State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP USSR). State Emergency Committee - transcript Creation of a state committee for a state of emergency

The main opponents of the State Emergency Committee were supporters of the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin, who declared the actions of the Committee members unconstitutional. After the defeat and self-dissolution of the State Emergency Committee, their actions were condemned by the legislative and executive authorities of the USSR, the RSFSR and a number of other union republics and qualified as a coup d'etat. In historiography, the events of August 18-21, 1991 were called the “August Putsch”.

20 years after these events, in August 2011, Mikhail Gorbachev stated that he knew in advance about the plans of future members of the State Emergency Committee.

In its first appeal, the State Emergency Committee assessed the general mood in the country as very skeptical of the new political course towards dismantling the highly centralized federal structure of governing the country and state regulation of the economy; condemned the negative phenomena that the new course, according to the drafters, brought to life, such as speculation and the shadow economy; proclaimed that “the development of the country should not be based on a decline in the living standards of the population” and promised to strictly restore order in the country and solve the main economic problems, without mentioning, however, specific measures.

Due to the impossibility for health reasons of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev to fulfill the duties of the President of the USSR and the transfer, in accordance with Article 127/7 of the USSR Constitution, of the powers of the President of the USSR to the Vice President of the USSR Gennady Ivanovich Yanaev.

In order to overcome the deep and comprehensive crisis, political, interethnic and civil confrontation, chaos and anarchy that threaten the life and safety of citizens Soviet Union, sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and independence of our state.

Based on the results, guided by the vital interests of the peoples of our Motherland, all Soviet people

1. In accordance with Article 127/3 of the USSR Constitution and Article 2 of the USSR Law on the legal regime of a state of emergency and meeting the demands of broad sections of the population about the need to take the most decisive measures to prevent society from sliding into a national catastrophe, to ensure law and order, introduce a state of emergency in certain areas of the USSR for a period of 6 months, from 4 o'clock Moscow time from August 19, 1991.

2. Establish that throughout the entire territory of the USSR the Constitution of the USSR and the Laws of the USSR have unconditional supremacy.

3. To govern the country and effectively implement the state of emergency, form State Committee on the state of emergency in the USSR (GKChP USSR) in the following composition:

4. Establish that decisions of the State Emergency Committee of the USSR are binding for strict execution by all government and administrative bodies, officials and citizens throughout the territory of the USSR.

Following this, a statement by the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A.I. Lukyanov was read on the radio about criticism of the draft Union Treaty.

Then the official appeal of the State Emergency Committee to the Soviet people was read, which, in particular, said that perestroika had reached a dead end and “extremist forces have emerged that have set a course for the liquidation of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the state and the seizure of power at any cost” and about the determination The State Emergency Committee to lead the country out of the crisis, and also contained a call on all Soviet people to “restore labor discipline and order as soon as possible, raise the level of production” and “provide full support to efforts to bring the country out of the crisis.”

Then official resolution No. 1 (GKChP) was read out, which, in particular, disbanded “power and management structures, paramilitary formations operating contrary to the Constitution of the USSR”, suspended the activities of parties and public organizations, “preventing the normalization of the situation,” a ban on meetings, demonstrations and strikes was introduced and censorship was introduced in the media:

In the White House, B. N. Yeltsin refuses to cooperate with the State Emergency Committee and decides to disobey the actions of the State Emergency Committee, calling their actions unconstitutional. The leadership of the State Emergency Committee sends a tank battalion of the 1st motorized rifle regiment of the 2nd Taman division under the command of Chief of Staff Sergei Evdokimov to the building.

At 17:00 in Moscow, a press conference of the State Emergency Committee was held in the press center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shown on television. The committee members behaved uncertainly, Yanaev’s hands trembled. The words of the members of the State Emergency Committee were more like excuses (G. Yanaev: “Gorbachev deserves all respect...”). Yanaev stated that the course of democratic reforms (Perestroika) begun in 1985 will be continued, and Gorbachev is on vacation and treatment in Foros and nothing threatens him. He called Gorbachev his friend and expressed the hope that after a rest he would return to duty and they would work together.

On the evening of August 19, another story was shown on television, which showed Yeltsin speaking on a tank in front of the White House, where he called the State Emergency Committee putschists and called on the people to resist.

