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

by Cooper; Terry L

• ISBN13: 9781563242717
• ISBN10: 1563242710
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-09-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Note on Transliteration And Interpolations	p. xvii
Guide to the print Media	p. xix
Introduction	p. 3
Notes	p. 27
Saving the Old Country	p. 31
proclamations and Decrees of The State Committee for the State Of Emergency, August 19, 1991	p. 33
The press Conference of the State Committee for the State Of Emergency, August 19, 1991	p. 42
Statements and Explanations By The putschists After the Coup	p. 55
The public Reacts	p. 69
To the Barricades	p. 71
Letter from Moscow	p. 78
August 19 and 20 in Moscow	p. 85
Moscow: The Morning Of August 21	p. 100
Moscow's M.V. Khrunichev Machine-Building Factory Reacts To the August Coup	p. 111
The Congress of Compatriots: Witness to A Democratic Counter-Revolution	p. 120
A View from Saratov	p. 131
Letter from St. petersburg	p. 147
In High places	p. 159
What Happened in Foros	p. 161
proclamations, Decrees, and Appeals in Response to The Coup, August 19, 1991	p. 170
Speech to the Russian parliament, August 21, 1991	p. 176
Between Russia and the Soviet Union--With Notes on the Ussr Council of Ministers Meeting Of August 19, 1991	p. 181
Vladimir Shcherbakov Recounts His Role in the Coup	p. 195
The Coup and the Armed Forces	p. 201
From Dushanbe to Moscow	p. 209
Breakthrough: The Coup In St. petersburg	p. 218
Our Children Were on The Barricades	p. 226
Defending the White House	p. 233
Theresa Sabonis-Chafee Reflections from the Barricades	p. 235
Concerning the Defenders of The White House	p. 249
Death on the Streets	p. 253
A Man in the Crowd	p. 256
On the Barricades	p. 263
In and Around the White House	p. 267
Getting the News in and Out	p. 287
Three Days in August: On-The-Spot Impressions	p. 289
Getting the News on ""Vremia""	p. 301
The Foreign press and the Coup	p. 308
The August 19 press Conference	p. 318
A Russian Reporter Remembers The Coup	p. 322
Chronology of Events Of August 19, 20, 21, 1991	p. 337
Index of personal Names	p. 367
About the Editors	p. 372
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