The author analyzes relations between union structures, the office of the President of the USSR, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, and the CPSU and its participation in the events of August 1991. Special attention is paid to the preparation of the new Union Treaty, including Gorbachev’s participations, and the work of the April and July Plenums of the 1991 CPSU Central Committee. The majority of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee was not aware of the preparation of the coup d’état , but showed extreme passivity during the coup, such as not openly condemning the Emergency Committee. This gave rise to accusations of the Party in aiding the conspiracy, and Boris Yeltsin’s decree suspending the activities of the Russian Communist B. N. Party. The dismantling of Party structures after the failure of the coup allowed B. N. Yeltsin to proceed with the dismantling of the USSR. Actions of the State Emergency Committee frustrated the signing of the new Union Treaty, thereby predetermining the collapse of the USSR. In tu
Translated title of the contributionThe August coup in 1991: A view from the central committee building and eyewitness accounts
Original languageRussian
Pages (from-to)454-484
Number of pages31
JournalModern History of Russia
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2019

    Scopus subject areas

  • History

    Research areas

  • 1991-, August 1991 coup, CPSU, M. S. Gorbachev, union treaty, августовский путч, Беловежские соглашения, коммунистическая партия Советского Союза, распад единого государства, союзный договор

ID: 52166681