Resistance to the State Emergency Committee takes the form of rallies in Moscow near the White House and the Moscow City Council and in Leningrad near the Mariinsky Palace. On August 20, a demonstration took place in Moscow near the White House, which was the residence of the Russian authorities, bringing together 200,000 Muscovites in support of Yeltsin and democracy. Near the House of Soviets, Muscovites are building barricades in case of a possible storming of the building, a defense headquarters is being created in the White House, President of the RSFSR Yeltsin issues decrees reassigning the allied executive authorities and the allied army to him, General Kobets, appointed by Yeltsin as Minister of Defense of the RSFSR, issued a decree on the withdrawal of troops from Moscow and the return them to places of permanent deployment. Inside the White House, the defense was occupied by the police, White House security, some police and KGB officers, and Afghan veterans armed with small arms. Thousands of Muscovites formed a human ring around the White House and took up defensive positions on the barricades to prevent a possible assault.

In Leningrad on August 20, a 400,000-strong demonstration of protest against the coup took place on Palace Square, the entire center was filled with people and the State Emergency Committee did not dare to send troops into Leningrad, tanks and parachute units were stopped on the approaches to the city. During the days of the putsch, the apparatus of the Democratic Russia movement, which was actively resisting the State Emergency Committee, received hundreds of messages from the field about readiness to begin a mass campaign of civil disobedience.

On the evening of August 20, a curfew is announced in Moscow. On the night of August 20-21, an incident occurs in the center of Moscow near the House of Soviets, as a result of which a motorized army patrol clashes with the defenders of the White House. As a result of clashes with demonstrators, chaotic maneuvering of armored vehicles and the use of small arms by soldiers, three defenders of the House of Soviets were killed. The assault expected by the defenders of the White House on the night of August 20-21 never took place. By the night of August 21, a split had emerged in the army; most military units refused to carry out the orders of the State Emergency Committee, military activity emergency committee faded away. At 3 a.m., Air Force Commander-in-Chief Marshal Shaposhnikov suggested that Defense Minister Yazov withdraw troops from Moscow and disperse the State Emergency Committee. On the morning of August 21, the Minister of Defense of the USSR D.T. Yazov at the military board gave the order to withdraw troops from Moscow to places of permanent deployment.

At 9 a.m. on August 21, at a meeting with acting. O. USSR President G.I. Yanaev decided to send a delegation to Foros to M.S. Gorbachev consisting of Lukyanov, Yazov, Ivashko and Kryuchkov

Members of the dissolved Emergency Committee and persons who actively assisted them were placed in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison. On January 14, 1992, the investigation into the State Emergency Committee case was completed, and on December 7 of the same year, the case materials were transferred to the Prosecutor General of Russia for approval of the indictment. Exactly a week later it was signed. By January 1993, after the end of the investigation and familiarization with the volumes of the criminal case, all the accused were released from custody on their own recognizance.

The trial in the State Emergency Committee case began on April 14, 1993. The trial began with a speech by Judge Anatoly Ukolov, who recalled that former members of the State Emergency Committee are accused of treason. The defendants began with a statement about the recusal of the entire composition of the Military Collegium, and Ukolov too. They motivated their statement by the fact that the Russian court is not the legal successor of the Supreme Court of the USSR and does not have the right to consider cases of higher officials former USSR. The parties tried to challenge the entire composition of government prosecutors under the leadership of Eduard Denisov. Lawyers suggested trying the case in a jury trial. Genrikh Padva, Lukyanov's lawyer, expressed the opinion that the judges may be interested in the case, and it will be difficult for a military judge to evaluate the testimony of his superior, Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, who is one of the prosecution witnesses. After a break, the military board rejected the requests of the defendants and their lawyers to challenge the court. Ukolov said that the Military Collegium “does not see any legal basis” for satisfying these demands. He emphasized that the Supreme Court of Russia is the authorized successor of the Supreme Court of the USSR. Therefore, the petition of the defendants and their lawyers to create a special interstate court or jury trial to consider the case of the State Emergency Committee was also rejected. In conclusion, Ukolov noted that

DECREE
Vice President of the USSR

Due to the impossibility for health reasons, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev assumed the duties of President of the USSR on the basis of Article 1277 of the USSR Constitution on August 19, 1991.

Vice President of the USSR
G. I. YANAEV

Appeal
to the Soviet people
August 18, 1991

Compatriots!
Citizens of the Soviet Union!

In a difficult, critical hour for the fate of the Fatherland and our peoples, we turn to you!

