20 Years Ago Today: Soviet Coup D’Etat
By Shaun Kenney | Thursday, August 18th, 2011 | Culture, InternationalHard to imagine for some, but 20 years ago today the orders were given by the remaining hardline Soviet Communists to end Gorbachev’s attempts to liberalize the country… and the tanks rolled through Moscow.
Let’s remember this as well… it could have ended much differently than this:
…and it was an incredible turnaround from the “malaise” of the Jimmy Carter era, and entirely thanks to the leadership of President Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and President George Bush.
Four months later, the Soviet Union became a bad dream.
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Shaun Kenney is the Chairman of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, former Communications Director for the Republican Party of Virginia, and an active blogger since 2002. Shaun lives in Thomas Jefferson's backyard with his wife, six children, and a modest attempt at a farm in Kents Store, Virginia.
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3 Responses to "20 Years Ago Today: Soviet Coup D’Etat"
I’m old enough to remember it well. By the Summer of 1991, everyone (except Gorbachev publicly) realized a 15 republic Soviet Union could only be held together by brute force. (Okay, the U.S. never recognized Moscow’s annexation of the 3 Baltic republics.) I had anticipated a hardline backlash since Spring, but was expecting it in the Politburo or Central Committee.
What happened was both brazen and comical at the same time. Tanks in the streets of Moscow? No one bought the Big Lie that Gorbachev was simply ill in the Crimea.
Finally, let me address one of the big fallacies in many histories. Gorbachev did NOT bring freedom and democracy to the Soviet Union. In trying to reform the Soviet system, forces were unleashed that no one could control in the end.
I remember it too-was a small child at the time, but it was frightening while it lasted. However it failed (thanks be to God) and brought about dramatic changes. Thanks for bringing this up.
Henry,
Me too. I was serving my third tour in West Germany that summer and was assigned as an Army battalion commander. It was a tense time for us, as you can imagine.
And you are absolutely right about Gorbachev not bringing freedom and democracy to the Soviet Union. Anyone who thinks that he was anything but an old school Communist with a make-over needs to read his book, “Perestroika.” I traveled in the former Soviet Union in 1992 and can tell you that democracy is not a concept that Russians easily grasp. If you strip away the 75 years of Communism, then they are still feudalists. That is why today their system is based on gifts, bribes, and graft with strong-arm authority substituting for the rule of law.
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