0
Ruptly
Следвай
372
Russia: Muscovites mark 25 anniversary of failed Soviet coup
5
20.08.2016
Dozens of people gathered to remember the 1991 Soviet coup d'etat attempt at Gorbaty Bridge in Moscow, Friday, considered one of the main events that prompted the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
The coup's opponents met each other and discussed the 25-year-old events. Among those present was the former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation Gennadi Burbulis.
Burbulis highlighted the significance of the event and the location where they had gathered, "This was absolutely phenomenal when tens of thousands of people approached this building and formed a living ring, protecting themselves, their desire for freedom, defending the President [Boris] Yeltsin." He went on to say that "it was also a triumph, the fact that we managed to defend our ideas, beliefs and ideals."
The attempted Soviet coup or so-called August Putsch began on August 19, 1991, and lasted three days. A group of high level officials who opposed the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's proposed constitutional changes, attempted to take control of the country.
On the first day, the group created the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP). While all the radio stations and television were reporting about President Gorbachev's sudden sickness, he had in fact been detained in Crimea. The same day a state of emergency was declared in Moscow, troops entered the city within hours. By noon, thousands of people gathered near Moscow's White House where the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic President Boris Yeltsin spoke to Russian citizens encouraging them to stand against the GKChP.
In the following days, there were massive rallies in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, known then as Leningrad, with some military units defecting to President Yeltsin. On August 21, the GKChP members were arrested.
Although the coup failed and Gorbachev returned to government, the August events destabilised the Soviet Union, one of the factors leading to its demise and eventually Yeltsin's presidency of the Russian Federation.
The coup's opponents met each other and discussed the 25-year-old events. Among those present was the former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation Gennadi Burbulis.
Burbulis highlighted the significance of the event and the location where they had gathered, "This was absolutely phenomenal when tens of thousands of people approached this building and formed a living ring, protecting themselves, their desire for freedom, defending the President [Boris] Yeltsin." He went on to say that "it was also a triumph, the fact that we managed to defend our ideas, beliefs and ideals."
The attempted Soviet coup or so-called August Putsch began on August 19, 1991, and lasted three days. A group of high level officials who opposed the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's proposed constitutional changes, attempted to take control of the country.
On the first day, the group created the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP). While all the radio stations and television were reporting about President Gorbachev's sudden sickness, he had in fact been detained in Crimea. The same day a state of emergency was declared in Moscow, troops entered the city within hours. By noon, thousands of people gathered near Moscow's White House where the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic President Boris Yeltsin spoke to Russian citizens encouraging them to stand against the GKChP.
In the following days, there were massive rallies in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, known then as Leningrad, with some military units defecting to President Yeltsin. On August 21, the GKChP members were arrested.
Although the coup failed and Gorbachev returned to government, the August events destabilised the Soviet Union, one of the factors leading to its demise and eventually Yeltsin's presidency of the Russian Federation.
Виж повече
Виж по-малко