Hangs over our great Motherland deadly danger! The policy of reforms launched on the initiative of M.S. Gorbachev, conceived as a means of ensuring the dynamic development of the country and democratization public life, due to a number of reasons, has reached a dead end. 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.

Taking advantage of the freedoms granted, trampling on the newly emerging sprouts of democracy, extremist forces emerged that set a course for the liquidation of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the state, and the seizure of power at any cost. The results of the national referendum on the unity of the Fatherland have been trampled. Cynical speculation on national feelings is just a screen for satisfying ambitions. Neither the present troubles of their peoples nor their tomorrows bother political adventurers. By creating a climate of moral and political terror and trying to hide behind the shield of popular trust, they forget that the ties they condemned and severed were established on the basis of much broader popular support, which has also passed the test of centuries of history. Today, those who are essentially leading the cause of the overthrow of the constitutional order must answer to their mothers and fathers for the deaths of many hundreds of victims of interethnic conflicts. They are responsible for the crippled fates of more than half a million refugees. Because of them, tens of millions of Soviet people, who only yesterday lived in a single family, lost peace and joy in life, and today find themselves outcasts in their own home. What the social system should be like must be decided by the people, and they are trying to deprive them of this right.

Instead of caring about the safety and well-being of every citizen and the entire society, often the people in whose hands the power is, use it in interests alien to the people, as a means of unprincipled self-affirmation. Streams of words, mountains of statements and promises only emphasize the poverty and wretchedness of practical affairs. Inflation of power, more terrible than any other, destroys our state and society. Every citizen feels growing uncertainty about the future and deep anxiety for the future of their children.

The power crisis had a catastrophic impact on the economy. The chaotic, spontaneous slide towards the market caused an explosion of egoism - regional, departmental, group and personal. The war of laws and the encouragement of centrifugal tendencies resulted in the destruction of a single national economic mechanism that had been developing for decades. The result was a sharp decline in the standard of living of the vast majority of Soviet people, and the flourishing of speculation and the shadow economy. It’s high time to tell people the truth: if urgent measures are not taken to stabilize the economy, then in the very near future famine and a new round of impoverishment are inevitable, from which it is one step away from mass manifestations of spontaneous discontent with devastating consequences.
Only irresponsible people can hope for some help from abroad. No amount of handouts will solve our problems; salvation is in our own hands. The time has come to measure the authority of each person or organization by its real contribution to the restoration and development of the national economy.

Long years From all sides we hear incantations about commitment to the interests of the individual, concern for his rights, and social security. In reality, the person found himself humiliated, denied real rights and opportunities, and driven to despair. Before our eyes, all democratic institutions created by the people's will are losing their weight and authority. This is the result targeted actions those who, by grossly flouting the Basic Law of the USSR, are actually committing an anti-constitutional coup and are reaching for an unbridled personal dictatorship. Prefectures, city halls and other illegal structures are increasingly replacing the Soviets elected by the people.

There is an attack on workers' rights. The rights to work, education, health care, housing, and recreation are called into question.

Even the basic personal safety of people is increasingly under threat. Crime is growing rapidly, organized and politicized. The country is plunging into the abyss of violence and lawlessness. Never in the history of the country has propaganda of sex and violence been on such a scale, endangering the lives and health of future generations. Millions of people are demanding action against the octopus of crime and gross immorality.

The deepening destabilization of the political and economic situation in the Soviet Union is undermining our position in the world. In some places, notes of revanchism were heard, and demands were being made to revise the borders. There are even voices about the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the possibility of establishing international trusteeship over individual objects and regions of the country. This is the sad reality. Just yesterday, a Soviet person who found himself abroad felt like a citizen of an influential and respected state. Nowadays he is often a second-class foreigner, whose treatment carries the stamp of disdain or sympathy.

The pride and honor of the Soviet people must be restored in full.

The State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR is fully aware of the depth of the crisis that has struck the country, it accepts responsibility for the fate of the Motherland and is determined to take the most serious measures to bring the state and society out of the crisis as quickly as possible.

We promise to hold a broad national discussion of the draft new Union Treaty. Everyone will have the right and opportunity, in a calm atmosphere, to comprehend this most important act and make a decision on it, because the fate of numerous peoples of our great Motherland will depend on what the Union becomes.

We intend to immediately restore law and order, put an end to the bloodshed, declare a merciless war on the criminal world, and eradicate shameful phenomena that discredit our society and humiliate Soviet citizens.
We will clear the streets of our cities from criminal elements and put an end to the tyranny of the plunderers of people's property.

