August coup 1991. Secrets of the GKChP over the years have acquired a large number of versions

23.09.2019

And up to now. On that summer day, August 19, all highways were blocked, depriving people of the opportunity to leave their dachas for the city. Armored personnel carriers are walking along the highways, and citizens are in confusion and bewilderment.

All central channels show "Swan Lake", then the news broadcast begins, announcing the introduction of a state of emergency.

Meeting of the State Committee for the State of Emergency before the August Putsch

The members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency took control of the state into their own hands, saying that the incumbent President M. Gorbachev was ill and, therefore, could not continue to perform his presidential functions. In fact, Gorbachev was in Foros, at the presidential dacha, which on the morning of August 19 was blocked by the Sevastopol regiment of the KGB troops of the USSR. Vice President Yanaev issues a decree on his appointment to the post of acting president.

A few days earlier, on August 17, future members of the GKChP meet at the ABC facility (a closed guest residence of the KGB). Here, the conspirators make a decision on the adoption of a state of emergency from August 19, the formation of the State Emergency Committee and the demand from Gorbachev that he sign the relevant decrees or resign, transferring powers to Yanaev. In addition, it was planned to detain Yeltsin at the Chkalovsky airfield after his arrival from Kazakhstan.

On August 18, a group of representatives of the committee flew to Foros to see Gorbachev in order to obtain his consent to the adoption of a state of emergency. The President did not give them his consent.

GKChP transcript: State Committee for state of emergency- the body that created the top leadership of the USSR.

Putsch organizers

If those who were opponents of the GKChP broke through to power during the collapse of the USSR and remained in their posts for quite a long time, then the career of the GKChPists was ended immediately after the putsch. The exceptions were General of the Army Varennikov, who was not formally a member of the GKChP, but actively contributed to it, and Starodubtsev, the chairman of the Peasants' Union of the USSR, who was officially a member of this conspiratorial group. After the putsch failed, he was accused of treason, according to Art. 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. However, in 1992, Starodubtsev was released from custody, where he was in Matrosskaya Tishina, for health reasons.

The rest of the key figures in the organizers of the coup had an unenviable further fate. The composition of the GKChP included:

G. Yanaev. After his arrest, he stayed in a pre-trial detention center until 1994, when he was released from prison under an amnesty.
O. Baklanov. He was arrested and released under an amnesty in 1994.
B. Pugo. He shot himself on August 22, 1991.
V. Kryuchkov. He was arrested, in 1992 he was released on bail. Released under amnesty.
V. Pavlov. August 19 Pavlova alcohol poisoning was hospitalized in the Central Clinical Hospital, from where he was later taken into custody in a pre-trial detention center, where he remained until the 1994 amnesty.
D. Yazov. After the end of the coup and imprisonment in a pre-trial detention center, he was released under an amnesty in 1994.
A. Tizyakov. After the end of the coup and imprisonment in a pre-trial detention center, he was released under an amnesty in 1994.
V. Starodubtsev.

The list shows how many people were members of the State Emergency Committee. However, besides them, several more people were accused of treason and arrested, who actively assisted the conspirators.

Those arrested were punished in Matrosskaya Tishina until 1992. Their cases were not brought to trial, and in 1994 an amnesty was declared for everyone.

Reasons for the creation of the State Emergency Committee

Members of the self-proclaimed body government controlled countries on August 19-21, 1991, tried to remove the incumbent president and seize power. The creation of the GKChP is a consequence of Gorbachev's unsuccessful attempts to reorganize a country that is in deep crisis.

After a period of stagnation, the country's economy found itself in a very distressed situation. Soviet President Gorbachev carried out versatile reforms, which became known as "Perestroika". However, they did not bring the desired economic effect. Growing crisis, collapse social sphere, the growth of drunkenness and unemployment gave rise to an acute crisis of confidence in Gorbachev. Both his opponents and former associates were dissatisfied with the results of the president's activities. The highest party apparatus began a struggle for power, and quite soon there were supporters of the overthrow of the president, who formed the composition of the State Emergency Committee.

The last straw was Gorbachev's decision to transform the USSR into the Union of Sovereign States, which angered some conservative politicians.

As a result, after Gorbachev left for Foros, the active work of the conspirators began to remove the president from power. What are the reasons for the creation of the GKChP? Among them are:

Striving for power.
Desire to preserve the integrity of the country.
Dissatisfaction with Gorbachev's reforms.

