From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 8/21/2007 5:18 PM
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Former Soviet Countries Mark Anniversary Of 1991 Putsch
Russia - Tanks on New Arbate ( Kalininsky prospekt ) during putsch of 1991 - 19aug1991
Tanks on Kalininsky Prospekt in August 1991
(Courtesy Photo)
August 21, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Former Soviet states this week mark the 16th anniversary of the 1991 putsch that triggered the collapse of the Soviet Union, RFE/RL's Russian Service reported.
Between August 19 and 22, 1991, a group of communist hard-liners attempted to overthrow Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and roll back democratic reforms.
The plotters placed Gorbachev under house arrest at his holiday home in Crimea, and sent tanks into the streets of Moscow.
But thousands of Muscovites rallied to oppose the putsch. The protests were spearheaded by Boris Yeltsin, who climbed atop a tank to call for mass resistance.
After the coup foundered, Gorbachev returned to Moscow to find a starkly changed balance ...
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