We stand for truly democratic processes, for a consistent policy of reforms leading to the renewal of our Motherland, to its economic and social prosperity, which will allow it to take its rightful place in the world community of nations.
The country's development should not be based on a decline in the living standards of the population. In a healthy society, continuous improvement in the well-being of all citizens will become the norm.

While we remain committed to strengthening and protecting individual rights, we will focus on protecting the interests of the broadest segments of the population, those hit hardest by inflation, industrial disruption, corruption and crime.

By developing the multi-structure nature of the national economy, we will also support private enterprise, providing it with the necessary opportunities for the development of production and the service sector.

Our first priority will be to solve food and housing problems. All available forces will be mobilized to meet these most pressing needs of the people.

We call on the workers, peasants, labor intelligentsia, and all Soviet people to restore labor discipline and order as soon as possible, raise the level of production, and then move forward decisively. Our lives and the future of our children and grandchildren, the fate of the Fatherland depend on this.

We are a peace-loving country and will strictly comply with all our obligations. We have no claims against anyone. We want to live with everyone in peace and friendship, but we firmly declare that no one will ever be allowed to encroach on our sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Any attempts to speak with our country in the language of dictatorship, no matter who they come from, will be resolutely suppressed.

Our multinational people have lived for centuries filled with pride in their Motherland; we were not ashamed of our patriotic feelings and consider it natural and legitimate to raise the current and future generations of citizens of our great power in this spirit.

To fail to act at this critical hour for the fate of the Fatherland means to take on heavy responsibility for tragic, truly unpredictable consequences. Everyone who cherishes our Motherland, who wants to live and work in an atmosphere of calm and confidence, who does not accept the continuation of bloody interethnic conflicts, who sees their Fatherland as independent and prosperous in the future, must do the only right choice. We call on all true patriots and people of good will to put an end to the current time of troubles.

We call on all citizens of the Soviet Union to realize their duty to the Motherland and provide full support to the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR and efforts to bring the country out of the crisis.

Constructive proposals from socio-political organizations, labor collectives and citizens will be gratefully accepted as a manifestation of their patriotic readiness to actively participate in the restoration of centuries-old friendship in a single family of fraternal peoples and the revival of the Fatherland.

Resolution No. 1
State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR

In order to protect the vital interests of the peoples and citizens of the USSR, the independence and territorial integrity of the country, restore law and order, stabilize the situation, overcome a severe crisis, prevent chaos, anarchy and fratricidal civil war, the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR decides:

