Flashback: The end of the Soviet Union.
In one corner: Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, who was trying to drag the U.S.S.R. out from behind the Iron Curtain using the twin strategies of perestroika and glasnost (translation: “restructuring” and “openness”). In the other corner: Soviet hardline
AUG. 4, 1991
Mikhail Gorbachev is in the process of finalizing what’s called the Union Treaty, which will loosen control the U.S.S.R. has over its member republics and decentralize government. It’s just the latest — and perhaps the largest — step in peeling back the Iron Curtain. An exhausted Gorbachev leaves Moscow with his family and heads to their vacation villa on the shore of the Crimean Sea.
AUG. 18
Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov, Vice President Gennady Yanayev and the heads of the Interior Ministry and the KGB visit Gorbachev and demand he either kill the treaty or resign as leader of the Soviet Union. He defiantly refuses and warns his family there may be consequences. The Gorbachev family is placed under armed guard and their communications are cut off.
AUG. 19
The leaders of the coup announce to the public that Gorbachev has been relieved of his duties for health reasons. The president of the Russian Republic — former Gorbachev protégé Boris Yeltsin — denounces the coup as a “new reign of terror” and calls for all Russian citizens to leave their jobs and to protest in the streets. A crowd begins to gather outside the Russian parliament building. Yeltsin climbs atop a tank and urges citizens to resist. Later that day, the deputy mayor of Moscow joins in the resistance. Unbelievably, the leaders of the coup have failed to seize control of the state-controlled TV station. That night, video is broadcast of Yeltsin’s speech. He becomes a hero overnight.
AUG. 20
Tensions remain high. Yeltsin calls President George H.W. Bush, who assures him the U.S. will not recognize the coup government. The Soviet Army, under control of the new government, prepares for an assault on the center of Moscow. Protesters dig in for the attack they know will be coming soon.
AUG. 21
Not long after midnight, the assault begins. A column of military vehicles break through barricades set up around the parliament building. In the confusion, two protesters are shot dead and a third is crushed under a tank. Protesters rush the vehicles. The armed personnel carrier is set afire. Young soldiers — unhappy about being ordered to assault their friends and neighbors — break off the attack. It’s clear the coup has failed. When daylight arrives, the “gang of eight” coup leaders are arrested. A large statue of the founder of the KGB in front of KGB headquarters is toppled. Gorbachev is released from house arrest and returns to Moscow, but it’s clear his role in the reformation of the Soviet Union is done.