Video about the activities of the State Emergency Committee

Goals of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

It should be noted that the activities of the GKChP were largely supported by the population. Some sources inform about 80% of the regions of the country that do not support the leadership of the USSR these days. In an appeal to the people, the following goals of the GKChP were named:

Restoration of the positions of the USSR in the world.
Changing the course of reform policy.
Raising the standard of living of the people.
Preservation of the composition of the USSR.

The modern Russian language identifies the word "putsch" with the concept of "a coup organized by a group of conspirators", and the term "coup d'état" with a radical change in the life of the state. Some politicians note that the actions of the State Emergency Committee cannot be called a putsch, or a coup, or a conspiracy. Since the members of the State Emergency Committee did not plan fundamental change in the life of the state, but, on the contrary, an attempt was made to preserve the existing constitutional order, social and political system before the danger of their "radical change", which came from Gorbachev.

The consequences of the work of the State Emergency Committee

When employees of the Alpha unit surrounded the country dacha of the President of the RSFSR Yeltsin, and he found out about the formation of the State Emergency Committee and an attempt coup d'état decided to immediately go to the White House. The commander of Alpha received a command to let the president out of the dacha, however, such a decision had fatal consequences for the State Emergency Committee.

Arriving in Moscow, Yeltsin and other leaders of the RSFSR declared at a press conference about the illegality of the actions of the conspirators, calling what was happening a coup and calling on everyone to a general strike. A crowd of people is gathering outside the White House. The Ekho Moskvy radio station is broadcasting Yeltsin's speech.
The organizers of the putsch were sent to to the White House a battalion of tanks, which, after negotiations, subjected to the psychological pressure of the crowd, went over to the side of Yeltsin and the people.
The crowd blocks the approaches military equipment to the White House, having erected barricades of trolleybuses and other improvised means along Tverskaya Street not far from the National Hotel. People rally against the coup d'état. Alpha Special Forces are ordered to storm the White House, however, they refuse to do so.
On the night of August 21, the underpass at the intersection of the current Novy Arbat and Sadovoye Koltso was clogged with infantry fighting vehicles, as a result of which three people died as a result of maneuvering.
At this time, St. Isaac's Square in Leningrad was filled with protesters. Also, opponents of the State Emergency Committee are gathering in Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk and some other cities.
A curfew is being introduced in Moscow, which is reported to people on the evening air of the Vremya program.
On the night of August 22, Gorbachev arrived in Moscow. The frames of his televised address to the people became historical event. After the press conference he held, the August putsch ends.

Video about the goals of the State Emergency Committee

The actions of the GKChP caused the launch of the mechanism for the collapse of the USSR, which is in a state of deep economic and political crisis. And, although the GKChPists sought to preserve the integrity of the country, they themselves, unwillingly, provoked the collapse Soviet Union. With the departure of Gorbachev, the existence of the ruling structure of the party ceased, the republics eventually began to acquire the status of independence and leave the once great power.

The historical symbols of those events in modern Russia are the Swan Lake, the new colors on the state flag, and broken, mutilated trolleybuses. The trolleybuses were later moved to the Museum of the Revolution, located on Tverskaya, and became its exposition.

How do you feel about the activities of the State Emergency Committee in 1991? Do you think their actions are correct? Share your opinion in

The August putsch is a political coup that took place in Moscow in August 1991, the purpose of which was to overthrow the existing government and change the vector of the country's development, preventing the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The August putsch took place from August 19 to 21, 1991, and became, in fact, the reason for the further collapse of the USSR, although its goal was a completely different development of events. As a result of the coup, members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP), a self-proclaimed body that assumed the duties of the main body of state administration, wanted to come to power. However, the attempts of the GKChP to seize power failed, and all members of the GKChP were arrested.

The main reason for the putsch is dissatisfaction with the perestroika policy pursued by M.S. Gorbachev, and the deplorable results of his reforms.

Causes of the August Putsch

After a period of stagnation in the USSR, the country was in a very plight- a political, economic, food and cultural crisis flared up. The situation was getting worse every day, it was necessary to urgently carry out reforms and reorganize the economy and the country's governance system. This was done by the current leader of the USSR - Mikhail Gorbachev. Initially, his reforms were assessed generally positively and were called "perestroika", but time passed, and the changes did not bring any results - the country plunged deeper into crisis.

As a result of the failure of Gorbachev's domestic political activities, discontent began to grow sharply in ruling structures, there was a crisis of confidence in the leader, and Gorbachev was opposed not only by his opponents, but also by recent associates. All this led to the fact that the idea of a conspiracy to overthrow the current government began to mature.