1. All authorities and management bodies of the USSR, union and autonomous republics, territories, regions, cities, districts, towns and villages must ensure strict compliance with the state of emergency regime in accordance with the Law of the USSR “On the legal regime of emergency situations and resolutions of the State Emergency Committee of the USSR. In cases of failure to ensure the implementation of this regime, the powers of the relevant authorities and management are suspended, and the implementation of their functions is entrusted to persons specially authorized by the State Emergency Committee of the USSR.
2. Immediately disband the structures of power and control, paramilitary formations operating contrary to the Constitution of the USSR and the laws of the USSR.
3. Consider henceforth invalid laws and decisions of government and administrative bodies that contradict the Constitution of the USSR and the laws of the USSR.
4. Suspend the activities of political parties, public organizations and mass movements that impede the normalization of the situation.
5. Due to the fact that the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR temporarily takes over the functions of the Security Council of the USSR, the activities of the latter are suspended.
6. Citizens, institutions and organizations must immediately hand over all types of firearms, ammunition, explosives, military equipment and equipment illegally held in them. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB and the Ministry of Defense of the USSR must ensure strict compliance with this requirement. In cases of refusal, they must be forcibly confiscated, with violators subject to strict criminal and administrative liability.
7. The prosecutor’s office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB and the Ministry of Defense of the USSR organize effective interaction between law enforcement agencies and the Armed Forces to ensure security public order and security of the state, society and citizens in accordance with the USSR Law “On the Legal Regime of a State of Emergency” and the resolutions of the State Emergency Committee of the USSR.
Holding rallies, street processions, demonstrations, and strikes is not allowed,
If necessary, introduce a curfew, patrol the territory, carry out inspections, and take measures to strengthen the border and customs regime.
Take control and, if necessary, protect the most important government and economic facilities, as well as life support systems.
Resolutely suppress the spread of inflammatory rumors, actions that provoke violations of law and order and incitement of ethnic hatred, disobedience to officials enforcing the state of emergency.
8. Establish control over funds mass media, entrusting its implementation to a specially created body under the State Emergency Committee of the USSR.
9. Government and management bodies, heads of institutions and enterprises, take measures to improve organization, establish order and discipline in all spheres of society. Ensure the normal functioning of enterprises in all sectors of the national economy, strict implementation of measures to preserve and restore for the period of stabilization of vertical and horizontal connections between economic entities throughout the USSR, failure to meet established production volumes, supplies of raw materials, materials and components.
Establish and maintain a regime of strict economy of material, technical and foreign exchange resources, develop and implement specific measures to combat mismanagement and squandering of people's property.
Resolutely fight the shadow economy, inevitably apply criminal and administrative measures for cases of corruption, theft, speculation, concealment of goods from sale, mismanagement and other offenses in the economic sphere.
To create favorable conditions for increasing the real contribution of all types of business activities carried out in accordance with the laws of the USSR to the economic potential of the country and meeting the urgent needs of the population.
10. Consider permanent work in government and management structures to be incompatible with engaging in entrepreneurial activity.
11. The Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, within a week, carry out an inventory of all available food resources and essential industrial goods, report to the people what the country has, and take strict control over their safety and distribution.
Abolish any restrictions that impede the movement of food and consumer goods across the territory of the USSR, as well as material resources for their production, and strictly monitor compliance with this order.
Pay special attention to the priority supply of preschool children's institutions, orphanages, schools, secondary special and higher education institutions. educational institutions, hospitals, as well as pensioners and disabled people.
Within a week, make proposals to streamline, freeze and reduce prices for individual species industrial and food products, primarily for children, services to the population and public catering, as well as increasing wages, pensions, benefits and compensation payments to various categories of citizens.
Within two weeks, develop measures to streamline the salaries of managers at all levels of state, public, cooperative and other institutions, organizations and enterprises.
12. Considering the critical situation with the harvest and the threat of famine, take emergency measures to organize the procurement, storage and processing of agricultural products. Provide village workers with the maximum possible assistance with equipment, spare parts, fuels and lubricants, etc. Immediately organize the dispatch of workers and employees of enterprises and organizations, students and military personnel to the village in the quantities necessary to save the harvest.
13. The Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, within a week, will develop a resolution providing for the provision of food to all willing urban residents in 1991-1992 land plots for gardening work up to 0.15 hectares.
14. The Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, within two weeks, complete planning of urgent measures to bring the country’s fuel and energy complex out of the crisis and prepare for winter.
15.V month period prepare and report to the people real measures for 1992 to radically improve housing construction and the provision of housing to the population.
Within six months, develop a specific program for the accelerated development of state, cooperative and individual housing construction for a five-year period.
16. Oblige government authorities at the center and locally to give priority attention to the social needs of the population. Find ways to significantly improve free medical care and public education.

DECREE
Acting President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

On the introduction of a state of emergency in the city of Moscow

In connection with the aggravation of the situation in Moscow, the capital of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, caused by the failure to comply with the resolution of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR No. 1 of August 19, 1991, attempts to organize rallies, street processions and demonstrations, facts of incitement to unrest, in the interests of protection and safety of citizens, in accordance with Article 1273 of the Constitution of the USSR, I decree:

2. To appoint as commandant of the city of Moscow the commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District, Colonel General N.V. Kalinin, who is vested with the rights to issue binding orders regulating the issues of maintaining the state of emergency.

Acting
President of the USSR
G. YANAEV.
Moscow Kremlin.
August 19, 1991

RESOLUTION No. 2
State Committee

On the release of central, Moscow city and regional newspapers

In connection with the introduction of a state of emergency in Moscow and some other territories of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on August 19, 1991 and in accordance with paragraph l4 of Article 4 of the USSR Law “On the Legal Regime of a State of Emergency,” the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR decides:
1. Temporarily limit the list of issued central, Moscow city and regional socio-political
publications by the following newspapers: “Trud”, “Rabochaya Tribuna”, “Izvestia”, “Pravda”, “Krasnaya Zvezda”, “ Soviet Russia", "Moskovskaya Pravda", "Lenin's Banner", "Rural Life".
2. The resumption of publication of other central, Moscow city and regional newspapers and socio-political publications will be decided by a specially created body of the State Emergency Committee of the USSR.

