EXPLAINER: 35 Years Ago Today, the World Held Its Breath
On this day in 1991, a failed hardline coup in Moscow became the final shock that pushed Ukraine from asserted sovereignty to independence. As Soviet authority faltered, Ukraine’s democratic forces, sovereignty Communists led by Leonid Kravchuk, and public protests in Kyiv, converged against a crumbling empire. Within days, the coup’s collapse cleared the way for parliament to meet on Aug. 24 and…
On August 19, 1991, an attempt to stage a coup in Moscow by a group of Soviet hardliners aimed to halt the process of democratization initiated by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The Communist hardliners sought to preserve the centrally controlled Soviet empire by blocking Gorbachev's plan to preserve the unitary state through a new compromise "Union treaty" with increasingly nationally self-assertive non-Russians.
The Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse at that time, with fractures evident even within Moscow itself. Liberal Communist Boris Yeltsin had broken away from the Communist party, embraced a democratic stance, and promoted Russian Federation's state sovereignty. Ukraine, which had previously been under harsh Soviet rule, also began to reclaim its rights, asserting its state sovereignty in July 1990.
By following the example of the Baltic republics, Ukraine's democratic forces coalesced into the Rukh movement and pushed for independence. In August 1991, the hardliners decided to take action to restore control, resulting in a failed coup. This event placed the achievements of the preceding months in jeopardy, with the democratic camp criticizing Soviet hardliners for their clumsy actions.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