The last straw was Gorbachev's decision to transform the Soviet Union into a Union of Sovereign States, that is, to actually give the republics independence, political and economic. This did not suit the conservative part of the ruling sector, who were in favor of maintaining the power of the CPSU and ruling the country from the center. On August 5, Gorbachev leaves for negotiations, and at the same time, the organization of a conspiracy to overthrow him begins. The purpose of the conspiracy is to prevent the collapse of the USSR.

Chronology of the events of the August putsch

The performance began on August 19 and took only three days. The members of the new government, first of all, read out the documents they had adopted the day before, in which they especially pointed out the inconsistency of the existing government. First of all, a decree was read signed by the Vice-President of the USSR G. Yanaev, which stated that Gorbachev could no longer fulfill the duties of the head of state due to his state of health, therefore Yanaev himself would perform his duties. Next was read the "statement of the Soviet leadership", which said that a new body was proclaimed state power- The State Emergency Committee, which included the First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Defense O.D. Baklanov, KGB Chairman V.A. Kryuchkov, Prime Minister of the SSR V.S. Pavlov, Minister of the Interior B.K. Pugo, also President of the Association state enterprises and objects of industry, construction and transport A.I. Tizyakov. Yanaev himself was appointed head of the GKChP.

Next, the members of the KGChP addressed the citizens with a statement saying that the political freedoms given by Gorbachev led to the creation of a number of anti-Soviet structures that sought to seize power by force, destroy the USSR and destroy the country completely. In order to counter this, it is necessary to change the government. On the same day, the leaders of the GKChP issued the first decree that banned all associations that were not legalized in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR. At the same moment, many parties and circles, opposition to the CPSU, were dissolved, censorship was again introduced, many newspapers and other media were closed.

In order to ensure new order On August 19, troops were brought into Moscow. However, the struggle for power by the GKChP was not simple - the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin, who issued a decree that all executive bodies must strictly obey the President of Russia (RSFSR). Thus, he managed to organize a good defense and resist the State Emergency Committee. The confrontation between the two structures ended on August 20 with Yeltsin's victory. All members of the GKChP were arrested immediately.

On the 21st, Gorbachev returns to the country, who immediately receives a series of ultimatums from the new government, to which he is forced to agree. As a result, Gorbachev resigned from the post of Chairman of the Central Committee of the CPSU, dissolved the CPSU, the Cabinet of Ministers, republican ministries and whole line others government agencies. Gradually, the collapse of all state structures begins.

Significance and results of the August coup

The members of the GKChP conceived the August putsch as a measure that should prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, which by that time was in the deepest crisis, but the attempt not only failed, in many respects it was the putsch that accelerated the events that took place further. The Soviet Union finally showed itself as an untenable structure, the government was completely reorganized, various republics gradually began to emerge and gain independence.

The Soviet Union gave way Russian Federation.

TASS-DOSIER. On August 19-22, 1991, 25 years ago, an attempted coup d'etat took place in the Soviet Union, organized by members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP) in the USSR.

The editors of TASS-DOSIER prepared a certificate on how the fate of the participants in the State Emergency Committee after August 1991 developed.

Members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

The GKChP included eight people. The head of the committee was the vice-president of the USSR Gennady Yanaev, who assumed the powers of the president of the Soviet Union from August 19, 1991. Also members of the GKChP were Prime Minister of the USSR Valentin Pavlov, Ministers of Defense and Internal Affairs of the USSR Dmitry Yazov and Boris Pugo, Chairman of the Union Committee state security(KGB) Vladimir Kryuchkov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council Oleg Baklanov, Chairman of the Peasants' Union of the USSR Vasily Starodubtsev, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR Alexander Tizyakov.

Arrests of members of the State Emergency Committee

On August 21, 1991, the Prosecutor General of the RSFSR, Valentin Stepankov, authorized the arrest of all members of the State Emergency Committee. On August 22, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decision to detain Baklanov and Starodubtsev, who were people's deputies of the Soviet Union.

On the same day Yanaev, Kryuchkov, Yazov and Tizyakov were arrested. Pugo committed suicide. On August 23, the remaining members of the GKChP were detained - Pavlov, Baklanov and Starodubtsev. All of them were placed in the pre-trial detention center (SIZO) "Matrosskaya Tishina" in Moscow. Members of the State Committee were charged under paragraph "a" of Art. 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR ("Treason to the Motherland for the purpose of seizing power").