Statement
State Committee
on the state of emergency in the USSR

Already the first day of the state of emergency in certain areas of the USSR showed that people breathed a sigh of relief.

No serious incidents were noted anywhere. The State Emergency Committee of the USSR receives numerous appeals from citizens in support of the measures being taken to bring the country out of a severe crisis. The first reaction from abroad to events in our country is also characterized by a certain understanding, because the worst imaginable development scenario, which is most worrying foreign countries, is chaos and anarchy in our nuclear country. Of course, both within our society and abroad, mistrust and fears are being expressed in connection with the introduction of a state of emergency. Well, they have a basis: after all, in last years Unfortunately, very often real affairs in our state had nothing in common with the declared goals. The hopes of the people were repeatedly deceived. This time we will do everything to ensure that the activities of the Soviet leadership; has earned trust.

Most of the union and autonomous republics of our Motherland support the measures taken due to the exceptionally acute situation. The peoples understand that the State Emergency Committee of the USSR in no way intends to infringe on their constitutional sovereign rights.

The appeal signed on the morning of August 19 of this year by the leaders of the RSFSR B. Yeltsin, I. Silaev and R. Khasbulatov was dissonant at this critical moment, when national consent was required. It is kept in a confrontational spirit. This appeal also contains direct incitement to illegal actions, which is incompatible with the state of emergency established by law.

The State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR, showing patience and desire for constructive cooperation, considers it possible to limit this time to a warning against irresponsible, unreasonable steps. Once again, ambition has prevailed in the Russian leadership, but the people are waiting for such adjustments to be made to policy that would meet the fundamental interests of Russians.

We would like to emphasize once again that throughout the entire territory of the USSR, from now on, the principle of the supremacy of the USSR Constitution and the laws of the USSR has been restored. We assure you that our practice, in contrast to empty promises that have set teeth on edge, will be unconditionally supported by the implementation of the decisions made.

Source - Wikipedia

The State Committee for the State of Emergency is a self-proclaimed government body in the USSR that existed from August 18 to August 21, 1991. It was formed from the first statesmen and officials of the Soviet government who opposed the reforms of Perestroika carried out by USSR President M.S. Gorbachev and the transformation of the Soviet Union into a new “Union of Sovereign States”, which became a confederation consisting of part of the already sovereign republics.
The forces under the leadership of the President of Russia (RSFSR) B. N. Yeltsin refused to obey the State Emergency Committee, calling their actions unconstitutional; there was an attempt to declare a strike. The actions of the State Emergency Committee led to events that became known as the “August Putsch.”
From August 22 to August 29, 1991, former members of the dissolved Emergency Committee and those who actively assisted them were arrested, but from June 1992 to January 1993, they were all released on their own recognizance. In April 1993, the trial began. On February 23, 1994, the defendants in the State Emergency Committee case were amnestied State Duma Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, despite Yeltsin's objection. One of the defendants, Valentin Varennikov, refused to accept the amnesty and his trial continued. On August 11, 1994, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of Russia acquitted Varennikov.

By the beginning of 1991, the situation in the USSR became critical. The country entered a period of disintegration. The leadership began to consider the issue of introducing a state of emergency.
From the “Conclusion on the materials of the investigation into the role and participation of USSR KGB officials in the events of August 19-21, 1991”:

Marat Nikolaevich asked my advice on what type of helicopter to choose - the Mi-8 or Mi-24. Naturally, I recommended the Mi-24, since it was armored against 12.7 mm bullets, and all the tanks that were in the White House area had machine guns of this caliber. But if one of the engines failed, the Mi-24 helicopter could not continue flying. The Mi-8 could fly on one engine. Tishchenko agreed with me. However, less than an hour later, he called back and joyfully reported that, according to the information he received from the same KGB department, all the tanks and infantry fighting vehicles brought into Moscow do not have ammunition, so he is preparing the Mi-8. And after some time, a message came that the commander of the Airborne Forces, General Grachev, stopped the division in Kubinka. By the evening it became clear that the State Emergency Committee had failed disgracefully, and by lunchtime on August 21, all the media loudly announced this. The orgy of victory began.

Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by the death of three people under the wheels of an infantry fighting vehicle in the tunnel between Vosstaniya Square and Smolenskaya Square. It all seemed strange to me. Why send troops and armored vehicles into Moscow without ammunition? Why is the Moscow department of the KGB seeking to save Yeltsin and why is KGB Chairman Kryuchkov a member of the State Emergency Committee? All this resembled some kind of farce. Subsequently, in 1993, Yeltsin actually stormed the White House, and the tanks fired direct fire and not with blank charges. And in August 1991, all this looked like a grandiose performance or monstrous stupidity on the part of the leadership of the State Emergency Committee. However, what happened happened. I only express my opinion. Then events developed at lightning speed: the return of Gorbachev from Foros, the ban and dissolution of the CPSU, the Belovezhskaya Agreement on the liquidation of the USSR, the creation of the Union of Independent States on the basis of the former republics of the USSR.

The most absurd thing, of course, seemed to be the collapse of the single Slavic core: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It seemed that some kind of insanity had occurred among the leaders of these republics, who demonstrated complete ignorance of the history of the creation of Russian statehood. But the most striking thing was that all this was supported by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which hastened to dissolve itself, and the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation ratified the Belovezhskaya Conspiracy.

I remembered the words of Denikin and Wrangel, who, after the defeat of the white movement in Civil War 1918, addressing descendants in their memoirs, noted the historical merit of the Bolsheviks in that they basically preserved Great Russia. Modern Bolsheviks, dressed in national clothes, completely destroyed a great power, completely disregarding the opinions of its people.

After some time, it became clear that at the head of all these processes was the apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee, headed by Politburo member A.N. Yakovlev and with a very dubious and incomprehensible role of Gorbachev. Most of the rulers in the new states belonged to the cohort of workers of the CPSU party apparatus, and most of the oligarchs and “new” Russians in the past belonged to the party or Komsomol elite. Before the eyes of the entire people, active supporters of the policies of the CPSU turned into its fierce enemies. Calls for a “witch hunt” began, although they were soon suspended, since this clearly could affect them themselves.

The people were deceived.

Links:
1. Ogarkov and Operation Herat
2. Akhromeev Sergey Fedorovich
3. Gorbacheva Raisa Maksimovna (ur. Titarenko)
17.

) - a self-proclaimed government body in the USSR, consisting of representatives of the leadership of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR government, which carried out an attempt to remove M.S. on August 18-21, 1991. Gorbachev from the post of President of the USSR, seizure of power in the country, change of political course. The events of August 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 of the Communist Party in it, and 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 of the CPSU Central Committee M.S. Gorbachev. In their opinion, Gorbachev’s inconsistency, excessive liberalism, and carelessness led to the fact that outspoken enemies of socialism were able to launch a widespread protest movement in the USSR, weaken state discipline, and paralyze the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies.

The State Emergency Committee included Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Ivanovich Yanaev (Chairman of the State Emergency Committee), 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 Facilities 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, President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev, by means of specially created security groups, was isolated in his residence in Foros (Crimea), where he was on vacation with his family.

On the morning of August 19, members of the State Emergency Committee made an appeal on television, announced the introduction of a state of emergency for six months, the deployment of troops to Moscow, the introduction of censorship in the media and the banning of 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 opponents of the State Emergency Committee, primarily the leadership of the RSFSR led by B.N. Yeltsin, the city authorities of Moscow and Leningrad, organized powerful resistance. At the call of the Russian authorities, masses of Muscovites gathered at the House of Soviets of the Russian Federation (White House), among whom were representatives of various social groups: democratically minded public, students, intelligentsia, veterans of the Afghan war. The actions of the State Emergency Committee were qualified as a coup d'etat. On August 21, 1991, all members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested, with the exception of the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo, who committed suicide.

In addition to members of the State Emergency Committee, persons who, according to the investigation, actively assisted the State Emergency Committee, were brought to criminal liability. Among them were the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A.I. Lukyanov, member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee 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 security at the residence in Foros V.V. Generals. The State Emergency Committee was publicly supported by the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party V.V. Zhirinovsky, but he was not held accountable because he did not hold any public office.

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

GKChP is an abbreviation of the name of the State Committee for the State of Emergency, created by several senior functionaries Communist Party 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, post Secretary General and, therefore, M. S. Gorbachev became the absolute ruler of the destinies of 250 million Soviet citizens. Aware of the difficulties of the Soviet economy and its growing lag behind Western countries, Gorbachev made an attempt to cheer up socialist system management 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 - shown documentary"Is it easy to be young?" 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 deputies of Councils of 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 on live and listened to the whole 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 were caused to Moscow 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 Soviet republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and in the fall - Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan, a new treaty terminating the union of 1922 and creating a new public education confederation instead of 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