Attempted Coup d'État by the GKChP (August 1991)
An armed mutiny by the conservative wing of the Soviet leadership, the KGB, and the army aimed at halting the USSR's disintegration and holding the republics by force. The State Committee for the State of Emergency declared: "to introduce a state of emergency in particular localities of the USSR for a term of 6 months from 4 a.m. Moscow time on August 19, 1991… to form the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR"[1]. The putsch's failure opened the way to independence: the Act of Declaration was adopted "proceeding from the mortal danger that had loomed over Ukraine in connection with the coup d'état in the USSR on August 19, 1991"[2].
Actors
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0008 | Government | 1 |
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
An armed seizure of power: the GKChP statement of 18 August 1991 announced the transfer of the USSR president's powers: "In connection with the impossibility, for reasons of health, of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev performing the duties of President of the USSR and the transfer… of the powers of the President of the USSR to Vice-President Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev… to form the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR"[1]. The putsch was timed to derail the treaty-based reconstitution of the Union: "The formation of the GKChP was preceded by the so-called Novo-Ogaryovo process - negotiations begun on April 23, 1991 by USSR President Gorbachev at his suburban residence of Novo-Ogaryovo with the leaders of the union republics on the signing of a new Union Treaty"[3] - the coup cut this process short.
The immediate elimination of the independent press: GKChP resolution No. 2 of 19 August 1991 ordered "to temporarily limit the list of published central, Moscow city, and oblast socio-political editions to the following newspapers: 'Trud,' 'Rabochaya tribuna,' 'Izvestia,' 'Pravda,' 'Krasnaya zvezda,' 'Sovetskaya Rossiya,' 'Moskovskaya pravda,' 'Leninskoye znamya,' 'Selskaya zhizn'"[4] – anything not on the list could not appear.