Release from arrest

On June 6, 1992, for health reasons, Starodubtsev was released from the pre-trial detention center. On January 26, 1993, the remaining members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency were released on bail. On February 23, 1994, they were all amnestied by the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the first convocation. On May 6, 1994, on the basis of the parliamentary decree "On the announcement of a political and economic amnesty," the criminal case against the members of the State Emergency Committee was terminated.

Gennady Yanaev

On September 4, 1991, he was removed from the post of Vice-President of the USSR at the V Extraordinary Congress people's deputies THE USSR. After his release from the pre-trial detention center, he took part in congresses and public events of the Communist Party. Served as a consultant to the Committee of Veterans and the Disabled public service"Motherland and Honor", also headed the Fund for Assistance to Disabled Children since childhood.

In 2002-2010 served as head of the department national history and international relations Russian International Academy of Tourism. Died on September 24, 2010 in Moscow after prolonged illness, was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery of the capital.

Valentin Pavlov

He was dismissed from the post of Prime Minister of the USSR by Mikhail Gorbachev's decree of August 22, 1991 (on August 28, this decision was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR). In 1993, while in the "Matrosskaya Tishina" pre-trial detention center, he wrote the book "August from the Inside: Gorbachev Putsch".

In 1994 he headed his own consulting company"Confidence". In 1994-1995 served as president of Chasprombank, in 1996-1997. was the chief financial adviser to the president of Promstroibank Yakov Dubenetsky.

Since 1998, he worked as vice president of the American company Business Management Systems (specialized in computer technology). In the late 1990s was the vice-president of the economic society Russia, headed the Institute for Research and Promotion of the Development of Regions and Industries under the International Union of Economists, was vice president International Academy management and chairman of its academic council.

In 2002, he suffered a heart attack. He died on March 30, 2003 after a massive stroke, and was buried in Moscow at the Pyatnitskoye cemetery.

Dmitry Yazov

On August 22, 1991, by decree of the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, he was relieved of the post of Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union (on August 28, the decision was approved by the Supreme Council of the USSR). For a year and a half he did not receive a pension (issued in 1993), his son was expelled from the Academy General Staff Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On February 7, 1994, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin Yazov was dismissed from military service.

Since 1998, he has served as chief military adviser to the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the RF Ministry of Defense, and was also chief adviser-consultant to the head of the Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces. In 1999, he wrote his memoirs "Blows of Fate: Memoirs of a Soldier and a Marshal". After the re-establishment in 2008 of the Service of General Inspectors of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, he was its leading analyst (general inspector). He also headed the "Officers' Brotherhood" fund of the National Association of Associations of Reserve Officers of the Armed Forces (established in September 2001), the public organization "Committee in Memory of Marshal Zhukov".

Lives in Moscow.

Vladimir Kryuchkov

On August 22, 1991, by decree of the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, he was relieved of the post of chairman of the KGB of the USSR. On October 4, 1994, he was retired from the state security agencies. Since the mid 1990s. - member of the board of directors joint-stock company(JSC) Region, which is part of Vladimir Yevtushenkov's holding AFK Sistema.

According to media reports, the company was an information and analytical center within the holding. Also in the 1990-2000s. was an adviser to the "Experimental Creative Center" of the Russian political scientist Sergei Kurginyan.

In 1996 he wrote a two-volume memoir "Personal business". Since 1997, he was a member of the organizing committee of the Movement in support of the army, defense industry and military science, created by Lieutenant General, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the second convocation Lev Rokhlin. The media also reported that in 1998-1999. Kryuchkov was an adviser to the director of the FSB of Russia, Vladimir Putin, but this information has not been officially confirmed. May 7, 2000 was invited to the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Oleg Baklanov

Since 1994 he was a member of governing bodies Party "Russian People's Union" Sergei Baburin. In 2004-2007, when Baburin was deputy speaker of the Duma, Baklanov served as his adviser. He also worked as an adviser to the president of the joint-stock company commercial bank"World". In 2006, he owned a 34% stake in Zenit DB Limited Liability Company ( wholesale). According to media reports, at the turn of the 2000-2010s. was the chairman of the board of directors of Rosobshchemash Corporation OJSC (rocket science).

