Russia at the Barricades: Eyewitness Accounts of the August 1991 Coup : Eyewitness Accounts of the August 1991 Coup

What does the Congress do? How does it do it? Is the Congress up to the challenges ahead? This primer offers students an introduction to Congress and the role it plays in the US political system. It explores the different political natures of the House and Senate, and examines Congress's interaction with other branches of the Federal government. On August 19, 1991, Eight High-ranking Soviet Officials Took Over The Government Of The Ussr And Proclaimed Themselves Its New Rulers. Less Than Seventy-two Hours Later, Their Coup Had Collapsed, But It Would Change The Course Of History In A Way That No One - Certainly Not The Plotters Themselves - Could Have Foreseen. The Editor Of This Volume, Who Witnessed These Momentous Events, Have Assembled Firsthand Accounts Of The Attempted Coup. They Include Testimonies From Junta Members And Military Officers, Resistance Leaders And Ordinary Citizens, Muscovites And Residents Of Other Locales, Russian And Foreign Journalists, Foreign Visitors And Returning Emigres, As Well As Mikhail Gorbachev And Boris Yeltsin. Key Documents And Photographs Complement The Individual Accounts. The Provocative Introduction To The Volume Places The August Events In The Larger Context - From The Early Days Of Perestroika And Glasnost To The Second Confrontation At The White House, In October 1993. Note On Transliteration And Interpolations -- Introduction / Victoria E. Bonnell And Gregory Freidin -- I. Saving The Old Country. 1. Proclamations And Decrees Of The State Committee For The State Of Emergency, August 19, 1991. Document 1 Decree Of The Vice President Of The Ussr. Document 2 Appeal To The Soviet People. Document 3 Resolution No. 1 Of The Ussr State Committee For The State Of Emergency. Document 4 Resolution Of The Chairman Of The Supreme Soviet Of The Ussr On The Convening Of An Extraordinary Session Of The Supreme Soviet Of The Ussr. 2. The Press Conference Of The State Committee For The State Of Emergency, August 19, 1991. 3. Statements And Explanations By The Putschists After The Coup. Document 1 Interrogation Of Defense Minister Dmitrii Yazov On August 22, 1991. Document 2 Interrogation Of Soviet Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov, August 30, 1991. Document 3 Interrogation Of The Head Of The Ussr Kgb, Vladimir Kriuchkov --^ Ii. The Public Reacts. 1. To The Barricades / Gregory Freidin. 2. Letter From Moscow. 3. August 19 And 20 In Moscow / Victoria E. Bonnell. 4. Moscow: The Morning Of August 21 / Lauren G. Leighton. 5. Moscow's M.v. Khrunichev Machine-building Factory Reacts To The August Coup / Vladimir Petrik. 6. The Congress Of Compatriots: Witness To A Democratic Counter-revolution / Serge P. Petroff. 7. A View From Saratov / Donald J. Raleigh. 8. Letter From St. Petersburg / Valerii Zavorotnyi --^ Iii. In High Places. 1. What Happened In Foros / Mikhail S. Gorbachev. 2. Proclamations, Decrees, And Appeals In Response To The Coup, August 19, 1991 / Boris Yeltsin. Document 1 Appeal To The Citizens Of Russia. Document 2 Decree No. 59 Of The President Of The Rsfsr. Document 3 Decree No. 61 Of The President Of The Rsfsr. Document 4 Appeal By Boris Yeltsin, President Of The Rsfsr, To The Soldiers And Officers Of The Ussr Armed Forces, The Ussr Committee For State Security [kgb], And The Ussr Ministry Of Internal Affairs [mvd]. 3. Speech To The Russian Parliament, August 21, 1991 / Boris Yeltsin. 4. Interview With Nikolai Vorontsov: Between Russia And The Soviet Union --^ With Notes On The Ussr Council Of Ministers Meeting Of August 19, 1991. 5. Vladimir Shcherbakov Recounts His Role In The Coup. 6. Interview With Yevgenii Shaposhnikov: The Coup And The Armed Forces. 7. Interview With Davlat Khudonazarov: From Dushanbe To Moscow. 8. Interview With Anatolii Sobchak: Breakthrough: The Coup In St. Petersburg. 9. Interview With Aleksandr N. Yakovlev: Our Children Were On The Barricades -- Iv. Defending The White House. 1. Reflections From The Barricades / Theresa Sabonis-chafee. 2. Interview With Aleksandr Prokhanov: Concerning The Defenders Of The White House. 3. Death On The Streets / Michael Hetzer. 4. A Man In The Crowd. 5. E-mail From Aleksei Kozhevnikov: On The Barricades. 6. Conversation With Victor Sheinis And Alla Nazimova: In And Around The White House --^ V. Getting The News In And Out. 1. Three Days In August: On-the-spot Impressions / Iain Elliot. 2. Interview With Sergei Medvedev: Getting News On Vremia 3. The Foreign Press And The Coup / Ann Cooper. 4. Interview With Tatiana Malkina: The August 19 Press Conference. 5. Interview With Valerii Kucher: A Russian Reporter Remembers The Coup -- Chronology Of Events Of August 19, 20, 21, 1991. Edited By Victoria E. Bonnell, Ann Cooper, And Gregory Freidin. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

On August 19, 1991, eight high-ranking Soviet officials took over the government of the USSR and proclaimed themselves its new rulers. Less than seventy-two hours later, their coup had collapsed, but it would change the course of history in a way that no one - certainly not the plotters themselves - could have foreseen. The editor of this volume, who witnessed these momentous events, have assembled firsthand accounts of the attempted coup. They include testimonies from "junta" members and military officers, resistance leaders and ordinary citizens, Muscovites and residents of other locales, Russian and foreign journalists, foreign visitors and returning emigres, as well as Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Key documents and photographs complement the individual accounts. The provocative introduction to the volume places the August events in the larger context - from the early days of perestroika and glasnost to the second confrontation at the White House, in October 1993.

Library Journal

Much of Russian history happens after it is told. Here the August 1991 coup against Gorbachev and his reforms is chronicled, yet the story has already grown: the Russian Parliament pardoned the plotters in February 1994. However, like a 19th-century diary, this edition by two Americans and an expatriate still has much to offer, providing various snapshots from a ``a variety of points of view.'' The accounts are in five sections, covering the coup plotters, some personal stories, a view from the center (Gorbachev, Yeltsin), a captivating look at the defense of the Russian White House, and an assessment of the media's role. For some scholars, this approach may prove lacking; a section on the role of the military would have been helpful. An impressive minute-by-minute chronology is also provided. For academic and larger public libraries.-John Yurechko, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.