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One Day That Shook the World Ten Years After the Soviet Coup
On August 19, 1991, eight Communist Party hardliners led by Soviet Vice President Gennady Yanayev ousted President Mikhail Gorbachev. Their actions led to a three day coup d'etat which ended in dramatic fashion when Boris Yeltsin, the first popularly elected president in Russian history, stood atop a Soviet tank in defiance of the coup leaders and won the support of the Russian people. Read how the events unfolded as reported in The Washington Post.
 Day One Close Aides Oust Gorbachev (Monday, August 19, 1991) A group of President Mikhail Gorbachev's close aides announced that it had taken over power and established a state of emergency in order to save the Soviet Union from ethnic disintegration and economic chaos. – Michael Dobbs
• Statement by the Leaders' of Soviet Coup
Day Two One Day That Shook the World (Tuesday, August 20, 1991) The Soviet Union is a land of broken hearts, of people who can only wonder if they will have to wait once more through two decades of grim reaction and decay before another opening, – David Remnick
• Crowds in Moscow Protest Seizure
• Bush: Soviet Moves 'Misguided and Illegitimate'
• Gorbachev's Resilience Obscured Perils
Day Three Protesters Confront Tanks in Moscow (Wednesday, August 21, 1991) Communist hard-liners who ousted president Mikhail Gorbachev sent tank columns near the Russian republic's parliament, provoking scattered skirmishes with demonstrators defending the building. – Michael Dobbs
• Bush Moves to Isolate New Soviet Leadership
• Gorbachev Reported Under House Arrest
• Yeltsin: 'Country Is Faced With the Threat of Terror'
• Opposition to Soviet Coup Reported SpreadingEpilogue Soviet Coup Fails (Thursday, August 22, 1991) President Mikhail Gorbachev returned to the seat of power in the Soviet capital following the collapse of the three-day coup and the arrest of members of the disbanded junta. – Michael Dobbs
• Three Days of Drama, Terror Will Shape Future
• Coup Resisters 'Not Heroes, But We Are Patriots'
• Yeltsin, Once a 'Pariah,' Achieves Reputation as World-Class Hero
• For Soviets, a Time of Renewed Promise and Peril'I Want to Breathe the Air of Freedom in Moscow' (Thursday, August 22, 1991) The details of President Mikhail Gorbachev's political miscalculations, his capture and his liberation became clearer in the aftermath of the three-day Soviet coup. – David Remnick
• Gorbachev Reclaims Control
• Alcohol Said to Fuel Coup by Gang of 8
• Failed Coup Hastens End of Totalitarian System
• Bush Sees Gorbachev Free to Expedite Reform |
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