He headed the regional public organization "Society for Friendship and Cooperation of the Peoples of Russia and Ukraine". In 2004, during presidential elections in Ukraine, spoke in support of Viktor Yanukovych. Currently - Chairman of the Board International Union public associations friendship and cooperation with the CIS countries" Kievan Rus". Lives in Moscow. In 2012 he published a book of memoirs and diaries "Space is my destiny. Notes from "Matrosskaya Tishina".

Vasily Starodubtsev

After his release from the pre-trial detention center, he returned to the work of the chairman of the agro-industrial complex "Novomoskovskoye" and the collective farm. IN AND. Lenin (Tula region), which he led before his arrest. In February 1993, he became a co-founder of the Agrarian Party of Russia, later he was a member of its governing bodies. On December 12, 1993, he was elected a deputy of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation of the first convocation (acted until 1995), was a member of the committee on agrarian policy. Since June 1994, by government order, he has been included in the collegium of the Ministry Agriculture and food of the Russian Federation.

On January 22, 1995, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. March 23, 1997 was elected governor of the Tula region. (62.82% of the vote), re-elected in 2001. He held this post until April 29, 2005. In December 1995, in the elections to State Duma was in the top three of the federal list of the Agrarian Party of Russia, did not enter the Duma (the party did not overcome the 5% barrier). In 2007-2011 - Deputy of the State Duma of the fifth convocation. He was elected on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation from the Tula region, was a member of the faction of the same name, was a member of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues.

AT different time also chaired public organizations agricultural producers: Agrarian and Agro-Industrial Union of Russia, Peasants' Union of the CIS. December 4, 2011 was again elected to parliament on the list of the Communist Party. On December 30 of the same year, he suddenly died in Novomoskovsk. He was buried in the village of Spasskoe, Novomoskovsky district, Tula region.

Alexander Tizyakov

In December 1995, in the elections to the State Duma of the second convocation, he put forward his candidacy from the electoral bloc "Union of Patriots" (it included the Russian National Cathedral of Alexander Sterligov and the All-Russian Officers' Assembly of Vladislav Achalov). The block did not overcome the 5 percent barrier. In 2003, he ran for parliament from the Communist Party, took 14th place in the Urals regional group. When distributing deputy mandates, he did not pass to the Duma.

Also engaged entrepreneurial activity. According to SPARK-Interfax, he was a co-founder of a number of companies in the Sverdlovsk region: Antal LLC (wholesale trade in industrial equipment), LLC Insurance Company"Northern Treasury", LLC "Vidikon" (production of chipboard), LLC "Fidelity" (production of consumer goods), etc.

Currently, he is a co-owner (45%) of Nauka 93 LLC. The main type of its activity is "renting out its own non-residential real estate". Lives in Yekaterinburg. He is a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, was the chairman of the Yekaterinburg regional social movement"In support of the army and defense power of the Russian Federation."

) - a self-proclaimed body of state administration in the USSR, consisting of representatives of the leadership of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the government of the USSR, which carried out on August 18-21, 1991 an attempt to remove M.S. Gorbachev from the presidency of the USSR, seizing power in the country, changing the political course. The August events of 1991, which ended with the arrest of members of the State Emergency Committee, predetermined the collapse of the USSR.

The political and economic crisis that the USSR experienced since the late 1980s threatened the existence of the socialist system in the Soviet state, the hegemony communist party in it, the unity of the country. Part of the Soviet leadership saw the reasons for the negative phenomena in the policy of perestroika and glasnost, which was pursued by the President of the USSR and general secretary Central Committee of the CPSU M.S. Gorbachev. In their opinion, inconsistency, excessive liberalism, Gorbachev's carelessness led to the fact that frank enemies of socialism were able to launch a broad protest movement in the USSR, weaken state discipline, and paralyze the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies.

The GKChP included Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Ivanovich Yanaev (Chairman of the GKChP), Prime Minister of the USSR Valentin Sergeevich Pavlov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council Oleg Dmitrievich Baklanov, Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov, Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR Boris Karlovich Pugo, Minister Defense of the USSR Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Objects of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR Alexander Ivanovich Tizyakov, Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR Vasily Aleksandrovich Starodubtsev. On August 18, 1991, the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev was isolated at his residence in Foros (Crimea) by forces of specially created security groups, where he and his family were on vacation.

