo: RIA Novosti

Like other members of the State Emergency Committee, Tizyakov was released from the pre-trial detention center in January 1993 and was amnestied in February 1994.

Subsequently, Tizyakov was a co-founder of AOZT Antal (mechanical engineering) and the insurance company Severnaya Kazna, the founder of Vidikon LLC (production of chipboards) and the Fidelity company (production of consumer goods), headed the board of directors of the investment trust company New Technologies " In addition, Tizyakov was the president of the Russian-Kyrgyz enterprise Technology, as well as the scientific director of Nauka-93 LLC.

The USSR Minister of Defense was an extremely unpopular figure among supporters of democratic changes and paid them in the same coin. It was Yazov who gave the order to send army units to Moscow. However, the Minister of Defense never gave the command to use force against opponents of the State Emergency Committee.

After his arrest on August 22, Yazov recorded a video message of repentance to USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev. Yazov himself claimed that the initiator of the “television repentance” was journalist Vladimir Molchanov, and the ex-minister himself, depressed by the events that had taken place and having not slept at night, succumbed to pressure.

Dmitry Yazov. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Barvenkovsky

While under investigation, Yazov continued to be in military service, from which he was dismissed on February 2, 1994, three weeks before his amnesty.

Dmitry Yazov became the last military man to be awarded the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Currently, he is the only living Marshal of the USSR.

After the amnesty, Dmitry Yazov held the positions of chief military adviser to the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and chief adviser and consultant to the head of the Academy of the General Staff.

Currently, the 89-year-old retired Marshal of the USSR is a leading analyst (inspector general) of the service of inspector general of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

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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 caused Moscow were 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

The first and last president of the USSR began to carry out actions leading to the destruction of his country. In order to stop this madness, several brave people decided to remove Gorbachev and staged a coup, while forming a structure called the State Emergency Committee. Decoding of the State Emergency Committee uncomplicated and simple, this abbreviation means State Committee for the State of Emergency. Before continuing, I want to recommend you a few popular publications, for example, how to understand the word Label, what does Light mean, what is Casual? In the History of the Soviet Union, it was the shortest-lived political system. Yeltsin, supported by Western intelligence services, arranged " orange revolution". At that time it was surprising and incomprehensible; now these technologies are an “open book.”

In general, people, obeying the actions of the puppeteer, completely forget that not a single coup, not a single revolution brought prosperity; on the contrary, the standard of living of the population was rapidly declining. We won’t cite Ukraine as an example; everything here is so banal and clear that it’s even surprising that there are still people who believe in this nonsense.

State Emergency Committee- The State Committee for the State of Emergency, this is a self-proclaimed authority in the USSR, which existed for only a few days from August 18 to 21, 1991, and peacefully rested in God

Against the backdrop of unfolding pressing events, Pavlov carried out his monetary reform by issuing coins of the 1991 model, which participated in circulation until September 26, 1993. Then another reform was carried out, after which all banknotes issued from 1961 to 1992 for a year they were ordered to live long.

Interestingly, it is the 1991 coins with the Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower on the obverse and the Supreme Council building on the reverse that are now called GKChP coins. Although in essence, nothing from State Emergency Committee they do not, because Pavlov conceived his reform much earlier, and their release began several months before this shameful event. However, to make it easier to distinguish between coins with the same denomination and issued in the same country, they came up with this name, which gave them a certain amount of mystery.

Coins of the State Emergency Committee- this is money that was born thanks to Pavlov’s reform, and which coincided in time with a series of extremely unpleasant events for the USSR