The August Coup in 1991: a View From the Central Committee Building and Eyewitness Accounts

Abstract

The author analyzes relations between union structures, the office of the President of the USSR, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, and the CPSU and its participation in the events of August 1991. Special attention is paid to the preparation of the new Union Treaty, including Gorbachev’s participations, and the work of the April and July Plenums of the 1991 CPSU Central Committee. The majority of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee was not aware of the preparation of the coup d’état, but showed extreme passivity during the coup, such as not openly condemning the Emergency Committee. This gave rise to accusations of the Party in aiding the conspiracy, and Boris Yeltsin’s decree suspending the activities of the Russian Communist B. N. Party. The dismantling of Party structures after the failure of the coup allowed B. N. Yeltsin to proceed with the dismantling of the USSR. Actions of the State Emergency Committee frustrated the signing of the new Union Treaty, thereby predetermining the collapse of the USSR. In turn, M. S. Gorbachev did not use all his constitutional powers to prevent that collapse. The work is based on a wide range of sources, including unpublished archival materials and interviews with participants in events.