On the morning of August 19, the members of the State Emergency Committee made an appeal on television, announced a state of emergency for six months, the entry of troops into Moscow, the introduction of censorship in the media and a ban on a number of them, the abolition of a number of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens. However, no effective measures were taken to ensure the state of emergency. This allowed the opponents of the State Emergency Committee, primarily the leadership of the RSFSR, headed by B.N. Yeltsin, the city authorities of Moscow and Leningrad, to organize powerful resistance. By call Russian authorities, at the House of Soviets of the Russian Federation (White House) gathered masses of Muscovites, among whom were representatives of various social groups: democratically minded public, student youth, intelligentsia, veterans of the Afghan war. The actions of the State Emergency Committee were qualified as a coup d'état. On August 21, 1991, all members of the GKChP were arrested, with the exception of Boris Pugo, Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, who committed suicide.

In addition to the members of the State Emergency Committee, persons who, in the opinion of the investigation, actively contributed to the State Emergency Committee, were prosecuted. Among them were the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A.I. Lukyanov, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU O.S. Shenin, First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU Yu.A. Prokofiev, Army General V.I. Varennikov, head General department Central Committee of the CPSU V.I. Boldin, head of the security of the President of the USSR V.T. Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR G.E. Ageev, head of the security of the residence in Foros V.V. Generalov. The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party V.V. publicly supported the GKChP. Zhirinovsky, but he was not held accountable, since he did not hold any public office.

The actions of members of the GKChP and their supporters were considered by the investigation, but did not receive a legal assessment, since in 1994 all arrested members of the GKChP were amnestied before trial. Only V.I., who was not a member of the committee, voluntarily appeared before the court. Varennikov, who was acquitted.

The STATE COMMITTEE FOR THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IN THE USSR (GKChP) is a body created by a number of senior government officials of the USSR on the night of August 19, 1991. Members of the Committee: O. D. Baklanov - first deputy. prev. USSR Defense Council; V. A. Kryuchkov - before. KGB of the USSR; V. S. Pavlov - Prime Minister; B. K. Pugo - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR; V. A. Starodubtsev - before. Peasant Union of the USSR; A. I. Tizyakov - before. Associations of State Enterprises and Objects of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR; D. T. Yazov - Minister of Defense of the USSR; G. I. Yanaev - Vice-President of the USSR, declared acting President of the USSR (instead of M. S. Gorbachev, who was allegedly ill, but in fact isolated in a dacha in Foros (Crimea), M. S. Gorbachev).

The GKChP was formed in the context of the discussion of a new union treaty on the creation of the Commonwealth of Sovereign States (CCS) instead of . Some participants in the Novo-Ogaryovo meeting insisted on a confederation, others on a federation. The agreement was supposed to be signed on August 20, 1991, but the conspirators thwarted its conclusion.

From 4:00 on August 19, 1991, a state of emergency was declared in the country, censorship was introduced; troops special purpose The KGB were brought to heightened combat readiness, some army units (tanks) were sent to Moscow.

The published Statement explained the purpose of the creation of the GKChP: overcoming "a deep and comprehensive crisis, political, interethnic and civil confrontation, chaos and anarchy that threaten the life and security of the citizens of the Soviet Union, the sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and independence of our Fatherland ...".

However, the President of the RSFSR B. N. Yeltsin and the general public refused to obey the orders of the State Emergency Committee; The President and the Supreme Soviet (SC) of the RSFSR adopted their decrees calling on citizens to defend democracy. Rallies gathered and demonstrations took place near the White House in Moscow (the seat of the Supreme Council) and in other districts (during one of them D. Komar, I. Krichevsky, and V. Usov, who were trying to stop the tanks, were killed).

The coup attempt was thwarted. Participants of the "August coup 1991" - members of the State Emergency Committee and their few supporters (except for B.K. Pugo, who committed suicide) - were arrested under Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR - treason to the Motherland in order to seize power. They were threatened with execution or 15 years in a strict regime. However, in 1994 the former members of the State Emergency Committee were amnestied. (Only Army General V. I. Varennikov, who was not a member of the Committee, but supported the conspirators and did not accept the amnesty, appeared before the court.)

After the failure of the GKChP, the state power structures of the USSR were paralyzed or disintegrated. The "parade of sovereignties" became more active - eight more republics declared their independence. The process of concluding the JIT Treaty was disrupted. The CPSU was banned and dissolved. MS Gorbachev returned to power, but actually lost the leadership of the country and in December 1991 was forced to resign. The complete collapse of the USSR and the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords became natural result those socio-political processes that the members of the State Emergency Committee tried to prevent.

Orlov A.S., Georgiev N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 135-136.

From the appeal of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR to the Soviet people. August 18, 1991